Chapter 2
Friends, Past and Present
As Gudrun and Hermione crossed the courtyard over to The Wolfes' Den to pick up their children, the sound of merry singing accompanied by a piano met their ears. Since it had rained cats and dogs all day, Hermione guessed that Heidi had improvised some indoor activities for the children.
Doe, a deer, a female deer
Ray, a drop of Golden Sun
Me, a name, I call myself
Far, a long, long way to run…
"Who the hell does she think she is, Mary Poppins?" Gudrun grumbled.
Hermione suppressed a smirk. Gudrun was a bit jealous of Heidi, because her children preferred spending time at Aunt Heidi's even when their parents were home. The sentiment showed how well Heidi had taken to her new job. Whereas Jasmine previously had allowed the children to do more or less as they pleased, provided that they didn't cause trouble, Heidi had transformed the house into a full-fledged day-care centre and kindergarten.
Since she was Henry's godmother, and Galatea's stepsister, Wolfe had asked her to be his children's guardian. Charlie and Jasmine had offered to relieve her of that burden, knowing that it would be impossible for Heidi to continue working if she had to care for two young children. But to everyone's surprise at the time, Heidi had immediately resigned from the Order. Later, as more details became known and the prophecy foretelling Galatea's death was officially revealed, they also discovered that Galatea, perhaps anticipating Max's reaction to her death, had left Heidi a letter that asked her to look after the children.
Having decided to use the extra time on her hands productively, Heidi had come up with a plan to take more pressure off the working parents in the Order. Hermione, for one, was very grateful for it.
"Actually, that's from The Sound of Music."
"Same perky Julie Andrews," Gudrun said.
"I'm quite surprised that she's even heard of it, being a pureblood," Hermione mentioned as they walked into The Wolfe's Den.
The entire ground floor had been cleared of its former decorations, and things had been set up to allow the room to function as a kindergarten. Four square, low tables, each with four matching chairs for the children to sit on, occupied the room. A few miniature easels had been set up for the children to finger-paint with, but at the moment, they stood abandoned.
Jasmine was just dragging Richie Potter into a corner of the room while giving him a stern talking to. Hermione noticed that Xander Kelly and Inigo 'Monty' Montoya already occupied two other corners of the room. Both were staring guiltily at their feet, and Hermione realised why when her gaze fell on Eleanor and Eloise Faust, whose faces and hair were covered in paint. The boys' paint-covered hands were the smoking guns.
Heidi was oblivious to it all. She continued to sing merrily and play the piano, accompanied haltingly but enthusiastically by Raina and Isabel Montoya, and more melodiously by Rosie Weasley and Rachel Kelly, who were older and knew all the words.
That was the arrangement. Heidi loved the children so much that she couldn't punish them even if she wanted to, while Jasmine had no qualms about disciplining the children when they needed it. Heidi was the 'good' teacher and Jasmine was the 'bad' teacher, and the children knew they were in trouble when Aunt Heidi went to get Aunt Jasmine. Towards Henry and Robert, however, Heidi could be just as severe as Jasmine.
Heidi, who had seen Hermione and Gudrun come in, finished up the do-re-mi and led a round of applause for the effort put in by the three-year-olds, Raina and Isabel. Then she waved Hermione and Gudrun over, and they carefully negotiated their way through the toys scattered all over the floor. Gudrun passed the piano and continued straight to the corner when her youngest son was standing. She picked him up, headed to the kitchen, and closed the door behind her. Xander was in trouble!
"It isn't too crowded today," Hermione said, as she said down next to Heidi on a second stool.
"It is, actually. All the kids are here together. Robert and Henry are upstairs, showing the Faust brothers Robert's new carpet. The younger ones are napping in the nursery, thank goodness." Heidi nodded to a mirror on the wall, and Hermione saw four cribs with sleeping children in them.
"Mind if I get mine? I've really missed her."
Heidi rose from her stool and led Hermione to the nursery. The door to Robert and Henry's room was open, allowing her to catch a glimpse of Robert hovering on his small carpet, much to the awe of the younger boys. Then they reached the nursery, and Heidi ushered her in.
She passed the nearest crib. Through the mosquito net she saw a baby girl whose first birthday party had been joyously celebrated two weeks ago. Her prominent ears identified her as Geo and Lilia's second-born, Naomi. The next crib revealed her niece, Holly, who had inherited her father's black hair, though the tuft on her head didn't look as though it would evolve into the messy thatch her father and older brother had. Then there was Buttercup Kelly, who had been born on the thirtieth of April, exactly one month after Holly. Her eyes fluttered open as Heidi and Hermione walked past, revealing two pretty amethyst eyes. Heidi quickly picked her up and rocked her gently, and the girl dozed off again in Heidi's arms.
Finally they reached Christine, who had one lock of bushy red hair on an otherwise bald little head. Hermione pulled the netting aside and lifted her baby out of the crib. She inhaled her daughter's scent as she cradled her. The abrupt separation almost a month ago, after six months of bonding with her new-born, had been difficult despite the fact that she'd already been through it with Raina. That was the main reason why she'd decided that, if she and Ron were to have any more children, that it would have to wait until she retired. She couldn't bear to go back to work a third time and leave her child in the care of others, even if she trusted them with her children's wellbeing.
"Are you sure you don't want a cup of tea, coffee or chocolate first?" Heidi whispered. "Raina will want lots of attention when you're home, and you look tired. It would be best to wait for Ron to get home, so she can spend some of her energy on him too. In a meantime, she can burn off some more energy by playing with Richard."
"Since you put it that way…" Hermione replied, and she gently put her daughter back in the crib and tugged the mosquito net back over it. It would indeed be best to wait for Ron to get home. If Ron didn't find her there, he'd know that she'd be at The Wolfe's Den. Heidi kissed Buttercup before putting her back in the crib, and the two women returned downstairs.
Xander was back in his corner sniffing and sobbing as he rubbed his bottom, looking on as his older and better behaved brother told their mother about his day. At nearly two and a half years old, Xander had a mournful expression that was a perfect copy of Matt's, and Hermione was startled by the uncanny resemblance between the boy and his father.
Raina ran up to her and Heidi and jumped into her arms, using one of the low tables to boost herself and gain more altitude. A typical tomboy stunt.
"Raina, how often do I have to tell you not to do things like that?" Heidi huffed. "You're lucky Aunt Jasmine didn't see you!"
"I love you, Aunt Heidi," Raina said, staring up at Heidi with big, innocent eyes, and Heidi's stern expression crumbled.
Hermione sighed. Her daughter knew exactly how to push Heidi's buttons. "Well, what about me? Don't you love me anymore?" she asked.
"I love you too, Mummy," her daughter said, smiling impishly.
The stairs thundered with four pairs of feet. The Wolfe brothers and the Faust brothers practically came flying off the stairs, and miraculously none of them got hurt.
"Aunt Janice is coming," Robert announced.
Jasmine muttered a few curses under her breath as she drew her wand. She flicked her wand at one twin, and then the other, cleaning them up as the security charms verified their mother's identity. Then she answered the door and let Janice Faust-Cliff in.
"Hello, Janice. Done packing for the trip?" Heidi asked.
"Thanks to you. It's hard to get any work done with the kids around," Janice replied.
"We're going to visit grandma and grandpa in Jamaica," Peter Faust piped up. "Grandma said she'd make my hair just like a real Rastafarian's."
"Is your husband going too?" Hermione asked, wondering whether Faust, who had taken over for Ironheart as Commander, could afford to take any time off.
"He'll be travelling back and forth. He'll spend three days with us now, and another three days at the end of our vacation. Not quite as much time as I had hoped, but he does have a lot of responsibility." She turned to her children. "All right, children, give your aunts a big kiss goodbye. You won't see them for two whole weeks."
The Faust children swarmed around Heidi and kissed her.
"And what about Auntie Jasmine?" Janice asked, since her sons had made no move towards Jasmine. It was obvious that they were a bit intimidated by her.
Jasmine laughed. "That's all right. If I'm too familiar with them, I'll lose my authority. Have a good vacation, kids."
After the Faust family left, Hermione, Heidi, Gudrun and Jasmine settled down with some warm drinks, talking about the many children's parties they needed to remember, and the preparations for Anthony Ramos' second birthday, which was the next day. Since it was sometimes hard for the Ranger parents to plan and throw a birthday party for their offspring, Heidi took care of that too.
The previous month, June, had been especially crowded, since most of the Ranger-children had been born in that month. Henry had turned four on the first, Rosie had turned five on the eleventh, Isabel Montoya had turned three on the twenty-fifth, and Naomi Ramos had her first birthday on the twenty-eighth.
Heidi had also organised Raina's birthday, four days ago. Aside from Inigo and Tony, there were no other children's birthdays in July.
"What do you plan to do on your own birthday?" Hermione asked Heidi.
Heidi sighed. "My grandmother asked me to go to Austria for a few days, but I can't really do that. Who would take care of my children? No, I suppose I'll let it pass quietly. Maybe there will be more of a celebration when I turn thirty next year."
"You could take Robert and Henry with you," Gudrun suggested.
"I couldn't do that," Heidi said anxiously. "Not while Medea Aconit is still out there. It's not safe."
Hermione heaved a sigh. It had been one year, three months, and eight days since Max had vanished into the unknown. No one had heard from him since, and if it hadn't been for Harry's apparent ability to feel whether or not he was still alive, they wouldn't even have had that assurance. On several occasions, they had tried to track Max through Harry's link, but apparently Max had learned to befuddle their connection enough to make that impossible. No one knew where Max had gone, whether he had changed his mind about things, or whether he'd be coming back.
Henry, who favoured Galatea both in looks and character, still nurtured some hope that his father would return someday. But Robert had given up, and worse, openly hated his father for having abandoned them, despite Heidi's efforts to convince him otherwise.
The doorbell rang. A mirror on the far wall showed George Ramos picking his nose in his own highly typical way—something that infuriated Lilia to no end. That alone had convinced Hermione that it was really Geo, and not some impostor, but the security magic still kicked in, casting half a dozen powerful detection spells over him. The mirror's glassy frame glowed green, and Jasmine opened the door. So far no one had attempted to abduct the children, but it paid to be cautious. The Kellys' Keep had the same security measures, in case an evildoer tried to reach The Wolfes' Den through The Kelly's Keep and cross the courtyard, like Gudrun and Hermione had done.
"Looking good, Heidi," Geo said, eyeing Heidi in a complementary way—not lecherous, but openly admiring. Still, it would have sparked a flaming row with Lilia, had she been present.
Heidi blushed in a way that would have convinced Hermione that she was looking at another of Molly Weasley's daughters, were it not for the knowledge that Molly would never have put her child up for adoption, and the mere seven-month age difference between Heidi and Ron.
"You're just saying that, but thanks anyway." Heidi ran her hands along her hips and thighs. "Actually, I let myself go a bit ever since I left the Order."
"You look better for it," Geo insisted. "Curvier. And are those new earrings?"
Heidi nodded, touching one of the diamond studs.
"Hey, what about the rest of us?" Gudrun asked.
Geo grinned. "You're married. Buttering you up is a waste of time."
Jasmine chuckled. "You are married too, so Heidi can't take you too seriously either way."
"Actually, Lilia filed for divorce yesterday."
Gudrun laughed. "It's far too easy to do that here in Concordia. But are you serious? I didn't know you two were on the outs again, and Lilia tells me everything."
Hermione rolled her eyes. Lilia and Geo fought like cats and dogs most of the time, but the fact of the matter was that they were very happy together on those rare occasions that they weren't arguing. "What did you fight about now?"
"I made a remark about her being a bit of a slob and a bad example for Tony, but I didn't really mean it. Next thing I know, I'm dodging hexes. She blew my remark completely out of proportion. Man, I sure hope she isn't behaving like that because she's pregnant again. I wouldn't mind having one more kid, but not right now."
"You remark implied that she's a bad mother," Hermione explained patiently. Why couldn't men see that it was a very big issue for women? "I bet that set her off."
"Gee, I didn't think of that."
"Obviously!" Jasmine said.
Geo shrugged. "Oh well, I'll just have to remind her I'm Mr Magic Hands. Jasmine, could you please fetch my princess for me?"
"I'd better go with you and get Buttercup, too," Gudrun said, and made to follow Jasmine upstairs.
"Mama, can't we stay a little longer?" Rachel pleaded.
"What about dinner, sweetie?"
"Aunt Heidi won't mind if we eat here, do you, Aunt Heidi?" Rachel asked, rounding on Heidi.
"What are you having?" Gudrun asked Heidi.
"I promised the boys I'd make chocolate-chip pancakes."
"Are you sure you want to risk giving the kids an evening sugar rush?" Gudrun asked.
"It's intentional. I promised Robert we'd do some stargazing tonight. It'll help him stay awake."
"It's not a very good time. The moon's nearly full, and the night's going to be cloudy," Hermione pointed out.
"So I've told him, but he won't release me from my promise."
"I want to see the moon. I want to see where my mother is," Robert said vehemently, causing a painful silence among the adults, which was thankfully broken by Jasmine's return.
"Here she is," Jasmine said, passing the sleepy child to her father. Little Naomi squealed happily when she saw him, and reached up to grab his ears.
"Well, I still have a fairly powerful telescope from my school days, since I took Advanced Astronomy. It's charmed for use in all weather conditions, and it can pierce cloud-cover. Would you like me to bring it over?" Geo offered.
"Cool!" Robert said brightly. "Can he, Aunt Heidi?"
"Of course, liebschen," Heidi replied kindly.
"Can I watch the moon with Robert, Mummy?" Rachel asked.
Gudrun broke down laughing, and it took her nearly a full minute to recover, with her daughter looking at her as if she'd gone mad. "You want to watch the moon with Robert, do you?" She looked up at the adults. "Oh my, she can't even wait for her teens to watch the moon with Robert."
Heidi, Jasmine and Hermione sniggered.
"Why are you being so silly, Mummy?" Rachel asked, completely bewildered by her mother's behaviour.
"Never mind, sweetie. I'm just babbling," Gudrun replied. Then she turned to Heidi. "Do you have enough to feed me and my brood?"
"I have enough for an army."
"All right. Then I'll go back home and change. I'll be right back," Gudrun said, before striding out of the side door towards her own home.
Geo called his son to him, and the Ramos family left The Wolfes' Den as well. They lived directly behind Ron and Hermione, against the wall that connected the third and fourth tiers of the city, so it wasn't a far walk. In fact, that particular section of Concordia was turning into a Ranger enclave.
The Montoya family lived next to the Ramos family, behind Danielle Esklove—soon to be Danielle Hillman—and her fiancé, who had moved into the house between Ron and Hermione's and Harry and Ginny's two months ago. And three weeks ago, Eilis Duff and Magnus Brody, who got to know each other in a different light at her older sister and his younger brother's wedding in March, had moved into the house on the other side of Harry and Ginny's, and directly opposite The Wolfes' Den.
The doorbell rang again, and the mirror monitor showed Charlie standing at the door, clutching a broomstick. He'd passed an exam upon turning ten, allowing him to participate in Concordia's aerial traffic, albeit at a lower altitude that was reserved for broomsticks and carpets, and excluded heavy flying chariots.
Jasmine opened the door to allow her son in.
"Hi, Mum… Aunt Hermione."
"Hey, Charlie. How was your day?" Jasmine asked.
"You'll never guess what happened. Nicolai and Mary were attacked by a swarm of Doxies! They were at the edge of the forest, and a pair of stupid blokes came running out of the forest with a whole swarm of Doxies behind them—they disturbed a few nests. And Nicolai was awesome! He got rid of most of the Doxies with some great charms, but he concentrated on protecting Mary and some other people too much, so he still got a few dozen bites and he passed out because of it." Charlie took a deep breath before continuing. "We took him to the House of Healing on David Golan's carpet, and they sent him home after cleaning the wounds and giving him the antidote. The Healer said that someone ought to stay with Nicolai because the antidote might give him a fever as it deals with the venom in his body. Nicolai was home alone, because Mr Ironheart, his wife, and Nicolai's mum are on vacation, so Mary's staying with him. She told me to give Aunt Gudrun the message because no one answered the mirror when she called home."
"Well, Gudrun will be here in a minute. You can give her the message then."
Heidi suddenly giggled. "Nicolai and Mary, home alone. Knowing Mary, I wouldn't be surprised if she tries to use this as an excuse to sleep over. This could be trouble."
"I'm sure they'll take advantage of the extra privacy to do some things that kids their age will inevitably do, but Nicolai knows that Mary isn't ready for the step towards full intimacy yet. He's far too mature to do anything stupid."
"Hermione, we've both felt how he can affect women, and he was only eleven back then."
"I wasn't as badly affected as you," Hermione said, blushing furiously. She'd been exposed to Nicolai wearing only his swimming trunks, with his gangly yet muscled upper body exposed for all women to behold. Many of the women present, herself included, had quickly waded into the lake to cool off, and to hide some of the more visible effects their thin bathing suits were betraying. Ron still reminded her of it every chance he got.
"True, but you weren't ovulating either," Heidi said in her own defense. "It made me more susceptible."
"That's true," Hermione conceded. She knew that a woman was more vulnerable to the effects of incubus pheromone during that time. "Anyway. Nicolai has learnt how to control his pheromones since then, so Mary's not at risk."
Moments later, the communications mirror shimmered, showing that someone was calling. Heidi answered it, and Charlie Senior's freckled face appeared. "Hey, Heidi. Is Jasmine there?"
His wife moved to Heidi's side. "I'll be right home, Charlie."
"Oh, all right. See you in a minute, then," Charlie nodded, and his face vanished again.
A minute later, Heidi and Hermione were the only adults left. The younger children were playing on the floor, while Charlie Jr had gone to the courtyard to wait for Gudrun. Hermione checked her watch, wondering why Ron hadn't called her from home yet.
"May I use the mirror?" she asked Heidi.
"Really, Hermione, as if you still need to ask."
"Well, it's the polite thing to do," Hermione said. Then she faced the mirror. "Number Eight, Abaris Lane!"
The mirror shimmered, but Ron didn't appear on the other side. It was possible that Ron had chosen to finish some work at the Citadel, so she called there instead, hoping to find out more.
"Order of Illumin—oh, hey Hermione," the witch at the other end said. It was Damayanti Kapoor, an Indian Intelligence Analyst who had joined the Order shortly after the battles at Agua Caliente and Laketown. "A moment while I secure the transmission." The mirror's surface briefly flashed red, before she nodded. "Go ahead."
"I'm calling to see if Ron's still there."
Damayanti worked some controls outside the screen for a few moments. "Yes, he's with Captain Kovalenko. There is no 'do not disturb' signal on her mirror, so I suppose I could re-route the transmission to her office. Should I patch you through?"
Hermione briefly thought about it before consenting. The mirror again shimmered briefly, before Captain Kovalenko's face appeared. "Aha, Hermione. You're wondering why Ron is late?"
"Yes."
"An urgent matter came up a few minutes ago," the captain said gravely. "Still, I won't keep Ron here for long. He'll be at home in less than two hours."
"Go on and have dinner without me," Ron's voice echoed.
"Fine, but get home so your daughters can see your face today."
Captain Kovalenko smiled. "I'll do my best to send him home as quickly as possible."
"Thanks, Captain. Sever connection!" Hermione said, and Captain Kovalenko's face promptly disappeared to be replaced by Hermione's own reflection. She heaved a sigh, because she didn't feel like cooking if Ron wouldn't be home in time for dinner. She turned to Heidi. "Did you mean it when you said you had enough to feed an army?"
"With possible sleepovers, I always make sure I have more than enough."
"Are Richard and Holly sleeping over tonight?" Hermione asked. It was a possibility, since Harry was out on a mission, and Ginny's shift ended at midnight. At times, when Ron and Hermione found themselves in the position with one of them being out of town, and the other, or both of them, working a later shift, they too allowed the children to sleep over.
"Yes. Ginny doesn't want to wake them up in the middle of the night. She'll pick them up in the morning. Will you stay for dinner?"
"Why not."
A brutal murder had taken place in a sleepy Japanese wizarding village. It had been done in full view of dozens of witnesses who had begun with a futile attempt to save the victim by stunning the attacker. A volley of nine stunners failed to penetrate the attacker's defenses. Then, before their eyes, what had looked to be a harmless old Japanese witch, slowly began to transform into a younger European one. Some of the witnesses recognised her face from law enforcement posters, at which point they ceased trying to stop her attacker from continuing his torture.
No one had recognised the attacker, because a hooded cloak had been covering him, obscuring his face and build. He'd been between six-foot-two and six-foot-four tall, and the fact that he'd been able to shrug off the volley of hexes narrowed the possible suspects down to one wizard.
"I've never seen anything like it," Kozminski said, while he examined the corpse through a pair of specialised magical goggles. "It resembles the Cruciatus up to a certain point, but it's much more gruesome. It must have required a lot of raw power, too."
"How does the curse work?" Matt Kelly asked.
"It destroys tissue, but it leaves nerves intact, forcing the victim to feel agonising pain. The Cruciatus Curse may cause inflammation of the area where the curse struck, or some internal damage if maintained for a long time. This curse's primary purpose is to cause physical damage, sparing the pain receptors. So the pain won't stop, even when the curse is lifted. It also impedes the release of endorphins, and I'm seeing extremely high levels of adrenaline, which suggests that she was terrified, and completely aware until the second she died. Since a person subjected to such agony often passes out from the pain, I have to assume that the curse also keeps its target conscious." Kozminski pushed the goggles onto his forehead, looking decidedly queasy. "He started on her limbs, gradually working his way to the more vital parts of her body. The purpose was to keep her alive and in pain as long as possible."
Matt groaned. "Bloody hell, he's invented a new Unforgivable."
Harry closed his eyes, feeling sick too, and quickly opened them again when he realised that the darkness beneath his eyelids only worsened his nausea. Instead, he picked a random spot on the sidewalk to stare at.
He had trouble believing that Wolfe had invented a curse that made the Cruciatus look like a Tickling Charm. It wasn't Medea Aconit's gruesome death that troubled him, but the fact Wolfe must have dabbled very deeply in the Dark Arts to conceive the curse he had employed.
"Hey Gavin, any clue as to where he went?" Matt asked.
Harry looked up and saw Gavin approaching, followed by Hiroshi Nohara, a wizard native to Japan, and one of the Order of Illumination's Intel field operatives.
Nohara had joined the Order nearly five years ago, and had returned to Japan shortly after the completion of his training to assist Gavin on monitoring criminal activities in the Japanese wizarding Empire. A few months ago, during a brief stopover in Japan, Harry had met his family. He was married to Misae, a Muggle-born witch who could change from a happy housewife into the physical embodiment of vengeance in the blink of an eye, and had a son named Shinnosuke, often referred to as Shin-chan.
The boy, who was about Richard's age, seemed prone to taking off his clothes and parading around naked, lighting his mother's short fuse every time he did so. For some odd reason he was also lecherous, ogling attractive young females and making suggestive remarks. At first Harry thought the toddler had got in the way of some behaviour-altering curse, but upon meeting Nohara's father—who looked like an older version of his grandson—Harry had concluded that it was probably a rare and hereditary magical affliction.
"He vanished without a trace," Gavin said gloomily. "He did leave an interesting message in the Village Square, though. Want to have a look?"
Harry nodded.
"I'm taking the body back for some more tests," Kozminski said, as he planted a Portkey on the body. Moments later, he was gone, and Harry and Matt followed Gavin to the village square, where some Japanese kanji burned about six feet in the air.
"We tried to remove it, but it seems as permanent as a Gubraithian fire," Gavin said.
"What does it mean?" Matt asked.
"'A fog cannot be dispelled by a fan,'" Nohara said. "It is a proverb. The fog will only lift when the weather clears up."
It was a warning to Yamato, who had probably tried to stop Wolfe on several occasions. "In other words, when Yamato is dead."
Gavin nodded grimly. "Exactly."
Harry drew his wand and slashed across the glyphs, which resisted the erasing spell for a moment, before finally dissolving into nothingness. He had a feeling that the message had been meant for him as well.
"We will alert you in case we find something that could point towards Wolfe's whereabouts," Nohara said.
"Thanks," Harry said, although he knew that Wolfe wouldn't have left any clues if he didn't want to be found. Then he activated his personal Portkey, which brought him to the Cruiser.
He reappeared inside a designated Apparition circle of the cargo-bay, and quickly stepped away to make room for Matt, who appeared a second later.
Kozminski was there, securing a preservation casket to the floor with some netting. Rachel Esklove's lower body was poking out of an open maintenance hatch in the inner bulkhead. An acrid smell wafted out of the aperture, so Harry rendered himself intangible to see what was going on.
Rachel shrieked as he appeared above her, and dropped her wand, which clattered out of reach. With some wand-less magic, Harry levitated it back to her. "Sorry about that. What seems to be wrong?"
"We have a ruptured conduit."
"How did that happen?"
"Chizpurfles gnawed through it."
"Aren't there supposed to be charms to detect and repel them?"
"There are. But they failed about three weeks ago, when a certain someone passed through the power core while floating between decks, disabling some of the minor charms, like vermin detection and repelling. Anyway, no one noticed, since the diagnostic charms were also partially damaged."
Harry winced. He had dropped in for a surprise visit with Ginny, who had been performing some maintenance checks on the Cruiser. "Sorry. Am I doing any damage now?"
"Nah! You can pass through any part of the ship—just not the power core. We discovered the failure last week, and the new guy, Akram, had to reinforce the charms. But by then, the Cruiser had already been infested for about a week. Plenty of time for the critters to burrow into the conduit's tubes, where they would be impossible to detect."
"How did the Chizpurfles get aboard?"
"I think it was the Egyptian ambassador's Kneazle."
"So, what are you going to do?"
"Replace this part of the potion conduit and limp back home. I've checked out the rest of the conduits the hard way, with V.E.G.'s. The infestation is still localised, so we can make it home easily enough. Then we'll have to drain all the potion out of the conduits and tanks, and eradicate the pest properly. We'll have to take another Cruiser, because continuing the patrol in this one would be playing Russian Roulette."
Harry smiled. Maybe he'd have enough time to visit Ginny and the kids briefly.
"Yes, you'll get the chance to see Ginny and your children," Rachel said, reading his expression.
"Ah, Rachel, what would we do without the talented witches of the Artificing Division?"
"You'd be in a lot of trouble."
"Is there any way I could repay your efforts?"
"Yeah. Convince Kelly that sometimes birth-control is a good thing."
"Hey, Buttercup was an accident," Matt protested from the other side of the bulkhead. "And get your head out of there, Harry. Seeing you standing like that is bizarre."
"Then don't look," Harry replied.
Rachel grinned up at him and rolled her eyes.
"How long is this going to take?"
"An hour."
"Ah, but you mean half an hour, don't you?" Ginny had told him about how the Artificers always gave generous estimations, so that they'd seem like miracle workers when they got the job done in half the time.
Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Did your wife tell you that?"
Harry nodded.
"She wasn't supposed to. It's our division's most sacred secret. And speaking of secrets, I've heard some rumours that Ironheart's grandkid is going to join the Order in a limited role, until he's legally an adult."
"Nicolai?"
"Yeah. It seems that he knows how to build a new ship that doesn't need potion to keep it going. If he can actually build it, it would save us loads of maintenance time. Heck, maybe he'll even find a solution for the control problems we can't seem to solve with the mech. Now stop distracting me, or it really will take me an hour to get this done."
"You're the one who began to gossip," Harry countered.
"I'm a woman. It's my right—as is changing my mind."
On the other side of the bulkhead, Matt laughed. "She's got you there, mate."
Fragarach: LOL. No, there won't be a wizarding Count Ruegen who kills Captain Montoya.
Athena McGonagall: I won't get too philosophical, but many justice systems are actually based on the concept of revenge. Okay, retribution is a better word, but it still comes down to the same thing. The only differenece is that governments have taken it out of the hands of individuals.
Numba1: Harry's at a stage in his life that could be equated with the feeling that many Europeans had in the interbellum between WW I and WW II. Avoid war at all costs (even if it meant selling out Sudetenland. Because of his past experiences, Harry is emotionally selling out his own Sudetenland. See what I'm getting at?
mrsean: See previous answer, and this issue will come back in a later chapter. :-)
Chloe Black: Your plea was partially responsible fornthe early post.
Kristus Veranus: Actually, no. The parts about harted clouding judgement and mastery over life and death come from my limited knowledge of philosophy. George Lucas, JRR Tolkien and I probably got them from the same sources.
Gogirl: accepts hug And you get one point, since you're the first one to mention the Princess Bride reference. ;-)
LadySiri: I don't recall any innocent people dying because of Harry. That was Harry's evil clone.
bane: It's good to be back.
Tosca: A fan of The Princess Bride. Why yes! How could you tell? ;-)
Lord Dreanault: 'Only you could make the future of a character look so bleak in a first chapter. . .' Gee, thanks.
Linnet Gryffin: I hope to hear more from you after you've caught up.
Ryoko Tenchi: I'll kill Ginny if I feel like it. Lucky for you, I don't feel like doing it anytime soon. evil grin
darkguyver: It was supposed to be dark.
Kari Lynn Cortez: Foxfur made a reasonable guess about Chapter 1. Now there has been a jump in time again.
Annison: You didn't like the The Princess Bride references??? How could you not like it? ;-) Okay, I see what you mean. It kind of broke the dark mood of the chapter, but that was the whole point.
Gridley: These names are pretty much the only Princess Bride references.
Foxfur: Okay, you weren't the first to mention Princess Bride, but you get a point anyway for accurately guessing the timeframe.
Prozac: I hope you do review more often. I know it is considered impoliteb to ask, but Union hasn unfortunately proven that quite a few people don't review if you don't get on your kness and beg for it. :-(
nycgal: Ron and Hermione only had Raina in chapter 1, but now they also have Christine. Harry and Ginny have Richard (shame on you) and Holly, and Charlie and Jasmine have Charlie Jr and Rose. (double shame on you, since she was already there in Union) And as of Chapter 2, Matt and Gudrun have five kids.
harryronherm09: I'm sorry you fell that way.
Bluerain: Gee, you haven't seen The Princess Bride???
Jake: I rather ejoy it too.
NCDSbookworm: Remus Lupin? Unfortunately very few of the cannon characters outside Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, will feature prominently in this fic. But I'll do my best. Regarding the timeframe, if the story is read carefully enough one can always know the timeframe. I do hide it away in the chapter, but that's because I want to stimulate careful reading.
aznanarchy: Ah, one point to you for recognising the Greek mythology reference, and its connection to the character. All Galatea's brothers and sisters have mythological names. Perse, Thetis, Jason, and Calypso.
charming karma 23: I hope I'll be seeing you more often. Thanks for the review.
ObsessedwithSnuffles: Tears? Good! Mission accomplished.
Velocity: Don't worry. I will be Harry and Wolfe's POV's with a clump of Ginny and an occasional pinch of Ron and Hermione.