"Are you nuts?"

Sam sighed and tried not to let her feelings be hurt. She had, after all, been pretty sure that O'Neill's reaction was going to be something like that, but it was all she had.

"It's not that bad of an idea, Jack," Daniel said, earning him a grateful look from Sam.

"It's a Harry Potter convention, Daniel," Jack told him, scowling. "How can it be anything but a bad idea?"

"It'll prove to Teal'c that it's not some secret society," Daniel pointed out. "If everyone there knows about this Harry Potter kid, then it's obviously not a big secret. Sam says it's pretty popular."

"Fine. Have fun."

Sam hesitated.

"Um… sir…"

"Don't you think you should come?" Daniel asked.

"I think the two of you can keep Teal'c out of trouble just fine without me, don't you?"

"General Hammond would probably prefer that you come with us," Daniel insisted, hoping to appeal to Jack's sense of duty and responsibility. "Don't you think?"

Jack scowled.

"Where dud you say this was? Seattle?"

Sam nodded.

"That settles it, then," he told her.

"You'll come?"

"No. I hate Seattle. It rains 340 days out of the year there. Have fun."

He turned and headed for the door of his office, and then realized it was his office and he didn't have to leave. He went back to his desk and sat down, ignoring their looks.

"I'd pack an umbrella."

"Jack…"

"Daniel. I'm not going. There's absolutely nothing you can say to get me to come to Seattle with you. Now get out of my office."

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking… We'll be landing in Seattle in about twenty minutes. The temperature on the ground is 52 degrees with a heavy rain falling… so I hope you brought umbrellas…"

There was an undertone of chuckles from the people around them on the plane, but Colonel Jack O'Neill only scowled, and looked out at the clouds they were passing through. Rain was pounding against the window he was sitting next to, and the day was about as dark as the looks he kept flashing towards Carter, who had prudently taken the seat next to Daniel on the other side of the aisle from where Jack was sitting next to Teal'c.

"The weather is not conducive to a vacation spent outdoors, O'Neill…" Teal'c said, looking over Jack's shoulder out the window as well. The Jaffa had finished with the second book in the series that Carter had given him and had spent the flight from Colorado reading the third book, which Jack had noticed had a flying something or the other on the cover with some kid riding it.

"Yeah, well… no one ever vacations in Seattle, Teal'c. And never outside."

"Then why would General Hammond suggest such a location for us to spend our down time?"

Jack looked over his shoulder back at Teal'c.

"No one told you why we were coming?"

"No."

"Son of a… Carter!"

The blonde head on the other side of the aisle turned towards him – as did everyone else on the plane. Jack scowled, knowing that this was not the time or place to gripe about it, but he couldn't wait to get off the plane, now. Sort of.

"Is something wrong, O'Neill?"

"No…" He knew he didn't sound very convincing, though. "Everything's fine."

Teal'c shrugged, and went back to reading his book, while Jack sat staring out the window, the scowl on his face giving Sam silent warning that he was going to have a few words to say to her when they finally landed.

OOOOOOOOOO

He managed to hold his silence as the plane landed. He was even quiet as they claimed what little luggage they'd brought with them from the baggage area – they were only going to be in Seattle for the weekend, after all, and didn't need all that much luggage. There was a shuttle van waiting to take them to their hotel, and Sam took the front seat before Jack could get her alone in the back, so he wasn't able to bring it up in conversation then – like he could have with Teal'c right there, anyways.

Finally, though, as they crossed the lobby of the hotel heading for the main desk, Jack managed to fall into step beside Sam as Daniel and Teal'c trailed slightly behind, Daniel to browse through the hotel's gift shop windows, and Teal'c because he'd seen something that had interested him.

"You didn't even tell him why we were coming?"

Sam shook her head.

"General Hammond told me not to. He thought Teal'c might refuse to come if he thought we were setting him up for something."

"I tried to refuse to come, but it didn't do me any good," Jack pointed out.

"I'm sorry, sir."

Of course, Daniel had been the one to approach Hammond with Sam's idea, not Sam, so it was Daniel who was really to blame for suggesting that things might go smoother if Jack were there at the convention with them. Hammond had agreed, and had told Jack, who had still tried to figure out a way to get out of it – but to no avail.

Jack waved off the apology, looking around. He'd expected some kind of signs proclaiming loudly that yes, this was where the Harry Potter convention was going to be held the next morning, but aside from a few more young people than he was used to seeing in a crowd on a Friday there wasn't any sign that the place would be bustling the next morning.

"So what am I supposed to be doing to help, here…?" Jack asked, hoping that whatever he was supposed to be doing could be done quickly. Preferably before he rusted.

"I think that-"

"O'Neill…"

The deep gravelly voice stopped Carter's reply instantly, and they both turned to Teal'c, who had a small boy standing beside him. Jack frowned and Sam groaned at the same moment. The boy was about eight, and was wearing a long black cloak, a pair of dark rimmed glasses and a huge smile. Neatly drawn on his forehead was a small scar, shaped liked lightening,

"Who did you find there, Murray?" Jack asked, wondering if the little boy was lost or something.

"It is Harry Potter, O'Neill."