Author's Note: I know it's been a long while since I've updated, but I've been pretty busy. Away from home, new job, yadda yadda. Anyway, here you go!

Kudos to my reviewers!

Erik's Bride: Thanks for the compliments, I'd been worried about the authenticity of the characters. As for the letters, the reason why they all arrived at once will be explained.

CPO3: He wouldn't be Lupin if he weren't. As for the new professor, we'll have to see.

Ti3nl3i: Again, my friend, you forget what Harry's dealing with. Caedmon has Sidhe blood, and a lot of the creatures running around that house (Caedmon's grandmother included) have Sidhe magic. That's powerful stuff. If she wants Harry to fall asleep and let her play with his hair, then that's what he'll do. Don't worry, there's a reason.

Alexis: Glad you're hooked! Thanks for the review!

Chapter 7

Harry waited on tenterhooks for the promised visits from Ron and Hermione. In the meantime, he kept himself busy by running around in the garden and out in the moors surrounding the house. More than once he spotted moor ponies nearby, but they always moved away from him if he came close.

One day, he was out on the moors like always, walking along a small river and wondering if his friends would show up soon when he spotted a black moor pony standing on the riverbank. It didn't move away when he came closer, and he stood very still, watching it.

It was a bit larger than the other moor ponies, and it stayed where it was, watching him. It shook its mane, seemed to make up its mind about something, and then trotted over to him.

Harry froze. Perhaps this was a pony that had escaped from a nearby farm? If so, then that would explain why it was so tame. He smiled when the pony nudged him in his chest with his nose and whuffed at him. Harry found himself smiling: He had never been this close to a horse before(not counting the unicorns) and he tentatively patted the horse's nose, enjoying the pony's friendliness.

The pony whickered and nudged him again, this time nudging him around to his left side as if in an invitation to mount. Harry stood stock-still, not quite sure, but the pony half-knelt to make getting onto his back easier. There was no clearer invitation than that.

Harry was about to get onto his back when he heard Caedmon shout "DON'T YOU DARE, AHEARN!"

Harry jumped back, surprised, and the horse simply stood there, staring at Caedmon as he stalked up.

"Harry, are you all right?" he asked, looking him over.

"Yes," Harry had to admit. "How did you get out here so fast?"

"I used a bit of magic," Caedmon said, still glaring at the pony. "I saw what was about to happen and got out here quick. Ahearn," he said, addressing the pony, "What did you think you were doing?"

Harry wanted to ask if Ahearn was Caedmon's, but he got the shock of his life when he saw the pony suddenly change into a young man. He was dressed in fashions from the 1700s done in a striking black and silver combination, and Harry was sure that if the girls from school could have seen him, there would have been a fight over who would get to talk to him first. He was incredibly handsome: white skin, blue eyes, blond hair, tall, and he had the grace of a dancer. He was gorgeous enough to cause a riot.

"How did you figure it out, Caedmon?" Ahearn asked, smiling sardonically.

Caedmon glared at him. "The ponies around here aren't tame, and I know you favor black. What did you think you were doing with my ward, Ahearn?"

Ahearn gave Harry a look of mock surprise. "Your ward? Oh, my goodness, me, I had no idea! I was only thinking of the ladies back home, really."

Caedmon glared at him again. "I'm sure."

Ahearn dropped the sarcasm. "All right, I knew he was yours, but I was thinking of the ladies."

"I'm lost," Harry said, looking to Caedmon for an explanation.

"He hasn't told you about his own brother?" Ahearn said, pretending to be shocked. "Little brother, I'm hurt!"

Caedmon just sighed. "Right. The day I hurt your feelings is the day you take a vow of nonindulgence."

Ahearn visibly shuddered.

"Your…brother?" Harry said, somewhat surprised. "And he can turn into a horse?"

"Yes, that's one of his favorite tricks," Caedmon explained while Ahearn just smiled. "He'll disguise himself as a friendly pony and wait for some unwary mortal to come along. He'll either toss them into the river or he'll run off with them to Grandfather's court."

You were going to try to drown me?" Harry demanded, angry now.

"No, not at all," Ahearn hastened to reassure him. "Like I said, I was thinking of the ladies back home. They would treat you like a prince just because of those green eyes, you see. They're quite fabulous, and they like the company of a young mortal man every now and then. When you are older, I'm sure that one of them would love to have you as a husband, if just to make sure that her children had those eyes."

Harry didn't know what to say, but Caedmon did.

"Don't even think it, Ahearn," he snarled. "The ladies will have to find their amusement elsewhere. You came here for a reason, now what is it?"

Ahearn visibly rolled his eyes. "Business like always, isn't it, little brother?" he said. "All right. I have some letters for you."

"From?"

"Grandfather and Lady Alyssa," Ahearn said, pulling out two envelopes from his pocket. "She begged me to bring you a letter, and he ordered me to, so here I am."

Caedmon took them both and glared at them. Harry noticed he was wearing gloves. "Are you to wait for an answer?"

"Yes, but I'll wait outside. That house you insist on using is far too confining. Just come find me when you have an answer."

Caedmon nodded. "Harry, come with me, please. I don't trust this lout."

Ahearn only grinned.

Space

"He's your brother?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Yes," Caedmon muttered as he pulled out a quill, ink, and some parchment. "He's full-blooded Sidhe, while I'm…" Caedmon stopped and seemed to consider his words. "Not."

"You don't like him?"

Caedmon considered this. "He's just played too many tricks for me to trust him, really, and we're far apart enough in age to have difficulty relating to one another. He's several hundred years older than I am."

"Wow," Harry said, surprised. The last person he'd heard of that was several hundred years old had been Nicolas Flamel.

"You don't share the same parents, do you?" Harry asked. "After all, if he's full blood…"

Caedmon shook his head. "No, we don't, and thank goodness. All we share is a father and grandparents. His mother was willing to take care of me after my mother died, and she is the type of woman who enjoys making a pet out of a child—you know, leaving all the difficult things like feeding and diapers and discipline to a nurse while having the child appear in public with her every now and then, all dressed up like a little doll. She would have me sit on her lap and she'd cuddle me and try to feed me tidbits; things like that. Sometimes I felt like a lapdog instead of a person."

Harry winced. "How long did that go on?"

Caedmon considered this. "Harry, how much do you know about the Sidhe?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Not much," he admitted.

"Well, Sidhe and those with Sidhe blood age differently from full mortals, some faster and some slower. I was one who aged slowly," Caedmon explained. "My mother had me when she was twenty, and she died fifty years later. When she died, I was about the size of a five-year-old child. Oh, Mother had taught me to read and write and things like that, my mind could understand learning, but in many ways, I was still a child with a child's mind, and I was unable to take care of myself, so Ahearn's mother agreed to take me when my grandfather asked her to. My grandmother, unfortunately, was unable to get to me before he did, so I was raised in his court. Once I reached a certain age, I mean; once I was equal with a mortal sixteen-year-old, I was able to leave and go where I wished. I have to tell you, I was never so happy to grow up. It was more than one hundred mortal years before I matured enough to leave."

Harry took all of this in, surprised at Caedmon's sudden confidences, but pleased nonetheless. He also felt a great deal of pity for Caedmon's long childhood in a place he hated. He could relate to that completely. It made Harry's years at the Dursleys' seem like a few minutes. "When was this? Where did you go after that?" He was unable to keep his curiosity under wraps any longer.

Caedmon smiled. "It was 1802 when I left my grandfather. I sought out my grandmother, and she taught me all about my Sidhe blood and why I was different from all of the other children at my grandfather's court. She also helped me understand what being a half-blood meant, and she taught me how to live either as a Sidhe or a human. She was also the person who taught me magic."

"How long were you there?"

Caedmon smiled again as he finished the letter to his grandfather. "I'm still here, Harry. You may not have understood what you've been hearing or seeing, but this is where she holds her court. We would be here every summer, and in the winter we would be in a castle up north. I prefer my grandmother, really. She treated me as a young man, not as a child, and I truly appreciated that."

"She mentioned work that you do—" Harry began, but he stopped, unsure if he should continue.

"Work against Voldemort," Caedmon told him, smiling at Harry's surprise. "You see, there are ways that the Sidhe can be controlled, imprisoned, or otherwise used by someone else. I've been making sure that all of those ways are being rendered useless. Basically, I'm setting up what could be described as a loophole spell, and so far, the Sidhe are safe from Voldemort."

Harry felt himself shiver. "I can't imagine what he would be like if he had Sidhe magic."

"I can," Caedmon said grimly. "I've had nightmares about it." He looked down at the letter he still had to answer and snarled.

Harry grinned, feeling mischievous. "Is that the one from Lady Alyssa?"

"Was it my nauseated look that gave it away, or my obvious annoyance?" Caedmon asked, picking up a small pair of tongs. Harry noticed that he was still wearing gloves.

"Both, really. What's with the tongs and gloves?"

Caedmon made a small grimace as he broke the letter's seal. "Sometimes she'll include a nice little spell for me, and the effects of her spells are not pleasant."

"Then why do you open them?" Harry asked, not understanding.

"Ever receive a Howler?"

"Oh."

Caedmon waved his hand a few times over the letter before giving a huge sigh of relief. "It's all right, the only thing that's on this letter is perfume and that ridiculous purple ink," he said, reading it. A few minutes later he groaned. "If I've told her once, I've told her a thousand times that I couldn't care less for her…WHAT! What does she mean, my proposal of marriage!"

A tenor laugh answered him, and Ahearn appeared on the hearth rug. "You should have seen your face!" he howled. "Ooh, it was priceless!"

"Ahearn," Caedmon began dangerously, but his brother interrupted him.

"Don't worry, that letter is a fake. She isn't thinking of marriage, only pining away for love of you," he said, pulling a different one out of his pocket. "It was a bit of work to produce that letter, but oh, it was worth it!"

Caedmon took the letter that Ahearn held out to him, quickly read it, scrawled an answer on the back of it, and handed it back to his brother. "Never do that again," he growled.

"I'm not making any promises," Ahearn said, grinning. "You'll just have to live with it."

With that, Ahearn vanished, still laughing.

"Git," Caedmon muttered. Harry smiled, thinking how much like Fred and George Ahearn was, and how Caedmon resembled Ron when he was annoyed.

Space

Harry was up in bed that night, ignoring a storm outside and reading a book that Caedmon had loaned him entitled The Sidhe: A History and an Illumination. It described the history of the Sidhe people, from their beginnings to how they had been driven underground by the Milesians (the first mortals), their interactions with mortals from that time, and what their motivations, mores, and customs were. Harry found himself unable to believe that someone had actually been able to write a guide about the Sidhe. It sounded almost like the foreign country guides that tourists bought before they went abroad.

Harry was deep in the descriptions of the physical characteristics of the Sidhe when he heard someone pounding down on the front door. He heard Caedmon go downstairs and open it, and a moment later… "Harry! There's someone here to see you!"

Wondering who it was, Harry left his room and froze at the top of the steps, his face breaking into a grin when he saw Ron and Hermione dripping on the mat.