Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else, and that's the way of it.

Old Family Story

They kept things light and centered on catching up until Harry's cellphone signaled an incoming text from Eggsy. Apologizing to Chloe for the interruption Harry pulled his phone out to check it, the message stating simply that Eggsy and Daisy were about five minutes away. Texting a return message that stated he was looking forward to seeing them Harry sent it and then returned his phone to his pocket before returning his attention to Chloe, who was smirking at him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing you say." Harry didn't believe that for a minute. "I see."

"Given your smile I assume that that was Eggsy and he'll be here momentarily? They made excellent time given that the park isn't that far from your home."

Not about to touch the matter of him smiling over the text Harry just repeated the message to her, confirming that yes, they were almost here. Which reminded him…

"I'll inform him of your belief that he's a house elf. It will come better from me."

"That's sounds wise, yes."

"And if you start insinuating that there's anything romantic or sexual in my relationship with Eggsy while in the boy or his sister's presence you and I shall have words. And we will not part on remotely good terms." Harry put a bit of a lash into the words so she'd know how serious he was about this.

"The fact that you kept your hands off Redwall makes it clear how you feel about the boy. But you have my word I won't bring it up."

"I can't tell you how lovely it is to know you think so highly of me."

"Oh don't get your knickers in a twist. I just meant that you didn't even hit on the boy. And now that he knows I believe him about your aura I would imagine he's ego will be smarting for a while. Though having seen Eggsy for himself I don't imagine he'll be too put out."

Multiple responses came to mind, but fighting just before Eggsy showed up for the sole purpose of meeting Chloe didn't strike Harry as the best idea he'd ever had. So instead he suggested they do each other the favor of not talking about this anymore.

She probably thought the way she pretended to zip up her lips was funny.

Settling into somewhat comfortable silence, the quiet before the storm, Harry mused darkly, he was relieved minutes later when there came a knocking on the door, signaling the his family had arrived.

Getting to his feet and coming out from behind his desk, Harry called out for them to enter, the smile on his face freezing just a little when Eggsy came into the room with Daisy on his hip, a bright smile for him on both their faces.

Eggsy was wearing one of the shirts he'd given him.

The sleeves of the lightweight, navy blue dress shirt were rolled up carefully to the elbows, the shirt open enough at the throat that the boy's beloved medal was in full view. The top was paired with one of Eggsy's nicer pairs of jeans, and it was a nice, casual look that Harry would have approved on if he could just get his mind off this primitive urge to see Eggsy' in his shirt as a symbol of claiming. It was foolish and beyond idiotic, but Harry found himself wanting to do something very stupid like tell Eggsy how handsome he looked or put a possessive arm around the other man's waist.

"Hi, Unca Harry!"

Thank you, Daisy, Harry silently told her as he just managed to tear his gaze away to look at his ward, who was now dressed in a white sundress covered in sunflowers, the straw hat from earlier still perched on her loose curls.

"Hello, Flower. I hear you were having a lot of fun at the park."

"Uh huh."

Eggsy said a soft hello as well, which Harry returned as he watched Eggsy set Daisy down on her feet, the little girl looking back and forth from him to the unknown occupant in the room. She seemed to be sizing Chloe up and possibly debating the wisdom of leaving the safety of Eggsy's side to come over to him. Or at least she was glancing in his direction while holding Mr. Fox tight against her chest.

Solving the problem for her Harry walked over and picked her up, settling her on his hip before he walked back over to Chloe, Eggsy moving in to stand at his side "Chloe, I'd like to introduce you to my ward Daisy and her older brother Eggsy. Eggsy, Daisy, this is my good friend Chloe."

"Hi." Daisy said shyly, a sentiment Eggsy echoed with the addition of a 'nice to meet you' as he held out a hand for Cloe to shake.

"The pleasures all mine. Any family of Harry's is family to me." As she shook Eggsy's hand Chloe placed her other hand over the back of his for added contact. "And thank you both for interrupting your time in the park just to see me. I'll have Harry take you out for ice cream or some other treat to make it up to you."

Daisy's whole face lit up as she looked up at Harry. "Ice cream?"

Chuckling, Harry assured her that ice cream could be arranged.

"And Eggsy, as a good friend of Harry's I want to thank you, personally, for the excellent care you've been giving him. I haven't seen him so hale and hearty in decades."

Harry gave her a less than amused look. "Thank you for that."

Chuckling, Eggsy gave Harry's shoulder a friendly squeeze before stating that it was his pleasure. "And I'm glad ta hear that your scan of im turned out the same as the other bloke's. Merlin said ya could maybe give me some tips about what he needs ta be careful about food wise and such?"

And there was his cue.

"Actually Merlin used that as a lure to get you here, Eggsy. Chloe wants to discuss with you the reason why she believes I'm in such good health." A pause. "To put it bluntly she doesn't believe neither you nor Daisy are entirely human."

The look on the boy's face…gobsmacked was the word that came to mind.

"Are you taking the piss with me?"

"No. Her scans of my body revealed the presence of elvish magic. Magic she traced back to you and Daisy."

"I don't gots no pointy ears, Unca Harry."

"No, my darling girl, you don't. We're assuming the elvish blood was added long enough ago that you don't look like elves."

Eggsy opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, staring off into space for a minute or two while Daisy chortled about being an elf.

"Bloody hell. It's true? Grandad always said that Gran Gran was just having me on. And Gran Gran was pretty damn small. But hell…I ain't that short, am I?"

The imploring look Eggsy gave him had Harry returning the man's earlier gesture of a shoulder squeeze. "You're average height for a white male."

"And I take it your great-grandmother told you…?"

Eggsy shrugged his shoulders in Chloe's direction. "Well she said her grandmother was an elf. A special kind, only I can't remember what it was cause she said the word in elvish and I could never pronounce it right anyways. It was just, the story, it was so cliché ya know? Forbid love between a master of the house and his servant, the two runnin off together when his family wouldn't let them get married. Ya really think we've got elvish blood?"

"House elf blood to be exact."

"House-like Dobby from 'Harry Potter'?!"

Before the boy could take offense to that comparison Harry hastened to explain that Rowling had got it rather wrong when it came to the physicality of house elves. And their personalities and habits.

"Still…bloody hell. I'll have ta give im a ring. If he's having a good day Grandad will get a right kick out of this. Probably. Maybe I should ask one of the docs there first, just in case."

Harry knew from the file Merlin had generated on Eggsy that his and Daisy's grandfather was in an assisted living facility in Surrey. His living arrangements, combined with his age, were the main reasons why he had never been considered a possible guardian for his only granddaughter. Harry had gathered from Eggsy that the man had problems with his memory as well, and only remembered that his only child was dead some of the time. Or even that he'd ever had a child, much less grandchildren.

Eggsy snapped his fingers. "I don't know if it's important, but Gran Gran did say that the bloke who married the elf was magic too. That that's where Grandad and she got their Air Gifts from."

Chloe gave Harry a knowing look. "A Gifted family, one with enough status to warrant a house elf. No wonder Merlin couldn't find anything."

"I'll have Merlin look into the more prominent families and see if he can't find someone of the appropriate age who disappeared from the records. The family might have been able to erase him from their personal and even public records, but the Kingsman ones should be another story." Unless a member of the family had arranged for the man to be stricken from their records as well. And heaven help the person who'd done the altering if that was the case. Merlin would hunt him or her down relentlessly if they were still alive. And show no mercy.

"Unca Harry? I magic wike yous?"

Looking down at her excited face, Harry smiled at her. "Yes, My Flower. You are."

Crouching down so that she was closer to Daisy's height, Chloe gave her a conspiratory grin. "Would you like to see how magic you are?"

"Peas!"

"Then off we shall go!"

Together the four of them left Harry's office and headed down into the tailor shop, Chloe inquiring of Thomas as to whether or not one of the fitting rooms was available. As it turned out Fitting Room Three was, and off they went to all squeeze together into the space. Thank goodness Daisy was small and still quite happy to remain where she was on Harry's hip.

Once they were all inside Chloe asked that Harry stand in front of the mirror with Daisy in his arms while Eggsy was to stand beside them. Oh, and they were to each reach out across their bodies to take the other's hand. Or they could just hold hands if they'd prefer.

When Eggsy gave him a questioning look Harry shifted Daisy over to his other side and then offered his hand to Eggsy, who took it. He also couldn't help but look at their entwined fingers for a moment or two longer than he should have. He liked the way their hands looked linked

"Now everyone look at the mirror and I'll show you the magic that lives in all three of you."

Turning his attention back to the mirrors, and trying his very best to ignore how much he liked the look of the three of them together as a family, Harry was looking at their reflections right up until Chloe placed a hand on his back, the other presumably on Eggsy's as their forms went bright with rainbow colors.

A bright, happy squeal from Daisy.

"Well fuck."

Quite, Harry silently agreed.

Harry knew what his aura was supposed to look like; he'd had healers harp at him about it enough. They also often thought visuals were necessary as his head was too 'thick' to get what they were trying to tell him. And he'd expected for it to look a lot better than it had the last time he's seen it, both because he wasn't a foot from death's door and because of the influence Redwall had said Eggsy had had on him, but he hadn't expected for it to be this obvious. And in more ways than one.

His colors were as bright as they'd been decades ago. Around Eggsy's age, really. And while mentally he was comparing what the various colors meant and insinuated, both his own aura and those of the other two who were even brighter and more beautiful than his own, Harry found that his attention kept returning to his and Eggsy's linked hands. And the fact that he could literally see…their magic interacting there. More than interacting. Meshing. Perfectly.

Their Gifts, Air and Water, were not compatible ones, and his blood was selkie while Eggsy was elvish. There should be a great deal of dissonance between their auras, with his own winning out simply because he had more magic and training. But their auras weren't fighting at all. All around his body were hints of silver and violet strands, elvish magic, and there was no sign that his body was doing anything but welcoming that magic. And where their hands meant, the golden aura that existed outside their bodies but instead glowed between their bodies, linking them….well that meant one thing and one thing only.

He and Eggsy were, on a magical level, highly compatible.

Which explained how the boy had been able to cause so much change in him, at least. And also most likely why Eggsy's magic could affect him given how thin the elvish blood was in him. Because they were compatible Harry's magic had both accepted and apparently instinctively amplified Eggsy's magic so that it could be that much stronger and effective.

"Unca Harry. Wook."

In the mirror Harry watched Daisy pat his jaw, the little girl fascinated by the way their auras reacted to each other. Which is to say his was overpowering hers completely, leading to shifting colors and waves.

"This is weird. Are our magics supposed ta react like this?" Holding up their joined hands for emphasis between them, Eggsy looked up at Harry questioningly.

"I've never seen my magic interact with a house elf's before, so I'm afraid I can't tell you." It wasn't a lie, exactly, but Harry didn't want to talk about what he did know. And could only hope Chloe would take pity on him and NOT add to their line of inquiry.

Surprisingly, she did.

Which is to say that she launched into an explanation about magical theory, auras, and those of the Blood in a speech that seemed to be designed to confuse the hell out of the boy since the woman had never learned to break things down into layman terms that even someone familiar with the topics could understand, much less someone without any training like Eggsy.

Both Eggsy and Daisy's eyes were glazed over in less than three minutes.

)

Eggsy eyes were still a little glazed when Friday rolled around, the younger man having spent large portions of his time since the big revelation reading up on the Fae, auras, and magic in general. The boy had even bribed Merlin with promises of treats if he could find him information on house elves, as Harry's library didn't contain any books on them. Or at least not ones that didn't just mention them in passing. Eggsy was personally offended by this now that he knew he was partially one, especially since the only references he had in his head were Dobby, Winky and Kreacher from 'Harry Potter', even though Harry, Chloe and Merlin had all told him that Rowling had gotten nothing right about house elves save for their love of cooking and cleaning. But they couldn't introduce the boy to another house elf because none of them were personally acquainted with anyone who knew one. At least as far as they knew.

Glancing over at the only male house elf of his acquaintance, Harry made note of Eggsy's frown as the boy glared at the book he'd been reading since they'd gotten into the car. "What troubles you about this one?"

"Why the hell does every mention of my kind have ta start with calling us short or fucking little?!"

Ah. Yes. As it turned out Eggsy was more sensitive about his height than Harry had previously known. And though his heritage meant that Eggsy was lucky to be as tall as he was….Eggsy didn't see it that way.

"I would imagine their lack of knowledge is to blame. One can only write so well about things or people they truly know nothing about."

"Too right."

"We're almost as the shop Miss. Morton is meeting us at. Perhaps she can shed some light on the subject. I believe her mother's family tree contains several individuals from families who likely had house elves working for them at some point."

"Cheers." Looking up from the book Eggsy glanced around them. "Where are we exactly?"

"A few streets over from Jasper's yoga studio. The first store we're visiting, and hopefully the only one, isn't one of the established shops for children but a relatively new one. According to the Miss. Morton her cousin raved about this place as it's apparently very child friendly and less…restrained in its offerings. Clothes children actually enjoy wearing as opposed to small versions of their parents' preferred attire."

The reminder of where they were going had Harry glancing into the rear view mirror to check on his quiet ward. He had to smile at the sight of Daisy bopping her head in time to whatever music was currently coming through the headphones on her head.

"What's she listening to?"

"Labyrinth soundtrack."

"As in David Bowie?"

"Magic Dance is her new jam now that she knows she's got magic."

"Have you shown her the movie?"

"Nah. She ain't got the patience ta sit that long…plus I figure she ain't quite old enough for it besides. And I don't want ta have ta explain those tight breeches ta her."

"Yes. No one wants to explain those."

They both got a laugh over that.