Chapter 9: Back in the UK, shopping, Teddy, Petunia, and takeoff.
Wednesday, August 8th, 2018
The young Potter couple had arrived back in the UK two days earlier after spending seven full days on their honeymoon, which ended with somewhat of a surprise. Today, Goodnight was with Lily Helen and Victoire Weasley in Diagon Alley to start their shopping to furnish the young couple's apartment.
The apartment was next to the larger garage portion of the Carriage House, and it consisted of four main rooms, with two downstairs, and two upstairs, including a powder room and bath, which were magically expanded with expansion charms. The downstairs consisted of a living area and a kitchen with a dinette, and the upstairs held two bedrooms. It was where Jimmie's great aunt had once lived with his cousin, Dudley before she moved into the Garden House after Hermione and Ron moved closer to the Burrow.
Jimmie knew that they needed furniture, and a whole host of other items, which he was no good at picking out, so he intended on waiting for them to conclude their shopping spree at the Wands & Wizards Café at Carkitt Market that afternoon, though he was to meet Teddy there at noon as well after he left for lunch.
Jimmie walked inside the Café after saying hello to several wizards and witches that he knew. Inside, he walked up to the bar and bought himself a pint of Guinness stout.
"Hey Ivy," Jimmie said to the bartender, "My older brother, Teddy, will be by in a mo', so direct him to me. I'll be back by the billiards table."
"Will do, Mr. Greengrass-Potter," Ivy replied, as she continued washing and rinsing several glass mugs in the bar sink.
Jimmie walked into the billiard room, and nobody was there, so he picked up a cue, and broke the racked balls already on the table. They went in every direction upon the red felt carpet, and two sank. Here, he played by himself, while only stopping to take a swig of his Guinness every few shots, until he heard someone enter just as he sank the eight ball.
"You're getting better, Jim," Teddy said with a grin, "especially if you don't cheat using magic!"
"I'll have you know," Jimmie indignantly replied, but with a smirk, "that I never cheat!" At Teddy's snort, Jimmie placed the cue in the rack. "Ready for lunch?"
"Yup," Teddy said, "I'm starving."
"Well," Jimmie said, as he motioned toward the dining area, "let's go find us a table. Besides, I'm ready for another pint!"
The two made their way through the door and found a table in front of the large bow window that looked out onto the flagstone street, where they could watch all the visitors at the market. They sat their mugs down upon the table, and seated themselves, as Teddy let out a sigh.
"Tough day in the bullpen?" Jimmie asked, as Ivy came from behind the bar, and took his mug to refill it.
"Yea, you could say that," Teddy said, as he looked outside through the window, "but the fraud office is getting to me. They always use me, because of my inherited gift, to set up the con artists, and that's getting old. I'm doing most of the work, while the others have it much easier."
"Really?" Jimmie questioned. Surely, he wouldn't be thinking about..., but he promised Mark that he wouldn't mention anything.
"Yea," Teddy said, as he looked back around at Jimmie, and smiled, as he picked up his menu. "I'm thinking about a new line of work."
Warning bells rang loudly in Jimmie's mind. Jimmie would love it if his older brother would join DOCS, but he wouldn't say anything to influence what Teddy might want.
"I'm thinking about quitting, Jim," Teddy said, as he tried to decide what to order, "and join Bill at Gringotts."
"Curse breaking?" Jimmie asked as he was truly surprised, but Teddy had the talent for it.
"Yup," Teddy said, just as the waitress walked up to their table.
Both ordered, where Teddy ordered a medium-rare London broil steak with black garlic chimichurri sauce, and a large order of fries on the side, with fresh bread. He had his pint of stout refilled as well.
Jimmie, on the other hand, ordered a large Italian sandwich of parma ham, with thin-sliced mortadella sausage, and parmesan cheese on fresh-cut bread. He had also ordered a side of onion rings to go with it.
Once the waitress walked away, Jimmie studied Teddy. "You think that you'll like it?"
"Yup," Teddy replied after taking a long gulp of his stout, "and I believe that it will be safer than the Aurors, or working for Da' at the DOCS. Vic wants to settle down, and start having sprogs, which I believe is because of her Veela heritage, and her gran', Molly, is lookn' for more grandchildren."
"But, what do you want?" Jimmie inquired.
"The same, really," Teddy said, "as I love Vic, and we've put off getting married for two years now. I don't want the life of mu..., you know - my blood parents. Both had dangerous professions, and look at what happened to them. Plus, the profession that Mum and Da' are in now is dangerous, and I know that you know about that, what with you and Goodnight starting out in that very field. Besides, I don't care for international travel all that much, unless it's to go to Jamaica, or to France to visit Vic's aunt, gran', and grandda'."
Here, Jimmie nodded. "Whatever makes you happy, Teddy, that's what I want, and look, here comes our lunch!"
After Teddy took a bite of his steak and wiped his mouth with the napkin in his lap, he glanced over at Jimmie, before he started to cut off another piece. "What happened at the end of your honeymoon? Da' nor Mum will say."
"Well," Jimmie said, after he swallowed a mouthful of his sandwich down, and wiped his mouth with his napkin, "after we saw everyone off at the great house, I took Goodnight on a tour of the estate, and then we went swimming that afternoon in the sea and lagoon. The next day, we drove to Kingston and did a bit of sightseeing and shopping. It went on something similar to that until our last evening at supper, when we were making our way to the Bizot Bar. They were to have another band that night, and we were to sit with Mr. Blackenwell and Ernie."
Here, Jimmie looked around, and with a casual wave of his hand under the table, he cast a privacy charm.
"As we walked out of the villa, I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and I could just sense that something wasn't right. I had Goodnight to wait, where I rushed back inside and grabbed Da's invisibility cloak, which he left with me. I came back out and told Goodnight to act normally, and take her seat by Mr. Blackenwell.
"She did just that and told them that I would be a little late. While I was walking around the Bizot's grounds while hidden under the cloak, I noticed a man that hadn't been there all week, and he was acting a little dodgy. When I walked up behind him, I noticed that he had a wand in the back pocket of his Bermuda shorts and that something was stuffed down the back of his waistband, which was making his shirt bulge out. It was a bloody pistol."
"You're shittin' me, mate!" Teddy exclaimed, with wide eyes.
"No, I wish I was. The man made his way over to Mr. Blackenwell and introduced himself. He claimed to be an Albanian tourist and a businessman who was in the shipping business. However, as he shook Mr. Blackenwell's hand, he was reaching behind his back with his left hand, and fumbling for the pistol in his waistband.
"I dropped him with a stunner, and Ernie immediately used an incarcerous spell on him. This, of course, led to a whole lot of trouble, as several muggles witnessed everything. Ernie summoned the new Jamaican minister with his patronus, and he came with his Aurors, where Ernie and Mr. Blackenwell explained everything. They then had to obliviate everyone, except for us and Mr. Blackenwell.
"He was another hitman, who had been sent to take out Mr. Blackenwell over him allowing us to hold our academic training at Goldeneye. There's a mob boss in Europe behind it, and now, the MIA and the DOCS are hot on his tail. They thought that it could have been me and Goodnight that were their targets at first."
"Damn, Jim," Teddy replied, as he took a huge swig of his stout. His brother, Teddy thought, was a trouble magnet.
"They had to move our training to a different place," Jimmie finished, "which is not far away at the Laughing Waters Villa. They rented it for a week off the Jamaican government. Goodnight and I are going to stay in the upstairs apartment at mum's guest house. Goodnight liked the upstairs veranda and view, so mum is going to have a queen-sized bed put up there in place of the two singles."
"Godric's balls," Teddy exclaimed, "you don't think that this was tied to the guy they found at the croc farm, do you?"
"It was," Jimmie replied, "as he was a local hitman that the MIA had caught going after Mr. Blackenwell, and they took him out. Since he failed, they sent one of their own."
"Took him out?" Teddy questioned, and Jimmie drew his index finger across his throat.
Teddy shook his head at this, shuddered, and went back to his lunch. As a matter of fact, this helped him make his decision.
The two close brothers, in all but blood, ate their lunch, and then, Jimmie watched as Teddy flooed back to the ministry using the cafe's huge fireplace. Here, he sighed and made his way outside to visit the shops and Gringotts, as he needed to take out a few galleons to do he and his wife for the week. He was going to do just enough grocery shopping to do them until August 13th, and, of course, they were always welcome to dine at he and Goodnight's parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle's, or at his great aunt's home. That reminded him that he should stop by and visit his auntie Petunia while in the alley. She seemed to be a bit sprier these days, now that she was dating the head hit wizard, Mr. Lagavulin, who had family in the whiskey business. Dudley seemed to like the man as well, and Mr. Lagavulin always gave his da' a fifth of "limited edition," twelve-year-old single malt scotch every Christmas, which was a mild sipping whiskey.
Jimmie thought about his great aunt, who he remembered not looking as healthy as she did now when she had just left her nutter husband, Vernon. He could remember her from when he was a little over two. It would have been a wonder if she would have lived until now, Jimmie thought, if she hadn't left. After all, he had overheard his da' and mum discussing Petunia's nervous condition, and the use of gin with a sedative, which seemed to disappear after she joined their world.
Vernon never really came out of his paranoid mania, and it was said that he had a nervous tic about him. He now lived with his overweight sister and had become a used car salesman in Surrey after losing his job at Grunnings. Dudley said that his health wasn't very good at all and that he now had heart problems.
Dudley, Jimmie thought with a snort, was a self-proclaimed bachelor, and he liked dating many women. However, he had one now, a Mrs. Evelyn Elizabeth Stokes, and Stokes was an old Norman family surname from Wales. Her family, though, had been in Devon for several generations, and she was a physical combat instructor at the Police Training College in Exeter, which is how she met Dudley after he joined the force. Come to find out, officer Stokes was also a witch, who had been schooled at Ilvermorny in the states. She had stayed with her uncle and aunt, who lived in New York, where they ran a shop in the wizarding district on the edge of Greenwich Village when she attended school. Dudley and she were now shacking up with each other.
Jimmie chortled here, as his da' said that the New York City wizarding quarter was located close to Greenwich Village, because if a muggle witnessed anything, then nobody would believe it to be weird in that area, over the weird muggles that lived within the village. The quarter, itself, took up three square city blocks to the north, and close to the Hudson River, where it was all hidden from the muggles, or the no-majes, as the Yanks called them, like Diagon Alley was.
His father even mentioned a quite seedy underground bar, which was in the basement of one of their wizarding buildings, and it was run by a fat goblin gangster. They had a troll pit as well, where they fought trolls and gambled, and they had a small casino off to the side, plus, they run hookers from there as well. It was not a gentlemen's establishment by any means. Evidently, it had been a wizarding speakeasy when prohibition was in both the muggle and magical governments, where it later became famous for it.
Ah well, Jimmie thought, as he turned, and made his way inside Gringotts. They didn't seem to like him here, because he was his father's son. This made Jimmie snort.
Jimmie walked into his great aunt's shop later on that afternoon and noticed her arguing with a customer at the counter. Here, Jimmie smirked, crossed his arms over his chest, and silently walked up behind the arguing wizard.
"I'm tellin' ya, tha' is too much," The wizard complained. "I'll give ya a galleon and one sickle - not a knut more."
"We do not barter on prices in this shop," Petunia stated with a sniff. "If you want that cleaner, then it will be the full price and nothing less! Now, that will be one galleon, and five sickles please."
"Trouble, Auntie?" Jimmie stated in an even but loud voice, which made the old wizard almost jump out of his shoes.
When the old wizard turned around, he had to look up, and there he saw a young man with green eyes and a mop of messy black hair. He knew who he was, of course, and it wasn't his father, who he also knew. No, this young lad was a very powerful wizard, if what people were saying about him was true. "Er, uh, uh, young Mr. Greengrass-Potter, it's so good to see you again!"
"Hello, Mr. Ogden," Jimmie replied, as he fought to keep the smirk off his face, "and I would have to agree with my dear Auntie Petunia, in that she cannot barter on the price, as that is set by my father."
"Er, uh, right you are, Mr. Greengrass-Potter," Ogden said, as he hurried with his coin pouch, where he paid his aunt in full. "It's good to see you both," Ogden said, as he tipped his hat three times, while he hurriedly made his way to the door, and left.
Jimmie, nor Petunia, could hold it in, and they both chortled out.
"The nerve of that man," Petunia said, "and he's wealthy too!"
"Of course, he is," Jimmie snorted, "as he owns Old Ogden's Distillery. I'll bet that he thought that he would get one over on the family because we're now his major competitor."
"Want some tea, Jim?" Petunia asked as she went into the back to make herself a cuppa.
"I could stand with a cup," Jimmie replied and followed Petunia into the back. He walked over to the small kitchenette, helped her make both cups, and then walked back out onto the sales floor, where he sat down on one of the stools behind the counter.
"Where's Goodnight?" Petunia asked. She was sitting in an older arts and crafts Morris chair in the corner, which was close to her small desk, upon which an adding machine sat, along with several rolls of parchment, and a thick leather ledger book, beside a bottle of ink, and a fountain pen.
"Oh, she's off on a shopping spree today for the apartment," Jimmie explained, as he took his first sip, "and I'm as useless as Da' when it comes to picking out furnishings, etc. She's off with Lily Helen and Victoire Weasley, and by now, they're probably in muggle London at a furniture store. I just gave her my bank card, and told her to have at it!
"They're supposed to meet me back here in the alley, and then all of us will have supper at the restaurant of their choice," Jimmie said. "I hope that Teddy can get off work, and dine with us since I believe that Mike will be joining Lily Helen." Here, Jimmie snorted.
"You don't like Lily's boyfriend?" Petunia asked with a piercing look.
"Oh, he's alright, I guess. A bit of a slacker, but Mum and Da' know his family, and they like him. Of course, I don't think anyone is good enough for my sister."
Petunia smirked and took a sip of her tea. "You'll be working with his father before long, you know."
"What?" Jimmie asked in surprise. "You know about his da'?"
"Of course I do, as I've met several of them," Petunia explained. "Finnigan was who helped Dudley and I all those years ago, and after that, I've met several under your parents' employee. Many shops here, you know, including Mike's parents."
Jimmie thought about that for a minute and batted his eyes. "Yea, I guess you're right, but I just never thought about it." It somehow seemed odd to him about how all the DOCS operatives had lives of their own and went about in public as they pleased.
"You've much to learn, James Cyrus," Petunia said, as she stood to greet her next customer. It was Madam Malkin from across the alley, who used Petunia to source some of her muggle clothing through. Petunia had just sold the old seamstress a load of children's woolen socks.
Monday, August 13th, 2018
Jimmie woke up and slipped out of his and his wife's new bed, which was now in their apartment. She had bought an antique bedroom set, including a large matching armoire. The bed was a four-poster, and the posts were carved in a spiral, which looked like four large serpents spiraling their way to the top, where each was capped off with a wooden ball. There was a white gauze-like hanging that stretched across the top rails, from front to back, which had a little sag in the center. It was really a mosquito net that could be pulled down during the summer.
Jimmie made his way to the bathroom and closed the door. If anyone had been awake, such as his wife, she would have belted out a loud laugh, as soon, a rude, wet, and echoing farting sound emanated from the loo, and one could hear Jimmie muttering: "Merlin's balls, what in the hell did I eat yesterday!"
About thirty minutes later, the door finally opened, and Jimmie emerged while still toweling his hair dry. He looked in on Goodnight, and she was still asleep since it was only 6:45 in the morning. He tossed the towel down on the settee at the foot of the bed, and quickly put on his bathrobe before he headed down the stairs to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, Jimmie made his way over to their AGA "Mercury" six-burner range, where he picked up the kettle, took it over to the sink, filled it, and then placed it back on one of the AGA's front burners. He turned the correct knob, and a gas fire lighted underneath it.
Next, Jimmie gave out a loud yawn, and then made his way back toward the sink, as he scratched the right cheek of his bum through his robe and boxers, where he looked out the window at the upper pasture. It was another foggy morning, he noticed, as daylight was just starting to break. Finally, he turned and made his way into the living room, where he lighted the three split logs in the fireplace's hearth with a flick of his wand.
Next, he made his way back into the kitchen and opened the cupboard door beside the sink, where he took down one of his favorite toys. It was a solid glass Chemex Coffeemaker like Bond used. It looked like a glass lab flask with a wide mouth funnel formed into the top. In the funneled top portion, he formed a square-shaped coffee filter into a cone, placing it inside as he yawned again, and then he began to add several spoonfuls of Blue Mountain coffee to it. Just as he put the coffee up, the kettle whistled, so he picked it up, and started to slowly pour the hot water onto the coffee in the filter. Slowly, but surely, a small stream of coffee started to run from the bottom of the filter, and into the lower flask. He did this until the kettle was empty.
It would take a few minutes to run through, making four cups, so he walked back into the living room, and turned on the telly with the remote. He switched channels until he found the news, as he wanted to see what the weather would be like. It was a shame that Nostradamus wasn't there, as he would have known for sure if rain was coming, which could interrupt the flights out of Heathrow.
Inside the British Airways Heathrow gate was where he and Goodnight had to be at ten o'clock that morning, in order to catch their plane to Newark at 10:50. Just as he thought this, he heard the shower running upstairs, which meant that Goodnight was up and about. Once they had their coffee, they both needed to quickly eat and dress, as his father and mother were flooing with them to the airport to see them off. They would floo from the manor, just after they had their breakfast with his parents.
Jimmie shook his head as he stood, and made his way back into the kitchen to pour himself and Goodnight a cuppa. He would have much rather taken an international portkey, but they didn't want them tracked by any magical method while traveling to MACUSA, as his father had explained that some would be watching for that. Benjamin, at the Heathrow wizard's desk, would keep their names off any official logs.
Just as Jimmie took his first sip, and gave out a moan of joy over the refreshing taste, he heard Goodnight coming down the stairs. They would be in a rush between now and when they boarded the plane, what with all the new muggle regulations, which, Jimmie thought, were harebrained at best. The new muggle PM was truly a dunce, and if what his father said was true, the man was involved with some mighty corrupt people globally. World federalists, his father had called them.
Jimmie and Goodnight were in their first-class seats inside a British Airways Boeing 777 jet, which had already pulled out onto the tarmac runway, and was waiting for the tower to instruct them to take off. It would be a seven-hour and fifty-minute flight into the Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, where Dave would be waiting for them inside the gate. The Graves had just portkeyed back from London a few days ago.
Over the new plane layout, Goodnight couldn't take Jimmie's hand, as the plane started to roll, because they had a sort-of private compartment each, which reminded Jimmie too much of a sheep pen with a recliner in it. When the G-force from the plane forced them both back into their seats, Jimmie heard Goodnight singing in a low voice across the aisle from him.
.
.
Big ol' jet airliner,
Don't carry me too far away.
Oh, big ol' jet airliner,
'Cause it's here that I've got to stay.
.
Oh, big ol' jet airliner,
Don't carry me too far away.
Oh, big ol' jet airliner,
'Cause it's here that I've got to stay.
.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Big ol' jet airliner,
Don't carry me too far away.
Woah-oh, big ol' jet airliner,
'Cause it's here that I've got to stay.
.
.
It was a shame that there were no more Pan Am flights, Jimmie thought, which were always shown in the older Bond flicks, and there was a reason why, as Pan Am was actually used for clandestine operations by the US and UK governments.
A/N: In chapter six, I had the time backward for when Harry was called at Jamaica. It was corrected to be at 8:00 PM that evening, which would have been 3:00 PM Jamaica time. I've read that chapter several times and still missed that.
If any reader notices any mistakes such as this, please let me know in the comments.
The song that Goodnight was singing, was from the tail end of the song Jet Airliner by the SMB.
