The Dragons Return

by viningc

Harry had a war with Earth but he had been given the gift of a lifetime, a place where his dragons and riders would be unconditionally safe. This story continues the trilogy by Bobmin356 and Alyx started at: /s/7591040/18/The-Queen-who-fell-to-Earth

12. Chapter 12: Remembrances

Chapter 12: Remembrances
Spath's Weyr, Hatching Grounds, Feb 15, 2027...
This hatching was very important to Harry because it might help resolve one of the major problems on Pern right now, what would become of the human miners. Loyleleth, a female Gringotts dragon had jumped into the Hatching Grounds to lay her egg at Harry's request. Before her arrival, he had made sure that a secluded alcove was created, complete with hot rocks and fine sand, that could be shielded from direct light. There was a heavy awning over the alcove with additional partitions that made it more of a small cave than an actual part of the main hatching grounds.

Loyleleth had made a comment about a particular place that was allowing light to penetrate into her refuge, and Harry had immediately blocked off the light leak. She had been most appreciative after that and had no further complaints.

Word had spread to the Gringotts dragons that one of their own was on the hatching grounds and Harry had finally installed a widescreen TV with an attached network-connected dragon writer keyboard. Now, not only could the Gringotts dragons watch the hatching, but they could also read anything on the Weyr Server or create their own documents. Right now, all they wanted to do was watch the hatching, but Harry was sure they would want additional units before too long. Dragons were intelligent and inquisitive and he had neglected the Gringotts dragons for far too long.

Loyleleth had laid two eggs and, to ensure there were plenty of candidates for her egg, Harry had requested 8 candidates from among the miner families. All eight had been helping Loyleleth tend her eggs, handling them, talking to them, hoping they were the ones to impress. All eight of the candidates wanted to work as miners. If they impressed a Gringotts dragon, that would improve their standing considerably. It was possible that one or more of the eight might impress a more normal dragon, but Harry had tried to make sure that wouldn't happen by ensuring Loyleleth's hatching ground was not only in the darkest area of the cavern but physically separate as much as possible.

Many of the other dragons came over to visit while she was there, she was a dragon, after all. They were all friendly and were curious about a new type of dragon most of them had never had a chance to meet.

Harry listened anxiously as the first egg started to rock back and forth but he kept his eye on Loyleleth's eggs. Harry knew that her eggs would be a challenge because they had never had light-sensitive dragons on the hatching grounds before. He had requested that Hagrid work with Polenth to make this experience just as special for Loyleleth as it was for the other dragons. Hagrid had set up a special Weyrling area just for such dragons. There were only two apartments but more could be added in the future if necessary. Harry was curious how Hagrid would handle the training because the Gringotts dragons couldn't fly.

Three hours into the hatching cycle, one of Loyleleth's eggs started rocking violently. The four boys who had been helping with it drew closer, each hoping they would be the one chosen. Finally, the egg broke open and out fell what looked like a short fat snake with stubby wings and legs. It finally righted itself and made directly for one of the nearby boys.

"He says his name is Duruth!" said an overjoyed young miner.

Hagrid moved forward and led them both off the hot sands to the special area he had set up.

"Hello, Duruth," said Harry to the young dragon. "You have joined a fine family. Do you like your rider?"

"He is my rider," replied Duruth. "How could he be anything other than perfect!"

"That is good," replied Harry. "Let your rider take care of you and you take care of him. The Dragon Nation will take care of you both. Go and let him feed you now."

Harry watched the two being led off, satisfied that at least this part of his plan was working.

After another two hours, Loyleleth's second egg finally hatched. When the small dragon finally freed itself from the egg, though, there was an immediate problem. She looked up at her egg mother and said, quite clearly, "My rider is not here. Will you bring her, please?"

"Little dragon," sent Harry, gently. "Is your rider near or far?"

"She is not in your Weyr, Weyrleader," replied the just-hatched dragon. "Will you bring her to me?"

"I will send my own consorts to find her for you. Loyleleth, take care of your daughter's first hunger until we can find her rider for her," sent Harry.

"It will be as you say, Weyrleader," responded Loyleleth. "Come, little one, your first meal is this way. The Weyrleader will have your rider here soon."

"Hermione," called an anxious Harry. "We have a problem. Would you take May and go to Crom. See if Comaloth or Trath can find an appropriate female candidate for Loyleleth's female hatchling."

"On our way, Harry," replied Hermione.

Crom Hold...
Comaloth and Trath burst out of Between with a double burst of frigid air, startling the holders sitting idly in front of their cots.

The two women slid down off their dragons and Hermione looked at the disorganized group and called out, "Who is in charge here?"

"I guess that would be me," said a sly-looking older man, as he walked up to the two women. "I am called Kuren and I'm the senior miner since we lost Wulton. What can I do for you?"

"We have come on Search to find some girls to stand on the hatching grounds for the miners' dragon," stated Hermione. "Time is of the essence because the egg has already hatched!"

"Then I'm afraid your trip is for naught," said Kuren. "Girls cannot be miners."

"That is where you are wrong, Miner Kuren," retorted Hermione, angrily. "Girls can do anything a man can do and often better!"

"That may be so where you come from," retorted Kuren, belligerently, "but here we do things differently."

"Is that so, little man?" asked Comaloth, bringing her head down within inches of the suddenly frightened miner. "How would you like it if you called for help and dragons ignored you?"

"She is right," said Hermione, gently. "Dragons need your help right now. If you refuse, there is not a dragon in the world who will ever come to your aid again. Don't you remember how we came, in force, to help when your mine exploded? Would you have perhaps even gone back down into the mine and lost more men because you didn't know the dangers?"

"Give over, Kuren!" shouted one of the other miners in the growing crowd. "What do you care if they take some of our girls or not, you aren't in charge here!"

With that, several young girls edged forward on their own or were pushed forward by parents hoping to get their daughters away from the mines.

Comaloth and Trath each picked out two likely girls each who were quickly bundled up in the heavy coats Hermione had just conjured for them. The holders took a step back at the sudden show of magic. They had been told something about this but it was the first time they had seen it in action. Some of the parents tried to pull their daughters back but the two dragons intercepted them before they had moved very far.

Hermione and May quickly lifted their charges up on their dragons, mounted, and left as quickly as they could, leaving behind a group of dazed holders.

Spath's Weyr, Hatching Grounds...
Comaloth and Trath burst from Between and quickly landed near Loyleleth. The four girls were quickly lifted down and led over to the newly hatched female dragon. She looked up from her first meal and looked at all the girls now before her. As she looked at one of the older girls, her eyes started spinning a bright blue.

"I am Mirorth," she said to the girl who looked back at her adoringly. Both of Loyleleth's eggs had impressed.

Harry gathered the remaining girls and moved them away from Mirorth and her new rider.

"Girls, I'm extremely sorry for the suddenness of your departure from your home," said Harry. "As you saw, we had an emergency, because I didn't think that one or both of the eggs might have needed a female rider. I don't know if you have eaten yet, but the least we can do is offer you a good meal.

"After you have eaten, any who wish may return home. Or, if you prefer, you may stay and live at the Weyr until the next hatching. It is entirely up to you."

Harry looked at the ragged clothes the girls wore and turned to May. "May, would you please ask Susan to look in stores and get some good warm clothes and coats for all these young ladies. It appears there is something more than just a meal we can offer them."

The three holder girls looked wide-eyed at Harry as he walked off to confer with Hagrid. They were being treated as if they mattered! Why would they want to go home!

Just as Harry reached Hagrid, he came to a major decision, which he wanted to announce to all the dragons right then and there. Harry's eyes glazed over. "Dragons, hear me," he called. Every dragon on the planet fell silent at Harry's call. The riders could clearly hear him in their minds, through their dragons. His voice pulsed on the wave of power that carried it to every dragon on the planet.

"I recently made a tour of many Earth nations and feel that it is now relatively safe there for Dragon-kind. I am hereby increasing the number of dragons on Earth from 2,400 to 6,000. That means we will be creating new Weyrs and need Dragonriders and their dragons to populate them. Before any Weyr is started, we will insist on an iron-clad contract between our host country and the Dragon Nation about what exactly they may or may not expect the dragons living in their country to do.

"Military involvement, other than humanitarian, is still forbidden, but I have also come to the decision that, for the good of our unbonded family members, I will allow dragons and some few riders to assist a nation's police forces to protect their citizens from anyone wishing to harm them. If you ever have any doubt about what you are being asked to do, ask your Weyrleader. If they cannot clarify the situation, then they will contact me.

"I wish to maintain a one-to-one relationship between bonded and unbonded dragons, so effective immediately, I hope that all unbonded dragons will help bring their numbers up to match our bonded dragons. You may not have a bonded rider, but you will have family and, I hope, the friendship and companionship of your working human partners."

Harry broke the connection and he heard an echo of many thousands of dragon voices acknowledging his orders. He had shortly before received word that there were now 6,930 unbonded dragons, an increase of only 10, but, nevertheless, an increase. He wasn't sure, but he hoped his new ideas about partnering unbonded dragons with humans while performing a shared job were helping.

Harry turned to Hagrid, who was still processing what he had heard through his dragon, to find out if Hagrid would need anything extra to help deal with the Gringotts dragons.

Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleader's Inner Office, Feb 18, 2027...
"Courier," called Jeofrey, loudly.

"Harry, I've got some very sad news to pass on," said a clearly distraught Ava Aberg, Verath's rider from Joensuu Weyr. "We just got the news that Lord Mills died peacefully in his sleep last night."

Harry sat stunned for a second, then he called Trath and Comaloth, "Would you please tell your riders that I need to see them both immediately, it's extremely important."

"Ava, I am so sorry. Thank you for bringing this message to us." Harry gave her an awkward hug, and added, " I know you feel bad about this, but would you mind waiting around until after I've told May? She was very close to Lord Mills and she may need some extra support."

"Of course, Harry," said Ava, sadly.

Harry moved around his desk to join Ava in his 'visitor's lounge' and they talked about inconsequential things until Hermione ported directly into his office with May in tow.

"Sorry," said May. "I was in the middle of a procedure and couldn't leave."

She stopped talking because Harry had gotten up and grabbed her in a fierce hug as soon as she appeared.

"May, Lord Mills died peacefully in his sleep last night," began Harry, regretfully. "I know you were close to the family, so wanted you to know as soon as possible."

With that, the other two women moved up behind her and joined the hug as best they could while May sobbed quietly into Harry's shoulder. Harry didn't say anything else, he just held on to May as if his life depended on his not letting go. He conjured tissues for her periodically and eventually they all sat down, but Harry never let go of her hand. In the background, he could hear the dragons joining in their grief to the initial puzzlement of their riders. Very soon, the entire Weyr, and then the entire planet, was in mourning.

For some time May alternated between quiet sniffles, silent tears, and outright weeping. Once she seemed to have cried herself out, Harry turned to Ava, "You may leave if there is something you need to do, but I would appreciate it if you could stay to listen for just a little bit longer. What I'm about to say needs to be relayed back to Earth as soon as possible."

"I'll stay," said Ava quietly. "My only reason for coming to Pern was to deliver this message and take back your reply."

Harry nodded at her in relief. He didn't want to have to go over this too many times. He had really liked Lord Mills and was almost as affected as May, he was just a lot better at hiding it.

"May," began Harry, gently. "Lord Mills meant a lot to all of us, but he meant more to the Dragon Nation than most of you realize. Without his active help early on, there might not even be a Dragon Nation. He will be added to our Book of Friends and we will collect our memories of him so all future generations will know what a true friend of the Dragon Nation he was. When you feel up to it, I would like you and Hermione to create a special seal we can place on the end of his box of memories so it will stand out, because he was so important to all of us.

"Ava, I want you to get in touch with Albert Ford directly and ask him to enter into negotiations with the British Government. I want to reopen Campbeltown as an active Weyr. I can't think of a more fitting place to create a new, show-case Weyr but to have as a living memorial to the man who helped start all this. Let them know that we will be leveling the entire base, including the research area in an area covering a mile in diameter and will need at least half a mile extra outside that for security. The old area of the base should encompass most of that, but there are some areas we will need to purchase. Let the Queen know what we are hoping to accomplish and extend an invitation to her to be on hand when we reopen Campbeltown Weyr, which we will also call 'The Lord James Mills Memorial Weyr'.

"We will set up a private room, reachable only by dragons and riders, that will hold a duplicate box of memories and his pages from the Book of Friends will be on display for any to visit any time they wish.

"May, I will need you to work on the guest list. Your family and Lord Mills' family need to be given some way they can visit our memorial room as well.

"If you will excuse me now, I need to go talk to Ronan about a new Weyr."

Harry gently extricated himself from May and left her to the tender ministrations of the other two women. He had much to accomplish, and not much time to do it in.

Spath's Weyr, Harry's Quarters, Feb 22, 2027...
May's green fire lizard, Gonlenth, had again laid eggs in Trath's bed. This time there were 20 of them and they were starting to harden, indicating it would be a week or less before they hatched.

"Trath, love, would you bring those egg buckets closer, so I don't have to carry the eggs so far?" asked May. "I'm afraid I'll drop them!"

"She seems unconcerned that you are taking her eggs again," commented Trath. "I just saw her pushing one of them closer to you."

"She knows we love her and her children and won't allow any harm to come to them," replied May, lovingly. "I wish it were possible to tell what color fire lizard came from what color egg,"

"Does it really matter?" asked Trath. "You can't tell with dragon eggs either but we always make the right choice of rider."

"That you do, love," said May, as she gathered another egg, gently placed it in one of the buckets, and covered it with hot sand.

As May reached for one of the last two eggs, Gonlenth moved in front of them and hissed at May.

"I don't think she wants you to take those eggs," said Trath. "Maybe she is more dragon than fire lizard after all."

"What is it, Gonlenth, do you need to keep these two for some reason?" asked May, as she reached to stroke the tiny dragon on the top of her head. Gonlenth allowed the touch, but when May then reached for one of the eggs again, Gonlenth snapped at her questing hand. May pulled it back hurriedly and looked at Gonlenth with a look of betrayal.

"I think you're right, Trath," said May. "Please keep an eye on them for us. I would hate for them to hatch and fly wild when there must be someone who would love to care for them."

"Will do, love," responded Trath.

"Dobby," called May.

"Yes, Miss May," said the little house-elf, when he popped into the room. "What can I do for you?"

"Dobby, Harry and I have discussed it, and we feel it is time you got a chance to give out some fire lizard eggs. You didn't get any from the last bunch and I felt bad about it, so we decided that you would get all of this batch. Here are 18 eggs for you to distribute as you see fit. I'm sorry, but Gonlenth won't let me have the last two."

"Dobby cans have eggses?" asked the house-elf, in wonder.

"Yes, Dobby," said May. "I only ask that you give them to someone you think will love them as much as you love your bronze and will take care of them."

"Dobby promisses!" said the excited house-elf. He carefully levitated all 18 buckets and started making his list as he left. "Tisky, Kinny,..."

"Well, that went well," laughed May.

"Yes," replied Trath. "He did seem pleased."

Spath's Weyr, Harry's Quarters, Feb 27, 2027...
Gonlenth woke from her mid-day nap and looked appraisingly at her two eggs. Then she abruptly jumped into the air and went Between.

"May," Trath called. "Something is happening. Gonlenth just went Between. I think her eggs may be about to hatch and she has gone to find someone special to give them to.

"Please reach out and try to find her," asked May. "I can't get away, but if she needs help, do your best to give it to her."

"Understood," said Trath. She searched mentally for the tiny mind of Gonlenth and found her in kitchen 0R.

Spath's Weyr, Kitchen 0R...
A tiny green fire lizard suddenly appeared in the middle of the kitchen and flew straight to one of the young orphan children taken care of by everyone in the Weyr. The fire lizard seemed quite agitated, fluttering in front of the small, frightened little girl.

"That looks like Gonlenth, Miss May's fire lizard," said Tisky, Dobby's wife. "It looks like she wants you to do something, child. Why not try walking out into the cavern and see what she does."

As Tegan slowly walked out of the kitchen, it appeared that the green was trying to get her to move faster. She landed on Tegan's arm and fluttered about as she tried to pull Tegan along. When they finally got outside, Tegan almost fainted from fright. There was a gigantic dragon outside, a real dragon!

Trath looked at Tegan Ross, and said gently, "It's alright, no one is going to hurt you. I think Gonlenth wants to give you a gift that will help you with your recent loss."

"Tisky," said Trath, to Dobby's wife, who had followed her charge out of the kitchen. "We will need a plate of small meat scraps."

Tisky sucked in her breath in surprise and popped into the kitchen only to return an instant later with a covered plate full of finely chopped meat morsels.

"Tisky," continued Trath. "I think it might be fastest if you could take Tegan and Gonlenth both up to Miss May's apartment. I will meet you there." With that Trath leapt up and went Between.

Tisky held her arm out for the fire lizard who immediately landed on it. She then placed her lizard-laden arm around Tegan and they all disappeared.

Harry's Quarters...
Even though Trath had already left, Tisky and her charges arrived first by a split second. When Trath arrived, she directed Tisky to give the plate to Tegan. As soon as she had done that, the house-elf disappeared. She knew what was coming and didn't want there to be any distractions.

"This way, Tegan," said Trath, gently so as not to frighten the child any further. She led her into the bedroom where she sensed two eggs about to hatch. Gonlenth flew over to the other side of the eggs and seemed to be willing the small girl to come closer.

"That's right," said Trath, soothingly. "Go over much closer to Gonlenth. She has something she wants only you to have and you have to be close to have a chance. Take some meat from the plate and get ready to feed the hatchlings. There will be two, so you might want to put the plate down and use both hands."

Tegan did as instructed, though she wasn't really sure what was happening. Suddenly one of the eggs cracked! As a tiny gold head broke through and quickly demolished the rest of the eggshell, Tegan push a piece of meat in front of the hungry lizard. She managed to feed her two more pieces before the other egg cracked open to spill out a brown fire lizard. Soon Tegan was so busy feeding two ravenous lizards that she didn't even notice May and Harry enter the room behind her.

"Oh, Harry," said May, sadly. "It's so unfair! When Trath told me what was happening, I looked Tegan up on our network. She came here with her parents and older brother, Ryan, because they thought it would be a safer place to raise a family than Earth. They hadn't yet attended the update orientation we give immigrants after they first arrive but thought it would be safe to wander around. Somehow they found the only nest of rocksnakes for miles around. The parents were killed immediately but we thought we could save her brother. He just died recently and she's been just drifting around the Weyr, not knowing what to do or who to go to.

"May we keep her!?"

Harry just looked at his wife and smiled. He realized their family had just gotten a little larger.

"You know," said Harry, quietly so as not to disturb the tiny hostess feeding her newest friends, "we will now have to definitely upgrade our estimates of fire lizard intelligence."

May didn't respond, she was just watching the wondrous event taking place on Trath's bed.

Spath's Weyr, Kitchen 0R, Mar 10, 2027...
When Harry found out that Tegan's 5th birthday was today, he immediately went into full organizer mode. He enlisted Dobby and Tisky to help round up all orphans in any of the Weyrs or Holds he was responsible for. To his credit, they had only found 15, but to Harry, that was 15 too many, even though none of them were from Spath's Weyr.

He then set up a permanent Flight of unbonded dragons to search out any future such orphaned children and try to determine the best match for an adoptive family. They were to report directly to Susan Bones who set up a temporary orphanage in Spath's Weyr, along Ring 2, just off the spoke corridor leading to the hatching grounds. Even though it was temporary, each child had their own room, if they wanted it, or could share it with a child or children of their choice. Adults quickly volunteered to help supervise the children until their forever families could be found for them. Until they were formally adopted, they were considered the children of the Weyr, and even the dragons watched out for them. Harry's primary concern for any children who had lost their birth parents was to get them placed, as soon as possible, with another family. The placement had to be mutually acceptable, however. The child would have to approve the potential family as well as the potential family approve the child. Until the child was assured safe in their new family, a dragon would be assigned to maintain a discreet watch to ensure neither side abused the new relationship.

On this, Tegan's 5th birthday, Harry had declared it to be Children's Day on Pern. He planned lots of games and food for the children and they basically had the run of the entire Weyr for the full day. They could play or eat or just rest whenever and however long they wanted to. If a child asked an adult to do something for them, they either had to do it themselves or immediately find someone else if they were doing something that could not be put off, like saving a life.

Harry started the day off with an announcement about what the day entailed. The adults all realized it was basically a holiday for everyone and entered into the spirit of the day. There were several cakes at each of the kitchens with different flavors of ice cream available for the asking. Several of the younger riders waited in the main cavern to give dragon rides and even the Centaurs got into the spirit of the day by offering rides to the children.

Tegan still remembered her previous family and had nightmares once in a while but she was getting better. Harry didn't want any more children to be orphaned any more for more than a day before the Weyr adopted them.

Spath's Weyr, Harry's Quarters, Mar 11, 2027...
Dan and Emma Granger walked into Harry's quarters in the middle of a family wrestling match on the floor. It was quite obvious that Tegan was the victor, even though the fire lizards were doing their best to confuse the issue.

As soon as she saw them, Hermione extricated herself from the scrum and made her way around the combatants on the floor to her parents.

"Mum, Dad! What a surprise!" exclaimed Hermione. "I thought you would have been partied out after yesterday!"

"It was quite a day, wasn't it," said Dan Granger. "Harry really went all out for the children. I know we don't say it often enough, but we're really happy the way things have turned out."

Hermione hugged her father and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Dad. We're pretty happy with the way things have been going as well," she said with a smile.

"We brought a specially made gift for Tegan," said Emma. "We had to go to one of the magical clothing stores down on Level 1 to get it but, when they found out who it was for, they made it a rush job."

Emma Granger held up a small leather coat.

"That's lovely!" exclaimed Hermione. "Tegan! Come see what your grandmum and grandda have brought for your birthday!"

Tegan skipped over to the adults by the entry and looked soulfully at the coat Hermione held up. The rest of the 'scrum' came over as well since it had pretty well lost all cohesion as soon as Tegan left.

Hermione handed the coat back to Emma who held it out for Tegan to try it on. Tegan walked forward doubtfully, after all, what child liked getting clothes for special occasions!

As she was helped into the coat, it subtly shifted and became her exact size. "It will magically size itself to fit her as long as she wants the coat," explained Emma. "That's part of the reason we went to a magical clothing shop. The other is that there is extra padding in the shoulders and arms to protect against sharp little claws."

Upon hearing that, Tegan held out her arms and two fire lizards obediently came to roost. Tegan studied the result and nodded her approval. She looked at the two fire lizards and they obediently moved up to her shoulders where they curled in tight and became almost invisible under her hair.

Tegan turned and hugged her grandparents in appreciation. This coat was better than clothing, it was useful! Then, in a flash, she was off again to resume play with her two constant companions.

"It's all about play when they are that age, even for our Hermione," said Emma, proudly.

Hermione looked at her mother scandalized she would share such childhood secrets and then hugged her warmly.

May looked thoughtfully at Dan and Emma. She needed to do some research. It might be possible that Tegan's other grandparents were still alive and would want to know what had happened to their children. There had been no emergency contact or next of kin listed on their immigration forms, but that didn't mean grandparents didn't exist.

Campbeltown Weyr, Mar 26, 2027...
It was really surprising what a Royal Decree could accomplish … well, that and almost every dragon in the Dragon Nation! There was a new mountain in Scotland, in fact, it was the tenth highest in the country. Harry could easily have made it the highest but didn't feel the need to be quite that overbearing.

Ronan had teams of dragons level the ground at Campbeltown in a broad circle, a mile and a half in diameter. Then he had them excavate the center mile diameter down to solid bedrock. The inside of this enormous hole was fused solid and lined bottom and sides with huge blocks of Basalt brought in from Pern. His goal, as set by Harry, was to create a miniature Spath's Weyr. It wouldn't have all the features and the ones it did duplicate wouldn't be near as large or in the exact same place, but it would give any visitor an idea of what Spath's Weyr was like without having to actually visit Pern.

The new mountain was already its full height of exactly 4,000 ft above sea level. It even had a bright, rotating navigation beacon on top; the telescope, however, was missing. The interior was one-third scale as far as was possible. The lower levels were all full size, The spoke, ring corridors, and apartments were full size, there just weren't as many. The main orientation wasn't on true north, it was on magnetic north and the full-sized levels stopped at Level 11 which, in this Weyr, contained the Admin Level. The inner cavern was smaller at the top than at the bottom to give the casual observer the illusion of greater height. All the "Levels" above Admin were painted on the smooth rock surface to give the illusion from ground level that there were a full 20 Levels.

The ground level was completely turned over to the Weyr Museum and Technology center. There was even a single elevator off Spoke 0 that took sightseers all the way to the top, at 3,600 ft. where there was an observation room. From there you could walk around the outside and see a bird's eye view of Scotland or walk around the inside and look at the Weyr from the top down. From the inner walkway, the artificial sun housing could be seen.

At regular intervals between the two walkways were restaurants offering varied cuisines and catered by outside sources. There were tables strategically located on raised platforms near each restaurant where a diner could enjoy their meal as well as the sights at the same time while leaving the walkways clear for those only looking. Right now, only three of the restaurants were operational but all the rest were booked for occupancy as soon as they were completed.

There was even a small, operational 5 dragon/ 10 human hospital fully staffed. It doubled as a place for those who were studying dragon physiology to go for training beyond basic. It showcased a few of the more spectacular items developed to help dragons.

At no place on Level 1 was there any access to any higher levels except for the elevator. There was a small, shallow central lake surrounded by a large garden which took up much of the ground level. Countries from all over the world were invited to send their horticulturists to plant gardens showing their country's floral wonders. Some displays required greenhouse enclosures to maintain the proper climate control for their contents. This area was also largely incomplete at the moment, they were just waiting for the invited countries to arrive to apply the finishing touches.

Nowhere in the Weyr was magic obvious but it was there from the protective charms on the lake that allowed children to paddle in the water while keeping them safe, to the magical safeguards on the elevator and windows, to the runes that protected the Weyr itself from physical and magical attack both inside and out.

The basic structure had been finished first, the Goblins had moved in and finished off all the basic interior spaces, and human construction crews were even now working on the fine details for Level 1. There was a storage and emergency shelter area in a sub-basement, 600 ft below Level 1. One of the oddest items in the basement was a huge metal cage. The runes on the Weyr would automatically send anyone to the center of the cage that tried to apparate into the Weyr. It was monitored by Aurors and dragons 24/7.

He had invited the Queen to officially open it and she had readily agreed. They had conducted a brief tour yesterday showing her and Lord Mills' family and retainers through all the areas, including the Memorial room dedicated to Lord James Mills. She and Mills' son had both broken out in tears. They were amazed when shown how to use the pensieve and relive actual memories. Needless to say, this room was on the Admin Level, not accessible to ordinary tourists. There was a more normal Memorial Room on Level 1 that had pages from the Book of Friends in display cases and a few audio and video recordings of Lord Mills in action at various points in his career.

Right now, Harry was on a temporary raised platform just outside the canopy leading into the new Campbeltown Weyr. He had just made his opening statement and introduced the Queen so she could officially open the new Weyr. There were dragons perched all over the Weyr, sitting on the ground behind the audience, and flying slowly through the air above. It reminded him of the official reveal of Campbeltown all those years ago and brought a feeling of great loss to him. Two of those great men, who had been present back then, would never be able to see this new Weyr.

"It's alright, Harry," said Chekiath. "They are still alive in our hearts."

Nabol Hold, April 19, 2027...
The last year had been really hard. Today was the funeral of Nabol Lord Holder Lyl. While Harry hadn't been all that close to any of the Lord or Lady Holders, they had supported him with what he considered important actions when he first got here. He felt it only right that he showed his support for them at the end of their lives.

There were 600 dragons flying formation over the Hold as Lord Lyl was laid to rest. Harry and his wives offered what comfort they could to his widow and children. Lady Jisna's eldest son, Segaul, would be taking over as Lord Holder. He wasn't married yet, so his mother would continue on as Lady Holder until he found a bride he found acceptable.

One of the things that Harry had offered, but had been refused, was to have some unbonded dragons nearby in case they were needed. He did transfer Lord Lyl's Pendant from father to son just telling him it was a good luck charm. Harry got the feeling that Lord Segaul was a little bit hostile towards him for some reason. He was sure he would find out why soon enough, no sense worrying about it now.

Lord Lyl's fire lizard had gone wild and flown off when his master died. Perhaps that was part of the problem. He would have to see about Lord Segaul getting his own fire lizard.

Spath's Weyr, Harry's Quarters, May 5, 2027...
May sadly watched Tegan running around in the apartment, playing with her fire lizards.

"What's wrong?" asked Harry, as he moved up and hugged her from behind.

"I just realized, Ryan, Tegan's brother, was still alive when Gonlenth stopped me from taking those last two eggs," said May, sorrowfully. "One of those fire lizards was for her brother."

Harry gently turned her in his arms until she could no longer see the object of her melancholy. Once fully turned, he hugged her even tighter as she gave a little sniffle into his shoulder.

"We can only teach our new immigrants, we cannot enforce common sense," said Harry, firmly. "What happened was dreadful, but it. Is. NOT. Your. Fault!

"Since their tragic deaths, I have instituted a 90-day quarantine for all new immigrants. They are now required to stay inside the Weyr until they have had a chance to actually see some of the dangers they face on the planet. 'The Zoo of Dangerous Fauna and Flora' you created out under the canopy goes a long way towards making them understand that a walk in the woods on Pern is a lot more dangerous than a walk on the streets of London."

"I don't know," said May, playfully. "I've heard some of those London gangs can be really dangerous!"

Harry looked incredulously down at May and started tickling her for her atrocious humor. As May tried to escape, Tegan came over and tried to rescue May by tickling Harry. While Harry wasn't really ticklish, he started rolling on the floor as if he were while trying to escape from first Tegan, and then May who were both trying to tickle him. Finally, when they were all so out of breath from laughing. He drew them both to him in a hug and they just lay there, together on the floor, in a companionable stillness.

Hermione walked into the room to find them all on the floor. "What's been going on behind my back!" she asked mock sternly.

Harry just looked at Tegan and May and got up to start stalking Hermione … who was ticklish. Soon they were all wrestling around on the floor in fits of laughter with four fire lizards trying to get involved as well. Harry really loved having a family and it had hurt when they dropped their youngest off at school. Now they had Tegan to help ease the ache of missing family.

King's Cross Station, Sept 1, 2027...
Harry, Hermione, May, and Tegan were at the station to see Emma and Albus off for the start of their fourth year at Hogwarts. Emma and Albus had bonded well with Tegan, especially Albus as soon as he learned about her older brother. Albus was only 4 years older than Ryan would have been, so he willingly slotted himself into the role of an older brother and Tegan loved it.

It was also refreshing to see the sights and actions they took for granted through the eyes of a five-year-old. She watched Emma and Albus disappear into the column at Platform 9¾ and immediately wanted to try it herself. Since she was young and would firmly believe she could do it too, Harry let her go through on her own … after May went through first.

When he got through, Tegan was having tearful goodbyes with her brother and sister. They had brought the Grangers along with them this year, so they could see their grandchildren off. They didn't come every year, but they did try to remain a positive fixture in their grandchildren's lives.

After the Hogwarts Express left the station, Dan and Emma split off, because they wanted to do some shopping in London. Harry had provided them with a magical DT&T portkey that would take them to the local DT&T office when they said the key phrase, where they had a pre-paid ticket back to Pern. Harry wasn't worried about their safety, as they both wore the latest version of the Dragon Pendant. Even the Aurors didn't have better protection. Harry did ask some unbonded dragons to keep an eye on them though, at least until they were safely on their way back to Pern.

May had convinced Harry and Hermione that they now needed to visit someone else. She had found that Georgina Ross' parents were dead but Ethan Ross' parents were still very much alive, and she was determined to visit them. They were on their way to 27 Wood End Way, Ealing.

27 Wood End Way, Ealing, Sept 1, 2027...
"Answer the Damned door, woman!" yelled Ryan Ross, Sr. "I'm watching the game!"

Tegan Ross, the mother of Ethan, who had taken his family and run away as far as they could get, lifted herself painfully from her chair and hobbled over to see who it could be that was brave enough to visit them. Since her son and his family had left, Ryan had just gotten worse. At least when their son visited regularly, her husband didn't leave big bruises like the ones she now sported.

When she opened the door, there was a strange woman dressed in odd clothing looking at her closely. Behind her was another strangely dressed woman and a man, all dressed as if they were in the military. There was a happy little girl as well, in the other woman's arms. and, suddenly, Tegan recognized her granddaughter! Quickly, she stepped outside and closed the door.

"Please don't disturb my husband," said Tegan quietly. "You have my granddaughter, where is my son?"

"I am May Potter," explained May, carefully. "My husband and I have adopted your granddaughter. I had to do a lot of searching to find you. Your son didn't have any emergency information or next of kin listed on his immigration form."

"Immigration? Are you from New Zealand then? He always wanted to go to far places," said Tegan Ross.

"No, ma'am," replied May, eying the livid bruises on the woman's face. "We are from Pern, another planet, across the galaxy. Evidently, your son went as far as he could. Unfortunately, he and his family didn't heed our warnings about the dangers there and they died recently, all except little Tegan here."

Harry surreptitiously cast a mild healing spell on Mrs. Ross as she started to quietly cry. Not enough healing to be immediately noticed, but enough to make sure there would be no permanent damage.

"We just wanted you to know about your son and his family and that little Tegan was safe," said May, softly. "It looks like you are in need of help though and, for little Tegan's sake, we would like to help if you allow it."

"I don't think there is anything anyone can do," said Tegan Sr, hopelessly. "My Ethan used to take care of us but, since he's left, there's precious little left for food once Ryan Sr buys his booze. He tends to get nasty after a drink or two."

"I know all about that," said May, sharply. "My grandda used to be the same way. Is your husband suffering from any kind of painful disease that has caused the drinking?"

"Not really," said Tegan. "He's healthy enough, he just likes to drink."

"If I could set up someplace else for you to live," asked Harry. "Would you leave him? As Tegan's adoptive parents, we want to help. We have the resources and could put you somewhere you would be safe and comfortable."

Suddenly the door to their house banged open and a belligerent Ryan Sr came stumbling out. "Wha's goin' on out here! Where's my lunch!"

"I'm talking to these nice people, Ryan," explained Tegan. "They've come to let us know that our son and his family have recently died."

Harry noticed she didn't say anything about their granddaughter.

"Is there any money? From insurance, or cash they left behind?" asked Ryan, blearily.

"No, I'm sorry, there isn't," said Harry. "Why don't we go inside to talk. It's a bit cold out here and you aren't fully dressed."

"I'll talk where I want!" yelled an aggressive Ryan Sr. Suddenly he took a wild swing at Harry and managed to hit himself as his attack reflected off Harry's defensive spells. Quickly Harry lightly stunned him, picked him up as if he weighed nothing, and carried him inside where the rest joined him.

"Now that your husband is sleeping, Mrs. Ross, what would you like to do?" asked Harry.

"I feel responsible for my husband, but haven't loved him for a long time now," said Tegan, plaintively. "I'm afraid if I left him, he would die because no one bothered to feed him."

"What if I arranged for meals to be delivered to him twice a day?" asked Harry. "It would guarantee he had food to survive on and the rest would be up to him."

"We are married, though. How can I go back on my vows and leave him?"

"I can take care of any such problems easily," said Harry. "Remember, I said we had money. We have some small influence as well. If I took care of all that would you want to move away?"

"I think I would," said Mrs. Ross, hopefully. "Where would I go though? Would I be able to visit with little Tegan?"

"Hmm," said Harry, thoughtfully. "My initial thought was to buy you a house somewhere on the other side of London but now I'm wondering if you might like to go to the same place your son and his family went. You wouldn't be able to live with us, but I know there are several places where you would be welcome to stay and your granddaughter would be only a few minutes away if you wanted to visit."

"Yes," said a suddenly hopeful grandmother. "What do I need to bring?"

"Anything you want, or nothing except your Passport," said May. "If you don't have a passport, we can arrange for one while Harry is taking care of everything else."

Harry pulled a small bag out of his belt pouch and offered it to May. "Why don't you help her get packed and I will start setting plans in motion from in here."

After May and Mrs. Ross moved off, upstairs to her bedroom, Harry conjured a passenger flight suit and handed it to Hermione so Mrs. Ross could change before they left. He then called Albert Ford about setting up various automatic services for Mr. Ross. After Hermione returned, she started making her own calls to set up for the divorce and a passport.

By the time Tegan Ross came back downstairs, Harry had an information packet in hand that explained the services that would be made available for Mr. Ross. Hermione had an appointment to expedite Mrs. Ross' application for a passport and to visit a local lawyer to sign divorce papers. They didn't tell her that her husband needed to sign them as well. They would just leave instructions with the lawyer to keep after Mr. Ross to get him to sign. He would be authorized to threaten to cut off his meal service if he didn't sign.

Within an hour of arriving, they were ready to leave. Mrs. Ross had written a note to her husband that Harry tucked into the information packet and placed on top of their TV and her bag was securely attached over May's head and shoulder by a strap.

"Now, how do we go where we need to go?" asked Mrs. Ross, curiously. "Please call me Andrea. That's my middle name and it might get to be a bit confusing for us all if there are two Tegan's."

"Our rides are right outside," said Harry, gently. "Have you heard about dragons?"

"Why, yes, I have. I don't believe they really exist. It would be nice if they did though."

"Well," said Harry, quietly. "If you will look outside, you will see they are real. Cheki, would you reveal yourself to Andrea?"

Andrea looked out her front window and saw a huge reptilian form shimmer into view. "Hello, Tegan's grandmother," Chekiath said. "You honor us by trusting us and we hope you will enjoy yourself on Pern. May you find peace and shelter under our wings."

A flabbergasted Andrea looked wide-eyed at the huge dragon outside her house and was momentarily rendered speechless.

Little Tegan took that moment to pipe up and say, "I have two little baby dragons right here! Would you like to pet them?"

Andrea looked at her granddaughter and saw two reptilian heads and part of their wings looking out at her from under her granddaughter's hair. She reached out her hand hesitantly and the small gold dragon moved her head to meet the descending hand.

"Shall we go?" asked Harry.

Andrea shook her head, yes, and they all trooped outside. Just before he closed the door, Harry cast the revive spell on Tegan's grandfather. He had earlier conjured a large plate of fish and chips and a bottle of wine vinegar to distract the ornery old man and it worked. Ryan Sr watched them leave but was too busy stuffing his face as he watched TV to bother getting up.

Dragon Isle, Sept 3, 2027...
After Andrea's first frightened shock at flying by dragonback, she grew to enjoy the experience. Harry had stopped off at Sir Elliot's office and sat in the outer office this time until he was ready to see Harry. After explaining the situation, and seeing Andrea Ross, Sir Elliot agreed to have someone take care of the matter. Harry was just trying to expedite matters, but Andrea was suitably impressed that he knew someone so high up in the government … little did she know!

While there, he showed them Tegan's fire lizards and asked if Sir Elliot or either of his two older friends would like one. He explained the lizards would have to be trained to go back to Pern to hunt, as Earth food didn't supply all their necessary nutrients. Arthur loved the idea and asked if he could get one for each member of his family. Alejandro was hesitant until Harry mentioned they were fully capable of delivering notes to anyone he could clearly visualize. Sir Elliot was hesitant, as he was unsure of the implications of accepting gifts from a foreign leader. Harry suggested he ask the Prime Minister and Queen Elizabeth about it. If it helped, he could look at the lizards as a part of his security detail, a part that would always be with him. He informed all three that they were trying to get fire lizards to all the Lord and Lady Holders on Pern as it was a wonderful way for them to be able to communicate with their peers and it gave them a small taste of what it felt like to bond with a dragon. That put the idea in a better light and he promised to get back to Harry through Arthur.

Harry told Arthur that they would all be at Dragon Isle if needed and to just ask one of his dragon detail to contact him. They could be back in London in seconds if contacted at the right time or within an hour if contacted at the wrong time. They would be on the other side of the world, after all!

Andrea's first time Between wasn't as bad as Harry's. She was wearing her passenger flight suit that kept her warm and inside her hood, she could breathe normally and see the HUD against the nothingness of Between. When they got to Dragon Isle, Harry had Chekiath bring them out of Between far enough away that she would be able to see it grow as they flew to it. Chekiath amusedly let Harry feel the awe she felt as they flew in through the main spoke corridor.

One of the first things they did was introduce Andrea to Doctor Svendsen who was currently serving his tour at Dragon Isle from Sakushima Weyr. He had brought his wife Anja with him as he found it much easier if she acted as his head nurse. They were used to how each other worked. He did a full workup on Andrea and documented copious evidence of physical abuse, including a recent fracture of her right ulna. After her meeting with the doctor, Harry and Hermione had told her about magic. Once she calmed down enough, Harry then healed as much of her trauma as he could. The greenstick fracture, unfortunately, would have her wearing a cast for the next 4 to 6 weeks.

Andrea had a day and a half to reset her internal clock to Pacific time and had started attending some of the lectures all immigrants were required to take before they actually went to Pern. She was starting to settle down and enjoy her newfound freedom, especially since she was allowed almost unlimited access to her darling granddaughter. She even started helping to feed one of the voracious fire lizards almost daily.

Royal Courts of Justice, London, Sept 13, 2027...
"Mrs. Ross," said the Judge, gently to the frightened woman. "Please relax. You are not the one in trouble here. I am just reviewing the facts of your case so I can make a proper determination. It says here," he said referring to the brief for the case, "that your lawyer is filing for a restraining order against your husband. Is that what you want to do initially?"

"Yes, please, Your Honor," said Andrea, nervously. "I have felt what it is like to live without fear for the past several days, and I don't want him anywhere near me!"

"Then it will be so noted," said the judge. "It also says here that you wish a divorce for cruel and unusual treatment?"

"That too, Your Honor, I will be leaving to live on Pern with my only grandchild and want to sever all ties when I go."

"Well, I'm not sure it will happen quite that fast," said the Judge, smiling down at her, "but it will certainly happen. There is no need I can think of for you to be here, but it is my understanding you can be back here within two days of notification if necessary."

"That is correct, Your Honor," said her lawyer. "It's my understanding that the return time is a matter of seconds if the timing is right."

"Fascinating," said the Judge. "For your information, Mrs. Ross, I am going to push for a minimum of Alcohol Rehabilitation and 10 years probation. If you had requested it, I would have gladly pushed for criminal charges as well that could result in prison time. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Your Honor," said Marry. "I did love him at one time, so don't want to punish him any more than my leaving him will, but I don't want there to be any chance he will torment anyone else either."

"That we can do, absolutely," said the Judge. "Given the nature of the charges, the plentiful evidence provided, and your desire for leniency, I don't think there will be any need for you to appear before us again. I wish you the best in your new life with your granddaughter."

The Judge banged his gavel against the hardwood sound block on his desk. "Court adjourned until after lunch!"

As they filled out of the courtroom, Harry handed Andrea Ross her new passport he had just picked up for her from Sir Elliot. When they got outside, he and Andrea mounted Chekiath and flew to the Ministry of Magic Building.

Ministry of Magic, Office of the Deputy Minister and staff, Sept 13, 2027...
Harry and Andrea walked into the Outer Office of the Minister of Magic, Andrea tried to look as inconspicuous as possible in her flight suit. The secretary behind the desk finally knew who he was. She looked up from the document she was typing and asked, "Is he expecting you, Sir?"

"Not at this exact time, but it is time-sensitive," replied Harry, as he sat down with three large buckets near him.

The secretary called the inner office and turned back to Harry, "He will be able to see you in about 20 minutes, would you like to wait?"

"Yes, that would be fine," replied Harry.

Twenty minutes later he and Andrea walked through the door to the Office of the Deputy Minister. Harry carried two buckets as if they were nothing and Marry struggled with hers as if it weighed a ton.

"Hello, Harry," said Sir Elliot, pleasantly. "I don't have much time, will this require much time?"

"No, Sir," replied Harry. "I just wanted to deliver your fire lizard eggs since I was in the area with Andrea. There is a small instruction book on top, you will have to share, that outlines what you will have to do to successfully bond with your fire lizard egg. I will leave it to you, who gets which egg."

"Thank you, Harry," said Sir Elliot, as Arthur and Alejandro came over to look into the buckets. "So this is the grandmother of the young child you rescued? You find yourself in very noble company, madam. If he is taking care of you, then I am satisfied you will be very happy. I hope your new life on Pern far outshines what you have gone through here on Earth."

"Thank you, Sir," mumbled a flustered Andrea. Harry just blushed slightly at the praise.

"That's all I have for now, Sir. If you have nothing for me, we will be on our way," said Harry. "I have one more of these to deliver."

"Is that for Her?" asked Sir Elliot.

"It is, Sir," replied Harry. "And she's expecting us soon."

"Then you'd best be on your way as quickly as possible!"

As they left, Andrea wanted to ask, "Her, who?" but was too in awe over what was happening to be able to.

Balmoral Castle, Sept 13, 2027...
Andrea nearly fainted when they came out of Between over Balmoral Castle and started their slow descent. Harry had never done it before, but Queen Elizabeth had requested they land in the inner courtyard. It would be a tight fit for Chekiath, but he was sure he could do it.

Once Cheki settled, Harry jumped down with his last bucket and helped Andrea to the ground. Queen Elizabeth was waiting for them.

Harry walked up to her and carefully placed the bucket near her. He then stood and nodded to her, "Ma'am."

Andrea had instantly gone into a panicked curtsy and hoped she was doing it right.

"Thank you, Harry. I see the instructions are on top of the sand as you said they would be," said the Queen. "Who is this that you have brought to me that she is so very afraid?"

"Your Majesty, This is Tegan Andrea Ross, the grandmother of the young orphan we adopted. She will be emigrating to Pern to be near her granddaughter."

"Stand, child," said the Queen. "Contrary to the stories that have spread about me, I don't actually bite or even have anyone beheaded!"

The Queen reached out and, taking Andrea's hand, pulled her upright.

"Thank you, ma'am, no, ma'am," said a very rattled grandmother.

Queen Elizabeth smiled at her, and said, "You are about to embark on an extraordinary adventure. I envy you in a way. I may never have a chance to go to Pern and would love to do so."

"I would love to have you visit," started Andrea, before she realized what she was saying, and stopped, blushing furiously.

"Well," said the Queen. "Don't forget you asked. If we get a chance, we may well take you up on your invitation!"

Harry smiled with the Queen in commiseration as one of her butlers picked up the egg bucket to take it inside. She waved to them one last time as Chekiath jumped into the air and finally went Between to Dragon Isle.

Above Spath's Weyr, Oct 4, 2027...
Harry had Chekiath come out of Between far enough away from the Weyr that people were just not noticeable against the immensity of the mountain itself. Most people never saw this view, but Harry wanted Andrea to have some great memories to help cancel out the bad ones. As Chekiath slowly flew towards the mountain to the south, the first feature to become visible was the great canopy covering the ground entrance to the Weyr. Then came the stream flowing from the mountain, cascading down into the lake on top of the canopy and flowing on north to join the stream to the ocean. Andrea had been absolutely silent since they'd come out of Between. She was doing her best to memorize everything there was to be seen.

Finally, the Apartment shield wall became visible with the greenhouses glittering in the sun against the mountainside. Lower yet and people could be made out as if they were ants scurrying around on the ground below.

"I wanted you to see this view," said Harry, "but it's a long walk from the outside to the inside, just a little less than a mile. If you like, we can go directly inside and save all that walking."

"I think I would prefer that," said Andrea. The last week before she left had left her tired from the required physical fitness classes everyone took. Harry had been right next to her for every exercise and she just glared at him in envy. How could anybody be so fit!?

This time Chekiath came out of Between at Level 4 facing the giant clock above the hospital entrance, far enough back that the central lake and gardens were easily visible. Harry knew the other immigrants should be just now landing outside to begin their orientation. He had something a little more personal in mind for Andrea.

As Chekiath slowly settled to the ground to the left of the hospital grid, Tegan came rushing out of Spoke tunnel 0 with her fire lizards gliding along behind her. "Granma Ross, Granma Ross, you're here! You're here!" shouted the excited young girl. Harry quickly dropped down and helped Andrea dismount. Tegan immediately jumped into her grandmother's arms. She remembered her from before her parents came to Pern. She always had a loving hug and a plate of her famous chocolate chip cookies waiting for her when she visited.

She had begged and begged until May had agreed to let Tegan help show her grandmother around.

Spath's Weyr, Foster Barracks...
Harry was carrying Tegan as they moved along in Andrea's initial Weyr indoctrination. They had given her the same pre-publication of 'The Weyrs of Pern' as every other immigrant received, but Harry was hoping Andrea would be willing to help him with a problem he had recently discovered, orphans.

"This is the Foster Barracks," said Harry as they entered the foyer of what was a huge, space-enhanced, human apartment block. "It is located on the Hatching Ground Spoke, Level 1, in Sector 6 (clockwise of Spoke 6), on the inner side of the ring, opposite the Turbolift (Apartment 13), so its address is 010602-13 in the order LLSSRR-room # where LL = Level, SS = Sector, and RR = Ring.

"The original Lord Holders would send any children after the oldest to other Holds to learn how to be Holders or to learn other crafts. It was a thinly veiled attempt to ensure the oldest son of the Lord Holder took over when his father died or retired. Basically, they got rid of the younger children so they wouldn't have to take care of them. What they seemed to fail to realize was that other Lord Holders were doing the same thing.

"It didn't hurt that what they did, intentional or not, reduced active competition among the young holder candidates; since they can't all become the Holder, some had to find other ways to advance their lives. If the 'King' has too many sons, or daughters, that's almost as bad as having too few. Also, transportation limits the available possible mates, so raising children in other households exposed them to more potentially suitable candidates.

"What I am trying to do is formalize the practice, even though I don't approve of it. The upside is that any orphans in the Weyr, Holds, or Cotholds will now be mixed in with the Fostered children and housed in the same place, here in the Foster Barracks. Before, a few unlucky Fostered children and many of the orphans were simply given a ragged blanket and told to sleep near the kitchen ovens for warmth. Here I want them all to be treated equally, as valuable members of our society, treated fairly with equal opportunity for each one, male or female.

"If anyone approaches us for fostering, I want someone to talk to the proposed foster child to determine what they think they want to do. If they have a specific occupation in mind, then they can live with a willing family involved in that occupation, which means they won't use the Foster Barracks.

"Since we are new to Pern, we haven't been approached yet to participate in the Foster system but recently I found we had 16 orphans spread across those Weyrs and Holds we created since we arrived. What I am hoping to convince you to do is move into the first apartment here and be the mother for all those children. You would be the face of the Earth Weyrs of Pern and would officially be the Weyr Fostering Mistress."

"That sounds like a big job," said Andrea, hesitantly. "What if I can't manage?"

"You won't be working alone," said Harry. "We have plenty of people who would be right for this type of work. If everything worked out perfectly, you would find foster families that would take the children as if they were their own and you would only have to check periodically to ensure everything was fair for the child as well as the parent. If there is anything you needed, extra people to help, someone to change room layout, extra furniture or clothing, you can either go to Susan Bones, the Weyr Headwoman, or come to me directly. Either one of us can make things happen.

"Our privacy is very valuable to us, so we would prefer if you didn't live in the same apartment as us, but we do want you nearby as a valued member of our family. Hermione's parents live on Level 2 since they are both involved in Dentistry, which is a medical profession. We need to find you someplace comfortable to live and this would be ideal, even if you don't feel like you can take the job. This apartment is right across the hall from the Turbolift which will get you to our apartment in a matter of seconds. Tegan can come down here to find others to make friends with, and, once she starts school, this is convenient to one of our multi-species schools. She could come by to visit when she gets out.

"Stay here tonight and let us know what you think tomorrow or the next day. For now, my main concern is for you to know where you are going to sleep tonight!"

"OK," said Andrea, thoughtfully. "I will 'sleep on it' and give you my decision later."

Just then a small group of 5 happy pre-teens entered laughing and talking amongst themselves. When they saw the adults in the foyer, they waved and continued up to their rooms.

"They seem happy enough," said Andrea, thoughtfully.

"That's because they know they are the equal of anyone here," said Harry, ardently, "and we treat them as they should be treated as a valuable resource for our future."

Harry showed her to the Mistress's apartment, where her few belongings had been delivered. There were already some Weyr appropriate clothing in the closets, the furniture was well-built, sturdy, and functional, the bed comfortable, and the entire apartment looked very inviting.

"There are no cooking facilities?" asked Andrea, questioningly.

"That's because we all eat at one of the Level 1 kitchens," explained Harry. "If you want to eat in, you can get your food and bring it back or you can call one of our house-elves and request they bring you something."

"Dobby, Tisky," called Harry.

The two house-elves popped into the room and startled Andrea.

"Andrea, these are two very special people," said Harry. "I would like to introduce you to Dobby and Tisky, a pair of married house-elves I consider to be a part of my family. For some reason, I cannot get them to treat me like everyone else. I know you have heard about other species, but never met one before now. Until recently house-elves were treated as little more than slaves. I have tried my best to correct that. They are every bit as intelligent and caring as anyone else and deserve our admiration.

"Dobby, Tisky, this is Tegan Andrea Ross. She is Tegan's grandmother and a new member of my immediate family, just as you are. Please allow her to call on you for help if she needs it, she is new here today and has suffered almost as much as you once did."

"Dobby would be honored to help Miss Ross," said Dobby, bowing to the startled grandmother. Tisky just smiled and nodded.

"I am most honored to meet you Dobby and Tisky," said Andrea. "I'm not familiar yet with how to interact successfully with other species, so if I make a mistake, please forgive me and let me know how I can do better."

Harry looked on approvingly as Dobby and Tisky both nodded appreciatively at Andrea. "Thank you," said Harry. "I just wanted you to meet Andrea. You may return to whatever you were doing before I interrupted you if you wish."

Dobby and Tisky smiled, nodded, and popped out of the room.

"I noticed you were startled when Dobby and his wife appeared," said Harry, smiling. "On Dragon Isle, I know one of the lectures covers intelligent species other than humans. Now you've met two of them. The Equality Oath you were required to take should also make a lot more sense. Over the time you spend on Pern you are likely to come into contact with many more intelligent species. Centaur foals go to school right alongside house-elf children, humans, and goblins.

"If you like, I can take you down to the ocean to meet with the intelligent dolphins, who can actually speak English, though it is easier for them to speak mind-to-mind like the dragons do. There is a huge inland sea west of here where intelligent Mers live. In order to understand them, you need to be underwater. Out on the plains, there are intelligent Cheetahs, though I would recommend you go with a dragon if you really want to meet them.

"You're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy!" said Harry, quoting from one of May's favorite movies.

Andrea smiled in return, and responded, "They startled me with their sudden appearance, not by them being here. I look forward to meeting other species, and look at all this as the most exciting thing to have ever happened to me, ever! I want to learn right alongside my granddaughter."

"I suggest you get changed into something more comfortable for traipsing around the Weyr. In any case, I will need that temporary flight suit back. As a member of my family, I have requisitioned a full flight suit for you, which you will find in your room. You will find them surprisingly comfortable and many of us wear them all the time since they also offer additional protection. There is a belt pouch attached where you will find the helmet. The pouch is magically enhanced so it is weightless and bottomless. It will take anything you can fit into it through the opening. If you want to pull something out, just think of what you want when you reach in and it will come to your fingers.

"I will wait out here with Tegan while you get changed." Harry gently shifted the slumbering little girl so she was more comfortable and Andrea turned to enter her apartment.

When Andrea came out of her room five minutes later, he took the temporary flight suit and placed it in his pouch. He then showed her how to properly don the helmet so it formed an airtight seal, necessary if she was going very high or underwater. He then showed her how to use the HUD to track her position in the Weyr using the WiFi signal and how to insert a 'go to' point for any desired destination so she would have an idea of which way to go. After he showed her how to extend and retract the gloves, they left for a leisurely walk through the forest, past the lake, and through the formal gardens to Kitchen 0R where his wives and Susan Bones were waiting for them.

When they finally reached Kitchen 0R and those waiting for them, Harry started his introductions, "Andrea, this is Susan Bones, the Weyr Headwoman. Susan, this is Tegan Andrea Ross, who we will be calling Andrea so as not to confuse her with this little sleeping bundle I have here. I have offered her the position of Weyr Fostering Mistress. If she accepts, she will probably need a lot of help getting started and some assistants if we ever get too many inhabitants in the Foster Barracks. I will leave you two to talk things over while I take this sleepy head upstairs for her nap."

Andrea reached over, pulled Tegan's hair out of her face, and kissed her on her forehead before she turned to start talking with Susan.

Benden Hold, Oct 10, 2027...
It seemed to Harry like someone was dying almost every other day! They had received word that the Benden Lord Holder Shan had died peacefully in his sleep the night before. Harry was here for the funeral, again mostly to show respect for the passed leader, but also to offer continuing support and assistance to his wife if she felt like she wanted it.

"Lady Holder Rakka," said Harry, gently. "My sincere condolences concerning your husband's death. If I or anyone in my Weyr can be of assistance to you in any way, please don't hesitate to get in touch. If you like, I can have some unbonded dragons stationed unobtrusively nearby specifically to maintain a watch on you and your family in case you need help urgently."

"I thank you, Weyrleader," responded Lady Rakka, "but The Benden Weyrleader should be able to provide any assistance I might need. Besides, I have this beautiful little green fire lizard if I need to send a message, don't I, dear?" She started caressing the tiny lizard's head to its obvious pleasure.

"As you say, Lady Holder," said Harry. "I just wish to make additional help available should you feel you need it. I wish you the best and will leave you now."

As Harry left, he asked Cheki to remind him to add a note to his notebook to check on additional ways they could help the indigenous Pernese to live longer, perhaps with the cooperation of their Healers.

Spath's Weyr, Oct 15, 2027...
Andrea arrived at ER#3 to have her cast removed. She would be really happy to have it taken off her arm, it had started itching abominably the last few days. She had put on quite a bit of muscle mass since arriving because Tegan insisted on taking her to all of her favorite places and they always went on foot. She had met her first Centaur that way, as they walked slowly through the central forest. She had thought he was sitting peacefully fishing at the central lake. As she walked over to ask him how the fish were biting, he pulled up his line and there was a rolled-up piece of parchment tied to the end. When she got closer, she saw the Mer in the water below. Bane had been having a philosophical discussion with a visiting Mer. Not wanting to intrude, she had waved at the Centaur and moved on through the forest with Tegan. It wasn't until she met him again that she learned what had been going on.

"Good morning, Mrs. Ross," said Doctor Kelly, pleasantly. "I see you're scheduled to have your cast removed today. Let's just do that little thing right now and then I want you to get another x-ray to verify your arm has healed properly."

"Thank you, Doctor. It has been itching really bad the last several days," said Andrea, thankfully. "We need to import some metal coat hangers from Earth just for those afflicted with casts!"

Maxine laughed at Andrea's half-joke, half-desperate plea and said, "I know it itches. That should be a good sign though. We will find out shortly."

Andrea liked Maxine. She was a Dragonrider, but you would never know her to be anything other than a Doctor if you didn't know otherwise. She always seemed cheerful and really cared for her patients. It didn't take long to remove the cast and verify the bone was properly healed. Andrea decided her next course of action was a long-delayed shower. Sponge baths while wearing a cast were just not good enough!

Half an hour later, she had showered, put on clean clothes, and was sitting in the foyer lounge outside her room at the Foster Barracks. Her name and title had appeared on the door as if by magic as soon as she accepted Harry's offer of a job. She had thought about it long and hard after he mentioned the possibility. Before she made her decision, she had explored the Weyr and gotten to know the Weyr's layout and its inhabitants, human and non-human. She had also spent time in this very lounge talking to some of the temporary guests in the foster Barracks.

They all seemed really happy, but it wasn't until she had been able to successfully help one of the girls with a problem that she felt she might actually be able to do the job Harry had asked her to do. Now her days were filled with making new friends, keeping up with what was going on in the Weyr, and spending a lot of quality time with her granddaughter. She usually tried to spend at least two hours in the lounge in the morning and again in the evening in case one of her charges needed to discuss anything with her. It was a relaxing, yet fulfilling existence. She was so happy May had taken the time to find her.

Spath's Weyr, Hatching Grounds, Nov 22, 2027...
Harry stood on the hatching ground sands and watched the last of the new impressions walking off towards the feeding ground. The bonded dragons had again laid 40 good eggs and the unbonded dragon population was now 6,935, an increase of five dragons. It wasn't much, but it was an increase! He would take good news wherever he found it.

Andrea was fitting in well. She had helped Emma in the Woman's Candidate Barracks and they had bonded over grandchildren. Tegan was only seven or eight months older than Emma, so they were a good match, age-wise. He had a feeling that if Andrea ever needed help in the Foster Barracks, the first person she asked to help would be Emma.

Now, what could he do to increase unbonded dragon responsibilities? Perhaps he should go talk to the New Russia Premier again. Surely they would have a need for such a useful workforce. Perhaps they would even want a full Weyr now that they were an ally. Search and Rescue Operations were welcome all over the world.

Moscow, Russia, Dec 6, 2027...
Harry wanted to make sure there were no misunderstandings during this meeting. He had carefully arranged, through Arthur Weasley, for a meeting between Albert Ford, the Dragon Nation's Chief Negotiator, himself, and the New Russia Premier who was encouraged to have as many of his own advisors present as he saw fit.

Harry had outfitted Ford with a full flight suit, a translation earring, and one of his Dragon Pendants, so there was no chance either of them could be harmed, but Harry requested, and received a full Division of unbonded dragons to be on hand on and around the surrounding buildings, just in case. Their orders were to remain invisible and undetected unless Harry got into trouble. Since they all wore the carbon nanotube Dragon Armor, not even infrared sensors would be able to detect them.

As last time, the New Russia Premier was waiting on the steps of the New Parliament building, waiting for Harry to appear. He was heavily bundled up, however. It was winter in Russia, after all.

When Chekiath landed and Harry and Albert alighted, Posokhov Svyatoslav (Slava) Stanislavovich, Premier of New Russia, motioned them to enter the building and then hurried inside himself. It was only 20 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind chill drove it down to below zero.

Harry instantly felt remorse for asking so many dragons to wait out in the cold for him. "I'm sorry, Chekiath!" exclaimed Harry to his dragon silently. "If I had realized it would be this cold, I would have asked for a warmer day! If you think it best, you can rotate three-quarters of the dragons to warmer climates and switch them out periodically. I will be as fast as possible."

"We will be fine, Harry," replied Cheki. "This isn't as cold as Between."

"I know, mate," said Harry, worriedly. "But you don't stay in Between near as long as you will stay in this cold. Please take care of yourself and our dragons!"

"I will, Harry, now go to your meeting."

Harry turned and followed Albert who had already scurried inside. Albert knew the flight suit kept him toasty but he still felt like he should be cold. As Harry walked in and closed the door, he saw Albert and Slava standing outside a nearby door waiting for him. As Harry entered the room, he checked his HUD for any hidden life signs. When he saw none, he removed his helmet and put it away. He left his gloves on, however. It was cold in the building!

"Cheki," sent Harry, silently. "Would you ask one of our magical riders to bring one of our smaller power generators and several space heaters? It is really too cold for any extended negotiations, and I don't want to be rushed. Ask him to bring enough small Coleman stoves for each dragon outside as well."

"He will be on his way as soon as he can gather everything you require," said Cheki, promptly.

"I'm sorry for the chilly welcome," said Slava, apologetically. "I refuse to heat government buildings when our people need the heat more. It works remarkably well to get important business done as quickly as possible and helps to keep down anything not urgent.

"Since you have only brought your dragon and one additional aide, I have decided to try to do something similar. My advisors warn me that you have the ability to cause me to do whatever you want, so they refused to allow me to attend this meeting unless there were several magical people present as well. Also present are the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Natural Resources, and the Minister of Agriculture. I felt that none of the others were pertinent to what we will be discussing but, if they are interested, we are making a video of the entire meeting and it is also being live broadcast to various locations around the country. I feel it is important to be transparent in any negotiations between New Russia and any other foreign power."

"Those sound like eminently practical precautions," said Harry, politely, "and I have no objections whatsoever. I had even thought you might want to have some hidden wizards as added protection. That all that are here are out in the open tends to make me even more comfortable and I feel I can trust you more."

"Thank you, … Weyrleader," said Slava, hesitantly. "Pardon me for my hesitation, but it is an odd title for a world leader."

"It is," agreed Harry. "Since you are recording this, let me go into a little history behind how I came to become the leader before you today."

Harry spent 20 minutes giving an extremely brief history of the Dragon Nation's early years and a little bit about Pern. By the time he was finished, there was a knock on the door.

"I have asked one of my magical riders to bring one of our portable power generators and some space heaters so we may be more comfortable," said Harry, with a smile. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier, but I didn't think you would mind a little free warmth during our negotiations."

"By all means, let him enter and set up these heaters," said the Premier.

One of the guards opened the door and in walked Susan Bones trailing a small Hot Rock generator and six large space heaters floating along behind her as chicks behind a mother duck. She quickly set everything up and turned to Harry to see if there was anything else he needed.

"Mr. Premier," said Harry. "This is Susan Bones, rider of Nimonth. She is in charge of the physical operation of our entire Weyr on Pern. I just asked for the generator and heaters, I didn't specify where they should come from. Evidently, it was faster to get them from Pern than to find them locally. Susan, this is Posokhov Svyatoslav Stanislavovich, the New Russia Premier, and the man who almost single-handedly brought this great nation back as a world power."

Susan bowed to the Premier and said, "It is a pleasure to meet such a prominent leader," said Susan. "I hope your talks prove fruitful to both New Russia and the Dragon Nation."

"The pleasure is all mine," said the Premier, as he removed his heavy coat. The previously frigid room was already comfortably warm. "If you continue to bring warmth in the depth of winter, you will always be welcome here."

Since Harry didn't have anything else he needed, Susan bowed again to the Premier, nodded to Harry, and left the room."

"You say she came all the way from Pern?" questioned the Premier. "Exactly how long does that take?"

"2.6 seconds, Mr. Premier," said Harry. "We don't understand why that is, but we've come to accept it as a fact of life."

"Amazing!" exclaimed the Premier. "But I suppose it is time for us to find out why you requested this meeting, as pleasant as it has turned out to be."

"We are about to expand our presence on Earth once more," began Harry, calmly. "In order to do that, we need safe places to live with specific requirements. In exchange, one of the things we can offer is access to nearly unlimited clean power, such as supplied by the generator in this room. It is capable of supplying enough power for a small town, but, as you can see, is easily transported.

"After the disastrous end of the Dragon War, we placed an operational 3,500 MW Hot Rock Generator near Moscow. Is it still operational?"

"It most definitely is!" exclaimed the Minister of the Interior. "It is currently supplying power for heat to hundreds of thousands of homes within a roughly 300-mile radius. We are trying to limit its use to heating only, because we have no idea of its operational life, how to refuel it, or it's capacity. Without that generator, millions would have died from the cold that first year. We managed to get our Natural Gas distribution operational fairly quickly and anyone outside the radius of the generator use Natural Gas for heating."

Harry nodded to Albert Ford to continue. "We can provide enough generators to power all the needs of your country. You would build the installations where you wanted them and we would supply the fuel. The buildings are standard Nuclear Power Plant construction, without the nuclear fuel. The heat transfer chambers need to be leased from either British Petroleum or Exxon, but the lease is quite reasonable and the chambers won't have to be recharged for hundreds of years."

Albert waited for the shocked murmurs to die down and then he continued, "A Weyr can also offer Search and Rescue operations, a very useful addition since you have ports on many seas.

"Our requirements are fairly minimal:
1 We require land granted to us for our use alone.

2 We must be allowed to operate autonomously from the host government.

3 Ideally, there should be a small to medium town or village close enough to drive to in less than an hour, our riders like to shop.

4 We will need to be supplied with food for both human and dragon consumption until we are able to start generating enough to cover our own needs. Even after that, there may be unique regional specialties that the Weyr would be willing to pay or barter for.

5 We will allow a research station to be attached to the Weyr with the idea of finding new ways dragons can help your country but any military research is forbidden.

6 We will never join in any military exercises or training but we will partner with your local law enforcement organizations to help protect your people from foreign or domestic crime."

The initial negotiations went on for another hour, by which time many of the requirements had been agreed upon. The only thing holding them back was locating a suitable location to start the Weyr and getting approval from the New Russian people. Since the entire meeting had been recorded and also live broadcast, everyone would soon know the pros and cons. When Harry and Albert left, they left the generator and heaters as a gift to the New Russia people.

The Dragons Return: FF_9879605_1315543986 7/29/17 Page 26 of 26