The owl arrived carrying a message announcing the date of full Wizengamot to hear Dennis case two days after he returned for Maldon. His mother reported she gave the messenger owl a hot dog, as per polite custom and her wont, and that is seemed pleased when it departed. At the evening meal with his parents, he opened the very official looking envelope – breaking the wax seal that confirmed his identity – and read the contents. The short missive stated they would meet during the third week of April, on a Tuesday, the 23rd, at nine-thirty in the morning. His parents received an invitation to sit in the gallery if they so wished, and he would be allowed one person to assist him on the floor. Dennis noted how the message deliberately avoided the words counsel and counselor.
"Duncan? Should we go?" Dennis' mother asked her husband as they mulled the situation while enjoying a gelato dessert.
Duncan Creevey cast a glance at his son.
"Dad, it's during a workday, and I know how the Ministry makes you… squeamish. I don't think it'd do me any favors seeing you sitting on one of the benches looking uncomfortable around all those witches and wizards," Dennis responded to the look.
The final statement made his father's face sag a bit.
"Honestly, Dad. Give it a miss. I understand."
"Thank you," Duncan breathed out the words.
"Then I'll go for the both of us," his mother chimed in. "I think one of us should be there. Will Professor Flitwick be going?"
Dennis nodded since he scooped a heaping spoonful of the cholesterol and fat-laden ice cream-like substance in his mouth. The caramel and vanilla flavors swirled around his tongue. The dessert seemed to take the edge off the conversation, and he wondered if his mother planned it.
"Will Cam have to go?" His father bravely inquired.
"Yeah, I think so. I'll call him after dinner to find out if he got a letter. Wonder if they sent it by owl," he replied and mused.
"This sounds like a trial," his father verbally pondered as he worked on his treat.
"They say it isn't, but it is. That's why Professor Flitwick had me ask for a full Wizengamot. He asked all the right questions, but the Chief Warlock tried to worm his way around it. Came down to whether or not they would press charges against me."
Both his parents looked aghast even though Dennis told them the same on at least three different occasions. He decided to skip reviewing what would happen to Cameron if the finding went counter to his hopes. However, the research Dennis completed over the past week did raise his hopes. He started to grin as he thought the new information at his disposal.
"What's with that smirk?" His mother inquired in a confused manner.
"Thinking about some of what I found out," he replied. "Seems magical-muggle relationships aren't as uncommon as they want everyone to believe. More than one Chief Warlock took up with a muggle over the centuries without obliviating them. Druids never made a big deal about it. Half the magical families in Europe got non-magical marriages in 'em. Professor Flitwick thinks I found their Achilles heel… and what does that even mean?"
Dennis received a brief lecture on Greek mythology. As they spoke, he realized he heard the story, except the magi world used the man's proper Greek name. Magi did not consider it a legend, but rather an interesting piece of history. However, no one could agree exactly on where the River Styx might be located, and most thought it an enchanted pond that dried up in ancient times. They did not dispute its apparent power.
"So, I've got a real shot at showing how the law plays favorites. After Voldemort's running of the Ministry, they're not going to want anyone to think that," Dennis stated with a small triumphant air.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Denny. Play it close to the chest and carefully. You do what your professor tells you to do," his father sternly cautioned him. "They're going to erase Cam's brain if this doesn't work out right."
"Just some of his memories, Dad," he replied and mentally kicked himself for raising the prospect.
Duncan Creevey set down his spoon. He wiped his mouth with a paper napkin, and then fixed his son with steely eyes. Dennis realized too late they tripped across the tolerance level of his father.
"Really? And you're certain they're going to be careful and pick only those ones about you? What about all his plumbing knowledge that you might be part of? What about all those friends up in Nottingham? Exactly how are they going to do this, Dennis, without messing up the rest of his life?" The man questioned his son in a very pointed tone.
"I…" Dennis began to respond, and then he conceded he could not offer a counter-argument. He sat and stared at his father, both in awe and fear because his father revealed aspects Dennis never considered.
"Get my point?"
"Yes, Dad."
"Lay off, Duncan," his mother cajoled her husband. "Can't he have at least one moment of hope?"
"Jill, that's only going to lead to him getting more emotionally damaged. Better he goes into this with his eyes open instead of dancing around in some fantasy."
His father and mother faced off against one another. It usually happened when discussing football or politics, but rarely over magical issues since neither possessed any extensive knowledge aside from what their sons shared over the years. Dennis saw where the miscommunication took place, but he wisely kept himself out of the developing row. Sometimes his parents absolutely loved to argue and used it as a means to vent emotions about other issues.
"I'm not talking about him dancing around in some fantasy, Duncan, but don't you think he should at least have some hope and express confidence when he goes in there to face those people?" His mother shot right back at his father.
"Not if it sets the wrong expectations. Don't you think he has enough to deal with?"
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"It means Dennis already faces enough challenges. Look at what happened to him at school!"
"That was school, and real life doesn't work out the same way. Haven't we always taught him if he works hard, prepares himself, then he'll get ahead?"
Dennis sat and finished his gelato while his parents argued about him completely around him. He found it oddly fascinating to hear his father's and mother's unvarnished opinions. Granted, sometimes it hurt, but he would rather know than not.
"Jill, this has been stacked against him from the start! They're already angry with him because he wouldn't reveal what Lord North gave him, and now they're threatening Cam to get him to cooperate," Duncan laid out the complaint Dennis made several times.
"Are you saying they're resorting to extortion?" Jill rejoined in an incredulous voice.
"Yes," Dennis answered for his father, "'cept they're trying to be subtle about it."
Silence dropped onto the table like a boulder falling off a mountain. The Creevey parents turned to face the Creevey son. Dennis let his eyes flick back and forth. The sounds of the neighbors seeped through the walls. The oven let out a clank as it finished cooling. Dennis took another spoonful of the sinful dessert. They waited on him. He planned on what he would say.
"Well, part of it is at least," he clarified. "The truth is the Secrecy Statute got violated whether it was an accident or not. Cam didn't know that's what he did, but it doesn't matter. It falls on me to make sure the rule doesn't get broken. Professor Flitwick keeps saying I need to stay focused on the facts. The fact is Cam figured out I'm a wizard, and I didn't do anything to stop him or say he was wrong… or try to fix the situation. I think maybe I wanted him to know. I was sick of hiding it. I'm tired of always having to hide part of who I am."
"Denny?" His father carefully questioned with his name.
"Look, first it was hiding I'm a wizard when I was little. Then, it was hiding I was gay when that came out. Now, it's back to hiding I'm a wizard," he said and made it sound exhausting. "I get now why witches and wizards from muggle families just sort of cut all contact after a while. It's gets really old really fast, and it's really tiring having to play this game all the time. I'm never allowed to be who I really am. I don't get to just live."
His mother's face slowly turned to an expression of private horror. His father's visage cemented itself into a familiar frown. Dennis knew his words hinted that they would lose their last living son to the magical world. However, he did not want that to happen. Over the past several months, Dennis realized he made a conscious decision to remain part of the muggle world. He did it for his parents, but he also did it for himself.
"I'm not going anywhere. Even if I found and get my own place, it'll probably be close by," Dennis to them and emphasized several words. "But you've got to see how this wears me down sometimes, and it's not your fault. It's their fault. Half the time I support the secrecy rules, and the other half I think it's all bullocks."
"Dennis!" His mother scolded him for his language.
He ignored her and continued: "Lately I've been thinking I should just let them bind my powers and be done with it. It'd be easier on everyone."
"Denny, you… I know how much you love magic," his father uttered a completely surprising sentence.
"I do, but how I can be happy about it when all magic does is separate me from people I love?"
Dennis could not recall how his parents reacted or what they said as the thought took over his mind. He did love magic. Everyone who knew him to be a wizard knew of his profound love of magic. However, the young wizard felt as though he finally admitted to one of the real side effects of being magical: it did separate for all the people in both the magic and muggle worlds as he tried to live in each. It pained Dennis to think he might need to give up one thing he loved in favor of another, and he wondered if he could bring himself to make that decision. If anyone truly forced him chose, then he would choose his family each time.
The next evening he knocked on a door far removed from either St. Albans or Hogwarts. When it flew open, the angry vision that greeted Dennis shifted to one of amused irritation. Gam Mergin stared at him.
"Can I talk to you 'bout something important?" He requested.
"Don't you have anyone else to talk to?" She retorted.
"No one who's objective."
"And what makes me objective?"
"You don't like it when I come to talk to you, so you tell me the truth," Dennis presented his reasoning.
"I'll give you points for being honest," Gam Mergin grunted.
They stood on either side of the threshold to her home. Dennis calculated he ran even odds she would ask him to leave. The seconds ticked by. Finally, the elderly woman turned and walked away from the door, but she left it open. He took it as an invitation. Once he carefully wiped his feet, Dennis stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He made his way to dining and kitchen area filled with the incredible array of strange implements.
"Am I going to have to feed you?" Gam mumbled at him.
"No, ma'am. I ate before I came this way," he told her.
"Apparating on a full stomach. You must be used to it."
"Yeah, I disapparate a lot."
Dennis watched as the witch pulled a cast-iron pan from the enormous cast-iron stove. It appeared she believed in cast-iron, but he also heard his mother speak in praise of the cookware. A weirdly delicious smell filled the kitchen. The young wizard could not quiet place all the scents, but his stomach began to rethink the need to eat again. Dennis shoved the thought to the side. A minute later Gam Mergin returned to the table with a plate of steaming meat pie of some sort. She left and returned with two cups filled with hot fluid.
"It's not breakfast tea," she said, handed him the cup, and sat down.
Gam Mergin tucked into her food without saying another word. The savory, stew-like pie enticed and tempted, yet Dennis continued to resist the desire to ask for some. He never quite smelled anything like it, and the chunks meat and vegetables swimming in a thick, brown gravy dotted with herbs and spices greatly appealed to him. However, Dennis held his tongue firmly in check while he waited.
"Okay, what's kicking around in your craw?" The older witch asked after savoring her meal for a few minutes in silence.
"I'm thinking of asking the Ministry to bind my powers," Dennis stated without any affectation.
Gam Mergin's mouth hung open, spoon raised halfway to it, and gaped at Dennis. Her eyes narrowed. She closed her mouth and set down her spoon. One eyebrow crept to the middle of her forehead.
"Alright, let me hear it," she murmured at him and finished by taking a swig of her tea.
"I can't be wizard who loves a muggle. They want to erase his brain 'cause he figured me out. My muggle parents are always worrying about me. I don't tell them half the stuff I do in my job 'cause it'd scare the shit out of them. Witches and wizards think my gourd's gone soft 'cause I help ghosts and live at home with my muggle parents. I can't be normal in the magic world, and I can't be normal in the muggle world. It's coming down to one way or the other, and I can't give up my parents. So, I think I've got to give up magic," he explained while fighting to hold his emotions in check.
"This doesn't sound like you. Thought you're a fighter. Look at what you're doing for a ghost you don't even really know. How'd it get like this for you?"
Although he never intended to lay out his life story for Gam Mergin, Dennis gave her a pretty full accounting in brief. She ate and listened at the same time, and allowed him to talk himself out. When he concluded, Gam Mergin sat before an empty plate and cup. She eyed him and gave no indication as to her thinking.
"Voldy was an evil piece of shite," the woman said in no uncertain terms. "His real work came in what he forced everyone to go through, and that includes you. Even me, but we fought him here in Ireland."
"I heard."
"But that don't mean nothing right now. Can't believe I'm hearing a wizard who wants to give his magic."
"Didn't say I want to; I said I don't have much of choice. If I keep 'em, someone gets hurt… and so do I. If I give 'em up, then… it's just me. I don't think I can live with people suffering because of me," he answered her charge.
"Why do you think that's your only options. Seems kind of extreme to me," Gam Mergin countered.
"Then what do I do? How do I stop the Ministry from obliviating Cam and telling me I can't see him anymore? If I give up my magic, then they can just let me go and live a muggle life."
"And you think that's going to be normal?" She blurted and shook her head. "Dennis, they will watch you 'til the day you die. You're a trained wizard, and pretty handy from what you've told me. They'll obliviate both of you, and you'll probably end up no smarter than a carrot by the time they're done."
That shocked him. He never thought about the measures the Ministry would use if he opted to relinquish his wizardhood. Then his brain interjected with the mound of evidence he unearthed over the past week. It reminded him of various salient facts.
"What about squibs? What about muggle children of witches and wizards? What about my parents? They never even talked about obliviating them," he said contradiction to her assumption.
"There is that. But they've got to have some kind of standard. You can't make an entire family forget someone once belonged to them. Think of the cousin and uncles… grandparents. Half the world would have to forget the other half. Can't be done, Dennis," she semi-refuted his assertion while also semi-supporting it. "What I don't get about you is why you're betting all this on one person you haven't even know for year."
"It's not just about him. I guess it represents my whole life. At school people thought me and Colin were too hyper to be wizards. Then when everyone found out I was gay… can't say that was a lot of fun, like I said. People always question why I'm helping the ghosts without remembering the ghosts helped me first. Then… Cam just liked me from the start. I fell for him hard, Gam. Real hard. I know he loves me, too. Now… I think they're going to take that away from me."
Gam Mergin sat and listened. A small smile, a sad one, rested on her lips. When Dennis took a sip of his tea, the woman swiveled her head around as if surveying her kitchen. She appeared different when she let her eyes rest on Dennis.
"This was all Flynn's doing," Gam Mergin stated. "He loved to cook. I couldn't even make toast without burning half the house down. Not Flynn. He could make a soup out of weeds that you'd never forget. Took almost a year after we were married to find the stove he wanted. He'd cook for us… and I'd fall in love with him every time."
It only took Dennis a second to realize the woman began to reveal something of herself. She spoke of love in a voice he instantly understood. The young wizard kept his mouth tightly closed.
"He was a true Irishman. Couldn't stand injustice. He kept hearing about all that whatnot and goings-on over in Vietnam, and it bothered him inside. He heard what was happening in America, and that got to him too," she told him and sighed. "I kept saying, 'Now, Flynn, what's that got to do with you?' Flynn would look at me and say, 'When do we stop caring 'bout what happens to others?'"
Gam Mergin grew quiet and gazed far, far away from the dining area where they sat. Dennis recognized the look. Sometimes Thomas would recount the days from his mortal life, and he would stare into the recesses of the past. The elderly woman did the same.
"He was right. He had such a big heart. Some folks 'round here still talk about Flynn. Mostly his cooking and his mushroom stew. But it got into him, and he couldn't ignore it. I was two months pregnant when it finally got to be too much for him. I could see what he meant to do before he ever told me."
"What did he do?" Dennis politely and softly queried.
Her dark eyes regarded him for a moment. The dining room felt secure and warm. The big stove eased heat into the air. Dennis got the notion Gam Mergin spent a considerable amount of time in the combined dining room and kitchen. It appeared so from the state of the dining table.
"Took himself off to there. He figured if enough witches and wizards banded together, they could make a real difference. Maybe even bring that war to an end. He talked a couple of other blokes into going with him, so they went. Went off to Vietnam to try and stop the war," Gam Mergin explained. "Flynn looked at me and said, "Orla, I know now isn't the best time, but when is it ever?' I knew I couldn't talk him out of it, so I hugged him and let him go. Nothing much else for me to do."
"When did Flynn die?"
"Middle of May in sixty-eight. During something called the second Tet in some place called Ban Me. Never wanted to know much more than that," she answered and looked away. "Funny thing, magic is. Can do also sort of wonderful things, some horrible things, but not much good against bullets and bombs. Him and all his friends were lost."
"I'm sorry," Dennis sincerely stated.
"So am I."
Then she returned her focus to him. He felt he should look away, but her eyes locked him place. Behind the gruff gaze he saw an old pain. Dennis understood that as well.
"Abbie never got the chance to know her father and what a treasure he was. Oh, Flynn could be a right pain in the arse half the time, but it was never dull with him around. Don't know why he took to me, 'cept maybe I didn't take an ounce of shite from him," Gam said through a tiny chuckle. "I loved him, Dennis, hard like you're saying, and I was maybe a year older than you when I did. We make choices, lad, and we forget we have to live with it the rest of our lives."
"So… what are you saying?"
"I'm saying you get to choose to do what you want, but don't go 'round crying if things don't turn out the way you wanted," Gam said as a warning. "I could've begged Flynn to stay, but that would've only drove him off. I knew he might get killed, and he did, but… maybe something would've died in him if he didn't go. He made a choice. Paid for it with his life. I made a choice, and I raised a girl on my own for it. Now, think well on what it is you really want before you commit to something serious."
"Like Flynn did?" Dennis asked without thinking it through.
Gam Mergin appeared angry at first. With each second that ticked by, Dennis thought she prepared to throw him from her house. Yet, she did not. Gam nailed him to his chair with a penetrating stare.
"You're not wrong. Maybe a bit flip with your question, but not wrong. You should take a lesson from that 'cause Flynn's choice affected a lot of people he knew… and some he never got the chance to know. It's not just you that gets affected. Think about that for a bit."
Dennis got what he sought: someone who would not coddle him because of his past. Gam Mergin learned from a wealth of life lived, and Dennis could see how his experiences paled next to hers. She lost her husband and the father to their child, but she carried on through whatever pain and turmoil it brought. He remembered from their earlier meetings the woman worked openly as a witch, and she told him people came to depend on her abilities. It made Dennis wonder about the magical laws, regulations, and rules in Ireland. They clearly did not subscribe to the Ministry of Magic.
"Is everyone in Ireland like you and Flynn? I've only known a couple of true Irish," Dennis queried.
"A fair lot of us are. We laugh at you English with your suffer in quiet dignity nonsense. Sometimes all you need is a fine stout and good row to put you to rights. Oh, we might get a bit superstitious every now and again, but we come by it honestly and don't often set too much by it. It takes heart and muscle to be a good Irish lass or lad," the woman firmly stated, and the gleam came back to her eyes.
"Yeah, that was Séamus and Erin all over. Both of them couldn't wait to get back here… home."
"Doesn't matter how far we roam or if we find ourselves on the other side of the world, this land calls to us, Dennis. Calls to us in voice that lives in our bones. Ever think that might be what your ghost is doing? Calling out for home?"
"I'm still waiting on Peeves to set up another chance to talk with her, but… I think I have something new to try with her," Dennis replied. "Thanks, Gam."
"For what? Telling you what you should've figured out ages ago?"
Gam Mergin's questions lingered in his ears long after he departed her home. Dennis thanked her profusely for listening to him and offering advice, but she waved him off as though he thanked her for the air around them. In an odd twist, Gam Mergin said she enjoyed their chat. While not quite an invitation to visit again, Dennis accepted it as an offer she would listen to him again if he found himself in need. Gam Mergin did not tell him what to do, but presented a very personal parable of someone who made an important decision and paid a dear price for it. However, Gam did not condemn Flynn for his choice. Dennis barely noticed his thinking got nudged onto a new track.
Dennis spent the next three days working with Rapid Removal. He kept to himself, and both Mr. Odpadki and his daughter, Sasha, gave him space and did not pester him to talk. Sometimes Dennis would let loose with a stray thought that only added confusion to the moment, but mostly spent his time trying to sort out his priorities. The daily opportunity to use magic in a productive and real manner became instructive. He saw how people lived, and it seemed a very far cry from what the Ministry understood and nothing at all like he experienced in school. Dennis also continuously thought about making choices and how it would affect everyone who knew him, including several who long since departed from the mortal coil.
The young wizard cast aside any notion to let the Ministry bind his powers. Dennis needed his magic. He started to understand his decision would impact Cameron as well. Thus, he needed to begin truly planning for next Ministry hearing.
"Think I can stay with you and parents the night before?" Cameron asked him later in the evening on the third out when Dennis rang him.
"Sure. I don't see why not. It's not like you're going to find out I'm a bunch of gnomes pretending to be a single person," Dennis agreed.
"You're not though, are you? I mean, you didn't look like it when you stayed at my flat, but… guess one can never know."
"Fuck off," the young wizard chuckled his answer.
Cameron snickered as well. As usual, Dennis sat on the kitchen floor leaning against the oven door. His parents watched television, and it played in the background. His mother got her wish, and she would spend the night instructing his father on the various subtleties and tactics of Inspector Morse. Of course, his father put up with such instruction since before Dennis could remember.
"Are you scared?" Cameron asked him after the small lull.
"I'd be stupid if I wasn't," he agreed. "You?"
"Yeah, but I don't know what to be afraid of. This letter just says I need to be at your Ministry by nine-thirty. There's some telephone box…"
"You won't be using that," Dennis interjected. "I'll be apparating you and my mum there."
"You mean that trick where you just sort of folded up into nothing?"
"Yeah."
The slight static hiss that infiltrated the receiver whenever Dennis used the landline seemed prescient. It announced his magic. He could hear Cameron thinking on the other end of the call.
"It doesn't hurt, Cam. It's like being on an out of control rollercoaster, but the spell only lasts for a few seconds. It takes longer for your stomach to stop turning," he explained again.
"Are you going to come and pick me up like that? Might help me get used to it," Cameron suggested.
"That's not a bad idea. Who cares if I do? They know that you know that I know that you know I'm a wizard. It's high time you got a chance to really experience it."
"Won't you get in more trouble?"
"More trouble than now? How the fuck would I get into more trouble?"
"Dennis. Language!" His mother shouted from the living room.
Dennis and Cameron both started giggling. Each time he talked to his boyfriend on the telephone, his mother repeatedly yelled at him for swearing even though she could let it fly like a cabbie in Piccadilly Circus. His father never uttered a word against it, and mainly because Dennis and his late brother truly learned about obscene words when they would ride along on the man's milk deliveries.
"Okay," his boyfriend sighed the word. Then he inquired: "Denny, are they going to take my memories of you away?"
"Maybe, I don't know," Dennis honestly answered. "I've been working on some new evidence they need to consider."
"Like what?"
"Like you and me are far from the first magical-muggle couple. It happens all the time, so I don't really know why they got in for me and you. I got a whole list of important witches and wizards who took up with a muggle… and everyone knew about it."
"And that'll make a difference… why?" Cameron pushed forward with his line of inquiry.
"Because it will show them up as hypocrites. Why do the rich and powerful get to fall in love with whoever they want while they try to tell the rest of us who we can love? Professor Flitwick thinks this will shame them into backing off, especially since Voldemort held everyone to a double-standard. They don't like being compared to thin," Dennis explained in greater detail.
"He was really a nasty piece of work that Vol-whatever guy, wasn't he?"
"The worst."
In that simple two-word phrase, Dennis channeled every ounce of hatred he felt for Lord Voldemort and his followers. While Voldemort himself did not kill Colin, his fear of death and hunger for power led his followers to kill countless others. Ultimately, Voldemort bore the final responsibility for all that happened.
"Wow, you really hate that guy," Cameron noted, "but, after hearing about what happened, I can't blame you. Just weird hearing you sound like that."
"How do I normally sound?"
"Like someone who cares. Like someone who knows what it's like to hurt and doesn't want anyone else to go through it."
"Sometimes it's hard to care when somebody is trying to hurt you," Dennis clarified.
"Do you think your Ministry is trying to hurt you?" Cameron asked, and Dennis heard him trying to be delicate.
"Maybe. They're angry with me 'cause I won't give them what they want, and a lot of people think this is there way of putting pressure on me to give in."
Dennis played with the telephone cord, like he did as a child, as he began to contemplate what the Ministry actually intended. The background hiss grew louder. He tried to calm himself, but the reception began to crackle.
"Funny, that," his boyfriend intoned.
"What's funny?" Dennis naturally inquired
"That sound. Here I thought the wiring in my flat went to shit, but it was you. The more I think about it, the more I see there was something really different about you. How do other couples like us manage it?"
"Like us?"
"Yeah, like us. You don't think we're the only ones, do you?" Cameron said and let out with a sarcastic laugh.
Dennis stared at the cupboard across the kitchen. The pause lengthened as he consider what his boyfriend just stated.
"I take it all back, what I said before about you becoming a constable. You're a terrible detective, Denny, if you think we're the only two living this… magical taboo. I'll bet there's hundreds of people like us 'cept they don't have information your government wants."
"Cam," Dennis barely breathed the name. "I've got to go. I've got some work I need to do, and I need to do it fast before time runs out."
"Oh, my god, Dennis! You never thought…"
"No," the wizard darkly interjected. "Don't forget that I'm not the most popular guy in the magical world, and I know more about living like a muggle than I do a wizard."
"Denny, I didn't mean to make you angry," Cameron said, and his voice dripped with apology.
"Nope, not mad at you. Mad at myself that I didn't think of it, Cam. This is why I need you in my life. You… you wake me up. Make me more aware…."
"I love you, Dennis Creevey," the voice on the other end of the line cooed into his ear.
"I know," Dennis said as tension eased from his chest. "I love you, too, Cam."
"So, what is it you need to go do?"
"I got some spellwork to get started, and I don't have a lot of time if I want to finish before the hearing."
"That sounds so cool," Cameron nearly squealed like a child.
"But I have to be careful. Don't want to create a mess I'll have to call Mister Odpadki about. He'd never let me live it down," Dennis told him as a spark of hope and interest ignited in his mind. The kitchen seemed a bit brighter even though he sat in the dark.
"What are you thinking?"
"Don't want to say it out loud. I have no idea if they've got listening spells on the house. I wouldn't put it past 'em."
"Don't they need a special writ or something like that from Scotland Yard?" His boyfriend innocently inquired.
"Cam, think about who you're talking about, and I don't think Scotland Yard knows anything about us… magical folk. You forget these are the people that want to erase part of your brain."
Dennis could almost feel Cameron become more somber. A reminder about what might possibly await the man he loved sobered him as well. It fed fuel to his inner fire to enact the plan that just formulated in his head. Moreover, Dennis decided he would use the same tactics the Aurors' Office seemed to employ. Secondly, Cameron hit the conspicuous nail on the head with the obvious hammer, and Dennis wanted to act on the idea. However, he knew haste could lead to even more trouble.
"Denny, is this plan of yours going to get you into more trouble?" Cameron sagely asked.
"No. I mean, I'm not an expert on magical law," he replied and paused. "Come to think of it, I don't think anyone is… except maybe the goblins 'cause of all their banking stuff."
"Your world sounds really disorganized. You've got this Ministry that doesn't seem to know what it's doing, but likes to push everyone around. You've got schools that don't teach anything about the rest of the world. Your police force sounds mad scary. It's like those hyper-active Torries."
Dennis burst out laughing. His parents liked to wrangle about politics every once in a while, and his father traditionally leaned toward the Torries while his mother aligned herself with Labour. Dennis, for his part, did not care much either way except he only voted for the party that would expand rights for people. Hence, he sided with his mother more often than not. However, neither party acted in a satisfactory manner in the long run. Dennis shook his head to clear away the distracting thoughts.
"Okay, now that you've taken a really cheap shot at half my life," he said through a snicker, "I honestly need to get to work. This is going to take a bit of doing, and I don't have much time."
"Call me soon," Cameron prodded.
"Is tomorrow soon enough?"
"No," Cameron laughed, and Dennis fell under the spell of the sound. "Alright, all kidding aside, need me to give you a few days?"
"Yeah, that would help. I've got a lot of work to do… on top of going to work," Dennis stated.
"Is this, um… like, a really magic plan?"
"What would give you that idea?"
"The fact you're trying so hard not to tell me what it is ," Dennis' boyfriend said in a snort.
"It's… okay, ever hear them say in movies 'bout the American president that he needs plausible deniability?" Dennis responded.
"Jesus, Denny, what are you planning to get up to?" Cameron whispered through the phone.
"Finding out the truth about a lot of people. It's going to piss off the Wizengamot and the Ministry, but I don't care," the young wizard man said and felt his hackles rise. "They sure as fuck don't seem to care about me!"
"Dennis Albert Creevey! If you swear like that again, I'm banning you from the phone!" His mother shouted from the living room.
Dennis hunkered further down onto the floor and started to resemble a pill bug. He cradled the phone with his neck and shoulder. Chances appeared likely his mother might arrive in the kitchen to carry out her threat.
"You should tell her you're an adult now," Cameron snidely suggested.
"Oh, really? Why don't you come over her and show me how it's done?" Dennis challenged.
"You're mum would eat me alive."
"You should see her when she gets into a row with my dad. Sometimes I think he's going to pick me up and use me as a shield."
Cameron started cackling. Dennis chuckled as well. From the first day they met humor and wordplay became a central element to their relationship. Dennis appreciated it as a form of magic no person could control, inasmuch as he could not control how he felt about Cameron. The thoughts only solidified his resolve to halt the Ministry from whatever plans they made for his boyfriend. In the meanwhile, Dennis did not want to spend his time wallowing in a defeatist attitude. With the help of the African-British young man on the other end of the call, he thought of a new line of defense. It seemed more like an attack, but Dennis decided he stood only to gain through the effort.
"This might sound like a stupid question, but do married couples fight with magic when they get into it?"
"I… ah, don't know. I've only visited magic communities. Never really spent enough time in them to see how people really behave," he rejoined. "I know at school some couple got in trouble for pulling their wands on each other. This one girl, Ginny Weasley… the one who's marrying Harry Potter, she could throw hexes like pitcher. Got in trouble a few times. Her bat-bogey hex was a work of art."
"Yo do realize I have no idea who these people are and what that spell is? Right?"
"Oh, right. Yeah, the hex would turn boogers into bats and they'd come flying out of someone's nose. Looked really painful, but not lethal."
"Good god!" Cameron howled into the phone, and it came out mostly as laughter.
"So, yeah, I'd say folk on this side use magic when they get upset with each other," Dennis concluded.
"Would you ever hex me?" His boyfriend gingerly queried.
"What? No! Never, Cam! That'd be… be… just so wrong," the wizard replied. He did not disguise his repulsion at the notion. "If I ever got that mad, I'd disapparate to some place and take it out on a rock. But I can't imagine you'd ever push me that far."
"Ever think maybe that's what your Ministry people are afraid of? 'Specially after Voldy."
"You know, for a plumber, you sure catch on quick to this magic stuff."
"See? That's the real trick. People think those of us in the trades are too stupid to go to university, but they got it wrong. Do you have any idea how good my maths are now?" Cameron inquired as though insulted.
"Cam, do you know you calculate fitting sizes and pipe runs in your sleep? I've listened to you try to figure out how to make sure a drainpipe drops enough so the flow doesn't stall… and you get really tense when you're trying to make it fit in an old, old house. So, yeah, I know how good you are with math."
"I do not!"
From there, Dennis and his boyfriend started taking playful shots at one another regarding the various habits they noticed about each other. The started to howl with laughter at the more preposterous aspects, and then began to invent flagrant and obvious lies to besmirch one another. Despite they fun, Dennis could not stop from wishing they made sport of each other while lying together in a bed. He missed Cameron so much it started to become a physical pain. A raging inferno built in him while he laughed over his desire to thwart the Ministry.