Wheels Within Wheels – Part Three
Iolanthe
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Plot to Save Scorpius
The mourners stayed until the pyre burned down to coals. Harry and Fabio had detailed elves to bring rakes and shovels from the garden sheds. Volunteers stepped up to keep pushing the coals, glowing dull red now, toward the center of the fire.
Mrs. Davis, Kendra's mother, had decreed that she would attend Astoria's farewell, and ordered some of the Davis's to deal with it. They'd done a very credible job, putting her in her favorite wing chair, with some security measures to keep her there, then transporting the whole combination to The Mill by apparation.
The Potter elves were all at the manor, along with Melon, and had prepared breakfast for the families, visitors and neighbors. Nearly everyone walked back to the manor, although Grandmother Davis was levitated in her chair which became a kind of magical sedan and spared her the trek.
The Potters had put up a marquee on the patio for a buffet, and guests filled plates with mixed fresh fruit salad, scrambled eggs and toasted muffins before wandering out, circulating, and joining groups of Astoria's friends and relatives for reminiscences and swapping of the inexhaustible supply of Astoria tales.
Tracey and Zelda seemed to be everywhere. It was they who had organized the elves, gotten the marquee for the patio, liaised with Seamus and Dean for some no-notice support, and generally turned the household into a hospitality machine.
Tracey had even given Seamus and Dean some sketchy instructions via owl for some little black jars in royal blue boxes that closely matched Astoria's caftan. Seamus and Dean managed to fill the order, no one knew how. As the ashes from the pyre cooled, the volunteers filled the jars with ash, and the boxed jars were placed on a table near the front door of Potter Manor, for anyone to take, according to Astoria's wishes.
Grandmother Davis sat in her chair at Potter Manor, keeping track of everything. She was closely attended by generations of her descendants, but doted especially on James and Zelda. Iolanthe, also a Tracey-trained hostess, made sure her great-grandmother always had at least one acolyte beside her, ready to hold a hand or bring another cup of yellow label tea.
Iolanthe waited for things to quiet down and the crowd to thin before strolling over to the woods. She asked for Plum, who showed up almost immediately after her arrival. Plum was detailed to pass the word to the rest of the woodland creatures that they were welcome to come to the manor for breakfast. It wasn't obligatory, considering there were large numbers of humans milling about, and not every woodland creature had had good experiences with those. Before they were finished, Iolanthe had collected enough bowtruckles for both shoulders and all of her pockets.
Iolanthe asked Tracey and Daphne to sit with their grandmother so she could conscript Zelda and James for something. She had them fill plates for the creatures, like Plum, who couldn't reach the buffet. Then she took orders for those who didn't want to come quite so close to the collected wizards and witches, and had James and Zelda walk those over to the woods.
The whole exercise took about thirty minutes. When Iolanthe got back to Grandmother Davis she asked some of the other Davis clan to sit with her and rounded up Kendra, Fabio, Tracey, Daphne, Draco and Scorpius.
"What?" asked Daphne.
"Just come to the garden," Iolanthe said.
She got the group together at the far end of the last bed, the one furthest away from the house.
"I'm told someone wants to convey condolences," Iolanthe announced before kneeling down. There was a little rustling in the tall grass on the border of the bed. Iolanthe put her hand down and stood up with an adder. She held both hands in front of her so the adder would feel comfortable and secure, then she began translating.
"We understand The Protector's beloved aunt has died," the adder began.
"The snakes appreciated her, while she lived," he continued. "No snake could be found that she had stepped on. That is significant for a human.
"The snakes want her husband and son, and the other members of her family to know we share their grief," the adder concluded.
When Iolanthe finished translating for the adder, she looked at Draco.
It took a moment for Draco to collect his thoughts, him not being accustomed to conversing with adders, but he managed to begin.
"The snakes have our thanks for their heartfelt sympathies," Draco said, and waited for Iolanthe's translation.
"We all loved her very much."
Iolanthe knelt when she'd finished and gently put the adder back on the ground.
"Off someplace," she continued in parseltongue. "A little more secure. There are too many human feet today."
No one had left, but all stood around, eyes on Iolanthe. No one knew what they'd just witnessed, or just what one said at such a time.
"Aren't they sweet?" Iolanthe asked as she took Daphne's hand and started up the path to the manor. "No one expected them to do that, they just reached out and made the effort."
Once the adder had slithered off Iolanthe's bowtruckles began to emerge from their hiding places about her person. Whenever Iolanthe hosted bowtruckles she allowed them free range, which inevitably meant three or four would meet at her neck and begin braiding her platinum hair. The bowtruckles did wonderful braiding, although they did have a taste for inserting random twigs with little green leaves in the strands. Iolanthe the magical naturalist liked the way it looked.
Iolanthe found her way back to her great-grandmother, now being attended by Narcissa, Andromeda, and Kendra. Madam Davis sat dispensing opinions on a succession of her favorite topics, primarily skeptical observations on Americans, the Ministry of Magic, and the current state of Diagon Alley. Daphne gravitated over and Iolanthe gave up her chair, sitting on the floor, her back against Daphne's legs. Gradually, Iolanthe began to grasp the meaning of her great-grandmother's presence, and her performance.
Great-grandmother Davis had maintained her mental, thinking self with lots of poetry, conversation, and eschewing of excesses of any kind. She even limited her yellow label tea. Her physical plant, though, was feeling the years. Even for witches, long life is a genetic lottery. None are guaranteed one hundred years, much less two hundred. Great-grandmother Davis, it became apparent, was passing the torch.
Rose sat down next to Iolanthe. She was wearing a long, loose, black skirt, that permitted her to sit with crossed legs. Zelda showed up and Rose motioned for her to sit on her lap. For an hour and more, Great-grandmother Davis held forth, going from subject to subject, reciting genealogies, reminiscing about long-dead Hogwarts professors, telling cautionary tales of love-addled witches who got involved with handsome, charming, yet feckless wizards despite the sage advice of their elders, and unburdening herself of all the information the young witches would need to make sense of the world as they carried magical Britain forward.
Kendra and Narcissa acted as informal mistresses of ceremony, nodding and making little murmurs of agreement here and there, supplying a word when Madame Davis came up short, inserting a question to keep the discussion on track. Iolanthe, Rose and Zelda sat quietly, mesmerized by the older witches' presence and obvious deference to the grande dame's virtuoso performance. They could sense the gravity, and that they were privileged beyond any form of reason to be favored with her presence at Astoria's farewell.
Kendra kept an eye on her mother. She and Daphne, in fact, had been making eye contact with each other throughout Madame Davis's oration, lifting an eyebrow, giving little questioning head tilts. Daphne didn't see any signs of distress, so she was inclined to let her grandmother keep going. The younger witches present might have need to hark back, someday, and draw on the time Grandmother Davis showed everyone How It Is Done.
The Davis clan had been watching Kendra for a signal that it was probably about time for farewells. Kendra reached over and took her mother's hand.
"Another cup of tea, Mother?" she asked.
"Oh, no, Kendra, I'm lucky I'm still in control of what I've already taken on," she said, with a cackle.
Narcissa and Andromeda nodded and agreed.
"Oh, yes, I know all about that," one said.
"Tell me about it," the other answered.
Daphne stood up.
"Should we do something about that, Grandmother Davis?" she asked.
"Oh, probably," said Madame Davis. "Luckily, I have my own healer to look after me."
Madame Davis had never tired of dropping references about her granddaughter, Healer Daphne, even among family who had heard it hundreds of times. Kendra took one side and Daphne the other, and they escorted Madame down the hall.
"Your home is lovely, Daphne," Madame remarked. "And Lawrence's paintings work so well here."
"Thank-you, Grandmother Davis, we feel honored to have them. I was born into a wonderful, stimulating, talented family," Daphne replied.
"I'm glad you think so," Madame Davis continued. "You and that Potter may have outdone us all, though. I was watching Iolanthe today. Remarkable young witch."
"Thank-you again," Daphne said with near-gushiness. "We certainly think so. And here we are."
The crowd had thinned significantly by the time Kendra and Daphne got Madame Davis back to her wing chair, which had been moved to the patio to facilitate the walk to the reveling ground and an easy trip by apparation back to Davis Manor. The Potter-Greengrass extended family and friends still made for a quarter-hour or more of farewells. Madame Davis sat back in her chair, extending her hand, receiving curtsies from the young witches, and generally relishing doing her duty as the presiding officer of her clan, come to treat with her peers.
James, Scorpius, Zelda and Iolanthe came together and dispensed a group hug, complete with kisses and expressions of love and thanks for coming. The tough old lady was streaming tears when her great-grands all stepped back to say good-bye.
No one said it because it didn't need saying, but it was obvious that Grandmother Davis had drawn on some reserve of strength and will to get to Astoria's spectacular dawn funeral, to preside over a lengthy al fresco buffet, and to hold court surrounded by a roomful of formidable witches in their own right, dispensing the wisdom of decades wrapped in a performance masterwork outshining the best male Lears.
That summer was the start of countless repetitions of "Remember the time Grandmother Davis…" introducing an anecdote about a certain look she gave, or an opinion she delivered. Iolanthe, Rose and Zelda could quote her years later, word for word.
After the funeral, summer plans were adjusted according to the new, post-Astoria reality. Iolanthe was aware Astoria was failing, but her attitude was so positive her sudden death was a great shock. Before everyone had broken up and left Potter Manor, Rose had pulled Iolanthe aside in the garden and said one word:
"Scorpius."
"I know," Iolanthe almost wailed. "I can't help but wonder about his 'slip' into the millpond. We have to be very careful, Rose. We can't let him think we have him on some kind of suicide watch. That might be the very thing that puts an idea in his head."
"What do you want to do?" Rose asked.
"We'll keep an eye on him. Your parents will have a panic attack if you start going to Malfoy Manor every day," Iolanthe observed. "I'll handle the home visits. We'll have to cram on Merlin. Do you have any Latin?"
"Not really. I'll get a Latin-English dictionary from Flourish and Blotts' and get started," Rose said.
"To the extent possible, I believe we should make Tracey our cutout," Iolanthe said. "We'll get him over here for tea and some lane-strolling, but we can multiply our contacts if Tracey cooperates and invites us all for a day of Diagon Alley or a treat at Fortescue's, then we can suggest a dip into Muggle-dom and the British Museum or a library stop, for Merlin research. We'll just be helping with his project."
"Too brilliant," Rose concurred.
"I'll get started on compromising Tracey," Iolanthe said. "She's a born conspirator. Shouldn't be difficult."
Rose and Iolanthe hadn't been paying a lot of attention to where they were going and saw Narcissa, Scorpius and Draco ahead just in time to pinch off their plotting and light up in smiles.
"Ladies," said Narcissa and Draco, almost as one.
"Iolanthe. Rosie," said Scorpius.
"Everyone," Rose and Iolanthe returned.
"Strolling?" Iolanthe asked.
"We're available," Rose added, "If needed."
Something about Rose and her comments struck a sympathetic chord in Narcissa. She reached out and pulled Rose to her, leaving her arm around her waist. When she was young, Narcissa's sister Bellatrix had been very much like Rose. Smart, funny, highly-skilled—nearly everyone liked being around Bellatrix. She and her husband, though, had fallen completely under the spell of Voldemort, earning her some years in Azkaban prison. When Voldemort got his strength back and staged a breakout from Azkaban, Bellatrix came out a complete fanatic. Azkaban and the dementors had done their work, and Bellatrix was not fun to be around, ever again.
Astoria had been very fond of Narcissa. Once they accepted her as a suitable match for Draco, she loved being around the Malfoys, rehabilitated miscreants though they were. Narcissa didn't have a lot of close friends. She had been much too visible standing by her Death Eater husband during Voldemort's second bid for power. When she let her mind wander, Narcissa admitted the Malfoys were heavily indebted to Harry Potter, who had put an end to Voldemort and demanded the ministry show mercy to the genuinely contrite. Beyond that, she was personally beholden to Harry, Lord Black, who had brought about the reconciliation with her sister Andromeda.
Now the wheel turned again. Narcissa's grandson Scorpius was in some kind of relationship with Rose Granger-Weasley, something that appeared to Narcissa to be beyond a classmate friendship. He called her Rosie. Narcissa wasn't aware anyone called Rose Rosie. She'd never heard of it, if anyone did.
Narcissa couldn't help wondering, wishing, in fact, if Rose, with her magical abilities and intelligence and highly polished sense of humor, might be seen at Malfoy Manor now and then, if that were not Narcissa being too bold. Of course, if Rose's mother wouldn't hear of it, that would be perfectly understandable. One could only hope.
"Iolanthe, as long as we're all here, I have to tell you, bringing a dragon in to light that pyre…" Draco said. "Needless to say…"
Draco left two consecutive sentences drift off.
"It was spectacular, wasn't it?" Scorpius asked.
Draco and Narcissa turned to look at Scorpius.
"It was," Draco said. "I think she'd have liked it."
"Thank-you for saying so," Iolanthe said. "The dragon was available, and agreeable. Anything for Auntie Astoria."
The emotion of the previous forty-eight hours was beginning to get to Iolanthe. She had never used her magic to play for stakes so high. Her energy was beginning to flag, and she felt it. Tears began to run down her cheeks. She let them go. Scorpius handed her a handkerchief.
"I brought several," he said, "So I know this is a clean one."
Something in the way he said it got to Rose and Iolanthe, and they began giggling, Iolanthe through her tears.
They got back to the patio and saw that the elves had disassembled the buffet and taken down the marquee. Patio furniture was back in place, and Iolanthe announced she was in need of a few minutes' contemplation of the Dart. Draco and Narcissa began to think of going home, and headed inside to find Kendra and Daphne.
Rose took the opportunity to pull Scorpius over to the corner of the patio, next to one of the ornamental urns.
"It was sweet when you called me Rosie," she said, "henceforth, can you use it for an audience of one?"
"You mean, you, don't you?" Scorpius said.
"Uh-huh," Rose said, "If you would. Please."
"I'll try to remember," Scorpius said.
"Oh, I'm so proud of you, Scorpius," Rose said. "I didn't even have to use Aunt Ginny's bat bogey hex to get you to see things my way."
Scorpius was still pondering Rose's words of wisdom when Draco came over.
"Mother and I have said our good-byes," Draco said. "If you don't want to come with us, you can floo over later."
"I'll come," Scorpius said. "Rose."
"Scorpius," Rose said.
Draco turned away and Rose touched Scorpius' cheek with her fingertips, not breaking eye contact.
"See you soon," Rose said, just for Scorpius.
Rose left for the Granger-Weasleys soon after the Malfoys departed. Iolanthe and Rose made plans for a good floo-call session first thing in the morning. They'd fill in any unanticipated gaps with an owl, if necessary.
Iolanthe took Astoria's leather-bound Fitzgerald translation to her room. The outside air cooled right down at sunset, and Iolanthe opened her windows before rinsing off the day's dust with a shower and putting on some flannel pajamas. She lay down and opened Astoria's Odyssey and was sound asleep in minutes. Iolanthe slept straight through until the sun began blasting her face through her east-facing window. Iolanthe had been in such deep sleep she took close to a minute to determine where she was and what she had been doing for the past three days. She picked up The Odyssey from her pillow and clutched it to her heart. She thought of Auntie Astoria off in some place, like the Underworld, with no one from the family to talk to or go shopping or to lunch with, and she started to cry.
When Iolanthe remembered her trip to Don Juan's mesa, and the talk she and Scorpius had had with Astoria, she began to feel better. The mesa wasn't too bad. It wasn't at all like she'd imagined the Underworld. Astoria hadn't seemed abused or distressed. She'd even given a quasi-instruction for her final farewell.
"Spectacular," Iolanthe thought. Then she remembered Daphne relating the wisdom Astoria had not just spoken, but shown, with her will and personality and physical being: "Counting is not living."
Iolanthe bounded out of bed and did her morning rituals, emerging onto the patio in her workout clothes. She had a routine in mind, but she was going to keep to a tight schedule. If she couldn't get everything in, she'd adjust the program. Iolanthe jogged over to the green where the woodlanders reveled and pantomimed. When she had run through what she considered a minimal morning session, she picked up her watch from the edge of the green. Five minutes over, she noted, and resolved to pick up the pace next day.
Iolanthe always remembered Harry's rule to take the time to cool down properly. She kept a medium walking pace back to the patio, where Harry and Daphne were emerging from the house carrying coffee cups.
"Shower," Iolanthe said as they passed. "Be right back."
Iolanthe didn't see anyone until she got to the second floor corridor. James was up there, bare-chested, walking up and down the hallway in his pajama bottoms, gleefully awaiting the look on Iolanthe's face when she realized his feet remained about six inches off the floor.
"I'm taller than you!" James pointed out, discounting any notion of cheating.
"James," Iolanthe said. "James. If you get my meaning? Hmm?"
James settled back to the floor, noiselessly.
"Spoilsport," he said.
"How do you even know what a spoilsport is?" Iolanthe asked. "Where did you hear that word?"
"I don't know," James said. "The words are there, and we hear them. That's how it works."
Iolanthe could not think of a rational response, and James had used spoilsport correctly, so she changed tack.
"Wash up, brush your teeth, put on some clean clothes and we'll have ourselves a family breakfast together on the patio," Iolanthe directed. James didn't look really pleased with his instructions, but he didn't seem displeased to the point of rebellion, either.
"Mother and Father are down there already. I sensed they're just dying to see you."
Iolanthe had lots of experience compressing the time she needed for freshening up. She was back in the corridor in no time, expecting to see James headed downstairs. Iolanthe was nearly on the stairs when she heard a door open, and James came out into the hall. He was wearing the same pajama bottoms and a t-shirt with a grass stain on the shoulder.
"No."
"Iolanthe, you can't tell me what to do!" James advised his sister. "Besides, you're not MUM!"
The irrefutable logic of the sub-teenage male notwithstanding, Iolanthe held her ground, pointing back down the hallway for emphasis.
"Do it right, or prepare for me to come in there and wash you and dress you, James Greengrass Potter," Iolanthe ordered, reverting to her leadership position among the Hogwarts Blacks, which James would be joining in September. James' face said he didn't like it, but he knew when he was beaten. He turned back to the bathroom. Water ran, then stopped. James popped out of the bath, shirtless, and went back into his room. Before long he was back, defiance showing in his stride, wearing clean jeans and a short-sleeved shirt with the tail hanging loose. He was still barefoot.
"James, you look one hundred percent better," Iolanthe said. "Thank you for doing that. Careful on the stairs."
"Stairs," James said, dismissing the very idea.
James stepped off the top step and glided down next to Iolanthe. He looked extremely pleased with himself, but he was determined not to be the one to call attention to his magical discovery. That was for Iolanthe to do, including appropriate obeisance before her younger, yet, somehow, superior brother.
At the bottom of the stairs, Iolanthe reached up and around and pulled James to her. There was a little resistance, initially, but Iolanthe worked out every day, including lots and lots of pushups, and she was strong. Iolanthe and James walked into the cloakroom off the foyer, and Iolanthe closed the door.
"James," she began. "I love and respect you, so hold that thought while I tell you that being a show-off is not how you want to conduct yourself at Hogwarts. You're smart, obviously highly skilled, and you're very good company. Just lower the intensity, please? You don't have to impress me. I'm already impressed."
"Fine," James said. "I just wanted you to see it."
"I know," Iolanthe said. "Don't forget though, I see it every day. You don't even have to work at it. Not for me, anyway. What are you having for breakfast?"
Iolanthe and James walked down the hallway toward the back of the house, the patio, the gardens, and the vista between Potter Manor and the River Dart.
Iolanthe had gone inside quickly on their earlier meeting, so she planted her ritual kiss on Daphne's cheek with a greeting of 'Mother' then proceeded to give Harry his hug, as she had seen Daphne do countless times with the Greengrass's. She pulled out a chair between Harry and Daphne and motioned James to take it, pushing it up beneath him as James sat down. Melon appeared at James' elbow.
"Melon!" James said. "I didn't know you were here. Are you going to stay with us?"
"Melon doesn't know," said the elf with a bit of anxiety in her voice.
"Melon is going to be with us a little while," Daphne said. "Periwinkle had some family responsibilities to attend to, and Melon needs to keep busy right now, so we're going to help her while she grieves for your Aunt Astoria."
"Master James can make as big a mess as he likes and Melon with be happy to take care of it," said the elf. "What would Master James and Miss Iolanthe like for breakfast?"
Orders were given and filled. The Potters spooned up porridge and mixed fruit, buttered muffins, ordered refills of their mango-orange juices, and generally took their time over breakfast. No one seemed in a great rush to start life without the prospect of seeing Astoria before the day was over.
Three quick 'pops' sounded from the green, which usually indicated someone familiar with Potter Manor had arrived. Harry looked around to see Teddy and two elves walking toward the patio.
"Teddy Lupin! Just in time for breakfast," Harry said. "Sit down, what would the elves like this morning?"
"I've eaten but I could take another coffee," Teddy said. "Master gardeners? Did you hear Mr. Potter? Anything from the kitchen?"
"Porridge, mixed fruit and muffins are ready," said Melon. "We can make whatever you want but it will take a little longer."
The elves looked at each other.
"Sure!" they said together.
"What you said," the smaller one told Melon.
"Small portions, please, we've come to work," said the other.
Melon brought out some little bowls of porridge and mixed fruit, and half a muffin each. The elves took their breakfast and sat down in the shade of the garden shed.
"What's up, Teddy?" asked Harry.
"There are some herbs down there that I took the liberty of planting when I didn't have room anywhere else," Teddy said. "Mr. Greengrass told me about them. They aren't that common and always seem to move at the magical markets. These will need thinning, and if the elves are careful, we can take the culls back and set them out. I've got space now."
"Sounds interesting," Harry said. "Can we go see them?"
"Of course," Teddy said. "The ones we don't abscond with are yours anyway."
"Anyone?" Harry asked, but everyone was still eating. Teddy and Harry took their coffee cups and left for the garden.
"Harry, Victoire and I…" Teddy began.
Harry waited but Teddy didn't go on. Harry started to prepare himself for disaster.
"The thing is, we decided to get married," Teddy said, 'AT LAST' implicit in his voice.
"Wonderful, simply wonderful," Harry said, extending his hand. "May I be the first…"
"Ah, Mr. Weasley, ah, that is, Victoire's father, Bill," Teddy managed.
"Got there first. Good, that's only right," Harry said.
"Plans?" Harry asked.
"We're quite happy at Gran's," Teddy said. "There is plenty of room, including for children, Merlin willing, and she'd be all alone if Victoire and I went and set up our own place. I built a greenhouse as a prototype, and it's working out well. It's just a little one but Mr. Greengrass drew up plans for something several times larger. He has helped me a lot with standards, testing and quality control. I think there might be opportunity for marketing some of the plants the alchemists and potion makers use. If we grow close to our customers and keep the overhead low, I suspect there is some market share to be captured."
"Once again, congratulations, Teddy," Harry said, "Well done."
"So I have your permission?" Teddy asked. "As head of the clan?"
"Yes, of course, Teddy," Harry said. "It's been a foregone conclusion, for years, or so it seemed to pretty much everyone we know. We've all had a lot of time to get used to the idea. Any particular reason why you decided to go ahead now?"
"Oh, yes," Teddy sighed. "Cousin Astoria. She just showed us we need to make the most of our time, because we don't know how much we're going to have."
Harry nodded.
"She did that. Considering the number of us who were around her when she was here, she may turn out to be one of the more influential witches of the century. She has me thinking, too," Harry said.
"Oh," Teddy said. "Are you considering leaving government? We could use a full-time clan chief."
"Ahh, I don't know about that," Harry said. "We've done pretty well lately, anarchy and all. No, I was thinking about the real estate and the family. James and Zelda will be starting at Hogwarts in September. Your work on the Black estate is kind of at a crossroads. It's quite gorgeous, but your greenhouses are giving me ideas about trying to make it a little more productive. I'm open for ideas, if I didn't make that plain."
They finished their inspection of the herb beds and turned for the house. Teddy's gardening elf helpers got started carefully pulling up seedlings and placing them in boxes full of a wet peat/soil mix.
"Coffee? Tea?" Iolanthe offered when Teddy and Harry got back to the house. Teddy drained the last drops of coffee from his cup and said he'd take one more. Iolanthe called for Melon and soon had Teddy's second cup accomplished.
The Black owls Harry supplied to Hogwarts, combined with the population of the Potter Manor owlery, made for a surplus during the long summer break. Iolanthe, Scorpius and Rose had done their best to keep them flying, but you can owl only so many times a day. Someone was getting a good start on doing their part today, Iolanthe thought, as a barred owl showed up and landed on the back of Daphne's chair. The owl stuck its leg out, kind of absent-mindedly, keeping its attention on the table.
Daphne pulled the little slip out of the string that attached it to the owl's leg.
"Iolanthe?" she said, handing it over.
"We're invited, James," Iolanthe said. "Lunch. Hermione's treat. We meet at the Leaky Cauldron at eleven-thirty. Guess she's trying to beat the rush."
No one had been in the mood to finish off the bacon at breakfast, so Daphne treated the barred owl to an entire strip.
"Is Hugo going?" James asked, considering his options.
"Don't know," said Iolanthe, handing over the little slip of parchment. "See for yourself. Rose doesn't even say she's going."
"A Leaky Cauldron lunch, James," Iolanthe said. "A sandwich, with meat, or a bowl of chili. Maybe a stop at Fortescue's if you're in the mood."
Iolanthe knew she had him because James was always in the mood for a stop at Fortescue's.
"What do we do afterwards?" James asked. "Are you staying in town or coming back here?"
"I don't know, James," Iolanthe said. "Is that an issue?"
James was stumped. It wasn't an issue, so he had to make a decision based on whether he wanted to do it or not, without the help of extraneous considerations.
"I'll go," he said, more to end the conversation than for any other reason.
"You really are wise beyond your years, baby brother," Iolanthe said.
Another owl flew up, eyed the bacon and held out a leg.
Daphne pulled out the little slip and handed over a good-sized chunk, although not a full strip, since the barred owl had gotten the last one of those.
The note began with a plus sign, followed by a terse "See you soon (please)," and the signature of Daphne's personal healer. She hadn't seen her healer for anything except her suspicion that she was pregnant, so she took the plus in its meaning of positive, for her magical blood test result.
"Well," Daphne said, looking at Iolanthe, "Since everyone's here, I've been experiencing some phenomena, and I went to see my healer, and it appears she has just informed me I am pregnant."
"Gosh!"
"Well, now…"
"Hey!"
"MUM!"
And "Ahhhh…that's great!"
All went around the table.
"What? When?" Harry asked.
"She does a fast calculation in her head," Daphne said, "Subject to fine-tuning, sometime in February."
Teddy gave Harry a thumb's-up.
"That's just wonderful," Harry said. "Just what we need."
Everyone but Harry thought that was hilarious.
"Oh, and Teddy, were you going to…?"
"Yes, but there was too much going on, with the owls and everything," Teddy said. "I asked Victoire to marry me and she accepted. Should have done it long ago, I suppose."
Teddy delivered his observation with a little chagrin and an air of mystification as to why they'd not done so.
"That's all past, Teddy," Daphne said. "Think about today, and maybe spare a little thought for tomorrow. Congratulations."
"She's so smart," Iolanthe said, looking at Teddy and projecting complete faith in the truth of her remark.
"So, thanks for the coffee," Teddy said, getting up. "We'd better get our babies back to Gran's. Congratulations, and be sure to let us know the details."
"Teddy, we've got a party to plan," Iolanthe said. "Auntie Astoria would expect us to carry on."
Teddy looked at Daphne.
"I rather think she would," Daphne said. "Regardless of whether we felt like it or not."
Teddy and his master gardener elves carried their flats to the green and disapparated.
"So," James said, "I'm going to get a brother. At last."
"We don't know that, James," Harry said. "That's part of the fun."
"Here's the thing, everyone," Daphne said. "Iolanthe and I greeted the fairies and the fairies said hello to us, then they said '…and the others…' so, the fairies being magically accurate, I suspect we are expecting twins."
"Oh!" bounced between James and Harry.
"Wonderful news, isn't it?" Iolanthe offered.
"Of course. We want a healthy mother and as many healthy babies as she can give us," Harry said.
It sounded odd after he said it, but Daphne nodded in agreement.
"Can we go to lunch?" Iolanthe asked.
"I don't see why not," Daphne replied. "Lord Harry?"
"Hermione is very strict," Harry said. "You'll have to be on your best behavior."
Iolanthe got a quill from her satchel and wrote their acceptance and tied it to the barred owl's leg. She watched it fly off, then got up to go start her ramble. She checked her watch.
"Watch the time, James," she said. "The invitation is for eleven-thirty. I'll be back well before."
When they got to the Leaky Cauldron, Iolanthe was not surprised to see Tracey and Zelda there, along with Hermione, Rose and Hugo.
"So, we're here," Iolanthe said as she pushed her satchel under the table and sat down.
"There may be one more," Rose said. "He was non-committal."
There was a WHOOSH in the great fireplace and Scorpius popped into the room.
Rose looked at Iolanthe, who looked back, as Scorpius looked around, found them, and started toward the group. As luck would have it, there was just space enough between Tracey and Rose to work in a chair from the next table over. Tracey moved aside to make room.
"Just move back, everyone," Hannah Abbott said, drawing her wand. She added the table and rearranged the chairs. Rose suddenly had an empty seat beside her, and Scorpius sat down.
"The roast beef on a long roll is very good, as is the chili," Hannah said. "The meatless specials are macaroni and cheese, the house salad, and the grilled three-cheese sandwich, on Mad Monk bread, of course."
"Roast beef with everything," James said, not at all shy.
"Same for me," Scorpius said.
"And me," Rose added.
Everyone else asked for the house salad. Tracey gave Scorpius a hug.
"Glad you joined us," she said.
"Uh-huh," Zelda agreed, earning a big smile from Rose.
"How could I not?" Scorpius asked. "The Malfoys need to be distracted today, I'll be the first to admit it. I really appreciate your doing this."
Scorpius nodded at Hermione and Tracey.
Hermione and Tracey nudged the conversation this way and that, without giving a clue that they were doing so. What classes was everyone taking? Did the first-years have their kit locked down? What magical areas of study were of interest?
Hermione and Tracey were alumnae of the witches' study group; Rose and Iolanthe were currently involved. Without really meaning to, Tracey and Hermione engaged in a little insider conversation with Rose and Iolanthe. Zelda started showing some distress. Word of Zelda's anxiety had somehow diffused a bit. Iolanthe assured her she and Rose were available whenever Zelda wanted a little extra help with any subject. That went for Hugo and James as well. Iolanthe and Rose, truth be told, were seldom happier than when they were sitting face to face, completely ignoring one another in favor of the open textbooks in their laps.
Hermione thought getting off the topic of witch scholars might be advisable.
"Scorpius, did you come up with anything on copies of your manuscript?" she asked.
"No, I think your department's answer was accurate," Scorpius said. "When I talked it over with Professor Binns, he told me if it came from you, I could take it as read that there aren't any others."
"Well, Hermione, I must say I am impressed," Tracey said. "From Professor Binns, no less!"
"Yes, thank you, Tracey," Hermione said, "I live for validation by Professor Binns."
"Scorpius, have you found any useful Merlin material in the Malfoy library?" Iolanthe asked.
"I found Merlin material," Scorpius answered, "Useful might be a stretch."
"Go on," Iolanthe implored.
"We don't have a card catalog, so my method is to take a book down, go straight to the index, and look for Merlin. Then I look for Arthur, then Guinevere. If there is going to be anything touching on Merlin, one of those will have to be in there. I found a Merlin reference and went to the page, and there was a recipe with a little note stating that Merlin had brewed this mild, non-toxic love potion for someone, and it proved very effective. I turned the book around and found the title on the spine. It was Your First Year Together: Happy Hints for the Magickal Bryde."
Tracey and Hermione tried to control the laughter, in consideration of the young people. Hermione observed the historical value probably wasn't in the attribution to Merlin, but you never knew.
The Leaky Cauldron cuisine was good, and several of party, particularly James and Scorpius, thought a stop at Fortescues' would very much be in order. This led to some window-shopping in Diagon Alley, chance meetings with some distant Black cousins, expressions of condolences and thanks for the same. Lissette Lestrange nearly bumped into Iolanthe coming out of Madame Malkin's where she'd just been ordering some larger robes and uniforms for the upcoming school term. Iolanthe introduced Lissette to the distinguished Hogwarts alumnae, Hermione and Tracey. The excursion eventually totaled two additional hours in the heart of magical London.
Tracey had to leave to meet a client, and Zelda negotiated for permission to return to Potter Manor with Iolanthe and James. Scorpius decided to go home by way of Potter Manor as well, leading to Rose and Hugo imposing on Hermione to join them in one more diversion.
Scorpius joined everyone for an informal lawn party featuring lemonade and cookies, and a teary reunion with Melon. Daphne came out to make sure the tables, chairs and refreshments were adequate.
"How are you today, Scorpius?" Daphne asked, trying hard not to use the voice she used for patients.
"Still getting used to the idea, Auntie Daphne," Scorpius answered. "Thank-you for asking."
"We all are," Daphne said, "She was irreplaceable."
Daphne excused herself and went back to the house with Hermione, leaving the young people to their socializing.
"Leaving aside Magickal Brydes, Scorpius, where was your research headed?" Iolanthe asked.
"Not anywhere in particular," Scorpius said.
He went on in greater detail than necessary, laying out the bits of useful information he'd found since end of term, ruing the loss of access to the Hogwarts library and its original sources.
"Not a problem, though," he said. "I know enough about history and historians to understand that's just the way the field works. Besides, when I get to the end of Merlin, I'll have to look for something else."
"Don't forget we're here to help," Iolanthe said.
Scorpius looked between Rose and Iolanthe. Rose nodded.
"We can read," Rose said, "and we can take notes."
Something about the deadpan response was funny, wrapped around a core of genuinely serious.