Chapter 8: The Ace of Clubs

Thankfully Lindell had made most of the guests behave at the Rememberence thing for Eittel, as they finally left Ron alone. I was at the bar, fixing another drink, this time a big whisky, neat, when he stood next to me.

"Merlin's pants, Boyd, you owe me. You owe me big. I think you and Melody are watching the rugrats when we get home. For a week, no, two. That's it, me and 'Mione are gonna take a holiday, someplace far away where you can't owl me. Or call me."

"Sure, Ron. Not a problem." I put the whisky bottle back on the shelf and looked at him. "What can I get ya?"

He looked at me oddly. "So four kids doesn't phase you at all? What happened? Oh, and I'll just take a butterbeer. Wait, bugger that, I'll have what you're having."

I shrugged, pulled the bottle back out and poured him a stiff one. After I slid it over to him I leaned back against the bar, drink in hand. "Let's just say a lot of shit happened, not bad, but a lot of shit happened since you came back inside the house. Need you to do me a favor, though. Can you do that 'shrink shit down' spell that you and Hermione do when you're packing? Got a pretty good sized box upstairs that I don't want to lose. Not saying anything right now, but you'll be interested in what's in there."

Auror Ron flicked back into existence for a moment. "It's upstairs, eh?"

"Yeah. On the desk. Up the stairs, second door to the right."

"Be right back." He made to leave but stopped. "And don't go anywhere."

"I'm just going to go have another smoke. Definitely need one."

Ron nodded at me and made his way through the people to take the stairs, so I took that as my cue to go back out and have another cigarette. When I got out to the garden the place was empty, no bald-headed bigots to give me shit, no Christine to drag me down a painful memory lane, just an empty garden. I made my way over to the bench, sat down, and fished out one of my last three smokes. Right before I took out my wand to light it, though, I heard my name being called from behind the azaleas. I pulled out my wand, leveled it at the bushes and stood up, backing away a few steps.

"Who's there?"

"Put down your wand, Hank."

Draco Malfoy stepped out from behind the bushes, and he shocked the fuck out of me, not just for showing up there completely out of the blue but because he looked...well, he looked like shit. He hadn't shaved for days, his hair was a scraggly mess and he was filthy. I knew better than that, though. I may not be much except a parchment Auror, but some of Harry's training stuck with me. I leveled the wand at his face. "Why did I have to borrow your clothes the first time I stayed at your house?"

A smile broke across his face, albeit very briefly. "Because my house elf burned your clothing."

I lowered my wand. "Sonofabitch, Draco, what the hell are you doing here?"

He barged through the azaleas, not caring that they were in his path, and grabbed a hold of my arm. "I am saving you. We don't have much time."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the fuck are you talking about, saving me?" I nodded towards the house. "Ron's in there, I'm fine."

"No, you are not." He glanced quickly towards the house. "You spoke with two bald men earlier today, out here, did you not? They're Knights of the Wand, Hank, and they're coming."

"Shit!" I shook my head. "We gotta tell Ron, we've gotta get everyone out of here."

The back door slammed and Ron walked out, looking at the very small box in the palm of his hand. "I think it's small enough Hank, if..." He looked up, dropped the box and reached for his wand. "What's going on?"

Draco took a look at me and I could see fear in his eyes, along with something else that I couldn't place. Before I could say anything Draco lowered his wand. "Weasley, they're coming. Get everyone out. I'm taking Hank to a safe place."

Before I could object, or Ron could object, Draco spun on the spot, pulling me with him, and we squeezed through the straw that was Disapparition.

-ooo-

When I came out of the always disorienting haze of Apparition I felt Draco's hand cover my mouth.

"You are safe, for now. Do not tell her your real name. Follow my lead and don't ask questions." He moved his hand away and stared at me. "Do you understand?"

I nodded took a quick glance around. We were on the banks of some water, in what was undoubtedly a swamp. It was humid as hell and as the bugs flitted around I waved my hand in front of my face, trying to get them away. Off in the distance something resembling a shack sat on the water, tethered to the bank.

"Let's go. Now, Hank."

Draco began walking towards the houseboat thing and I followed, worried. He'd spent time in and around New Orleans when the Muggle Studies professors went missing and had come back with some knowledge of a strain of magic that was, well, questionable at best. Not exactly dark, but I didn't imagine Hogwarts teaching it in the near future. The whole 'don't tell them your name' thing wasn't making my imagination stop, either. I figured as soon as we got to that boat and went inside it would be like every bad New Orleans zombie movie, with chicken feet and blood and other weird shit.

"Stop here." Draco looked at me and his face was full of tension. "I will let her know."

I stood there, unsure of what to do and nervous as hell. What the fuck was happening? What about Lindell's place? What about the Knights of the Wand? Would Ron have time to get everybody out, or would they have to fight? Since I didn't know how long I'd be standing out there, swatting bugs, I reached in and lit one of my last cigarettes. I'd made it half-way through when Draco came out of the boat, trailed by a woman. She looked young, but that wasn't what got my attention; her hair was in massive dreadlocks, long, and she looked like what I imagined Medusa would look like if she was real and not some under twenty black girl.

When they stopped in front of me the girl looked me up and down, glanced at Draco and then turned to me. "You got an extra? I'm all out."

I glanced quickly at Draco and saw an almost imperceptible nod. "Sorry, just got one left. Want the rest?"

"Beats nothing." She took the cigarette from me and after a long drag gave me a smile. "Hold on a sec, child. Arms out."

I held out my arms and she waved her wand around. It wasn't like the wands from Ollivander; instead of being all smooth and polished it looked rough-hewn, as if she'd just snapped it off of a tree. As the light blue light extended from the tip of her wand I felt it flow over me as if I'd been dunked in cold water. Before I could shiver, though, it was gone.

"Just like you said, Malfoi." She turned to Draco. "It's that bad, eh? Knights want him?"

"Very much so." Draco turned to me. "This is Delphine. She..."

"Hush, you." She turned to me. "I don't wanna know your name, boy, and the less you know the better for all of us. But let me take care of this first." With another wave of her wand the tracking band from the hospital turned black and then fell to ash.

I swept the ashes off of my wrist. So much for Ron knowing where I was.

"Ok, now, come on in. It ain't much, not for someone dressed like you." She gave me a sly smile. "Single file, boys."

I fell in line behind her and Draco followed me. For some reason I thought back on the old cowboy and indian movies I'd watched as a kid, how the indians went single file. It also made me think of Star Wars, how the sandpeople went single file to hide their numbers. It didn't make me comfortable.

The houseboat was like most wizarding things, bigger on the inside, but this one wasn't like the tents that I'd stayed in with Harry and Ron. It didn't have that feeling of not being used except on occasion; the place looked like it had been lived in for decades. Centuries maybe. Everything seemed a bit run down and well-used, and if I was honest it also looked like it could use a really deep cleaning. There were bookshelves, a cauldron simmering on a stove from about 1940 and, much to my chagrin, there were clusters of chicken feet tied together and hanging over the doorway.

"Sit." Delphine pointed to a well-worn table with mismatched chairs. "And wait."

After she left, going through a doorway with faded red curtains I looked over to Draco but he shook his head. I felt the houseboat move slightly with the water and started to get really nervous. What the fuck was going on?

Delphine emerged from the room, moving the curtains aside, and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She had on an old men's shirt from which she'd removed the sleeves and the top was unbuttoned quite a ways, giving me a good look at her cleavage and the multitude of necklaces she wore. Most were pendants on leather straps, but one was a gold chain that held a rough looking red stone about the size of a marble. Her legs were mostly bare, thanks to the cut off jeans that were also pretty short and she didn't have on any shoes. As she made her way over I couldn't help but watch her hips.

She sat down directly across from me and sat a worn deck of playing cards on the table. "Now, we's gonna play a little game. I'm gonna shuffle these and I want you to pick as many cards as you think you need."

I looked over to Draco and he nodded. This just kept getting weirder and weirder. I reached out to touch the cards but she stopped me.

"No, child, left hand."

"No shuffling?" I felt Draco kick me under the table.

"Oh, so you's want to shuffle, eh?" Delphine smiled. "Be my guest."

I reached out with my left hand, took the cards and shuffled them three times. After that I sat them back on the table, and after receiving a nod from her I pulled out a card. Not knowing what else to do I pulled out four more.

Delphine nodded appreciatively and moved the deck to the side of the table. She flipped over the first card, the Jack of Spades. As I stared at the card the thing started to change, the Jack began to disappear and I saw...me. It was like I was in one of the WeasleyVision movies, as the world had faded away and there was nothing left. The image of me stood in my classroom at Hogwarts but there weren't any students in the seats. Almost as soon as I'd recognized everything it all snapped away, leaving me once again at the table.

Delphine took the card and put it back on top of the deck. "That's how you see yourself. So you's a teacher, huh? Next card."

I looked at the four cards in front of me and picked one from the middle two. Turning it over I saw the Two of Diamonds. Again, the card began to dissolve and I saw myself...in bed with Christine Rowan. But it wasn't me, it was the old me, the younger me. I had a lot of hair. I watched as Christine sat up, got out of bed and walked away. Once again I was jolted back to reality.

"Your past." Delphine smiled. "Two of Diamonds says you could have been happy with her, but wouldn't last. Hurt you, didn't it, child?"

"Yeah." I responded automatically and then waited for Draco to kick me under the table again. Nothing happened.

"Next one." Delphine leaned forward, her red pendant swaying closer over the table. "Go on, now."

I reached over and picked up the end card and turned it over. The Four of Hearts. Again the card began to change but this time I saw my children. Hieronymus sitting next to Virginia, handing her a small teething toy. That image faded quickly.

"Ah, so you's a family man." Delphine cocked an eyebrow at me. "I ain't gonna say no more. You'll find out eventually. Go on, two left."

I didn't have time to wonder why that one faded so quickly so reached over and turned over the card on the left. Queen of Hearts. The swirl happened again and this time I found myself standing next to a bed, completely naked. This time wasn't like the rest, though, as on the other cards I was watching as things happened to me. This card...it was like I was in the card, in the vision. Before I could wonder Delphine walked in, wearing nothing but her gold necklace, the dull red pendant now shining brightly, almost too brightly, as I couldn't look at it for more than a second.

"See anything you like, child?" Delphine walked over and I couldn't help but stare at her. "I've been lonely, so lonely. I could teach you so many things."

It was like I was in a trance, looking at her. She was absolutely gorgeous. The way her hair framed her face, the thick dreadlocks falling down over her shoulders, partially obscuring her perfect breasts. I could almost see what it would be like, endless days with her, sweaty, wonderful nights.

"All of that and more." She put her hand over my heart and then pulled it back like she'd been stung.

"I'm married." I took a step back from her.

I snapped back to the world, feeling the hard, wooden chair underneath me, my ragged breathing. I opened my eyes and looked across the table; in my peripheral vision I saw Delphine's pendant glow for a second and then return to its normal color.

She gave me an appraising look. "Last card."

I didn't want to flip it over, afraid of what I would find. My hand shook as I flipped it over. It was blank. Nothing happened. I looked over to Delphine in confusion.

"They can't all be winners, child." She sat back in her chair and tilted her head at me. "Future's uncertain. Tell you what, pick one more. Middle of the deck."

I followed her instructions and pulled out a card. After a few seconds I flipped it over. The Ace of Clubs dissolved and once again I was pulled out of reality, but this time to a place I definitely remembered. I was in Melody's old house, my kilt was on the floor, and I was in bed with her. It was a good memory, one of the best, actually, as it was the first time that Melody and I got together, right after this red carpet thing for the Harpies. I watched, because as I slept Melody leaned up onto her side and traced her finger through my hair.

I wanted to stay and watch that but, as before, I was back in the houseboat. I couldn't take my eyes off of Delphine, as they seemed to stare at me, unblinking. I kept her gaze for a few moments and then turned away, blinking furiously.

"Don't ever question yourself." She got up from the table and walked over to me, taking my face with her hands. "You, child, you got somethin' everybody wants. Nobody's pulled my card in two hundred years, and you's the only one who ever said no. She's why." She kissed me on the forehead. "So Henry Aaron MacDonald Boyd, you needs help, do you?"

"Uh..." I looked into her eyes and couldn't help but answer. "I do."

"Good." She stepped away from me and walked into the kitchen without another word.

As soon as she left I looked over to Draco, keeping my voice low. "So the name thing's fucked."

"Obviously." He tapped his fingers on the table. "This may have been a bad idea."

"Really. What now?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. It was different when I was first here."

Before I could respond Delphine came back into the room, a steaming bowl of something in her hands. She sat the bowl down on the table and looked over to Draco. "You still wear that knife?"

Draco reached into his pocket and brought out a small, silver knife with a black handle.

"Good." She took the knife from him, reached over and grabbed my hand. Before I could object she pricked each of my fingers and then turned my hand over so the blood could drip into the bowl. It steamed even harder and then she released my hand.

"Delphine..." Draco leaned forward.

"No, Malfoi." She gestured with the back of her hand and Draco's chair slid a few feet away from the table. She then picked up the bowl with two hands and began to drink from it. After a few moments she sat it down. "I thought I was right. You ain't got much magic, boy."

"I've heard that before." I looked over to Draco. "What? You know it's true."

"Hush now." Delphine shook her head at me. "Just give me a moment." She took another drink, swished it around in her mouth a bit and then swallowed. "Can't do it, not properly. Not enough magic. You's have to have help through their wards. They lookin' for you, that's the truth. You really got 'em riled up." She turned to Draco. "I can keep him safe, but not long. If'n I bind him..."

"No." Draco shook his head. "Absolutely not."

She laughed, a throaty attractive laugh. "Oh, I's just teasing. He couldn't be bound, too much in here for that." She tapped her chest, right above her heart and looked at me. "You a one woman man, boy, nothin' gonna change that. My magic'll keep you hid for a bit, help you out some, don't know how long as you the weakest-ass wizard I seen in years. They can scry all they wants to but they ain't gonna find you. I expect you got a month, two, maybe more." She turned to Draco. "That work for you, son?"

He nodded. "Thank you."

"Thank you what?" She smiled at him. "Is that any way to treat your old..."

Draco swallowed. "Thank you, grand-mère."

"You's welcome." Delphine stood up. "Now git, both of you. Go."

We stood up but Draco stopped right before the door. "Grand-mère, about my wife..."

Delphine shook her head. "I can't help you, son. I tried, but it ain't nothin' I ever seen before."

Draco nodded, opened the door and waited for me. I looked back for a moment at Delphine, not knowing what to expect, maybe that she would turn into an old crone or something, but she just stood there at the table, leaning on it, and winked at me. That was enough for me, so I headed out the door as quickly as possible. Draco closed the door, took my arm and walked me out of there as fast as possible, refusing to say anything until we were at least fifty feet away and by a large tree.

"Hold on a second." I stopped, pulled my arm away, and dug into my pocket. "If there's ever been a time I've needed a smoke it's now." I took it out, found my wand and tried to light the cigarette but the flame came out of the tip of my wand like a goddamned blowtorch. "Jesus!" Draco held up his wand with a small, precise flame so I lit my smoke. "Ok, you've got a lot of explaining. I mean, shit, was that your grandmother?"

He sighed. "Of sorts. She is a Malfoi, though not by name."

"What's that mean?"

"Remember how we did the research on the old Malfois? The old, old ones? She's one of those."

"Holy shit, Draco. How old is she?"

"Three hundred and fifty, I think."

"How...what the fuck?" I took a deep drag off of my smoke. "How is that possible?"

He motioned with his head so we started walking. "Hank, you saw that red stone she wore, didn't you?"

"Uh, yeah? So?"

"She...it's dark magic. She takes...lovers. It doesn't end well for them."

My brain started working. "Holy fucking shit. So is she a succubus or something?"

"It's a similar magic. Like I told you before, my family history is not something I'm very proud of."

"Jesus Christ." I stopped. "So what was the whole point of that..." I waved my hand in the general direction of the houseboat.

"Protection." He turned and looked at me intently. "You are being hunted, Hank. I think the whole Potter Series books are simply to get you over here so they can kill you."

"Fuck me!"

"That would be the best outcome." He smirked. "Well, it would have been for grand-mère."

"Not funny." I took another drag. "So what's this protection thing? Was that the bit with my blood? Hermione's told me of all the shit that witches can do with someone's blood."

He hesitated for a moment, as if considering what to say. "It is a...family protection. We discussed it in the boat. Grand-mère Delphine does not do favours lightly."

I considered his words and felt my stomach drop. "What bargain did you make? Draco?" Without a word he started walking again, leaving me to follow. When I got alongside of him I looked over. "How bad?"

"I have to obtain some ingredients for her. I will say no more on the subject."

"Fuck." I kept walking, as I knew he wouldn't budge on the topic. When we'd made it another couple of hundred yards, still close to the water, I couldn't contain my curiosity. "When the Muggle Studies professors were missing you came over here and learned some weird magic shit. It was her, wasn't it? She was the one who taught you?"

"Yes." He didn't look at me and kept walking.

"What was the price?"

"The still-beating heart of an enemy."

"Christ." I stopped. "Draco..."

He turned, angry. "The Knights have no love for me as well. Don't ask anymore, Hank. For your own good."

Standing there Ron's words about Draco turning dark filled my head. It wasn't like Draco, not the Draco I knew, but there was a reason the Malfoys and Malfois were always considered a dark family. "Don't do it. Don't go to the dark side, Draco. You've got Astoria and Scorpius. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate leads to the dark side."

"Some ancient Muggle philosopher?" He sneered.

"Sort of. Yoda from Star Wars." I reached into my pocket for another smoke and pulled out the empty pack. "Fuck, I need one." I looked up to see him staring at me. "Come on, man, don't do it. Do you want Scorpius to grow up with people talking about how his dad's a dark wizard? You've gone through all that shit with your dad. Don't do it to him."

Draco stood there for a moment, unmoving, until a tear fell. He covered his face with his hands and sunk down to the mushy floor of the swamp on his knees. "I can't take it, Hank. I just can't take it anymore."

I knelt down next to him and put my hands on his shoulders. "I know it scares you, it scares me, too, but we'll get through this. We have to."

We stayed like that for a few moments and then he stood up, wiped away his tears and nodded. "Thank you."

"It's what friends do." I stood up, tried to clean off my knees and realized that my suit was fucked. "So now what?" I put my hands in my pockets and felt something, something that wasn't there before. I pulled it out and there, in my hand, was the Ace of Clubs. "What the fuck?"

"Grand-mère." Draco nodded. "Reminding you. Come on, I'll take you back now. Hopefully Weasley took care of things."

-ooo-

Draco Apparated me back to Lindell's house, out in the garden and disappeared without saying a word. I didn't know what to do so I headed back into the house. The place was full of AAB agents, one man with a bandaged hand, and I looked to see anybody I recognized. Since I didn't I started to make my way through the crowd when I was shoved up against the wall, a wand at my throat.

"Who the hell are you? No sudden moves!"

I stared at the angry AAB agent. "I'm Hank Boyd, is Ron Weasley here?"

The agent looked at a female agent. "Go get Weasley."

It was a tense few moments before I saw Ron round the corner. I felt myself relax but he pulled out his wand and stuck it to my temple. "What does Melody do when she drinks Bill's Specials?"

"I don't know how she gets the shoes stuck in the ceiling."

"It's him." Ron lowered his wand and the AAB agent did the same. "What the hell happened? Where's Malfoy?"

"I don't know where Draco is, honest. He just dropped me back here and took off."

"Where'd you go?" He looked at me. "And what happened to your tracking bracelet? You dropped off the map."

I opened my mouth to say something but...nothing came out. I tried again but it was exactly the same. "I uh, can't say. I'm trying to, but I can't. Something won't let me."

"Bloody Malfoys." Ron shook his head.

"Is everybody ok?" I looked at the AAB agents who were watching us. "What happened?"

One of the AAB agents tried to get Ron's attention but he waved them off. "He's got Auror clearance, so bugger off." He turned to me. "Knights of the Wand came here, looking for you, I guess. Malfoy's warning helped, so it was better than it could have been. Lindell took a hit, but it was just a stunner. We got three of them before they took off." A nasty smile formed on his face. "We got that twat from the garden. Can't wait to have a little chat with him."

"Good, he was an asshole."

I saw her coming through the crowd and before I could say anything she hugged me. "I'm so glad you're ok, Hank."

I patted her back. "It's ok, Chris. I'm fine." I glanced over her shoulder and saw Ron looking at me strangely. "Really, Chris, I'm fine."

She broke away from me and gave me an embarrassed look. "I'm sorry, it's just...I was worried they...and with Melody and your kids, I...I just thought the worst."

"You always did go to the worst possible scenario." I looked over at Ron. "Shut up, Weasley."

"You two must have been a barrel of fun together." He rolled his eyes. "Enough of that, though. I think we'd best be getting home."

"What about..."

"Plans have changed, Hank. Especially after today." He didn't say another word and left the room, asking one of the AAB agents where someone named Wilson was.

I assumed that was the AAB agent in charge and then found myself standing next to Chris again. She was still pretty, that was for sure, and she'd been worried about me, but she had also been worried about Melody and the kids. I thought back to the weird visions from the playing cards in that little houseboat with Draco's grand-mère and it hit me ever harder than before; I was in love with my wife. Not even Delphine's magic could change that. If that was the case, then I had no worries at all about my feelings about Chris. I'd always love her, that was for sure, but it was something different than with Melody. Who knew that going to a three-hundred plus year old witch's house and turning her down could show that to me so very clearly?

"Hank?" Chris looked at me. "Are you all right?"

"I could use a drink. And a smoke, I'm out."

She took my arm and led me towards the bar. I didn't have time to fix a drink before Lindell was there.

"Thank God you're all right, Hank." He ran alongside of his face. "When everything happened it was chaos, and then you were missing..."

"It's ok. I'm fine." I moved over so one of the guests I didn't know from the remembrance ceremony could fix a drink. "Really. Sorry to have worried everyone. Is everything ok?"

"It was horrible, all those spells." Lindell steadied himself against the bar. "I felt so useless. I haven't used my wand in years."

As Lindell spoke I felt a creeping feeling, like something was slowly squeezing me. I felt adrenaline start pumping through me, like I was getting ready for a football game, but mostly on my back. I turned to see a woman in green robes staring at me. Then, almost as if I wasn't in control of my body, I grabbed a bottle off of the bar and smashed her over the head with it.

"Hank! What the hell?" Lindell stared at me.

"What the fuck?" Ron walked over, wand out. "What's going on?"

Christine stepped away from me. "He just hit that woman with a bottle!"

I blinked a few times and held up my hands, a cracked bottle of vodka in one of them. "I don't know, I just felt this weird shit come over me and it just happened!"

"Check her out." Ron pointed to an AAB agent nearby.

After a few moments the agent pulled out a small vial from the woman's robes. He did a quick diagnostic spell and placed it on top of the bar. "Poison."

"Fucking hell." I sat the vodka bottle down on the bar and leaned into it unsteadily. "Fucking hell."

After a thorough search of the woman's robes more items were found, all dark and deadly. Lindell confirmed her identity, one of his distant cousins, and after consulting his family book found that she was somewhere down the line kin to the Knights of the Wand bastards.

Ron looked over to me as the AAB agents bound her and prepped her for transport. "I don't know what Malfoy did to you, but it worked. Say your goodbyes, we need to leave."

I said goodbye to Lindell, promising to write. Christine said she would visit soon, as we had rescheduled that family portrait that was supposed to take place over Easter. It was odd, saying goodbye like normal after everything that had happened. Eventually, though, Ron took my arm and initiated a portkey, depositing us in the international portkey station in Washington DC.

I sat there in the hard plastic waiting seat, still freaked out over everything that had happened. Finally, though, it was our turn to leave. As we made our way through the crowds I spotted something, something familiar, someone familiar, actually. She stood by the coffee vendor, sipping a cup, and winked at me through her dark dreadlocks.

-ooo-

I didn't get to go home immediately, of course. First it was the trip to St. Mungo's where the Healers issued me a brand new diagnostic bracelet. They were a bit testy at me for removing the one from the hospital in the UMS, but I just nodded and took it. There was literally no way I could tell them how I'd lost the other one. After that it was over to the Ministry and debriefing. Harry listened to Ron's report, and it was surprising how much detail he'd provided, but in the end we finally finished. They verified that I couldn't say anything about my little trip with Malfoy, and at one point one of the Unspeakables was brought in to examine me. That sucked. The man or woman, I couldn't tell, waved their wand at me, wrote something down, handed it to Harry and left.

I wanted to ask what they'd given Harry but by that time I just wanted to go home. Luckily I was cleared after a few moments and then escorted to the massive Floo fireplaces by Ron.

"Listen, Hank...Melody knows about the attack. We told her you're ok, but you probably shouldn't say a whole lot else."

"Like I can." I shrugged. "What was the deal with that Unspeakable? What'd they tell Harry?"

"Dunno, mate." He reached into his pocket and handed me a small box. "Here's your stuff, you know, the stuff you got from..."

"Doctor Eittel." I took it from him. "Thanks, I'd forgotten about this. Uh, Ron? How do I get it back to normal?"

"Ask Melody." He put his arm around me. "You really are a crap wizard, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Thanks, though. For everything."

"Ah, fuck off." He shoved me towards the fireplace. "Besides, you and Melody are taking the kids soon, you didn't forget that, did you?"

"No problem." I put the little box into my pocket. "Hey, what about my luggage?"

"Already at Colony House." He rolled his eyes. "Give me some credit."

"Thanks." I took a pinch of Floo powder. After everything all I wanted was to go home, kiss my wife and see my kids. "Colony House."