Disclaimer: I don't own anything you've seen outside of my writings character wise. They more than likely belong to J.K. Rowling. Surprise, surprise.
'Think'
"Talk"
Chapter Cuatro
New Friends and Family
"NO! I don't want to go…!" rang through the mansion that the Nundu leaders called home.
"Ren, you said you would," Danny reminded. Harry and Danny were trying to get Serenity ready to leave to talk with Hermione.
"I changed my mind," Serenity snapped back and crossed her arms broodingly.
Danny and Harry rolled their eyes behind the blonde's back.
"Come on, sis," Harry said.
"Make me," she retorted.
Danny smirked before saying, "Well, you asked for it, love." He picked the girl up and threw her over his shoulder. "Come on, Hermione's waiting."
"Dearie…! Ooh…" muttered Serenity.
Danny flinched when he felt someone pinching his bum. "If I let you keep grabbing my arse, will you stop struggling?"
"Pretty…"
"I'll just take that as a yes…" Harry said with a smirk.
"Dearie, will you put me down?" Serenity asked as she gave his butt a small spank.
"Fine…" replied Danny. Serenity immediately started to continue to grope his butt repeatedly when she was at a better height to touch it. Danny groaned but wrapped an arm around her gently with little complaint, verbally that is.
'How come every time Serenity is spazzing it's always at my bum's expense that she calms down?' whined Danny to Harry mentally.
'You're just lucky, I guess.'
'Thanks, mate, thanks.'
'Anytime, Dan!'
'You're cruel.'
'Ren's happy though. I think she loves your bum more than you.'
'Shut up, Jamie.'
Danny shot a smug smirk at Harry when Serenity announced, "It's no fun grabbing dearie's bum when dearie isn't blushing and whining his head off… I want dearie to pick me up, or I'll run in the opposite direction."
Danny smiled lightly at his mate and scooped her up bridal style. "Happy, love?"
"Yep-yep!"
Harry rolled his eyes and teleported to the alley he normally used whenever he visited Hermione. Danny soon followed once he made sure Serenity would safely arrive in his arms.
"Got the vixie still?" Harry asked teasingly when his best friend arrived.
"Depends, are you Serenity or a decoy or hologram?" Danny jokingly asked Serenity.
"What do you think, love?" snapped Serenity.
"Hey, calm down, sis. It's okay," Harry said.
Both male mages knew that it would be very, very awful if Hermione and Serenity talked, alone, in the same room, without Harry and Danny to break them up if needed, and Serenity was crabby.
That was why they left a half hour earlier than needed; the guys wanted to give Serenity caffeine. The petite veela was the friendliest person in the whole damn world under the influence of coffee.
"Where are we going…?" asked Serenity when she was carried into the downtown area.
"I frankly don't want you and Hermione alone in the same room. That's why we're giving you coffee."
"Coffee!"
Danny held his grip on the bouncing girl's hand as Harry knocked on the Grangers' door.
"Dearie! Dearie! Dearie!" chirped Serenity as she continued to bounce around.
"Yes?"
"You're my dearie, dearie!"
Danny shot her a strange look at her proclamation. "O…kay… Whatever you say, Vix."
"Hip, hip, hooray!"
Hermione opened the door right as Serenity chirped that.
"Hooray for what…?" the witch asked carefully.
"Spaghetti!" the blonde chirped and jumped on Danny's back.
"…maybe giving her a large coffee drink with five shots of espresso wasn't the best idea," Harry muttered to Danny.
"What about coffee?" asked Hermione suspiciously.
"Coffee nummy!" Serenity said as she poked Danny's forehead. "Dearie's forehead isn't like a marshmallow."
"…why would my forehead be like a marshmallow, dear?" Danny carefully asked as the blonde continued to poke his face.
"It's the color of a marshmallow!"
"Was that an insult or a compliment?" wryly asked Harry as Danny grabbed the blonde's hand due to lack of wanting her to keep poking his face. Serenity made a face and got off his back.
"Compliment! Marshmallows are yummy! Like dearie's kisses!"
Danny blushed lightly as he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Thanks."
"Hermione, who is at the door?" Mrs. Granger asked. The brunette woman smiled at the two boys. "Hello, Harry, Danny. And who is this?"
Harry smiled and said, "Hello, Emily. That's my soon-to-be adopted, little sister, Serenity. She's Danny's girlfriend, too."
"You're not going to threaten me not to hurt her, are you?" Danny jokingly added.
"Yeah, I'm going to threaten my muscular, taller best friend," Harry sarcastically replied.
"You two bicker a lot," Serenity stated and kissed Danny's head. She had jumped up to reach and was currently clinging to Danny's neck with her small, slender legs wrapped around his waist, so she wouldn't fall.
"No, we don't!" both boys whined at the same time.
Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Come in…"
Mrs. Granger stayed quiet because Harry had written her a letter explaining why all three of them were coming over.
Serenity pouted, but Danny was holding her tightly.
Danny gently put the girl down when Hermione stopped in the living room of the Grangers' home. "See ya, love," he whispered and hugged her.
"Dearie, don't go…!" whined Serenity as she clutched to the vampire's neck possessively.
"Ren…"
Serenity pouted but said, "My dearie not allowed to go 'till I get a kiss."
Danny smiled but leaned in. Serenity grabbed his head and deeply kissed him.
"Sis, remove your tongue from his mouth, missy," Harry warned.
'Ren said to tell you that you're just jealous,' Danny said to Harry mentally. 'Stop yelling at her, or I'll beat you up. Serenity normally doesn't like Frenching.'
Harry rolled his eyes impatiently.
"Hermione, who was at the door?" a male voice asked.
Hermione blanched when her dad entered the room and saw the heavily kissing teenagers.
"May I ask who they are, and why they are sucking mouth in my living room?"
Harry sighed and quietly told his girlfriend's father what was going on. The last thing he said was, "I tried to get them to stop, but Dan threatened to beat me up, sir."
"You need a backbone, Potter."
"I have a backbone; I'm just worried that Danny really will beat me up. I'm a runt; he's over six feet tall with muscles."
Mr. Granger muttered something about his daughter's wimp of a boyfriend and tapped the vampire on the shoulder. Danny pulled away from Serenity for two reasons, someone tapped his shoulder, and he needed to breath.
"Yes?" the vampire smoothly said as he stood up to his full height. Unfortunately for almost everyone around him, Danny was still growing. He managed to add another inch to his already towering frame. On the bright side, he wasn't growing as fast as he used to.
Mr. Granger couldn't stop himself looking up at the supposed teenager literally looking down at him. Mr. Granger always considered himself on the tall side at an inch shy of six feet. Here was someone who was a good four inches taller…
"Come on, Danny. We should go," Harry cut in to Hermione's relief.
Danny rolled his eyes but turned to Ren and said, "No hitting, attacking, killing, maiming, hair pulling, and/or cussing out, or else we're sleeping in different beds for the next month." Serenity's lip quivered adorably. "Don't you pout at me, missy."
"Where did you get a goddamn backbone from suddenly?" she whined.
"Wow, Dan. You actually stood up to your girlfriend of half a year for the first time," Harry said in a sarcastic shock.
"Shut the bloody hell up, Jamie," Danny snapped.
Harry rolled his eyes before gently hugging Hermione goodbye. "Please tell me you're not going to insist on shoving your tongue in my mouth like someone did to her boyfriend."
Serenity stuck her tongue out cutely. "Bye, bro-bro! Bye, my snexy Dannikins!"
"Stop calling me 'Dannikins', Itty," Danny said.
"Stop calling me 'Itty', my dearie."
"Why do you keep putting 'my' in front of whatever pet name you call me by?"
"Mine!" chirped Serenity and tried to pounce on him.
"Uh, stay!"
"I'm not Shadow!"
"I know that, Vixie."
Serenity stuck her tongue out and pecked him on the lips. Harry rolled his eyes and dragged his friend out.
"I feel abandoned," Serenity stated when the boys left. "They probably only dumped me here, so they could go to the arcade and melt whatever brain cells that they have left without me to drag them out."
Hermione snorted in amusement. "You have a point."
"Any clue on what they expect us to do?" asked Serenity.
"No…"
"Go figure… Those two are morons… I don't know why I have put up with them as long as I have."
Hermione laughed. She had to admit that Serenity's wit was pretty funny at times when not aimed at her. "How about we just ask each other questions?"
Serenity thought and added, "What about we each give three answers and the other can ask for an elaboration on one of them is she chooses? Unless there is only one answer that can be given of course…"
"Sure. Uh, can I go first?"
"For question or answer?"
"Question."
"Sure."
Hermione bit her lip in thought before deciding to start it easy. "What are your favorite colors?"
Serenity raised her eyebrows—she was never able to raise just one—and replied, "I like most of the cool colors in dark shades like navy, dark green, burgundy, and so on."
"Do you really think I'm going to ask you why you like those colors?"
"Not really. What are yours?"
"Blue, red, and gold."
"You are such a Gryffy."
"Harry's half Gryffindor you know."
"I know; I still think he tricked the talkative hat thingamabobber into sorting him into Slythindor instead of Hufflepuff. That's how he got into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin."
Hermione rolled her eyes and asked, "What sports are you into if any?"
"Gymnastics, a little yoga, but my real favorite is dancing."
"What types of dancing?"
"Tap, ballet, jazz, some modern, and hip-hop."
"Oh. I took gymnastics, too, before Hogwarts."
"Too busy to continue?"
"Yes. I know now I went a little crazy because I was so scared I would be behind everyone because I'm a muggleborn."
"That's how I felt when I skipped a grade before dropping out."
Hermione was rather surprised. She didn't know people could still skip grades just like that. "Have you taken an IQ test?" she asked with her curiosity peaked.
"I did about five years ago," Serenity said. Hermione had a feeling that she didn't say what she got on purpose.
"What did you get?"
Serenity flushed and ducked her head with a small murmur Hermione barely caught. "You were almost literally a genius when you were eleven?!"
Serenity blushed and said sheepishly as she looked up, "I hide it well."
"I realized that when I realized you weren't the ditz that you were acting like when I first met you."
"Morning coffee buzz, need I say anything else? Harry and Danny tried to get me buzzed before hand, but I dumped half the coffee out when they weren't looking."
"The whole spaghetti comment…?"
"I had to fake it, or they'd get all broody whenever they realize that their attempts to outsmart me failed like usual. While Danny is cute brooding, I don't like watching my brother have an emo moment."
"No offense, I still don't see what you see in him personality wise."
"You wouldn't understand probably. You have to realize that I've literally have Danny in almost all of my memories. I haven't admitted this to him yet, but you know how all of us girls plan our dream weddings when little? He was always the groom. Please don't tell Danny that I've been planning our wedding since I was seven."
"Seven?"
"I started crushing on him nine years ago, okay?" the veela said with a cute pink hue gracing her defined cheeks.
"That's so cute," Mrs. Granger cooed. She had been listening to the two girls from the kitchen, but she couldn't resist not commenting at Harry's little sister's confession. She just wanted to give that poor, adorable orphan a big hug like the blonde probably needed, but she was willing to bet there was a reason Hermione's boyfriend wrote her a warning about his sister's background and her extreme dislike of being coddled outside from her two close friends.
Mrs. Granger knew the girl obviously got affection by how she interacted with another person who she just wanted to give a hug. Danny Riddle and Serenity Potter were obviously deeply in love already at such a young age. Emily was pretty sure the girl never experienced the love of a parent though…
The dentist felt a little guilty by the startled, deer-in-the-headlights look that showed on the tiny girl's face. "Mum!" Hermione hissed.
"I was just seeing if you two girls wanted anything before your father and I left for our practice, dear. Would you make dinner tonight please, Hermione?"
"Sure, Mum. We can just get something ourselves if we want anything and that's okay with you, Serenity."
"I don't mind. I'm used to it. Remember, Hermione, I help take care of at least eight children who have been mistreated and we saved from the streets. I know how to take care of myself and others by now."
Mrs. Granger couldn't hold back the horrified gasp. Serenity rolled her eyes in a way that told both of the Grangers in the room that she was all too used to that kind of reaction.
"What time should we check on our girls?" asked Danny. Like Serenity had predicted, the two boys had fled to the male haven of the mall arcade.
"I don't know… Four maybe?"
"You want to trust your girlfriend with our little vixie for three hours?"
"Serenity will probably take your threat to heart."
Danny shrugged and shot a deer on the game he was playing.
"What do you mean Quidditch is actually a dangerous sport played at high heights?! Harry said it was like football magical style!" exclaimed Serenity in shock quietly.
"Did I mention Harry's position is the most dangerous one? He's the one hit by the bludgers the most," Hermione added happily in a whisper. She was glad that someone else saw how ridiculous Quidditch was.
"Do I even want to know bludgers are?"
"They're heavy black balls designed to hit players and possibly knock them out. Each team has two beaters that hit the bludgers across the field and at the other team's players, normally the seeker and keeper. Harry's the seeker."
"So that must be why Harry refused to let me see a game…" mused Serenity. "He should be glad that he can't play on a team anymore due to his new teacher position because I wouldn't have let him even if I had to put his broom in the paper shredder."
Hermione had already asked her what she was scared of, so the witch wasn't surprised that the veela wasn't very happy about her soon-to-be brother going up at dangerous heights when the mage herself was terrified of going above the height she was at while being held by Danny.
"Paper shredder?"
"We don't have a wood chipper, and it's the next best thing," the blonde stated hyperly.
Hermione rolled her eyes and sipped her lemonade. The two girls were sitting on the Grangers' deck sipping lemonade as they whispered. Hermione's neighbor who was the most popular boy at her old school (and her ex-friend) suddenly started to try to talk to her when he saw the veela that the witch was talking in a murmur with.
"Are you sure you don't want to swim in my magnificent swimming pool, ladies?" he asked suavely with his eyes glued on the veela. Hermione wasn't angry at Serenity like she would have been before but was actually pitying her. The mage had told Hermione that it actually really sucked being part veela a good chunk of the time.
"Look, knock it off. I know you're trying to hit on me or something. I have a boyfriend that I've been with for half a year. Leave me alone, or I'll sick him on you," threatened Serenity.
"Brad, you should leave before you get beaten by her really tall boyfriend who may show up with my own boyfriend any second now."
"That would be funny considering she's dating my older brother who is also really overprotective of me," Serenity chirped innocently.
"I'm not scared," Brad replied snottily. To prove his point, he jumped over the fence and approached the two girls.
"Fine, let me give you something to be scared of then," drawled Serenity. Hermione gasped when Serenity punched him in the eye.
"Serenity!"
"There's another reason why my boyfriend is scared of me besides all of the blackmail I have on him when he was doing stupid stuff," the blonde said cheerily with a smirk.
Brad rubbed his eye and said, "Damn girl, you have one hell of an arm."
Hermione coughed at the language. "Hermione, you really need to get over your dislike of swearing, damn it," Serenity said with a spark of mischief in her eye.
"Just because you, Danny, and Harry are foul mouths doesn't mean I swear."
"But you're dating Harry."
"Harry is at least nice enough to swear in Portuguese."
"Harry is a sappy pushover," Serenity stated.
Brad was just watching the two girls bicker lightly. He decided to try a different approach when he heard that Hermione's boyfriend seemed to be the less intimidating of the two boyfriends. He said, "Did I tell you that you grew up so nicely, Hermione?" he innocently asked.
Hermione gave him a dark look and said, "She's not the only person who's willing to use violence."
"Bro said she punched this snotty rich kid at their school. Draco Malfoy, wasn't it?"
"Yep."
"Good, he deserves. I caught him staring at my bits. I slap my boyfriend when he does that, and I wanted to beat the crap out of Malfoy. Dearie threw him into a wall for me."
Brad obviously wasn't used to be rejected so harshly. His popular mind was decided that the hot blonde chick was just playing hard to get. He wrapped an arm around her thin shoulders and whispered in her ear, "I love a feisty girl who can stand up for herself."
Serenity glared at him and threw his arm off angrily. She smirked though above his shoulder.
Brad was curious and looked over his shoulder.
Harry and Danny were standing in the doorway, observing the whole thing since the Muggle had the guts to actually go on the deck. They just wanted to check in really quick to make sure both girls were alive and unharmed.
"May I please ask you to get your hands off my girl?" Danny sarcastically said as he cracked his knuckles.
"Dearie!" Serenity ran to her boyfriend and pounced on him. Danny smiled lovingly and caught the girl in his arms.
"Hi, lovely."
"Dearie, beat him up! I punched him in the eye and-."
"I know. Harry and I saw the whole thing."
Harry made a face at his little sister and said, "I am not a sappy pushover! Don't believe a word that comes out of her mouth because she was the one going around betting on my sexuality."
"I thought you were gay…!" whined Serenity with an adorable pout.
Danny rolled his eyes and gently spanked his girlfriend's butt.
"Hey! Leave my ass alone!"
"Why should I, dear? You don't leave mine alone."
"Your butt is too snexy though to not grab!"
Danny rolled his eyes, but his blue orbs hardened when he saw the Muggle try to sneak off. Danny put his veela down and sprinted in front of him.
"Uh, have you ever considered trying out for track?" the blonde boy nervously asked the pale brunette.
"Stay away from Serenity," the vampire snarled. He lifted the terrified boy up by his collar with his fist about to make painful contact.
"Dante Riddle, put him down now!" Serenity yelled and cuffed Danny.
"But, Ren…!"
"Put him down now, or you're sleeping on the couch for the next month!"
Danny gulped and dropped the worried Muggle. He smiled though when his mate raised her arms expectantly. He picked her up bridal style. Brad gulped and ran as fast as he could back to his house.
"Having fun?" Harry asked nervously.
"Yep. You two can go. I'm staying for dinner. She wanted help anyways."
"Yeah. Shoo. I'm sorry, Jamie. I haven't found a girl with a functional brain before," Hermione stated.
"What about Layne?" asked Harry.
"She's a little ditzy, and she knows it. Besides, there's something called girl-talk-."
Hermione didn't get to finish her sentence because both boys quickly kissed their respective girlfriends on the lips and fled with rushed good-byes.
"Well, that got rid of them," Serenity stated and sipped her lemonade.
Hermione rolled her eyes and asked her new friend, "Do you want to go to the grocery store now?"
"Yes. When's the last time your family went grocery shopping? Your fridge is, like, empty."
"I know. We're leaving for vacation about a week after Harry's birthday," replied Hermione as she walked inside.
"…but that's over a month away."
Hermione rolled her eyes and grabbed the money her mum left out for groceries. "Come on, let's just go…"
"Shouldn't you tell your little sister?"
"Janice! Serenity and I are going to the grocery store!"
"Okay!" Janice yelled back.
"There you go. My car is in the garage," Hermione said.
"Okay." Serenity followed Hermione due to lack of knowing where she was going.
The blonde went in the passenger seat and buckled up with no complaint. Hermione glanced at her and asked innocently, "Do you need a booster seat?"
"Very funny, Hermione."
Hermione smiled before opening the garage and slowly backing out.
"Come on…!" Danny whined to his best mate.
"No!" Harry whined back.
"Please?"
"Danny, I'm sorry, but I'm scared to meet your maternal side of the family. For all I know, they'll eat me!"
"Once they know you're Serenity's brother they won't," Danny stated. "I won't let them anyways. Harry, I'm the prince of the clan. They have to listen to me."
Harry made a face. Danny made one back. Ginny walked in the room, cuffed both of them, and left just like that.
"Morons," she called back.
Danny smirked suddenly and threw the wizard over his shoulder. "Right, we're going now, Jamie. Leon wanted to meet you."
"Danny!"
It was too late; the vampire had already warped to Italy.
"Put me down, mate!" Harry whined when he found himself in a strange village and surrounded by pale people with black hair and gem-like, recessive eyes.
"Okay," chirped the vampire prince as he put his friend down.
"Why do you still do that?"
"It works still. Come on."
'I don't have a choice now,' Harry brooded mentally.
'Ha ha! You don't know where you're going, nor do you know where you are! You can't leave without me!' the shadow mage taunted back.
Harry crossed his arms with a pout and followed his best friend.
Danny stuck his tongue out at the wizard before knocking on his half-brother's door. "Come in, Dan," Leon yelled.
'How did he-?' Harry started to ask his friend.
'I'm the only person in the family who bothers to knock.'
'I am very glad they don't know where we live.'
Danny laughed quietly as he opened the door. Harry tried his hardest to stay outside, but Danny dragged him into the small dining room where his brother was sitting on the table, finishing off a goblet of blood.
He held up a finger asking them to wait a moment. "Hi, Dan. Who's this?" the older vampire asked once he put his goblet down and licked his lips clean of any excess.
"You said you wanted to meet my best friend."
"He's a bastard and literally threw me over his shoulder and warped us here because he knew I can't get back home without knowing where I am," whined the Boy-Who-Lived.
"He can't call me stupid anymore," Danny happily said.
"Yeah, right," Harry snapped jokingly.
"It's not like you had anything better to do, Jimmy."
"Stop calling me Jimmy, Vampy."
"That is an insult to this whole village," Leon stiffly said.
"No it isn't. You have to be part elf, part vampire, legally out of your mind, and snogging my little sister to be called Vampy. And if there's someone else snogging Serenity…" Harry absentmindedly pushed his bangs out of his face and momentarily revealed his scar.
Leon said, "I was going to ask who you are, but I just saw a certain scar. Hi, Harry Potter, I'm Leon Lamia. You need to do whatever you did to my stepfather again."
"That's what Danny said," Harry stated as he shook the offered hand.
Danny stuck his tongue out and used Harry's head as an armrest, as usual. "He's my armrest," Danny stated with a small smirk.
"I'll hex you," Harry stated.
"Na uh!
"Yeah huh!"
"Na uh!"
"Yeah huh!"
"Na uh!"
"Leon, Dante, stop bickering!" someone yelled from the entrance of Leon's home.
"It's not me though!" Leon insisted.
"Danny's bickering with himself again," Harry drawled mischievously.
"Hey!" whined the vampire mage.
"Hay is for horses, mate," Harry reminded.
Jeremiah and Isabelle walked in with curiosity written on their faces.
"Hi, Uncle Jerry," both of the younger vampire said.
"Hey! You're that dude that my little sister gave a play-by-play of her punching you in the face!" chirped Harry.
"Is the caffeine just starting to kick in, Harry?" Danny asked with bemusement.
Jeremiah closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Dante, who is this, where's your little mate, and why are you in the first place?"
"In order since you oh so kindly asked, my best friend and Ren's soon-to-be adopted, older bro, Harry Potter, Serenity's at Harry's girlfriend's house, and we were bored and Leon wanted to meet Harry, so I threw Harry over my shoulder and warped him here against his will."
"He kidnapped me, again," Harry added brightly. He was jumping behind Danny and trying to give the prince bunny ears with little success.
"Harry Potter?! You're friends with the boy who killed your own father?!" Isabella exclaimed.
Danny made a face and wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulder. "He's my best friend! We didn't even know magic existed when we befriended each other."
"Uh, mate, you made me be friends with you, and I was too scared to fight back."
"So? We still befriended each other, eventually."
The non-teenagers exchanged looks when the boys all of the sudden yelled, "EVENTUALLY!" without even looking at the other and then cracked into hysterics. As one, the boys fell on the ground with a simultaneous muttered, "Ow…"
Danny said, "That-."
Harry finished, "Hurt."
The Lamia King and Queen exchanged looks at the now twin-like antics. This was starting to get creepy…
Hermione rolled her eyes as Serenity was using the shopping cart like it was a skateboard or something by the way the elfin veela was pushing off and cruising down the aisles.
"Wait for me, Serenity!"
Serenity put her foot down and slid to a stop. "Yesh?"
"You're going too fast," Hermione stated as she dropped the loaf of bread in the cart.
Serenity smiled innocently with a cute little face, "Sowwy." She fluttered her lashes cutely, and Hermione started to fall into her trap just like the veela hoped she would. Heck, there was nothing wrong with having another person wrapped around her finger in Serenity's book.
"It's okay. What do we need still?"
"Uh…" Serenity glanced in the cart. The girls were making lasagna after Serenity made Hermione promise that the witch would be the one to put it in the oven. "I think we just need stuff for the sauce and any veggies we're going to use. Probably something for a salad…"
"I told you we shouldn't have gotten supplies for dessert first."
Serenity cheerily stuck her tongue out before asking, "Where's the canned veggies? It's easier to make sauce with canned tomatoes…"
"Or we can just buy tomato sauce and save us the hassle," Hermione pointed out.
"Good point, let's just add stuff like onions and peppers to make it seem homemade."
"That'll work. I'm taking the cart."
"Why…?" Serenity whined.
"You're going to run some old lady over or something."
Serenity made a face but got off the cart. "Why do people never let me have fun with the shopping carts?" she whined.
"I know you're just trying to subtly manipulate me by pretending to be an innocent, adorable girl to get what you want," Hermione stated with agitation.
Serenity seemed impressed and stated, "Kudos to you. You're the first person to ever notice. I managed to trick even my love's father a few time."
Let's just say that wasn't the reaction Hermione was expecting…
Danny rolled his eyes behind his great-uncle and great-aunt's backs as he and Harry were being dragged to the manor. The king and queen were thrilled when they realized that Harry would soon be related to Serenity.
'…why are we going wherever we're going?' asked Harry.
'Do you think I know?'
'You're the one who lives here every fortnight!'
'…what's a fortnight?'
'Two weeks.'
'Oh… why didn't you say that?'
'I-. Never mind, bro…'
'Okay!'
A manor servant rushed to King Jeremiah once they entered. "Your highness, someone needed to talk to you about something she said was urgent."
"Okay. Dante go show your little friend your room or something."
Danny rolled his eyes before saying, "Going, Uncle Jerry…"
Harry followed his friend as he was led through the manor of the royal Lamia. "How do you not get lost?"
"Ren and I were given a map for the first two months."
"I'm not surprised actually…"
"Very helpful, I can tell ya that, mate. Here's the wing were the room Ren and I share is. Yes, we have our own wing because Uncle Jerry is sorely convinced that I will get over my stubbornness and take the throne before the war is over. Like that's going to happen."
"Wing?"
"There's a small library/office, small kitchen with a dining room set in it, bathroom obviously, and spare bedrooms for our future family and anyone else we wanted to live with us. Want to see the room meant for Vixie before they knew we slept in the same bed?"
"Sure."
Danny smirked and opened a door. The room was pink and lavender. "Ah, my eyes!" Harry screamed jokingly.
"That was her reaction, too. Luckily, my relatives were thrilled that we were comfortable enough with our relationship to sleep in the same room…"
Harry snorted but didn't comment. "Your room now?"
Danny smiled at his friend before walking into the room next to the painfully pink one. "We repainted it," Danny stated.
Harry rolled his eyes and plopped on the bed. "Didn't they throw a fit about you using spray-paint?"
"I didn't tell them until I already did it. Want to see what my great-aunt and grandmother basically force Serenity to wear while she's here? It is funny!"
Harry raised a questionable eyebrow. Danny opened the closet to reveal half of it was filled with short skirts, a few dresses, blouses, revealing tops, and everything else Serenity normally refused to wear.
Harry cracked up.
Danny was watching the clock anxiously. He wanted to know when his Vixie was going to get home… It was past seven already.
Harry sighed in annoyance as Danny paced the main room with his blue eyes glued on the clock.
The vampire was so absorbed in watching the clock that he didn't even realized that Serenity had came home ten minutes ago and was watching Danny pace with Harry.
Serenity snorted and pounced on Danny when his back was towards them. "Deeeeaaaaaaarrrrrrrriiiiiie!"
"Ren, get off my back, so I can hug you," commanded Danny. Serenity mocked him behind his head but jumped off and pounced on him from the front. Danny tightly wrapped his arms around her and carried her up the steps. "Night, Harry!"
"Wait, what? Aren't we going to ask-?" Harry started.
"You can ask her tomorrow. My Serenity. Mine!"
Serenity rolled her eyes when Danny's grip changed in a way that made her head rest on his chest and her arms were pinned to her sides. "Danny, I'm not going anywhere. You really don't have to pin my arms," Serenity pointed out.
"Shut up, wench," the vampire snapped.
"What did you call me?" demanded the blonde. She wisely closed her mouth though when she heard a low growl coming from her mate's throat. "Shutting up…"
When they entered their room, Danny gently dumped Serenity on the bed and pulled her on his lap possessively. 'Not again… I must not have been around him enough today. He must be craving affection again,' Serenity mused. Aloud she cooed, "Does dearie need affection?" as she gently ran her hand through his hair.
Danny tenderly hugged her and started to pepper her neck with kisses. Serenity was going to take that as a yes…
An hour later, a sheepish Danny and an amused Serenity sat next to Harry in the common room that connected their rooms. "Sorry, Harry…" the vampire said with a guilty grin.
"Someone loses whatever he has left of his mind when he doesn't get enough affection from me," Serenity said in a teasing, sing-song voice.
Danny made a face at the blonde and tickled her chin briefly, getting a shrill squeak out of her.
Serenity flicked Danny's nose back before leaning against him.
"So, have fun at Hermione's, sissy?" Harry asked.
Harry was worried when he saw a spark of anger in her eyes. She opened her mouth and yelled, "Harold James Potter! Why do you do something so… so… dangerous as Quidditch?! You could break your neck or worse!"
"Uh…"
"If I ever catch you doing something like that again, mister, I'll-!"
"Ren, shut up and just beat him up next time he does it, okay?" Danny soothingly cut-in as he rubbed her arm. Serenity purred quietly before she fully calmed down.
"Hermione and I switched stories about you, Harry," Serenity stated with a smirk.
"Great… I knew there was a reason why I felt like I was going to shudder."
"Oh, and Danny… You promised," Serenity said with a purr.
Danny made a face but went into their bedroom to tell her what he was up to. Serenity followed him happily. Danny suddenly stopped and turned around. "I'll be right back."
Danny threw Harry over his shoulder and walked to Harry's room. The vampire dumped his friend on his bed and closed the door, making sure Harry wouldn't get out.
"Sorry, darling, I didn't want him to eavesdrop. And-! Gah!"
Strands of gold magic wrapped around his body and dragged the vampire towards the bed. Serenity smiled brightly as her magic dumped him on the bed headfirst. "Hi, dearie!" Serenity chirped as she dangled something in his face.
It was the prank gift, an enchanted collar meant for vampires, that the Nundus gave Serenity for Christmas to use on him. That was when Danny noticed that Serenity hadn't let him go yet with her magic. "Uh, will you make the magic go bye-bye now?"
"Wait a second… Dearie needs his collar on. I should get a nametag thing to put on it that says dearie."
"Why are you putting the damn collar on me?"
"You look better with it on. My Danny."
Danny scooted closer to her and whispered in her ear, "My Serenity."
"I know." Serenity carefully secured the enchanted lock on the collar and released her mate of the golden beams. Danny rubbed his arms and pouted at Serenity.
"Meanie…"
"You can't leave this room period until you tell me."
Danny picked the girl up and put her on his lap before whispering in his ear.
Harry was trying his hardest to unlock his bedroom door when he heard Serenity scream, "What do you mean you're-!" Harry felt bad for his friend because both bedrooms had muffling charms cast.
"Ren! He's going to hear you," Danny hissed with his hand over her mouth. Serenity kissed his hand, making him pull it back with a smile.
"But you want to bring back to life his g-!" Danny put his hand over her mouth.
"Love! I'll remove my hand from your mouth, but if you shout again, I'll be forced to spank you."
Danny removed his hand and gave the veela a look. "NOOO! DON'T SPANK ME!"
Danny laughed and hugged his mate tightly. "Oh, and Uncle Jerry knows about Mindy now…"
"What? How-?"
"Leon wanted to meet Harry, so I kidnapped Harry. I think Leon told him today after Uncle Jerry asked me about our plans when it came to children."
"I want ten children by the way."
"T-ten?!" Danny sputtered out.
"Well, nine. There is Mindy if you adopt her."
"Why ten?!"
"It's a good number."
"B-but!"
"Right, stop stuttering. Now what about Mindy?"
"They—my family—want me to start bringing her with us when we go to Italy."
"Great, the other munchkins aren't going to be happy. They can understand why she has a father in you, but they don't because she was the first one you've ever taken care of. This though…"
"I know. I doubt they will understand I don't have a choice if I want to keep living here freely. We both know my family isn't afraid to kidnap me or even you… I heard Uncle Jerry complaining about the war lasting too long and how he just wanted his heir already."
"Great…"
"I know."
"This is bad…"
"Thank you, Captain Obvious!"
"Don't use that tone with me, mister. Remember, you're the one with the collar around your neck. You can't leave the room until I say you can now."
"Seriously, why do I have to keep reminding you that you don't own me!?"
"Because I do, you're in denial. In fact, I think I'm just going to stop calling you by your name period and just call you dearie."
"R-ren…?"
"Bad!" Serenity cuffed though Danny noticed that she didn't do hit him that hard.
"What did I do?"
"Called me Ren."
"Love…!"
Serenity just gave him a look and asked, "What, dearie?"
"Why do you keep seeing me as something you just own? You said you loved me."
"I do love you."
"Then why are you always saying that you own me?"
"I own you, and you own me." Danny shook his head in amusement. Veela sure had a twisted view on relationshiops...
"Then why don't you have a collar, hm?"
"…because."
Danny tickled Serenity's exposed stomach and stated over her laughter, "That's not a very good reason, darling."
"Love…! Stop!"
"Make me."
Danny grumbled under his breath as he searched for Mindy. He had to go the village tomorrow, Wednesday, to tell Jeremiah how Mindy wanted her room there. At least his great-uncle was considering his plea to only drag his soon-to-be daughter with him once a month instead of twice and occasionally thrice if they were lucky enough. Coughsarcasmcough.
Danny cracked opened the door that led to the bedroom Mindy shared with one of her friends who lived in the manor, Angela. Mindy wasn't in there, but Angela was. "Angie, have you seen Mindy?" he asked the nine-year-old.
"Ginny and Harry is teaching some of us how to fly. I didn't want to because Sissy is right; heights are scary."
"Serenity is going to kill them for this. I think she was on the verge of throwing Harry's broom out the window when his girlfriend told her what Quidditch actually was."
"Can I watch her scream at him?"
"Unfortunately, Harry probably will stop once he sees the bathroom window open. She's in the shower."
"Pooey!"
"I might tell her anyways. It's fun watching her yell at Harry, isn't it?"
"Yay!"
"Actually, I'm going to go threaten Harry now. Wanna come?"
Angie put down her coloring book and happily skipped next to him. Danny ruffled her hair affectionately and opened the backdoor. "Oh Harry…!" Danny called in a sing-song tone.
"Yeah, mate?" the wizard asked as he watched a few of the kids do laps.
"I don't think Ren is going to appreciate you having the kiddos doing something this dangerous."
"She won't know. Flying is fun."
"You will not let them go any higher, or I'll tell her. Harry, please only teach the ones that are at least ten. Remember, I fell on my ass and got hurt when you tried teaching me. In fact… Mindy! Get down from there! You are going to hurt yourself, missy! Those who are under ten get down in general. Don't complain because Serenity is going to scream at all of you, and she just got out of the shower, Harry. She's probably looking for us as we speak…"
"Uh, right. You heard him!"
The younger ones grudgingly got down and got off the brooms right as Serenity opened the door. "Harry!" she yelled when she saw the three kids in the air with Ginny.
"Come on, Ren. It's not like he has the younger ones up there. He just showed them how to make the broom go up," Danny said soothingly with a smooth, white lie.
'Thank you!'
"Fine… If one of them falls or go higher than the house though…"
Danny wisely picked the blonde up and carried her in his arms. "Come on, Mins. Ren and I need to talk to you about something… We should probably get it over with before Serenity kills Harry or his broom."
"Don't kid about that!" Harry shouted and possessively hugged his Firebolt.
Serenity glared at Harry fiercely before glaring at the broom in his hand. Danny rolled his eyes and gently ran his hand against Serenity's cheek. He would always appreciate the fact that she purrs; it always calmed her down now without fail.
Mindy followed with curiosity. "Daddy, why does Mo—uh—Renny purr?"
"Something to do with the fact that she chose me as her mate…"
Serenity glanced at the girl with a bit of surprise. 'Did she almost call me what I think she almost called me?' she thought. "What were you about to call me?" she gently pushed as she glanced at the tall seven-year-old.
"…nothing!"
"Mins," she tried again with a small amount of sternness.
"Seriously!"
"Mindy…"
"Uh…"
"Melinda."
"Is that my in-trouble name?"
"Melinda whatever-middle-name-dearie's-going-to-give-you Riddle!"
"No, I think that is," Danny wryly cut-in. "Nice middle name, kiddo."
Serenity and Mindy both stuck their tongues out at him; Serenity went as far as licking her boyfriend's cheek.
"Mo—Renny that was gross."
"There it is again!"
Mindy blushed and tried to linger in the hall. She always did feel awkward going into the Nundu leaders' quarters after catching Danny and Serenity making out. "Don't worry, kiddo, there's no one kissing," Danny gently said.
Mindy followed them into their room and bounced on the bed on her butt a few times. Serenity wrapped her arms around the hyper half-elf who was almost as tall as her. "Now what were you trying to call me?" she said with a calming, sweet tone to her voice.
Mindy blushed again and tried to get away. "I, uh…"
"It's okay. You can tell me. I doubt you were calling me a bitch or something," Serenity said. She had added the nonchalant ending in hopes of throwing the little girl off.
"I wouldn't call my mommy that!" the girl quickly insisted. She covered her mouth in shock with her face burning red. While Mindy felt confident that Danny wouldn't mind being her daddy before she asked him, his girlfriend was another story…
She was surprised when small arms lifted her and placed her on an equally small lap though.
Danny, being Danny, burst out laughing at his mate's trickery.
"Danny, be nice to our daughter," Serenity scolded and hugged the nervous girl.
Mindy's eyes brightened at the word "our". "You mean-!"
"Of course, I've always wanted a child," Serenity stated.
"Ha! One down! Hey, dear, can we just adopt nine more kids…?"
"…nine?" Mindy asked.
"She told me that she wanted ten kids," Danny muttered with a grumble as he sat next to his daughter and mate. Mindy scooted off Serenity's lap and went on Danny's.
"Mommy," Mindy said and patted the leg she wasn't sitting on.
"…can I at least sit in a chair where there's enough room for all three of us before I get squished by two certain blondes?" Danny asked with a cute pout.
Serenity rolled her eyes and picked Mindy up as Danny sat down in the largest of the few armchairs scattered in the room. Serenity put Mindy down on one side and snuggled up to her love on the other. Both teenagers made sure to wrap an arm around the youngest person in the room before Danny started to talk to her about the whole Lamia situation.
"Now, as touching as this is, this isn't the reason why I needed to talk to you, kiddo," Danny started.
"Wh-what?"
"We're still adopting you, don't worry," Serenity soothed when it occurred to her that the poor girl may have thought that they changed their minds.
"Okay, Mommy."
Danny thanked Serenity for clearing that up in her mind before continuing. "You see, you know how we have to leave to visit my relatives, so they will leave me alone until this gay war is over? My half-brother, Leon, told my great-uncle, the king, about you. I'm sorry. I didn't want to involve you…"
"Why?" she whimpered.
Once again, Serenity cleared it up. "Mindy, it's not because of you. We just don't want you near that man. He means the best, but he is used to getting what he wants. What he desperately wants now is for Daddy and me to stay in Italy. He wants me to be a vampire also… We're worried he'll make you one against your will if you're alone… King Jeremiah probably thinks that by turning Danny's family that he knows of, me and now you, Danny will take the throne."
"It probably doesn't help that I haven't given him a definite answer of whether I will or not…"
"Why doesn't Daddy want to be a king?"
"It's a lot of responsibility, and I'm not sure if I want to commit myself to people I didn't even knew had ties to me until half a year ago or so."
"Oh…"
"To get to the point, you'll have to come with us at least once a month. I'm trying to persuade him not to make it every time Mommy and I go unless you want to. Frankly, we hate it."
Mindy made a face and played with the thin bangle on Serenity's wrist. "I have to?"
"I'm sorry, kiddo. We're worried that if we don't listen to him, he won't let us go home."
"On a bright side," Serenity cut-in smoothly, "we actually needed to tell you this, and Danny's relatives wanted to know how you wanted your room there."
"I'll get my own room?" Mindy asked in awe.
"Yeah. Speaking of which, we're thinking about turning that office we never use anymore in favor of the library into a new bedroom, maybe two if we can get the supplies to set up a barrier," Danny rather randomly added.
"Really?"
"Yep."
"Can I have it to myself?"
"I'm sorry, Mins. The other kids are already getting mad at the fact that you have parents now. They might be mean to you if we favor you too much like we want to."
"Poop. It'll be drawn like normal then?"
"Yeah. So, what do you want your room to be at the Lamia Manor?
Serenity grabbed a notepad that was sitting on the table and plucked Danny's Sharpie that he always had in one of his pockets.
"Yellow!"
Serenity had written that down before the girl said it.
"And?"
"…yellow!"
"We got it."
"Um… I don't know…"
"How about we write things you don't want then?" Serenity suggested.
"Okay! I don't want it to be really girly or meant for a baby. I'm a big girl now, aren't I?"
"Of course you are, dear," Serenity cooed as she wrote it down.
"Oh! I know what I want! I want it to be really pretty with ribbons and lace and stuff!"
"Okay, stuff…" muttered the newly christened mother.
"Mommy, you didn't really write stuff down, did you?"
"Um… oops?" Serenity hastily crossed it out. "Heh…"
"Silly Mommy!"
"Yeah, silly Vixie," Danny added with a smile.
"Shut it, you," Serenity playfully snapped at Danny.
"Why do you yell at me and not her?"
"Mindy is innocent unlike someone in this room…"
"Who? You?"
Serenity made a face at the smirking teenager and cuffed him on the head. Mindy was laughing cutely.
Danny stuck his head in the manor entrance that Friday. He was making sure that Mindy would actually like the room. He felt bad enough dragging his poor, adopted daughter into this…
"Dante? What are you doing here?" Jeremiah asked in confusion.
"I just want to make sure that Mins will actually like the room. You guaranteed me that it would be done today, remember?"
"Why do you need to check on it? Don't you trust me enough to keep my word?"
"Sure, but after my tomboyish, pink-hating mate got a mainly pink room…"
"I didn't know she didn't like those colors!"
"You should have realized she wasn't like most girls when she punched you in the face. Anyways, I think Serenity would be pissed at both of us if our daughter didn't like her room. Serenity fought on her even being here."
"Overprotective?"
"I hope Mindy doesn't want to learn to fly or something like that because I know that she won't be allowed to do something that is up high if Serenity has anything to say about it…"
"Right, we repainted and refurnished the room meant for Serenity. Do you want connecting doors? We still have time to do that with magic."
"Um, if there's a lock that can only be locked and unlocked from Ren's and my side… We don't want Mindy to walk in on us… again."
"Again?"
"Our friend told her to go in our room when she knew we were snogging. She told my then six-year-old that she would get an eyeful. I made her do a hundred push-ups for that…"
"She deserves it."
"I know."
Danny did what he needed quickly before leaving. He would have to be there tomorrow, and he wanted to spend as much time at home as possible.
Danny and Serenity made sure that they were both tightly gripping one of Mindy's hands Saturday. Neither of them were very happy with her being here. Mindy was staring at everyone and saying they looked like Daddy every time one was near.
Both teenagers were glad when they reached the manor. Leon was going to pay for this… Danny had decided that when he found out.
"Hello? Hello? Anybody hoooooooooooooooooooooooome?" yelled Mindy happily. Serenity and Danny exchanged amused looks as the veela picked the elf up. "Hey, Mommy, why do you always pick me up instead of Daddy? I don't mind, though!"
"I probably won't be able to in a year or two, Mindy. You'll be taller than me."
"While I can pick both of you up at the same time," Danny added with a small smirk aimed at his mate.
Danny was rather surprised to see his mother, grandparents, along with the two he knew were going to be here. Serenity held Mindy closer to her chest as the younger blonde happily clung to her neck.
"…Daddy, you have a lot of family," Mindy muttered and tried to hide her head in Serenity's chest.
Serenity ran her fingers through Mindy's hair before handing her to her father. If Mindy wanted to hide, she would more likely succeed if Danny was holding her.
"Are you sure that she isn't your child by blood? She could pass as your child," Grandmother Veronica asked with amusement.
"…unless it's possible for an eight-year-old to give birth," muttered Serenity.
Serenity started to really pity Mindy when all of the females rushed forward at her comment and started to coo over her.
"You're so cute! What's your name?" Dawn cooed and attempted to take Mindy from Danny.
"Me Mindy! Daddy, let her hold me, you selfish bastard."
Serenity and Danny both laughed at that. "Definitely Dante's…" Dawn muttered as she held her future granddaughter in her arms.
"Stop pinching my cheeks!" whined Mindy.
"But you're so cute, just like your mother," Isabella cooed. Mindy was not used to being coddled this much.
"Mommy… Daddy…" whimpered the girl. Serenity pushed her way through and snatched her daughter away. "Thank you," Mindy whispered and hugged Serenity.
"Uh, I'm just going to show her her room," Danny muttered and gently wrapped an arm around Serenity.
Both teenagers were aware that they were being followed. 'This is ridiculous…' Danny murmured in Serenity's mind.
'I know.'
'Poor Mindy…'
'At least they didn't yell at me to change my clothes this time…'
"Serenity, haven't we told you-!"
"I know. Stop nagging me!"
'Or not,' was Danny's amused response.
Serenity stuck her tongue out and gently put Mindy down. "I have to go change apparently…"
"Okay, Mommy!"
Danny leaned in and pecked his girlfriend on the lips before guiding Mindy into her room.
Serenity smiled to herself when she heard Mindy squeal, "Yellow!"
"At least one of us is happy here, for now," she mused to herself.
Dawn was watching her son watch his daughter happily. She decided to take a risk and wrapped an arm around his shoulders as well as she could.
"Yeah?" Dante said as he looked to see. Dawn hugged him and was very happy when he gently returned it. "What brought that on, Mother?"
"Uh, nothing!"
"Okay… You're acting like Serenity on her morning coffee buzz."
"Told you he didn't hate you," her dad said in her ear when she backed away.
"I guess you were right… Serenity on the other hand…"
Mamma rolled her eyes and wrapped an arm around Dawn. "Go talk to her then. She's all alone in there anyways. That girl needs all the help she can get…"
Dawn nervously opened the door to see Serenity standing in her jeans and bra while looking through the closet with a pout. "Stupid, slutty clothes," the vampire heard the veela mutter.
"Do you need help?" she asked her son's mate.
Serenity spun around and covered her front. "Do you mind?! I'm kinda shirtless here."
"I, uh, just wanted to know if you wanted help…"
"I can dress myself. I'm sixteen." The blonde rolled her honey eyes before grabbing a shirt from behind without looking at it. "Is there any reason why almost everything that was bought for me is light purple?" the blonde asked as she pulled the non-purple shirt over her head.
"It's the color traditionally worn by the female royal."
"…that's weird. What do guys wear then? I know Danny sure ain't wearing purple."
"Ain't isn't a word. Males wear red. Why do you think Dante wears so much red?"
"…because it's his favorite color for as long as I can remember."
Dawn blinked. She didn't know that…
"Besides, red looks good on him. Brings out his eyes," Serenity stated as she rummaged through the skirts with obvious distaste.
"Have you told Mamma or Auntie Izzy that you hate skirts so much?"
"Yes! They dragged me shopping for this stuff when they found out my birthday was Thursday last time we were here or well, when I was here. They just patted my head and said 'it will be okay, dear'."
Dawn laughed at the very good impression of her aunt and mother. "Yes, that sounds like them."
Serenity pulled a skirt out of the wardrobe and looked at the Dark Lady before saying, "If you're going to be in here while I change, at least turn around. I don't let Danny see me in my underwear even. The only time he's seen my underwear was when he went through my panty drawer."
Dawn turned around so the girl could slip the skirt on. "Done yet?"
"Yes."
Serenity pulled her hair out of a ponytail and shook her hair wildly. "There, all done. See, I can dress myself."
"Not quite. Sit at the vanity."
Serenity made a face but sat down. She knew by now that female Lamiae liked playing with her hair and make-up. They seemed to not realize that she wasn't a doll.
Dawn took the hairbrush and ran it through the long, silky locks.
"Can I check on love NOW," Danny whined. Serenity would have been done fifteen minutes ago!
"Daddy, you need to breathe," Mindy stated as she snuggled with the big, yellow teddy bear in the girl's room.
"You should be nicer to your poor dad," Danny retorted.
Mindy climbed on his lap with teddy bear in hand and said, "Mr. Sunny, Daddy. Daddy, Mr. Sunny." She had obviously named the teddy Mr. Sunny. "He can be Mommy's sidekick because Mommy's a sun mage!"
"Solar, kiddo, not sun."
"Whoops!"
"It's okay, Mins." Danny ruffled her ear and kissed her forehead.
"Yay!"
The door opened and Serenity walked in with Dawn not far behind her. Serenity sat next to Danny and pecked him on the cheek. She smirked when a dark-red lip print appeared on his cheek. "Dearie has lipstick on his cheek."
"Lovely has lipstick on her lips."
"I want lip stuff on me," Mindy said. Serenity smiled gently and kissed Mindy's forehead. "Yay!" She looked at Serenity and chirped, "Mommy, you look pretty!"
Serenity blushed and muttered, "Thanks."
Mindy wiggled over and was sitting on both of the teenagers she considered her parents. Danny wrapped an arm around Serenity and ran his hand over one of the French braids in her hair.
"Mommy!"
"Yes, Mins?"
"This is Mr. Sunny!" Mindy shoved the yellow teddy in the mage's face.
"Uh, hi?"
"He wants to be your sidekick!"
Dawn, who felt bad for the veela, cut-in and said, "Didn't you say something about swimming in the manor's pool, Uncle Jerry?"
"Yes. Do you three have swimming suits, Dante?"
"No… Didn't know we needed them."
"I have one," Serenity said.
"I can run home and grab one for Mindy and I," Danny offered.
"Fine… we'll have to buy the two of you swimsuits for here later though."
"I'll be right back."
"Serenity, do you know where Leon lives?"
"Yep."
"Will you ask him if he wants to go with us?"
"Okay. Mindy, do you want to meet your Uncle Leon?"
"Can I bring Mr. Sunny with me?"
"Sure, dear."
"Yay! Come on, Mommy!" Mindy grabbed the veela's hand and dragged her out of the room with Mr. Sunny in hand.
Serenity knocked on the door and heard the traditional, "Come in, Dan!"
Serenity opened the door and said, "I'm not my boyfriend, Leon. Danny had to run home because he forgot something, didn't he Mins?"
She poked her head in the living room and saw Leon pulling away from a kiss with someone who looked like Hermione…
"Oh, I'm sorry!" the blonde squeaked out and covered Mindy's eyes.
"Ew…!" Mindy whined and clung to Serenity.
The embarrassed adults looked up. "Hi, Serenity," Leon sarcastically said.
"Hey, at least I knocked. If I was dearie, I would have been teasing you. If I was my brother, I would be pretending to gag. It's okay to look, Mins."
"Mommy, why do big people do that so much? And why were you doing something to Daddy's neck when I walked into your guys' room?"
"Uh… Because we love each other, and you're too young."
"When will I be old enough then?"
"When you're… fourteen. Oh, and Leon, meet your soon-to-be niece, Mindy."
Mindy immediately tackle-hugged the poor vampire. "Yay! Uncle Leon! This is Mr. Sunny. He's my boyfriend."
"What?" Serenity asked.
"But I love him like you love Daddy…!"
"…how do you know that?"
"Mr. Sunny told me so."
"Um, whatever you say, Mins…"
Leon rolled his eyes but hugged the girl who was obviously begging for attention. "Hello, Mindy," he said quietly. Leon looked to the side to see Rachel glaring at the veela. His mate seemed to be getting jealous. "Where's Danny?"
"Home. He left his and Mindy's swimsuits at home because he's lazy."
"Why? And why are you here anyways?"
"We're swimming, and your family wanted to know if you wanted to come. Your mum is here, too. But since you seem a little busy…"
"…we were actually going to a pool not far away," Leon admitted sheepishly.
"Why didn't you-?"
"Do you really think I like them knowing every fact about my love life?"
"Says he who told them about Dan's and my daughter who didn't want to drag into this," Serenity snapped.
"Uh, sorry?"
"Does she-?"
"I know he's a vampire if that's what you mean," the girl said.
"Oh, just making sure." Serenity's fist burst into flame.
"Go, Mommy!" cheered Mindy as she hopped off the vampire.
"Yeah, go, darling, go," a voice drawled from the entrance.
"Hi, dearie! I thought you said you were the only one in the family who knocked," Serenity chirped as the flames extinguished. She had forgotten about beating Leon up immediately.
"I did, but you didn't hear me."
"Oh…"
"Why did you stop?"
"I thought you wanted to beat Leon up."
"But it would hurt his pride more if you did it. Besides, if you did it, you would less likely to beat me up when I piss you off without knowing it."
"She couldn't beat me up if she tried," Leon stated with a smirk.
Serenity growled under her breath and lunged at him. "You were saying," the blonde snarled when Leon found himself on the ground, holding his aching head.
"Ow…"
"Hey! What did you do to Leon?" Rachel, Leon's mate, demanded angrily.
"She punched him in the head, Granger," Danny stated calmly and hugged his mate.
"…Granger? Are you related to a Hermione Jane Granger?" Serenity asked curiously.
"…I didn't think about that."
"Why?" Rachel suspiciously asked.
"My older brother is dating someone named Hermione Granger who goes to his school."
"I have a cousin who lives in Britain named Hermione."
"What's her mom's first name?"
"Emily."
"I think your cousin is our friend Hermione then."
Danny cut-in and said, "Who would've thought you would said Hermione was your friend? Last time I heard you talk about her, you said she could screw herself when you knew she was in earshot."
Serenity stuck her tongue out.
"Mommy…! Mr. Sunny is scared that Daddy is going to threaten him…!" Mindy randomly said.
"Kiddo, why would I threaten your teddy?" Danny kindly said.
"Because he's my boyfriend. I'm going to marry him like you and Mommy are going to get married."
"Mins, you're a little young to have a boyfriend," Danny said with a cough.
"Ah…! When can I have a boyfriend…?" she whined.
"When you're eleven."
"But that's four years from now…!"
"Fine, ten. That's my last offer that you're only getting because that's when Mommy started to date."
"Okay! Sorry, Mr. Sunny. We have to break up." Serenity and Danny exchanged amused glances when Mindy kissed the teddy bear on its mouth. Serenity picked the girl up carefully.
"Right, Leon, either you two can go or not. Simple as that. Do get off the floor though, you look pathetic," Serenity said with a drawl.
"I feel pathetic," the full vampire muttered.
"Are you okay, Lee-Lee?" asked Rachel with concern once the teenagers left with their daughter in tow.
"Nothing seriously hurt but my pride… Note to self, do not piss off veela."
"Veela?"
"Serenity's species. Basically, gorgeous, blue-eyed blondes who throw fireballs and gain avian states when angry. Luckily for all of us, including Danny, she's only half."
"…it's going to take a while to get used to all this still," Rachel said weakly as she pulled Leon up.
"I'm sorry…"
"It's okay. I was caught off-guard when a gorgeous blonde entered though."
"You have to realize that Serenity and Danny have been together since November. They're already bonded as boyfriend girlfriend even though she just turned sixteen. I'm glad I don't have to worry about the throne like Danny… My grandmother and great-aunt are trying to groom Serenity into the ideal consort. They seem to not realize that she isn't a life-sized Barbie. I feel bad for those two really. Our family wants them to be wedded and fully bonded by the end of this year. I know it's not happening."
"Ouch. So, are we going to this manor place or somewhere else?"
"Might as well go to the manor if you don't mind… They may get insulted because I know Serenity is going to retell the whole thing if we don't show. Serenity and Danny are obviously pissed at me for telling my great-uncle about their daughter."
"Really, I couldn't tell," was her sarcastic reply.
Serenity fidgeted when one of the manor servant's mates who was a wizard cast a spell to keep the make-up Dawn spent about ten minutes putting on her from washing off. She just wanted to get in the water already!
"I'm done, princess."
"Thank you," Serenity politely said though she hated being called princess.
She ran out the back door and jumped in the pool.
"Hi, darling," Danny sarcastically said when a now-wet head to blonde hair popped up in front of him.
"Hi! Like my bikini?"
"Hell yeah! Uh, I mean, yes!" Danny was trying to break his habit of swearing in front of Mindy.
"Mommy has a shiny on her bellybutton," Mindy stated as she tried to poke the "shiny".
"I have my bellybutton pierced, kiddo," Serenity said and ruffled her hair.
"Last one to the other side of the pool is a rotten egg!" Mindy chirped suddenly and swam through the water quickly. The teenagers and child were the first ones out.
Danny took off; Serenity sighed and didn't bother. There was no way she would win…
"Mommy's the rotten egg!"
Serenity smirked and said, "First one back isn't the rotten egg!"
Nothing to say...