Keira walked into her apartment, smile still bright on her face as she laid her purse and keys on the table by the door. She went to the phone on the wall and dialed Lily's number, knowing that she had a phone in her home.
As it rang Keira went over the date in her mind with a small smile.
"Hullo?"
"Lily, it's Keira."
"Keira! How are you? It seems like we haven't talked in forever."
"Well, it has been close to six months now. Um, I actually called because I need to speak with James for a few minutes."
"Oh, he's out on a mission at the moment. Some Death Eaters got a bit too close to getting Kingsley so him and Sirius took the mission to go after them. What did you need to talk to him about? Maybe I can pass on the message?"
"Um, I actually need him to speak to our father to see when a good time for me to visit would be. I have some important news and I need mum and dad there for it."
"It shouldn't be too difficult I suppose. James has been talking with your father a lot the past month or so. Something's going down at the ministry and the Potter family is trying to help push forward some legislation for halfblood rights while the others are confused. It's going pretty good actually. Hopefully this will allow those with creature blood to have a higher status than house elves."
Keira sighed, "We can only hope really..."
"Keira," Lily sighed heavily, "we miss you, you know? I haven't been able to visit because of the Order and James has been wrapped up in all of this. Do you think when you come to visit we can have a bit of girl time? We can invite Narcissa, I guess you two are still besties?"
"I haven't talked to her in a bit over a year to be honest. But that sounds good Lily, real good. Hey, I have to let you go, I have work in a few hours and I haven't been to sleep yet. I'll talk to you more tomorrow?"
"Of course, I'll pass the message along to James for you."
"Thank you Lily, goodnight."
"Night Keira."
Keira hung up the phone and sighed. There's no way she could tell Lily about the flames. If Lily and James were really that close to Dumbledore then it would turn out horrible, worse if that information got leaked to Voldemort.
She turned off the lights and went to her room. Hopefully a good night's sleep would make her feel better.
"So, how'd the date go for you last night?" Amelia asked as Keira walked in the next morning.
Sol looked up, "You had a date last night?"
Keira blushed, a smile rising on her face, "It was wonderful. He was such a gentleman."
"Oh? So it was that good? Did it have a happy ending?" Amelia asked, a lecherous grin on her face.
Keira frowned, "I don't know what you mean by that but he walked me to my door before going to his place. It was great, really, really, great..." She sighed wistfully and looked at the locker she had just closed.
"You're in deep girl." Richard said, walking around the corner, wiping off his hands.
Keira jumped and looked at him, "Sir! I didn't know you were here!"
"I got a late start this morning. An old friend called me for help last night at his restaurant, said he had an important guest so I jumped in and helped. Amelia offered to heat up pastries and such tomorrow morning so I'm going to be here for a few hours making some to toss in the freezer." Richard said, smiling. "So, you finally had a date last night?"
"Yes, sir!" Keira replied, smile returning.
"I hope he's good to you, otherwise we'll have to mess him up."
"Keira said he was a perfect gentleman last night, didn't even kiss her." Amelia said with a pout.
"No, he kissed me." Keira said to the surprise of the others, "he kissed the back of my hand and my forehead and the day before he actually kissed me, well, it was more of a light peck..."
"Oh, now I have to see the guy! To have such restraint around a beautiful lady. He must really like you." Richard said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I'm glad you got someone like that for yourself."
"He said he wanted to meet my parents too." Keira explained, "So I know he's serious about the relationship. So I may have to take a few days off, you guys won't mind will you?" She looked at them.
Sol shook his head, "Nah, I could do the coffees."
"I can get the register and cleanup." Amelia offered.
"I'll keep the case up. Won't be a problem at all Keira. You haven't missed a day and even picked up shifts when we needed the day for whatever reason, so it won't be a problem to give you a few days off. But I want to meet the guy before you hop on a plane with him, alright?"
Keira smiled widely and gave them all a hug, "You guys are the best! And he'll be in in a couple of hours so you can meet him then, officially that is."
The bell rang over the door and Keira smiled as she spotted Renato walking in. When he got to the counter she smiled, "Everyone wants to meet you, officially that is."
He chuckled, "Is that so?"
Keira nodded and waved Amelia over, "Amelia, this is Reborn, Reborn, this is Amelia."
"Well its nice to finally put a name to the face Mr. Reborn. I hope you're treating Keira good." Amelia said, shaking Renato's hand.
"I like to think I am, Ms. Amelia." Renato replied.
Sol walked up and glared at him for a few moments before nodding and holding his hand out, "Name's Sol."
"Reborn." Renato replied.
"Oh, let me get Richard!" Keira said, running to the back and pulling Richard to the register.
"Richard, good to see you again."
"Reborn! Been a while since I last saw you in person. How you been?"
"Been coming in here nearly everyday for four years now, don't know how you missed me."
Richard shrugged, "Probably just been busy. I've been working the back for too long. Keira was telling us that you're gonna meet her parents?"
"Yes, she tells me that they're a bit old fashioned and don't approve of dating so I'm going to ask for her father's permission to court her. I hope you realize what that means?" He glared into Richards eyes and Richard gulped before nodding his head, "Good, it's a bit of an unused term anymore but if it allows me to continue seeing Keira then it's worth it."
Keira blushed and ducked her head while Renato, Amelia, and Sol chuckled at her reaction.
"Well, just make sure you treat her good, she's like family." Richard replied.
"I will. Nothing will happen to her, I'll make sure of it." Renato said, an underlying threat to his voice.
"W-well, in honor of your relationship, you can have whatever you want today on the house." Richard said.
"Thank you, but I can't accept."
"I insist."
Renato and Richard held gazes for a moment before Renato nodded.
"The usual then Renato?" Amelia asked.
"Yes, thank you." Renato said before smiling at Keira and walking to his seat.
Keira smiled back and turned to the espresso machine to whip up his order while the others went back to work.
Today was a good day.
Keira had just made it to the door of the complex when an owl showed up and landed on her shoulder. She smiled and pet it's feathers, ignoring the few strange looks she was getting from people and heading up to her apartment.
Once at the top floor she took the letter from the owls leg and started to read as she unlocked her door.
Leon,
Lily told me about the call last night. Sorry I couldn't talk, even now I'm writing this letter from my desk. The ministry has been busting my ass lately.
I talked to dad and he said that tomorrow would be best. I put a portkey in this letter that'll bring you to mine and Lily's home at nine tonight. That should be enough time to get everything done, right?
Anyways, I took the next few days off so that I could talk with you some, I miss my little sister (I'm older than you by ten minutes and it so does count!)
Padfoot and Moony will be there, wormtail won't though, I know you don't really like him.
Anyways, can't wait to see you,
Prongs
Keira giggled at the letter before looking at the owl, "It's been a while Celestine, I hope my idiot brother has been taking good care of you. Let me get you a treat and some water, then you can head home, alright?"
She walked into the kitchen and dug around in the fridge for some bacon and grabbed a small bowl for water before setting it out for the owl and opening a window.
She walked out of her apartment and went over to Renato's, pausing with her hand a few inches from the door. What if he wasn't home? She never did ask what he did. She shook her head and went ahead and knocked.
After knocking she took a few steps back and waited. Moments later she heard the sound of locks deactivating and saw the door open.
"Keira?"
"I got a letter from my brother. My father is willing to meet tomorrow. Um, I have to explain a few things before we leave though."
Renato nodded, "Alright, come in." He stepped aside and held the door open for her.
She walked in and looked around. The place was extremely clean with a black couch and two black arm chairs in the living room with a coffee table in front of it. In front of that and to the side the walls were covered in book shelves.
He led her into the kitchen and offered her a drink which she gladly took before they both sat at the small table.
"So, what do you need to tell me?"
"What do you know about magic?"
A few hours and three glasses of water later, Keira finished her explanation and sat there, waiting.
"So, your magic comes from your soul like your flame?" Renato asked.
"Yes. I suppose that when the flames surfaced they burned out my magic and took its place. It's the only explanation I have for it really."
"It would make sense. Both come from the soul but if you had both then they would battle for dominance and eventually kill you. The fact that the flames took over mean that the flames are stronger than the magic which could be attributed to the dying will flames. I'll need to look more into it to be completely certain."
"It doesn't freak you out that magic is real?"
"I can manifest yellow flames hot enough to melt metal in a second. Magic isn't that much of a stretch to me. Though it does clear up something for me."
Keira frowned, "And what is that?"
Renato shrugged and held out his hand and focused. Soon his hand had large claws and scales. "Never had an explanation for this till now."
"No way! Can you breathe fire as well?" Keira exclaimed, excitement written across her face.
Renato raised a brow and nodded.
"You're half dragon! That's amazing! I've heard rumors that it was possible but to see it is completely different!" She said, running her hand over the scales still on his hand, "I was obsessed with dragons in school. The scales look like a cross between a Hungarian horntail and a European dragon." She smiled up at him, "This is amazing, you're amazing."
Renato chuckled, "That's nice to know. Now, it's nearly seven. I'll make us something to eat then we can get packed."
He stood up and went to the stove, "How does ravioli sound to you?"
"Sounds great. Do you need any help?" Keira asked.
"If you want to help I won't say no." Renato replied, looking over his shoulder at her and grinning.
Keira grinned right back and stood, yeah, things would be fine.
"So I just have to hold on to this?" Renato asked.
"Yes, and hold tight. I'll tell you when to let go, and you'll have to trust me because if you over shoot it you could end up anywhere and it would take a little while to find you." Keira explained.
Renato sighed and grabbed ahold of the portkey, a quill, and looked her in the eye, "I trust you mio cielo."
Keira smiled, "Good."
They vanished from the apartment in a swirl of color only to reappear in the entry way of a small home.
Keira smiled and looked around. There were pictures from their days at Hogwarts and various other pictures of them all hanging out and many pictures of her brothers group, the Marauders.
"This is your friends?" Renato asked, looking at a photo on the wall.
Keira smiled, "Yeah, this one is Lily, that's me, there's James right beside me. On the other side of Lily is Remus and the other side of James is Sirius. Peter wasn't in the picture because he was in the hospital wing at the time."
Renato raised a brow, "Why?"
"Potion boiled over and caught him. He was covered in boils for a while. He messed it up so the cure wouldn't work immediately and Lily and my friend, Severus," she pointed at another photo with her, Lily, and a lanky man, "he had to make a new cure. He's brilliant at potions, though he's a git."
They heard thundering steps running towards them and looked at the hall entrance to see a black dog running towards them.
Without thinking, Renato grabbed Keira's shoulder and whipped them around, her legs coming up to rest on his other arm as they finished their spin.
"Sirius Orion Black!" A man yelled, coming into the entry, "What has Lily said about running around the house?"
Keira laughed, "Remus!"
Renato glared at the dog as he carefully placed Keira back on her feet.
Remus smiled, "Keira, good to see you again. Sorry about Sirius."
They looked back at the dog and Renato was surprised to see it morph into a man.
"But Moony, I just wanted to greet Keira like old times!" Sirius whined.
"Then you should have walked instead of run. Lily was cursing you when you went running through the living room." Remus said before looking back at Keira and Renato, "Lily is in the living room, we'll be in there momentarily."
Keira grinned and grabbed Renato's hand, "Come on, I'll introduce you to Lily!"
"Does that happen often?" Renato asked as they walked.
"Sirius acting like he's five? Or him turning into a dog?"
"Dog."
"It happens often. If he thinks he can get away with it he'll do it. But don't worry, once Remus gets done with him he won't turn unless he's allowed to."
"Keira!"
Keira turned and saw Lily and smiled, "Lily! It's good to see you."
Lily hugged her, "Yeah, it's been, what, six months?"
"Close to it." Keira replied before talking a step back, "Lily, this is Renato, Renato, this is my best friend, Lily Evans."
"Soon to be Potter now." Lily said, shaking Renato's hand with a grin.
"He finally proposed?"
"Two years of courting and he asked a month ago. The wedding is going to be in a few months."
"I'm happy for you!"
They heard a loud crash and cursing from the entry way. Renato moved in front of Keira and glared at the entry.
"Damn it you two, how many times do I have to tell you not to argue in the entry way! If we break something my arse is gonna be on the couch!"
"James Charlus Potter! We have guests!" Lily said before turning to Keira and Renato, "I'm so sorry Renato, they can be a bit childish when they're all together."
Renato nodded but kept his position in front of Keira till the three came into the room. With what Keira had told him about magic, it wouldn't be too difficult to fake a voice.
Remus sighed as they all walked into the room, "I apologize. James hit Sirius when he landed and Sirius bumped into me and we all kind of fell..."
James scratched the back of his head and smiled at Lily before noticing Keira behind Renato, "Keira!"
Keira looked up at Renato, who moved, before running over to James, "Jamie! Been too long since I've seen you!"
"Awe, you've missed your big brother!" James said laughing.
Keira rolled her eyes, "You're barely older than I am. Now come here."
She pulled James over to Renato, "Renato, this is my twin brother, James."
Renato held out his hand, "Chaos."
James looked him over before shaking his hand, "Uh, chaos to you too?"
Renato chuckled, "That is my greeting rather than saying hello."
"Oh. Well, shall we sit?"
Keira and Reborn sat on the couch, Lily sitting beside Keira, while James and Remus took the chairs and Sirius plopped down across Remus' lap.
Remus grunted and Lily rolled her eyes.
"Now, dad has insisted upon meeting at lunch tomorrow, usual place, you remember that little cafe off diagon, right?"
Keira nodded, "It's the one covered in wards and each table has a silencing spell on it for privacy, right?"
"Yup, that's the one. He figured you'd rather talk to him there than at the manor. Though if you want to talk to mum you're going to have to go to the manor."
"Perhaps after talking to dad..."
James nodded in understanding.
There was silence for a moment before Sirius sighed loudly, "Okay, everyone's thinking it, what's going on? You never bring guys to meet us and you had a row with dad before running off to wherever it was."
"Sicily, Sirius. And why do you care if I've never brought boys over anyways?" Keira asked, pouting.
"Because, you're the smallest of the Marauders, we gotta keep an eye out for you."
Renato rolled his eyes, "I am going to ask her father for permission to court her."
The room went silent for a few moments before Lily squealed, "Really?! That's amazing!"
"How long have you two known each other?" Remus asked.
James nodded, "Yeah, you're gonna want some people backing you on this. Dad doesn't know who you are so I doubt he's gonna let you court her unless we're backing you."
Renato and Keira shared a look for a few moments before Keira looked at James, "We'll tell you guys everything... but we need a secrecy spell and an unbreakable vow from each of you. The things we're going to tell you... if Voldemort learned of them, or even Dumbledore, our lives could be ruined. But I promise, if you don't want to talk to us at all after that, we'll leave and you'll never have to see us again."
James and the others shared a look before he stood up, "I, James Charlus Potter, swear on my magic and my life that I will not discuss anything that I hear tonight from Keira Dorea Potter or," he looked at Renato.
"Renato Ciro Angelo."
"-or Renato Ciro Angelo, so mote it be." A bright light circled him before he sat down. Lily, Remus, and Sirius all repeated it, the light shining around them before they too took their seats.
Renato looked them all in the eye before beginning. "Do any of you know anything about flames?" When they looked at him blankly he just sighed, "Flames are a... different form of magic I suppose. As your magic comes from your soul, so do flames. Only one can exist at a time in a body. Keira has these flames, so do I, and a portion of the population.
"There are seven different types of flames and they each have a different characteristics to the flames. Mist whose main characteristic is construction. Cloud whose main characteristic is propagation. Lightning whose characteristic is hardening. Rain whose characteristic is tranquility. Storm whose characteristic is disintegration. Sun whose characteristic is activation. And sky whose characteristic is harmony.
"Each flame has a certain color to it; mist is indigo, cloud is purple, lightning is green, rain is blue, storm is red, sun is yellow, and sky is orange. But you all won't be able to see the colors. You can only see the color when you have flames as well, otherwise you see nothing."
"Okay, so, what's so important that we had to make a vow?" Sirius asked.
Renato sighed, "Keira is a sky flame, the rarest flame and also, considered, the most powerful of the seven flames. Sky flames are highly sought after to either be used by people for distruction, to be killed, or to be forced into a harminization. Forced harminization causes the sky to become discordant and they will eventually seek to either kill themselves or the ones who bound them.
"The skies also gather guardians in the different flames. Storm flame users are typically the right hand of the sky but sometimes it's the flame who found the sky first. In Keira's case, I am her right hand."
"So you're saying that you harmonized with her?" Lily asked.
"Yes, in more ways than one, but I'll get to that." Renato said, "The reason that the vow was needed is because of this. Keira is my sky. I am the strongest sun flame user alive at the moment. I also happen to be the world's greatest hitman."
"Wait, hitman? As in mafia?!" Lily said, looking shocked. Keira was also looking at him in shock and he sighed.
"Yes, I work for the mafia, but I choose my missions and now that I have found a sky I will be doing even less missions. Many flame users go into the mafia because many are born into the mafia. The ones that aren't join later in life. I was raised into this life and, while dangerous, I can't imagine trying to have a peaceful life. To be honest, it's no different from your hit wizards."
"Is that why you were bleeding?" Keira asked.
Renato nodded, "One of the Estraneo famiglia got me as I was trying to get my partner out. I prefer to work my missions alone because my partners tend to slip up and get us shot. I ended up getting my partner out alive but I was injured. I traveled from the manor to Sicily and by the time I made it to the apartments I had lost too much blood and passed out. That's when Keira found me and patched me up.
"I didn't know that our flames had harmonized until we started talking. I was able to feel her flames in the room and see the glow around her. Her flames are untrained so they're calling out to other flame users at the moment so I will be assisting her in learning to control them. Anyways, that was when I realized something else as well. Our flames hadn't only harmonized, they had achieved harmony."
"Isn't harmonization and harmony the same thing though?" Remus asked.
"No, harmonization can happen with any sky and their flames as long as they are seen worthy by the sky's flames. Harmony is the flame and the soul calling out for another. I suppose, in a sense, it could be called soul mates, but it is more of a soul bond. I gave Keira the option to ignore the bond. It wouldn't kill either of us to ignore it and act like it's not there but she agreed to try so that's what we're doing."
"Wait, so you two are soul mates?" James asked.
Keira rolled her eyes, "In a sense, yes, we are."
"Well then, you have my approval." James said, leaning back in his chair.
"Yeah, soul bonds are for a reason, if you two have one then technically no one can dispute your courting. It's Wizarding law that soul bonds trump any other contract out there." Sirius said, smiling, "So let me be the first to say congrats!"
Keira frowned and looked at James, "Does that apply for creatures and half bloods as well?"
"Yes, the ministry can't say anything against it no matter what. Bonds of the soul cannot be broken. It's the reason Sirius and Remus are able to be together." James explained, "Why do you ask?"
"Renato has dragon in him." Keira said with a wide smile.
Sirius threw his arms up in the air, "Son of a bitch!"
"What?" Keira said, wondering what was up with Sirius now.
"You don't know? Merlin!" Sirius said, laughing, "No one can compete with a dragon."
"Sirius, what the hell are you talking about?" Remus sighed.
"It's a little known fact that dragon half bloods have big dicks. It's why so many purebloods used to drink dragon blood, it's like an upper for their willy. Mum would always tell me and Reg to drink it when we got married because the longer it is the more sons you get aparently." Sirius said, laughing.
Keira blushed and Lily, James, and Remus looked shocked.
Renato, on the other hand, just smirked, "Well, you'll never know if that theory is right or not so you can keep dreaming cucciolo."
Sirius baked out a laugh, "Oh we are so keeping you! Welcome to the family!"
Keira hid her face and Remus and Lily slapped Sirius while James covered his eyes with a sigh, "Sirius, you could've waited until the fifth meeting or so to bring up dick sizes! Really, he hardly knows us!"
"Sorry Prongs, not gonna happen!" Sirius said with a shit eating grin.
Remus sighed, "I apologize for him."
"You hear worse in the mafia." Renato shrugged. "Though I must say, no one has ever said anything like that to me, considering my record..." He smirked.
Remus chuckled, "I can imagine. Now, I do have one question. How can you be part dragon if you said flames burnt away the magic?"
"It's the soul." Keira said, a light blush still on her face, "It's a part of his soul, deeper than the flames can reach. It's why I'm still an animagus. My creature form is a part of my soul. Things like that cannot be taken away from you unless the whole soul is taken."
"You can still transform?" Sirius asked, grinning widely, "You have to transform! For old times sake! Please!"
"Why should I? You just embarassed me!"
"I'm your big brother, I'm supposed to!" Sirius pouted.
"I must admit," Renato said, "I am curious."
Keira pouted, "Ganging up on me, I swear." With a sigh she let the transformation take over, her body shrinking.
"A chameleon?" Renato said, holding his hand out to her, letting her crawl up his arm.
"Yeah, it's pretty funny considering she's protective of her family like a mother lion. She was the best at defense in the school too. When she came around no one would mess with any of us so we had already dubbed her Leon so when she managed the transformation with us it just stuck as her Marauder name. Kinda how James is Prongs because he's a stag, I'm Padfoot because I'm a dog, Peter is wormtail because he's a rat, and Remus is Moony because he's a wolf." Sirius said. "Hey! Since you're a part of the family now you need a nickname!"
"I already have one." Renato said, rubbing the top of Keira's head with his index finger. "It's Reborn."
James and Sirius stared at him, their eyes wide, "No way!"
"Like, the real Reborn?"
"Sirius, look at his clothes! The sideburns ! How the hell did we miss that the Reborn was in my house!" James said, smiling widely.
Sirius jumped up and looked at James, "And he's wanting to court our little sister!"
James jumped up, "We're going to be in laws to the Reborn!"
While James and Sirius were having their little freak out Renato looked over towards Lily, "Do they do this often?"
"Not in particular. Usually it's only after a successful mission that they act like this." Lily explained. "Leon? What are you doing?"
Renato looked down to see Leon walking down his arm towards his hand. When she got to his hand a bright light surrounded her and instead of a chameleon, a black and green gun. He felt a small tingle in the back of his mind and quickly took aim, shooting the space between Sirius and James.
They jumped away and looked at him in shock before seeing his gun transform back into Leon.
"Well, I don't think she really appreciated that..." James said, scratching the back of his head and looking embarssed.
Leon crawled back up Renato's arm slowly and curled up on his shoulder before falling asleep.
"Does she transform like that often?" Renato asked.
"Never seen her turn into a gun before but she's turned into a lot of stuff. No one really knows how or why she can but McGonagall thinks it has something to do with her magic but it might just be that her flames affected it. I don't think anyone has ever managed something like this and I've never heard of someone animagus being able to shift like that and flames are the only difference I can tell." James said, shrugging.
Lily nodded, "Yeah, but without us being able to talk to others like her we will never know. As far as I know, no one's lost their magic and gained flames before Keira." She looked up as a come ran through the room, "Oh, it's midnight. I should show you to the room you and Keira will be sleeping in."
Renato shook his head, "I'll set Keira in there and sleep out here on the couch."
"Nope, you're sleeping in the room with Keira." Lily said, crossing her arms, "You two won't be doing anything other than sleeping in there so what's the issue?"
"Besides, she fell asleep in her animagus form so it's not like anything would happen anyways." James said, shrugging. "And besides, it's a big bed, you could probably fit Sirius and Remus in there too."
Renato sighed, "Alright, if you insist I will. But do not try to come into the room. I may not be on a job but my first instinct is still to shoot first." He gave Sirius and James a look.
Lily laughed and motioned for Renato to follow her, "They're excitable but they are good people. I'll make sure they leave you alone." They stopped before a door, "Here's your room. There's an en-suite bathroom and we usually have breakfast at seven but given that James has tomorrow off he'll probably sleep in but u should be awake. Anyways, sleep well Renato."
"Buona notte, Lily. And thank you."
He walked into the room and looked around. There was a window in the room that faced the front yard and then the door to the hallway as exits. He placed Keira on the side of the bed near the door since they were on the ground floor and someone would be more likely to break in through the window.
Their bags were on the top of a desk near the window, he assumed Lily had put them in there.
He laid his suit jacket over the back of the chair and laid his fedora on the table. He then took a bit of time unlatching the various bits of his gun holster before laying it on top of the desk by his hat.
He looked back at Keira and sighed before pulling out his sleep clothes and going into the bathroom, leaving the light off and the door cracked so he could hear what was going on in the room before changing quickly and folding his clothes as he walked back out in an undershirt and shorts.
He tossed his clothes in the chair and grabbed one of his guns, checking that there were bullets in it and that the safety was on before getting into the bed and placing it under the pillow.
He felt something cold touch his cheek and sighed as Keira curled up between his neck and shoulder.
His last thought as he fell asleep was, 'I should probably start calling her Leon.'