Hardison Bell sat at a private booth in the Leaky Cauldron. It had already been fifteen minutes but that didn't worry him. He'd been early anyways. Still it was quite a relief when he was broken from his musings by his guest's arrival.
"Hardison, how have you been? I haven't seen you since Easter." Madam Spinnet cut a fine figure. Her curly black hair complimented her dark skin and despite being only a pair of inches short of six feet her rounded features kept her from seeming intimidating.
"Elizabeth. I suppose I've been as well as can be expected. Took on a new client a while back… They're the one I wanted your help with today." Hardison told her.
Dark eyes looked him over a long moment. "I have to admit, Hardison, I never expected you to be helping one of those lords with their little games." It may not be spread around, but most people in their fields knew that pregnant muggle mistresses were not as uncommon a problem for the pureblood lords as they would pretend it to be.
"Honestly, Elizabeth, it's almost as though you have no faith in my judgment." Hardison replied with a smirk. "I think you'll be a lot more sympathetic when you figure out who it is and what they intend to do about it. In any case, we should get going."
They didn't bother going through the Alley and took the Floo instead. While it wasn't much of a secret that Madam Spinnet occasionally came to his office, he still didn't like advertising to the whole world when her services were required.
"I'm back, Katie," Hardison informed his daughter who was acting as receptionist that day.
"Welcome back and you Madam Spinnet. It's good to see you again." Katie said with a bright smile.
"Please dear, it's Elizabeth. According to Alicia you two made quite the showing at the summer Quidditch camp." Madam Spinnet replied.
Katie shrugged, "It was fun. Honestly the team just felt incomplete without Sam, though. The beaters did a decent job, but we never seemed to get seeker that was even half the flier she was."
"Has my appointment for the afternoon shown up yet?" Hardison asked, bringing the topic back to work.
"Oh yeah, they're waiting in your office." Katie said and then looked worried, "I'd be careful though, one of them had some sort of glamour on… I'd swear I should have recognized them but I just couldn't."
Hardison chuckled, "That's about what I expected. If you'd follow me, Elizabeth?" He led the way back to his office. Their entrance caught the interest of both of the girls waiting for him. One was the same redhead he'd met the first time while the other wore a black hoodie under her jacket with the hood up. Some sort of charm obscured her face so that despite seeing it he honestly couldn't recognize… Of course he was well aware of whom it was, but he doubted Elizabeth would be.
The medwitch seemed surprised that it was two girls were waiting for them, but only gave the hooded a short glare of disapproval. "Alright dear, am I right that you're the one needing to be tested?"
"Yes," Jean said with a quick nod. "I'm already convinced, but I think we need a professional opinion on this."
Madam Spinnet nodded. "Very well dear. I'm Madam Spinnet by the way, and I'll do my utmost to make this as comfortable for you as possible. Now could you pull up your sweater so I can see your stomach?" She nodded when Jean did as instructed, "That's it. Now it'll just be a moment."
She did a short but surprisingly complicated bit of spell work, overpowering it slightly to account for the girl not having her own magic to help the spell along. Instantly a scroll of purple text appeared on the girl's stomach and Madam Spinnet nearly dropped her wand.
"Interesting. That must be a powerful little spell to do an instant paternity without any blood." Samantha Potter said as she lowered her hood and the glamour on it. "Does the color mean anything?"
Madam Spinnet gaped for a moment but abruptly dropped back into her professional demeanor at the question. "Twins, both girls. Since the color is solid their development is fine, no outstanding problems. It's too early to tell if they're magically gifted or not."
Hardison nodded. "Well seeing as the news is good we only need to wait for my wife. She's a fully certified Druid Priestess and as we have me and Elizabeth as witnesses we have everything necessary see you wed today."
The girls could only nod as they took in the news of their good fortune. Madam Spinnet shot Hardison a look that demanded explanation, his silent reply was that he'd explain later, in private.
"Mr. Bell, if I were to, in theory, speak with you after the wedding would it be possible for us to get a will drafted up today?" Sam asked.
"I suppose it would be, yes. Of course I'd have to take you on as a client at that point." Hardison told her.
"I don't foresee that being a problem," Sam told him.
A few minutes later Mrs. Bell swept into the room wearing simple white robes that swayed with her every step. Age had been kind to her sharp features and despite being the shortest woman in the room her presence filled it entirely. "Oh, my dears, my dears! It's been too many years since I last wedded two women in matrimonial bliss! It'll be a pleasure, indeed. Now jackets off, dears, and roll up your shirt sleeves you'll need bare forearms for this."
Sam and Jean quickly shed their jackets and rolled up the sleeves of their long shirts. They followed Mrs. Bell to a part of the room that had a bit more space and watched with interest as she conjured a pair of small cushions.
"Alright, now kneel down dears. Right, now left hands out and get a good grasp on each other's wrist, that's the way. Now the right hands." Mrs. Bell gave them each a beaming smile as they finally achieved the desired position. "Good. Now normally you'd each have been coached rather extensively in the vows, instead I'll be giving them to you in question form, simply respond with 'I so vow' to keep going.
"Now, we gather here as kith and kin, to witness the love and vows of these women, Samantha Rose Potter and Jean Grey. We pledge ourselves to harmonious bonding of these souls, and let those unwilling to so pledge to speak now lest they sow their greater sorrow." She spoke, evenly and with surprising authority. There was a long moment of silence as they allowed objection, but as nobody spoke she continued on, her eyes faintly glowing.
"Samantha Potter, you have been gifted by magic with a great power and even greater responsibility. Magic recognizes you as its own kin. You have been recognized as the heir of not only one but two of Merlin's own. This burden you bear, you now may share but only with your vow to hold fast. Do you vow to give all your power, all your magic and all your life to defending this woman and your children by blood or magic?"
"I so vow." Samantha replied. A thick coil of magic roiled through the air and a pair of ropes were conjured into existence binding their clasped hands together.
"Samantha Potter, do you vow to love this woman, in sickness, health, poverty and plenty? Do you vow to place her first amongst your orders and priorities? Do you vow to hold her in your heart till death lays thou or her to rest?"
"I so vow." Sam replied looking Jean directly in the eye. This time a green rope appeared binding all of their wrists together.
"Jean Grey, do you vow to love this woman, in sickness, health, poverty and plenty? Do you vow to place her first amongst your orders and priorities? Do you vow to hold her in your heart till death lays thou or her to rest?"
"I so vow." Jean replied. A golden rope slid down their arms and wound around their combined arms several times.
"Then let it be witnessed before men and magic that henceforth shall they be two no longer but one soul, united in purpose and love. On this day these two are declared wed and let none but death dare to tread upon this bond." Mrs. Bell's voice was rising in volume and intensity but her next words carried the suffocating weight of ancient magic as she spoke them. "So mote it be."
In an instant the magic in the room collapsed onto their conjoined hands. The first rope sunk into their skin leaving only the light blue of wode behind to mark its passing. Meanwhile the green rope slithered around their wrists like a snake, thrashing and casting about. Finally its two end met their engagement rings and it was torn in half with each half being absorbed into the nearest ring.
The gold rope was the last to transform, once again it split in half but this time the two ends slowly took shape. One half became thin and hard as it reduced into a golden circlet, the other was thick and twisted around on itself until it became a golden torc.
"Samantha, place the circlet on your wife's head." Mrs. Bell ordered, somewhat breathlessly. Samantha followed the instructions and couldn't help a slight smile when the circlet fit perfectly. "Jean, place the torc around your wife's neck." This time it was Jean who complied, marveling at the intricate carving she could feel as she manipulated the length of gold into place.
"Now… A kiss shall seal your vows." The short witch declared.
The girls leaned in and kissed each other passionately, seemingly unaware of the world around themselves. A silver mist gathered behind Samantha until it took the form of a phoenix. Its mere presence filled the room with happiness and love, and then it began to sing. Hardison never knew such bliss before in his life. When the kiss ended it disappeared in a shower of silver light.
"My god, such a powerful patronus... Without even using a wand!" Hardison whispered. Beside him Elizabeth was in tears at the beauty of the sight. His wife was still literally glowing with the magic of the ritual.
Samantha leaned into Jean's shoulder for a long moment and then finally stood and faced Hardison. "Mr. Bell, I believe it's about time I formally became your client."
"Right… Right!" He nodded. "We'd best get started if we want you as prepared as possible before you head off to the colonies."
"That's Grimmauld Place up there, yeah?" Sam asked the driver.
"Yeah, it's a mite dreary mind you." The cab driver replied with a thick York accent.
"Great, then just drop us off here, if you would." Sam ordered. She pulled out a pair of twenty pound notes and slipped them to the driver, "Keep the change, right."
"Right, good on you then," He waited for them to get out and then made a u turn to return to his route.
Sam shrugged off the backpack she was wearing and pulled out her invisibility cloak. "This should do us so long as we're careful. Still you might want to discourage anyone from investigating any odd sounds and the like."
"I can handle that," Jean agreed. "You're sure this bag will be enough though?" She motioned to the old fashioned satchel bag resting against her hip.
"Endlessly expanding and constant weight, unless we catch a curse with it then we should be fine." Sam replied. She wrapped the cloak about them but there wasn't quite enough room. They pressed their bodies together and Sam couldn't help her breath hitching at the contact. "Not quite… I've got an idea, turn around."
"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?" Jean asked but turned her back towards her anyways.
Sam grabbed Jean's shoulders and leaped up and wrapped her legs around Jean's waist.
"Oof… Couldn't you have reduced your own weight first?" Jean asked. Despite her grumblings she still grabbed Sam's thighs and helped her adjust to a more comfortable position.
"That would be like you holding yourself up with your powers. Possible, but way more tiring than it should be." Sam told her. "Look, we fit fine now!"
"Hold on tight." Jean told her and started down the road towards their destination. As she got closer she sent a mental update to her wife, 'There are two people watching the property from outside. I can't see them so they're probably invisible. I only sense one person in the house itself.'
'They must not have figured out who the new owner is yet. As soon as they know it's me they'll move back in entirely.' Sam replied.
'One of the people watching the house is definitely a Death Eater.' Jean told her.
'Damn. We'll have to do something about him on our way out. This is going to get messy.' Sam mused. 'Not to mention the Order member will know the secret of the house's location. We'll need to be careful to keep them from noticing the door.'
'I can handle that,' Jean reminded her.
They quickly made their way to the door and paused just in front of it. 'Wait for it…' Jean instructed. 'Now!'
Sam was barely aware of Jean's power spiking slightly as she created a mental ghost sound to catch the watcher's attention. She opened the door immediately on command and they barreled through in the same instant. The door closing echoed loudly in the silence of the interior.
'Stay hidden.' Sam commanded as she slid off of Jean's back and out from under the cloak. 'We need to get to the floo!'
They rushed through the rooms to the fireplace. "Stupefy!" Sam shouted as she dove into the receiving room barely avoiding a yellow curse. A burst of red light sped towards the dark figure who had been about to make a floo call. It didn't hit him but it did force him to dive for cover and away from the floo fireplace.
"Potter! You arrogant brat, what's the meaning of this?" Severus Snape called from his hiding place.
"Sorry, Snape but I can't let you call in the Order just yet." Sam called back. Jean slid carefully around the furniture trying to get a better position on Snape.
"That's Professor Snape to you, Potter!" Snape snapped. "Now cease this foolishness at once!"
"Not today professor!" Sam shouted and cast a banishing curse at his cover. Snape nimbly avoided and sprung to his feet to cast a counter curse. His wand leapt from his fingers and he found himself immobilized a few inches off the ground. A stupefy finished the job and Jean gently lowered him to the floor.
"All clear." Jean reported and removed the invisibility cloak. Sam took the cloak and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"That won't keep him down too long. We need to get to the library." Sam said and led the way up the stairs. Once they'd reached the library level Jean prepared herself but her wife's hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"Not this one. I'm leaving this for Hermoine." Sam told her and started walking towards the back wall. "Oh, by the way, the Black Library has a second room."
In a single mind-bending moment a door that Jean could have sworn didn't exist suddenly grew into place on the back wall. "That's… Very odd."
"The Blacks invented the fidelius charm. That's part of why people were so ready to believe Sirius was the secret keeper. Nobody believed he would have shared one of the Black family's best guarded secrets with anyone, much less an unimpressive wizard like Pettigrew." Sam said in a hushed tone as they approached the door. "It's a whole extra dimension to his betrayal as well. Now Voldemort knows one of the most effective privacy and home defense spells ever invented."
Jean gave her wife a searching look. There wasn't any sign of depression over the link, rather anticipation. Then the door opened and her breath was stolen at the sight.
"Welcome to the real Black Family library." Sam said and took her hand, drawing her into the enormous room. The last room was the kind of library you might expect in your average mansion. This room was more like a small warehouse full of books.
"So many…" Jean murmured in a hushed tone. It just seemed disrespectful to speak to loud in the book filled space.
'Get the bag open, we don't have long to pack all of these away.' Sam took charge.
Jean opened the bag and set it on the floor. They each used their gifts to levitate streams of books into the bag. Even setting their pace at far beyond that of mere humans it barely dented the enormous collection of books before them. Nonetheless they carried on.
When they'd finally reached the halfway point, Jean looked up and swore. "We've got company. At least eight of them."
"Damn. They may not be able to find us in here, but it's going to be much harder getting back out now." Sam mentally swore to herself but didn't stop levitating books into the bag. "Are Hermione and Lavender among them?"
"No… At least not yet. They haven't moved too far from the floo yet so I think they're waiting for more." Jean replied.
They worked in silence for another fifteen minutes or so before Jean snapped her head around. "They're here. The adults are searching room by room but they're keeping your friends in the dining room."
"Alright, once it seems they've been given free run we'll need to get them to the library." Sam told her.
"Are you going to tell them your plans?" Jean asked.
"Some of them," She shook her head. "I think I'll get them to contact Susan Bones. If I don't miss my guess Mrs. Longbottom will try to bring her into the fold first. This should minimize the chance of security breach if someone reads their mind."
Jean nodded and turned her focus back to moving the books.
"Hermione's settled in to the library, but Lavender is still downstairs," Jean reported. Sam nodded in acknowledgement but just kept working. A few minutes later Jean updated another change, "They're together in the library, and nobody is coming up for them."
Sam sent the last few books she was levitating into the bag and ceased her wand work. "Great. I'll be back in a few minutes with guests." She pulled out the invisibility cloak and stalked towards the door.
She left the door to the secret library open as she softly padded over towards her best friends.
"I feel useless here!" Lavender complained as Hermione slung a sisterly arm around her shoulder. "You can at least do research. I just get the occasional reminder that Sam's not here. They won't even tell me what's going on with the war!"
"I know! I can't use my research for anything but side projects like my endlessly expanding bag. It's nice but nothing like proper training. I swear to god, I miss the DA so much right now!" Hermione groused along with her.
Sam couldn't help a slight smile at their complaints. Maybe she could help them more than she'd thought. She made sure she was positioned far enough away that they probably wouldn't jump when she appeared, but directly within their sight line. A finger placed against her mouth signaled for silence as she opened the cloak just enough to reveal her face to her friends.
Hermione and Lavender gaped for a whole second, but kept silent. They quickly looked to the still open doorway to the library to be sure they weren't being watched and then quietly padded their way over to Sam's position.
"It's so good to see you!" Hermione whispered excitedly. "What are you doing here?"
"God, Sam, you just can't keep out of trouble for five minutes, can you?" Lav added in a hushed tone.
"I need you two to trust me. Take my hands and close your eyes." Sam whispered to them. "I'll explain what I can soon, but not here." Her friends gave each other skeptical looks but closed their eyes and held out their hands anyways. She smiled and grabbed their hands, gently pulling them into the secret library where they wouldn't be interrupted.
The sound of the door closing made them jump and open their eyes. Immediately they both gasped in stereo.
"You should have seen it when we got here. Most of these shelves were still full!" Sam told them.
"What is this place?" Hermione asked as she took in the mass of empty shelves.
"The Blacks kept a lot in the main library, but they were an extremely paranoid lot. The books here were largely from families they destroyed over the years but also several of the Black family's most secret tomes. I'm fairly certain the book for the Fidelius charm was in here somewhere." Sam told them and quickly led them deeper into the room. They came around a blind corner in the shelves and found Jean still filling the bag using her telekinesis. "Hermione, Lav, this is my wife Jean."
"Wife? You're still fifteen!" Hermione protested while Lav openly examined Jean.
"And I was seconds from death at twelve. Your point?" Sam brushed off the concern. She honestly didn't understand why everyone got so hung up on her age.
Hermione huffed and gave her an admonishing glare, but Lav sidled around them and put her hand out to Jean. "Lavender Brown. That lout's bestie and oathsister, I just want to extend my condolences. She will definitely drive you insane, with worry if nothing else."
Jean chuckled and took the offered hand. "I can tell. She gets a bit impulsive at times. Still… She's beautiful, inside and out. I wouldn't trade her for the world."
Lavender beamed at Jean and then turned to Sam. "I like her. So was all of this about you running off and eloping?" She asked with a slight sigh that revealed how romantic she found the idea.
"No, not really… I was just… I was scared, and confused. I learned some things that really pissed me off followed soon thereafter by some things that just completely obliterated any hope I had of surviving this war." Sam told them while looking at the ground, painful memories slowly replaying through her mind.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. "How could you not think you'd survive this?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. At this point we're all screwed if either Dumbledore or Voldemort figure out what I know." Sam spoke emphatically. "I need your help, but I just can't risk them figuring this…" She trailed off and ran over to the bag of books. "Accio Grimoire of Fidelius!" She barely twitched her wand before the book in question shot out of the bag and into her open hand.
"I need to get this set up, be right back." Sam said and hustled off to another part of the room, leaving Jean and her friends alone.
"So… You three have been together awhile?" Jean asked, hoping to break the ice.
"Since first year!" Lavender told her. "I met Sam on the train. That Halloween there was a troll in the castle and Billius had worked Hermione up to a good cry in the girl's toilets so she didn't hear the news. Sam and I found her trapped in by the troll but we managed to disable it."
Hermione snorted, "Oh the both of you did? I seem to remember you screaming and running about."
"Of course," Lavender said with a big smile, "I distracted it."
Hermione turned her attention to the books that Jean was still piling into the bag. "Are you a witch? You don't really feel like it, if you don't mind me saying."
Jean shook her head, "I'm a mutant, a telekinetic mostly though with some telepathy."
Lavender scrunched her nose up, "A tele-what?" She looked to Hermione for an explanation.
The brunette gave her blond companion a scowl, "Don't play dumb, you may not know what it is but you remember the word perfectly. I know you better than that."
Lavender sighed, "Fine, oh wise one, please enlighten me as to what telekinetic means."
"It means moving objects with your mind, and in particular without magic." Hermione told her.
"Oh! That's rather awesome!" Lavender exclaimed. "How much can you lift at once? Does shape matter?"
Jean smiled and shrugged, "I haven't found my exact upwards limit. My powers matured a great deal recently and we haven't got a good handle on my new boundaries. I used to be able to lift a car for maybe a minute or so, but now I don't think it would tax me too much to lift a bus for the same time frame."
Lavender whistled. "That's a lot…"
"And you're telepathic?" Hermione asked.
"But nowhere near as strong in it and I hold myself back whenever possible. For the most part I just hear surface thoughts people may be broadcasting loudly or some basic emotions. I try not to pay any attention to it usually, but sometimes it's just too hard to not listen." Jean said.
Hermione nodded but Lavender cut in, "Wait, how do thoughts have volume?"
"I suppose intensity of concentration on the thought, and how many other thoughts you have crowding it out." Jean grimaced, "Okay, you've got it. Now will you please stop, that's not an exactly pleasant sound."
"Hey, I like the Hobgoblins!" Lavender shot back affronted only to get a light poke in the ribs from Hermione. "Alright, it's stopped, it's stopped!"
"What's stopped?" Sam said wandering back over to them. She seemed slightly paler and she was holding the grimoire with a rather shaky hand.
"Lav was subjecting Jean to the hobgoblins by the power of thought, apparently." Hermione filled her in.
"What? Eww! Do you know how hard it is to forget that once you've heard it? I swear that music haunted my sleep for weeks!" Sam scolded her oath sister.
"But they gave you lots of dreams, right?" Lavender pressed.
"More like nightmares… Anyways, I need you two to promise me that you won't take any of what I've told you to Dumbledore. Sister's promise." Sam said, her face become deathly serious.
Hermione and Lavender looked at each other for a moment but then nodded together. They locked arms so that each of the three of them were grabbing one of the other's wrists. "Sister's promise!" They shouted in unison. A brief glow of pale green surrounded them to show that magic had accepted the extension of their sisterly oaths.
Sam nodded and looked a bit steadier. "I'm holding a letter sealed by the Potter family seal." She told them and suddenly the letter appeared between her fingers and the grimoire. The letter was quickly passed to Hermione but Sam didn't let go until she got in her warning, "Don't open that here. Go back to Lav's place. It'll tell you what you need to know from there. Once you're finished with it toss it in the trash in muggle London, nobody will ever be able to find it again at that point."
"And this will answer everything?" Hermione asked in a hushed tone.
"Absolutely everything." Sam assured her. She looked around the library and frowned at the mass of tomes still remaining. "Mind helping me pack this away?"
Hermione paused, "Are you going to take the main library too?"
"Absolutely not. I'm leaving it here for you… I actually bequeathed it to you in my will, but for now I think you should just feel free to read whatever you wish so long as the book isn't actively cursed." Sam told her.
Hermione beamed, "Right then! Let's get to work shall we!"
Half an hour later they'd managed to get every book they could see packed into the indomitable satchel. As they looked around proudly at their accomplishment, they all nearly jumped out of their skins when they heard the sound of a book hitting the floor. They all turned but only Sam could see the shelves it had fallen from.
"Where did that come from?" Lavender asked.
"The restricted shelves." Sam whispered and wandered over to check on the book in question. It was free of charms and curses itself, though there was spell residue from something highly deadly on its spine. She picked the book up and leafed through its pages to get a general idea of its contents. Seconds later her face became deathly pale.
"What is it?" Hermione asked quietly while Jean gently restrained the girls from approaching her wife.
"The journal… From second year. I know what it is now…" Samantha gulped and set the book on the floor once again and began a very long chant with a great deal of wand work. After almost twenty minutes of uninterrupted spell-casting the book disappeared and Sam fell to one knee in an exhausted haze.
All three girls closed in on her and helped her get to a more stable position to rest. Lavender conjured a few cushions while Hermione conjured a light blanket. None of them even remembered the book.
"So evil…" Sam murmured as the most important women in her life comforted her.
"What is it, Sam? What's evil?" Hermione asked.
"There is a book about Horcruxes in this room." She told them shakily. Almost instantly they all turned to face the book. A silent conversation passed between them before Hermione finally broke off from the group to pick up the book. She quickly skimmed a few pages before going as white as Sam.
"That's how he stayed alive… But we destroyed… No. That's just too evil…" Hermione trailed off as her skin took a distinctly green tint.
"It's charmed so you can't tell anyone about it, but this is deathly important for all of us. Nobody can know about that book or its contents. Nobody. Keep it somewhere safe, not on your persons. You'll know what to do about it after you read my letter." Sam told them. She gave a forced smile, "I know you'll figure this out Hermione. You always do."
Hermione nodded and swallowed a lump in her throat. "I will. I promise."
"They've reduced the guard in the house. So long as we're quiet I think we can get to the floo without them realizing we're here. Especially if Hermione and Lavender can run interference with the younger people." Jean informed them and received nods of assent from the girls.
"Good." Sam said and shakily got to her feet. "I'll be back some day, Hermione, Lav. I'm not leaving you forever. But right now I've got to go my own way for a while. Read the letter, it'll explain everything I couldn't."
All of them took a deep breath and then moved out. When Sam and Jean flooed to the Leaky Cauldron nobody was even there to notice the flames.
Sam stared out the window of the plane and tried to keep from gripping the armrests too tight. The height wasn't a problem, though it was certainly much higher than she'd ever been by broom. Rather she was so used to being in control during flight that she just couldn't turn off her instincts which kept screaming at her to find a softer air current every time the plane shuddered slightly.
"Scott had the same problem after learning to fly the Blackbird," Jean told her and gave her arm a gentle rub. "It does go away eventually."
Sam nodded and gave her wife a slight smile while trying to bank the flame of her raging instincts. "I'm sure it will… Still it would have been nice if I'd eased into this a little. You know took something slightly shorter than an intercontinental for my first time out."
"Oh well, I suppose I can always just kip off for a bit." Sam said. At Jean's look of incomprehension she groaned. "Take a nap."
"Ah. Yeah, these seats are comfortable enough for it." Jean agreed.
Sam leaned back and closed her eyes for a long time, willing sleep to come. Unfortunately no matter how she tried she just couldn't relax enough to go under. Finally she stopped fighting and opened her eyes. It was pure chance she was turned towards Jean at that moment, but contentment flowed through her veins as she took in her wife reading a novel.
Her eyes roved over the athletic redhead appreciating each of her features, from her sexy muscle tone to her enchanting eyes and everything in between. Still her eyes inevitably drifted to her lover's toned stomach, the tight coil of muscles hidden beneath her baggy shirt and the most precious thing in the world hidden deep beneath even the muscles.
"I turn sixteen tomorrow." Sam mused aloud.
"Hmm? We'll have to see about doing something special then," Jean replied.
"Nah, I think I'd rather just stay in. It'll be my first birthday with family. That's much better than any party or celebration." Sam told her.
Jean smiled at her but remained silent.
"Would you read to me?" Sam asked.
Jean thought for a moment and then nodded. She put her current novel away and pulled out a new one. 'Savvy Ways book one. Cannon fire lit the fog as I strained my eyes to see the silhouette of ships in the mire. In this fog the melee to our port was our only warning that a privateer was near.' Her mental voice purred across their connection.
Sam smiled. She settled back into her chair to watch her lover read and finally relaxed.
A/N: I briefly debated making Victor Krum take over the roll and powers of Colossus, but a quick consultation of a map proved Bulgaria to be far south of where I'd thought it would be. Realizing the rather significant problem this posed, a solution soon occurred to me. I think the Rasputin siblings will still fill a nice gap between the two universes.
How?
You'll just have to wait and see. ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼