Disclaimer: We all know how these work, I acknowledge that J.K. Rowlings, Warner Bros. and Scholastic own Harry Potter and all other characters and settings from cannon, and I get to write whatever I please and even add in characters of my own as long as I don't get any money. The no money sucks but there you go, at least I don't get lawyers knocking on my door. Addendum: If you recognize a name of a character from elsewhere it isn't mine.
Sirius' Savior
Chapter 26 Life Goes on
Roderick Stevens wasn't sure if he was more furious his wife who hadn't budged from her stance or if he was more anxious and willing to do anything to get back in her good graces. He hadn't had a good night's sleep since last Sunday, he wasn't certain if it was his conscience or if his wife had spelled every other bed in the castle to be uncomfortable. Beth had moved out in the wee hours on Monday and hadn't been to work all week. He had tried calling Nic but had been told point blank by his son, "Dad, what you've done to Beth is reprehensible, at the very least you should read the goddamned report. Until you do, I have better things to do with my time than to hear you swear about how Beth's gone and fallen for a criminal." It was two days till Christmas and his closest family wasn't speaking to him.
Rick was running late he was supposed to meet with his counterpart because some question had arisen. He made the decision to send Clemson ahead and to just apparate into the oval office. Ten minutes later he was being offered a drink by Ronald. "How's things with you magicals Rick?"
"Okay mostly."
"Thats good. George asked me what I thought of him signing off on a diplomatic courier on a magical like your daughter asked. I'm kind of surprised that she's doing things this way and hoped you could explain it to me. After I read the file it seemed like it could very well be in our country's best interests to see this gross miscarriage of justice corrected. I just wanted your take on it." President Ronald Reagan could see the confusion on Roderick Stevens face. "You have read the file haven't you?"
"I'm not sure which file you're talking about."
"Here, read it starting in the middle where the ICW Communiques start."
Rick opened the file in front of him it looked oddly familiar. Fate herself must want him to read this file, he'd been handed it four times. Reluctantly he opened it and started reading. Twenty minutes later, he flipped back and started reading it from the beginning. President Reagan, who had a Christmas party to go to at the Senate majority leader house that evening left to get ready. He came back half an hour later.
" Came to a conclusion yet Rick?"
"I'm a class A jerk, no wonder my wife isn't talking to me. What did my daughter ask from George Schultz?"
"She wanted to slip Black and the boy into the country on a military/diplomatic courier flight, skipping customs by having him on a pretty much direct flight to Andrews from Andersen."
"Is that possible?"
"Yes."
"When would he get here?"
"If I sign off tonight he could be here Christmas day."
"Do it. I'll owe you."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"One more thing, don't tell my daughter. I'd like it to be a surprise. I owe her an apology and Black's presence on Christmas will possibly be the only thing that will let me in my own bed that night."
Sirius finished the breakfast dishes with Harry's help. They had been waiting here in Guam for two days but there was still no word from Beth letting them know. It was shaping up it would just be them for Christmas.
Lt. Col. Jack O'Neill had proven to have a great sense of humor dry and just a little sarcastic. He joked about needing to get out his k-bar knife and have a go at Sirius to protect his sweet naive cousin, only to face a suddenly protective Harry sporting two sais and an attitude. It made it quite clear Harry found Jack's humor lacking any semblance of wit. Surprised by this, Jack quickly back peddled and made a joke of it. He also made jokes about Harry and Sirius' reading material of choice in the mornings, saying he found the comics and sports pages much more engrossing. Sirius found Jack amusing and helped him come up with a prank for Jack's assistant, a sergeant that was so by the rules Jack couldn't stand him. Sarah, Jack's wife, appreciated that two went out of their way to be helpful cooperative guests. Of the three O'Neills the only one that had a problem with their presence was Jack's son Charlie.
Charlie took exception to Harry's ignorance of hockey, and baseball. But in his opinion, Harry's worst crime was in saying he played football when he really played soccer. Charlie couldn't understand the depression Harry was in after all it was almost Christmas. Sirius was forced on multiple occasions to remind Harry he was a guest and therefore needed to be polite to his host. It didn't help that Charlie wasn't in school for the holidays and the two boys spent the whole day together. Their most recent fight had narrowly been averted when Jack suddenly appeared.
"Sirius, Harry grab your stuff. I just got your paperwork it was faxed in a minute ago. The next flight to Andrews leaves in twenty minutes the next one isn't until after Christmas, and it'll take almost all of that to get to the strip."
Since neither of them had really unpacked, they were ready to leave in minutes. Harry was nearly bouncing as they walked to the large plane. The airman that was the crew chief showed them to their seats. "Sorry it won't be super comfortable sir, and I can't offer you a window. If you get cold let me know we have blankets and extra jackets on board. If you have a cell phone I have to ask you turn it off so it doesn't interfere with the on board electronics. It's a long flight we have one stop for refueling in Alaska. But I imagine you two will be staying on the plane since it'll be well below freezing there. We've got MREs and sodas on board. Is there anything else you want to know or need before we take off?"
"Don't think so. Harry?"
"I'm good. I can't wait to see Beth."
Beth sighed as Ronda Lubell locked the door behind them on another house so far every house seemed to scream pretentious pride. Beth had interviewed Caroll Wrexmann but hadn't felt comfortable so she talked to four others before finding Ronda. "Ronda I'm looking for a large but comfortable house. I know I said I have a budget of up to five million, but the houses you've shown me scream monuments to self aggrandizement. I'm sure Sirius will want a roomy place but he will prefer someplace more country not formal."
"I want to show you some places just to get a sense of your taste, because they're far smaller than you said you wanted. But if you like them it will give me a idea of what to look for and we can avoid another day like this one." She took Beth to four other houses that were smaller and close by. Beth liked two of the houses. Ronda declared it was a start.
Beth called her section secretary at the State Department to see if there was an update on Sirius' permissions. She then called her brother to check if he had heard anything.
"Nic."
"Hi Nic any progress?"
"Well Matthias and Silverton have signed the stay of extradition so if he gets here he's safe from summary extradition. He'll get his trial here which will lay the ground work for an ICW trial which is where the British trial will get overturned. I've talked with Torie Collins she is one of the top family law attorneys. She has filed to keep Harry here with you as a co-guardian. She says it really hurts her case that Sirius basically kidnapped Harry from England. He didn't wait for the wills to be read. I pointed out that Dumbledore sealed the wills before they were read and pointed out what Dumbledore gained if Sirius was jailed. She agrees that it gives her just enough leeway to keep Harry from being sent back to England. But the progress we've made does nothing towards your goal of having them here by Christmas. Sorry."
"It's alright, its not your fault."
"How goes the house hunt?"
"Like crap."
"Sorry to hear that."
"What's a matter Nic am I cramping your style?"
"Not really, I just wish something was going well for you. How's your stomach?"
"A little queasy, not bad the potions for the ulcer are helping."
"Beth I was wondering about Christmas do you want me to arrange for everyone to spend the day at the condo rather than go to the castle? And what do you want to do about Dad?"
"Part of me wants to ignore the day because Sirius and Harry aren't going to be there. It was going to be our first Christmas together," Beth felt her eyes fill with tears because of her disappointment. "Damn it. I'm worse than a faucet. Would you mind if we had it at the condo? I' don't want to set foot back in the castle until Dad has come around."
"No problem, can I ask you to make arrangements for a brunch in the morning, a tree, and then dinner?"
"Yes, I'll take care of it."
Later that evening, Beth tried to call Sirius but he didn't pick up his phone. She wondered why that was.
A/N: sorry for the short chapter.