Here and Elsewhere

Draco looked down at Longbottom, his nose in the air. He wasn't his father, nor would he ever want to be; but he had to admit that his father's condescending look was quite effective at times. Unfortunately, Draco's mind was muddled; it had been a long time since he had really looked at his father's face during one of those times. Should he narrow his eyes, or peer at Longbottom with them half closed? Should he arch an eyebrow, or raise both of them?

Appraising the Herbology Professor once more, he sneered and said firmly, "You are not expelling Scorpius, Longbottom. I won't allow you to do so."

Longbottom raised an eyebrow, tilting his head. "What can you do to stop me, Malfoy? Nothing. Your days as my superior are over, do you hear me? I'm Headmaster now. This isn't like before, when your daddy could just spend a glorious sum of money and bribe the Ministry with it, Malfoy. Say, how is your daddy these days?"

Draco glowered. "Fine," he said haughtily, sneering. "So tell me, Longbottom – how is society these days? Since you know so much about reality, I must say: please humour me."

"I, unlike you, don't have all the time in the world," Longbottom growled.

Draco smirked. "Bit behind the times, are we not? In case you'd forgotten, Longbottom, I have a job at the Ministry. International Cooperation, for your information." He smoothed his brown travelling cloak. "Now, Longbottom, you haven't yet answered my previous question."

"Damn you Slytherins," the Headmaster muttered. He looked at Draco, barking, "Fine! If you want to know, in our society, we try to promote equality. Has that bigoted brain of yours absorbed all of that, or am I forced to continue?"

"Ah, Longbottom, don't you raise your blood pressure for me," Draco drawled. "So if society is, nowadays, based off on equality, I must say: Scorpius' friends, Potter and Weasley, got away with two weeks of suspension. Same for Alcmene. Why should my son be the only first year to be expelled?"

"Malfoy-"

"You accuse me of being bigoted?" Draco sneered. "Sorry to tell you, Longbottom, but you are as equally prejudiced as I am. I know you dislike Scorpius. I know he's my son. I know he's not the most behaving child, but he does not and never will deserve expulsion."

Longbottom continued glowering at him.

"If equality is an important component in 2017's wizarding society, Longbottom," the pale man continued, "then you will suspend my son for two weeks. You will not expel him. I am not leaving this room until this matter is settled."

Leaning back in his chair, Draco crossed his arms victoriously and smirked.

"Fine," Longbottom said after about a minute's thought. He glared at Draco, his tone icy. "I did not know that you cared so for your son, Malfoy. I was under the impression that you didn't."

The tall man stood up, his travelling cloak billowing round his ankles. His grey eyes pierced Longbottom's brown. "Just because my way of life and my beliefs are different than yours doesn't mean that I do not care for my son, Longbottom. Same as just because I was a Death Eater doesn't automatically mean I am a monster."

Draco looked back one last time before he traversed the doorway. "Goodbye, Longbottom," he said curtly.

Longbottom didn't answer. He shut the door after Draco Malfoy had left and wondered briefly if the bigoted wizard was, in fact, right.

"Rachel, what the hell were you thinking?" Nico stomped into the room and flopped into a divan. At Megara's stare, he demanded, "What do you want?"

Megara smirked and craned her neck to look at Rachel. "Your boyfriend is so impolite." She stuck out a pale hand. "Hello, I'm Megara Malfoy. You are Nico di Angelo, I presume?"

"Hmm, yeah," Nico grunted, shaking it. He turned back to Rachel. "Well?"

The young woman arched an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Don't play coy with me, Dare," the son of Hades grunted. "You run off; no one knows where you went; Athena refuses to tell me; I had to conjure about a dozen of ghosts to finally find one who knew!"

"Wah, wah," Rachel said noncommittally. "Nico, can't you see? There's. A. Freaking. War. Coming! We have to choose sides – and something tells me we shouldn't go with Chiron." When Nico opened his mouth to retort, she continued, "We were friends with the Romans before, weren't we? We can be again." Tilting her head, Rachel added, "And have you forgotten about Hazel?"

"Hazel's different," Nico snapped, tensing. "She's my sister, for Hades' sake, Rach."

"Mm." Rachel played with her pink-framed sunglasses. "What about Frank, eh? He is her husband, after all, and their kids-"

Nico threw up his hands and glowered. "Well, Frank is my brother-in-law and Em and Jase are my niece and nephew!" Huffing, he conceded, "And have you forgotten about Lupa's troops kidnapping the kids at Camp Half-Blood? Yes, I know, I was ambassador of Pluto at Camp Jupiter – but kidnapping and possibly killing innocent children? That crosses the line!"

Megara watched the couple's exchange with apparent amusement, her grey eyes darting to and fro Nico and Rachel.

"War isn't fair, Nico," Rachel retorted. "Remember the war? We all did things we're not proud of..."

"Yeah, says the girl who flew into a monster-infested New York during her summer vacation," Nico muttered. He looked at her with his dark eyes. "Look, Rachel, I understand where you're getting to. And..." The last sentence came out in a quick mumble. "MaybeIwaswronglasttimeIsawyou."

Smirking, Rachel patted his dark head. "Thatta boy, Nico, you're getting there," she said in a condescending tone. "What're you suggesting, then?"

Nico opened his mouth to answer, but Megara beat him to it. "I think he's suggesting you two become double agents."

"Never asked you to talk," the son of Hades said under his breath, looking most sullen. He scratched at his neck, his pale face colouring, searching for the right words. "Yeah, Rachel, I was saying... Well, maybe I was a bit rash in hating the Romans. I mean, I was friends with most of them... And they did save me from a kidnapping." Nico thought for a moment. "Yep, saved me from a kidnapping which sucked."

"Your point?" Rachel asked, while Megara yawned and peered at her nails.

Nico held up a hand while glaring at Megara. "What she said. That way, we won't be betraying Chiron completely, and we'll still be able to save America from my evil sister's megalomania."

The redhead nodded. "I'm sure Chiron will understand, but Lupa..." She winced. "Romans are big on honour. If she finds out, we're screwed."

"Then we make sure she doesn't find out. You have to admit, Rach, I'm freaking awesome at keeping secrets. Might be that I'm a son of Hades, probably." Nico smirked. "So we all agree?"

"Yep." Rachel conceded, nodding.

Megara looked at the two of them lazily. "So everything's alright now. Hmm, are the two of you against crashing the party downstairs? A few Romans are there, including our favourite augur and his family..."

YThe streets of Salem, Massachusetts were as crowded as they had ever been, to Jasper Saylor's knowledge. Salem was the capital of the American wizarding world, as London was in Great Britain; thinking nostalgically about how the streets in Salem reminded him of Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, which he hadn't seen since he'd been sixteen, Jasper sighed and ambled towards The Winged Crup. A bell jingled overhead as the grey-haired man entered the bar.

"Hey! Saylor, is it?" the bartender yelled, his bearded face splitting into a wide grin. "Long time no see, bud – didn't know yeh'd be in the parish! Back from Birmingham and all already?"

"Aye, just been back from a short detour in Ottawa to see Pearl and the kids," Jasper replied, bowing his head. His only son had died on Auror duty a few years back, and now his eldest grandson Ben had succumbed to complications due to hypothermia. His poor daughter-in-law was left to raise her remaining sons, the young Andrew and Quinn. Dumping a few Jobberknolls on the counter, he shrugged at the barman's raised eyebrows. "That's all I got, Sam, I'm sorry. I'm guessing it's about... twenty Eagles, perhaps. And just serve me the usual."

"If yeh say so," Sam shrugged, grabbing the coins and examining one of them closely. He chuckled, patting his rotund stomach. "Peculiar, ain't it? I definitely gotta go to up to Canada one of those days..."

Humming softly, the large man waddled into the tiny, cramped kitchen of The Winged Crup, leaving Jasper staring at the used wood of the counter. The sound of a young couple approaching made him turn in his stool.

"Hey, Professor Saylor," the young man and woman said, nodding to him. Jasper nodded back to him, smiling internally; he'd only been a Professor at the Salem Institute of Magic for a short while, but he must have done a good job to have merited such a good reception from the students, he reasoned.

"Hello, Vince," Jasper greeted. "Hello, Shirley. How have your studies in England been going so far?"

"Merlin, Professor, if you knew how rich in history the Ministry of Magic is!" Shirley gushed in her slight Australian accent, grinning widely. Chuckling to himself, Jasper smirked a bit; his former student didn't seem to notice. "I love working for International Cooperation! The employees there are so nice, so polite – like home – especially Mr Malfoy, who's my supervisor!"

Mr Malfoy? Is he, with any chance, related to Lucius? Jasper wondered, frowning. Yes, that would have to Draco. The last time he'd seen Lucius' son, Draco had been a baby, and his older sister Harmonia had been just over a year old; it was hard to believe that they were adults now. And Narcissa – what had happened to his cousin? Was Andromeda, also, still alive, with her Mud- Muggle-born husband and half-blood daughter?

Shifting from his thoughts, Jasper noticed with amusement that Vince seemed a bit jealous of Shirley's liking of Draco Malfoy, if anything.

"Yeah, yeah, Shirl," Vince interrupted. He turned to Jasper with an apologetic smile. "Our studies have been pretty good over there, thank you, sir – I love studying Quidditch. Seriously, it's much better than Quodpot."

"That, I agree on, Vince," Jasper replied with a well-placed smirk. "Me, I used to be a Seeker for my Quidditch team back at school."

It all came to him naturally, now; talking about his past without lying, but omitting enough information to not let any of them discover his true identity. It'd been hard at first, with his telltale British accent, but after living in America for forty-odd years, most of his accent had all but diminished. Jasper and his old paranoia were very thankful for that.

"That's wicked cool," Vince said distractedly. Waving a hand, he smiled, "But that's enough about me, Professor. Say, how's Birmingham?"

"As it always is." Jasper thought that Birmingham, Alabama was one of those wizarding settlements that never seemed to change. In his mid-twenties, he and a few chums had started a cauldron importation/exportation company, which had a branch among others in Birmingham. Since Jasper was in charge of that branch, he regularly visited it. "Stopped for a bit in Ottawa afterwards."

Both Vince and Shirley mustered apologetic expressions. "We heard about Ben," Vince said quietly. "And Shirley and I are sorry for your loss."

Don't mention it. I'm used to losing people, it's the soundtrack of my life. "It's okay," Jasper murmured, shaking his head. Ben had been so young... What was more, the poor child looked very much like Evan used to look – and with Jasper's brother's athletic abilities as well. At least Ben had died doing something he enjoyed...

There was an awkward silence, and then Shirley lifted her head and said, "Professor, me and Vince are getting married at some time in mid-June – would you like to attend our wedding?"

Jasper nodded, his mouth curving into a slight smile. "Sure, Shirley," he agreed. "Will it be in Australia?"

From what he gathered, Shirley Avery's parents bred winged horses in the Australian Outback and had decided to send their eldest daughter to the Salem Institute of Magic instead of Australia's school of witchcraft and wizardry, since Mrs Avery fared from Salem herself.

Shirley shook her head. "We're not sure yet-"

"But it definitely won't be in Great Britain," Vince cut in – the young man's family were British immigrants, and his maternal grandfather still worked at the British Ministry of Magic as an Obliviator. "The situation's pretty bad there."

A construction worker sitting near them snorted, setting down his Butterbeer. "Ben ouais, zat is obvious," he said in a thick Quebec French accent. Nodding slightly, he took another sip of his beverage and continued, "I 'ad a business meeting zere, at zeir Ministre de Magie – you know zeir school, 'Ogwarts? Ze directrice was taken – imagine! – by zat madwoman Lestrange! Tsé, j'me sens tellement mal pour ce p'tit Potter – everyone knows 'e is ze real leader of ze British."

"Potter's the head of the Aurors, one of the most powerful wizards in world, to have defeated Voldemort; yet he doesn't seem to be able to do anything," Vince said thoughtfully, rubbing his temple. "Huh."

"The Squib Filch's trial's been on for two days now," said Shirley. "So far, his future seems quite bleak, according to what I've heard."

"These cases never end well," Jasper responded. If I know the Ministry. Believe me, I know exactly what I'm talking about.

"Athena, you've done a good job," Lupa announced. Athena tried to not look as the she-wolf continued to tear at the dead deer's flesh, chewing noisily. "Ladies Aphrodite, Nemesis, and Artemis – very good, indeed. The Amazons and Lord Ares: perfect! And your demigods are in England, as our mine, which is perfectly in order. Would you like some of this?"

She gestured to the dead deer with a bloody paw.

Athena tried to not look disgusted. "No, thank you, Lupa," she managed.

The she-wolf shrugged and looked up from her dinner momentarily. "And I'm delighted to announce that I, too, have a catch of my own." She prowled away from the dead deer and disappeared in the woods for a moment.

When Lupa finally came out, she emerged with a man limping at her wake, with his left leg was in a steel brace and a wild brown beard with sparks of fire flying out of it from time to time. His shock at seeing Athena in the clearing mirrored the goddess's. Lupa didn't seem to notice. "Here is Lord Hephaestus," she said.

Hephaestus's brown eyes stared into Athena's grey. "So you're the one behind this whole organisation," he mused, crossing his muscular arms.

Athena looked right back at him, at the welts and the bruises on his face, without ever so flinching, and tilted her head slowly. "Yes, it was me who did this all behind Zeus' back," she answered, staring at him as if to dare to tattle on her.

The god laughed, a booming, good-hearted sound. "Figures, my Lady. Figures."

No one was aware of the heart beating hard against her ribcage. No one knew that the virgin goddess Athena was reacting in such a schoolgirl-like way; no one except the goddess in question herself.

And that, she thought sullenly, made it even harder to bear.

Okay, so, a few notes for this chapter:

1) I love Draco in this chapter :D

2) BTW, you'd have to have read The Son of Neptune to understand who's the augur Megara is referring to.

3) Jasper Saylor may seem kind of random at first, but I promise that he actually has to do with the story. To get a clue, I suggest you go back to Chapter 10 and read carefully.

4) The construction worker was random, though, but since I know a fair deal of Quebecois French slang myself, I decided to put him there :P BTW, what he says is mostly slang, so if you're learning French - well, rest assured, but you won't really get this :P

5) Oh yeah, and Athena might seem a bit OOC in this chapter, but it actually kinda makes sense. Aphrodite in the previous chapter? Hmm, maybe she didn't like getting told off by Nemesis because of Athena :P

6) Meh, that's all, I think, so -

Please read and review, especially if you favourite/alert!