CHAPTER 4: STRAINED RELATIONS
Rosa snatched a bra out of her dresser drawer, clenched it in her fist, and shoved it into her backpack with the other crumpled clothing. She knew she'd already be done packing had she just used her wand. But that wouldn't do right now. She needed something in her hands. Something she could crush, something she could take out her frustrations on.
No matter how many articles of clothing she clenched and shoved into her backpack, she remained pissed off. Beyond pissed off, actually.
Chupacabra. Friggin' Chupacabra.
She enclosed a fist around a pair of socks and rammed them into the backpack sitting on her bed.
Someone knocked on her door, a very authoritive knock. Rosa sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Coming." She made no attempt to conceal her annoyance.
She exited her little bedroom and entered the little living room/kitchenette of her little apartment. Actually, to call it an apartment would be generous. This place could fit in the closet of her old room back at Salem. But since it was part of an apartment complex outside Arlington, Virginia the Auror's Bureau used to house its trainees, she knew she couldn't expect anything fancy, or half-way decent.
At least she didn't have to pay rent. The Department of Magic footed the bill for that, which was the only nice thing she could say about living here.
Rosa clutched the doorknob, twisted it and flung the door open. Her lips curled.
Aunt Liana stood in the doorway.
"Opening the door without checking first to see who it is?" Disappointment coated the older witch's voice. "Either training standards are slipping or you forgot one of the most basic principals of wizarding safety."
"None of the wards went off."
"And we all know how foolproof wards are, don't we?"
Rosa snorted and narrowed her eyes.
"Well?" Aunt Liana folded her arms and stayed put.
Rosa ground her teeth for a moment. "Who was Mister Mibwibs?"
"He was the stuffed bear I gave you for Christmas when you were five-years-old, which you threw into the creek by your house a week later because you thought he was wimpy."
Without a word, Rosa stepped aside and let her aunt in.
"What are you doing here?" She headed back to the bedroom.
"You're leaving for England tomorrow." Aunt Liana followed her. "I wanted to say good-bye."
"Thanks." Rosa marched over to her dresser and reached into her sock drawer.
"And to talk about what happened earlier this evening."
Rosa kept her back to her aunt and closed her eyes. Her right fist shook as she crushed her socks.
"I was appalled by your behavior at the meeting. Yours and Jared's."
"Sorry," Rosa muttered, not meaning it.
"Turn around when you talk to me! Your parents raised you better than that."
Rosa slammed her socks back in the drawer and spun on her heel to face Aunt Liana. The older witch's face stiffened in anger.
"When you and Jared joined the Guild of the Light, you took an oath. One part of that oath was to obey the orders of your superiors, just like you do here at auror training. I gave you a mission. Whether you like it or not doesn't matter to me or anyone else in the Guild. This is your mission, and I expect you to carry it out."
"Well the mission stinks."
Aunt Liana's cheeks reddened. "I suggest you fix that attitude of yours. Because no one in the Guild, the Aurors Bureau, or the entire Department of Magic is going to put up with it. I'm not going to put up with it!"
Rosa drew deep, angry breaths. "You wanna know where this attitude comes from? The fact that me and Jared and Jimmy and Artimus helped stop You-Know-Who's plans not once, but twice. We did stuff a lot of aurors can only dream of. And then we get saddled with something as lame as Chupacabra hunting?"
"You don't think that's serious? British witches and wizards have never dealt with them before. They don't know which wards or spells work on them and which don't. They don't know the proper techniques for tracking them. And if they go unchecked, they could wreak havoc on the livestock trade in both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds."
"That's a big if. When was the last time Chupacabra really hurt a country's livestock trade? It's been decades. They're just a nuisance. Nothing more."
"They're still a threat," Aunt Liana leaned forward to emphasize the point. "Especially if You-Know-Who's behind it."
"Yeah. I'm sure Chupacabra are a really important part of his plan to take over the world."
"Wars have many fronts. It just so happens this is yours."
"What, you couldn't put us on a better front? Maybe a front where we, I don't know, actually fight Death Eaters."
"This isn't one of the little backyard adventures you and Jared went on when you were kids." Aunt Liana's brow furrowed. "This is war we're talking about, Rosa. It's not something you jump into with the enthusiasm of a Quidditch game. People get hurt, badly. They also die."
"I know people die, I'm not naïve. But we're not gonna win this war by fighting Chupacabra. We're gonna win it by fighting Death Eaters. Which, oh by the way, I have."
Aunt Liana responded with a sardonic laugh. "One fight in Ovenderburg and you think you're ready to tackle every Death Eater in America? You keep harping on all this combat experience you had at Ovenderburg and in England, but most aurors you tell those stories to would not be impressed one bit."
Rosa felt anger lines dig deep into her face. Her teeth clenched to the point she expected to shatter a few molars.
Her aunt continued. "And maybe you've forgotten, but in both instances you had help from an actual auror. If it hadn't been for Nymphadora Tonks, things would have turned out very differently for you, Jared and your friends."
"So now you're saying I'm incompetent?" Rosa flung her arms out to her sides.
Aunt Liana huffed and shook her head. "I'm saying you're inexperienced. At least when it comes to missions that are far more dangerous than Ovenderburg or England."
"I can handle it!"
"Stop being in such a rush to get into a situation where you may wind up dead!"
Rosa's eyes widened. She drew a couple slow, deep breaths. "That's it, isn't it? That's the real reason you stuck me and Jared with this bullcrap mission. You don't want me doing anything really dangerous because I'm your niece."
"If that were true, I wouldn't have let you or Jared into the Guild in the first place, or Jimmy and Artimus for that matter. But in times like these, our family has always answered the call to duty."
"Yeah, to fight. Not chase something that looks like an oversized garden gnome. I bet you don't hesitate when you send Uncle Irving or my mom and dad or Esteban or Oriana to do something for the Guild."
Aunt Liana's mouth compressed into a tight little line. Her gaze hardened. "You think I have no reservations about sending people, especially my family, into danger?" She spoke in a low tone, but with the sense she could erupt at any moment. "Do you think I don't worry that my oldest son and his wife may be killed, and leave little Rodolfo an orphan? Do you think I don't worry that I may lose my husband or my sister-in-law and her husband, like I did my father and brother in the last war? And forgive me if I have fears that this war may cost me my youngest son and a niece who's more like a daughter to me."
"Well, I can take care of myself. So you don't have to worry about me."
"Dammit, Rosa! Are you not listening to me? I can't help but worry about you! I may not be your mother, but -"
"That's right! You're not my mother! You're only my aunt!"
A tremor went through Aunt Liana's body. She breathed audibly through her nose, each breath louder than the last. Rosa tensed, ready for more yelling.
Instead Aunt Liana headed out of the bedroom. "Good luck in England, Rosa. I'll see you when you get back."
Seconds later the slam of the front door rattled the entire apartment.
Rosa didn't move. She stared straight ahead at the bland white wall.
Did I go too far?
No I didn't. What the hell does she expect? For me to stand here and let her treat me like a kid? She was seventeen, for Merlin's sake, and an auror-in-training. She wanted to do her part for the war effort, something important. Why the hell couldn't Aunt Liana see that?
Well if she's pissed at me, tough!
Rosa finished packing, the entire time fighting off tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.
XXXXX
"What about our New Year's plans? You know we were going to spend it with my folks."
O'Bannon sighed, feeling the sting of Talia's words. He really had been looking forward to the New Year's get together with her family, especially since her parents liked him.
Unfortunately, the war crapped all over their plans.
"I know, hon. And I'm sorry. But this was the only time Artimus could arrange to have me meet with Canada's Department of Muggle Relations to look into setting up a hockey program for wizards there." He tried to keep from biting his lip, or looking away from his girlfriend as she stood in the middle of the living room with her arms folded. He hated lying to her like this, even though he knew he had a good reason. Well, sort of good. Like Rosa and Jared, he wasn't thrilled with this stupid mission. If the Guild wanted him to hunt down wild animals, why not something more likely to threaten people? Something ol' Hagrid back at Hogwarts would consider a "fun" lesson. As it stood, Chupacabra would probably bore the half-giant to sleep.
"I know you're really into your job, but Jimmy, it's only teaching Muggle sports to young witches and wizards. The way you are with having to get supplies at the last minute or sudden meetings with old teammates or people from the Wizarding-Muggle Relations Office, I mean . . . maybe you're getting carried away with all this."
"It's just . . ." O'Bannon cast his eyes away from Talia, not wanting to take in the look of hurt and anger on her beautiful face as he thought up another damn lie. "Look, I told you some of the crap I put up with at Salem for being a Muggle-born. There's a lot of ignorance out there about people like me. Ignorance that creates people like You-Know-Who and the friggin' Death Eaters. If I can do something, no matter how small, to combat that, then I gotta do it."
At least that statement contained elements of truth.
"And you have no idea how long you'll be gone?" asked Talia.
"It'll be a few days at most, I'm sure."
Talia's shoulders sagged. She lowered her head and stared at the floor.
O'Bannon sighed and dropped his backpack next to him. He walked over to Talia and gently grasped her shoulders. "I'm really sorry about this. But this is important to me."
"I thought I was important to you."
"Honey, you are. Look, when I get back, I'll make it up to you. I promise."
"Okay," she muttered, not looking at him.
O'Bannon put his thumb and index finger under Talia's chin and slowly turned her head to him. He leaned in and kissed her, long and deep. He hoped that would take away her disappointment.
But when he pulled his lips away from hers, he noticed Talia didn't have a hint of a smile.
Frowning, O'Bannon picked up his backpack with one hand and held Talia's hand with his other. They walked out of his apartment, Talia closing the door, and headed downstairs to the outside. Dozens of witches and wizards moved up and down the cobblestone street of Haypippil Square. The couple stopped near an old-fashioned street lamp, O'Bannon giving Talia's hand a gentle squeeze.
"So, you'll make sure Espo has enough food?" O'Bannon referred to his owl, whom he named after Boston Bruins great Phil Esposito.
"Yeah."
"And make sure you let him out of his cage to let him stretch his wings?"
"Yeah, I will."
He gave Talia a reassuring smile and kissed her again. "Love you."
"Yeah." She gave him a half-smile before turning around. She barely took three steps before she Apparated.
O'Bannon bit his lower lip, gazing at the spot where Talia had been mere moments ago. "I'm sorry," he said under his breath.
With a sigh, he gripped his backpack and Apparated.
The world went dark. Invisible forces pulled his body in a thousand different directions.
An instant later he found himself standing on a hill, chilly air surrounding him. Puffy white clouds hung over him. A sea of leafless trees stretched before him. A few feet away he spotted Artimus and his brother Hector, a rusted metal bucket lying at their feet. O'Bannon assumed that to be the port key, since they were usually disguised as discarded Muggle objects.
"Hey, guys," he nodded to the Rands.
"Hey, Jimmy," Artimus nodded back.
"Jimmy." Hector smiled, then canted his head. "Why the long face?"
O'Bannon groaned. "I didn't have the greatest of farewells with Talia. She's pissed that I'm missing New Year's with her folks to supposedly go to Canada."
"Sorry to hear that." Artimus frowned. "You think everything will be all right when you go back?"
"It should be. It usually works out. Crap, let's just drop it, okay?"
Artimus nodded sheepishly and cast his eyes to the ground.
A minute later two sharp cracks split the air. Rosa and Jared appeared out of nowhere, both wearing glum expressions. When O'Bannon, Artimus and Hector greeted the cousins, they mumbled an incoherent response.
"You guys okay?" asked O'Bannon.
Rosa grunted and walked past him toward the port key. He followed her with his eyes, then turned back to Jared. His friend shrugged.
"Rosa and my mom had it out last night. I mean, knock down, drag out."
O'Bannon's lips curled. They hadn't even touched the damn port key yet and already everybody was miserable. A ripple went through his stomach. Like most hockey players, he possessed a superstitious streak. He hoped the dour mood didn't represent an omen of things to come. He remembered all the difficulties of their last mission to England and had no desire go through that again.
O'Bannon and Jared trudged over to the port key, where Rosa waited quietly. Next to her Hector slapped Artimus on the shoulder.
"Ready to do this, little bro?"
Artimus straightened his back and took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready."
Hector beamed and looked around at O'Bannon, Jared and Rosa. "And here my dad thought you were all a bad influence on Artimus. Heck, you turned my little brother into quite an adventurer."
"Come on, Hector." Artimus turned away, looking slightly embarrassed. "Chupacabra aren't the most dangerous creatures out there."
"Tell me about it," Rosa muttered.
Hector gave them a sympathetic sigh. "Yeah, I know you guys aren't thrilled with this mission. I wouldn't be either. But just remember, you're gonna be on You-Know-Who's home turf. So you need to be careful at all times, even if you are hunting some little pest. Got it?" His gaze shifted among each member of the quartet, landing finally on Artimus.
"Yeah," Art nodded. "I got it."
Hector smiled and slapped his brother on the shoulder. "Take care of yourself, Artimus. All of you."
A brief smile creased Artimus' lips. O'Bannon also smiled, grateful at least one person existed in the Rand family who didn't think Artimus was an abject failure. As long as he lived, he'd never forget Ulysses Rand's tirade following the Salem graduation ceremony, where he basically banished Art from the family for daring to work at the Office of Wizarding-Muggle Relations. Much as he hated to admit it, Mr. Rand's outburst was probably the best thing that could have happened to Artimus. He really needed to get out from under his overbearing father's thumb.
After Hector wished the rest of them good luck, the quartet squatted around the rusted bucket and put their hands on it.
The world around O'Bannon blurred. A howling wind filled his ears. He shot forward, like someone had strapped him to the nose of a jet fighter.
Suddenly it all stopped. He stood on solid ground again. He took a breath and looked around. Rosa, Jared and Artimus were present and accounted for. The bucket lay at their feet.
The soft roll and crash of waves caught O'Bannon's attention. He noticed they stood on a cliff overlooking the sea. A faint white line stretched across the horizon. Those had to be the famed White Cliffs of Dover.
"Looks like we're in the right place. Let's hide the port key and get going."
Using their wands, they lifted a nearby bush out of the ground, placed the port key in the hole, and covered it with the bush. After casting numerous wards and charms around the bush, they mounted their brooms and flew over the English Channel. O'Bannon had them fly close to the water, a tactic he learned from watching several Muggle war movies. Combat pilots usually flew low to avoid radar detection. He had no idea if that would work here, since magical wards and security charms were a lot better than radar. But he figured it couldn't hurt. Besides, they also had the stealth charms Rosa's and Jared's parents placed on their brooms. They should be able to get into England undetected.
I hope.
They reached the White Cliffs of Dover less than a half-hour later.
"Wands out!" O'Bannon ordered as soon as he landed.
"Huh?" A quizzical look came over Artimus' face.
"I wanna be ready in case we set off a ward. Wands out!"
Rosa and Jared immediately obeyed. Artimus had to give another tug to get his wand out. They formed a circle, covering all points of the compass. O'Bannon's eyes swept the uneven green ground and the sea. He tensed, waiting for aurors or Death Eaters to suddenly appear.
An entire minute passed. He didn't hear any distinct cracks of people Disapparating, or the whoosh of people on brooms. The rolling surf below produced the only noise around them.
"I think we're good," Jared finally said.
"Yeah." O'Bannon lowered his wand. He wondered if that bit of drama was really necessary. But after spending his year at Hogwarts with a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher like Professor Moody, or rather, the Death Eater impersonating him, and having the mantra of, "Constant vigilance!" pounded into his head, he figured better to be safe than sorry.
"Well," he turned to his friends. "No sense standing around here and admiring the scenery, as nice as it is. Next stop, Ottery St. Catchpole."
The quartet Apparated. The cliffs and sea were replaced by woods and rolling hills. From atop one of those hills, O'Bannon squinted and peered around the valley. They should be near . . .
That's when he saw it. A very crooked house several stories tall with multiple chimneys sticking out of its red roof. It had a rather rundown look, so much so he expected it to topple over any second.
Still the sight made him smile. He'd seen pictures of this place numerous times in Fred and George's room back at Hogwarts.
Before him stood the Burrow, the home of the Weasley family.
"Look over there." Jared pointed.
O'Bannon shifted his gaze to a small tree-lined paddock with some make shift Quidditch hoops. Five figures on brooms flew over the improvised pitch chucking balls back and forth to each other. Even from this distance, he could make out the blazing red hair on four of the five figures.
"C'mon!" Rosa blurted. "Let's go!"
Eyes wide, O'Bannon turned to her. Rosa's sullen expression had vanished, replaced by a huge smile and an anxious flare in her eyes. He looked from her back to the figures over the Quidditch pitch and grinned. During their last visit to England, Rosa had grown rather fond of a certain member of the Weasley clan whose first name started with "G" and ended in "E."
"You heard the lady. Let's go."
O'Bannon bounded down the hill, followed by the others. His gait increased the closer he got to the Burrow. His disappointment over the bogus nature of this mission faded. How bad could this really be if he got to hang out with the Weasleys again? And Harry. He knew "The Boy Who Lived" always spent Christmas Break at the Burrow. He couldn't wait to see what new joke products the twins had concocted. Or hear from Harry, Ron and Ginny the happenings at Hogwarts. How was the rest of the old Triad hockey team doing? Who was teaching DADA now? Were Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures classes as dangerous as ever? Was Snape an even bigger asshole than before?
His heart beat faster as he stepped onto a dirt path leading to the Burrow. He spotted a small pond nearby. A huge smile stretched across his face. Along with some pick-up Quidditch games, maybe he could freeze the pond for a pick-up hockey game. Of course they'd need to get one more person to at least do four-on-four with the remaining two people playing goaltender. That would be . . .
An intense white flash burst in front of him. O'Bannon yelped and slapped a hand over his eyes. Multi-colored dots swirled in front of him. Pain drilled into his skull. More painful howls erupted around him. Rosa, Jared and Artimus. My God, were they okay?
He started blinking. The Burrow and the field surrounding it had become a huge blur.
Wand! Wand!
He frantically tore at his pocket to retrieve his wand.
A fluttering, buzzing sound penetrated his ears. Dizziness swam through his head. His legs trembled. O'Bannon barely felt himself fall to the ground.
Dark shadowy shapes appeared around him. He blinked repeatedly. The shapes slowly took form. They were people. That's the only thing he could tell about them. Their faces remained distorted.
He concentrated on the person standing in front of him, a big, round figure. It pointed something at him. O'Bannon tensed, knowing in this world, it could only be one thing.
A wand.
TO BE CONTINUED