CHAPTER 5: RECONNECTING
O'Bannon's vision slowly began to clear. He noticed specific details about the figure in front of him. Firstly, it was a man. A gnarled-looking man with a mane of dark gray hair. What stood out most had to be the large, artificial eye. Perfectly round and electric blue, it moved around non-stop.
He knew the man instantly.
"Professor Moody?"
The old auror canted his head and sneered. "Do I know you?"
O'Bannon swallowed. How could he forget? He never had the real Mad-Eye Moody as his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.
"Jimmy?"
He instantly recognized the new voice. It made his entire body tense, except for his heart. That sped up, fueled by memories of a very, very passionate night in the Room of Requirement.
He slowly turned his head to the right. A jolt of surprise shot through him, followed by a heavy air of concern.
The woman he stared at looked nothing like the one he'd held and kissed and made love to all those months ago. She possessed none of the vibrancy, none of the zest, he fondly remembered. And her hair! It wasn't spiky and pink or long and the color of a setting sun like it had been that memorable night. It just sat on her head, plain, brown and mousy.
"Tonks?"
"You know this boy?" Moody whipped his head toward Nymphadora Tonks.
"Yes. Jimmy O'Bannon. The American who was at Hogwarts while the Death Eater impersonating you was there. And these are his friends. Rosa Infante, Artimus Rand and Jared Diaz."
"You sure about that?" Moody's gazed returned to O'Bannon. The old wizard still kept his wand pointed at him.
Tonks lowered her head. Several seconds passed before she looked up again. "The morning after we slept together in the Transfiguration classroom, you asked if it was good for me. What was my reply?"
The veins in O'Bannon's neck tightened in embarrassment. He'd rather not say it in front of his friends and Mad-Eye Moody. But one look at the guy's wand convinced him he had no choice.
"You said I was okay for a first timer. Oh, and we did it in the Room of Requirement, not the Transfiguration class room."
A half-smile briefly flickered across Tonks' lips. "It's Jimmy O'Bannon, all right."
She then asked questions of Rosa, Jared and Artimus pulled from conversations they had during the two days they stayed at Tonks' parents' place while O'Bannon recovered from injuries suffered as a result of his mid-air collision with a squad of pursuing aurors. They answered all of them to Tonks' satisfaction.
"Well, it looks like you are who you say you are." Moody jerked his head forward.
O'Bannon turned around. Three wizards and a witch he didn't recognize headed over to them. Order members, he presumed.
A shadow fell across him. He looked up to find Tonks reaching down. He took the young auror's hand and let her help him to his feet.
"Good to see you again, Tonks." He gave her a hug. She returned it, though with less enthusiasm than he expected. O'Bannon didn't know if he should feel bad or glad about it. He did have a girlfriend, after all.
Once the others got helped to their feet, they all hurried over to greet Tonks.
"Are you okay?" asked Rosa.
"Yeah. Sure. Fine." Tonks' tone indicated she was anything but.
O'Bannon bit down on his lower lip and scanned Tonks' heart-shaped face. What could be wrong with her? He glanced at his friends and the Order members. As much as he wanted to find out what was troubling Tonks, he knew this wasn't the time or place for it.
"Say, what the hell was all that?" he asked. "One minute we're just walking along, the next it's like someone set off a flare right in front of me and there's this weird buzzing in my ears."
"Wards," Tonks replied flatly. "Given the fact Harry is staying here, and with this being the Order's new headquarters, we had to increase security around the Burrow."
O'Bannon closed his eyes and dipped his head back. I can't believe I was so stupid. With Voldemort and his Death Eaters running loose throughout the U.K., he should have known every wizard and witch would have strengthened the protective wards around their homes.
"What are you doing in England?" Moody demanded of him.
"The Guild of the Light sent us. Apparently You-Know-Who got his hands on a bunch of Chupacabra and plans to set them loose here."
"Chooba-what?" A bewildered expression came over Tonks' face.
"They're creatures native to the Americas. They like to suck the blood out of goats, sheep, any sort of farm animal that's around."
Moody grunted. "You're in luck. We actually have a meeting scheduled for seven tonight. You can tell us then."
"Okay." O'Bannon nodded. "Sounds go-"
"Everything all right here, Alastor?" A tall middle-aged man with red hair jogged up the dirt path toward them. A few paces behind him came a plump woman, also with red hair. Both had their wands drawn.
"Nothing to worry about. Just some Yanks I believe your children know."
Moody stepped aside. The red-headed man's eyes lit up in surprise. The woman audibly gasped.
"Hi, Mister Weasley. Mrs. Weasley." O'Bannon waved to them. He had met the twins' parents a few times during his year in England, including after the Triad/Slytherin hockey game and at Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters.
"Why Jimmy O'Bannon." Mr. Weasley pocketed his wand. "This certainly is a pleasant surprise." He grabbed both of O'Bannon's hands and shook them vigorously. Mrs. Weasley then wrapped him up in a crushing embrace. It wasn't unexpected. O'Bannon knew Mrs. Weasley was a big-time hugger.
He introduced the Weasleys to his friends while Moody, Tonks and the rest of their party Apparated away. The low voice of the other witch from the Order of the Phoenix filtered into his ears.
"Merlin's beard, Tonks. You and him? That boy looks like he's barely out of school."
Tonks' only reply was the distinct crack of her Apparating.
"Now what brings you back to England?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "I have a feeling it's not for a friendly visit. Not in these times."
"You're right, unfortunately." O'Bannon told them about the Chupacabra, and how Mad-Eye Moody wanted him to make a presentation at the Order meeting tonight.
"Well, we have a couple hours until then, so come inside and join us for dinner." Mrs. Weasley waved them toward the Burrow.
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley, but we don't want to impose," O'Bannon replied.
"Says you," he heard Jared mutter beside him. "I'm starving."
Rosa swatted him on the arm.
"Nonsense." Mrs. Weasley gave him a dismissive wave. "You're friends of Fred and George. You're not imposing on us by any means."
"But we didn't . . ."
"You're having dinner with us and that's final." Mrs. Weasley's tone indicated she would not tolerate further argument. And arguing against a home cooked meal was not generally in O'Bannon's nature.
"Well, if you insist. Thanks Mrs. Weasley. Mister Weasley."
"Oh, you're quite welcome. Now come along." Mrs. Weasley smiled and put a hand on O'Bannon's back, guiding him toward the Burrow.
As they started down the dirt path, Mr. Weasley sidled up to him. "You're timing couldn't be more perfect, Jimmy. I need someone with extensive knowledge of the Muggle world to help me with something. I've been curious to know about this writing implement called a terp-ritter."
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley whirled around. "The boy's only been here for a few minutes and already you're bombarding him with questions about Muggle things. Let him relax a bit before you start in on him."
O'Bannon couldn't help but chuckle silently as Mr. Weasley frowned.
"Now there's my idea of a welcoming committee." Jared grinned as he stared at the Burrow's front door.
O'Bannon took an anxious breath. Four boys and a girl stood around the small porch. Their expressions contained a mix of surprise and glee.
"I say, George, is that who I think it is?"
"I believe it is, Fred."
"You know, for a Yank he certainly spends an inordinate amount of time in Britain."
"Maybe he should change his citizenship."
"And live in the same country with you two muttonheads? Yeah, right." O'Bannon shot the twins a large, toothy grin.
Fred and George looked at one another, then at him. "Jimmy Boy!"
They rushed forward and jumped on him, slapping his back and rubbing his hair.
"Hey!" Rosa smacked George on the shoulder. "Don't the rest of us get a hello?"
George spun around, his face and eyes lighting up. "Oh, you get more than a hello, Miss Infante."
He scooped her up in a bearhug. Rosa beamed and hugged him back just as tightly.
Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and his sister, Ginny, joined in the jubilant fray. O'Bannon's eyes widened for a second before he hugged Ginny. He couldn't believe how much she'd blossomed in the two years since he left Hogwarts. Her red hair had grown longer and she really started to, well, fill out. He couldn't remember noticing it when he'd been in England earlier in the year. Of course, he'd been drooling over Tonks at the time.
"So what are you doing in England again?" Harry asked O'Bannon as they walked to the front door.
"Guild business, just like last time."
"What's going on this -"
"Tut-tut. All in good time." Mrs. Weasley waved them to be silent. "Let's just enjoy dinner before we talk about more serious matters."
That suited O'Bannon fine. Besides, he found it hard to consider Chupacabra a "serious matter."
Harry opened the door. O'Bannon followed him inside. He barely had a chance to take in the couches and chairs and old clock in the living room when a throaty voice erupted from nowhere.
"Why eet iz zee famous Zshimmy O'Bannon."
He froze in his tracks. He barely felt Jared and Ron bump into him. His chest seized. Disbelief overwhelmed him.
Mireet?
A flash of long silvery hair engulfed his vision. He felt two light kisses on his cheek. He momentarily shook his head. That's when he took stock of the girl in front of him. Definitely not Mireet. She was a bit shorter, her hair silver instead of blond, but no less beautiful. Actually, the word beautiful didn't do her justice. She seemed flawless, glowing, almost angelic in her looks.
And O'Bannon knew her.
"Fleur? Fleur Delacour?"
"Oui. Eet 'as been a long time since we last saw one anozzer at 'Ogwarts."
"Um, yeah." O'Bannon merely blinked, still trying to absorb the fact the Beauxbatons champion from the Tri-Wizard Tournament was in the Weasleys' home, and talking to him like an old friend. He could only recall having a handful of conversations with her during their time at Hogwarts.
Oh well, if she wants to be super friendly with me, I'm not gonna complain.
"What . . . what are you doing here?"
"Oh, you do not know?" Fleur stuck her hand in right in O'Bannon's face. A large diamond on one of her fingers glittered in his eyes.
"I am marrying Beel!" she squealed.
"Say what?" O'Bannon spun around to Fred and George. "She's marrying your brother? How did that happen?"
"Look at her mate," Fred chortled. "How do you think it happened?"
Out the corner of his eye, he noticed the expressions of the others. Ron looked forlorn. Ginny and Mrs. Weasley seemed like they wanted to tear apart the first thing they got their hands on. Jared and Artimus were in a stupor, their eyes and jaws wide open as they gawked at Fleur.
O'Bannon turned back to the young French woman. "Um, well, congratulations."
"Merci." Again she kissed him on both cheeks.
"Yes, well, let's move along." Mrs. Weasley huffed and herded them further into the living room. "Supper will be on the table soon. Go get washed up."
They drifted toward the stairs, O'Bannon introducing Fleur to his three friends. She shook hands with Rosa, then gave Jared and Artimus kisses on both cheeks. The two looked close to fainting.
"We shoulda went to Beauxbatons, man," Jared said to Artimus in a dazed voice. "Why didn't we go to Beauxbatons?"
Artimus didn't answer. He just continued to gape at Fleur.
Ginny shook her head and grumbled something unintelligible. O'Bannon raised an eyebrow. What's her problem?
After everyone washed up they headed back downstairs. O'Bannon especially looked forward to supper. All throughout his year at Hogwarts, Fred and George kept going on about how their mother was, "No doubt about it, hands down, the greatest cook in the world." He couldn't wait to see if she lived up to the hype.
She did! Mrs. Weasley served an absolutely delicious Yorkshire Pudding filled with roast beef and gravy, and crispy roasted potatoes on the side. For dessert, they had a gooseberry pie that made the quartet moan in pure delight.
Dinner also gave the Americans and Brits a chance to do a lot of catching up. It amazed O'Bannon how much had happened with his friends across the pond since he last saw them in March. Fred and George now ran a very successful joke shop in Diagon Alley. But even more impressive was the twins' story of how they escaped Umbridge's clutches by reclaiming their brooms and flying away from Hogwarts, leaving behind a portable swamp in one of the corridors.
"You guys are awesome," Rosa blurted.
"Thanks," the twins replied, though George tacked on the biggest smiles O'Bannon had ever seen.
Harry had been made captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, with Ginny as one of the Chasers and Ron as Keeper. Much to O'Bannon's delight, they kicked the living crap out of Slytherin in their first match of the season.
On the relationship front, Harry had broken up with Cho Chang, though Ginny did mention he had taken Luna Lovegood to a Christmas party thrown by Hogwarts' new potions teacher. O'Bannon did a double-take.
Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood? I just can't see that one.
Ginny and Michael Corner also split up when he pitched a fit after Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw for the Quidditch Cup last year. O'Bannon groaned to himself. Good friend or not, the next time he ran into Corner he'd slap him upside the head for acting so stupid. Still, it appeared Ginny and Corner didn't need much time to get over their break-up. She had moved on to Dean Thomas – kudos to you, Dean – and he hooked up with, of all people, Cho Chang.
O'Bannon shook his head. It seemed Hogwarts had turned into one big soap opera.
Yeah, like it wasn't when I was going there.
As for Ron, nobody mentioned whether he was involved with anyone or not. And Ron just kept his head down the entire time shoveling food into his mouth.
On a more serious, and disturbing, note, Katie Bell had wound up in St. Mungo's after touching a cursed necklace that put her in a coma.
"Is she gonna be all right?" O'Bannon's insides twisted with worry.
"Hopefully," Ginny said. "Last we heard she was conscious, but incoherent. Sounds like it's going to take a lot of work to get her completely healed."
"It's Malfoy's doing, I'm sure of it." Harry spoke through clenched teeth. "He's been up to something since the start of term."
O'Bannon made a fist under the table, clenching it so hard it shook. Katie had been a teammate on the Triad, and more importantly, a good friend. Now she lay in a hospital bed because of that ferrety little prick.
You better pray you never come into my air space, Malfoy. O'Bannon wouldn't even use his wand. It'd be more satisfying to pummel the rat bastard into a bloody pulp with his fists.
The mood lightened when Jared regaled everyone with tales of his expedition to the Mayan ruins in Mexico. Rosa talked about her auror training, which George listened to with rapt attention. Artimus' experiences with the U.S. Office of Wizarding-Muggle Relations and O'Bannon's Muggle sports programs at the YWWAAA prompted a flood of questions from Mr. Weasley.
"So how do they catch those bis-bills with gloves . . . Do you know how those comp-tooters work . . . What about those rubber duck things? What do Muggles use them for?"
As soon as the table had been cleared, Order members began showing up. Professor Moody and Tonks arrived first, followed by a gaunt man in ragged clothing with brown hair liberally sprinkled with gray.
"Remus Lupin," he introduced himself to the quartet. "I've heard a great deal about you four. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
O'Bannon had also heard plenty about Lupin, too. Many of his Hogwarts friends called him the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher they ever had.
Next came a stout black man with a bald head. He turned out to be an auror named Kingsley Shacklebolt, who currently protected England's Muggle Prime Minister from magical threats.
A couple minutes after Kingsley's arrival, a tall man with long red hair and dragon tooth earrings walked into the kitchen. O'Bannon knew him to be . . .
"Beel!" Fleur squealed and launched herself at Bill Weasley, showering his face with kisses. Ginny turned away and faked vomiting. Mrs. Weasley started slamming cabinet doors shut.
"Lucky bastard," Jared muttered under his breath.
"Jimmy O'Bannon." The oldest Weasley child shook his hand. "Well this is a pleasant surprise."
"Good to see you again, man." O'Bannon had met Bill and the other Weasley brothers, Charlie and Percy, during the course of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He'd liked Bill and Charlie right off the bat. Both were cool guys with way cool jobs, Bill a Curse-Breaker for Gringotts Bank and Charlie a dragon handler. Percy, however, came off as a humorless workaholic who seemed perfectly content as a Ministry bureaucrat. O'Bannon never warmed up to him. Last he heard Percy had split from the rest of the Weasleys to support the Ministry of Magic over Harry last year when the former denied all reports of Voldemort's return, and tried to make the latter appear as a mentally disturbed attention-seeker. O'Bannon wondered if Percy finally reconciled with his family. No one had mentioned anything about it during dinner.
"By the way, congrats on getting engaged."
"Thanks."
"Eet ees wonderful, ees it not?" A beaming Fleur wrapped her arms around Bill's neck. "'Ow many ozzer women would, 'ow you zay, geev zer right arm to marry a wonderful man like my Beel? We are steel trying to decide where to 'ave zee wedding. Zere are several places in France zat would be ideal. After all, France ees a much more romantic country zan Britain . . ."
"I believe we should get this meeting started," Mrs. Weasley sharply cut off Fleur.
O'Bannon looked over his shoulder and noticed the twisted look on the woman's face. Why do I get the feeling not everyone is happy with Bill's choice of fiancé?
Out the corner of his eye, he noticed Rosa grimacing in Fleur's direction. Ginny slid next to her and whispered, "She's a bloody nightmare, I tell you."
Rosa responded with a slight nod.
After Harry, Ron, Ginny and Fleur had been ushered out of the kitchen, the quartet and the Order members sat around the table. Lupin started off with information about werewolves that had joined Voldemort's ranks and their plans to convert more people, especially children. Kingsley provided news on the latest "accidents" in the Muggle world likely perpetrated by Death Eaters. Tonks brought up the latest murders of wizards and witches.
Twenty minutes later, O'Bannon got his turn. He rose to his feet and informed them about Voldemort's followers smuggling Chupacabra into Britain.
"So what do these things look like?" asked Lupin.
"Oh, about three, four feet tall. Big black eyes, dark green scaly skin, curved spikes running down their back, sharp teeth and sharp claws."
"They sound rather nasty," Mrs. Weasley interjected.
"Only if you're a farm animal." Rosa sighed before continuing. "Their name is actually Spanish for 'goat sucker.' They drink the blood of goats, sheep, cows, any kind of livestock."
"What about people?" Moody asked.
"Attacks on people are rare, and almost never fatal," Rosa answered. "Chupacabra actually tend to avoid people."
"These things don't sound like much of a threat," Tonks noted.
O'Bannon stifled a grunt. He couldn't have agreed more with Tonks. Still he brought up Mrs. Diaz's concerns that if left unchecked, Chupacabra could wreak havoc on England's livestock industry.
"Maybe that's You-Know-Who's plan," said Mr. Weasley. "Try to cause a food shortage in both the Wizarding and Muggle Worlds."
"He'd need a lot of these Chupacabra to do that." Moody looked to O'Bannon. "Any idea how many of these things You-Know-Who's bunch brought over here?"
"No idea."
The lines of Moody's face deepened in a scowl. "I don't like this. There has to be something more going on with these creatures."
"Like what?" Jared scoffed. "It's not like he can make these things into warriors or anything. They're just pests."
"Then why would You-Know-Who be messing around with them?" Moody leaned forward, his large artificial eyeball darting amongst the members of the quartet. "If he wanted to disrupt the country's food supply, there are other, easier ways to go about it, rather than shipping in creatures from America."
"Well, we don't know." Annoyance crept into Rosa's voice. "We just know they're here and the Guild of the Light sent us here to help find them."
"So how do we find them?" asked Lupin. "More importantly, how do we protect livestock from them?"
"Well, they're burrowing creatures," O'Bannon stated. "That's how they're usually able to get past conventional wards. They just tunnel under them and pop up right in the middle of a farm."
"But wouldn't they still set off the wards?" Tonks queried.
"Not necessarily." Rosa shook her head. "Your average wards are cast to detect people or creatures possessing dark magic. Chupacabra aren't considered dark creatures."
"But they do kill livestock," Fred noted.
"So do wolves or coyotes, and they won't set off most wards unless they're cast specifically to detect them. The same is true for Chupacabra."
"They also run in packs," O'Bannon continued. "Usually between six to ten, so they can take out a bunch of farm animals in a matter of minutes. Vibration Wards can usually pick them up when they're digging. They also don't like bright light, so you can place a bunch of wards for that around stables or grazing land. Even a patronus charm will send them running."
"How do you kill them?" This from Kingsley.
"A simple Pest Elimination Potion." O'Bannon lips twisted momentarily. Like any potion was "simple" for him. His ineptness in that subject had prevented him from being considered for auror training. "We can get all the ingredients for it at Diagon Alley. Then we can either spread it around farms and grazing land or dump it down their dens."
"Doesn't sound like it'll be too hard to get rid of these things," George smiled confidently.
"The hardest part will be finding these buggers," Moody grumbled. "They could be anywhere in this country."
Kingsley raised his hand. "I'll speak with the Muggle Prime Minister. If there are any reports of multiple livestock deaths, I'll see to it they're relayed to us."
"Good idea, Kingsley." Lupin nodded. "Still, we shouldn't just sit around and wait for these things to strike. We need to be proactive and search for them ourselves."
"There's a lot of farmland in this country, Remus." Moody looked to the former DADA teacher. "It'd take a long time to cover them all."
Lupin worked his jaw back and forth. "We can start with those wizarding families that deal in livestock. Perhaps check out the larger Muggle farms. They won't have wards set up, so Chupacabra would have an easier time getting into them."
Several seconds of silence passed before Moody grunted. "It's the best we can do for now. I still say there's more to this Chupacabra business."
O'Bannon rolled his eyes. Had Moody not been so intimidating, he would have told the old ex-auror to quit being so damned paranoid.
They're only Chupacabra, after all.
TO BE CONTINUED