Day two of dealing with the 'children' was as exhausting as the first.
Fortunately, she had plenty of ways to distract small children. Most of them were more than happy to play outside with the toys she conjured up, with a few notable exceptions.
Azul and Idia had opted to avoid the others, and play quietly by themselves. Iris left them some child-friendly board games as well as some coloring books and crayons before leaving them to it.
Riddle had once again become a limpet, and refused to leave her side for more than ten minutes at most. Fortunately she was able to transfer him to Cater for a few moments to deal with the others.
Leona, Kalim and oddly enough Vil were all playing random kid games, with the rules changing so often she didn't bother to really keep track.
Right before lunch came around, Iris felt a slight tug on her sleeve.
It was Idia.
"What's the matter?"
Idia was incredibly shy, but persevered. He pointed to the pot Azul had taken to hiding in.
"Something happened to Azul?" she asked. He nodded.
"The ball scared him," said Idia.
"Oh dear," she said. She walked with Idia to the pot, and sure enough it was full of black ink. "He inked himself, didn't he?"
Idia nodded.
Iris gently tapped the side of the pot with her wand. It cleared up, mostly allowing her to see partially inside.
Scared eyes peered back at her, looking slightly ashamed.
"Come on, little mermaid. We need to get you cleaned up, and get some fresh water," she said gently.
Azul looked at her, before tentatively reaching out with his tentacles. Iris scooped him up before she wrapped a blanket around him to shield the majority of his body from view.
Idia tugged at her shirt again.
"Do you want to help Azul get cleaned up, Idia?" she asked. He nodded. "I'll have Floyd get a fresh pot of water for him to relax in while we wash off the ink, okay?"
Idia followed her quietly, and joined Azul in the small pool she had conjured up in lieu of a bathtub. It made cleaning up the children so much easier, even if there was a massive mess to deal with after from the splashing.
"You two try not to splash too much while I get Floyd, okay?"
When Iris returned, it was to a surprising sight. Namely a much more...mature...pair of Idia and Azul.
"...I was only gone for five minutes. How did you manage to reverse the potion that fast?" she asked.
Idia was blushing, but Azul answered.
"Someone thought it was a brilliant idea to kiss me as a way to calm me down. Next thing we knew, I was almost crushing him," said Azul dryly.
Iris mulled that over before she really had only one thing to say.
"To be fair, a lot of people including Ortho have been shipping you two as possible mates...I think Jade even has a rather impressive amount in the unofficial school betting pool over it."
Idia was wide eyed.
"There's a betting pool?" he squeaked.
"There's a betting pool for everything, especially in a school full of bored teenagers with one thing on their minds," deadpanned Iris. Azul snorted at that. "I'll call Jade and have him bring some clothes for you two...as well as the potion you use to retain your human form."
"Thank you," said Azul, slightly pink at the cheeks.
"Coincidentally we're still having fried chicken for lunch," she called out. "For the love of the Seven, try not to do anything too physical in here...that pool is a bit too small unless you really want to get creative."
Idia and Azul blushed brightly at that.
Outside...
"So Azul and Idia are back to normal?" asked Cater. He looked relieved to hear that.
"I'm guessing Idia's kiss speed up the potion wearing off. Those two have been pining after each other long before I showed up," said Iris amused.
Cater snorted at that before he realized she wasn't joking.
"If that sort of thing speeds up the potion..." he said, eyeing Leona and Vil.
The two shared a look, before Iris texted Rook with her suspicion. Fortunately Ruggie hadn't left because he knew Iris would feed him for free. Besides, he was Leona's Omega, even if Leona had never given him a proper Mate mark.
"You want me to what?" said Ruggie incredulous.
"Kiss Leona, and not in a chaste way either," said Iris.
"Why?" he asked suspiciously.
"Because it worked for Idia and Azul, and Rook is going to show up later to try the same thing with Vil to see if it works," said Iris simply.
Leona had been sticking to Ruggie far more closely than the others. And it was just a kiss.
Ruggie took Leona inside to get him cleaned up for lunch. Jade had already come by with clothes for Idia and Azul, and the two would be sticking around for the food before leaving.
If he looked hard, he could see the lion he had grown so fond of. It wasn't like he had anything to lose after all. Iris had flat out told him that if anything happened between him and Leona, she'd take him in with no hesitation. She had already given him one of the dragon pendants she had made for her clan, marking him as one of her own.
So, without a second's thought, he kissed Leona on the cheek.
Luna smirked at the squawk of surprise Ruggie let out when he had to deal with a fully grown, completely naked Leona Kingscholar on his lap.
Rook looked at the absolutely adorable Vil, and then at Iris.
"You're saying I have to kiss Roi du Poison to return him to normal?" he asked.
"It worked for Idia, Azul and Leona. I see no reason why it shouldn't work for you as well, considering how close you two are," explained Iris. "Oh and if it does work then at least you won't have to go back for his clothes. They keep reverting naked."
Rook gained a rather pointed gleam in his eyes.
"Not in our dorm!" said Luna cheerfully. "If you must indulge in such passions, then please traumatize your own dorm mates."
"Of course!" chirped Rook, already intending to traumatize the little crabapple Vil had taken under his wing.
Ten minutes after Rook took Vil inside, a less than amused Vil walked out, fully clothes and his original age.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience I must have caused you," said Vil.
"It's no trouble at all," said Iris honestly.
"It was fun playing dress up with you again, cousin!" chirped Luna. "I forgot how much it was to do your hair."
Vil's expression softened. Luna had always been his favorite cousin for a reason.
An hour later...
Jamil was extremely dubious about the girl's intent, but he also vividly remembered Iris' idea of appropriate punishment.
Which was why he took Kalim into another room (along with his clothes) and humored their suggestion.
Kalim was very quick to pounce on the Alpha the second the potion wore off, and it took a lot of cajoling before he even bothered to get dressed.
It was only because Iris surreptitiously sent a stinging hex to Kalim that got him off his preferred Alpha.
Jamil looked very ruffled and if one were to look closely, it was clear Kalim's actions had an effect on him. But he was too proud and embarrassed to act on them.
Floyd knew this was his best chance to snag his little Goldfishie. Iris had made it clear that she would not allow him to mate with Riddle unless he earned her approval first.
Riddle had changed greatly from the angry little goldfish from their freshman year. Iris' presence had been nothing but good for the other Omega.
Which was why the first chance he had, he offered to 'watch' Riddle while Iris and the others cooked.
Iris gave him an Look that said he wasn't fooling her for a minute. However the past two days had been rather tiring for her.
This was it...his chance to show Riddle his affections for him were not an idle fancy like the red head believed.
Inside the kitchen...
"So...do you think it'll work?" asked Cater idly. One of his clones was doing the prep while he relaxed.
Kids were exhausting.
Hearing an indignant squawk, Iris snorted.
"Floyd's moods might be mercurial, but I've never doubted his interest in Riddle. I just wanted it to be clear that if he allows his mood to dictate their relationship, I will not hesitate to flash fry his sorry arse," said Iris flatly.
Cater and Luna snorted at that. Riddle was her baby after all, even if she hadn't birthed him.
"Speaking of Riddle, you got a letter this morning," said Luna.
"His birth giver is suing me, I'm aware," said Iris.
Riddle's "mother" (and no one in Night Raven would even consider using that term for her), had taken great offense to the fact that an Omega had basically claimed her son from under her, thus ruining all her plans for him.
Iris had made sure to use every legal and magical route to claim Riddle as her family. Officially, he was her 'younger brother'. Unofficially, everyone considered him her surrogate son.
Add in the fact that Iris had documented proof of how much damage she had done to him, and the woman had no legal leg to stand on.
Besides...it wasn't like she was unable to afford professionals to permanently deal with the wretch.
As it was she was already planning to bring in the big guns against that hag.
Hermione would eat the woman alive and enjoy every second of it.
Hermione was fondly exasperated with her best friend and sister, but at the same time happy to have such a case dropped in her lap. Besides, everyone was curious about the newest additions to her family...especially Riddle.
Iris did not attach herself that hard to others that quickly. Luna was a rare exception, so the fact she had done so with a male Omega had raised more than a few flags.
Her first act was to find a flat that was reasonably priced and close to the school. She knew from long experience that Iris would give her plenty of work.
Luna was in the odd dorm that Iris had taken residence in with Iris' new familiar.
"Where's Iris?" asked Hermione.
"She's been kidnapped for the next day or two by her Alpha," said Luna.
"So who's this kitty cat?" asked a voice from behind her.
Hermione nearly hexed the cat-earred Alpha that showed up behind her. It took her a second to register the bottlecap necklace, and the matching accessories on Luna.
Clearly this was Luna's Alpha.
He grinned wickedly at her, but made no attempts to lure her.
"Iris has an Alpha?"
"They haven't slept together yet, but he's been good for her," said Luna.
Rather than look alarmed, Hermione felt only relief.
"In that case, where is the Omega Iris adopted as her little brother?"
"I can call him over. He's been curious to meet more of Iris' family anyway," said Luna.
Meeting the petite red haired Omega, Hermione knew she had met a kindred spirit.
Riddle took one look at her and knew she was the same person Iris had told him about when she initially kidnapped him.
As Luna would later put it, it was the beginning of the most terrifying duo to ever step foot into a courtroom. Iris would laugh her ass off whenever it was brought up.
