Cousins 3

Part 1: Chapter 33

Part 2: Chapter 39

The smell of coffee and tobacco smoke woke Xander and upon opening his eyes he saw an old Indian sitting at the desk and drinking a cup of coffee with a hand rolled cigarette in his other hand.

"Morning," the old man said.

"Morning," Xander replied calmly, the blonde on his shoulder slowly waking up.

"Um," she said nervously.

"Xander," the old man said with a nod. "I've been told I should train you and seeing the way you took out those blood suckers last night, I'm inclined to at least give you a shot."

"Train in what?" Xander asked.

"All the things a warrior should know," the old man replied. "Magic, Demon slaying, motor cycle repair."

" Not sure if I'll be any good at magic, but the other two sound useful," Xander replied.

"Demon slaying?" the blonde asked nervously.

"Only hostile ones," the old man replied. "Live and let live is a good policy to follow in most cases."

"Oh," she said, some of the tension going out of her.

"Can it wait until we get dressed?" Xander asked.

"Sure kid," the old man replied. He took a deep drag of his hand-rolled and blew it out, actually obscuring their view of him, and when the smoke dispersed he was gone.

"That was a very cool trick," Xander said.

"Yeah," she agreed." You aren't upset..."

"No," Xander Waved it off only to wince. "I mean yes, terribly, terribly disappointed, but I have a feeling I'm not your type and I'd rather have a friend then someone who awkwardly avoids me because we slept together."

She hugged him and the spirit of a nurse from the Korean War faded away, pleased to have helped.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Interfering old coot," a young Indonesian woman muttered, her blood red motorcycle gear clean and new, a marked difference from the old man and his Harley, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Always," he agreed. "Any idea on what you're going to teach her?"

"She's an Earth witch," the woman replied. "I'll teach her how to dance, maybe some singing if she has the voice for it."

He nodded, not seeing the need to say anything more.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"So, an American cousin," Ron said as he spun around and launched a dizzy garden gnome over the fence to sail off cursing into the night.

"Apparently," Harry agreed pouring a thimble full of fire whiskey for a gnome and pointing him towards the open gate.

"Think he's better than the Dursleys?" Ron asked.

"The local prison is better than the Dursleys," Harry assured him, serving another tiny drink to a gnome who left with a spring in his step.

Ron nodded and grabbed another gnome, spinning it around like a top half a dozen times before launching it over the fence. "Any idea as to what he's like?"

"As long as he's not a mass murderer I'm happy," Harry said pouring out another drink.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"He's a mass murderer!" Molly exclaimed wide eyed as they watched the memory in the pensive.

"Look again," Dumbledore ordered as he showed the elder Weasleys the copy of the pensive memory he'd received from the American counsel.

"What...?" Molly's voice trailed off as she watched the vampires more closely. "Demons!" she hissed.

"I know they talk about how dangerous American muggle schools are, but demons?" Arthur asked in shock.

"Yes," Dumbledore agreed absently as he examined the multitude of half seen spirits floating around Xander, casting several spells to make them more visible.

"He's a necromancer?" Molly asked, wondering how many more shocks she could take.

"He's not calling them or commanding them," Arthur noted curiously.

"He's not compelling the dead at all," Dumbledore agreed. "He's simply taking their advice and from their wounds, I'm guessing, they were killed by vampires."

"And he wants to raise our Harry?" Molly asked, not sure how to feel.

"It's definitely a political move by the American council, as for this young man's motives," Dumbledore took a breath before continuing, "I'll know more once I've met him"

"Can we meet him?" Arthur asked.

"If you don't mind, I was planning on asking if I could bring him here so they could they could meet somewhere Harry felt safe at."

"We'd be honored," Molly said quietly.

"Excellent" Dumbledore said as the school exploded behind them. He'd been hoping the Weasleys would volunteer because he didn't want Alexander anywhere near the Dursleys.

Typing done by Falkun