Chapter 7, With Great Power, Comes Great Stress
The family was still in the library when Kereston finally got home from work. The little blonde entered the room looking drawn and tired. "Today was so fun," she drawled, flopping into a chair near Daddy Kreacher's own. She worked in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, and when there was a bigger than usual mess to deal with, it was not at all uncommon for her to arrive home from work far later than usual.
"I'm so tired, yet I still have to get up early tomorrow and go back in at the usual early hour. I don't think they care if we get sleep or food. They probably expect us to choose one or the other. After lunch today, a dragon decided to attempt to mate with a Muggle aircraft! And yes, I get how insane that sounds. IT was a baby dragon, and clearly not very smart yet. Fortunately no one was hurt. The air craft was just singed a bit, and had to be landed but the Muggle pilot, or whatever they call it, managed to take care of that without any hitches. It's nice when Muggles can actually come through," she concluded with a relieved sigh.
"The bloody Romanian Dragon Sanctuary needs to be more careful, though. You'd think they could keep a baby dragon contained, and if they can't, I fear what will happen next. If they let a big one escape, it's going to do more than try mating with Muggle aircraft. It'll be more interested in having it for lunch." The interesting thing about Daddy Kreacher and Kereston's friendship was that both talked quite a lot, yet still could patiently listen to one another. At times watching how this unfolded was an astonishing feat in itself that one could appreciate with open fascination.
"Kreacher is sorry," Daddy Kreacher said sincerely. "Did Kereston have dinner yet?"
She shook her head and sighed. "No. I just got in and wanted to decompress for a moment before putting anything into my stomach. We had to capture the baby dragon, repair the burn damage on the stupid aircraft without breaking how it works, which is so much harder than it should be, then restructure the memories of the Muggles on board so that they believe they had mechanical issues rather than dragon related issues. Restructuring memories is so much more of a headache than just Obliterate them, I swear! If the sun had set by the time we needed that done, I'd so have asked you two to come and vamp them into thinking what we wanted them to," Kereston told Kreacher and Regulus.
"The elves were holding back dinner for you," Loughness assured unnecessarily. Unnecessarily because this was always the case. "I'll go tell Stormy that you're home, though, and he can just bring it in here. You can catch us up on the day's events while you eat."
Kereston's expression brightened as she turned to Hydra's twin with a warm smile. "Oh thank you, Loughness. That's so sweet."
Loughness's face lit up as he bounded to his feet. "It's never a problem," he assured, then hurried from the room. Hydra kept from rolling her eyes and sighing with a supreme effort. Loughness was obsessed over Kereston from the time he'd started liking girls. That was around seven. If Kereston only knew, she'd probably feel weirded out, so Hydra kept it to herself out of respect for the blonde. Kereston was a very nice person and didn't deserve to feel creeped out by Hydra's overly horny brother. Gods, boys were gross!
"The Daddies told us that you're going to be Minister sooner than later," Hydra said. "I think the whole plan is very exciting. Congratulations."
Kereston smiled. "Thank you. I think it's exciting too. I just want to be a part of making things better. It's all I've ever wanted. At first, my focus was mainly on crime prevention and making the magical world safer. I wanted people like Voldemort and his lot to be killed rather than locked up so they could escape again. Then when I befriended Kreacher, I really got to see not only how powerful elves are, but how poorly they are treated by wizards too thick to see it." Hydra nodded. She was aware that Kereston's own family, though Pure-blood, had never owned a house elf, so other than briefly meeting the house elves of a few friends, Daddy Kreacher had been her first long term exposure to them. When Daddy Regulus had emerged from hiding just before Voldemort's death, his intention was to help behind the scenes as much as possible to bring the monster down.
He'd worked with other Dark wizards who stood against Voldemort, of which Kereston was one. She was between finishing Hogwarts and working at the Ministry at that time as it was during the summer. As Daddy Kreacher was always with Daddy Regulus, she'd met him at various meetings and the two found much to talk of, forming a natural connection that continued to grow into a close friendship over time.
"Through Kreacher and Mag, I was able to learn more of goblins as well, and I am truly honored that Griphook finds me worthy to work with," Kereston told Hydra. The Daddies had become friendly with Griphook because of Mag, who was Griphook's best friend. They'd gotten to know one another when Mag's fixation wit the magical properties of gemstones had her dealing with Gringotts to get the best of them for the magical jewelry and wands that she crafted. Mag was Serpensortia's mum, and also a close friend of Daddy Regulus. The two very much enjoyed playing music together, or jamming out as they called it.
Hydra loved listening to them, because their music made her feel like nothing else. While Daddy Regulus was away in hiding falsely believing that Daddy Kreacher did not want him, he'd channeled his misery through music, thus discovering his own bardic abilities. Hydra loved to sing and he believed she'd inherited his a Bardic gift. She hoped so. She hoped to touch people the way his and Mag's music touched her. What with school, she didn't have as much time to practice as she'd like, but each summer she dedicated herself to music as much as she could.
"Griphook couldn't find anyone better than you," Hydra told Kereston. "He knows you're going to make a grand Minister!"
"He could've found himself," Kereston said with a chuckle. "I'm sure he'd make a fine Minister, and he's older than I. Not old, just you know, not as young as I am."
"No humans will accept a goblin as Minister right now," Hydra said. "It's too soon."
"I don't believe that," Kereston said. "We're only going to leave the best of the best with magic at first, remember. The most decent and un-shitty. All of those on our side appreciate goblins for their unique and superior magic and willingness to set the past aside and build something better together."
"Well enough of those who will be without magic shall still manage to make things difficult even without spells to do so if a goblin is in power with everything else changing. Griphook is smart enough to know that. He chose well and you will do wonderfully." Loughness entered then carrying a tray for Kereston. "Where is Stormy," Hydra demanded. Seeing her brother carrying the tray jarred her in a way she couldn't quite explain.
"In the kitchen," Loughness replied, giving her an odd look. "I told him I'd bring Kereston's tray. I was coming back in here anyway. No reason for us both to do it." He turned an adoring smile to Kereston as he placed the tray on her lap. How did the little blonde not notice him drinking her in with his eyes, Hydra wondered, making a face. The tray held a bowl of chicken salad, a chicken sandwich and a chilled glass of pumpkin juice. The elves tended to make cold meals during the hot summer, which Hydra quite liked.
"Thanks, Loughness," Kereston said, giving him a warm smile that caused him to puff up all in the chest and shoulders. Hydra struggled not to sigh and nearly succeeded. Loughness had started training with Rodolphus Lestrange in body building when he was eight years old or so. Rod was really into that and Loughness had always wanted to be ripped. Considering both of the daddies were slender, he knew it wasn't going to happen naturally, so had asked Rod to help. Rod was amenable.
The Lestranges may terrify most people, but they were good to family. Well most family if they weren't blood traitors or whatever. They'd even kept Daddy Regulus and Daddy Kreacher's secret back in the day when they'd discovered that the two were a couple. Mainly to spite Sirius Black, who also knew, but still. Such a thing could've been enough to make the Lestranges turn against most people, but they loved the Daddies so had supported them if grudgingly, keeping their secret even from Grandmother Walburga.
Perhaps if they had told her, things would have been different. She believed they would've at any rate. She was certain that if they'd told her, she could've handled things far better when it all went south with Voldemort nearly killing Daddy Kreacher in The Black Lake to hide his Horcrux. As if Hydra thinking of their grandmother had summoned her, Walburga Black drifted quite literally into the room. "Good evening, Kereston," she said warmly. "Or good morning, rather. It's half past midnight. You must have had a dreadful day."
Kereston groaned, and nodded before taking another bite of her chicken sandwich. "It involved a young dragon and a Muggle aircraft," she said after swallowing her food.
Walburga snorted. "That's Muggles for you. Just imagine. When you become Minister, you won't just have one department to deal with. You shall have it all, and today shall feel like a cakewalk when you look back upon it. You may be thinking that sitting at a desk and running it all will be easier, but no." Though Walburga was a grandmother, she looked quite youthful. As a ghost, resummoned from the realm of spirit, she manifested in the way she saw herself. Her and grandfather Orion both saw themselves as they'd appeared in their prime, so it was now how they were eternally. At Walburga's dire words, Kereston cringed.