Manannán quickly disappears into the mist to scream in rage and frustration with Rosie and Sam. Both of whom are having trouble with things that even a child should know about magic. Taking a deep breath, he carefully reminds himself that magically they are the youngest of children and the society they've grown up in doesn't use magic the right way anymore.
Returning from the mist, he forces gentleness into his voice as he crouches down beside Sam, "Sam, you've done really well at finding your mother. Do you think you can try going somewhere else?"
Sam shakes her head stubbornly, "Na ah!"
Rosie smiles, "Rosie sweetie, what about Aunty Tina?"
Sam shakes her head, "Aunty Tina say no visit when sun up."
Running his fingers through his ears, Manannán wonders how he ever managed to deal with his own children. Then he winces as he remembers he kept going to war. Desperately he casts his mind back to what they liked when he had to look after them.
"Sam, have you ever been to the Sea Side?"
Sam shakes her head, "No?"
"I have an island with a beach and a boat you can pretend to be a pirate in. Would you like that?" Sam nods her head, "Well, do you have the necklace I gave you?" Sam proudly pulls it out and displays it to him, "What I need you to do is push a little magic into it when I take you into the fog. Then follow it to the island. Can you do that for me?"
Sam nods before trying to take the necklace off again, and Manannán sends a silent prayer of thanks to Ecne for his foresight in making it smaller than her head, as well as fastening it with magic. It doesn't take long to drop the child into the mist and return.
"Rosie, you haven't yet managed to go anywhere in the mist deliberately. Why is that?"
"I don't know, you said I needed to picture where I want to go, and then walk there. But I just can't."
Manannán runs his hands through his hair again, "Is it somewhere that you really want to go, where you feel safe?"
Rosie shakes her head, "Not really, no. After Madam Bones caught us, I keep thinking that someone's going to come along and tell us it was a mistake, then take my memories."
Manannán clenches his fist, but manages to stop reaching for his sword, how can mortals be so stupid? "Fine! Do you think you can push some magic into the necklace that your wearing?"
"Um?"
"Right, Danu give me strength. Take my hand and I'll show you to my home. While you're there absolutely nobody from here will be able to find you and take away your memories. And Amelia wouldn't want to anyway, otherwise she wouldn't have given you magic."
"If you're sure Mr Lir."
Damn, some of his frustration must have shown, as she only does that when he's scared her. Forcing his voice back to being more gentle, he nods and smiles, "Yes I'm sure. Learning how to navigate the mist is the first thing you need to learn. And the only way to do that is by going to places you really want to go."
Taking Rosie's hand, he leads her to his island home.
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Daphne's sitting with a couple of old men, who are drawing in the dirt with sticks while gesturing to the bits of wood she's been playing with. The subject of the conversation is wooden joints used in construction of buildings. The occasional whisper from someone using her name in a prayer, which is massively better than being poked. While she's working, a long pull accompanies a flurry of whispers. The second time the pulls comes, she disappears into the mist involuntarily.
Just as she's about to leave the mist once more, the pull comes again. Now annoyed, she turns and follows the pull to a small village in the mountains. Stepping out of the mist, she is ready to shout at the person who pulled to her, but instead she sees a young boy, bleeding from a head wound, looking at her in awe. Around her people are crying out, and the breezeblock houses in the area are in various states of collapse.
"My Mother, my Father, they're still inside."
Spinning around, Daphne sees a collapsed building, at the front lies a man buried under the rubble, the door lintel lying on his neck. In a detached manner, Daphne notes that there's blood on the ground just past the man, where the boy probably fell.
Bringing her magic out, she starts to levitate the roof panels away even as the top most blocks start to sprout legs and walk away. Hearing a moan from inside, she desperately calls to Airmed.
"Airmed, I need you, something's happened and all of these homes have fallen down."
"We were pulled here by a prayer, and your father is being shouted at by a holy man, calling us devils and telling us to begone. I think it was a time of prayer, as there are a lot of injured here."
As she clears enough rubble to move the lintel, Daphne carefully lifts it off and levitates the man out before she takes Harry's symbol and calls for him. It takes her 10 minutes of calling before he appears looking drawn, weary, and inconsolable. Marianne walks out of the mist holding his hand.
Harry rubs the salt off his cheeks as he looks at Daphne, "What…?"
Daphne looks at him before pulling him into a hug, "I'm so sorry, what ever has happened, I'm so sorry for calling you. So many houses here have collapsed, and this boy's mother is inside." Switching over to Marianne, she hugs her two, "And I'm sorry to have called you too. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Marianne's eyes turn black as she looks Daphne in the eyes, "There is none alive in that dwelling. Tarry not, for the living cannot wait upon the dead."
Daphne reels back, "But the boy's mother!"
"There is none alive there." Marianne's cloak appears around her as she raises her hand and points at a building, "There is one there on the cusp of life and death."
Marianne then turns to the boy and crouches down next to him, "Child, do not mourn the lost of your parents, for they are beyond your reach now. Instead, carry them here, in your heart, and grow to be a person they would be proud of. If I could, I would give you a last few moments with them, alas, I have not yet passed the trials needed."
Ghosting into the mist, Marianne moves from one rescuer to another pointing out where there are no living where they're searching, and providing words for those who have lost loved ones.
Harry too allows himself to sink deeper into Brigid's memories in order to function as he stabilises buildings where the occupant is in danger of being crushed, healing the worst of the wounded, so they can be moved to the normal healers, and not thinking about the tree and Kate. The only thing that keeps him Harry is the promise to his mother to always stay true to himself.
Meanwhile, Daphne guides the crying child over to some of the adults in the area, and tries to explain that his parents are dead, before she moves onto the next building where rescuers are trying to get at someone that's trapped.
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Jimmy looks up from his work as Minerva walks into his shop with another muggleborn. Frowning slightly, he makes his way to the counter, "What can I do for you Professor?"
"Mr Creevey here needs a wand."
"I see, you do remember that I don't do pre-made wands."
A large man nods from behind the pair, "The professor did mention that. However I'm a working man, and the way she presented it, a wand is your tool. And properly cared for, will last the rest of your life. Now, see I may only be a milkman, but the way I see it we can either pay 35 quid for an off the shelf tool that is mostly right for my son, or we can pay you 70 quid for the right tool, one that will always be right for him. Then I saw in your window that you're doing something called Virgin wands for another 30 quid on top of that. Now, what I'd like to know is what is a virgin wand?"
Jimmy nods, "I see. A virgin wand is one that has only ever had one owner, and that is the person who picks it up first. No other magic has touched it before then. As you can understand, the premium on ensuring that all the components are harvested without the use of direct magic justifies the price, even if you don't include the fact that you'd normally need to go to a grand master in order to get one made for you."
Mr Creevey nods, "I suppose I can see that. Do we need to decide whether to pay the extra for a virgin want now?"
Jimmy smiles, "Not at all, I can determine what I think would be the best wand for your son. If you are paying extra for a custom wand, then I suggest that you also have a look at the holsters on the shelf over there. As they will all protect from accidental breakage if you happen to fall over, while also keeping the wand handy. I would personally recommend a belt holster unless you're into duelling, as they are cheaper than wrist holsters, and for most people are just as convenient."
"Colin?"
The boy, Colin, smiles and nods, "Please sir."
Jimmy laughs, "Sure, just stand there."
After a moment Jimmy speaks up again, "I think you would do well with a Beech wand, as you are creative yet could still do with some discipline and patience. As a core, I think you would be best served with Unicorn Hair. Both of which are readily available both virgin and normal stocks. Though, Professor McGonagall, I will point out that the price of unicorn hairs is going up as Hagrid has been bringing in less from Hogwarts."
Mr Creevey stares at the ceiling for a moment, "Can you take pounds rather than these shiny coins?"
Silently, Jimmy thanks his mum and Tina for starting to do business in the muggle world, "Sure, I can even take something called a cheque. I've got the details here."
Mr Creevey gives a massive sigh of relief, "That would be grand, listen, could I make out two cheques and you don't pay the second one in until September?"
"Um, sure?"
"Brilliant, looks like we can get you your camera Colin. We'll take a virgin wand please."
Colin does a happy dance, and needs to be calmed down so that Jimmy can take his measurements, "By the way, as you're paying by cheque, if you can pay $5 in cash now, I can send the wand by Royal Mail Recorded Delivery once it's done. Rather than you needing to make a special trip to pick it up."
He's barely finished talking when a battered £5 note lands on the counter.
As Jimmy's writing up an invoice, and Mr Creevey is writing cheques, Minerva asks, "Mr Kiddell, may I ask, what are cheques, and why do you take them?"
Glancing up, Jimmy replies, "They are a type of promissory note that means that I can give that to my mum, and she can take it into… Barclay's Bank, they will then take the money out of Mr Creevey's account and put it into her own account."
"Why does your mother have a muggle account?"
Jimmy laughs, "They've got more than that, Mum and Tina took their dresses to a Re-naissance fair? Near their new houses and sold out of two weeks of stock in two days. One of their neighbours saw them there and helped them set up their own accounts. We swap money if we need things, as I get most of my wood from the muggle world, as it's usually better quality, and I know that it's not transfigured or had magic used in it's gathering process."
Minerva looks disapproving, "I see. And what of the magical craftsmen you're denying your business to?"
Jimmy just laughs and doesn't say anything more.
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Over the next several days, Morgana has to drag Harry and Marianne to get the shopping, that needs their presence, done in Imber. Beyond that, both of them spend increasingly more time sitting in front of the first tree. Even going so far as to ignore the odd prayer sent their way.
It doesn't take long for Daphne to contact the rest of their classmates that can make their way to Harry's domain. Together, they start to keep them company and distracted. Whether it's with school work, or with weapons practice, no matter what they try to stop them from dwelling on whatever is bothering the two of them become more agitated over time.
What prayers came her way were easily brushed aside due to her concern for Harry and Marianne.
That is until August 26th, the news called it Hurricane Andrew, all Daphne knew is that suddenly the prayers came in thick and fast, and she could no longer ignore the pull from them.
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Harry and Marianne tried to smile for their friends, but always their thoughts returned to the tree and the person who is currently inside it. Harry, because he still remembers the good times with Kate, whether at Bowling, A Celtic Day, or seeing her watch Marianne at practice.
For Marianne, it's because Kate is her mother, and no matter how much she thinks of Morgana as her mother, she'll never be able to replace Kate. As the school holiday comes to a close, their friends are able to spend less and less time with them, Susan because she's staying with Amelia and Manannán, Daphne because her name is well known, and Megan, his most recent student, because her family is celebrating a win by her cousin Gwennog by going on a late holiday.
A day before Kate is due to emerge, Airmed, Morgana, Dora, and Reginald Greengrass all start being pulled away due to a sudden increase in prayers sent their way.
As the 28th, the day that Kate should emerge, dawns, Harry and Marianne sit hand in against the tree. All day they sit there until the sun finally sets, and they begin to cry.