Chapter 42, Anything For A Bro
Loughness was studying late into the night in the Slytherin common room when Hydra's Howler came. He'd decided rather last minute to prepare a bit for N.E.W.T.s. As Sortia had decided to prepare several months ago, she was still in the common room as well, studying at his side. Hydra's Howler was short and to the point.
/"Meet me at Gringotts now if you can. I'm okay. Thanks in advance, Bro."/
"Do you want me to go with you," Sortia asked, lowering her Alchemy text book.
Loughness shrugged. "You can if you want, but she doesn't sound stressed so there is no particular need if you'd rather continue cramming."
Sortia bit her lip as she clearly struggled to decide. "I suppose I'll stay here. I could stand a study break, but the parents may be vexed if I sneak out." She scowled. "They mind the strangest things! If I Crucio a Prat that had it coming, they don't mind, but if I do it in Herbology class because said prat was harassing me for two hours straight, they mind."
Loughness chuckled. That had been one of the Potter brats their very first year at Hogwarts. Albus put a tracker on Sortia's wand after that which allowed The Headmaster to see every spell she cast. He'd had to cover for her because she'd actually cast an unforgivable curse. Loughness didn't see why that particular one was so unforgivable right up there with one of those for killing, but who could understand the weird and often backward laws of the government.
Albus had covered for Sortia, claiming that she'd merely cast a bellyache charm on the Potter brat. It certainly hadn't ended there, though. Albus had been furious. He'd put the tracker on Sortia's wand so that if she ever tried anything like that again, or anything at all that he had a problem with, he'd know. As a result, Loughness or Hydra had to punish anyone who Sortia developed a problem with so that it could not be traced. She had always been one to appreciate them for their superior elf blood, though, so they never minded helping a friend out.
"If it's anything worthy, I'll come back and get you. How's that," Loughness offered as he rose to his feet.
Sortia brightened. "That sounds good. If I risk trouble, it should be worthy. Thanks."
"Sure," Loughness said. "Watch my books for me until I get back, will you?" Sortia nodded and he Apparated out of Hogwarts as only elves could do. An instant later, he was standing in front of Gringotts, shivering in the chilly May night air. "Thank you, Loughness," Hydra said warmly from just behind him. He turned to see her standing with Ballan.
"Sure?" He arched inquiring brows, waiting for her to tell him exactly what this was all about.
"I know it's late and I appreciate you, really I do," she said. "Let's go inside and we'll explain everything." When he nodded, she grasped his arm and Ballan side-Apparated them into a small flat. Leaf and Greok sat together in an arm chair, but Leaf got to her feet when they arrived. "Would Loughness like some tea," she asked.
"It is very good tea," Hydra said.
"Well I suppose I have got to try it then," Loughness chuckled. "Thanks, Leaf."
"Of course," the little elf sang out before hurrying into the kitchen. The flat was so small that Loughness could see the nook of a kitchen's outline off to the left of him as Leaf moved about readying the tea. Hydra wasted no time in explaining the situation and Loughness listened thoughtfully without interrupting. When Leaf returned with a small cup of tea in one hand, Ballan gestured toward the room's other armchair.
"You can sit there. If you're about to potentially do me a huge favor, the least I can do is provide a seat for you to have your tea."
Loughness grinned, taking the cup then the seat in that order. The tea really was good.
"So you want me to try to shag in the forest and see if I can make the stars come out," he asked. "I mean I wasn't going to ask Kereston out this early, but I suppose for you two, I could speed up the process," he told Hydra and Ballan.
Hydra choked. "No. That wasn't what we called you here for, Loughness," she managed after a moment. "We wondered if you'd share the situation with the daddies and see if they have perhaps had a similar experience, and if not, what they make of it. We were going to go and talk to them, but the discomfort was presenting a bit of a challenge for us both so I thought of you."
"Oh. Sure I can do that," Loughness said. "Shall I return and tell you what they said?"
"That would be great," Hydra said. "And thank you, Loughness." She crossed the room and bent to hug him, careful not to dislodge the little china tea cup from his hand.
"It's no problem," Loughness said, feeling a little embarrassed at all the attention in this particular situation.
"I will really owe you one," Ballan told him sincerely.
"Anything for a bro," Loughness said with a grin. He drained the rest of his tea and stood, passing the cup back to Leaf. "That really was great tea!"
The little elf flushed. "Thank you."
"I'll be back," Loughness said, then Apparated out of Greok's flat and into the front hall of #12 Grimmauld Place. "Daddies," he bellowed. "I need to talk to you!" So if you're being nasty or anything, you'll need to stop!"
"Gods, Loughness," Regulus called back. "We're in the library."
"What ever is wrong with that child?" Loughness heard Kreacher mutter as he entered the library.
"Hi," he said, ignoring the comment as he crossed to the fire to ward off the night chill. "Hydra has some news that she asked me to deliver. But first-" he turned to regard his parents. "Have you seen the stars while in the Elf woods?"
Regulus and Kreacher sat curled together in a large armchair. Kreacher was sprawled across Regulus's lap and they held a large tome, each supporting one half of the book with a hand. They exchanged a glance before Kreacher shook his head. "Why," Regulus asked. "What has happened."
Loughness grinned. "Rather astute of you indeed, for something has happened. You see, Hydra and Ballan were shagging in the forest. It was all her doing, I am sure. Afterward, they noticed that they could see the stars. The lack of wind or temperature remained unchanged though, so the shift was only visual. In around five minutes, the stars gradually faded, and now all is completely back to normal."
"She has done this too soon," Kreacher murmured, expression dismayed. "She should not be growing up quite yet."
"From my understanding Daddy Regulus was sixteen when you and he discovered your romantic connection," Loughness said carefully, making a disgusted face when he finished speaking.
"That was us," Kreacher huffed. "It is different for girls."
Loughness disagreed, but simply expressed this fact with quietly raised brows. "What do you think the stars thing means," he asked, attempting to bring the focus back to where it belonged.
"We cannot know," Regulus said. "But we shall investigate."
"How," Loughness asked.
"By learning if it's about our family or anyone shagging or any elves shagging I suppose," Regulus said with a sigh. "It is going to be embarrassing to ask humans and elves to shag in the forest for us to see what happens," he lamented. "That and we don't even know any elf couples."
"Ripper's parents are still alive," Loughness said. "They work for Corvus's brother if memory serves."
"Brilliant," Regulus said. "I'll ask Bella and Rod to enjoy a bit of private time in the forest to see if the stars show themselves. While I'm at it, I'll ask Rod to speak to Ripper's parents about assisting us in this as well."
"Good," Loughness said with a chuckle. "Because something tells me that Ripper would not want to ask them. It simply isn't a conversation one wishes to have with one's parents. Trust me, I'd know."
"Well thank you for telling us, Loughness," Regulus said. "Kreacher and I should pay the place a visit right now to learn if the stars would shine for us. For all we know, it could just be about Hydra and Ballan."
Loughness made a face, well aware that his parents were about to go shag in the forest. "Just send a note and let us know what the end result was and what's next," Loughness said before Apparating back to Greok's flat.
"Told them. They're off to shag in the forest." He made a face.
"Were they angry?" Ballan asked a bit worriedly.
Loughness shook his head. "Nah." He made a face. "They're off to shag in the forest now with updates to arrive soon I assume."
Hydra groaned. "Eu. Thanks, Nessy." She sat with Ballan in one of the two armchairs while Greok sat in the other.
"Glad to help, Hi-De-Ho," he replied dryly.
"We need to get more chairs," Leaf sang out from the kitchen. "For now, why don't you transfigure the coffee table into one, Greok?"
Loughness held up a hand as he shook his head. "It's alright," he told Greok quickly. "I've got to get back to Hogwarts. I've decided to bother studying for N.E.W.T.S."
Hydra's face fell. "I should return and do that too. And I will at sun rise."
Loughness grinned happily. "Cool. Go ahead and cost your house points. More for mine."
Hydra always hated doing anything that would cost Ravenclaw any points, so he found this new, quietly rule breaking Hydra to be rather amusing.
"We aren't babies anymore, Loughness. We are legal adults, and tonight I could not care less about house points. Besides, if I lose any, I can always do something to win them back. We've only a few more weeks left, and I am so ready to be done."
That he could agree with. "Alright." He gave her a brief smile before turning to the others. "See you later, then." Raising his voice slightly to be heard more clearly in the kitchen he called, "Bye, Leaf. Nice seeing you again."
"Thanks again," Ballan said, rising to clap him on the shoulder.
"Sure," Loughness said. "And the Daddies really are fine with you and Hydra. Of course they're upset that it happened so soon, because it means they must come to terms with the hard fact that their baby girl is an adult and doing adult things an entire year after Daddy Regulus started."
"I hope you brought that up," Hydra said and Loughness chuckled.
"I did." See you all later." Waving, he Apparated back into the Slytherin common room to catch Sortia up on all she'd missed before returning to his own studies. He was about to turn in and grab a few much needed hours of sleep when the note arrived from Hydra in the form of another howler.
/"Loughness! I just realized something interesting that may or may not be relevant to the stars coming out in the forest. Ballan is twenty-six. He is nine years older than me, which is the same amount of years between Daddy Regulus and Daddy Kreacher. Now I am not saying that means anything, and I am not saying that it does not. I am saying that it sort of gave me an eerie feeling, though."/