The Festival was finally winding down, tonight was the last of the events. A great many people had already left to return to their homes, it was not nearly as crowded as it had been even the day before. Many people still remained however, and so they had arrived at the park near Ash's house a little early.

Fred spread out the blanket, and Ash made it larger so there was room for all 5 of them to lay down on it if they so wished. George settled the hamper in the middle, and began to undo the latches to see what goodies Ash had purchased for them. Harry settled down on the opposite side of the blanket from Fred, and Fionn joined him. It had been another whirlwind of a day, and while they had enjoyed it, everyone was looking forward to the Festival ending. As George began passing out paper plates and napkins, Ash bounced to her feet.

"Save me some of the chicken, and a piece of the cherry pie. I'll be back before the fireworks start." She grinned and hurried off towards a pair of Gargoyles. One looked old, with grey hair and a slightly stooped posture. The other was younger, with light brown hair. They were both male, though no one Harry recognized.

What came out of the hamper mostly looked like normal Muggle picnic foods, and all of it smelled wonderful. Fried chicken, corn on the cob, ham sandwiches, potato salad, coleslaw, cookies of various kinds, cherry and apple pies. And a bowl of neon green... somethings. They were the size and shape of grapes, but they almost glowed. George poked one cautiously, and when nothing happened, he set it down near the other offerings with a shrug.

As Harry ate, he watched Ash and the Gargoyles. The older one at least, seemed to be a friend as Ash hugged him enthusiastically and appeared to be chattering at top speed about something. He stood there for a while listening, and then crossed his arms and shook his head at her. Ash actually seemed to wilt under his stern expression and her wings drooped a bit. It was quite odd, if Harry didn't know any better, he would think she was getting dressed down about something like a small child who had misbehaved.

Finally, it was dark enough the fireworks could start. There were Fire Demons and Water Demons paired up all around the park, with small black metal tube like objects they were settling on the ground. The Fire Demon of each pair had a large stack of objects that they set aside near, but not too near, the tube. And the Water Demon stood on the opposite side of the tube. Possibly for damage control in case anything caught fire that wasn't supposed to? Harry wasn't really sure.

Laying back on the blanket, he almost missed Ash come back and lay down with them. Fionn's head was resting on his stomach, with Fred and George in a similar position at the top of the blanket. The noises around them died away as everyone got comfortable and stared up at the night sky. And then... The first burst of color exploded against the darkness. Brilliant streaks of yellow and pink lit up the sky and streaked down to the ground like falling stars.

A dragon made entirely of red and blue swooped through the sky, it's jaws open wide and spitting fire. Pinwheels, more fantastic beasts, falling stars... Harry had no idea so many things could be done with fireworks. Some reminded him of Muggle fireworks, but most of what he was seeing could not have been accomplished without magic. Birds formed and flew across the sky before exploding themselves and raining down, only to fizzle out a few feet above the heads of the laying crowd. Every color he could think of was in the light show above him, and many he didn't know the names of. It was beautiful, and he was sure he would be seeing them burst behind his eyelids as he fell asleep that night.

Finally the last of the fireworks was done, and people began getting up and packing their things away. No one moved on Ash's blanket yet, content to lay there and stare at the stars. And then a tall shape approached and stood near Harry and Fionn, waiting silently. Fionn sat up and looked curiously up, and then Harry sat as well. Trying to blink the after-images from his eyes, he finally rubbed with his hands and blinked rapidly before being able to see who was standing there.

Laric was waiting silently with his hands behind his back. He was dressed more formally than they were used to seeing him. Instead of the casual clothes he usually wore, he was wearing slacks and a dress shirt. His black hair was still done in Warriors braids that fell half-way down his back, and he almost looked nervous standing there all alone.

"Laric?" Harry stood up, wondering if there was something wrong.

"I had these made for you. Will you accept them?" He held out both hands, one to Harry and one to Fionn. In his right hand was a bracelet that seemed to glow in the starlight. It was delicately wrought, but with a masculine flare. Butterflies were woven into the pale gold metal, while gleaming silver held everything together. It was almost tribal in style. In his left hand was a simple pendant in the shape of a tear drop, but the feather inside literally seemed to be on fire. It was very warm to the touch, and as bright as the fireworks they had just seen. The chain was simple, but had the same glow as the metal in Fionn's bracelet.

Harry cradled the pendant in the palm of one hand and stared at it a moment, as Fionn traced his fingers over the butterflies in the bracelet.

"The feather is a firebird feather, freely given with a mithril chain. And the bracelet is made of mithril and Montbrayite." He shifted a little uncertainly as neither Harry nor Fionn had spoken after seeing the gifts.

Fionn glanced at Harry a moment before shifting slightly to lean against him. Harry's arm went around the Fae automatically, holding him close as he looked up into Laric's ice blue eyes.

"Why are you giving us these? I don't know what Montbrayite is, but I know mithril isn't cheap, and firebirds are rare."

A faint pink appeared along Laric's cheekbones, but the Warrior didn't take his eyes off of Harry. "I wish to Court you, both of you. Will you allow my Courtship?"

"You turned me down flat only days ago. And I had not even hinted at Courtship then. Why are you asking us now?"

"You were my responsibility then. No matter my feelings on the matter, it would have been dishonorable to act as anything other than your Guardian while your Guide was away. To allow anything more than friendship then would have been akin to taking advantage of the situation for personal gain. I will never put either of you in a position where your honor or my own could be called into question."

Harry looked to Fionn, a question in his eyes. Yes, they had been talking about Courting the Warrior. But he hadn't expected it to happen this soon, or for Laric to ask them first! Was this still what the Fae wished?

Fionn smiled at Harry and leaned in to press a quick kiss to his lips before looking back to Laric. "I accept your token, and with it your Courtship." His voice was soft, but loud enough to carry to Laric's ears.

"I accept your token, and with it your Courtship." Harry echoed, then ran a hand through his hair. He was never going to get the hang of all these customs, at least he knew the proper words of acceptance this time though because Fionn said them first.

"Requested and Accepted, your Courtship has begun." Ash's voice fell into the brief silence, binding their Courtship with Laric as she had bound Harry and Fionn's.

Taking the necklace back from Harry, Laric opened the chain and slid it around Harry's neck. His fingers were warm as they brushed the skin of his neck and nape, fastening the chain into place. He then took the bracelet and fastened it around Fionn's right wrist. He had evidently paid enough attention to them to realize the Fae was left handed and that his gift would be better to be worn on the right.

Showing amazing tact for once, Ash whisked the twins away as well as the picnic things, leaving the newly Courting trio to a rapidly emptying park. Laric looked at them a moment, before holding out his hands in silent invitation.

Harry looked at the hands a moment, his stomach squirming slightly with nervousness. He had never really had anyone take care of him before, it had always been him taking care of himself or of others. Sirius had tried, but he was such a child still himself in so many ways, and they never really had that much time together. Ash looked after him and the others, but it was more a big sisterly kind of looking after. She expected them to do for themselves for the most part, except where her Guide duties fell. So it was still pretty much just him looking after himself and Fionn. Could he relax and let someone else take over? Did he know how to step back and let Laric lead? He chewed his lip, eyes indecisive.

Fionn squeezed Harry's side gently, and then stepped slowly away to take one of Laric's outstretched hands. His hand seemed almost to be swallowed up because of the size difference as Laric's fingers closed over his own. He looked back at Harry, golden eyes worried, but didn't speak. He just held out his other hand silently.

Finally, after a long moment, Harry moved. He slowly placed his hand into Laric's, eyes looking down towards the grass at their feet. As the Warrior's fingers closed gently over his own, he felt warmth run through him. Warmth that matched the heat coming from the firebird feather that rested against his skin. It was a strange feeling, familiar and yet not. He felt safe, and he somehow knew that even though Laric was most definitely a dominant, he would never ever do anything Harry didn't agree to. As Harry relaxed, he also realized he could feel the Warrior in the back of his head faintly, and Fionn as well. The Courtship Bonds had well and truly taken, and he felt the relief that Laric felt because Harry had taken his hand. While it didn't show on the Warrior's face, he had apparently been as nervous about it as Harry had been. And somehow, that made Harry feel better about things. He looked up and gave the Warrior a shy smile, which was returned by both Laric and Fionn. Was this how Fionn felt, letting Harry make most of the decisions? He didn't think he could be completely submissive as Fionn was, but maybe not being in charge all the time would be good? Maybe this Courtship would turn out well after all.

AN: Montbrayite is a metal that really exists. It is so rare that it is only found in 5 mines anywhere on earth.

Thanks as always to my beta, Nicky Noodle.

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