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The Yankees Nephew and the Philosophers Stone	By : Wilde_Guess Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 5806 -:- Recommendations : 5 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter Universe I am making no money from this fanfiction

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
Chapter 4. Problems, Solutions, and Dilemmas.

The Weasleys split off from the Dvorak/Floyd party in the Leakey Cauldron, which had managed to get back to normal. The Dvorak/Floyd party had one other legally required stop before they could leave London. So, they drove the roughly half hour through London Traffic from by the Leakey Cauldron to Grosvenor Square, and managed to park their cars.

The entire group entered the Embassy, and the magical ones guided the non magical ones to the special entryway that no-Maj people normally didn’t use. Even after 1965, most no-Maj people needing MaCUSA help approached the main counter and asked about the green passport services, and were then attended to by MaCUSA personnel.

Taking the special entryway to the MaCUSA Main Lobby, John was greeted by some of the counter staff who knew him in passing. “Afternoon, John! Aren’t you on Christmas Vacation still?” one person greeted him.

While walking up to her counter, he replied, “Merry Christmas, Rhonda. Wand Registration and import duties to pay, along with school registrations. I’ll also need to talk to both DCMs. Frank decided to hold a “Family Presser,” and my USA sister-in-law cold-cocked a Wizarding reporter for calling my first wife a whore in public at the Leaky Cauldron. They’ll want to hear it from me before they read it in the Prophet or the Ghost. The Quibbler and the Siren were both there too asking questions, along with God-knows who else who just took notes.

“She didn’t quite ask Frank to declare a blood feud, thank God, but it was a near-run thing. My boys also pulled ‘three cherries,’ so they’d need to be told about that even without the brouhaha.”

While manipulating several buttons behind her counter, she replied, “I’ve sent the message upstairs. Hopefully, I can get the rest done before they call, ‘cause we both know that when they call, you won’t keep either of them waiting. You got all the parchment-work done already? And, did you bring all of their wands in with you, too?”

John told her, “Even the ‘cherry’ forms. Frank thought to bring some along, and I’d had all the rest done up last night except for the actual wands and sales prices. On one of the ‘cherries,’ I had to do an estimated price ‘offset’ for services to be rendered, so you’ll want to double-check it.”

Rhonda looked through the forms for Danny’s wand. She astonished said, “Wow! Sakura and Chinese Fireball Dragon Heartstring! No wonder Ollivander didn’t want to take payment for that. But, your estimates are solid enough. I’ll stamp it “close enough,” since you did mark it up twenty percent over Michael’s and David’s Phoenix wands, where the usual premium is only fifteen percent. That’ll be two checks; one to MaCUSA Treasure and Dragots for twenty-six Dragots, and one to the US Treasury for $26, since they exclude magical items from your duty-free allowance unless you apply for a waiver. And you’re better off just paying it than bothering for such a small amount.

“And while we’ll accept Hogwarts for David, he’ll have to get special use lessons signed off by their Charms Professor, Filius Flitwick. Don’t believe anything Dumbledore tells you about his DADA Professors; even the good once suck eggs lately. Flitwick is a champion dueling master, and he also has a cherry wand. For Danny and Michael, they’ll have to take training with our Aurors. Even David will have to take a test with the Aurors after his first year. And the Aurors will have to witness you pinning the holsters for the ‘cherry boys,’ too. At least you got Auror Holsters for them; the last time we had an exchange student get chosen by a cherry wand, they didn’t, and we almost had to confiscate the poor kid’s wand before they let him buy the holster for it. That was in ’68, right after I started working here, and that was only a unicorn tail hair core.”

John wrote his two checks, using his Gringots account for the Dragots and his Barclay’s account for the dollars, and passed Rhonda the two checks. She, in turn, passed back a receipt. She asked John, “Is everyone who needs their passport stamped here? And do they have their passports with them?”

After John nodded, she announced to John’s party, who were the only ones in the lobby; “Okay, After I stamp John’s passport, I’ll need the rest of you to line up in the order I call you. If you got a cherry wand, that’s a special stamp in addition to the wand stamp. If you’re no-Maj, your stamp will keep you from being Obliviated, or having your memories of magic erased, should you be encountered by Obliviators here in the UK. Remember that you all are governed by the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Even with your Treaty listing, you are still subject to severe civil and criminal penalties if you knowingly and willingly reveal the secret existence of the Wizarding World except in cases of saving lives or in some cases property. Even then, you are required by international law to help local Obliviators identify unaware no-Maj individuals when required to maintain Wizarding Secrecy.

“These stamps will also allow you to keep using your USA Passports instead of obtaining MaCUSA Passports. This is especially important for those of you who are no-Maj, since we’re still having problems getting MaCUSA Passports to work correctly for no-Maj citizens. The MaCUSA Passports need your magic to work, even if it’s the smallest amount.”

Rhonda was very efficient, and she got all the passports stamped right before her message light lit up. She read the accompanying parchment slip before she spoke again.

“John, both DCMs will see you in the joint conference room on the fifth floor. The rest of your party needs to wait in the joint conference waiting room outside, since the DCMs will need to speak with them after speaking with you.”

John thanked Rhonda, and took the employee elevator up to the fifth floor, or as the British would say, took the employee lift to the fourth. As the space-charmed elevator started to lift, John pronounced, “This should probably end well, but you never lose your temper and attack a local, even if ‘they have it coming.’ Because of Skeeter’s provocation, we will be able to avoid prosecution and jail time, but we may have to PNG Hannah, and she might not be allowed back. PNG, or persona non gratia, is used in lieu of criminal prosecution by the host country for minor offenses committed by diplomatic personnel, and they literally kick you out of the country and stick you on the next plane back to the United States if they PNG you. Both MaCUSA and US courts would concede having your dead older sister being falsely called a prostitute in a public bar in front of witnesses constitutes ‘fighting words,’ and any lawyer Frank would hire would get any criminal charges and tort claims dismissed, likely without you even having to appear in court. This is not a joking matter though, and it could have ended in disaster.”

The elevator doors opened on the fifth floor, and the party walked to the waiting room. Both Deputy Chiefs of Mission, the career State Department employees who were second in authority behind the politically appointed ambassadors, were waiting in the roomy and comfortable waiting room. The door to the conference room itself was already open. Neither Jonah Walking-Cloud, the MaCUSA DCM, nor Oscar Toland, the USA DCM, were particularly happy looking; although they weren’t angry, either. Jonah was in his early seventies yet still fit, and Oscar was in his late fifties. Both men were of just taller than average stature and build. Jonah’s hair was white and worn in a braid to the small of his back, where Oscar’s hair was short, and “salt and pepper.”

John followed the two men into the room and stood on the near side of the table, while Oscar and Jonah sat on the far side. The three men were actually friends, and John actually reported directly to both men. While Jonah closed his eyes and appeared to slowly wave to an imaginary crowd, Oscar opened the conversation.

“Well John, at least you told your sister-in-law off on the elevator on top of coming in to tell us right away, even with other stuff you needed to do. And we’ll deal with what the papers say when the papers say it. What happened?”

John answered, “I’m sure you’ve been told about how sometimes Frank ‘sees’ possibilities, and while he hasn’t admitted to me that he actively set things up, he also knew that there was a strong possibility of getting accosted by the press this morning, especially if he bought back two bottles of his stupid-expensive whiskey at retail. Oscar, that shit Frank sells goes for double or more the price of Johnny Walker Blue! And he bought a round of the shit for everyone in the place, including the kids! So, yeah, every reporter who was anywhere close showed up; even Xenophilius Lovegood. He’s an honest guy from what I’m told, and he listens to Albus Dumbledore too. So, the worst we’ll see from The Quibbler is the unvarnished truth – that Rita Skeeter entered a bar looking for a fight and found one.

“So, Frank has his press conference going, and my personal opinion is that no matter what Frank says, he did it to ‘stick it’ to Ilvermorny turning his kid Andres away because of his dyslexia two year ago, and to the Midwest Division Bureaucrats who were harassing my brother Abner Junior and threatening to illegally Obliviate his wife Hannah and him and either taking their two kids away or sealing their magic cores. You don’t threaten Frank’s family, whether he likes them or not. And, we’ve all tried getting closer to each other even when we find it hard. Since I’m Frank’s brother, my brothers Abner and William are also Frank’s brothers; and both Abner Senior and Sally Dvorak had Floyd blood in them, so they’re absolutely covered under the Treaty.

“Anyway, second question in, Rita Skeeter asks, and this is the full direct quote; ‘Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet. Is it true, Lord Dvořák, that your wife is a stripper and a whore?’ I was not a ‘public person’ until this morning, and none of the UK Wizarding public know or care that I’m remarried. My first wife Catherine sweated blood to put her younger sister Hannah through college at UIUC, where she also met and married my older brother. As you both know, Cathy was a Playboy Bunny and Playboy model. She kept modeling even after we were married. But while neither of us were virgins when we first encountered each other, Cathy never worked as a prostitute, or if she did, it was well before we met. After our first night together, I was the only person she had sex with. Even when modeling for that hillbilly slug Flynt, she never modeled with anyone else.”

Oscar asked, “Is there any chance at all that she did, John? Or, for that matter are you sure that Danny is biologically yours?”

John took a deep breath and let it out. He replied, “I understand why you had to ask, Oscar. I’m not happy, but we’re still friends, and I’d have asked in your place. Other than telling me about her whack-job parents, she volunteered nothing about her past. She made it sound like she worked as a waitress. I only found out about Hannah when Hannah married Junior, and I only learned about her youngest sister Stacy when Stacy married my brother Rick. So, she could have been a whore before she went to work at the Playboy Club in Chicago in 1960. Cathy is also a private citizen who has been dead for almost six years, and whose living minor children, niece, and nephews were in the same room. So, yeah; actual malice against teen children.

“And the no-Maj US Navy Medical Corps answered that question in 1967, even with Danny having my eyes and blood type. He’s my kid. The shape of his eyebrows is mine, along with the shape of his nose.

“Hannah’s reaction was quite understandable, even if it’s absolutely a Diplomatic Incident for us. In response to having the closest thing to an actual mother she had publically vilified if not outright slandered, Hannah grabbed Skeeter by the hair and punched her one time, breaking her nose and knocking her out cold. Hannah moved so fast that even an Auror ready-to-stun couldn’t have stopped here. Junior and A.D. were able to pull her away from Skeeter, but only because they were her husband and son. Otherwise, Rubeus Hagrid wasn’t saving Rita Skeeter.

“To finish up, the next question was from Ed Limus, who is a more ‘proper’ reporter. He said, ‘Ed Limus, Daily Prophet. I apologize for the rudeness of my ‘napping’ colleague. But I ask with respect about the background of your late first wife, and what her vocation was before marriage.’ He asked respectfully. And while I don’t go bragging about Cathy being an exotic model, everyone in our immediate family does know about it. And while Cathy was very discrete about keeping her ‘job’ separate from her life, it’s not like it could never be discovered. So, I answered the question honestly, with a generous dose of ‘spin.’ Cathy’s nut-job sexually abusive religious fanatic parents were descended from Scourers, so I told the press that. They did have Stacy taken from them and adopted away, and while I didn’t mention that, I won’t deny it. The relevant court cases are public record after all. And I explicitly told the press that Cathy put Hannah through college where she met and married my brother, and correctly explained that Hannah has the no-Maj US equivalent education to a Hogwarts Professor.

“We answered the rest of the questions posed to us. I also made it explicitly clear that the press conference was Floyd/Dvorak family only, and that we were not representing either the US or MaCUSA Governments. So, the Prophet can’t come at the Embassy directly. Since Hannah is ‘double-covered’ by the ’65 Treaty, we can have MaCUSA PNG her instead of having a no-Maj prosecuted before the UK Wizengamot if it comes to that. The Ministry can’t and won’t have a no-Maj UK Court try this, and they couldn’t even try without blowing the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. So yes, it’s really bad, and I won’t insult your intelligence by trying to say it isn’t. But, it could have ended up so much worse.”

Jonah opened his eyes while calmly gesturing, pronouncing, “You have a friend in this room; John, son of Abner.” This was not how Jonah normally spoke, so both John and Oscar looked to Jonah’s hands. Oscar and John were both fluent in American Sign Language, so the real message was quite clear: “Bug Animagus, John’s hair. I will distract and stun.”

John replied, “I thank you, noble War Chieftain. May I kneel before you and receive your blessing?”

Jonah replied, “I will come around to you. Please kneel.” John kneeled as Jonah started his chant in his native Apache. Jonah Walking-Cloud was one of only two or three genuine War Chiefs still living, and like John had won the Medal of Honor. Jonah had gained both honors in World War II on the USA side, even though he was MaCUSA and should not have joined the Army. But, when you need to curry favor with Southwestern District Voters in MaCUSA, and you could also use a genuine War Hero, you take whom you can get gratefully.

Jonah stood in front of John, chanting an actual Apache blessing, and stunned the beetle Animagus before either it or John realized that he had his wand out. Jonah gently scooped the stunned beetle out of John’s hair and set it on the conference table. As both Oscar and John stepped behind him, Jonah forced the Animagus back into human form, revealing a stunned Rita Skeeter, with a freshly magically-healed nose and bruising still forming on her face.

Oscar actually whistled before quipping, “John, remind me to never insult your first wife in Hannah Dvorak’s presence – ever.”

After all three men finished laughing, Oscar stated the obvious. “Sometimes, John, you get lucky, and the trash takes itself out. Too bad we have to give at least some consideration to UK Law.”

To John’s puzzled look, Jonah supplied, “In the UK, an Animagus once recognized must be treated as a human person even in animal form. In MaCUSA, unless the family of the dead Animagus can prove otherwise beyond a reasonable doubt, if an Animagus gets killed in animal form, tough nuts. I won’t say exactly when or where, but I once shared a meal of roast venison, carved straight off of the roast deer in my presence, that tasted suspiciously like roast pork.”

As the security team entered, Jonah instructed, “She will only remember that she was in the Embassy and breached as far as the Joint Conference Room, but she will remember no details of what she may have seen or overheard while bugging John Dvorak, especially anything about wands. This is not negotiable. What she may have seen or heard are National Defense Top Secrets of both the Magical Congress of the United States of America, and of the United States of America under the Constitution of 1787. While you will make every effort to not harm her; if you make her a vegetable, she’s a vegetable; and if she dies, she dies.”

While Jonah Walking-Cloud said this in the conference room itself, it was clearly heard in the waiting area. Since this came immediately after a group of eight men Portkeyed into the waiting room, and was followed up by those men carrying Rita Skeeter out of the Conference Room on a stretcher, this did get everyone’s attention as well as make them all very nervous.

After Chief Walking-Cloud waived his hands again, which was actually a wandless Hominem Revealo charm he cast, he told them, “We are free of spies now, and this waiting area is also fully secure. Mrs. Hannah Dvorak, you should also be free of the burden of your loss-of-temper this morning. Miss Skeeter will not be harmed, as far as it is in our abilities not to harm her, but she did potentially learn information that would harm both of our governments. What she did was an amateurish act of espionage, and we will treat it exactly as such. Her capture by MaCUSA Embassy Security Forces will be announced within the hour. Her Majesty’s Government will be told, and their magic aware side will be told the details. The UK Minister Bagnold herself will be obliged to lead the team from their Department of Magical Law Enforcement who accept her into Ministry Custody from MaCUSA Custody. And if that asshole Crouch tries to get even the slightest bit uppity, both of our Ambassadors will be called home for consultation, and their Ambassadors will be sent home for consultations. With that having been said, John and Frank, why have the two of you brought an un-dosed Werewolf into my Embassy?”

John replied, “With everything else going on, we didn’t think to expect problems with him. Werewolves here are still actively persecuted. The MaCUSA side isn’t much better, but the UK Ministry still considers them beasts.”

Frank added, “While John gets the fine points, he’s still catching up on the Magic Side. He should have informed you of the fact that Mr. Remus Lupin has been under House Dvorak Protection for just over two years, and is now also under direct House Floyd protection as well. John and I, with the Harry Potter incident still in full play, haven’t had the time to arrange for Wolfsbane Thearapy at all, much less a MaCUSA Certified Doser to administer it. Mr Lupin does self-confine correctly, and he has an Animagus Auror stand guard over his vault now that he has one available. Mr. Lupin was infected when he was six. Albus Dumbledore himself knowingly admitted Mr. Lupin to Hogwarts, vaulted Mr. Lupin during term for all seven years, and Mr. Lupin has taken personal responsibility for the rest of the time. He is not a Cultist or a Clan Member; he’s just a Wizard with a horrible disease. He has infected no one, and he makes every reasonable effort to infect no one.”

Remus himself added, “Sir, there was one incident at Hogwarts where Professor Dumbledore’s measures were deliberately breached. No one was infected, but the victim of the incident is Hogwarts’s current Potions Master, who still bears a grudge, even though he will never complain publically. Auror Black was one of the culprits…”

Sirius interrupted, “I was the only culprit, though in my own defense I’m not the stupid kid I was in school. The other person punished by Professor Dumbledore was James Potter. James turned into his Animagus form of a Stag, and prevented Remus from infecting, or even harming Severus Snape in any way. Dumbledore punished both James and me as harshly as he possibly could. But if he’d actually reported the full incident, he would have been sacked from Hogwarts completely, and only being the Defeater of Grindelwald would have kept him out of Azkaban. James and I would have seen our wands snapped plus a long sentence in Azkaban, and Remus would have been executed – at fifteen.”

Jonah asked, “Is this the Death Eater Dumbledore claims was a spy for him?”

“Yes, sir.” Sirius answered. “Severus Snape came from a less-than-ideal background, and grew up with Lily Potter and Petunia Dvorak. He was Lily’s childhood friend, and to the extent that man could be in love with anyone, he was in love with her. I’d wager he still is. James and I met Severus and Lily on the Hogwarts Express. Between James and me, and Lily and Severus, it was mutual dislike at first sight, except for James having a huge crush on Lily Evans. James and I were both from wealthy backgrounds, and while Lily wasn’t poor, Severus absolutely was. James and I, for our own individual reasons, did not like the Dark Arts. Severus knows more about the Dark Arts than most Dark Wizards. And, Severus was sorted into Slytherin House where the other three of us were sorted into Gryffindor. Because I was rebelling against my family, who always sorted Slytherin, I was antagonistic towards them, especially after managing to sort into Gryffindor myself.

“Being spoiled stupid kids, and in my case also being abused by my Dark Arts favoring parents, we bullied Severus relentlessly, though he gave as good as he got. This was also the time when Voldemort was recruiting followers, even in Hogwarts. And while he got followers from all four houses, he did most of his recruiting, and got most of his followers, from Slytherin. Voldemort even claimed to be Slytherin’s Heir, and was known to be a Parselmouth. Lily finally broke ties with Severus after a bullying incident where he ‘snapped’ and called Lily a ‘mudblood.’ She eventually fell in love with James after Fleamont died and James grew up mostly, and they married after they got out of school.

”Whatever Snape saw in Voldemort’s cause, Dumbledore is convinced that Snape ‘un-saw’ it, and he did provide Dumbledore at least some useful information that Voldemort would not have given us just to make a double-agent look good.”

Everyone by this time had taken seats in the secure waiting area. After a minute’s silence, Jonah asked, “Frank; without details the Treaty states I can not ask for, do you have a safe house in the Midwest Division where you could move Mr. Lupin to quickly if needed? This is just to cover all bases.”

Frank replied, “I do. If you had to get him out of here, you’d only need to put him in the Diplomatic Pouch to either Kennedy or O’Hare, and we could meet him at the gate. As far as that goes, Doctor Lambkins could probably hire him on at Ilvermorny. We’d just have to register him immediately and get him set up into a Potions Regime and Quarantine Cell.”

John stated, “I just remembered that I was supposed to tell you for Homer Anderson and Tom Brandt that the password was ‘aardvarks kissing.’ They tested my children, my wife, and me, and I’d asked them to Obliviate themselves. They said that they would, and that they wouldn’t get in trouble, but that I was supposed to tell you that password.”

After waiving to one of the more obvious cameras, Jonah told John, “They were correct in what they told you, although because of the Treaty, they also told your brother Frank the scores via telephone, and they only magically sealed the memories. The password you just gave us will let us unseal the memories, probably before you all leave for Surrey, since they’re both on-duty today. I’ll go out on a limb and guess that you didn’t want your children’s, or your own scores known before a time of your own choosing?”

John told him, “I still don’t want them known. However, keeping our statuses as Wizards secret is pointless, since we announced it publically this morning, without my wanting it revealed. I still don’t want people widely knowing that all of us are in the ninetieth percentile of measured magical indices among wizards and witches. And, that’s on top of all three of my sons carrying sakura wands. Garrick Ollivander made it clear enough that sakura and fruit cherry wands were about as potentially dangerous as they come when he tried to take Danny’s wand away right after it accepted him, even beyond the extra parchment work I had to fill out for all three wands. Sometimes, Frank ‘sees’ things, and he’s done it all my life. It isn’t exactly frequent or reliable, but if Frank sees something, you damned sure take a look yourself.”

While Anderson and Brandt walked into the room carrying a piece of paper, Jonah announced, “And now, the circle starts to close itself. If I may, Frank?”

At Frank’s nod, Jonah took a look at the note Brandt handed him. After sighing, Jonah told Brandt and Anderson, “Obliviate each other completely this time. The two of you are not cleared for this, and you don’t want to be.”

After the two men left the room, Jonah explained, “John, if Albus Dumbledore and I left the UK, your children and you would likely be the strongest wanded wizards in the British Isles. The magical index scale is linear, until it hits 2.0. Then, the scale becomes a base-10 logarithmic scale. While it is still far more a scale measuring potential then it is actual reserves or capacity, there are no ‘weak’ wizards or witches with high magical indices, only untrained or untrainable ones. As just one example, neither Ilvermorny nor Hogwarts bothers trying to teach the Patronus charm below the NEWT level in Defense. The Patronus charm is the charm used to repel or herd Dementors. We don’t do this for any malicious or oppressive reason; we do it because most students under fifteen can’t do it. More than a third of adult wizards and witches are unable to cast it at all. Of those who do learn it, only six in ten can get a full corporeal Patronus, though even the mist the rest get will repel a Dementor. All three of your sons will be taught the Patronus before David leaves for Hogwarts, and I would be surprised if any of the three don’t learn it.”

Another aide entered the room and brought a stack of parchmentwork to Jonah and left again. Jonah looked through the forms, nodded to himself, and handed the stack to Remus. Jonah told Remus, “I’ll need these forms filled out before the end of the week. Frank has volunteered to help you. And Frank, I’ll need a clean shell company for the contract.

“MaCUSA and US State Department security personnel identified you easily enough, Remus. We all figured out immediately that you were no threat either to the Dvoraks, or the interests of MaCUSA or the United States. But we didn’t know what to do about you. Our laws are more just for those with your affliction than those of the UK, but that is not exactly a ringing endorsement. Out of the options available to us, we are offering this, unless you explicitly refuse.

“Should your affliction become public knowledge, your Ministry of Magic citizenship would be void, and the no-Maj UK Government would be powerless to protect you because the Royal Charter granted to the Ministry prevents it. However, because of multiple treaties between MaCUSA and the British Ministry, we can offer assistance. If you apply for and are granted MaCUSA Citizenship along with Floyd Family Protection, we can ensure your safety, and even ‘allow’ you to help with the Dvorak children, and whomever else the Dvoraks direct you to teach.

“The MaCUSA Government can not hire a werewolf directly. But we can let a contract to any company eligible to bid on contracts for services supplied to either MaCUSA or the United States. If that company hires a lawfully registered werewolf who is otherwise fully qualified, unless the contract explicitly blocks them from doing so, we can’t do anything about it. There are lawfully registered werewolves who teach K-12 education, both magical and mundane, working for private schools, except for our Southeastern and Northwestern Divisions where Division Law still restricts their employment. So, we’ll issue a contract to…”

David interrupted, “Orchard Municipal Aviation Services, War Chief Walking-Cloud. My name is David Dvorak, and I own the company. We have very recently branched our aviation training unit out into new-to-us aircraft classes regulated by MaCUSA rather than the United States Federal Aviation Administration. After personally interviewing Mr. Lupin, I find him a competent and qualified instructor generally. We will hire him provisionally and allow him any needed time to get any additional certifications he needs to conduct flight training, and any other training for which he is qualified relating to this new-to-us aircraft type.”

Jonah asked, “David, is ‘Orchard Municipal’ already a real company?”

David solemnly replied, “My birth-father started it in 1966, before the ink was even dry on his medical retirement from the US Army. We’re the largest helicopter operator in the Midwest, and one of the largest civilian operators in the United States. We specialize in Vertol equipment; the only organization operating more tandem-rotor helicopters than us is the Department of Defense. And the name comes from the original names for the two principal airports in Chicago, where we’re based.”

After a moment’s silence, Jonah smiled. He pronounced, “Your ingenuity, loyalty and conviction bring great credit to both of your fathers. Since the UK doesn’t have a special qualification, any certified Charms or Defense teacher can teach these classes, providing they can ride a broom at all. The MaCUSA certifications are more difficult to earn, but we only need instruction in the UK and British Ministry of Magic regions, so this shouldn’t be any problem. I would recommend that Remus get those certifications anyway, but that is only a suggestion. Whom would I talk to about the details of setting up the contract?”

David replied, “That would be my Dad or Uncle. But they already know my intentions, and our margins at Orchard Muni are good enough to allow for more than just the salary for one overseas instructor, though if they subsidize the costs, I won’t complain.”

Frank added, “I’ll help out on this one, John; and he was definitely Rick’s before you adopted him. Second time he’s stepped in and helped, Jonah. First time was in Ollivander’s. He felt Michael’s and his own wand on the shelf.”

“Is he the one with the dragon heartstring, Frank?”

“No, that would be Danny, the one with the black hair next to John.”

Jonah looked at Danny, as the teen nodded and waived politely. Jonah looked before pronouncing, “I wish to help train all three of the sakura wand holders, but particularly Danny. Danny, are you Buddhist?”

Danny answered, “No, I’m Roman Catholic. I have read about their teachings though, and I work towards personal calmness. I believe that one can have and share intensely powerful emotions and be better for it, but to act or react rashly is not good. If you need to act instantly, you should act instantly, but at the same time as wisely and calmly as things allow. From everyone’s reactions to my wand, I’m guessing that I need to build on my philosophy, for the good of those whom I protect as well as myself?”

Jonah replied, “Well spotted, Danny. Cherry wands, especially sakura wood wands, can channel great power, especially for lethal combat spells. When combined with a dragon heartstring core, especially from the Chinese Fireball, this is a wand that is a truly deadly weapon. If such a wand chooses a wizard or witch lacking self-control and strength of mind, it is a tragic and senseless death waiting to happen. A genuine pacifist casting in extreme anger can kill with a non-lethal spell with a cherry wand, particularly sakura with a Chinese Fireball heartstring core.

“We normally never present any cherry wand to a young student for their first wand, because cherry wands almost never accept less than a fully grown wizard or witch. Because of their greater tendency to cast deadly spells than other woods, we also regulate them closely. But cherry wands are not outright illegal anywhere, and only MaCUSA regulates them so closely. But they can be particularly dangerous if the wizard or witch wielding them isn’t emotionally fit and calm.”

Danny asked, “What about Walnut?”

Jonah told the whole group, “Walnut is a good wand wood, and so is cherry. The hazard with walnut is that if you truly master the wand, and you have a weakness for the Dark Arts or are otherwise devoid of conscience, that your descent into madness and destruction will be precipitous. But walnut wands almost never bond to such wizards or witches. Walnut is the wand of scholars, not of madmen. And walnut will only take the power you give it, where cherry often has the tendency to take the power you can give it, which is like the difference between lightning bugs and lightning.

“Any wand can be abused or used for evil purposes. And walnut will not turn you evil; it will only make your fall that much faster, since walnut wands teach their wielders every bit as much as the wielder teaches the wand. You have to teach evil or madness to a walnut wand for it to teach it back to you, and this doesn’t happen with only one spell; not even the Killing Curse. Taking and magically claiming the walnut wand of a madman may test your moral fiber, but it won’t make you a madman yourself, because the madness isn’t in you, and it will dispel from the wand with time.

“But cherry, because it almost demands its wielder to cast powerfully, especially when coupled with the most power-demanding of the three great cores, is no ordinary wand. If you wield a walnut wand and cast a stunner in extreme anger, you will get a more powerful stunner. With sakura and Chinese Fireball, if you cast with the fury of a thousand suns at your target, you will deliver a thousand suns of fury at your target. Even a tickling charm will kill.

“My guess is that Master Ollivander was trying to humble you for some reason, not expecting the wand to choose you, and ended up being the schoolmaster of his own correction. I’m also guessing that all three wands are connected?”

Danny answered, “All three wands came from the same limb of the same tree. The same phoenix gave the tail feathers for both Michael’s and David’s wands.”

John added, “My three sons swore a blood oath in Latin, in unison, to “be ready, come the day, like my Father was before me. Danny had sworn the same oath on his word in English after his wand chose him, but before all three boys had claimed their wands. How significant is this, Jonah?”

War Chief Jonah Walking-Cloud thought pensively in silence for several moments before answering, “They will do what needs to be done. John, I was in South Vietnam at the same time your older brother and you were there. I even rode on your brother’s helicopter a couple of times. CW2 Richard Christopher Dvorak’s Distinguished Service Cross should have been for the Medal of Honor. I don’t know who downgraded it, or why. Your sons will be ready, come the day. I will help teach them.”

“But my MaCUSA Auror attaché and I need to watch you pin the holsters your children and wards received” Jonah pronounced as the attaché entered the room. Jonah further explained, “Your children, particularly your three sons, will carry their wands differently than their peers. They will only remove their wand holsters at home. They will carry their wands responsibly, and at all times. They will also be absolutely certain to carry their passports at all times, too. Their wands do not have a Trace on them, unlike what a student would normally have. They should also think about wearing long sleeves at all times in magical areas, although they don’t have to. Auror Holsters are usually illegal for civilians to use or wear. Your children are some of the exceptions, and the laws will hold true. But at the same time, they shouldn’t just go waiving their holsters around in people’s faces, since the charm that normally makes them invisible is easy enough for a wizard or witch to spot, just like the tailoring of a suit jacket over a pistol holster.

“Part of these unusual rules for your children is because of the Treaty. The rest will become clear enough as they progress in their magical studies, and the training your sons receive with me. While a lot of my training will concentrate on meditation, and some extra introduction to the Mind Arts, they will also learn offensive and defensive combat spells.

“Students, all six of you have a no-Maj background, and understand firearms. Consider your wand a firearm. Beyond dueling practice or a real life emergency requiring you to do so, you will not point your wand at anything or anyone whom you do not want to destroy, and even then you had better have the lawful requirement to destroy them. While you can also cast other charms, you shouldn’t use your wands in schoolyard fights, and you absolutely must not use your wands where no-Maj people can, or even might see, except to save lives, or in some instances property. While you are still teens and children, your circumstances have forced you to shoulder adult responsibilities, and to pay adult consequences should you fail to meet them. Finally, you three Dvorak Brothers will not casually discuss your wand materials. Avoid lying, but do not give a true answer to anyone you don’t trust with your life. Line up along the wall with your wand arm sleeve rolled up. Put your holsters on your wand arms, and take your wands in your hands.”

The six kids checked their shopping bag, and found that they all had Auror Holsters, along with their wands. They handed the holster out and put them on, since they didn’t yet need to be “claimed,” and they passed around the correct wand to the correct person.

Jonah handed John a silver pin and asked, “John, do you know how to pin a wand?”

John answered, “Auror Black had it demonstrated for all of us this morning, we should be fine.”

John went to pin Danny first. Both Michael and David placed their hand on John’s but not to stop him. Jonah stated, “Though instinctual, that is correct if you wish your brothers to be able to remove your holster.”

Danny replied, “I do.”

John pinned Danny’s holster with Michael and David’s hand on his. This was repeated with Michael and David, each brother having the hand of the other two helping to pin them. Andres and A.D. had the hands of all three Dvorak brothers on John’s hand as their holsters were pinned.

Pixie stated, “Only Uncle Frank will help pin my holster. I am Uncle John’s ward. I am family to all of you. But I am not of the cadet house, only its ward. I am a ‘Drake’ by name for various reasons. But I am of House Floyd, and I will not show my throat to the cadet house, beyond the Head of House who cares for me.”

Danny calmly stated, “You are the grand-daughter of the Red Fox. But it is the Son of the Dragon whom you will follow into battle, even while following the Spider in other things. Choose wisely here, your holster may be re-pinned after the warfare is accomplished”

Pixie looked at Frank and replied, “Dominus meus vult, Filius Draconis.” The three Dvorak brothers helped their father and uncle pin Pixie’s holster. After the holsters were all pinned, Jonah gave a quick lesson to everyone who needed it on how to draw and re-holster a wand from an Auror holster.

With the pinning completed, Oscar stated, “We still haven’t figured out who you’ll keep working for long term, but it will be the USA side, for now. You’ll need to get caught up on the MaCUSA and ‘Family’ stuff quickly, though. If the UK Ministry ignored you before, they won’t be ignoring you now. You’re still a State Department Diplomatic Employee, and they have to respect that by international law. But, they now know that you are not just some overlooked Squib. Listen up for the phone, but otherwise you’re still on leave ‘til after New Year. And, will you be getting a Floo in your home?”

Jonah reminded Oscar, “John is living under blood wards, and for a damned good reason. We can’t extend our separate secure Floo system out to Ashford, the UK Floo System is still compromised by the terrorists, and unlike our quaint ‘English Cousins,’ we know how to use the telephone.”

“Fair enough. Nice to meet you all, or see you again as appropriate. Abner Junior, your book on Beowulf was brilliant. Maybe next time we meet up, I could have you autograph my copy?”

After everyone finished laughing away the last of their tensions, Junior replied, “You can count on it, Mr. Toland. While I’m at it, I can also have Hannah autograph a VHS Cassette of Rocky for you?”

After Hannah quit swatting Junior, and everyone else quit laughing, Oscar replied, “It’s ‘Oscar’ if I can call you ‘Junior,’ Doctor?’ My minor for both my Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees was English Lit, and your Beowulf Commentary was the best I’ve ever read. If I were to try teaching English Literature, I’d use your book for my text on Beowulf.”

With goodbyes said, the group left the Embassy and took the reverse path back to Ashford. This included Remus quietly going into the Leaky Cauldron and picking up a copy of the evening Daily Prophet. The headline read: “Prophet Reporter Arrested by MaCUSA for Espionage and Breaking into MaCUSA Embassy.”

§§§

The group arrived back at Ashford to find Bill and Charlie Weasley sitting on the porch along with Aaron, with the younger two boys moping and visibly not speaking with each other. David, being the first to approach the trio asked, “What’s wrong with them, Bill?”

While the rest of the party entered the house through the garage, Bill replied quietly enough so his voice wouldn’t carry beyond the porch. “After we got home, Charlie got permission from Mum to Floo back with Mrs. Figg, and have Aaron come over to fly for a while. They were barely in the air five minutes before Charlie got thoughtless and bragged about getting his own wand today. Aaron felt jealous and left out, and called Charlie the American words for ‘wanker.’ They landed and started throwing punches. I separated them before they could do any real damage to each other, but Mum heard most of it and figured out enough of the rest. She threw both Charlie and Aaron out ‘til they apologized to each other for real, and she sent me along to sit on them. When she sent us through, she also told Mrs. Figg, who fellytoned your Mum, so she won’t let us in, either. Aaron only thinks he wants his wand right now with the extra year of waiting for Hogwarts Charlie won’t have. And Charlie won’t be nearly so happy with his wand after Mr. Lupin teaches us all ‘til we drop. The real bugger is that you guys didn’t even think you could do magic last month!

“And I’m guessing that the Embassy guys are gonna really work you guys over the coals, too! I know what a guy looks like when he’s wearing a wand holster when he isn’t used to wearing one, and I’m guessing that at least Danny and Michael got stuck with it, too.”

David asked, “You aren’t jealous of me? Really? I was thinkin’ that you’d be feeling left out like Aaron right now when I had to tell you, and I was worried ‘bout tellin’ you without hurting your feelings. And I wasn’t even thinking ‘bout not telling ya, either. Though I didn’t think you’d actually be able to tell with me wearing a winter jacket.”

“You aren’t used to wearing it, yet. Uncle Bilius is an Auror, and he still isn’t used to his, though he’s been an Auror long enough that he should be. Still glad you wouldn’t bullshit me, though…”

“You don’t bullshit friends, Bill. I still don’t get your not being jealous, though, seein’ you grew up as a wizard ‘n’ stuff. Normal students here can’t carry their wands over the summer break, and Ilvermorny students have to leave theirs at school.”

Bill spoke so quietly that only David heard him, though Charlie and Aaron had drifted out into the front garden to actually make up. “I’m not jealous, David. I’m scared shitless! I’m not a native Latin speaker like you, but I know what a blood-oath looks and sounds like – and Danny gave it first in English, so I know what you guys swore. You weren’t taking the piss and you weren’t playin’ around! ‘Tommy ain’t a blooming fool,’ and neither is Billy. The fucking war ain’t over, and we’ll be fighting again when Harry and Ronnie start Hogwarts!

“Charlie don’t ‘member, ‘cause Mum hid it from him. She thought she hid it from me, too. But I seen it when they brought Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon’s dead bodies to the Burrow so we could clean them up for the Funeral and the Buryin’ Ground. They were so grey, and so cold. Death Eaters done ‘em like the Longbottoms, ‘cept they managed to die afterward. Da’ ended up just nailing the coffin lids closed, ‘cause no matter how he cast the spells, the looks of agony wouldn’t leave their faces, with them being fully cold and dead. Mum was destroyed, ‘n’ Da’ couldn’t quite comfort ‘er. It was even worse than when we lost Ignatius and Little Arthur became Percy, ‘cause he persevered where his identical twin didn’t. I never saw Ignatius, though.

“He’s buried on top of the hill by where we fly. Only Mum, Da’, Percy, an’ the two of us know ‘bout it. I haven’t even taken Charlie up there, an I still haven’t worked up the nerve to talk to Percy. He knows ‘cause he literally tripped on Ignatius’s headstone last summer. Mum ‘n’ Da’ put a weak notice-me-not charm on the grave, and somehow Percy accidentally broke through it, tripped on the headstone, and skinned his knee. I only broke through the charm when I saw Mum ‘n’ Da’ bring Percy down the hill. I’ve been up and left flowers.

“Mum ‘n’ Da’ always change the subject when I ask them, and they always say Percy. It’s like they want to protect the rest of us kids, and themselves, from the pain of Ignatius’s dying as a newborn, and Percy almost not making it, either. But that’s still nothin’ compared to Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon. I remember that they were always so full of life. They’d wind Mum up and get her so mad at them, yet in the next instant have her giggling like a little girl in happiness. And they were always good with us kids, especially Percy and Fred and George. Since Percy doesn’t get along with Fred and George, ‘cause they always mess with him, that was quite the trick. Mum was the youngest of the three. Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon were so close they were almost like twins. Kinda like Danny and Michael ‘cept it was actually a couple of years instead of just ten months.

“Hogwarts has Thestral-drawn carriages for the second through seventh years to take them from the train station in Hogsmeade up to Hogwarts, where the first years ride magic boats across the Black Lake, ‘cause it takes longer and gives you a really cool first-look at Hogwarts. But in order to see a Thestral, you have to have seen and understood death. You’re not supposed to be able to do that at eleven. I don’t want Charlie to ever see them. I’m also terrified that I won’t be good enough, and Ronnie’ll die at our age, or that I’ll get killed in front of him! You were the oldest brother for a while, and you’re an ‘almost Da’’ to Aaron. How would you feel?”

Bill broke down and cried quietly in David’s arms for over half an hour before Arthur Weasley interrupted them. Bill had actually fallen asleep in David’s arms.

Arthur addressed David, “Aaron and Charlie made up with each other to Molly’s satisfaction, and Aaron got your Mum’s permission to sleep over. They also told me that Bill and you were talking, until Bill broke down crying in your arms. What’s wrong?”

David quietly answered, while holding his sleeping friend, “Mr. Weasley, are you familiar with the Muggle Poet from this country named Rudyard Kipling?”

Arthur replied, “Some purebloods are deliberately ignorant of any Muggle literature. My father read Kipling to me as a young boy, and I’ve read a lot of his work myself. I’ve read him to my boys, too.”

“Bill told me, ‘Tommy ain’t a blooming fool, and neither is Billy!’ That’s a good part of it.”

“Did you brag to him about being allowed to wear your wand, or are you ‘sneaking’ it?”

“Sir, I’m not being allowed to wear my wand. I’m under the direct and lawful orders of the Presidents of my nation to wear it. I am now a warrior defending my nation’s interests at the age of eleven. Bill saw the wand at least as quickly as you did. He also correctly guessed why I was wearing it, and he was not jealous. He’s very frightened that he won’t be able to do his share when the war restarts and that he’ll lose people, or be lost himself. Despite Molly’s and your best efforts, he saw Fabian and Gideon Prewett when they were brought to your home. He also remembers both when Ignatius died, and when Percy found out that he wasn’t always Percival Ignatius Weasley.

“You need to talk to him about them, sir; and you need to talk to Percy about Ignatius, too. Percy will never forget his brother on the hill, and neither will Bill. Your silence is deafening them, and without your shoulders to help them carry the load of their grief, the weight may very well crush them. I saw Percy run to the top of the hill no one remembers to want to climb after the rat was caught. Now, I know why.”

Arthur sternly yet quietly retorted, “Perhaps you need to let me run my family the way I see fit, David.”

David replied with a voice of the cold winds of the deepest winter, “Are you sure, Patrol Sergeant Arthur Septimus Weasley?”

Arthur reacted as if a flock of geese walked over his grave. Regaining his composure, he replied, “I apologize for what I said to you, David. I still mourn, and I was out of line for saying what and how I did.”

“Sergeant Weasley, you are a good man. Because you are a good man, your pain is the kind that can only be grown past, for it never truly leaves you, until your time finally comes and you join your family in the Afterworld. What you tell your five children who don’t know of their brother and who didn’t see their uncles is truly your affair, and I don’t suggest you cause pain by confronting pain that isn’t there for them. But the two who already know Ignatius need to talk to you about him. Bill absolutely needs to talk to you about his uncles, where the others probably don’t. Bill didn’t see them pass, thank God, but he saw them after they’d passed, and before they were set in their coffins for burial.”

Arthur asked in a gentle curious voice, “Who do you see in the hour before dawn?”

David answered, “My nameless sibling. The song from the time of my birth was tragically prescient. ‘It was the third of September; a day I'll always remember -- 'cause that was the day, that my Daddy died.’ It was also the day that I lost my nameless sibling. Mom had told us only the night before that she was pregnant again. Was he my third brother? Or, was she my first sister. They were inside of Mom for maybe a month. We only knew that our sibling was there the day accident happened. My birth-parents were killed outright, as was everyone else in the van except for Saria, Aaron, Paul, and me. I know now that Aaron’s, Paul's, and my magic protected us, and even protected Saria; though she was in the hospital for three weeks, and wasn’t fully healed for another month. Whatever magic my birth-father had tried to protect him, my birth-mother, and my sibling, but it wasn't enough. My sibling will only ever by my sibling, and I can only pray to God that they may grow up in the Afterworld. My sibling isn't listed on Mom and Dad's headstone, because life denied us the chance of even getting to know them.”

After a moment’s silence, Arthur told David, “Bill will spend the night with you. Your father told me that since you wear the same sizes, that you will loan him some pyjamas. In the morning, Aaron will return along with Charlie and me, and I’ll bring Bill a fresh change of clothes. Charlie, Bill, and I will accompany Aaron, your father, and you to Ollivander’s, and Aaron will get his wand. Aaron told us he wants the wand of a healer, but that he also insists that ‘he will be ready, come the day.’ He would not be swayed or delayed, and your father thought his reasons sound and worthy. Percy may also join us. If he does, he will not be getting a wand. Aaron is your almost-son and might be a warrior-healer in training. He understands what Charlie does not. Percy is a five-year-old boy who still chases butterflies when the soul of his dead twin isn’t singing in his ear.

“Before you return home, I’d ask you to join Bill, Percy, and me in visiting Ignatius. Charlie, the twins, and Ronnie and Ginerva wouldn’t understand. Bill and Percy are already mourning alone; if they mourn together they will help each other grow beyond their loss. Good evening, David. Don’t let Bill nap out here too long. It’s not only cold, but it smells like whomever is preparing your supper tonight is doing almost as good a job as Molly is doing for me in Devon.”

Arthur walked out to the street and quietly Disapparated home in the shadow between streetlights.

A few moments later, Bill woke with a start and a blush that David could see even with the porch light. David asked, “Did you sleep through all that? And don’t get fussy thinking I’ll take the piss for you crying; I cry sometimes for the ones I’ve lost, too.”

Calming down, Bill asked, “Did the midgets ‘kiss and make up’ yet? I’m freezing my arse off here.”

While David helped Bill up, he told his friend, “Your Dad came by. Aaron and Charlie made up, and they’re spending the night at your place. You’re spending the night here at mine, so you can borrow a set of my pyjamas to sleep in, and get your underpants I borrowed back freshly washed after we take our showers.”

After they both finished laughing, David said, “And here’s where it get ‘tricky.’ Tomorrow morning, your dad and mine are taking us, Charlie, Aaron, and maybe Percy to Ollivander’s and Aaron is getting a wand.” To Bill’s gasp, David continued, “I don’t know who’s signing what letter, and I won’t know ‘til after we register Aaron’s wand at the Embassy tomorrow whether he’ll have to wear his all the time like the rest of us do, or have Dad hold on to it like you guys do.”

The two boys finally entered the house and sat down on the edge of the genkan to remove their coats and shoes. Pet called out, “Remind Bill about his shoes, David.”

David answered, “He already knows, Mom; they don’t wear their shoes indoors either. Mrs. Weasley just isn’t as strict with visitors as we are.”

Pet walked into the hallway and asked the boys, “Did David tell you that you were spending the night here?”

“Yes, Ma’am” Bill answered. “He also told us that we were going in to London tomorrow to get Aaron his wand, along with my Da’.”

“You’ve got the right of it. What do you think about Aaron getting his first wand as young as he is?”

“I’m certainly not jealous, Ma’am. Charlie only got his ‘cause Ollivander just couldn’t get enough of getting bitten on his bum this morning, and ‘cause he was already trying spells with a wand that he shouldn’t have been using, even if he was old enough. We’re not getting our wands ‘early’ as a treat or a present. We’re gonna have to learn to use them, and fight when the war starts back up.

“Aaron understands this, but he wants to be a healer, and he wants to do his share instead of standing by and not helping. He must have done close enough with Mr. Dvorak, ‘cause he’s not the kind of man who’ll give in to a child on something like this, and if he said ‘no,’ then Aaron wouldn’t be getting a wand tomorrow. So, if Mr. Dvorak thinks Aaron’s ready, then Aaron’s probably ready.”

Petunia replied, “That’s well thought out, Bill.”

“Thanks, Ma’am, but I call them like I see them.”

Petunia finished by saying, “Well, don’t dawdle. Get washed up and get to the table.”

“Yes, Ma’am!” both hungry boys answered.

§§§

Later that night, both boys laid innocently in David’s bed waiting to fall asleep. David asked, “Ya sure you don’t mind sharing?”

“It’s cool, David. I get that Aaron gets pissy if anyone messes with his bed. ‘n’ after today, I’m not sure I want to sleep in a bed alone tonight. I almost wanted to tell your mum ‘bout the oaths, and how Aaron got it while they went right over Charlie’s head, even when Danny gave his oath in plain English first.”

“Just as well you didn’t, Bill. That’s the kind of shit Dad needs to explain. Moms don’t like to send their kids off to war, even if the fighting probably won’t start for ten more years. We’ll barely be adults then, and we’ll still be our Mom’s kids. Mom lost her younger sister in the war already, and ‘cause her parents kept making Mom feel jealous whether she wanted to be or not, Mom and Aunt Lily only really got along after her ‘n’ Dad got married. Some of that time, Aunt Lily was fighting the war, and the rest of the time she was in hiding, where Mom couldn’t talk to her, or even write back and forth. Harry will be in the middle of the war, and Dudley and Neville will be right there, too.

“Your mom won’t be any different. She lost two brothers to it, an’ she herself fought. You fight wars, and do your damnedest to win them, so your kids don’t have to. Sometimes it works, but even if you always win it usually doesn’t.

“We probably have ten years. We might have twenty, but we might have only two. Only thing we can do is pray like hell for twenty, and work like hell just in case we only get two.” With that last thought, the two boys drifted off to sleep.

§§§

Ten o’clock that morning saw a party of seven enter Ollivander’s wand shop. After four wands that suited neither healers nor Aaron, Ollivander presented; “Willow, unicorn tail hair core, eleven inches and whippy; it’s a brother wand and total match to your cousin Andy’s wand.”

Aaron took the wand, and the rush of magic and willow leaves that flooded the shop could not be mistaken for anything other than a perfect match of wand and wizard. Aaron raised his wand, and as his brothers did the day before swore, “Die veni, paratus ero sicut ante me fuit pater meus. De meo sanguine ac familia hoc iuro.” The rush of magic and willow leaves was once again unmistakable.

An hour and a half later, four boys and one man stood atop a hill in Devon that even most wizards and witches seemed to ignore. David and Aaron quietly sang the rosary of the day in Latin, ending with the phrase “Requiem aeternum dona eis, amen.”

Percy said, “Thank you, David and Aaron, for whatever spell that was. It was beautiful.”

David informed them, “It’s the Rosary of the Day; the Glorious Mysteries. In Aaron’s and my faith, the Rosary is prayed for many purposes, one of which is the rest of the dead and their entry into Heaven. The five Glorious Mysteries contemplate entry into Heaven, which is particularly right, here. The very last phrase we sang translates to ‘Eternal rest grant to them.’”

Percy told Bill, “I didn’t know you knew.”

Bill told his younger brother, “I was about as old as you are now. I remember Mum and Dad going to St. Mungo’s worried about the early delivery of their two sons even while getting Pandora Lovegood to baby-sit Charlie and me – and their sad return several days later with only one sickly child, and a bundle they tried to hide from me. I remember them going to the top of the hill with the wooden box they placed in the bundle, then oddly losing any desire to climb that hill – ‘til the day last summer when Mum and Dad found you, crying where you found our brother.

“Ignatius is why I’ve always tried to be the best brother I could be to all of you, and why I will never stop trying. For it was on that day, when I was about the same age as you are now, that I learned that brothers and sisters won’t be with you forever, and that you might not be there for them, either. Learning this, I promised myself, and all of you that I would do my best to live every day as if it were my last with you, that if either you or I were caused to go On, that our last times together would be the best that times allowed, giving praise when earned, giving rebuke when needed but gently, and giving love always.

“I never talked with you about him before, because you wouldn’t have possibly remembered him. I didn’t talk to you after you found Ignatius because I didn’t know how to talk to you about him without making you even more sad. You don’t smile enough as it is, and since the Rat was caught it’s been even worse. I also feel guilty that I didn’t see the Rat for what he really was, never mind that Mum and Dad didn’t see it either.” The two siblings hugged each other while they cried.”

A few minutes later, Arthur unexpectedly asked, “William, Percival, what do you want to tell your siblings about Ignatius?”

William replied, “I don’t know. I don’t want Ignatius forgotten, but Charlie doesn’t remember, and the other kids are too young.”

Percy answered, “I don’t want to hide Ignatius. But Charlie wouldn’t get it yet, and the rest are still too young. And I can’t tell Fred and George that I lost my twin. I’m afraid that they would either decide I was careless, or they would become terrified, thinking that one of them could lose their twin. I’m not saying it right, and I know it’s silly in a sad and not funny way…”

Bill hugged Percy again and assured him, “When they are ready, we will tell them, and not before. If they’re never ready, Ignatius still has us, and we will always remember our brother.”

§§§

An hour later, Arthur sent David and Aaron through the Floo to Arabella Figg’s house, and then to their own home. Aaron asked his “almost Dad,” “Does it get any easier, David? And how do you miss a person you never really met? Why do Paul and we miss our Sibling, even if we never even saw them at all? Why are the two of us missing Ignatius Weasley when we will never meet him?”

David assured his Third Birthday Present, “We feel, because we can. We can’t really have memories of our Sibling or Ignatius, but we have our imaginations about what they’d be like if they were still alive. And, we’ve both met and know some pieces of both our Sibling and Ignatius.

"We know each other, Paul, and birth-Mom and birth-Dad. And, we know how you can become your own unique person even being close and growing up together. Would our Sibling the real three-year-old boy or girl be the same as the imaginary continuation of our dead brother or sister? They'd be better and worse. Even we quarrel once in a great while, and I cared for you just as if I had given birth to you myself, or honestly as much as a three year old boy could do and more. And we both know that Paul can be both a horrible brat and smarter than the both of us. He might have been like the three of us, or sweet yet demanding like Mom. And Mom was definitely a Taylor girl, giving an infant to a three-year-old boy for a birthday gift!

After they finished laughing, David added, “And we’ve met even more of Ignatius. Before he was Percy, he was Arthur, Ignatius’s twin brother. The full set might have been happier or livelier, but then again they might not.

“In the end, we need to grow past our loss, and help our friends grow past theirs where we can. Beyond prayer, that’s all we can do.”

Changing the subject, Aaron asked quietly yet quite rudely, “Speaking of ‘doing,’ have you done Saria yet?”

Sputtering angrily, David growled, “What the fuck brought that on? Well?”

Aaron teased saucily, “Well, you’ve got some hairs growing ‘round it.”

“Both Dads said we Dvoraks tend to be ‘early bloomers.’ What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Pulling.”

“Just getting ‘payback’ for if Bill or you ‘got gooey’ in my bed last night.”

“Neither one of us was in your bed last night! And we didn’t ‘get gooey’ either, pervert.”

“Well, after you ‘blew up’ in your bed last month and had to take a shower at two in the fucking morning, while waking me up doing it, I think I’ll have a go.”

“Aaron, if you keep it up, I’ll take the ‘results’ of your first wet dream and pin them to the bulletin board at school! I know where you live, kid.”

The two boys glared at each other for over a minute before they both started laughing. After they were both back under control, Aaron shyly asked, “Have you tried jacking off yet?”

David blushed purple, but he honestly answered, “Yeah. It ‘takes the pressure off,’ but it’s a mortal sin, so you have to confess it. And coming feels so good that it’s almost addictive. And, even doing our own laundry, I don’t want to deal with anybody seeing that. But it still ‘sucks’ telling the ‘forty year old virgin’ how much self-action you’re getting. Of course even that isn’t as embarrassing as it was before I figured out to tell the priest that my hearing was so good that I had to go when nobody else was going so I wouldn’t overhear their confessions without really wanting to. Remember why I sing all the time, and never go near the confessional when the other parishioners are using it?”

“Dad was the same way,” they said in unison.

“Pervy teasing over with David, but what about you ‘n’ Saria?”

David sighed before he told Aaron, “This isn’t like Saria and me dating. For that, we never cared. If they were too busy trying to make fun of us for being boyfriend and girlfriend to realize that we were boyfriend and girlfriend, too bad for them. But we’re both worried that we won’t be able to stay together with just letter writing for months at a time, even though lots of people who married each other and had good happy marriages did exactly that. And we’re both worried ‘bout the sex.”

“You talk about sex with Saria?” Aaron asked in astonishment.

“We talk about everything. We just haven’t done sex with each other. ‘n’ it was her who told me to try jacking off to stop the wet dreams” David finished with another purple blush.

Aaron asked curiously, “Would you tell me anything if you guys were doing stuff?”

“Probably not. Before I even thought ‘bout it, I’d have to be absolutely sure that you’d keep your mouth shut ‘bout it. She knew I’d tell you ‘bout her telling me to masturbate to stop or cut back the wet dreams. If she even thought I was talking to anybody else about us other than you, she’d kill me.”

“Even Tim?”

“Especially Tim. She thinks Tim has a crush on me.”

“Really?”

“Saria really thinks that. Tim having a crush on me? I doubt it. Even if he did, he’d be too scared of weirding me out to ask. Tim’s my absolute best friend, though Bill is just about equal. Keeping both of them that close of friends will be a lot of work even if it’s worth it. Bill gets music, but he can’t do music. Tim gets magic, but same-o. The only thing I’ve got going for me is that Tim and Bill like each other as friends, and they’re both with me on all three of us being best friends.”

Aaron asked, “Would you try it if Tim asked?”

Instead of an instant sputtered denial, David paused before giving an honest answer. “No, but not ‘cause it was Tim asking. You don’t have to have sex with your steady boyfriend or girlfriend, especially when you’re only eleven. But if you have a steady boyfriend or girlfriend you absolutely can’t have sex with anyone else. That’s just how it is. Plus, the Church says it’s really really really wrong to for guys or girls to do it with other guys or other girls. Tim hasn’t asked you, has he?”

“No. He wouldn’t, anyway. You know how foaming-at-the-mouth furious he gets around anyone he even suspects is a child molester, right? ‘Specially after that DCFS guy finger-banged his ‘secret’ brother Chris’s asshole and tried to mouth-fuck him? No, Tim only sees me as his ‘bratty kid brother with too many strings in his guitar.’   But he trusts you with his life, and if he was bisexual like I overheard Chris bragging about himself about, he’d ask you. Even if you turned him down, he knows you wouldn’t bust him out.”

Getting the subject back, Aaron asked, “But what about Saria?”

Sighing, David told him, “It’s like I told you – we’ve talked. We don’t want to lose each other by not doing it with each other, but we don’t want to lose each other because we did it. She wants it to be lovemaking just as much as sex, and we both want to marry each other when we get older. Both of us think that the other is the most attractive person they’ve ever met, and we want to have sex with each other. But, we’re eleven. While she can get birth control pills from NHS without Dad and Mom finding out, and Dad and Mom don’t rat-fuck our stuff, she could get on them, and only use them when I’m home from Hogwarts for breaks. But sex is a commitment that seriously messes with even grown-up’s heads. We’re both at least as smart as high schoolers, but we also know that we’re only as smart as high-schoolers, and they fuck it up all the time, too. If we didn’t give a fuck, we’d fuck, and we’d both enjoy it. But since we both care, and are trying for a happy lifetime together, we can’t figure out what to do – especially with this fucking war in the background. I could die in a magic firefight. Or, she could get caught outside of the wards at the wrong time with no magic to defend herself with…”

“Or, she could get nailed by a fifty pound blue turd from one of Michael’s pet airplanes that’s constantly screaming overhead. Or, the two of you could quit over-thinking things and be happy, whether you fuck or suck or not. The both of you have been walking on egg shells ever since Dad told us our magical indices, and it’s weirding me out. Please. Stop.”

“Are you done yet, Aaron?” David groaned.

The precocious eight year old thought a moment before replying, “Razz you to stay away from my bed, check. Embarrass the hell out of you about jacking off, check. Finding out whether Saria actually has anything to worry about with Tim and you without chaperones, check. Getting Saria and you to pull your heads out of your asses before I have to shove my head up there with you, half-check, and I’m not talking to her. I learned my lesson when I deliberately barged in on ‘Manžel and Manželka’ making out and barely got saved from Delilah chucking my ass out the second story window. I still owe Pixie for that. Get you to act like my eleven year old ‘almost Dad’ instead of an actual grown-up magical combat veteran for a while, check. Mess with you for half an hour straight so I don’t freak Mom out by looking like I just got back from watching a chainsaw squad execution, check. I guess that does it. You?”

“It’s times like this, Aaron, that I almost wish I could trade you to Bill for Charlie. He’s a great guy, and if you give him Hagrid’s brother wand and some magical animals and put him in the back garden, he can entertain himself for days. You are all of my worst qualities packaged in a newer and even more nefarious way, and you know exactly which buttons to push, and when.”

“And you wouldn’t have it any other way, David.”

“‘Course not!”

After laughing almost uncontrollably for a minute, the two boys finally entered their house. They were both wearing their Auror holsters and wands, as they would continue to do for the rest of their lives.
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The Yankees Nephew and the Philosophers Stone