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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
- 4
- 5
- 6
Chapter 5. Music, Romance, Magic, and Transitions.

It was the fifth of June in 1982 when Petunia Dvorak’s days entered into a newer and even more intense “strangeness.” Unlike the Wizarding World, this was something she only wanted to keep secret. It was also something where she could, if she wished, bask in the reflected glory if she wanted to. Her American stepchildren, along with some cousins from America, had not only formed a Top-40 Rock and Roll band, they had formed one that had rocketed up the charts worldwide, and was performing live on national television that very night from the Barbican Centre. She would only be watching on the telly though.

Not because she was estranged in any way from her husband’s older children. It was the exact opposite at Number Four Privet Drive, in the Little Whinging development of Ashford, Surrey; she was “Mom” (since the older kids were very much not going British,) to all the children, and despite her relatively young age was actually doing the job as well as could be done.

She helped the older children with their homework when they needed it. She was at times mentor and confidant to the children as well as care-giver and disciplinarian. And while she wasn’t nearly as good a piano player as Delilah, Debbie, David, and Aaron, she could play the piano and read sheet music. So, on the rare occasions when her children faltered in their music lessons, she could provide the gentle yet knowledgeable nudge to keep going that John just couldn’t.

She was staying at home with the youngest four. Paul would turn five the first of next month. Dudley and Harry weren’t quite two years old. Dudley would have his birthday later this month, and Harry at the end of next. And baby Lily had only been born on the fifteenth of February. While all four of the little ones loved the music their older siblings played for them, they would not appreciate the insane noise and riotousness of a live Rock concert.

Keeping the little ones happy was not only important because they were little ones. Lily, like her late aunt and most of her older brothers and sisters, was magical. She was a witch. And little witches and wizards, when frightened by the loud and boisterous clamor of a Rock concert would tend to do strange and unexplainable things, things that it took specialist skills to reverse. So, even if Pet had been crazy enough to take the little ones to the Barbican tonight, her husband and other-side of her soul John Dvorak wouldn’t have let her.

John wasn’t here in the lounge with her, of course. He was a full Wizard, which he hadn’t realized until some time after they had married. Despite his very short to date study of magic, he was quite capable and powerful. He was also the principal manager of his sons’ band, and was with them at the Barbican.

Petunia did have company that evening, though. Arthur and Molly Weasley, her friends from Devon, were over that night with six of their seven children, with all eight of the Weasleys present being magical. Arthur and Molly’s oldest son, eleven-year-old William, was with the band at the Barbican, though that seemed to be just “friend inclusion” on the part of her eleven-year-old son David. Ted and Andromeda Tonks, her new Wizarding friends from Exeter were also visiting. Their daughter; nine-year-old Nymphadora, who understandably only ever answered to her last name, was backstage at the concert. Ted was a Muggle-born Wizarding barrister in London, but between the Floo Network and Apparation, wizards and witches didn’t see commuting as nearly as big an issue as their Muggle or no-Maj counterparts.

All the adults were wearing shoe covers while the children were barefooted. This was not how she and her husband normally ran the house. However, her adult guests were not only guests, they were magical security to guard her younger children and her. Her twenty-two-month old son Harry was actually her dead younger sister’s son Harry. Harry’s birth parents had been murdered by a Wizarding terrorist, who also tried to kill little Harry. Fortunately for little Harry, Pet’s little sister Lily Potter was a Charms prodigy, and had placed a combination shield and booby trap on little Harry. The Terrorist tried to kill Harry, the Terrorist’s previously unblockable curse was rebounded back onto him, and the Terrorist’s body was vaporized while Harry’s only injury was a cut on his forehead.

This would have killed anyone else, but somehow the Terrorist was still alive somewhere, somehow, though he was unable to either cause trouble himself or direct his now-former followers. A lot of those followers had been arrested and put in the Wizarding prison. A lot of those followers had also bought their way out of being held accountable for their crimes, and were still quite free. That was why Pet, who couldn’t do magic herself, was hosting two adult witches and two adult wizards, their mutual friendship not withstanding. While nobody “dangerous” realized that she was raising Harry, and her home was now “unplottable” as well as being protected by some of the most powerful anti-terrorist wards in the UK, it never hurt to be careful. And having all of her older children now famous as musicians, as well as her husband becoming famous because of his ties to an old American Wizarding family that was both famous and notorious, it never hurt to be prepared.

“Andi” was helping her in the kitchen. Molly Weasley was a better cook than either of them, but unlike Molly, Andi knew how to use Muggle appliances where Molly did not. And, while Pet’s ambition of being a talented yet stay-at-home wife and mum were brilliantly coming true, it was not her kitchen. While she did cook a lot of the meals, it was actually Michael’s kitchen, and only Michael’s dad and his two brothers Danny and David could stand up to him. The boys had learned how to cook and bake from their Dad, who had supported his family starting at the age of eleven running a commercial kitchen in a smaller yet busy American restaurant in the late 1950s. John Dvorak knew how to cook and bake brilliantly in that context, and he was the most demanding, acerbic, and un-fun head cook you could imagine. He had “toned it down” somehow with his sons, but they ran the kitchen just about the same way. By silent mutual agreement, while she and her ward Pixie cooked, they only helped Michael and Danny when asked to do so.

Speaking of that, Andi asked while they were pulling some “UK” biscuits out of the oven, “How did you talk John into getting you a commercial kitchen, anyway? I’m not into cooking, mind, and I’m a Paediaracitc Healer at St. Mungo’s. But this is practically spoiling you.”

Pet answered, “He put all this in before we started dating. One of the many things he did for a living was run the kitchen of a no-Maj restaurant starting at the age of almost eleven. He got very good, very fast. He also got very brutal in the kitchen very fast, and the oldest three boys are just as bad. The one time John and I tried cooking together, despite John being much more patient today, still ended up with me in tears! He still consoled me, and… Well, let’s just say that when the kids found us in the kitchen the next morning, they ended up seeing a lot more of John and me than they had planned on, or that John and I had planned on, either. I do cook a lot of the meals, and even more lately with the music stuff, but this is actually Michael’s kitchen.”

Both women laughed pleasantly before Andi replied, “I wish Nymphadora was that handy in a kitchen.”

“Kids learn what they see first, Andi. With his first wife, John ran the kitchen ‘til Danny and Michael were old enough. And John raised them as twins, even with Danny being ten months older. So, for more than a few things, Danny actually nudges Michael into taking charge, so that the two of them feel that they’re ‘keeping up together’ with each other. But Danny is the better baker where Michael is the better cook.”

“How does ten months work though, Petunia?”

“John’s that good of a lover, and he didn’t think to wear a condom. I don’t like them myself, but I’ll insist on one after I heal up next time. I did just like his first wife without even realizing, and insisting he be with me the very day I was healed up ‘down there.’ We’re expecting again in December. And yes, sincere congratulations are in order.”

“Well of course congratulations, Pet! You just wouldn’t expect ‘accidental Irish Twins’ for a woman’s second and third pregnancies is all.”

“It could have happened right after Dudley. But Lily and I were finally reconciling, for the first time ever, and the war was still on. We named my Lily ‘Lily Rose’ in honor of Lily, and my niece Rose who died that night not yet born. She’d have been ‘Sally Petunia’ otherwise, for John’s Mum, and their using the mum’s first name for the oldest daughter, which came from Saria’s family. We Evans always used the names of flowers for our daughters, and used the name of a tree somewhere for the boys.

“I like the name ‘Dudley,’ and it suits ‘Dudley John’ to a T. Dudley is just like his da’ and will probably be just as big growing up. Harry is just as sweet as his mum was, before I got jealous and stopped seeing it, though he must have picked up some of his birth-father’s recklessness to go with it. And he’s mostly James except for having his mum’s eyes. At least he’ll be handsome. James was only a pint bigger than a titch himself, and we Evanses weren’t exactly giants.”

The two ladies laughed to themselves quietly while the brought the platter of treats into the lounge. The visitors were just as much transfixed by the television set as they were by the images and sounds coming from it. While this was not their very first time watching the telly, they were a Wizarding family fully immersed in the Wizarding World. They didn’t need electricity, so they, like most Wizarding families, did have or even desire electricity. Their gas-lamp and magic candles behaved perfectly with magic, where the electric lights often burned out or performed other unwanted random behaviour. Their chiller boxes never needed defrosting or lint removal from refrigerant coils they didn’t have, and only needed the charms renewed every thirty years or so. Their gas stoves also behaved so perfectly with magic that they didn’t even have the same controls as their Muggle or no-Maj counterpart. They did have controls that didn’t require magic to use, but that was more for pre-Hogwarts children and Squibs to use.

Molly told them, “The programme’s just started, but they’re still doing the behind the camera stuff. They haven’t cut to the stage yet.”

Pet and Andi sat down to join the rest of the guests. Ten-year-old Charlie groused, “Still can’t see why I couldn’t at least have gone with them to watch. Bill ain’t playin, and my spellwork is better than Sally’s.”

Pet said gently, “Charlie, you don’t want your mum sending you ‘cross the way to Mrs. Figgs, so just let go of your jealousy and enjoy the show. Sally’s in the band, and Bill would be too worried if you were there, too. The band will play a lot more concerts, including the magic one at Chudley Stadium next month, which you will be able to go to – if you behave for your mum and convince her that you’re responsible and will do as you’re told, especially if things go bad and we have to tell you how to get away.

“Charlie, I understand that it hurts to get left behind sometimes. My younger sister had to leave me behind all the time when I was growing up. But it only hurts worse if you get jealous or resentful on top of it. And for you, it’s just for tonight, and they might get home before you have to go to bed for the night.”

Charlie said nothing, but he no longer sulked or acted up, either. He sat with his siblings to watch the show, as the band his and his brother’s friends started up took the stage. And while “The Treasures” were all virtuoso level musicians and singers despite their ages, they were also able to work a live audience just as well as they worked their music.

Thirteen-year-old front-man and lead bass player Michael Dvorak also had a gift for comedy. He joked with fourteen-year-old Danny, who played lead six-string, in a way that was truly endearing yet side-splittingly funny. Thirteen-year-old slide-guitarist Andres “Andy” Floyd also got a few cracks in, along with “counter-straight-man,” usual lead vocalist, and bass player twelve-year-old David. Fifteen-year-old Delilah Johnson on synthesizer and thirteen-year-old Debbie Ptak on acoustic piano also made their opinions known, while eleven-year-old drummer Tim Cash would occasionally bring them all up short. The soprano saxophone line of Saria Cook, Pixie Drake, A.D. Dvorak, and Sally Dvorak didn’t have a lot to say. They let their saxophones do the talking for them, since they were rapidly being acclaimed as the four greatest soprano saxophone players in the UK of any age, especially of school age.

Their first album was already Platinum with several hits, which almost frightened Petunia with how fast it happened. The first concert had gone amazingly, and put more money into the chldren’s trust funds. And now, her children, “The Treasures, hailing from Mokena USA and the Lunatic Fringe of London,” were on the air, on BBC One, from one of the most prestigious venues in the UK.

§§§

It was two o’clock in the morning of Sunday, the sixth of June, 1982, and Number Two, Privet Drive was finally settling down and going to sleep. When John Dvorak called the Goblins in to renovate and enlarge Number Four, Frank Floyd also called them in for Number Two, since he was paying the entire bill, anyway. Instead of one additional story, both house received two additional stories, plus extra renovations.

Number Four got the basement potions lab. Number Two got the basement music studio. The top floor of Number Two got two rooms with an ensuite set aside for Frank, and a nice large bedroom with ensuite set aside for Junior and Hanna Dvorak. Frank had been at the concert, but he had retreated to a nice large suite at the Ritz that included rooms for his stablemaster and his head butler. Junior and Hannah Dvorak were also staying at the Ritz courtesy of their ‘somewhat’ brother-in-law as a mini second honeymoon. This would see them blessed with another son in nine months time. William was also there, but despite appearances, he was in no condition for having sex, and was likely to be dead by the end of summer. But he craved his older brother for everything, not just gay sex, so Hannah would have actually been cross with Junior had William been left behind in Champaign, Illinois.

Their daughter Hannah was having a post-concert sleepover with her new ‘bestie’ ‘Tonks Tonks’ at Ted and Andromeda’s house in Exeter. Aaron left his twelve string at Number Two in the basement before going home to host Charlie Weasley for a sleepover. Paul, Harry, and Dudley, of course, went to bed in their nursery at Number Four with their sister Lily, leaving the rest of the Dvorak children and wards the run of Number Two.

David was in his room at Number Two, having just showered and changed into fresh underwear and pyjamas, with the sounds of amplifiers still ringing in his head despite his having worn hearing protection. He sang quietly the words of Bob Segar as he walked into his ‘second’ bedroom.

Out there in the spotlight you're a million miles away
Every ounce of energy you try to give away
As the sweat pours out your body like the music that you play
Later in the evening as you lie awake in bed
With the echoes from the amplifiers ringin' in your head
You smoke the day's last cigarette, rememberin' what she said.¹

Before he started to sing his evening prayer, he noticed Saria standing beside his bed. She wasn’t a surprise so much as her wardrobe. Instead of the set of his outgrown pyjamas she usually wore to share his bed, she was wearing the most whispery of negligees and panties, and a blush.

He told her, “You might get cold wearing that to bed, lover-mine.”

She quipped in return, “I’ll have my lover to keep me warm. Danny talked this out in late March with Dad, Mom, and the rest of us. I’ve already gone to NHS and gotten on the Pill. Danny and Delilah, Michael and Debbie, and even Pixie and Tim have done this with each other. Fuck, even Danny and Michael have done it once or maybe twice.”

“Danny and Michael?” David quietly exclaimed.

Saria blushed and answered, “Yeah. Michael got ‘really curious’ about what gay sex would be like. Danny wasn’t happy that he did, and he turned him away gently, ‘cause he wasn’t going to cheat on Delilah with anyone, not even Michael. But Delilah and Debbie made them have sex with each other, after having sex with each other in front of them! That’s why they were all so weird around each other last April. Delilah and Debbie did it with each other just the one time and they both declared ‘never again. Michael and Danny weren’t going to ‘cheat’ on Delilah and Debbie, but their sex together was so intense that it was as if they were born to have sex with each other. It’s a good thing none of you boys are actually squicked out by gay stuff, even if you’d be angry being called ‘gay.’

“Saria, when a guy calls another guy ‘gay,’ it’s only with disrespect and scorn, accusing their target of not being ‘man enough’ to even try to defend those who are precious to and dependant on them. They don’t give a fuck what gender their target’s lover actually is or might be. Gay sex must be good, otherwise why would anyone willingly do it? And my birth-father’s first lover was my worthless Uncle Harley! May the worthless cur burn in Hell in eternal damnation while I piss gasoline on him! He broke Dad’s heart and tried to treat him like a thing, when Dad freely gave his body and had even offered Harley his very soul.”

Saria replied weakly, “I never knew…”

David assured her, “You were never meant to. If Rick Dvorak hadn’t had the feeling that he wouldn’t live his natural span of years, neither would I. But he saw that he might need to have a lot of conversations with his seven-year-old eldest child before the time, because that time was all that we would ever have. Feeling Dad’s love, and need, I grew up as quickly as I was able, even hearing stuff that he and Mom had actually tried raising me to abhor. Mom usually sent Aaron ‘n’ me to Mass, but Dad always took us, with him.

“And no, I don’t want a ‘kitchen pass,’ whether for Bill, Tim, or both. After Aaron reminded me of your fears, I actually looked. Bill is curious, but it’s only a curiosity. He may enjoy gay sex this summer, but before the snows of winter blow through Scotland, he will be done with it. Otherwise, I’d have already set him up with Tim. Tim will demand a lifetime, even while being bound together with Pixie. I don’t want to break Tim’s heart, or sour things between Pixie and him; I haven’t talked to either of them yet. But Tim and Bill aren’t nearly as subtle as they think they are in scoping out each other, or me.”

Saria told David, “You will have that ‘kitchen pass’ after tonight if you need it, just don’t try to lie to me, sneak around, or have sex with someone with AIDS or VD.”

“Saria, each smile I put on your face puts a thousand smiles on my heart. Each tear I draw from your eyes tears a million tears of blood from my soul. I am still a boy, even with a man’s burden. So, I will only ask for such a favor after the fact, because I shall never seek it, but only ever apologize when my own circumstance and weakness forces it upon me. I will not sneak, and I will not lie, my soul.

“But we come back to us, in this room right now. We have shared mouths a time or two, but you offer the entirety of your body to me tonight, and ask the entirety of mine in return. I desire it at least as much as you can possibly imagine. But my life will become a grey flickering pantomime of life if claiming ‘now’ denies me forever, bound to this plane only to protect the boy who became the son of the man who became my father. If I must leave this room to accept forever from you, please tell me. This house is not small, and I don’t take up that much space. I want you now, but I need you forever, and if forever isn’t already denied me, I will not claim now in its stead. If forever is already denied me, then so is now. I shall not steal from another.”

As Saria embraced David, she assured him, “It is now and forever, most beloved. Tomorrow is promised to no one. But I will freely share all of your ‘todays’ with you, and offer my ‘todays’ in return, as long as we would both be more happy than not. I will never end ‘us,’ and I only ask the same from you in return”

“I will only accept, and never take. I will only offer, and never force. I will always cherish, and never scorn. I will raise and protect our children with you, even above ourselves. I will do this in sickness and health, in poverty and prosperity, for the rest of my days however many or few they may be. This, I offer. Do you accept? Can you accept?”

“David, I will only accept and never take. I will only offer and never force. I will always cherish and obey, and never scorn or publically embarrass. I will raise and protect our children with you, even above ourselves. I shall do this in sickness and health, in poverty and prosperity, for the rest of our days, however many or few they may be. Coram Deo nostro hoc libens offero et accipio abs te. Do tibi?”

“Accipio. Do tibi, dilecte?”

“Accipio, dilecte David. When we share mouths, I’ll lay on the bed and go up on you.”

As David and Saria undressed each other, David sang, “She was so, so, beautiful; so beautiful, to my eyes …”

Saria responded, “From the moment, I saw him, the sun filled the skies…”²

Many hours later, after they were both almost entirely spent and asleep, David sang to her.

“The nighttime shadows fill the room,
You touch my heart, and I want you so…
And now it all begins again,
The summer wind brings memories…
And all those yesterdays I see
Are in your eyes reminding me
You could be miles away,
‘cause only time will tell
We come and go the way that lovers do…”³

§§§

Long before David and Saria finished, but well after David and Saria started, Danny, Michael, Delilah, and Debbie quite eavesdropping on their younger brother and sister, and they withdrew to their own rooms at Number Two.

In Danny’s room, “Manžel and Manželka” undressed, as they got ready to have sex for not anywhere near the first time and sleep nude in each other’s arms.

While they undressed, Delilah asked, “Manžel, are you sure they will be all right together?”

Danny replied, “No more than you, Manželka; but it’s all we have, and we can only pray that it’ll be enough. They need each other even more than they realize. Michael and I need him, and Harry needs all of us.”

“You aren’t still angry with Debbie and me ‘bout you and Michael, are you?”

“I was never angry, and neither was Michael, Manželka. I was embarrassed, and after we did it the first time we were and are both frightened, but we were never angry or anything of the like. Once Michael had quenched his obsession, he saw what I already had – that it was as if we were born to have sex with each other for the rest of our lives, and neither of us wanted to insult Debbie or you with that. We’re truly blessed that you accept that, but for your honor we will never do that again with each other, or with any other man. Beyond dangerous and deadly diseases, we still have to look at ourselves in the mirror from time to time, and we could never look ourselves or each other in the eye knowing that we were being so hurtful and disrespectful to those we would otherwise and should protect above all save our own children.

“All six of us have known losses no one our ages should know. We know death, and we choose to protect life, especially the lives of those we cherish the most. We bear each other up, Manželka, as do Michael and Debbie. Only Saria can help David, and now, if she holds fast, she truly can.”

The two older lovers, espoused to each other almost at birth yet also enthusiastically grateful for that espousement, shared bodies with each other until sleep finally claimed them.

§§§

Michael and Debbie also got ready to share bodies with each other before sleeping. Debbie opined, “And this is why I trust you, Michael. Your conscience would betray you far sooner and more quickly than I could find out otherwise, if it even let you get that far.”

Michael was wilting, and Debbie’s comment didn’t help. She continued, trying to raise his spirits, “It really is between Danny and you if you keep having sex with each other, so long as you don’t forget Delilah and me.”

“David’s birth-father would have shared. His birth-mother might have shared. But Dad wouldn’t ask his beloved to share. Neither would Danny except that I forced his hand by askin’ in the first place, and neither should I. David and Saria are with who they need to be with, and praise God he doesn’t need Danny’s and my example on how to treat her.”

As they got under the covers together wearing only each other, Debbie told him, “Michael, Danny and you have treated Delilah and me as goddesses, ever since we’ve known each other; which in my case was while I was still inside my birth-mother’s womb. Delilah and I allowed, if not forced, the two of you to seek the mysteries of each other’s bodies now so that you wouldn’t do it later, or elsewhere, or go to your graves still wondering.

“I will share your life for as long as you would have me. Would you still share mine?”

Michael told her, “Vitam tuam semper communicemus; aegritudine et sanitate; in paupertate vel prosperitate. Te amare, honorare, fovere, liberos nostros supra nosmetipsos erigere ac protegere. Hoc facerem reliquum dierum meorum. Me vis accipere, dilecte mi?”

Debbie answered, “Ita. Volo etiam vitam tuam in aeternum esse; aegritudine et sanitate; in paupertate vel prosperitate. Ego te amem, honorem, foveam, parebo, nunquam te publica fastidio afferam. Nos liberos nostros apud te supra nos erigam ac protegam. Hoc facerem reliquum dierum meorum. Me vis accipere, dilecte mi?”

Michael gratefully assured her, “Ita, dilectissimi.”

The two young yet truly committed lovers shared each other’s bodies until sleep finally claimed them.

§§§

Mid-morning on Sunday the sixth of June, David, Bill, and Tim were flying together. Rather, Tim was flying on the back of Bill’s broom this time while Bill and David flew. The three boys landed in a clearing on the edge of the Weasley’s land and wards. Charlie had stayed in Little Whinging with Aaron to listen to Aaron play guitar and piano and hang out. The rest of their friends and families were elsewhere doing other things, while the boys sat cross-legged in the leaves and talked.

David opined, “It still sucks that Uncle Moony couldn’t be there with us last night. At least we videotaped the show so he’s watching it now, or will have before the end of the day.”

Bill countered, “He may be ‘Uncle Moony’ to you, David, but he’s the toughest teacher I’ve ever had for anything.”

“Bill, your Mom and Dad are no pushovers, either; and all your siblings and you were home schooled, so your comparison’s only worth is that the three of us are best-friends so I won’t call it worthless, but only ‘cause of that.”

Tim deliberately drummed on his legs for a moment before quipping, “You guys get Chief Walking Cloud, Mad-Eye Moody, Uncle Padfoot, and Uncle Moony. I get Ringo Starr and Grahame Edge, and all the ‘twangers’ get Javier Carlos, Henri Dupris, and Peter Frampton. Same-o same-o.”

Bill and David both laughed while blushing for being called to task by their mutual friend, and even more yet for bitching about having some of the best teachers out there for what they were learning.

Tim decided to tease a little more embarrassingly by adding, “And Saria and you were late waking up, too; David.”

Without missing a beat, David retorted, “Says the guy who nailed all three of my pixie-like cousin’s holes to get rid of his ‘morning wood,’ forgetting how good my hearing is.”

While Tim blushed deep purple and started to get angry, David followed up with, “He’s right though Bill, even if he was being an asshole ‘bout it. Saria and I finally went ‘all the way’ last night, and the two of us were actually the last to do so, unlike what ‘Mister Purple Drummer’ would like you to think.”

Bill asked, “What’s it like?”

David told him, “The physical sensation’s amazing. But it’s the emotional connection that makes the difference between ‘just sex’ and lovemaking. Saria and I did the later, but that’s actually part of why I got you guys out here in the first place.”

Both Tim and Bill looked at David in curiosity along with just a little trepidation.

David continued, “We haven’t talked directly about this before. But Tim, Saria knew you had the ‘hots’ for me that way last December. And Bill, I’ve caught you watching my crotch and ass the last few months, even though you were trying to be even more discrete than Tim was. I’m not angry, or disgusted; either with the two of you, or even the idea of trying gay sex with either or both of you. I’m actually flattered, and if I was going to try that with anyone, I find the both of you attractive that way, too. I’m just not on the market. I will not share my body with anybody other than Saria for as long as we’re together, and we’re both going for the rest of our natural lives, so it ain’t happenin’.

“Tim, I know that you have a ‘kitchen pass’ from Pixie for this. Bill, in this context, ‘kitchen pass’ means having permission from your significant other to have sex with somebody else without having to ‘sneak’ or break up. It usually means to just go out somewhere without your significant other. Bill, you’re not dating anyone right now, so it’s all you. I’m still friends with both of you equally, whatever you do or don’t do with each other; just don’t be assholes with each other. And when you break up with each other, don’t be assholes then, either. ‘Cause Bill, I also know that whatever you do this summer won’t last past our first month of Hogwarts, for either of you, if it even gets that far.”

David tossed a couple of old towels and a tube of K-Y Jelly on the ground next to them. He instructed, “Do it, or not; I’m gonna leave the two of you alone with each other. It’s only ten ‘til ten now, and Bill’s Mom won’t be serving dinner ‘til one, but don’t lose track of the time. If you do do anything, Bill, the Aquamenti charm and the towels will get you cleaned up good enough. When you do each other in the mouth, don’t freak out about eating each other’s semen. I’m told that thinking about what it is is actually worse than what it tastes like. Tim, it’s supposed to be almost but not quite the same as the taste of eating pussy, and it’s thicker. If you do butts, use a lot of lube both on your dick for putting it in, and finger some into your butthole for taking it in – and sit on it to start off with. It can be uncomfortable at first from what I’m told, and if you just ‘shove it in,’ the guy taking it will scream in agony, or at least the one telling me ‘bout this shit is guessing that.”

Bill worked up the courage to ask, “Quit bullshiting, what guy did you do?”

Tim said, “David hasn’t done it himself. But he knows what he’s talking about, even if I haven’t done it either. But it’s not David’s, or my secret to talk about. If you want to, we can. If you don’t want to, we don’t have to, and neither David or me will say anything.”

David finished with, “David won’t watch anything, either. Don’t lose track of the time, guys.” David took his broom and flew away.

Bill asked nervously, “Was David mad at us? And how did he bust me out without me even mentioning it? I was terrified to even ask, ‘cause I thought he’d be disgusted with me.”

Tim assured Bill, “David isn’t disgusted with you, and while he might not be willing to share a bed with you now, that would be out of respect instead of disgust, and if it wouldn’t get you nervous, he might still do it anyway if you had to. He’s ‘straight-up,’ and he can be observant as hell. I was too scared to ask him ‘cause of his freaking out over leaving Saria behind when he goes to Hogwarts, as well as how uncomfortable it coulda got with me hitting on him and getting turned down, with us living in the same house with the same adoptive Dad. Didya want to try it, or did you just want to try it with David?”

While removing his shoes and socks, Bill told Tim, “I want to try it, just don’t go blabbing it around.”

While removing his shoes and socks, Tim replied, “The priest at Church doesn’t count. He can’t say nothing to nobody, and I ain’t namin’ names. But I won’t rat either of us out. And you look nice, Bill.

“You too, Tim” Bill said as they removed their t-shirts.

After they were completely naked, and automatically hard, Bill remarked, “We’re about the same size. How big are they supposed to get when we’re actually grown up?”

“I’m six inches long and just over four around, which is about the same size as you. If anything, you’re just a little bit bigger, and thank God you wizards don’t do the ‘metric’ stuff like the no-Maj do. I still can’t get my head ‘round that shit. And from what I’ve read, we’re both already ‘grown-up’ size and still have some growing left to do…”

Bill and Tim managed to get back to the Burrow right before Molly Weasley called them in for dinner. While they were both still a bit squirmy when they sat down, they were cleaned up just the right amount, and it only appeared that they had spent several hours flying on Bill’s broom while David made the mistake of trying to play chess with Percy. Percy trounced him repeatedly to Paul’s amusement, not that Paul played any better..

§§§

It was the twelfth of July. All ten wanded magic students were at the Burrow. Danny, Michael, David, and Bill had been working on the Patronus Charm with Chief Walking-Cloud. Pixie, Andy, and A.D. were working on shielding and disarming with Remus Lupin, since the Patronus was still beyond them. Charlie, Sally, and Aaron were resting their magic since they were younger, and their teachers didn’t want them getting even close to magical exhaustion.

Chief Walking-Cloud told the four boys, “You can all cast corporeal Patronuses non-verbally. I will have you take a Portkey I’ve made, and we will go to the Embassy. We’ve borrowed a Dementor from the Ministry of Magic and put it in a cage in the secure basement. I will have you attempt to cast the Patronus in its presence. As you will soon discover, this is insanely more difficult than it is to cast one practicing where there are no Dementors or Leithfolds present. If you can’t cast successfully today, don’t get discouraged. You are all already doing miles better than other wizards your age being able to cast corporeal Patronuses at all. We will work with you when we can until you can reliably cast it when you need to. I’ll remind you again in the basement, but I will remind you now, too. Your centering thought must be a happy thought, but it must also be a happy thought to protect. Remembering getting your first new broom won’t be enough to fight off a Dementor, and getting your first kiss might not work, either. Beyond what I’ve told you, everyone’s centering memory is different until you get to the point of not needing the centering memory at the front of your mind at all. Take up the Portkey.”

One Portkey trip later, and the five wizards were in the Portkey Arrival area of the secure basement of the US Embassy. The boys followed Chief Walking-Cloud towards the MaCUSA Prisoner Holding Area, noticing the guards on duty. They also noticed Professor Dumbledore was there.

He greeted the boys, “Good morning, gentlemen. The Ministry was reluctant to loan our friends at MaCUSA a Dementor. I prevailed upon them to do so, but I had to promise to keep the Dementor from causing too many problems for our ally, so here I am. I’m told you’re already silently casting corporeal Patronuses?

Danny told the headmaster, “Yes, Professor Dumbledore. My brothers and I all cast dragons, and Bill casts a wolverine. Does that mean that my brothers and I won’t be able to become Animagi when we get older?”

Dumbledore assured them, “Not at all. While one’s first Patronus tends to be your Animagus form if you have one, that isn’t always the case. And, your corporeal Patronus, can change as you get older; where your Animagus form will either remain the same or doesn’t exist at all.

“One more piece of advice if I may; the key to the Patronus when you are actually facing a Dementor is love. Jonah, do you want to be in the chamber with them, or should I?”

“I think I’ll let you go in, Albus. I am just a child compared to you, and your mastery of both the Patronus charm and the Mind Arts has only grown larger and more solid over the decades. I could do the job without a problem. You can do the job without any effort.”

Dumbledore replied, “Very well. I’ll go into the chamber and call each boy one at a time. Boys, you will not approach the cell housing the Dementor any closer than me. The Dementor is securely locked in a cell that will be twenty feet away from you. But it is a Dementor, and those fool-hardy enough to play games with a Dementor end up soulless.”

After entering the cellblock chamber, Dumbledore called, “Danny.”

Danny walked into the cellblock, and immediately noticed the bone-numbing chill as the Dementor turned its attentions from Professor Dumbledore to him. Danny started to feel sluggish and panicked as he started to remember some hidden and unpleasant memory. He rapidly thought to himself, “The memory must be happy, yet be a memory of protecting and love.” Remembering how Delilah smiled at him for the first time after she had lost her mother, after he had consoled her for many days while still giving her room to grieve, he incanted, “Expecto Partronum!” Though sluggish at first, the silver dragon quickly left his wand and stood on its hind legs, blowing silver fire at the Dementor while spreading its wings to shield Danny and Professor Dumbledore.

Dumbledore told Danny, “Brilliant! You have truly learned the spell. Leave the room before lowering your wand. The backlash of releasing a Patronus with a Dementor present can be rough, especially for a younger person, or one who has never developed or lost any resistance to Dementor exposure.”

Danny replied, “I’ve already released the spell. I’ll cancel it after I’ve left the room, if I may?”

Dumbledore answered, “Very well.”

Danny left the room before silently casting the wand extinguishing charm, which was the charm he’d used to dismiss his Patronus up to that point.

After allowing a minute for the after-effects of Danny’s Patronus to dissipate, Dumbledore called, “Michael.”

Michael entered the room and faced the Dementor. As it started to draw up his memory of learning of his birth-mother’s death, he redirected his thoughts to the memory of consoling David and Aaron, when the two boys were released from the hospital. Michael incanted, “Expecto Patronum!” and his silver dragon formed and shielded both Michael and Professor Dumbledore.

Dumbledore asked, “Congratulations, Michael, and well-done. Do you have to dispel yours?”

“No, Professor; I’ll hold it until I leave the room if I may?”

“You may, Michael. You may leave the room as well.”

Not needing any further encouragement, Michael quickly left the room before dropping his Patronus.

Before Michael could say anything, Dumbledore called, “David.”

David entered the room. The Dementor immediately attacked, trying to drive David into the back of the van the night he lost so much of his family. As he saw Saria flying towards the front of the disintegrating van, he forced his memory to the early morning hours of the sixth of June, to the one he loved and would protect. He incanted, “Expecto Patronum!” His dragon left his wand immediately and blocked the Dementor’s attack, blowing silver torrents of fire that forced the Dementor to the back of the cell. Without being given leave, David quickly and carefully backed out from the cell before lowering his wand. Dumbledore called out to him, “That was well done, David; your Patronus was fully corporeal and effective. Bill, when I call you, you will only step into the doorway and approach no closer. Your centering thought should be both loving and protective.”

David just managed to get his breath under control before Dumbledore called, “Bill.”

Bill Weasley entered the doorway to the room. The Dementor stood in the back of the cell, deceptively quiet. Yet Bill could easily feel the chill as the Dementor calmly tried to steal every happy though he had ever had.

Bill thought about Percy, the day they stood atop the hill with Ignatius’s grave together with Michael, Aaron, and his dad. He raised his arm and incanted, “Expecto Patronum!” Bill’s wolverine drove the Dementor to the back of the cell that contained it at first. And, had the Dementor been a normal Dementor, his Patronus was more than adequate. However, the woman at the Ministry Department of Magical Law Enforcement who retrieved the Dementor from Azkaban and brought it to the Ministry for Dumbledore’s use detested both Albus Dumbledore and MaCUSA among many other things. She also knew some truly evil Dark Magic, specifically how to convince a Dementor to eat two others, and how to compel it to hide its strength until the right moment, while subtly attacking the lock to a cell door. With the right moment present, the Dementor knocked the cell door out of the doorframe, where it had already subtly broken the hinges and the lock. It glided out to attack Professor Dumbledore and Bill, whose Patronus started to falter slightly under the full rage of the Triple-Dementor. Its progress was slowed considerably by Chief Walking-Cloud’s thunderbird, and slowed even further by John Dvorak’s large silver fox. But it was the three dragons cast at full force that actually acted in concert and destroyed the Dementor outright.

Chief Walking-Cloud sternly stated what everyone who knew what a normal Dementor was like; “That was no ordinary Dementor. Bill Weasley, do not be discouraged. That Dementor was un-naturally strong, yet your Patronus never dispelled. Danny, Michael, and David; what your Patronuses did is Top Secret. Say only that the four of you boys together defeated an ordinary Dementor after a genuine accident in handling by the people who were supposed to handle it. John, after we all have some hot chocolate in my office, I will have your three boys and you go home by Portkey. I will take Bill back to his home myself. The four of you boys have successfully cast the Patronus Charm under circumstances at least as hazardous as you might face in an actual attack. Do not brag, but take pride in your accomplishments. Continue to practice – but not today or tomorrow. You have all expended a lot of magic, and you should rest for the rest of today and all of tomorrow.

§§§

Two hours later, the four boys were back at their homes resting, without telling anyone any of the details as to exactly what happened, or why. Dumbledore and John were back at Chief Walking-Cloud’s office discussing what happened.

Dumbledore told them, “The person who actually delivered the Dementor to me had already covered their tracks, both as to what they did to the Dementor before delivering it to me, and also for the name of the person themselves. The person I saw was almost assuredly the one responsible, and in their true form. Yet, the logs at both the Ministry have been altered, and the person I saw could claim that either she had been replaced by an imposter under Polyjuice or claim that I was outright lying to slander her. She has used both tactics in the past. Jonah, do you believe that I had anything to do with this incident?”

Chief Walking-Cloud replied, “No. You had stayed in the Dementor’s presence without your own Patronus for too long, and were actually disabled until I cast mine. It was really an easy enough mistake, since that thing was triple-powered. With only one normal caged Dementor, you were paying attention to they boys’ casting and using Occlumency to protect your mind, not realizing how quickly the Triple-Dementor was weakening you. You would not have lingered idly in the presence of three Dementors.   John cast his fox at the same time as I cast my Thunderbird, and his sons cast their dragons only a heartbeat after the two of us; and it all happened before you had your wand fully drawn. Had we not acted, you would have lost your soul before Bill Weasley, though he would have lost his, too.

“Even if you had brought it knowingly, the Dark Magic residue would have clung to you strongly enough that I could detect it for hours if not days. You didn’t have the time to force a Dementor to eat two or more of its brothers, for that is what it was, and purge yourself of that taint in the short time you had to retrieve the Dementor and bring it here. Your ‘person’ would barely have had the time to purge themselves now, including the time we were waiting to use the Dementor, the time we actually took to use and then destroy it, and the rest of the time up to now. Had you made that abomination of abominations, I would have sensed it the very minute I entered the anteroom. So no, I’m sure you had nothing to do with it. But you will need to explain what happened to the one that entered this building.”

Dumbledore stated, “The explanation is easy enough, and I would have no need of the exact details. While the Dementor was a normal one, it also became uncontrollable, which occasionally happens if you have too few handlers. Because of where it was when ‘control’ was lost, it was far safer to flood that chamber with some kind of fire after all humans were evacuated. Whether Fiendfyre, Shaman Fire, or whatever. You have satisfied me that the Dementor was well and truly destroyed, after it had destroyed a cell door in your prisoner holding area, which fortunately was quite empty otherwise. Crouch will demand financial compensation for the Dementor. You will rightly demand the costs to repair your cell. Crouch or his proxy will argue with your proxy, and eventually the affair will be dismissed as a ‘fair trade,’ which if everything was as we actually described it would possibly be. After all, we had no right to test your cell door ourselves any more than you had the right to inspect our Dementor before we loaned it to you and delivered it.”

“I want the name in compensation, whatever comes of the farce of accounting for the one Dementor you were given and you delivered here.”

“Her name is Delores Jane Umbridge, Jonah. I have no proof at all. She has done similar, if smaller and less truly evil, acts of ‘office sabotage’ before, and I’m sure she will do so again. Up to this point, she has not left evidence behind, or else she would be a former Ministry Employee, and probably in Azkaban. No one who actually knows the woman likes her. While she can fool enough of her superiors enough of the time, her peers and subordinates are afraid of her, and want nothing to do with her; for fear of being victim of an incident like this one except smaller. This is the first time I know of where her actions might have actually caused deaths, or harmed diplomatic relations on top of harming either my reputation or that of someone in the DMLE who was responsible for the handling of Dementors.”

John added, “Her name will not be forgotten by either House Dvořák or House Floyd. If she is a mere unpleasant office worker who crossed close to the wrong place at the wrong time, then so be it. There are plenty such people everywhere. If she is more, then her actions will out.”

Jonah told John and Dumbledore, “Your sons’ actions are Top Secret because any single one of the Dragon Patronuses they cast could have killed that abomination. The Patronus Charm is a non-lethal spell, even to Dementors or Leithfolds. They are not the first wizards to cast a Patronus Charm at a Dementor with a cherry wand. They are the first we know of to kill one. Even if it is a fluke or one-off, I don’t want anyone bothering them. If it is repeatable, we may very well need all three boys when the war resumes.

“Albus, your Ministry has no control over the Dementors. They are lesser demons whose only loyalty is to themselves. We had heard rumors that the Terrorist was making overtures to them right before he was temporarily destroyed. When the war restarts, I have no doubt but that he will wrest control of the Dementors away from your Ministry, until he takes control of your Ministry himself. This will threaten the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, and the MaCUSA Government will not stand for it. This is not a demand yet, but only a gentle caution and reminder. Your prison guards are only pretending to work for you – and when they turn, the price may be more than your Ministry will be able to pay.

“Well, John, you have some sons to either praise or console. And I understand that you need to hire another Defense Professor?”

Dumbledore sighed resignedly before answering, “I can’t find a curse anchor anywhere in the castle or grounds themselves, and believe me I’ve looked. He could have found a part of the castle even I haven’t found yet, or he may have anchored the curse to himself. It doesn’t take nearly as much magic as you’d think despite the magnitude of the curse, and when he was Tom Riddle, he was both quite powerful and very efficient with the use of his magic.

“At least this last one wasn’t killed or maimed. Still, if the curse is anchored in the castle itself, then the DADA Professor is more than welcome to break the curse if they wish to earn tenure. And if it’s anchored to Voldemort himself, we are already going to destroy him for good as soon as we can. So, in the mean time, the only thing I can do is hire the best candidates I can, and hope for the best until Voldemort himself is destroyed.”

Professor Dumbledore and John Dvorak left for their own destinations, leaving Chief Walking-Cloud contemplating on what he had witnessed that day. He knew that there was at least one True Prophecy at work here. But was it only one? He only knew the first half of one prophecy, the same one that ultimately drove Voldemort to try murdering Harry Potter. But could the events surrounding Harry Potter and his adoption by the Dvoraks be explained by only one prophecy? Or, was there an additional one? Or, multiple ones?

He had recently re-examined all of John Dvorak’s background checks and investigations, along with intelligence the MaCUSA DMLE had gathered prior to 1965, and what the USA DOJ and BATF had gathered on the Floyd Family. Richard Dvorak should never have graduated Fort Wolthers. Yet, he did graduate, and serve honorably as a helicopter pilot with great skill and distinction. According to other investigations, Catherine Taylor Dvorak should never have stayed with her husband, and probably shouldn’t have even married him. Yet, she did, and a man who would otherwise have raised his children alone had the mother of his sons by his side as his wife.

While some of the deaths that affected John Dvorak and his family were possible, the string of them together could only be said to be possible because they actually happened. More significantly, John’s change of careers could have just as easily kept him in the Defense Department, whether teaching languages at Monterey, or as an analyst at the Pentagon. And Petunia Dvorak wasn’t the first choice from the interviews for the clerk-typist job she’d held, holding it just long enough to meet and marry John Dvorak before resigning.

While John, his two actual school-age sons, and his oldest school-age nephew were all powerful wizards, they would have never been called by Ilvermorny because of their connection to the Floyds. For that matter, had Frank been content to quietly distill completely illegal whiskey instead of leveraging loopholes in the treaty to make legal whiskey under MaCUSA, then perhaps even A.D. and Sally Dvorak would have been ignored.

John wasn’t even interested in the MaCUSA side before he started dating Petunia. John himself had told him that when he was first told about the Wizarding World by the Red Fox himself, that he did not believe it at all. And while Petunia Dvorak might be a wonderful person now, she was an uppity and spiteful bitch in 1978. How would that woman have done raising Harry Potter? Would she have even taken him in?

Deciding that he would only find more questions but no answers, Chief Walking-Cloud let his secretary know that he was taking the day off early and went home.

§§§

After supper that night, John sent all three sons over to Number Two along with their girlfriends. He told them, “Your Mom and I normally require responsibility and discretion that we don’t see how ‘friendly’ the six of you have gotten with each other lately. Tonight, your responsibilities require you to be just a little bit less discrete. Your boyfriends will explain if it’s in them to do so. Beyond generally confessing what you might do while not being supervised when you go to confession, you will only ever speak to each other or me about it. You will not tell any of your younger siblings, or Remus, or Sirius, or anyone else. Innocent people might die if you say the wrong word to the wrong person. Otherwise, comfort each other while you have the opportunity to do so. Good night.”

Later that night, after they had comforted each other in the ways that lovers do, David and Saria lay together under the blankets waiting for sleep to come, wearing only each other. David told her, “I’ll have more than just the van for nightmare fodder tonight. I just hope you keep them away, and I apologize in advance if they find me anyway and I wake you. Everything happened in split-seconds, and that was after the Dementor had attacked me with all of its power not even a minute before. I knew for a fact that if I didn’t cast my Patronus with all of my soul, that I would have been bringing Bill Weasley home to his family dead, just like his uncles were brought to them years ago. But as terrified as Bill is, he won’t quit. He actually swore the same oath Danny, Michael, Aaron, and I swore when we claimed our wands – and the oath took just as solidly for him as it did for us. What have I done, Saria?”

“Beloved, you have saved a life. You also swore an oath in truth to be ready. Be ready, help your brothers and friends become ready, and when you need to, lead those whom you need to lead. They still won’t tell us why they know that Harry will need to defeat Voldemort for good, but we know that he will. Be his mirror, sword, and shield. Learn everything Harry will need to learn well enough to teach Harry if for whatever reason the adults fail otherwise. Show Harry honestly who he really is, neither breaking him down nor puffing him up. Fight for him when he needs it, and shield him from his enemies. If Harry must strike the final blow against Voldemort, teach him to do it well, but strike all the other blows first. I know you can do this, and I know you will do this. I believe in you, David. Believe in yourself.

After they shared one last kiss, sleep finally claimed them for the night.

§§§

The twenty-eighth of August 1982 was a pleasant Saturday. It was also one of those all too rare days where Bill and Tim were able to “get together.” They both also knew it would be the last time they did so, even without saying that to each other yet. They had sex with each other maybe seven or eight times in the three months they’d been together like that. While they enjoyed every encounter, it was becoming apparent even to them, especially Tim, that Bill didn’t like sex with other males enough to keep doing it, whether with Tim or with anyone else. While those kind of relationships weren’t condemned by the Wizarding World nearly as harshly as in the no-Maj world, Tim was no-Maj, and rapidly becoming quite wealthy – and quite famous in the no-Maj or Muggle world. This fame could potentially expose both of them to press scrutiny, which Bill was not ready for, even if he wasn’t also training to fight when the war restarted.

As they lay on their sides facing and holding each other after sharing each other’s bodies completely, Tim groused, “It still sucks that David seems right all the time.”

“Whadya mean, Tim?” Bill asked, still lost in the afterglow, even though that was quite fleeting, as Tim was well-aware.

“You’ve enjoyed what we’ve shared physically, but not nearly as much as I have. In fact, I’d bet that you’ve already been working up to telling me that this part of our friendship was ending.”

Bill sighed before he gently replied, “And I think it sucks sometimes that you’re so observant. And, I never said that I wanted to do this stuff forever with anyone. Not even the first time.”

Tim joked morosely, “That wasn’t quite what you were saying…”

Bill retorted, “When you were fucking me in the ass, I was afraid you were going to come in my mouth doing it, and I was just as scared by how good it felt.”

Both boys laughed quietly, before Bill sighed and added, “Doing this stuff isn’t bad, and you’ve been wonderful. But I honestly can’t keep doing this. I like girls, and while I don’t know ‘bout Yankee birds, most English birds don’t want nothing to do with uphill gardeners, whether they’re witches or Muggles. I don’t plan on getting’ married right out of Hogwarts. If the war don’t start up right away, I’m going to go to work for Gringotts as a Curse Breaker in Egypt. But I don’t wanna go completely without, either. If I keep going for dudes, no nice girl will go near me; even if they will go with a guy who’s been busy with other girls before.”

“Guess so, and it’s not like David didn’t tell us that we wouldn’t last for the ‘fun’ stuff, anyway. Far as that goes, Princess has to approve of anyone I see ‘on the side,’ and she won’t let me go for bent groupies or anyone else that might give me AIDS or VD. And, with the gossip reporters following us more closely than Dad, there’s no way I wouldn’t get busted out, either – and that’s on top of me being really underage!”

They both had a final laugh before Bill started getting the both of them cleaned up so they could get dressed. Tim timidly asked, “We’re still friends though, right?”

Bill assured him, “Of course, Tim. Providin’ I keep my grades up, I’ll still be helping with security at your concerts. And your Dad has it covered that your band will play weekend concerts in the UK and Europe, and that David will be quietly let go to play at those; once again providing he keeps his grades up. And as determined to ‘test out’ of Hogwarts early as David is, I’d be surprised if he isn’t the top student in our year every week before then.”

As they dried off, Tim told his friend, “Thanks, Bill. Even without the fame from the band hiding real friends behind fans, groupies and grifters, I’ve always been really shy, and I’ve had trouble making friends. Even though we kinda knew each other from my older brothers being friends with Danny and Michael, it was David who reached out to me. David actually started school a year later than me. Saria’s mom was David’s first grade teacher the first year she taught school. She taught in the town we all lived in instead of where she lived with Saria and her parents, and David’s birth parents had just moved to Mokena from Bridgeview.

“It was the nineteenth of September, 1977, my seventh birthday. That day, my Mom had sent me to school with homemade cupcakes for my fellow second graders. They loved the cupcakes. But they still didn’t love me. I was still ‘Tapity Tapity Timmy,' the braniac boy who couldn’t stop drumming on things, with the funny accent. What I normally talk like is how most guys where I’m from talk. The way I drawl if I’m tired or hurt is how I always talked back then, which is what Americans call a ‘Southern Accent.’ Mokena's just outside of Chicago, in the north. But I was born in Mississippi, which is about as far in the south as you can get, not counting Florida and Texas, and lotsa people who ain't from Mississippi look down on her.

“Anyway, I was the last one out of the classroom that day, and the teacher didn’t give a shit. I was crushed as I walked past the door to the first grade classroom, where I heard a boy’s laughter along with Miss Cook’s; that’s what both David and I always called her, instead of ‘Aunt Betty,’ or something like that. Miss Cook was the only child of David’s birth-mom’s brother by adoption. She got drugged and raped at twelve, and had Saria at thirteen. But Saria was always her beloved daughter and lifeline.

"Anyway, while I kept walking and started to sniffle; the laughter died, and the boy announced, ‘and now, my luck is about to change.’ The door opened, and David pulled me into the classroom, shutting the door behind us. He told me, ‘I’m sorry that your classmates appreciated your Mom’s cupcakes more than they did you. I was just tellin’ Miss Cook how I kept wimping out ‘nstead of makin’ friends with you, when we could both use more real friends, when you walked by. Could we be friends? Miss Cook can cut your cupcake into three pieces, and we can give you one of the Chocolate Zingers she didn’t eat with her lunch, and we could talk and hang out?’

“A ‘Chocolate Zinger’ is a type of what you Limeys call ‘pasties’ that’s popular on the no-Maj side in Illinois. We shared that cupcake and those Zingers, and we were friends ever since. And boy, did I need friends. I made friends with David on the ninteenth of September. On Friday the twenty-second of January in 1978, David and I had a sleepover at his place, which was still with his birth-parents then. On the morning of Saturday the twenty-third, while we were eating breakfast before David’s birth-father went in to his helicopter company to fly some bigwigs somewhere ‘cause the pilot he scheduled got sick, Dad came over, and was relieved as hell to see me. He pulled David’s birth-father aside and talked where I couldn’t hear them. David’s hearing was just as good back then, and he burst out in tears and hugged me almost like he’d lost his parents. Hearing David, Dad and David’s birth-father came in and Dad told me that the fire happened, and that no one in that building survived. Pixie was with an older relative instead of with her parents, so Dad took her in too, along with me. David’s birth parents and Miss Cook only lived until September third of that year.”

Bill replied, “Wow, even with you guys not having the Terrorist running ‘round, you guys had it tough.”

Tim blushed while he replied, “We had it tough, but I knew guys who had it worse. Just the same, we ended up training and working as what you would think of as ‘Muggle Mediwizards and Mediwitches” because of it, including here in the UK. David, Saria, Aaron, and I also took our school studies to a whole new level. Aaron, who actually started school early, got moved up two years so he’s starting sixth grade. Saria and I got moved up two years, and David got moved up three, since the only reason he didn’t start earlier is ‘cause he refused to leave Aaron before Aaron was ready for him to go to school. David’s sticking by Aaron is no joke, and you don’t want to come up against David, even in a Muggle fight. The day Aaron started kindergarten here, some fourth grader tried to hurt Aaron. David almost killed the kid, it took Danny, Michael, Debbie, and me together to pull David off of the stupid bully, and he’d only got a couple of swings in. Fortunately, the school had already had problems with the kid, a Canadian. The kid actually got PNG’ed over the incident, once he actually got out of the hospital.”

Being cleaned up and dressed, Bill suggested, “Let’s fly around for a bit before landing at the Burrow.”

Tim answered, “Sounds good to me, you’re driving though.” Both boys laughed before they got onto Bill’s broom and flew away.

§§§

The night of Monday the thirtieth, Saria and David went to bed early, directly after supper. Since they’d only ever slept together at Number Two, that’s where they were, sharing their last night together before David took the Hogwarts Express to school the following Wednesday Morning. As they lay together in the extended afterglow of a long lovemaking session, David remarked, “I’m glad that Remus will be able to go with us to King’s Cross Wednesday. Uncle Frank, Uncle Junior, and Aunt Hannah too; though I almost wish they weren’t.”

Saria giggled and answered, “Not my fault that you’re too ‘nervous’ to do this at home like your older brothers and Tim.”

David groused back, “Not fair! They share the same bedroom, and they even share bodies at the same time, not caring. I share my bedroom with Aaron, and there’s no way I’d do it in the same room I share with him, even if we showered and got back into pee-jays before he was ready for bed. He’d never stop teasing either of us, I’m surprised he can hold off on messing with us as it is.”

“David, he knows we both need each other. What little he teases you is because he loves you as much as you live him, and he’s trying in his own way to remind you that you’re just a kid, just like him, and to enjoy being one.”

Kissing Saria, he told her, “That’s true, and he occasionally throws in just a pinch of ‘sibling rivalry’ here and there. And we both know that sometimes I need the distraction. That, and occasionally coming up for air from all the studying I’m doing on top of what the other guys are doing. We’re all doing the core subjects right now, but Uncle Frank has had Dad really drive home all the history. That’s actually fun, and it helps me relax. Did you know that Hogwarts actually had to wait fifty years for their Royal Charter, or that they got their charter from Macbeth?”

Saria didn’t know. She asked, “Macbeth from Shakespeare was real?”

David answered, “Yeah, and it happened pretty much like this. Hogwarts was originally a grouping of stone cottages to house the students, with a set of long-houses for the actual classrooms. They founded the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on Hog Warts Hill in 990 AD. Hog Warts Hill resembled the face of a boar warthog, including the warts. The King of Alba at the time, Kenneth II, didn’t care about a magic school, even if he knew it existed. He was trying to secure the succession for his son, who eventually did succeed as Kenneth III. But he was assassinated in 995, in a manner that actually resembled what Shakespeare had “Lady Macbeth” do, at the behest of Constantine III, who succeeded Kenneth II as King of Alba. You could just kill the King and take over back then, if you were part of the Royal Family of Alba.

"Constantine III lasted only eighteen months before Kenneth III returned the favor in battle. Kenneth III would rule until 1005, when Malcolm II killed him in battle and took the throne. Malcolm II did not like wizards and witches at all, and started harassing Hogwarts. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff erected Hogwarts Castle to house the school when one of their Divination students had a True Prophecy in 1002 seeing Malcolm II taking power when he did. So, when Malcolm II’s men came calling, Hogwarts was ready. They actually avoided using magic as much as possible while defending from the attacks to avoid inspiring persecution from the non-magical locals of the day. Instead, they used the weaker outer wards to encourage all non-magical locals to leave the area, thus the village of Hogsmeade became all-wizarding back then and remains so to this day. Hogsmeade was originally ‘Hog’s Mead,’ which was built around an inn that made and served mead to locals and travelers in the area. The Three Broomsticks stands on that site, though the building itself is newer, and the pub has changed family times more than once over the centuries.

"Malcolm II was succeeded in 1034 by Duncan I, who genuinely despised magic users, and was even more bellicose. Finally in 1040, Helga Hufflepuff had had enough. As the last of the founders to remain, she was running the school by herself. She had a staff of accomplished witch and wizard teachers, including alumni of their first years on Hog Warts Hill. She sent her Potions Master, her Potions Master’s apprentice, and her Divination Teacher to aid the Moramaer of Moray, who actually had some magical ability, as well as being a member of the Royal Family of Alba. He would become Macbeath, King of Alba, after Duncan I fell to him in battle. He would rule wisely and justly for seventeen years.

"These three accomplished witches from Hogwarts are the origin of Shakespeare’s 'bubble bubble, toil and trouble' witches in Macbeth. They brewed him a ‘good luck’ potion so powerful that after winning the Battle of Bothnagowan, Macbeth claimed the throne of Alba without serious opposition. Unlike is Shakespeare, he ruled justly for seventeen years, and was known as a just and fair king by all except for the supporters of Malcom III. The witches also gave Macbeth a dire warning. They told him he would have ‘an Ides of peace, yet would face his greatest peril the day Great Birnam Wood should come to high Dunsinane Hill to wage battle against him.’

"Macbeth was no fool, so while Great Birnam Wood was not put to the axe, he was always watchful for enemies camouflaged with branches from Birnam to wage battle against him. Macbeth survived losing the Battle of Dunsinane in 1054 thanks to that warning. However, he only reigned for another three years before finally being killed by Malcolm III at Lumphanan in 1057. Fortunately for Hogwarts and the Scottish Kings, Malcolm III and his successors generally ignored wizards and witches from then on, and stayed well clear of Hogwarts. Shakespeare wrote ‘The Scottish Play’ the way he did because he was also a propagandist for Queen Elizabeth I and the witch-hunter King James I and VI.

“I’ve actually gotten to examine the Royal Charter myself, and I’ve read the translation of The Prophecy of Berchán, along with some of the other primary sources.”

Saria smacked him gently, chiding him, “You’re supposed to put me to sleep talking about history, not get me excited and worked up about it! What are going to do about getting me all worked up and unable to fall asleep?”

“Make love with you again and hope we can wake up and get cleaned up before Uncle Frank and the rest get here? Or at least have them ignore what we do at night like Dad has done?”

As they started to move together, Saria retorted, “Hopefully the latter. Now, my Dunsinane needs some Birnam Wood! Get chopping…” Happily, they were ignored on the morning of the thirty-first.

^1.“Turn the Page” Bob Segar, 1971. Publishing company well-hidden but released by Bob Segar on Capitol Records.
^2.“Cavitina,” 1973. Music by Stanley Myres, lyrics by Cleo Laine. Lyrics published by Robbins Music Corp.
^3.“Love Theme From The Untouchables,” 1987. Ennio Morricone and Randy Edelman, Paramount Pictures. No other publishing information easily available.
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The Yankees Nephew and the Philosophers Stone