Family Matters | By : 6phoenix6flame6 Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 10410 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone from the Harry Potter books, nor do I profit from writing this story. |
AU: Sorry this has taken me so long to post.
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Chapter 5:
Harry sat in the front seat of Kabel’s truck petting Gunju behind his ears. Gunju seemed to get into a lot of mischief. He would hide in the hallway shadows of the leaky cauldron, and jump out at anyone walking by, grabbing at the hems of their robes. They had been staying there for the past few days until they were to leave for the states and the trials were complete.
Ron was currently in the back seat, quietly watching the scenery pass by.
It was a rough past two days for them. Ginny had had her trial, and she had been judged to be insane. She was going to be spending a lot of time in the phyc ward of St. Mungo’s. Hermione on the other hand, was on probation. She’s on a strictly no magic unless its during class at school basis. A ministry official would come to her house once a week, if she had any homework left, to supervise her while she worked on her summer work. Her house was going to be monitored very closely for the next several years; even if she never returned to the muggle world after graduating.
There had been several articles in the Daily Prophet about the trials, and a couple in Witchy Weekly. Harry was getting hundreds of fan mail: some saying that they supported him during this awful time and others were marriage proposals.
But now, he could breath somewhat freely. The worse part was over, and now he was faced with meeting Kabel’s grandfather and everyone else at the ranch.
“Cheer up guys, look we’re here.” Kabel pointed out as he pulled down the drive way.
Instead of taking a plane back, they took the international floo. Which Harry never again wanted to do. Once he fell out of the floo network at the airport, he instantly threw up what seemed to be four days worth of food.
From the airport Rick apparated with Sirius, Remus and James to the ranch. Kabel was going to drive Ron and Harry back. One, to settle their stomachs and two because he wasn’t going to leave his truck there any longer than he had to.
Harry looked ahead and saw his Godfather, Dad and honorary Uncle standing with Rick and an older man, talking. Behind them was a beautiful Victorian meets Queen Anne style of ranch house. It was done up in light yellow siding and a wrap around porch. There was a gazebo off to the right and back a bit, shaded by several tall trees. Off to the left of the house an acre back were two stables with several out door paddocks. Beyond that was a small forest and rolling hills. To the right of the house were what seemed to be two smaller guest houses and three large buildings. Over all it was very homely and peaceful looking.
Kabel got out of the truck. His gramps gave him wave as he hurried to the circular paddock left of the drive way. There was a horse running around in it with several handlers trying to calm it.
“How are you feeling now?” Rick asked walking up to Harry, as Kabel dashed passed him. Probably going to help the old man with the horse.
“Much better,” Harry gave a smile.
“This is a very nice place you have Mr. Walker,” Ron looked around. This was the type of place he would love to own. When he was younger he had always wanted to own something flashy, but he realized, after some growing up, that he would rather have something cozy and home-like.
“Thank you Ron, but it can get very crazy here at times,” Rick flashed a smile before turning to see about getting everyone gathered to get them settled in when he noticed Sirius and Remus missing.
Remus and Sirius had followed Kabel to the paddock. They had wanted to see how they would calm the horse down. They stepped up to the rails between to burly young males. Both wore dark dusty blue jeans and white t-shirts with dark tan cowboy hats. They didn’t spare Remus or Sirius a glance, too focused on what John and Kabel were doing.
The two handlers that were in the paddock hopped the fence when John had whistled at them. John hopped in and stood in the horse’s line of sight. He gestured to Kabel. The horse snorted, shaking it mane and bucked. Kabel hopped the fence with two ropes in one hand and a bridle with a lead attached to it, in the other.
“Eric,” Kabel called out, voice gentle as not to spook the horse further.
Eric the guy standing beside Remus jumped the fence. John took a rope from Kabel as Eric caught the bridle that Kabel threw him. The two of them went on either side of the horse while Erick kept a distance in the front. Kabel gave a nod to his gramps. Simultaneously they moved, lassoing the horse with their ropes. The horse reared but they held fast and got it on all four. Erick approached the horse. Dodging its attempts to kick him, he was able to slip the bridle over the horse’s head. He grabbed the underside of the bridle under the horse’s chin and pulled its head down. He clicked at it soothingly and it started to calm down.
“Geoff,” John called.
The guy on Sirius’ left hopped the fence with an apple in its hand. He passed it to Erick and backed up. Erick held out the apple to the horse. The horse sniffed at it then quickly snatched it from the man’s hand.
John and Kabel approached Erick and the horse, rolling the ropes up as they went. Once at the horse’s side they slipped the rope over its head. They then watched as the horse was lead away and out of the paddock.
“Why was the horse naked?” Kabel asked his grandfather. John raised an eyebrow at the boy.
“He was brought in twenty minutes ago, ‘naked’ as you put it. It got spooked somehow. We just don’t know how.” John took the hat off his head and ran his hand through his light brown hair. It was starting to turn grey at the temples.
Kabel nodded thoughtfully before he started grinning. “Sup gramps,”
“Hey to you too. I’ve heard you had a real exciting time over there.” John grinned and shoved his hands into his jeans. The two of them then started to walk out of the paddock.
Kabel sighed. “It was going great until the girls set fire to the house,”
John sent his grandson a sidelong glance. “Does James and Harry know of their relation to you?” he stopped and fully turned to Kabel.
Kabel stopped and shook his head. “So far only Ron and Harry know. Dad hasn’t told James yet, and I’m not sure about Sirius or Remus.”
John hummed as he looked to his son. He was talking to James, Harry, and whom he assumed as Ron.
“Then we’ll leave it up to Rick to tell James.” John paused before continuing. “Why don’t you introduce Harry and his friend to the handlers and they can help with the noon feed. After that show them to one of the guest houses out back. I’ll have Rick show the others around.”
Kabel nodded and called out to Ron and Harry.
“What’s up?” Harry asked when he reached his brother.
“I’m gonna introduce you to the handlers, then we’re going to feed the animals,” Kabel explained.
“Er, animals?” Ron questioned, thinking of the animals Hagrid used for classes.
“Nothing too wild. Just the horses, dogs, some cats, a panther and a couple of magical creatures.” Kabel shrugged and lead them into the stables where their five current handlers were. Three others were off that day.
Inside were all the ranch hands in the process of taking leads off some hooks.
“Guys this is Harry and Ron,” Kabel called out. “They will be spending the rest of their summer here.”
“Harry Ron, these are our handlers.” Kabel waved a hand in the direction of the five, even though one had not turned around from his task of readying the stalls.
“The only girl is Alice,”
Alice had long dirty blond hair pulled back into a braid with a black cowboy hat and light brown eyes. She had on a baby blue tee and light faded jeans. She was the same hight as Harry with a tanned complexion.
“The tall burly guy is Geoff. He doesn’t say much and he looks very serious but don’t let that fool you. He’s really a marshmallow.”
Geoff was tall, the tallest but not as tall as John Walker. However, he was very burly. He was twice Kabel’s size in the shoulders and chest. He had short black hair and sharp grey eyes, which were currently glaring at Kabel.
“The pretty boy here is Eric.”
Eric had black hair as well, but his was slightly curly and down to the top of his ears. His eyes were a soft blue. He was the same height and build as Kabel. He waved to the two boys.
“Then we have Damion.”
Damion was black with kind brown eyes. He was a bit bulkier then Kabel with defined muscles. Harry could make out two tattoos on his forearms. His head was shaven. He gave the two a cocky grin.
“And the last is Drake, our youngest.” The last guy, who had his back turned the entire time, turned around.
Harry and Ron froze.
“Malfoy?!” Ron cried out.
Harry took in the other teen’s appearance. He hadn’t seen the Slytherin since the end of term, but damn, a month has been good to the teen. His skin is still light compared to Harry’s and the others, but it was darker than it had been during the school year. The white t-shirt he wore clung to the muscles Harry knew he did not have a month ago. He wasn’t as bulky like the others, but Harry could appreciate it.
After his parents were killed in the final battle the teen had left a week before school officially ended. Harry had briefly wondered where he went.
“Potter, Weasley.” Malfoy gave them each a nod. The Malfoy sneer was absent from his face.
Kabel looked between the three. “You know each other?” He asked.
“We attended the same school.” Draco offered.
“Small world.” Kabel gave a shrug.
“Now Harry and Ron you are going to shadow us tomorrow to get an understanding of what we do, then you can do things on your own.” Kabel explained.
“Now what we’re going to do now is bring the horses in for lunch then we’re going to head to the dog building before caring for the other animals. Then we’ll catch a quick bite to eat then set up for riding lessons while the handlers get the horses back out.”
Kabel grabbed three leads. “Let’s go” He led everyone outside the opposite side they had entered.
There were four large fenced off fields, with 2 smaller ones off to the right but still connected to the first field.
In the two separate fields where four horses, two of them heavily scarred. Alice and Erick went there and hooked a horse each and brought them inside. Geoff and Damion followed suit.
Kabel led Ron, Harry and Draco to the bigger fields where seven horses were fidgeting by the gate, antsy to come in.
Draco opened the gate just enough for Ron, Harry and Kabel to enter.
“We’re going to bring the herd in order, except we’re leaving out the head. He’s mine. Im going to show you him.” Kabel explained as horses started to crowded around them.
“Herds are much like packs, you have your alpha or head of herd, which is Helios, then you have your beta , delta and Omega. The beta is Harley- we’ve had him before Helios and is our eldest horse at 23 years old.”
Draco hooked a harlequin coloured horse and lead it out as the four other handlers came back.
“Next are StarFire and DarkStar. They are brother and sister. DarkStar is a year older and very protective. They are 15 and 16 years old.” Damion and Alice hooked a black horse with a brown star marked on her forehead and white horse with black star on his chest.
“Then we have Desmond and Skittles. We got them three years ago. We guess they’re about 10.”
Eric and Geoff hooked a white freckled brown horse and chocolate coloured one.
“And the last two are Sequin and Shiver. They are our youngest. Sequin is 6 and Shiver is four. Sequin we got last year and Shiver was born here. His mom was injured and died during child birth. We don’t know the father because we have a herd of wild horses running through the valley. Its easy for one our mares to become pregnant from them,” Kabel explained as Draco took Sequin who was black with a white speckle along its back flanks. Damion was having some difficulty as Shiver wanted to play.
“Shiver, do not make me call Helios” Damion stated. The young horse stopped trying to evade him.
“Good boy.” Damion led the tri-coloured mustang away.
“Now let me introduce you to Helios.” Kabel gave a grin before giving a sharp ear piercing whistle.
Harry and Ron stared through the pasture looking for another horse to burst through the clumps of trees at the far end. What they saw was shocking. For, galloping out of the trees, was the most beautiful horse they ever saw.
The horse was larger than the others, closer to the height of a Clydesdale, but not quite as thick. He was pure black and looked to be glowing as he slowed his approach.
Helios stopped in front of Kabel. He began to sniff to make sure the others were humans before nudging him affectionately.
“Helios it’s good to see you too.” Kabel kissed his horse’s nose before he started to rub between his eyes. “Helios, I would like you to meet my brother Harry and his friend.”
The horse regarded the two humans in front of his human. He circled them, judging them to see if they were worthy.
Gunju suddenly appeared. Helios bent his head to the cub's level and gave a nudge. The cub went tumbling head over paws.
"Helios be good," Kabel gave a little glare. The horse snorted and shook his head. Draco came out and hooked Helios and led him into the stables.
"Alright, now that the introductions are done, we will head over to the dog buildings and feed them lunch- well, those that get lunch."
Kabel led them out of the paddocks and over two buildings.
"The building we just passed is the vet clinic- we'll visit that after dinner," Kabel explained as they approached a medium size building with two acres fenced off in the back.
There were four dogs sleeping in front of the building. One was a brown brindle mastiff, a large German shepherd, a black lab cross and a Leonberger. When they got closer to the building, the four dogs scrambled to their feet and rushed the group while barking. Harry and Ron stiffened; Harry was never really okay with dogs since Aunt Marge’s dog Ripper had chased him up a tree.
Kabel introduced the dogs. "This is a huntress black lab cross, that's Hades the mastiff, Kronos the german shepherd, and the Leonberger is new, I don't know his name yet."
The leonberger woofed at Kabel as Harry gave him a scratch behind his ears.
"Sorry, he says his name is Niewa,"
"You speak dog?" Ron raised an eyebrow.
Kabel gave a chuckle. "Only dog and horse, but Animal speech runs strong in the Walker family. That's how this ranch has survived for so long."
"That's more rare than having the ability to speak parseltongue," Ron whistled.
"Not really, some are born with the magic like Dad, Gramps and I, all the way back to the first Walker to have it. And then there are those who learn the magic. The first walker spent ten years learning animal speak, and once one learns it, his or her line will carry it until it's washed out," Kabel explained as they entered the building. They could hear loud barking.
"Washed out? Are you talking about pure blood nonsense?" Harry asked.
Kabel laughed. "By the gods no. Washed out would be when more than one generation does not use the magic that they inherited." He led the two though the building, checking to see if the rooms were cleaned and free of the dogs that should be outside for play.
"Say if dad, Gramps and his dad didn't speak animal speech, then I wouldn't inherit it. But that does not mean that it would take me years to relearn it, like the first of the Walkers. There is a lingering 'scent'. Actually not much is known about the lingering 'scent'," Kabel explained as they entered the kitchen where there was three female staff members- One washing down the fridge, another washing a pile of dog dishes and the last doing the feeding.
"Melissa, Hilary, and Alexis I would like you to meet Harry and Ron. They will be staying at the ranch for the rest of the summer helping out."
Ron and Harry waved at the three girls.
"They will be helping with the feedings once I start the new schedule." The girls nodded.
"How was the new trainee?" Kabel asked looking over the lunch feeding chart to see who was there and who had been either transferred or adopted.
"Hot!"
"Dreamy!"
"A God!"
The three girls giggled.
“I meant is he good with the dogs?” Kabel gave a little glare.
“Yeah, they actually like him and listen to him,” Hilary replied.
“Is he in today? I would like to have the chance to meet him,” Kabel asked as Alexis gathered the bowls.
“Yeah, he’s just in the crate room doing the laundry.”
“Good with dogs and does laundry. Nice domestic type,” Kabel gave Harry and Ron a grin before they followed Alexis out of the kitchen and down the Hall. They went through a set of doors and down the rest of the hallway to the door at the end of the hall.
They entered the crate room. Harry and Ron were blown back by the number of large dogs, while Kabel stopped and stared at the raven haired god folding bed sheets.
“Told you,” Alexis laughed as she started to feed the dogs.
The guy turned around and saw Harry, Ron and Kabel standing there.
“You must be the new guy, Regulus.” Kabel broke out of his naughty thoughts and held out his hand for the new guy. They shook hands. “I’m Kabel Walker.”
“Its a pleasure,” Regulus gave a smile. Kabel almost swooned.
“When is your shift over?” Kabel asked.
Regulus looked at his watch. “About now. I was just finishing up the laundry,”
“And when do you work next?”
“In two days.” Regulus gave him a puzzled look.
“Awesome, I’ll see you then.” Kabel flashed him a brilliant toothly smile.
“Sure, see you later.” Regulus walked out of the crate room. Kabel following his movements down the hall.
“Kabel, Kabel,” Harry waved a hand in front of his face. His brother snapped out of it.
“Oh sorry, how about the rest of the tour now?”
So Kabel took Ron and Harry out of the dog building and onto the rest of the tour.
Around eight, Ron, Harry and Kabel made it back to the main house for dinner. As soon as they walked in through the kitchen door they were assaulted by yummy cooking. The horse handlers and Draco came in behind them.
“Yum, it smells like Rick cooked.” Damion commented with a grin. John came into the kitchen at that point and raised an eyebrow at him
“Err. Not that you’re a bad cook or anything, John. Its just that Rick’s food is to die for.” Damion tried to get himself out of the whole he had just dug.
Alice and Eric laughed and made their way to the mud room to clean up. Geoff and Damion followed. Kabel lead Harry and Ron to the down stairs bathroom.
Draco stood by the door shifting on his feet. His hat in his hand.
“You staying for dinner, Son?” John asked addressing the blond.
“Not tonight sir, my uncle is arriving home tonight.” John nodded.
“Is he gonna to be stopping by tomorrow mornin?”
“I believe so sir,” Draco replied.
“Alright son, you drive home safe now. And see ya in the mornin.”
Draco nodded and left.
“Was that Draco who just left?” Rick asked walking into the kitchen to grab the last of the hot dishes to go out onto the dinning room table.
“Yeah, I’m worried about that kid,” John leaned against the counter in thought.
“Oh?” Rick gave a worried looked.
“Well he an’t been right since he’s parents died, and he’s been to quiet for the boy we’re use too,” John explained.
“Well that’s to be expected. We’ll ask Kabel to keep an eye on him.”
With that the two left the kitchen to join the rest at the dinning room table for dinner.
TBC:
Please review *gives puppy eyes*
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