Ancestry 43 - Breaking Breaker Issues
Xander put the trunk on the table in front of the teacher and former student, grinning at them. "Uncle Elginore, who had syphilis, kept saying he was going to the New World on a ship and breed plants to make his own fortune so the aunts couldn't nag him anymore about his STI." He sat down, handing over the journal about him. "His wife's."
Madam Sprout grinned at the description of her new husband, then blinked at the actual picture. "Oh!"
"The whole family was *sure* it was the syphilis talking since he was deathly afraid of boats and never got on one in his life after he nearly drowned from a rowboat at six or so." He tapped the top of the trunk. "But this was his. It's full of plant samples in stasis. There's no listing of what they are. If they could be grown later on, I have no idea. Dumass kids are not good in herbology or potions."
He grinned at her. "So I'm going to offer you or you and him the chance to go through it, deal with the plants however you want, because I'm not going to worry about it. All I could do is throw them onto the castle's grounds to see if they'll grow." He shrugged. "I have no idea what's below the plants or if anything is. Most likely it's his wife wedding set if there is. It's missing from the family index still. If so, use it to fund a scholarship?"
"Oh, dear," she said, standing up to get into that chest. She moaned at the plants. "Oh! What is that?"
"I have no idea," he said with a grin. "You can have some fun figuring that out?"
"Yes, I can and will, Mr. Dumass. Thank you." She gave him a hug and smiled at Neville. "You can help me, Neville. Someday you'll get to look over my whole collection." He smiled at Xander, punching him on the arm before helping her carry the trunk off.
"It can be shrunk," he called after them. "It was for years."
"That's fine. Thank you, Mr. Dumass," Neville called back with a wave and a grin. They settled in a greenhouse to take out all the plant samples to see what they could identify. If it was a unique breeding they'd note it for the Ministry records about who had created it. Then see how it grew up.
Xander went home to get the bag of trunks, heading for Diagon. He was muggle dressed but oh well. He walked into Madam Malkins', earning a dirty look for his clothes. "Howdy. I'm here to show Madam Malkin some of the family heirlooms I uncovered in our former attics." The woman got her for him. "Madam."
"Alex Dumass." She kissed him on the cheek. "What did you find?"
"Eighty auntie's trunks of their clothes after they died." She moaned. "I don't wear dresses. I've given a few to those who were helping me." He handed her the bag. "All shrank in there in trunks. I consolidated. We went from over a hundred trunks to twenty-seven of clothes."
She settled at her desk to pull out the first one and open it. "Oh, that's beautiful embroidery. It's got a few holes."
"I figured you could use some as patterns and some as dresses." He pointed at one. "We thought that one's fantastic but we don't know anyone who could wear it."
She pulled that light purple feasting gown that was so thin out to look at in the light. She moaned. "Oh, is that elven silk?"
He grinned. "How would I know? I know leather pants, jeans, and dueling robes." He smirked. "I have no skill with clothes. The aunts all sewed."
"Oh!" She went to get someone who could tell her from the sewing department. She came back with her. "Are they mixed up?"
"Yeah. That's a pattern probably trunk. That gown belonged to a very ancient aunt, Elilia if I remember right. She was mid-seventeen-nineties to early eighteen-twenties. A married-in aunt if I remember right."
They went over the trunk. A lot of the pattern ones were liked. The still good condition dresses were all stared at. He shrugged when they looked at him. "How many aunts?" the seamstress asked.
"About eighty all told. This is stuff that survived the fire by being in the attic in flame proof trunks. After they died, their stuff was packed up after the other aunts got what they wanted to inherit. Each aunt had at least one trunk of stuff. A few weren't full. I've got to deal with the jewelry too.
"At least we've found most of the stuff that was missing. There's still a few things but I don't mind most of them. One's a family heirloom broach so whoever's wearing it is probably in danger of the thing beating at their magic. It's entailed." They nodded, going back to the clothes.
Madam Malkin looked at him. "How much were you wanting?"
"Ten pounds?"
"Each?" she asked with a wince.
"No." He shrugged. "I'm not a girl, I can't wear them. Even if I marry a wife, she probably won't want to wear clothes that old. Or in some cases that flimsy." They smiled and paid him, going back to sorting things out. "I gave a few a dress for the Antiquities Ball too. One may need to use it as a pattern. Not sure how it'll fit her."
"That's fine, dear. Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek, letting him go do Xander things. They dug into the next trunk. It had later period clothes at least. Some even towards Edwardian. Plus the trunks since he didn't seem to want them back. The few pieces of jewelry they found in the trunks they took pictures of for future makings then sent them back.
***
Emilia sat up in bed that next day. It was actually Greg's day off so they were in bed. They were newlyweds, no one expected them to be anywhere but bed. She frowned, sensing toward the east coast. "Who do we call for a cursebreaker problem?" she asked.
"The bank," Greg said, looking at her. "Though I may not encourage that. Call Dumass?"
"Yeah." She got up to do that. He answered looking half asleep. "There's a cursebreaker going spare somewhere on the east coast. He's spewing so hard I felt it here in Vegas."
Xander blinked, then nodded. "I can pop to New York to see if I can spot him before the bank puts him down. Thanks." He put on a t-shirt over his pajama pants and went once he had his wands. Yup, they were in New York, it was washing over him in waves. That was grief. He followed it by short apparation hops, finding it in a bar.
He walked around the officers, casting a notice me not on the way in. He found the guy, hauling him up. "Lock it down," he said quietly, staring at him. The guy fought him but he hopped off with him to an area outside the city. Just bare woods. He stared at him. "You're sending out magic, dude. You spammed people all the way to Vegas."
"You wouldn't understand!" he shouted.
"I lost my whole family at one time. The flu took over sixteen aunts, my grandmother, and half of everyone else in the family home. Including a few siblings. I do understand. I was seventeen and I still feel it. But you're out of control and you need to quit broadcasting." He put up a shield around him. The guy felt it and whined, fighting it off. "Just...did you get *no* magical training?"
"I don't have it, my sister did!"
Alex brought down the shield. "Bullshit. This isn't a new breakout. This is you've had magic for years and now you're grieving." He sighed. "Here, do this," he said, showing him the basics of shielding. The guy sucked it in and breathed through it, setting up a basic shield. "Better," he said more quietly. He tipped his face up.
"It'll be okay. I promise it will be. It's going to suck forever but it'll be okay enough to go on. Even if she was your soulmate." He gave him a hug, making the guy go limp and cry. "Shh, it's all right. We'll help you handle it." He glared at the goblin team that appeared, making them flee. "Damn nosy bank people."
The guy pulled back. "Like the goblins in that book?"
Xander smirked. "Yeah, dude. You're a cursebreaker. Your powers are seeking out things to affect the way we do."
"Oh." He blinked a few times. "You are?"
"I am." He nodded. "Or I was. The bank turned on me." He shrugged. "I beat a number of them for it." He stared at him. "But yeah, you've got magic."
"They said I didn't. My sister did."
"Well....someone lied." He grinned. "Welcome to being a magical person!" He waved a hand around. "It's not all it's cracked up to be."
"My sister read those books and swore about that."
"So did Harry." He nodded with a grin. "It happens. We're going to beat that author to death when we find her."
He shook his head, looking down. "Angel would've freaked out."
"Eeeh. If she loved you she would've eventually handled it and just went 'that's how he's weird, everyone's got a weird thing'."
The guy blinked. "Yeah, we are. I'm a detective."
"I'm a former cursebreaker. Still trying to decide the rest. But I am cleaning up artifacts." He grinned at the new person showing up. "Hey, auror."
"What's this?"
"Someone told me that a natural cursebreaker was going spare. She felt him from Vegas."
"Vegas?" the guy demanded.
"Well, she's part veela." He looked at the auror again. "Since I don't trust the bank, I popped over to help him with that. Located him with micro pops, got him here so he could put up a shield and let some of it out more safely. He got told he didn't have magic by one of the schools. His sister went."
The auror frowned at him. "Which school?"
"In New York City."
"I know that school. They're usually not that stupid. Who're you?"
"Detective Don Flack Jr., NYPD Second Grade homicide."
"Oh. Okay." He nodded. "We can figure something out to help you. What happened?"
"They shot up the bar me and my girl were in. She's...." Xander gave him another hug, looking at the auror.
"That's a reasonable output then, Detective Flack. Grief does it to us. We find people all the time that way." He came over to test him. "You have very basic shields."
"I helped him put one up just now," Xander said. "He has no training."
"Clearly someone somewhere was funny in the head," the auror said dryly. "Who're you?"
He grinned. "Xander Harris. Or Alexander Dumass depending on who you ask."
"Like Clan Dumass?" he asked hopefully.
"Which is why they called me for a cursebreaker going off." He nodded a bit. "I ran off a dverger team already."
"That's great news. Can he go with you to help him with that for at least tonight?"
"Yeah. We can do that. The unicorns at Dumass Glen would love to help him grieve and stuff." He nodded. "We have plenty of shields."
"They're going to wonder where I went," Don said.
"Muggles tend to mentally censor themselves from things like that," Xander quipped. "I did a notice me not on the way in," he told the auror.
"That's more reasonable than we'd expect most cursebreakers to be," he said happily with a grin. "We have Persimmons retired in DC."
Xander winced. "Oh, you poor people. Is he still a drunk?"
"Yes," he sighed with a nod. "He keeps drawing the hippogryph from the national zoo."
Xander shook his head. "Get his granddaughter to come nag him. She's done it for years."
"I didn't hear about that. I'll look into that. Thank you. Bring him back in about ten hours to our main offices in DC?"
"I can do that." He took Don with him. He grinned at him. "Sorry, long apparation from the US. I've done it a few times."
"That was but it felt weird."
"Yeah, it can." He sat him on the ground. "Here, watch the unicorns."
"Unicorns don't solve everything," Tara called.
"I'm getting drinks," Xander called back, walking off. "That's Tara, Don."
"That's cool." He watched the blonde woman and unicorn foal come up the hill, blinking at it. "It is real."
She smiled and nodded. "They are. This one's fussy and abandoned so I've been feeding him his bottles." She sat down near him. "Are you okay?"
Xander came back with two bottles of beer and a bottle of tea for her. "He just lost his girlfriend, Tara. He was broadcasting greatly. Emilia felt it and warned me." He handed Don a beer, getting a nod for it. "Yes, unicorns are real and they're so stinkin' cute they do tend to take your mind off stuff. A lot. I did that many times when I lost my family. Actually I think a few tried to be pallbearers for Aunt Cordy." He flopped down, looking at the foal. "You need brushed. Are you avoiding Tara brushing you?"
"He's due for a bath tomorrow and I do it after that," she told him.
He nodded. "I used to too. Then have to clean all the hair out of the tub but it was never usable for spell work."
"We can use it for spellwork?" she asked.
"That's why you use the pure silver brush and comb set and you put it onto the charmed paper," he said. "Haven't you been?"
"Yeah. I thought it was just thrown out that way though. I've got a pile of them in some tupperware in the kitchen until I could find out if they were to be burned or not."
"No. We tended to give it away. I can take it to sell it." She nodded, going to get it for him. The foal stayed laying on the grass next to Don. Xander handed over something. "It's charmed to not hurt them and to block out that you're not pure enough to pet. Don't touch the horn."
Don put it on and petted the little guy, smiling at him. The unicorn foal got happy with that and snuggled closer to him. "They're kinda like big dogs at that age." The unicorn foal snorted at him for that. "Most foals don't sit on laps," he told it. It huffed and let Don get back to spoiling it.
Tara came back to hand over that container, sitting down again. "They're very understanding. I've cried about my last girlfriend a few times too. She's got problems."
"She's still unconscious too," Xander said, sipping his beer.
She shook her head with a sigh, sipping her tea. "They're a great mind's ease and they're cute when they play."
"We used to throw out bigger balls," Xander told her.
"Awww. That has to be cute!' She considered it then looked it up online to see if she could find one. She let Xander see it and approve so he ordered it for her. He had muggle accounts still. She grinned at him so he relaxed and Tara asked him about his girlfriend so he could talk about her. The unicorn foal was happy being petted while Don remembered her and grieved.
Xander gave him lessons in how to shield himself better before he went back in the morning. Including giving him the name of a few books to look in. Then he took him back to the aurors, nodding at them. "Here you go, one grieving detective Second grade."
"Detective Flack," an auror said, coming over. "You broke your shielding?"
"I didn't have any. The school said I didn't have magic. My sister went."
The auror blinked. "What now?"
"We told the guy last night."
"We thought he had put it down wrong," the auror said, looking back there, getting a grin and a head shake from that guy. "You clearly have magic."
"The school my sister went to in New York said I didn't when my father asked them to test me so he was warned."
"No...."
"Is this like I saw a Bonnaserra on the news and she was glowing like she was pent up?" Xander asked. "I reported that to the auror we worked with out of the San Diego office."
The auror looked at him. "Why would you have?"
"Hi, I'm Xander Harris, from Sunnydale." The man went pale, shaking his head slowly as he backed up. Xander grinned. "Head of the Clan Dumass."
"Oh, shit," he said in awe. "Oh, no. You're a bad omen."
"I mean, if you make me be one." He grinned at him. "But now and then I'm just really helpful. A friend in Vegas felt him going off and asked me to help the guy."
"How she have known from Las Vegas?"
"She's a partial veela."
"Oh, one of them." He grimaced but nodded.
"Yes, and she's worked with world leaders for years, without having to get groiny to put it as Hermione Granger did." He smirked. "You're a bigot, dude. Get out of our face." The auror fled. The other one came back to take a statement for them. "I thought some of the ones in England were backwards," he complained quietly.
The auror shrugged. "It happens. Did Miss Granger ever win?"
"Yeah. I foreclosed on the loan we gave the Ministry to expand their new building for trying all that. It shrank back to the original size and lost them three-quarters of the space." He grinned. "They had wanted me to take her, Draco, and my grandson Harry in as spouses. We got a bit upset." He beamed. "They figured out it was a bad idea. Now they're allowing poly relationships by law." He rolled his eyes.
The auror patted him on the arm. "You'll survive. Did she really curse the aurors that tried her?"
"No, she really punched them in the face. Repeatedly. They tend to avoid her now."
"Huh, a witch that didn't curse."
"Sometimes a punch is more effective." Xander shrugged but grinned. "One tried to curse her in the Wizengamet chamber so she shielded then used physics to send him into a wall with a stunner. He figured his stupid out right before he got fired. Wizards never expect the physical response to their dumb."
"No, we don't," another one agreed with a nod. "Though I'd be finding new charges if they were under arrest."
"She wasn't. They were trying to kidnap her." Xander shrugged with a grin. "They started it. She just stopped it when they tried again. And that headmaster that they had to suffer through for a half year."
The auror shuddered. "I heard about him in the news."
"The kids staged a walkout on halloween," Xander told Don with a grin. "Sixth year for Hermione. All but like six kids who didn't have a home walked out with them over him trying to push down on the women as only being there to be bred to."
"That's a strong woman," Don agreed happily. "So the books were fully real?"
"Apparently written by someone a few years ahead of the trio," Xander told him.
"Huh." He nodded. "So they're still mad?"
"Oh, so livid." He grinned. "I heard they finally told Molly Weasley about it but the bank had Bill tell her so he could guard the house from her fit. She still nearly destroyed it through the calming potion." Don shuddered. "Yeah." He grinned at the auror. "How's my team doing in LA right now?"
"Not bad but things are going weird out there. There's a law firm."
"Wolfram and Hart. Yeah they work for the dangerous part of the peaceful community. They also sacrifice people for power, kill judges and lawyers, all sorts of stuff there's probably an ignore me spell about."
"We didn't think about that. I'll have to have someone check." He made himself a note and went back to the statement of what had happened.
Xander took him back to New York, landing in front of a marked wizarding area. He looked at the wizard there. "Hey, just returning him."
"Hey, Mac," Don said quietly.
Mac came over to look at him. "Are you better?"
"I kinda am. I petted a unicorn foal while we talked." He cleared his throat. Xander gave him another hug. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. Sometimes it's the best thing you can do for someone. Tara reminded me of that." Don smiled a bit. "He's got rudimentary shielding lessons and needs to get the books to finish learning those as the local school told him he didn't have magic. They were way wrong."
Mac winced. "Why would they do that?"
"They've been missing people for years apparently. I told an auror out in San Diego about one I saw in you guys' labs that was glowing like she was backed up. Her whole family are known to be seers."
"So that was Stella," Don said. Xander shrugged. "Just saw it on a news thing?"
"Yeah and she glowed. Her magic's backed up heavily and it'll make her sick."
"I'm going to look at that and any other magicals in the lab." Mac looked at Don. "So you have magic?"
"Not according to the school here." He pointed at it. "I think it was that building."
"Yeah, that's the local school," Xander said, staring at it. Then at Mac, grinning at him. "I told an auror today too. Maybe they'll do something. If he can't find the books, send me a message or Tara a message and I'll find him a copy over there and send them over. There's a reason all true cursebreakers are vowed to a chaos god to soak up what we naturally draw to us." He grinned and disappeared.
"They are?" Don asked, looking confused.
"By the rumors they're all vowed to Loki to soak that up because cursebreakers draw trouble. That's how they tell who has the gifts." He walked him off. "We can figure things out. We'll work on getting you up to snuff and get you a wand later tonight. The higher ups were concerned when you were snatched but the few who knew realized it was someone saving them."
"Yeah, apparently I was leaking hard. Am I in trouble?"
"No. I figured they'd bring you back here. It's the official city-wide apparation spot from outside town." He patted him on the arm. "We'll figure it out, Don."
"Thanks, Mac." He got brought home to sit and try not to think. Mac went back to the lab to look at his people. Some had magic and he hadn't expected that. Sheldon had some limited magic. He started with him. "Sheldon." He looked over then smiled at him. "Can we speak for a minute?"
"Big problem with one of my cases, Mac?"
"No. Question." He shut them in an unused lab then put his wand on the table.
"My sister had one of those," he said, looking at him. "How long have you had yours?"
"I went to school for it," he admitted. "Flack didn't get to go and had a break out last night. He's working on his shielding today."
"Oh, poor guy. If I can help let me know. My sister lives out on the west coast."
"I can do that. A cursebreaker helped him last night."
"That's fine. Are there others in the lab?"
"That's what I'm finding out today. Someone noticed Stella's picture on a news story had her glowing like she was backed up."
"She doesn't carry a wand."
"Which can be a problem."
"If I can help, let me know. The only one I've seen a wand near was Sid and he had just confiscated it from a body."
"That's good to know. Thank you." He'd leave Stella for last. He ran into his other techs on purpose and only one had magic. He stared at him until Danny looked over. He waved him out of that lab and to the hallway, flashing his wand holster. "Do you have one?"
"I do, but I never use it."
"Fix that. Flack just broke out last night and is working on his shielding tonight."
"Oh, shit. Where Angel got killed." Mac nodded. "Okay, I can help 'im. He at home?"
"For now. I think he's going to have a yelling match with his father since the local school said he wasn't one of us."
"The headmistress was a nightmare," Danny told him. "I'll talk to Don later and help 'im through the early lessons."
"Thank you. Stay in practice as well. The cursebreaker who helped him last night identified him as being one of them."
"That explains so much," Danny sighed, shaking his head. "Any others?"
"Sheldon's sister. Stella got ID'd from a news story."
Danny blinked. "No, we'd have seen the wand in some of her clothes."
"I think that's why they ID'd her."
"That's probably also why she got so sick last winter."
"That figures. I'm going to talk to her later. Any others you know of?"
"Nah. Not unless Sid may be. He's a bit weird."
"I'll check to make sure. Just be aware and be careful."
"Yes, Mac." He went back to work. The lab tech in there looked at him. "About Don."
"Hopefully it'll help him grieve," that one said quietly.
Mac checked on Sid, their ME. He was just a bit weird, not magical. He cornered Stella that night in his office, putting the blinds down with his wand before running it over her. She saw him do all that, frowning at it. "They were right, your magic is backed up and slightly bound, Stella."
"Hold up. My what now?"
"Your magic, you're a magical, Stella."
"At least you didn't call me Harry?"
He smirked. "Those books are real and that kid's probably really pissed at them." She sat down, staring at him. He nodded. "He probably graduated this last year. The news from over there said the war's done with at least." He sat behind his desk. "You're not the only one that got found. Don got found to have magic too even though the school told him he didn't. It came out explosively last night when he lost Angel."
"Okay. So...."
He pulled up a reference site for her. "I used to wonder if you were one of them. Then you proved you're at least intuitive." He let her see it.
"Oh." She read it further, then at him. "So seers are real?"
"Yes, and there's a lot in your family. If you should have one, I need to know. Not to only help you cover up anyone seeing you having it but also to report it. There's aurors in the US. No Ministry but aurors. They keep track to keep a rating of how correct you are." He leaned on his desk, staring at her. "We can get it unbacked up. That'll mean you're not going to be so sick this winter. We can work on getting you a wand too. Plus a way to train you."
"Could it really help me?"
"Yes. It being so backed up can cause cells to start to mutate. Commonly called cancer." She winced. "So...." He smirked a bit. "We're not the only ones in the lab. Sheldon's sister is one of us so he knows. Danny's got his own wand so he can probably help you and Don at times. We'll work on the wand soon."
She nodded slowly. "I don't want to believe this."
He nodded. "There may be a file somewhere that'll explain how you got to that orphanage."
"I have wondered. This is going to turn things on their heads, Mac."
"It's a gift, one you can mostly ignore once you've got it handled appropriately. I don't use mine most of the time, Stella. But you do need to learn how to harness it and get control of it. Otherwise, like Don last night, you could end up spewing and drawing people to help you from miles away."
"He did?"
"That's why a cursebreaker found him."
"Oh." She nodded. "That makes sense. I'll do what I can."
"We'll make sure you get some books and a wand, all that. Give me a few days to work on the logistics of how to get you to the right places, after I find out where they are. Or you might ask Danny if he knows where they are."
"I can probably do that. Thank you, Mac."
"Welcome." She left and he felt good about himself. He had helped her a lot.
***
Hermione walked into Madam Malkin's with the dress from Xander and the pictures of the others. "Hello. I'm Hermione Granger and I have an appointment."
"Yes, ma'am," the sales woman said with a smile, marking her there. She got the fitter out. "Miss Granger, this is Annibelle."
"Hello." She shifted the dress to shake her hand with a smile. "I've been loaned a dress by Alex Dumass."
"Oh, yes, he told us he had done that." She led her to the back to look at the dress. "Oh, that's pretty. Bit darker than most of the Regency dresses." She smiled at her. "The Antiquities ball?"
"Yes. He's decided to go and I'm going to keep him and Harry from snapping at someone I believe." She smiled a bit. "But the dress is a bit tight here and there. The sleeves are a bit tight, especially that lace netting part." She pointed at it. "It's already untied on the bottom."
"It was usually short sleeves and then you wore gloves to keep your forearms warm."
Hermione shrugged. "I don't want to ruin the dress but I'm not sure how they're constructed. It's also about an inch too short. And the bustline is a bit...short on me if we could add some lace?"
"That's about standard, or a row of embroidery at the top. Let's get you into it." She let the girl change into the gown and step up on the pedestal. "Oh, those are pretty shoes."
"These are about as high as I usually wear. I can stand comfortably in these for hours, even though they're a bit old fashioned of me." She looked down then at her. "I'm getting a cream colored pair to go with the dress since I looked it up and they were usually cream with a short, french heel and a buckle. I found someone who can replicate it with a more modern shoe with insoles."
"That could help, yes. So this height?" Hermione nodded, biting her lip. She wasn't *quite* falling out of the top today but it was close. "The bra and undies?"
"The other bra is this same brand and style but it's in a special bag. I bought this one for fittings. It'll show brilliantly if it's exposed."
"I can see that." She nodded, walking around her. She checked the sleeves. "The lace can be opened with one simple opening of a seam. So they can be turned more fluttery and shifted to leave the open part on top." Hermione smiled and nodded so she did that.
The bustline was delicate but a line of lace got added on top to cover her up a bit more and to cover that bra. It could be dyed later to the match the lilac shade in the embroidery. She pinned a few things on Hermione's backside then nodded as she walked around her again. "How are you doing your hair?"
"I'm borrowing a floral hairpiece. I'm going to go with an updo that's a riot of curls at the top but sleek on the sides with maybe a curl on each temple." She showed her the probable picture. "Something closer to that."
"That's pretty around your face, dear. Necklace?"
"I have no idea. It was suggested a choker of some kind."
"Many back then just wore a ribbon necklace or some lace."
"Hmm. I was thinking about borrowing Mum's pearl and jade choker. But that may not match. You think something closer to a cameo?"
"That could work. You could also highlight the bustline if you wanted by means of a broach at the center. Are you carrying a fan?"
"Oh, yes, I found a pretty but cheap one that's silk and has some pretty embroidery. Nothing at all fancy but it has a wrist strap." She smiled. "I know very little makeup outside maybe some light colored lipstick." The woman nodded. She looked at herself. "I do look quite pretty." She shifted her stance. Which shifted the hem.
She pulled out the flower crown to put on and it changed her posture as it was supposed to do. That got the hem repinned with a smile for her. "I'm borrowing this as well. It came from the same former aunt's trousseau." She looked at herself then nodded. "I can dance in this if I'm lucky enough to be asked." She spun around and the seamstress smiled at that. "Yes, I believe I can do this. How long to do those few things?" She put the crown back in her bag.
"Not very long, miss. A few days."
"Oh, excellent." She smiled at her. "And I can wear it for later charity events I think. Though I may put a jacket overtop." She looked at her chest then pulled it up a bit more. "Deep breathing is not encouraged in this I think."
The seamstress laughed but raised the lace up another quarter of an inch for her. "That should help those deep sighs."
"Thank you." She shook her hand and signed for the agreement then paid and left to let them do the minor fixing. She stopped in the shoemaker, who agreed that it was going to be done on time and they made sure of her foot measurements. Hermione had done the drawing correctly and the impression she had sent using some spare dental gel she had bought from the office. The fan was easily picked up. She went to her hairdresser, who was amused. Hermione showed her a picture of the other dresses. "I'm wearing something like that."
"Very regency," she agreed. "Almost like those movies."
She smiled. "It's a charity thing. A costume ball." She handed over the flower crown. "I'm borrowing that as well." She showed her the picture for the hair. "I was thinking something like that. Curls on the top of the updo? One or two at each temple area?"
"We can check. Is this the trying on one?"
"Yes. The event's not for ten weeks." She sighed. "I put in to have the dress hemmed today."
"That's wonderful." She tried the updo a few ways and nodded, pinning it in place. Then the curls carefully got brought down and curled. The crown got put on top and adjusted. That adjusted the updo and all that. But it worked well. "That's pretty."
Hermione smiled. "That is very pretty. My chin looks very pointed. I almost look fae." The hairdresser smiled and took pictures of it for her reference and handed over a copy of the notes. Hermione made an appointment for that day then went home to show her parents. The hairdo survived the Tube, it'd survive a ball.
Her mother stared at her hair. "That's very fancy."
"There's an upcoming Ministry charity ball called the Antiquities ball." She flopped down with a sigh then carefully put the crown back into place. Her mother blinked a few times. "I'm borrowing it from Alex Dumass. He let me steal a former aunt's dress too. He was going through a ton of their stored stuff. The only thing I'm still missing is deciding on something necklacey."
"I'm not the fashionable sort, dear. I have no idea."
"A choker of some kind, or a cameo on a ribbon maybe? It was suggested."
"That could work very well with that style of dress." She blinked a few times. "Why is he letting you have a dress from his aunt?"
"Former aunt, Mum. That was her native dress in those days."
"Still."
"He had like eighty trunks of dresses from them."
"Oh, that reason." She nodded.
"We talked to that aunt's portrait. She said her mother made her wear her other crown all the time. Even demanded she wear it at school. I did look fantastic in it when she encouraged me to try it on. This one goes better with the gown so I'm borrowing this one."
"Sure, I get that." She nodded.
Her husband came in to kiss her on the cheek then stared at their daughter. "Well, that's fancy for us having chinese takeaway."
"It's my trying it out appointment, Dad."
"Oh, all right. Something fancy and charity?"
"Yes. Ministry ball. The Antiquities ball. We all come in ancient clothes. Alex Dumass let me have a dress from a former aunt and I'm borrowing that same aunt's crown."
"Ah." He nodded. "Well, you look wonderful, Hermione." He blinked a few times when he showed her what the dress would look like. "Hmm. Very...showy."
"Regency, Dad."
"I can tell that. It's like those Pride and Prejudice movies." He patted her on the head then went to change. The food was put onto the table. He came back. The tiara was back in Hermione's room in a locked safe area. Her hair was still up though. "That's a pretty updo."
"It is," she said happily. "It'll stay up if I get asked to dance."
"Why are you going?" he asked.
"I'm going with Alex to keep his temper down and to keep Harry from fleeing from all the women." Her mother choked, shaking her head. "Really, pretty much, Mum. Plus how often do you get to go to a ball?"
"True," she agreed. "So this Alex has to wear regency clothes as well?"
"Yes." She nodded. "My dress is lilac with some maroon embroidery. He'll be wearing midnight purple surcoat and black pants, waistcoat, and a very light mauve shirt with the midnight purple cravat. Gold buttons instead of brass. Riding boots, no hat as we'll be indoors."
Her mother nodded. "That sounds nice looking. We'd like a picture."
"Of course." She smiled. "I'll see if I can get an individual and a group one."
"That's good, dear." They dug in again.
Draco and Harry appeared, in separate appearings but in the same room. "Oh, Hermione. Good. Alex has things locked down," Harry said.
"Rosenburg woke up," Draco said. "He's got both the castle and Dumass Glen locked down. Library actually evacuated Tara and the unicorn foal to my house to protect her. They're going to face off with the addict."
She stared at them. "Need more help? I can grab my wand."
"Please," Harry said. "Draco, can you guard Tara?"
"Of course." He nodded. "She can charm my mother tonight over dinner." He looked at her. "That's a pretty updo. I didn't think your hair would curl that way."
She blushed. "It does, it just takes some skill to get it there, Draco. I had my try on appointment today for my hair and the fitting for the gown."
"That's a good thing." Hermione ate a few last bites, hugged her parents, then ran to get her wand, a jacket in case she needed it, and the bag with war supplies. Harry looked relieved to see it. Draco looked confused. "What's that for?"
"War supplies. Healing potions. Blood clotters. Bandages, that sort of thing, plus some traps from the twins and the like." She smiled. "I've carried it for years." They went back to Draco's house with him doing the moving spell this time. She looked at Tara, who was cuddling the unicorn foal under Narcissa's picky gaze. "Tara, love, are you all right?"
She looked at her and nodded. "I think so. She's scary. She's full blown scary today, Hermione."
"We can help Xander. You know that." She gave her a hug. "Does he need things?"
"No, I have a bottle in my pocket and I can summon my unicorn formula mix."
"All right. Let us go back up Alex and help him," Harry said, giving her his own hug. "Draco, if she should come here, you, your mother, Tara, and the foal are all allowed on Black properties, whichever one you think is the safest. So said I as the Black heir." The wards adjusted and he nodded. "We'll be back in a bit, Tara." He took them to Dumass Glen with the camp moving spell.
Tara sighed. "They're very good friends to have. Including your son."
"He is," she said happily. "I'm ecstatic he finally learned." She got Tara some tea and the unicorn a bowl of water to lap from. It was only polite. "I've never met a witch who does magic like you do, dear. How do you do things?" Tara floated over a towel to put under the foal so it wouldn't harm the couch.
"Oh, that's wonderful. I felt that but it's marvelous that it's so discreet." She got the poor thing calmed down and when Vincent and Hedda came for dinner, as expected, Hedda helped her greatly. Vinnie guarded the house for them.
Tara ducked her head, blushing a bit. "My former girlfriend showed up. She's got a few problems."
Vinnie stared at her. "I remember seeing the redheaded one." He nodded a bit then looked at the foal. "You're stupidly adorable. I have no idea how baby anythings are so cute when they're all so fussy."
"It's so you don't mind them being so fussy," Narcissa said with a smile. "It's a protective thing in their case, Vincent. Some day you'll find out from your own children."
"Probably next year with the way my mum's pushing," he complained. He listened to the floo discharge someone and went to look. "Pansy. Tara's here. Her girlfriend showed up. She's got a unicorn foal."
"We knew she was the pure sort that time she showed up to help the house elf babies. No Draco?"
Narcissa came in. "No, he's helping banish Tara's former girlfriend."
"Ah." She nodded. "That'll take forever probably." She sighed. "My mother has disappeared, leaving a letter saying she was running away from her shame. By her letter I can't really announce she's missing. What do I do with that?"
"Tell an auror," Narcissa told her. "I'll go with you for a few minutes. Dollar, I'll be back in a few minutes, after I help Pansy."
"Yes, Mistress Narcissa."
"Thank you. Make sure Tara's safe with the new elf Floppy, Dollar." She followed Pansy back to help her. Millicent showed up to help too.
Vincent shook his head, looking at his wife, who smiled. "I'll let you two talk about girl things while I check the house." He went to do that. Of course, someone tried to get in and he had to stop them. They saw Tara casting at the one who tried too. She was very sorry when the earth tried to eat her.
Vincent looked at her then nodded. "So much nicer than Draco would've been." She sniffled and started to cry. "Oh, don't do that! I have no idea how to handle that. Hedda! She's crying!" Hedda came out to help her, getting her back to the unicorn foal to cuddle. It knew the stepmommy was upset.
An auror appeared, looking at the idiot then at the boy who used to guard the owner of the house. "What's happened?"
"She tried to invade. Tara, who's here getting protected from her former girlfriend, helped with that. She's inside crying. I have no idea what to do with a crying woman."
The auror nodded. "The same Tara at Dumass Glen?"
"Yes!" He smiled and nodded. "With one of the unicorn foals. Her former girlfriend is the redheaded one that we saw at the school while she was detoxing."
"I've heard about that, Mister Crabbe. Calm down."
"Who is it?"
"I have no idea. I can check that in a minute. The owner?"
"At Dumass Glen helping. We all kinda look after Tara. Draco said she's really sweet and delicate. Which I guess she proves by petting a unicorn foal."
"That would prove that, yes."
"When we had some sick house elves, she helped keep the babies steady."
"That's very pure then," he decided, making notes. He went to check to see who it was then came back. "She's one of the Parkinson get."
"Pansy showed up here. Her mother ran away with a note left. Narcissa's over there helping report her missing."
"I can check with that team. We'll get this one out of the ground for Mr. Malfoy." He went to do that, taking her back to the Parkinson house since she was so stunned she was docile.
Pansy blinked a few times. "That's my aunt. Who hates me."
"She tried to invade Malfoy Manor."
"Then she's able to stand up for herself against Draco," she decided with a nod. "I'm not getting between them. Draco's vicious when he wants to be."
"He's helping defend Tara from her former girlfriend," Narcissa reminded her. "Did Vincent have a problem with her?"
"No, and apparently Tara helped."
"Oh, she's got to be torn up. She's the most delicate thing." She went back to check on that since Pansy and Millicent had it in hand. "Tara, are you all right?"
"I think so. Just...reaction." She sniffled and blew her nose. "Thank you, Hedda. You give great cuddles."
"You're welcome. Sometimes you gotta stress cry. I do sometimes."
Tara looked at her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm learning new things about Vinnie daily and most of them are really sweet. But a few...." She shrugged. "He's a man."
"I helped raise him. If he's that upsetting you let me know," Narcissa ordered, looking over at Vincent, who shrank down.
"She found out about my dad and the mark, Auntie. It got explained but she's still upset."
"As were many of us with sense," she said. "Your father didn't deserve to be so damaged, Vincent. Sit down. If more appear, we'll handle it together." They did that. Millicent and Pansy showed up, Millicent telling Dollar they were there but probably wouldn't stay for dinner. Dollar snorted, staring at her, one foot tapping. Millicent backed down at that. She scurried to the living room.
"Dollar be saying yous will be eatings!" she yelled. "Before you turn into scrawny woman!"
"I doubt there's much chance of that," Millicent complained.
Dollar came out to stare at her. "Dollar said you is! You will listens to Dollar! Bad things happen to behinds when not listening to Dollar!"
"Dollar," Narcissa sighed. "Quit being so strident. I'm sure Millicent would love to stay for dinner and I'm sure we'd stop her from wasting away."
"She being sick!" he said with a point.
"I am?" Millie asked. "Why am I sick?"
"We'll find out," Pansy assured her. "I'm taking her to a healer, Dollar. Save us something in case one of us can come back." She took Millie to her family healer, putting her in front of the older woman. "A house elf just said she's sick and she's going to waste away. Why?"
The healer looked at her. "Is the house elf reactionary?"
"It's a Malfoy elf."
"Oh, no, they're not." She got up to examine Millie, finding out what the problem was.
Millicent came back a few hours later with Pansy behind her. "The mother fucking toothy wonder put a curse on me since I escaped his plots," she sneered.
"We can go hit him," Pansy assured her, patting her on the arm. "It was removed. Dollar, thank you for warning her. The one who wanted to sacrifice her was trying awfully hard but we'll stop him tomorrow." Dollar smiled at them and gave Millie extra food.
"Thank you, Dollar." She gave the house elf a hug before sitting down. "Sorry to make such drama tonight. No Draco yet?"
"Dumass Glen's wards are bubbling up and they're in an intense battle," Vincent said. "The unicorns fled. Completely fled. They're in the neighboring town now." Pansy winced. So did Tara, who sighed, looking at her plate. "It's better you don't have to handle that yourself, Tara. You might feel pity for her."
"We had plenty of smoochies but I'm not going to let an abuser get away with it," she told him.
Narcissa patted her on the hand. "There's a place for people like that, Tara. It's often a jail ward of the hospital." She pointed. "Eat." The girl ate, looking at her foal for now. It was napping next to Hedda, who was cooing at it. "Hedda, dear, eat. You can find a way to pet the foal again later." She grinned, digging in again. She was worried about her son but he'd be fine. She hoped. He was not a warrior.
***
Hermione used a nearby fire to call out. "Ron Weasley!" He spun into the fire. "I need the backup bag. Now, Ron! Right the hell now please!"
"What the hell? Did HE show back up?"
"Worse, Rosenburg!" She ducked a curse and sent one back, this one a great bit dark. "Please, Ron."
"Be right there," he said, hanging up and rushing off to grab it from his closet. He used the camp moving spell to get there, landing outside the wards since they were on high. He rushed in and found creatures. Great. Just marvelous. He snuck through them and banished the bag at Hermione. He felt someone catch it and it felt like Harry so that was fine. He had to deal with these guys apparently since no aurors were around.
Harry had caught the bag and tossed it to Hermione, who pulled out something and sent it at the witch. She batted it aside but the potion bomb went off and spread on her, making her shriek as it grounded her. "She's attached," she called. "Grounded to the earth."
"Witches should be when they're like her," Xander quipped quietly then finished grounding her and then using the earth to suck up her magic. She screamed as she tried to defeat it and them. Harry went to help Ron with a few of the creatures because he was trapped.
Hermione sent something that way then cursed Rosenburg again, making her scream at her about not understanding. "Oh, we understand just fine," Xander told her. "You're an addicted bitch, Willow. You won't get to hurt Tara. Ever. Not even if I'm dead."
He blasted his own curse at her, making her scream and fall down sobbing but oh well. He bound her finally, using a few crystals in the field. Then he sucked up all the extra magic to clean the ground for the unicorns. It went into a separate crystal that he could destroy later. He cast a binding charm.
Hermione did her own then went to help Ron after glancing at Xander, who nodded. She hit a few of the creatures with finites to decreate them. Only worked a few times but the rest they could unravel. "Harry, she used a creation, not a summoning. These are all Lord of the Rings creatures." She looked around. "No ents though." They unraveled the curses on them and they faded out.
Ron pushed his sweaty hair back. "What the hell?"
"Rosenburg," she said bluntly.
"Oh, that." He nodded once. "Great. It solved?"
"She's down but I left Xander with her. You two...."
"We can do the ground cleaning spells," Harry assured her. "That way it won't taint a unicorn." She nodded and ran back there. He looked at Ron. "How's your year been so far?"
"Pretty normal. I've been helping the twins and Tipsy with the store." They worked to pull up the bad magic so it could be gathered and bound into something. They didn't know how to do that but Hermione did. Draco did when he came from the secondary location he was firing from. He got them out of the way and bound the blobs of magic in amber. Then he went to help Xander calm down. "Thanks."
"Welcome. We can't have the unicorns hurt."
Rosenburg launched herself up at Xander to stab him with a bloody knife she pulled from somewhere but Hermione got in her way and punched her in the face extra hard. Willow went down crying again. She kicked the knife out of the way. "Xander?"
"I recognize that thing. It's the one Justy used to stab a unicorn then me." He kicked it farther away. He looked at her. "Didn't even scratch you, right?"
She checked. "No, not that I can tell."
"Good. Because that's a nasty death if it does. I'd hate that for you." She grinned at that, pushing her curls behind her ears.
Draco looked at her hair. "That stood up to all that."
"Yes, I figured it'd stand up if someone asked me to dance," she said happily, touching the updo. Barely any had come undone. "It seems it will."
He nodded. "Clearly." He looked at Willow, picking up the knife with the shirt he took off to hold it. "We don't need that anywhere near any of us." He went to hand it to Potter. "Unicorn blood. Alex said the same one his brother stabbed him with way back when."
"How did Willow get that?" he demanded. Draco shrugged, walking back there.
Ron looked at the shirt then back at Draco. "It's good he's okay too I guess."
"He took her back to fire on to distract her. He nearly burned her to death but she fought off the fire imp."
"Eww." He checked around, fixing the last few bits of bad magic. "That should do." They walked to where the others were. "We cleaned it up and Draco put it into amber, Xander."
"Thanks, guys. Sorry to drag you into this." He was staring at Willow. "Harry, how's the wards?"
"Bubbling like they've been in the oven for too long," he quipped. Alex moaned, shaking his head. "But holding it all in. When they go down we'll have an explosion of light."
He nodded. "We can do it at dawn to cover that up." He looked around. "Of course, no watcher or witch from the coven."
Hermione moved to use the same fire. "Mr. Giles?" He nodded as he appeared though it was probably Rupert's father. "I needed the younger one, the one from Sunnydale. We just had a problem witch, sir."
"I'll tell him to call Xander since I can see him off to the side."
"Thank you." She hung up. She looked at Xander, who shrugged. "That's interesting. I don't usually get the floo addresses wrong."
"You're tired," Harry reminded her. "Sit, Hermione."
"I'm fine, Harry. You?" She looked him over. "You've got cuts from her vine whips." She dug into the bags, handing him a healing potion and Ron a pepper up potion, getting a nod of thanks for it. "Draco, I have a spare pepper up." He took it with a smile and a nod of thanks. "I have a healing spell too. Alex? Healing spell?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Yeah, right," Ron said dryly. "I can see the blood from here, mate. Watch me tell Tipsy so she can fuss. She's so much fussier than my mum. But less loud about it."
Draco looked at him, nodding. "I think that's about normal. Aren't most people less loud?"
"Oi!"
"Sorry but truth," he quipped, taking the potion.
Wesley appeared first, walking over. He had on a leather jacket. "Xander, what's happened?" He pointed. "Oh, dear. They didn't tell us she had woken up." Rupert appeared with Ethan. "She got free."
"The wards are intently warped," Ethan said, looking around. Then at the witch. "How did she do that?"
"I shuffled some of her attacks into them," Hermione admitted. "It kept her from summoning more monsters from Lord of the Rings."
"The last geek book she read," Xander quipped.
"I was surprised she didn't call ents," Hermione told him.
He swallowed. "She likes ents. She likes trees."
"So do I but I'd be more scared of ents and the orcs and trolls than the others she called up."
"True," Xander said with a nod. "But she's not thinking clearly."
"I nearly petted the dog thing," Ron quipped.
"Warg," Xander, Wesley, and Hermione said together.
"Okay a warg then." He nodded, looking around. "Let's check the woods, Harry?"
"Yeah, we can do that."
Xander sent out magic to do that, shaking his head. "The wards are stronger towards the east to protect the unicorn's emergency paths. They're still standing. It's just by the house and the main wards that're screwed. Though, how did you send them into the wards, Hermione?"
"Fitchner."
He blinked a few times. "I haven't read that one. I need to do that." She grinned at that, nodding some.
"The book is dreadfully boring," Draco said. "But I did the same thing with her calling up the earth's taint spell, putting it into a rock instead of the wards." He pointed at it. Xander went to look at that.
Ethan shook his head. "That's interesting. I've only heard of that book." He looked at Willow then finished binding her in a third tradition. Library showed up and moved around him to do it herself. "Hello there."
"Library," Hermione sighed.
"She not be doing this around house elvies again!" she assured her. "What one knows wes all know!" She finished up and nodded. "She touches magic again, she be remembering us." She looked at Xander, who was coming back. "House safe. Elvesies protect house."
He hugged her. "Thank you, Library. Is anyone hurt?"
"Barely. Going to house elf healer."
"Thank you. You take great care of us."
She looked at Willow then at him. "She not do it again, Master Xander." She disappeared.
Xander grinned at the kids. "I love Library."
"She is the sweetest elf," Hermione agreed happily. "Takes good care of you as well." She looked at the boys, who all nodded.
"You look very pretty today," Wesley told her.
"It was my try appointment for the upcoming Antiquities ball." She looked at Xander, who shrugged. "Did you ever find out who asked me to go with you?"
"Tipsy. She's on the committee this year and got us invites and wrote you in my name." She sighed, shaking her head. He grinned. "It's fine. How many times do you get to go to a ball."
"Exactly. Which is why I wanted to go." She shrugged. "I had my fitting done today as well."
"That's fine, dear. I have a suit at home. I used to have to go to them each year. The bank would pull some of us back for that." He looked at Draco.
"I have breeches and a nice outfit," he assured him. "Including the silk hose and shoes." He looked at Hermione. "The lilac colored gown?" She nodded with a smile. "It'll look fantastic."
"The tighter sleeve parts we opened and switched them so the opening was on the top. So it'll be flowy."
"That's great, dear. Gloves?"
"Those I have from an earlier event a few years back. Another costume event but they're opera length gloves." He nodded at that. "I went as the female from Phantom of the Opera since my father went as the Phantom himself and Mum refused to dress up."
Xander grinned at that. "That's cool." He gave her a pat on the arm then Harry a hug. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, Xander. I'm glad we managed it."
"Me too." He looked at Ron, who just grinned and waved. "Thank you for helping, Ron."
"Not a problem. Not the first time I've followed Harry into a battle. May not be the last. No matter how much Mum screams at me for it." He shrugged but looked out towards the house. "I sense idiots so the aurors are here."
"Ron!" Ethan chided but smiled. "You can use more imaginative names for them."
"Not in front of Hermione. She swats."
"Not for them. I used a few of them myself about them." She looked at Xander, who shrugged. "Want her?" she asked the watchers and chaos sorcerer.
"I have no idea how to handle her," Rupert admitted, straightening up some. "Go let in the aurors so we can have them quit fussing and drawing attention."
Draco headed that way. "I can do that since I'm the least tired. I was mostly shielding you guys." He went to the ward line, looking at Shacklebolt and the auror team. "She's down."
"What's happened? We had energy alarms?"
"Rosenburg. She came for Tara, her former girlfriend. Then tried to bring hell here." He let them in. "We've bound her, including a house elf binding her." He pointed. "That way. We've also bound up the bad magic we had to suck from the ground."
One auror stopped in front of him. "One of Parkinson's aunts tried to break into your house."
Draco frowned. "Why?"
"She was going to kidnap you to bind you by force to Pansy. She was going to blood bind you."
"Like hell that'd work. She'd die immediately of that." The auror gaped. He stared back. "I knew her for seven years and a few years before school as well. She's mercenary and it'd be self defense." He pointed. "Was she handled?"
"Vincent did and Tara helped apparently. She was swallowed by the earth?"
"Yes, Tara is an earth based witch. So probably, yes." He nodded. "Doesn't shock me any. Is Tara fine with that?"
"Cried a bit."
He hummed but nodded. "I'll head home soon." He let in the other aurors then went back to the grouping, pausing to float the bad magic blobs to the aurors to deal with. "Sealed in amber in these cases. I also made a rock." He pointed. "Not sure how we'll remove that."
Xander looked then undug it and floated it over. He checked the ground to make sure then filled in the hole. "We use a digging spell that we used to use to expose underground tombs." He let the aurors handle it. "Draco was shielding and drawing her attention."
"That's fine. Your shirt?" one asked.
"Around the knife that once stabbed me," Xander quipped. "It's got unicorn blood on it. She tried to stab me with it as well. Thankfully Hermione blocked her and punched her for me."
Ron handed that over. "Nasty thing that."
"It is," Draco agreed. "It's a damnation level problem."
"It took me four months to wake up after he got the unicorn foal that had been abandoned and then me," Xander told him. They all winced at that. "Exactly. My sister Meri sat with me most of it for my mother."
She appeared, looking at the witch then at her son. "D'Hoffryn was going to come help smite her but we stopped him before it caused even more damage."
"Thanks, Mom."
"Welcome, dear." She stroked over his cheek. "Get treated, son."
"I'm fine, Mum." Hermione huffed but handed him the healing potion she had. He took it with a sigh but nodded at that order. "Thank you, Hermione."
"Welcome, Alex." She smiled at the obvious demon. "Hello. He said his mother got asked during a fight."
"I did. Who're you?"
"Hermione Granger, ma'am." She curtseyed.
"Oh! You're her!" She smiled, patting her on the cheek. "Anyanka said you and Draco would both make an excellent matriarch of the family." She smiled at him and patted him on the cheek too. "If he should so choose I think we'd all be happy with that." She looked at her son. "Really."
"Mom, I had four kids. One whole family of them carries the Dumass name."
"Four?" she demanded.
"One's in the US but he's part of a trio soul bond group. He probably doesn't know."
"Awwww!" She smiled. "I want to meet that one. I'll do that tomorrow or so." She waved and disappeared. "I still want a grandchild, son."
"You have some, Mom." He smirked and waved. "Maybe with a surrogate some year far in the future. Or else I'd have to bring them on digs with me if I go back to doing that job without the bank."
She reappeared. "Don't threaten that, son. We'd injure you so you couldn't go on digs at all."
"That's cruel," Hermione complained. "There's always been nomadic cultures and they do just fine having children!"
Xander's mother blinked at her a few times. "I want a grandchild from you even if you don't marry my son, dear."
"Yes, well, I've got medical school to graduate in eight years first," she said dryly. "Then my residency and fellowship. You've got a wait even if I do marry him. Maybe Draco could have one for him first?"
"I'm not going to get pregnant, Granger," he complained. "Really. It'd do my reputation no good."
Xander's mother stared at him then at Hermione then at her son. "Take them both, son. Mummy orders!" She smiled as she disappeared.
"She didn't even know I had dated Anya until I asked her to talk to Anya about what a matriarch does," Xander told Giles. "Then they talked and Anya decided it was a lot of work."
"I dare say it would be," he agreed with a nod and a slight smile. "Though, if you do take up with one of them, we'll be very pleased as long as it's not your grandson Harry." He patted him on the arm, earning a wince. "I don't think the potion was strong enough."
Draco stared at him. "I can summon Madam Pomfrey."
"She doesn't have to take care of me. I'm not an employee of the bank," Xander quipped.
"I'm telling Tipsy," Ron decided. "Maybe she can talk her into it." He went to do that from a nearby fire. Xander tried to disappear but Willow's spells were preventing it. He had to work to clear those before he could move himself.
He nearly got it all cleared before Tipsy got there to drag him off. He did manage to escape from her and the hospital. Which meant the Emergency teams went to find their newest patient for her. They got him back there and fixed up fairly fast so he didn't have to pout and break things as only a cursebreaker could.
Hermione looked at Draco. "Is this how it feels to be sucked into a cult?"
"I never got sucked into one and I'm not going to call back my sperm donor's ghost to ask him," he said dryly but smirked. "But yes, I believe so. Is this how families act, Weasley?"
"Sometimes. Yeah. Charlie would've dragged me off by my ear. He's a lot like Mum but nicer and quieter. Bill too." He nodded with a grin. "Yeah, this is family stuff."
"Oh. Well, maybe Mum'll make me a big sister then," Hermione said. "Then we can all fuss over it."
Draco shook his head. "Mine can't so I'll fuss over Vinnie and Hedda's future child." He smirked at Potter. "Don't you have to have about four or so?"
"Yes, apparently. I just have to find someone to do that with sometime first." Hermione gave him a pat on the arm for that. Ron punched him on the other arm. "Thanks, people. Let's clean up this mess. What do we do with her this time since sedating her didn't seem to work?"
"She had been in the custody of the american aurors," Rupert told them. "Sedated to make her give up her hold on the hellmouths as we had a vision or two of her ripping two open so they could join up across the country from each other."
"I hope she can't," Shacklebolt said. "We can put her in jail."
"She can still use magic then," Hermione pointed out. "Including the hellmouth. She's still drawing on it. I can feel it building."
Draco was fidgety and nodded. "I can feel the energy building too." He put up shields around the group of teens. The adults could handle their own.
"I know how he told, how did you?" Shacklebolt asked Hermione.
"Battle alert spells." He gaped. "Not like they weren't handy!" She looked at Harry again. "Are you sure you're all right?"
"I'm fine, Hermione. Go fuss at Ron?" She glared. He let her check him over with a sigh. "It's how she deals after battles. That or stress crying."
"They're normal post battle stress relief," Shacklebolt told him. "If they don't do that or more than scream, we worry."
Hermione nodded. "I learned that trying to keep it in once." She looked at him. "Madam Pomfrey had to sedate me and help me regrow the hair was I pulling out by the handful."
Ron nodded. "She just offered me a calming potion. Said Bill usually needed one after getting into a fight."
"She just had my usual bed handy and ready," Harry quipped. He got free of Hermione. "I'm okay." He stared at her. She frowned. "Really. Go check on Tara? Tell her it's all okay again?"
"She's at Draco's house. I have no idea where that is."
"I can do that and put on a shirt before I feel like I belong on the cover of those books the girls in the house read." He waved his wand and apparated off.
Harry sighed, moving to Ron's other side, earning a few grins from the aurors. "What are we going to do with her?"
"Beyond the jail there's nothing set up for her. Maybe the mental ward," Shacklebolt said.
Giles shook his head. "Her parents would hear and come get her free as they're psychologists." He straightened up. "She's well and truly bound but can probably try to use magic again." He looked at Ethan, who shook his head. He had nothing he could do. "Wesley?"
"We can put her back under sedation until something's decided," he offered. "That would be safe and humane."
Giles nodded. "We could. Can you call the aurors from San Diego's office?" he asked Shacklebolt.
"I can," Harry said. "I still keep in touch with Brad, the one who had custody of me." He did that from a new fire, waving at him then pointing at the witch on the ground. "Came to force Tara back to her side."
"She got lost in the small earthquake we had earlier," he complained. He looked at the other aurors. "You guys keeping her?"
"We have nothing we can do with her but put her in jail or in a mental hole."
"We can put her in a higher security hospital to keep her sedated," he said, looking behind him. "Found Rosenburg, boss. She's in England."
"We're at Dumass Glenn," Harry said.
"I've got a tracker on you still, kiddo. Be there shortly." He hung up.
Harry grinned at them. "He's a really nice guy."
"He seems like it," Ron said with a nod. "Very calm too."
"He is," Hermione agreed. "He sounds like someone to keep in your life, Harry."
"Yeah, I think I'd like that too." He grinned. "I still check in with him every now and then." He patted her on the arm. "You can probably go home unless they need a statement."
The aurors all nodded. "Of course we do, Mr. Potter," Shacklebolt said. "Let's get that started while we wait."
By the time they were done, Alex was back, limping hard, and clearly escaping. So Hermione went to work on his healing for him to calm him down. He carried her home with the camp moving spell, handing to her mother. "She's being super fussy. Even more than the ones who wanted her to be my wife were." He disappeared.
Hermione looked at her mother, who just stared at her. "Alex." She got free and sat in her usual chair, putting her feet up with a sigh. "Oh, I forgot my bag." Me brought them to her. "Thank you, Me." She smiled and petted him. "Alex has a few injuries on his chest and one on his left thigh they didn't get to heal."
"Me and Library will make sure Master Xander is fine, Miss Hermione. Elvesies used to his ways." He smiled and disappeared.
"Thank you," she called. "You're a great being, Me." She looked at her parents. "He's the head house elf at the castle."
"Ah," both said and nodded together.
She grinned. "Twinning, Mum and Dad?"
"Just shocked," her mother said. "What happened?"
"The stupidly addicted witch showed up for her girlfriend," she said with a smirk. "She was a bit mad in that special legal meaning way. It took almost an hour to down her and get her bound."
Her father cleared his throat. "Is she safe?"
"They're going to sedate her again in a higher security facility. She's got control of some scary powers, Dad. There's been visions by people who only see apocalypse battles who've seen her doing the wrong thing with them." He winced but nodded. "They're saying that sedating her will make her body give them up eventually. This time she came to fix her relationship with the girlfriend who told her to get clean or else."
Her mother nodded. "That sort of ultimatum is sometimes necessary and they still don't manage it."
"Yes, she didn't." She shifted, putting her feet around so she could check her ankles. "I knew that thing bit me. Thankfully I had the healing spells with me." She looked at her parents again. "I'm knackered, parents. Good night."
"Night, dear," her father said, getting up to give her a hug. "We're proud even though you do worry us stupid, Hermione."
She smiled and hugged them both then went upstairs with her bags to shower and rest.
The parents shared a look. "Well," her mother said. "He seemed nice enough. He clearly likes how much she reads. He can stand beside her, or her him."
"I thought he'd be older."
"He was but he's deaged."
"Oh. Interesting. I know some people who'd adore that if they could do that." They shared another look. They really needed to talk to their daughter about sensible things. Or maybe get her to go to college for the spring term.
***
Draco appeared in his house, shaking his head at his mother's look. "We won," he said.
"Son, your shirt?" his mother asked patiently.
"Around a knife that holds unicorn blood."
"Then you can definitely get a new one."
"Let me shower first. I'm grossly sweaty." Hedda was blushing. He grinned at her. "I know I'm pretty but Vinnie has better muscles than I do, Hedda." He went up to his room to shower and put on better clothes.
Hedda looked at her husband. Vinnie grinned at her. "We all stare at Draco. He's really pretty," he told her. She swatted him but leaned on his arm, getting cuddled.
"I haven't seen Draco that undressed since that birthday party when we were six or eight," Millie said. "With the puking kid."
Pansy giggled. "I remember that one. Lucius was so disgusted that the child threw on his son and then his shoes."
"Lucius was more disturbed about it being on his shoes," Narcissa said then sighed. "It was arranged and I'm thankful you'll all have happier marriages than I did." They all smiled at her for that. Hedda smiled at Vinnie, who grinned back at her. Draco came back down eventually, heading for the kitchen to get a drink then coming back. "Are you well, son? Do we need a healer?"
"I had a pepper up potion afterwards, Mum. I was doing a lot of shielding and pulling at her magic to keep her down." He settled into a chair with a sigh. "Battles take a lot of energy."
"Yes they do," Pansy agreed with a nod. "Dumass had pepper up potions handy?"
"Granger had a bag with emergency supplies for a battle to happen. She had healing potions, pepper up, and some bandages."
"That...figures," Pansy decided with a nod. "Probably smart around Potter anyway."
"Sometimes it's a good idea," Millie said with a nod of her own. "What is that witch like?"
"Bound. Even a house elf bound her. Where's Tara?"
"Napping," Pansy said with a point.
"I'll tell her what happened tomorrow then," he decided, yawning and sipping more of his tea. He looked at his mother. "I'm fine, Mother."
"I'm sure you are sensible enough to have sought treatment, son. Is everyone else?"
"We all survived. Hermione punched her when she was down but trying to stab Alex with a knife holding unicorn blood." Pansy and Vinnie both shuddered. "That's why my shirt was sacrificed."
"No aurors?" Narcissa asked.
"At the end to pick her up. It's strong enough it created bubbles in the wards on Dumass Glenn." She shuddered, not even delicately. "Hermione threw some of the attacks up that way since she was calling on fantasy novel creatures from Lord of the Rings." He yawned again.
"How did she get healing potions?" Vinnie asked. "They're illegal to make or buy for regular people sorts."
"She probably bought them somewhere else," Draco said. "The pepper up was the version we made but that's not illegal."
"Point. Yeah, I guess you could."
"They're not illegal to make, just to buy in country," Millicent said. "My house's emergency kit has some too. We just bought them in Europe and brought them home with us."
"So probably what she did as well," Narcissa agreed happily. She looked at her son. "Go rest, son. We won't be upset."
"I can do that. Good night, everyone. Let me tell Tara." They all nodded and let him go up to his room to sleep off the exhaustion.
Narcissa got comfortable, shaking her head. "My poor son nearly turned into a hero."
Pansy smiled at her. "At least he didn't turn into a villain. He was the odds favorite of turning that way in our third year poll."
Vinnie nodded at that. "He was a little shit that year though." Hedda elbowed him. "He really was. He's gotten a lot better."
"We all grow up if we're lucky," she reminded him.
He grinned at her. "I'm so glad you did." She elbowed him again but looked pleased.
Millicent looked at Vinnie. "Find me a man who treats me like you treat her, Vinnie. Please?"
"I'll try."
"Thanks."
"I could use one too," Pansy quipped. "Draco's offered to take me to the Antiquities ball."
"Aww," Narcissa said happily. "To get you good notice?" Pansy nodded. "Do we have a gown yet?"
"Alex Dumass let me borrow one when Draco asked."
"That's wonderful, dear. Have you tried it on?"
"It's a bit small. So the seamstress is making me a new one using that as a pattern. I'll look splendid." She smiled.
"I'm not going," Millie told them. "Wasn't invited." They all nodded at that.
"They seem really boring," Vinnie told her.
"They can be," Narcissa sighed. "Often that depends on who you're with. Lucius stood in one area and sneered at everyone with his friends. I never got to go chat with anyone outside our social circle." She grimaced. "Though I did hear a lot of good gossip."
The girls grinned at that.
Greg came out of the floo. "I'm back, I can take over guarding tonight, Vinnie."
"Thanks. Draco's back and in bed."
"That's fine. We can make sure no one comes for the pretty young women who're hiding here." Pansy giggled at that, swatting him on the arm. "Hedda and Tara definitely are and so is Millie." He smirked at her. "You're pretty but mean."
"I can be, yes. I'm well aware of that and I like myself this way," she said happily, smirking at him. "I'm getting you next week."
"Just don't be too mean. I'm meeting a prospective spouse then." He sat down in Draco's former chair. "What happened?"
"Remember the addicted witch they were having to detox?" Vinnie asked. Greg nodded. "Her. She showed up to fix her relationship with Tara, even though Tara had dumped her for getting too addicted. It took over an hour. Draco said the shields are bubbled."
"Ewww. That's bad. It's really hard to break wards that way." He shuddered. "At least she's confined and won't come here." He looked at Narcissa, who was smiling at him. "I would've included you in that pretty comment but like Pansy, you're mean enough to do it on your own. I remember you accidentally pushing Lucius into that frog pond and him coming up with a fish in his hair."
She burst out giggling, nodding. "Oh, yes. That. He did deserve it that day. Plus his shirt was holding onto a lily pad." She smiled at the girls. "That man earned it."
They all grinned back at her. It was good to see her happier.
***
Chapter end notes:
This leaves parts 44-55 to be put up of this single story. Though there is a follow up story, and an AU similar to what was in the original curses series still to go, but nowhere near as long. They're normal length stories.