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SIYE Time:11:03 on 29th March 2024
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The Trouble with Family
By BigIve

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Category: Post-DH/AB
Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Nymphadora Tonks, Other, Ron Weasley
Genres: Action/Adventure, General, Humor, Romance
Warnings: Death, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 19
Summary: It is after the Battle and the search for Hermione's parents uncovers some unexpected branches on a previously well known family tree.

Canon Relationships.

Some Mature/Adult Themes and Language.
Hitcount: Story Total: 51830; Chapter Total: 1704







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As he stepped through he was greeted by Healer Grants voice, “Minister I was just about to send for you. We have a problem here.”

This was enough to cause the Webb family to quickly appear in the lounge along with Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Ron, Ginny and Hermione.

“What is the problem?” Ivan asked.

Healer Grant looked up at the crowd of people had appeared in the lounge. He quickly stated that only family members should be present, to which Kingsley replied that they were all family in here.

Slightly taken aback by the news Healer Grant continued.

“We have repaired the broken bones to Auror Webb’s, Skull, Neck, Arms and Legs. We believe that we have taken care of most of the internal bleeding as well.”

“However, we can’t do anything for the damage to his chest. As he is wearing something that is blocking all of our spells.” He added in frustration looking to Kingsley and Ivan.

“Let me see” Fireball added determinedly walking past the two Ministers and the Healer with Natalie and Craig hot on her heels.

Their action caused the rest of us to move further into the room so that we could see Dave laid out on the couch. He was still unconscious.

Upon seeing his face there were several gasps from assorted Weasley family members (Fleur and Hermione included).

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Sandra spoke up.

“Blimey, he looks just like Harry a younger Harry.” Ron exclaimed, “If he had the scar and green eyes and was smaller I would say he was his twin.”

“Harry? Who’s Harry?” Sandra asked clearly confused. Ivan also had a slightly confused look on his face, but his was more the look of someone who was trying to place a name he knew rather than a name he didn’t.

“Oh, come on. You must be kidding me.” Ron said, “Harry, as in Harry Potter.”

“You must have heard of him.” Ron asked in disbelief.

“Is that the same Harry Potter that your ministry was trying so hard to capture until recently?” Ivan asked.

“Yeah, you could say that.” Ron replied, disbelief evident on his face that these people were not fully aware of Harry’s role in recent events.

“When he gets here you can stand them next to each other and compare for yourself.” He added.

“That might not be a good idea.” Ivan answered.

“Why not?” Ron asked.

“The name Potter in our family is viewed in pretty much the opposite to the way the name Weasley is viewed.” Ivan said to a suddenly very silent room.

“As it was the Potter family who made the accusations against my father that lead to him being arrested. They were also instrumental in driving through the punishment that was assigned to him. The one that Mr Septimus Weasley did his utmost to undo.”

“Yeah? Well maybe he deserved it. Did you think of that?” Ron asked, clearly only thinking of defending his friend.

“Deserved it? How can ANYONE deserve that punishment?” Ivan said as his anger become evident in his voice.

“I gave my son a copy of the documents that detailed his supposed crime and the punishment to show you all how the actions of your Grandfather saved my father. How can you have seen them and make a statement like that.” He said with more and more heat coming into his voice.

“Minister Webb”, Kingsley spoke up hoping to defuse the situation, “Auror Webb had shown a document listing the selling of your father into slavery only. The other documents had not been discussed when the ambush was discovered and dealt with.”

This seemed to have a calming effect on Ivan. As he nodded to Kingsley and then turned to Ron. “Forgive my outburst just now.” he asked calming himself down.

“The other documents show that my father was accused of marrying a Muggle woman. For this crime, he was arrested. After a show trial, which was held the day after his arrest he was convicted.”

“He was then forced to watch as his wife was executed in front of him by having her throat slit and then pushed through the execution arch in the ministry.” He said through tightly clenched teeth.

“He then had to watch as his 6-month-old son was also sent through the execution arch.”

“After this they broke his wand. Then they broke him, and sold him into slavery.” He finished almost spitting the words.

“Now can you please tell me if that punishment fitted the supposed crime of marrying a Muggle Woman and having a child with her?” he asked Ron.

Ron and indeed the rest of the room had gone quiet. Indeed, quite a few of them had gone almost white with shock.

“They broke him?” Hermione asked. “Please Sir, I don’t understand what you mean by that.”

Kingsley answered that one, although he did so with reluctance. “The breaking of someone, Hermione is a gruesome event. As it involves the breaking of their connection to their magical core and the forcible removal of the majority of a person’s Soul.”

“I must admit I had not heard of anyone surviving the procedure.” He said looking to Ivan.

“Me neither Minister.” Ivan answered, “And we have researched any, and all records that we can get our hands on in relation to this punishment.”

“The only similar event we could find was a case of it being performed on a pregnant woman who gave birth not long afterwards. Her child survived, but he was considered an outcast for the rest of his life. With fewer rights than even werewolves.”

“His magic was also changed and had become wild and almost uncontrollable.” He said sadly.

“How did your father survive?” Kingsley asked.

“We can only guess that the people who carried out the procedure on my father botched the job. As they seemed to have left a slightly larger portion of his Soul behind in his body than was intended.” Was the answer.

“What happened to the portion of the soul that was removed?” Kingsley asked with worry beginning to show.

“We do not know for sure. To the best of our knowledge its fate wasn’t recorded. Although my father does recall being taunted by the Potter’s, with them alternately telling him that they fed his Soul to a Dementor or that they kept it in a Horcrux like device.” He added.

“A trapped pure soul, would be a powerful magical object indeed” Kingsley said almost in awe.

“Indeed, it would be. But we have no way of knowing what its fate was.” Ivan said sadly.

“What happened when your father died?” Hermione asked in a small voice. She was aware of the fate that Tom Riddle Jr suffered when he died with a torn soul.

“Before my father died, my two sons stepped forward to offer themselves as hosts to support his soul. Until either they died or they discovered the fate of the rest of his soul.”

“Eventually they convinced their grandfather to allow them to do this for him out of their love for him.”

“So, when he died they took up the burden of being bearers of his soul. However, since the death of my eldest son, Dave has carried that burden alone.” He said sadly, unshed tears in his eyes.

“Zat’s w’at ee was ‘olding. Wasn’t it?” Fleur exclaimed.

Ivan looked up at Fleur with an expression of surprise, “Pardon?” he asked.

“When we were working on Gabrielle, Dave said we may see each other’s Souls or at least zeir outer shell I zink ‘e called it. I remember looking across at Bill and zen Dave. When I looked at Dave I was startled as I zought I saw more zan one Soul zere.” She said in a slightly awed voice as she remembered.

“What did you see when you looked at him?” Sandra asked very intently.

“I… I don’t zink I can properly explain eet. It was like nozing I ‘ad ever seen before.” She said.

“Please try.” Sandra encouraged her.

“Ze closest I could describe it would be to say it looked like a Dragon.” She explained

Eyebrows were raised around the room. Charlie however seemed to be very interested in this news.

“How did it differ to Dragons that you have seen?” Charlie asked. Remembering that Fleur had encountered a dragon during the Tri-Wizard tournament up close and had also watched the champions who came after her deal with their dragons.

“It was different in zat it ‘ad four limbs, plus wings. It also looked more regal and alert zan any Dragon I ‘ave seen.” She stated, “It also seemed to be cradling a figure close to its chest. A figure who was badly ‘urt.”

“See I wasn’t imagining it” Sandra said to her husband, “we know his Patronus is that weird looking dragon he is so fond of. Makes a certain amount of sense that his outer Soul would resemble that also.”

“Veela are very perceptive and she has no ties to him. So, it is an objective viewing.” She said almost smugly to her husband as though she was claiming a bet.

“’ow did you...” Fleur started to ask.

“Know that you are part Veela?” Sandra finished for her.

“Oui” Fleur responded.

“I can see your wings dear. They look very nice I must add.” Sandra answered to Fleur’s astonishment.

“Dave said ze same zing earlier.” She said in confusion.

“That’s surprising” Shelly said.

“Yeah.” Fireball agreed. “He’s usually as thick as two planks when it comes to do with anything about women. Even Emma…”

“Jasper!” Sandra snapped at her daughter, who returned a sullen look and then went back to her discussion with Natalie, Craig and Healer Jones about his examination of Dave.

“In answer to your earlier question Fleur” Ivan said, “Yes. What your saw being supported by Dave’s soul was indeed the remnants of my father’s soul.”

“He’s a Horcrux? Just like Harry was.” Ron exclaimed.

“No Ron. He is most definitely not a Horcrux.” Ivan remarked.

“The most crucial difference here is that a Horcrux involves magic of the darkest sort. What my father and Dave are doing is just the opposite. It is only possible through love. To willingly give up part of your life force to support another’s soul. It is a sacrifice only possible with unconditional love and a pure soul.”

“Also unlike a Horcrux, both Souls here are fully aware of each other. They are not fighting for dominance or control. They can also freely communicate with each other.”

“Therefore, Dave often seems far older than he actually is. As he has access to a lot of my father’s memories and experiences.”

“However, this is also the core of a potential problem.” He added with his face becoming serious.

“If this Harry Potter you mentioned has any connection to the Potter family that was involved with the accusation, arrest and conviction of my father. Then the last place he should be is around my son.” Ivan proclaimed.

“At least until we have had a chance to talk to him as well as Dave and my father.”

“For while remembering what happened to my father makes me feel angry. To Dave it will bring not only his own anger, but my father’s unbridled fury.” He stated.

“I can see how that would be a problem” Arthur replied from the doorway.

“Indeed” Kingsley agreed.

“What names are on that document?” Kingsley wanted to know.

“Henry and Fleamont Potter.” Ivan replied.

“We have a real problem then.” Hermione answered. “As they are Harry’s Great Grandfather and Grandfather.”

“We need to move him, before Harry gets back.” Ron stated.

“With all the broken ribs he has, if you try to move him before we can properly put him back together you will shred his lungs” Healer Grant replied.

“He is breathing now, but barely. I’m not willing to risk any major movements until we can fix his ribs.” He stated rather forcefully.

“Let me in.” Fireball exclaimed.

“What are you going to do?” Healer Jones asked

“I’m going to cut his top off so we can see what is blocking your spells.” She answered.

“We have tried that already. Whatever that top is made of you can’t cut it in a normal manner.” He said with resignation.

Clearly frustrated Fireball looked around the room and formed a plan.

“Dad, you Bombshell and Ron gently lift Dave up. While you do that Shelly and I will pull up his shirt and try to lift it over his head and arms.” She explained.

Understanding the reasons for it they all got themselves in position. Working together they could remove his shirt with only a minimum of fuss. Although I must admit that it was a blessing in disguise that poor Dave was unconscious at the time.

Once his shirt was off, we could all see the rather strange garment he was wearing underneath it. It looked like an oddly shaped singlet. The material was an off-white colour. But in many places, it was cut through exposing something shinny underneath.

“Could it be?” Shelly said in wonder, “Did he actually get it to work?”

She moved forward and opened the parted the material to expose the underlying layer.

“Stone the crows.” Cassy said, “He did get it to work. No wonder that cutting charm didn’t stop him in Thailand”

“The question is, HOW he got it to work.” Shelly asked.

“Got what to work?” I had to ask as I had no idea what they were talking about.

Looking at the shiny layer I couldn’t see anything to explain what they were talking about. It wasn’t until Shelly laid her fingers on the shiny layer and moved them up slightly that I could see that the layer was made up with what looked like rather small overlapping scales.

“What are they?” I asked in curiosity.

“Bunyip scales.” Fireball answered, a rather fierce note of pride in her voice.

“Oh come ON!” Hermione exclaimed rather forcefully, “There is no such creature as a Bunyip. They are purely Myth nothing more.”

She suddenly found herself the target of disbelieving stares from all the Australian’s in the room.

“I would beg to differ Hermione” Ivan said giving her a very direct look, “while they are rare they are indeed very real.”

“On several of our properties back home we have very large areas set aside for them as reserves to try and provide them with some protections from the Muggles who want to kill them onsite.”

“While they are very ‘odd looking’ creatures, they are extremely magical as well as highly intelligent. They are also very loyal to their family/herd and to those that they accept.”

“We are very fortunate in that the various family groups on our property have accepted our family over the years. They permit us to approach them and observe them. Some of us are accepted enough to be allowed to approach their campsites. Dave is one such person.”

“We he is awake I fully intend to ask him how he fashioned such a garment. As Bunyip scales, will ‘die’ when they are picked up and removed from where they have fallen. It is truly remarkable that he has that garment with so many scales on it and that they all appear to be alive and healthy.” He said with admiration evident in his voice.

Fireball and Shelly had been examining the garment that Dave was wearing. After a few moments, Shelly grabbed one of Dave’s Arms and placed it across his body so that his hand rested on his ribs.

Once Dave’s hand was in position a seam could be seen along the side of the garment. She tried to dig her own fingers under it but the seam would not open.

Placing Dave’s fingers under the seam caused it to open however.

“Looks like it is charmed so that only Dave can remove it.” She said with a smile, “clever little bugger he is at times”.

Once the seam was fully undone it was possible to take the garment off him. We were not prepared however for what was underneath it.

When it was removed Dave’s chest was exposed, and this caused several startled oaths to be uttered.

His chest was one giant bruise. Black and purple marks extended from one side of his broad and well-muscled chest to the other. They were a deep angry purple and black as well.

Healer Grant let out a gasp as he began waving his wand over Dave’s chest, “Almost all the ribs on the right-hand side are broken to one degree or another. With three broken on the left. How he could still breathe I don’t know.” He said as he set to work.

As my eyes roamed over the rest of his rather broad chest I was struck by the number of scars on it. There was a set of scars that ran in an almost half circle on his left-hand side. Starting near his shoulder, then curving out to just past the middle of his chest then back down to just above his waist.

There were also a set of three rather jagged parallel scars that look like they were from a set of claws that started on the lower right hand side of his ribs and went underneath him.

Toss in a few scars that looked like puncture marks and the odd horizontal slash, and the set was completed.

But apart from the scars the next oddest thing I noticed was that his skin was smooth with no hair. Either this man shared that silly muggle obsession where men shaved their chests, or he was a lot younger than he seemed.

I was not the only one to notice this either. Fleur it seemed had noticed it as well.

“’ow old ess Monsieur Webb?” she asked of Ivan, “As ee looks no older zan Quinze or Seize”

“Pardon? My French is very rusty I’m afraid” he answered.

“He will be sixteen on Halloween”, Sandra supplied.

“What? Sixteen?” Kingsley almost yelled.

“How can that be so? No one can be an Auror that that age. It just isn’t possible.” Kingsley asked of Ivan.

Aware that he was the focus of the room, Ivan replied, “Actually he joined the Aurors at the age of Twelve and Half.”

“Why would you allow such a thing? That is one of the most irresponsible things I have ever heard of.” Kingsley said very upset.

“Kingsley, are you familiar with the exams both the theory and practical needed to become recognised as a Senior Auror Internationally?” Ivan asked him.

“Yes I am. I still have nightmares about them.” He replied.

“Same here.” Ivan said with a wry smile. “Would you consider someone who passed them to be competent for field operations?”

“I certainly would. Not only to go on operations but to lead them as well.” He answered.

“I agree as well” Ivan said, “that’s why when Dave passed them at the age of twelve and a half I had to give in and allow him to join the Aurors.”

“We just didn’t have any tests left to make him do. His first 6 months we gave him every “cold case” we could find and told him to work on them. It was an effort on our part to try and keep him out of the field.” He said with a crooked smile clearly remembering back.

“Eventually we ran out of them as well.” He sighed, “During those 6 months, he had also been paired with just about every Auror we had on our roster as a duelling partner. Some of the other Aurors had obviously hoped to ‘teach him a lesson’ and get him to quit.”

“But the only people he lost to on a regular basis were, myself, my father, James (my eldest son), Shelly and Mick.”

“Even then they were only narrow loses, and we all had to stretch ourselves to the very limit.”

“Thankfully he is also a very good and talented teacher and readily helped those that he did beat with constructive criticism and instruction so that they could improve for the next time. This gave him the ability to win the respect and trust of Aurors many years his senior.”

“It wasn’t long before they started asking for him to work with them in the field. Even though I had my doubts at first, the results spoke for themselves.” He added.

“But why wasn’t he in school?” Kingsley asked.

“He had finished school by the age of 12.” Ivan supplied.

“One year of school seems hardly enough to learn what a competent wizard needs to know” Hermione said rather stiffly.

“I agree with you Hermione. However, he started school at the age of 8.” Ivan said, “So four years of magical schooling. With 14 Newts at the end of it. I couldn’t find a reason to keep him there. He didn’t enjoy school very much. Kept on saying he didn’t fit in. There were a lot of people that had their noses out of joint thinking he was getting special treatment because he was my son.”

“Personally, I think he studied so hard just to get out of there as fast as possible.”

“14 Newts by the age of 12?” Hermione said. She looked almost outraged at the thought. “Are your standards different to the ones here?” she asked a little snidely.

“Our schooling requirements align very closely indeed to the British standards I can assure you.” Ivan explained.

“What marks did he get?” Hermione asked.

“Straight O’s” Sandra answered unable to hide the pride in her voice.

Hermione had gone white, “That’s just not possible” she said clearly getting upset at the thought of someone (else) getting 14 Outstanding Newts.

“Given how hard he worked himself over those years, I would say it is indeed possible. Just very unlikely that anyone would want to try it willingly.” Sandra stated.

We all took a while to absorb this information about my nephew. Fleur however again seemed to be one step ahead of us all as something else occurred to her.

Pointing to the golden chain that was now clearly visible around Dave’s neck and the two rings upon it she asked, “Was ‘e really married? As ‘e said zat zose were ‘our’ Wedding Rings.”

The looks on the faces of Ivan and Sandra, along with those of Fireball, Shelly and Cassy were enough to answer that question. Even before any words were said.

“Sadly, yes he was.” Ivan answered, “Sometimes I still wonder if we did the right thing allowing those two to get married at that age.”

Sandra looked at her husband with her heart in her eyes and answered him, “We could have done nothing else. They loved each other as much as it was possible for two people to love one another.”

“Emma knew she was dying and it was her greatest wish to be married to Dave before she died.” She said with tears standing in her eyes.

Grabbing a hanky, I passed it to her and asked, “What happened?” before I could help myself.

She stared at Dave for a few moments and then she glanced around at the room and took in each of the faces. I wasn’t sure if she was going to say anything at all, I remember thinking of ways to try and tactfully change the subject. In the end, she spoke up before I could think of anything to say.

“The only way I can think of to describe them, is that they were perfect for each other. Two halves that made a whole.”

“They had known each other all their lives, practically growing up together. As kids they were inseparable, if you found one of them the other was bound to be close by. They always seemed to have a collection of books with them wherever they were also.”

“The books were never ones you would have thought appropriate for their ages either. Dave liked reading O.W.L. level text books when he was six years old.” She said with a smile for the memory.

Hermione also smiled at this statement. I could easily imagine her as a small child with an ever-present book collection.

“Both of them began to read at an early age. They were veracious in their reading. It was almost like they devoured the books that they had access to. “

“Once they had read all the books in her parent’s library they started on ours. We had to send them to school much earlier than is the norm as we couldn’t keep up with their learning and the questions.”

She looked at her husband with a heart-warming smile and touched his face in such a tender manner, “I still remember when they walked into one of your conferences and wanted to know where babies came from.” She laughed at the memory.

Ivan must have remembered it also as he had begun to blush, “Yes they had found an old Muggle first aid manual that covered child birth.” He smiled as he recalled the memory, “They were rather confused as to how the baby would have gotten in there in the first place.”

“Given that they were only 5 at the time I could understand their confusion.” He laughed along with the rest of us.

“The following year they both joined the Nippers at the local surf club. They had both always loved the beach, it was the only thing that could compete for their attention apart from books and each other” she said fondly.

“I remember watching them support each other through that program. How they would work together to overcome the challenges that they faced. Emma’s mother remarked to me one day that she was sure that they would end up being married one day and that she was looking forward to seeing it.”

“I told her I wouldn’t bet against that happening. But I wondered aloud if they were aware of that possibility.”

“Jackie (Emma’s mother) told me that apparently, Emma had given it lots of thought already. Has she told Dave I asked her? Jackie told me she had asked Emma the same question, her exact answer was apparently, ‘Dave doesn’t need to know right now. I will tell him when he is old enough to understand.’” Sandra was trying to contain her laughter at the memory.

“She’s a smart girl I told Jackie. The men in my husband’s family tend to be a trifle dim witted when it comes to women.”

“Only a trifle?” both Fireball and Shelly spoke up with grins of their faces.

“Now there is an understatement of the year” Fireball added, “I mean look at their track record, Emma had to belt Dave over the head with his own surf board to get her message through to him. Grandma practically had to tie Grandpa up to make him understand she was interested in more than being ‘just friends’. And then there’s you and Dad…”

“That’s enough, Jasper.” Sandra chided her. “Your father might have been a little slow on the uptake but he got the message in the end. That’s all that matters.”

“Hey, I’m standing right here you know” Ivan replied a little hurt.

“Why I do believe you’re right dear.” Sandra replied with mock surprise to the general laughter of the ladies in the room.

“Once I was aware of Emma’s intentions towards my youngest son it was easy to see her plan at work. She had him wrapped around her little finger and all tied up in a pretty little bow by the time he was 8. The poor boy never stood a chance. He didn’t seem to mind though, as I could see their bond growing on a daily basis.”

“Their bond?” I asked momentarily confused until I recalled Dave’s comments from earlier. “Dave mentioned something about being able to ‘see bonds’ between people before when he argued with that annoying healer.”

Healer Grant laughed at that statement, “That’s a polite way to describe him.” He added while still working away on Dave.

Sandra looked at me and I could again see the golden tint in her eyes, she then looked at the others in the room with her eyes tinted also. “I can imagine he would have mentioned them. There are some very strong and honest bonds on display here.” She remarked.

“What is it exactly that you see? When you look at people like that.” Hermione asked, her curiosity once more on full display.

“It depends on what you are concentrating on at the time.” Sandra replied.

“If you are not focused on anyone thing you will see just random magical energy.” She said as her eyes had only the faintest hint of a golden tint to them.

“However, if you change your thoughts to think of family, specifically the love that exists between family members,” Here the tint in her eyes became more pronounced, “You will begin to see the energy linking between the family members. But only if there is genuine affection between them.”

“With my sister’s family, I can see the mighty connections between you all. Connections that can only be made with long term and unconditional love.” She added smiling.

I couldn’t resist looking across at Arthur and smiling a special smile just for him at hearing this. He met my smile and returned it and I could feel my heart flutter just a little bit as well as a slight weakness in my knees.

“Bringing your thoughts to the specific love that exists between two individuals,” her eyes turned more golden again, “you will see the connections change once more.”

Here she looked from me to Arthur, “The connection between Molly and Arthur is almost painfully bright to look at. Similarly, the connection between Bill and Fleur is also very strong and deep, but much newer than Arthur and Molly’s. Fleur’s parents in the other room have a connection much like Arthur and Molly’s as well.”

She turned her gaze onto Ron and he started to glow scarlet much to the amusement of everyone in the room. “Have no fear Ron, I do not intend to embarrass you in front of your family. Today anyway.” She cheekily added.

“Is it a soul bond that you are seeing?” Ginny asked her eyes wide with wonder.

“No. Souls maybe connected to one another but they can’t ever be truly bonded.” She explained almost sadly to Ginny.

“To try and truly bond souls would cause immeasurable amounts of pain to each of them. What is commonly called ‘bonded souls’ or a ‘soul bond’ is in reality two very separate souls who have a very strong connection over which they communicate freely.”

“While those who are described as ‘soul mates’ not only have a connection like I described above, they also ‘talk the same language’ to one another and so even more readily understand and fully accept each other for who they actually are. Not who they wish to be or who they wish their partner to be.”

“Dave and Emma were connected thus. Half the times their conversations were almost one sided. As they both understood what the other was trying to say. Almost before the other one finished speaking. It was kind of maddening to watch or listen to at times.”

“I fully expected them to develop their connection to the point where they would be communicating by thought alone in a year or two if they had gone on the way they were any longer.”

“Does that answer your question Ginny?” Sandra asked.

“I guess” she replied looking a little disappointed at the answer she had received.

Sandra smiled at Ginny “Do not be discouraged Ginny. You are off to a wonderful start with your connection to Harry.”

Ginny was surprised by this comment and it showed on her face, “How?” she asked.

“I can see your connection to him, and his connection back. Even though he is not here currently. As you both currently have a very strong and honest connection.” Sandra remarked to her smiling.

“Keep on communicating with each other honestly and it will continue to grow.”

“Don’t talk the poor boys ears all the way off” Ron snickered and received an elbow in the ribs from Hermione for his efforts.

“I didn’t tell her to talk to him Ron. But to communicate. Communication takes many forms, talking is only one such form. A simple act of bringing them a cup of tea when they are feeling down and holding them to let them know that they are loved is a very powerful act of communication between two people.”

“Encourage him to communicate back with you also. Let him know what he means to you and you will be surprised at how well even rather dense men can communicate.” She replied smiling fondly at her husband again.

“But keep him in line also.” She added with a wicked little grin that Ginny readily returned.

“W’at ‘appened to Emma? ‘ow did she die?” Fleur asked, clearly interested in getting the story back on track.

“Oh yes… Sorry I got a little side tracked there, didn’t I?” Sandra remarked.

“When Dave had turned 8 he had already completed Muggle Primary School and almost out of pure spite sat the test for the final year of Muggle High School. He was against going so insisted on sitting the test to prove he shouldn’t have to go. He can be very stubborn at times.”

“So, the decision was made to send him off to Winninnie.”

“Winninnie?” I asked.

“It is the Australian school for Magic users.” Sandra replied, “Its origins are quite literally lost in time. No one knows when it was started. The local Aboriginal people just reply it has always been there, when they are asked how old it is.”

“Thankfully it also has a very open policy towards students. Anyone who shows ‘talent’ is welcome as long as they wish to study honestly. The school is named from the aboriginal word for ‘Meeting of the Clans’ as its original purpose was to bring together magic users of all types and from all backgrounds.”

“One result of that original purpose is that it isn’t limited to only the Study of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

“Which in the case of my husband’s family is a true blessing. As they tend to frequently have talents that lay outside of the ‘traditional’ area of Witchcraft and Wizardry as you may have noticed.” She said shyly.

“We have” Ginny replied with a slight blush of embarrassment at the thought of her earlier misunderstanding with Dave.

Smiling at Ginny Sandra continued.

“Naturally the two of them were more than a little upset when they found out that Emma wouldn’t be going to Winninnie with Dave. As she had to wait another year before they could accept her, even on their ‘accelerated program’.”

“The separation was hard on the two of them. Kevin, our Kookaburra got a real workout that year carrying all the letters that they wrote to each other. I think he was happy when Emma joined Dave as at least then he could get a rest.”

“Dave threw himself into his studies with a single mindedness that at first impressed his professors and then worried them. He seemed to want to make one year do for two.”

“Initially we thought he would slow down when Emma joined him, but that didn’t prove to be the case. If anything, they seemed to egg each other on more.”

“It was in the summer of Dave’s third year (Emma’s second) that we got the first hint that something wasn’t right. As Emma got sick over the break and stayed like that for most of the holidays. Usually she bounced back from illness very quickly.”

“The following year at school she frequented the school’s infirmary on a regular basis and no one could figure out why.”

“At the end of her third year her parents decided to take her to Melbourne to see a specialist that worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital there.”

“That’s a Muggle Hospital, isn’t it?” Hermione asked

“Yes, it is primarily a Muggle Hospital. But like all the major Hospitals in Australia it has a Wing dedicated to the treatment and care of Magical people as well.” Sandra answered.

“This is mostly due to Australia’s history of initially being several separate and independent colonies. It has led to a few odd hang overs like this. But it seems to work out with having a magical medical resource in each capital city given the distances involved.”

“The Healers there diagnosed Emma with a very rare Auto-Immune disorder. What it meant was that her own body was attacking itself as though it was a disease.”

“They started her on a treatment of highly specialised potions to try and correct her condition.”

“But as time went on the hopes for cure faded and it then became hopes of a treatment aimed at controlling the symptoms, slowing the symptoms until finally all they were trying to do was to make her as comfortable as possible.”

“As you might expect Dave didn’t take this news well. On top of his already ambitious goals at school he started reading every medical text book he could get his hands on.”

“When he was home from school and was not at Emma’s side he would seek out and question healers from all around the region who had knowledge of her type of condition and would question them almost relentlessly.”

“For a while we were all worried he would work himself into an early grave he was pushing that hard.”

“That’s not to say he didn’t make progress however. At one point, he had learnt how to make the body repair itself and he could reverse to a degree the damage that had been wrought. But it was only ever temporary.”

“Once he stopped focusing his energy on the damage it would begin again. The effort required of him to repair each small area that he worked on was immense.”

“Eventually he got to the point that he could repair or in some cases rebuild whole organs. But the cost was very high, the effort almost drained him to the point that he barely had enough energy to keep his own heart beating.”

“At first Emma was very grateful for his efforts. But when she found out the price that he was paying each time he attempted to heal her in this way she forbade him from anymore attempts. Until he was certain that he wouldn’t be in any danger from it.”

“It was just about the only time I heard them have a serious quarrel. He was more than willing to run the risks involved. But she wouldn’t allow it.”

“This was around the time that Dave finished his schooling at Winninnie.”

“His stated intention was to go off to a specialist school to study medicine and become a healer so that he could try and find a cure for Emma.”

“She had other ideas though. She wanted him to take some time off and do something that he had always wanted to do. Something purely for the fun of it.”

“Eventually she convinced him to have a go at qualifying for the muggle Rip Curl Pro World Surfing Championships in the junior division. That year they were to be held at Soorts-Hossegor in France.”

“Whilst he was competing in the event he was attacked and bitten by a great white shark.” she said in a broken voice.

“Is that what that roughly circular set of scars is” I asked pointing to the marks around his chest.

“Yes, they are the teeth marks of the shark that bit him. The tooth that is on the chain around his neck is one that had been wedged in his ribs. He asked that it be kept for him as he was taken off to the hospital.”

“I still remember all the blood, in the water on the sand it was everywhere. How he could have lost that much blood and lived I still don’t know.”

“We found out later that when Emma heard about what had happened she suffered the first of the many heart attacks that were to come.”

“Dave has never been a fan of hospital, but the 3 months he spent in hospital after being bitten he tolerated better than usual. As he was in a room next door to Emma and got to see her every day.”

“It was amazing to watch how they would support each other through their various treatments or physical therapy. I think they became closer in that time than they were before.”

“Eventually Dave healed enough for him to be able to go home. But Emma couldn’t leave the hospital just yet. She had not yet regained enough strength to enable her to leave.”

“She convinced him to go home and begin his training to become a healer if that was indeed what he wanted to do. So, we took him home with us. The plan was that we would take him into the Ministry the following day so he could lodge his application to begin to be a Healer.”

“Unbeknown to us while he had been in France the then Minister of Magic had changed the laws regarding people like Dave and the ‘approved’ professions that they could work in.”

“W’at do you mean people like Dave?” Fleur asked.

“People with his unique abilities. I believe the polite description is ‘Non-standard Magic user’ according to all the ministry guff we were sent anyway.” Sandra remarked bitterly.

“Ze Ministry controls ze jobs ee can do? Zat is ‘orrible.” Fleur remarked.

“Yes, very much so. Dave had a few other choice descriptions of the situation, which I won’t repeat here.” She said to a few chuckles.

“The only jobs that were still on the list when Dave was 12 were Ministry Functionary or Auror. While Dave had quite a few family members who were Aurors his first love before Emma had become sick was to be a craftsman or a teacher of some sort. Becoming an Auror wasn’t high on his list of things to do.”

“It was his older brother Jimmy and his cousin Joseph who eventually convinced him to agree to join them as Aurors.”

“We believe that the Minister of the day had done this deliberately to force Dave to join as he knew he would never be happy working in an office. Knowing how effective his other family members with similar skills were as Aurors the Minister was hoping that Dave would also be very effective in successfully closing cases. Thus, making the Minister look good.”

“In a way, he got his wish. As after he qualified as an Auror he was put to work on the cold case collection, one of the first cases that Dave brought to a successful close was for a very old murder. Turned out the guilty party was none other than the current Minister.”

“Dave took immense pleasure in throwing him in a cell. His next step was to convince his dad to run for Minister of Magic so that the laws could be over turned and he could try and become a Healer again.”

“Whatever the faults of the previous Minister he was VERY good at law making. He had tied these new restrictive laws to the International Statue of Secrecy. So, the only way to have them changed would be to gain approval from all the countries who have signed up to those accords.”

“That is rather problematic, as several of the countries still have laws mandating the execution of people like Dave on site. Or their imprisoning for life.”

“So, Dave was stuck working as an Auror. He is very good at his job and I believe he has started to enjoy it. It is the fact he has no choice in it however that still grates on him in no small way.”

“The life of an Auror is a hard one, more so when you are as young as Dave. The time he spent away from Emma took its toll on him and on her. Even with his ability to travel from one side of the country or even the globe to the other it was still very difficult for him to be able to see her.”

“When they were both 13 Emma told Dave that she wanted to marry him. That she had wanted to marry him since she was 6.”

“Being a true male of his family, he was caught off guard by this and stunned.” She laughed.

Shelly, Fireball and Cassy also got a good laugh out of it as well. Even Ivan had a case of the giggles.

Looking up I could see that Fleur, Ginny, Hermione and even Madame Delacour (who had drifted over to the door of the lounge) were listening intently to the story. They also had smiles on their faces.

“Dave somehow got the notion into his head that if he married Emma while she was still sick he would have been taking advantage of her in some way.”

“Stubborn nobility is apparently an occupational trait with our boys” Cassy remarked to giggles from Shelly and Fireball.

“Be nice to them girls. They may be as you describe them, but they do have other redeeming traits.” Sandra commented while giving her husband an arch little smile.

“It took the combined efforts of us” Sandra pointed to herself and Ivan, “all his sisters, his brother, Emma’s parents, all her brothers and sisters and most of the cousins from both families before we were able to convince Dave that he would not indeed be taking advantage of Emma in any way.”

“He proposed to her just after she turned 14. He had organised a trip for her to the Great Barrier Reef, one place she had always wanted to go. While she could not go snorkelling or swimming like she would have liked, he organised trips in glass bottomed boats and even a submarine ride for her to see the fish and the coral.”

“She told us that he had proposed to her at sunset after they had come back from the trip in the submarine and were sitting on the pontoon feeding the fish that were swimming around their feet.”

Fleur, Ginny, Hermione and Madam Delacour all had tears in their eyes at this point.

“What did he say? When he asked her?” Hermione enquired.

“That’s another story.” Sandra replied, “I don’t want to embarrass the poor boy too much in one day.”

“Spoilsport” mutter Fireball under her breath to some naughty sounding giggles.

“The trip to the Great Barrier Reef was to be Emma’s last trip outside the hospital. As not long after their return her condition took a major turn for the worse.”

“Her immune system had started to attack the major nerves of her body. When she went back into the hospital and found that she had lost the ability to walk unaided she wouldn’t let anyone see her for quite a while. She wouldn’t even let Dave in to see her.”

“She did relent just before Dave had to leave to go back to the UK after his leave was up. This time he had procured a prototype of the mirror phone. While it wouldn’t do video yet, he could at least talk to her and message her while he was away.”

“This was a major source of comfort to the two of them.”

“Then Jimmy was killed. I had never seen Dave like that, he completely lost it and fell apart. Especially after he found the recording of what happened.”

“We practically had to drag him and his sister’s home to stop them doing something rash.”

“Naturally when we did get him home Dave went straight off to see Emma. We found him the next morning curled up next to her on her hospital bed. Apparently, he had come in during the night and sat in the chair next to her just watching her sleep. When she woke, and noticed him she beckoned him onto the bed and just held him while his heart broke and he cried until he lost his voice.”

“When we eventually did find, him he had only just fallen asleep. We tried to get him into a bed next to her, but she would not let him go. She might have been very ill but there was no force on this planet that would have made her let go of him then.”

“We left the two of them together like that for the rest of the day. The healers on duty told us that it was the happiest that they had ever seen Emma when she had her arms around Dave like that.”

“The next day was the funeral for Jimmy. Dave was one of the pallbearers. But it was like he was on auto pilot. Thankfully we had not planned for him to speak at the service.”

“As soon as it was over he again went back to the hospital to see Emma.”

“The following day, both we and Emma’s parents received an urgent summons to the hospital. Fearing the worst, we all got there as quick as we could.”

“Arriving in Emma’s room we were met by Dave and Emma who had both somehow gotten themselves dressed up.”

“We knew that something serious was going on when Dave was dressed properly. As when he is not working Dave’s idea of formal is shoes and socks.” Sandra giggled.

“Or his ‘formal thongs’” Cassy chortled. Noticing the confused looks Shelly remarked, “I think you call them flip flops here.” Understanding (as well as a bit of relief) dawned and the story could go on.

“Emma and Dave both informed us that they were getting married right then and there and wanted us to be there with them when it happened. A Minister then entered the room and waited expectantly.”

“We couldn’t say no as we knew what it meant to the two of them. We had also been all working so hard to convince Dave that he wouldn’t be taking advantage of Emma if he married her. That we would have been the biggest hypocrites in history if we had objected.”

“Once we had agreed Dave took the spoons that they had used at breakfast and made them both wedding rings. He was very careful to make them according to the design that Emma had in her mind. He was even able to fashion the sapphires from his own tears and the black opal from her hair.”

“It was a very simple ceremony, short on everything but the love between the two-young people who were being joined.”

“Dave had even been able to organise a honeymoon of sorts for them. He managed to get Emma’s hospital bed and all of its support equipment into the roof top gardens that the hospital had. They spent the day there eating chocolate and enjoying just being with each other.”

“By nightfall they had both talked themselves into the ground and were all worn out.”

“We altered Emma’s hospital bed and made it slightly wider and left the two of them curled up on it together.”

“They were still in the same position the next morning. All the next day and the day after, they would not let each other out of their sight, it was almost like they knew what was coming.”

“Emma died the following morning. I was just arriving to visit and I could hear her talking to him. Just from the tone of her voice I could tell the end was near. She made him promise to let her go and not to try and revive her as she was so tired. But that she was also so very happy that he was with her.”

“Her last words to him were ‘Thank you’, to which he replied, ‘For what?’ she smiled at him and said, ‘For being you.’ He kissed her and told her ‘Thank you for letting me love you.’”

“She smiled at him one last time and then breathed her last.”

“It was as though light had been turned off in the room.”

“Dave just sat there holding her hand and not doing anything. I don’t think he was even aware of what was going on around him.”

“It took his father, Joseph and one of Emma’s brothers to get him home. For four days, he did nothing but sit and stare. The life had gone out of him. He wouldn’t eat, would barely drink anything. Just sat and stared at the ocean.”

“He only moved voluntarily again when it was time for her funeral.”

“If I had thought he was on auto pilot at Jimmy’s funeral it was nothing compared to how he was at Emma’s.”

“Once again he was a pallbearer but this time he delivered the eulogy at Emma’s request. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when he finished. But that was nothing compared to the singing.”

“He has always been very shy about his singing, he would never perform in public or for a crowd. But he would always sing for Emma. The day of her funeral was the first time that most of the family had heard him sing.”

“He sang alone performing some of Emma’s favourites that she requested. He sang with Emma’s brothers and sisters also. It was their last song that left the whole funeral stunned. It was so lovely, no one knew what to say.”

“Sadly, he has never sung again since.”

“Since her passing he has thrown himself into his work with such abandon it has been almost frightening to watch.” She said with tears freely flowing over her cheeks.

Not knowing what else to do I went over to her and hugged her and her husband both.

“I know that the work he has been doing is very important and is helping a great many people. But sometimes like now, when I look at him all I can see is my little boy. Who I just want to take home and let him be a normal teenager and only have to worry about normal teenage things.” Sandra said the longing evident in her voice.

“Unless he is very different to everyone else, I’m afraid no one will be taking him anywhere for a while.” Healer Grant said very tiredly.

“What do you mean?” Ivan asked.

“Minister we have only just got your son put back together. I’m not going to risk him travelling by magical means for a while. When was the last time he saw a Healer?”

“Why?” Ivan and Sandra asked almost at the same time.

“He has been carrying some major injuries for quite some time. Just about every major bone in his body appears to have been broken, quite a few of them multiple times.”

“If I didn’t know any better I would say he had healed them himself.” He said with a sigh.

“He most likely has.” Fireball said looking at Healer Grant. “He hates hospitals. The only way you can get him inside one is when he is unconscious. Even then he will sneak out as soon as he can move.”

“I see” Healer Grant replied, “Skill has been shown in the healing he has received. But you can’t set your own bones properly when they are as badly broken as most of his have been at one point or another.”

“We had to re-break a good deal of them to get everything back how it should be. I’m still also worried about his internal injuries. They will need to be watched. To ensure that we have caught all the damage.”

“Right now, he is in a very fragile state. He needs rest and a lot of it.” Healer Grant said a little forcefully.

“We can’t take him home?” Sandra asked with almost pleading eyes.

“Where is home?” he asked.

“Australia” she replied.

“Australia? I’m reluctant to move him from this couch, I’m certainly not going to agree to move him to the other side of the world.” Healer Grant said in a kindly tone, but one that also conveyed that he would not be argued with.

“Could we get him to the consulate in London?” Sandra asked her husband.

“If he can’t travel by magical means it will be a difficult trip for him.” Ivan replied, “But it could be arranged.”

“He could stay here.” I said after looking over at Arthur with a question on my face and getting a nod of agreement.

“Here?” Sandra said looking a little worried, “But Ivan said we should keep him away from this Harry you mentioned. At least until we have had a chance to talk to Dave and Harry separately.”

“Stick him in his tent.” Fireball offered, “Honestly I sometimes think he prefers his tent. Even over his house that he has been building since forever.”

“If we can pitch our tents in the field over there we can charm them so that no one will ever see or find them.” She offered.

Everyone looked at Fireball like she had gone a little crazy. Especially Ron, who we had learned had ended up hating the tent that he had shared with Harry and Hermione while they were on the run.

“Who would prefer a tent, even a magical tent over being in a house?” Ron asked clearly confused.

“Someone who has always loved camping, and has spent years working on the design of his tent.” Fireball replied.

“I must admit I’m not a huge fan of tents. But even after living in our tents for the better part of two years, I can honestly say I don’t mind them.” She explained.

“I’m going to tell Dave that when he wakes up. He and ‘Q’ are going to be gobsmacked that you said nice things about their tents” Shelly exclaimed while smirking at Fireball.

“If you do I will deny it.” Fireball replied.

“Too many witnesses to try that one FB.” Shelly retorted clearly happy at out manoeuvring her sister.

“You are more than welcome to set up your tents in the yard, inside our wards.” Arthur replied, “There will be no need to hide your tents at all. I will ask Harry to keep away from them until we have had a chance to chat to him.”

“Charlie, can you take Jasper, Shelly and Cassy outside and show them where they can put their tents?”

“Will do dad.” Charlie replied. With a grin at the girls he said, “Ladies if you will follow me.” And headed out of the lounge into the kitchen.

“It’s been a while since anyone called me a lady” Fireball replied with a smile, while eyeing Charlie’s behind as he headed out of the room.

“Yeah and it’s for good reason too.” Shelly replied while grabbing Dave’s wallet and following the two of them out of the room, “Keep your thoughts out of the gutter FB. Remember he is your cousin.”

“Well he isn’t MY cousin” Cassy replied under her breath as she followed the crowd out of the room.

“I hope he knows how to keep himself safe in the face of dangerous females” Ivan asked Arthur with a grin.

“He should, he works with Dragons.” Arthur replied also smiling.

“I get the feeling he has yet to meet ‘Dragons’ like them.” Bill said a little absentmindedly, then he blushed slightly when he realised that he said that out loud.

Ivan however found it highly amusing and laughed at the comment, “You could be right there Bombshell. You could very well be right.”

In short order Charlie and the girls were back inside letting us know that the tents were all setup and ready. Charlie seemed to be a little hot under the collar for some inexplicable reason.

George must have noticed as he was mercilessly asking Charlie why he was blushing. Bill raised an eyebrow at the conversation. But demonstrating that discretion was the better part of valour he wisely decided not to get involved. At least until Fleur was out of ear shot.

A stretcher was quickly conjured and Dave was carefully levitated onto it. His clothes and vest were placed on top of him

Then Ivan, Bill, Charlie and Kingsley carried him out of the lounge. Healers Grant and Jones followed them out.

As they passed through the kitchen Gabrielle was sitting up on the table. She watched them carry Dave through the kitchen with a very strange expression on her face.

I was still trying to decide what her expression was when she spoke to Fleur rapidly in French, “Qui est-ce sur la civière?”

“Monsieur Dave” Fleur replied with a curious look at her sister.

“Très mignon” she muttered under her breath, then blushed to the roots of her hair when she realised that Fleur had caught what she said.

Recovering quickly, she replied, “Je l'ai vu auparavant, il était sur une couverture de magazine.”

“Vraiment?” Fleur replied with a slightly disbelieving look on her face.

“Oui vraiment.” Gabrielle answered.

“Je pourrais encore avoir une copie du magazine” she added a little defiantly to her sister.

“Pardon me, but what did she say?” Sandra asked.

“She said she thinks she has seen Dave before. But on the cover of a Magazine.” Shelly replied, “She also thinks that she may still have a copy of it.”

Both Fleur and Gabrielle were caught by surprise, as they hadn’t realised Shelly spoke French.

“No, I meant before that.” Sandra replied, then she curiously asked, “When was Dave on the cover of a magazine?”

“She was asking if that was Dave on the stretcher.” Shelly answered while giving Gabrielle a very direct look that conveyed clearly that she had caught ALL her previous comments.

Gabrielle blushed even more.

“I see” was Sandra’s only comment.

Trying to control her blush Gabrielle said “I ‘ave seen ‘im on a Surfing Magazine, I’m sure of it. Ze scars on ‘is chest reminded me of it. ‘ee was doing well in a competition before ‘e was bitten. I remember ‘ee was even voted ze number one LCB.” She added.

At this comment Natalie, Fireball, Shelly and Cassy collapsed into gales of laughter. Everyone else was very confused at their behaviour.

“Was this back in 1994?” Fireball asked

After a moments’ thought Gabrielle answered, “Oui, I zink so.”

“Makes sense in 94 the comp he was in was in France” Fireball added “He was also the only one who was bitten that year. Must admit I had forgotten about the LCB part though.” She said while trying (unsuccessfully) to hide a smile.

“LCB?” Fleur questioned.

“Petit mignon bum” Shelly replied.

Fleur had a small attack of the giggles and gave her sister a very cheeky little smile that made her blush even more. Madame and Monsieur Delacour were also having a bit of a chuckle at their daughters’ predicament.

“So, what is LCB?” Sandra asked Shelly.

“Don’t worry mum it’s a surfing term, you wouldn’t understand.” Shelly replied, managing to keep a straight face that time.

“Somehow I don’t quite believe you.” She told her daughter as Gabrielle had laid back down on the table and covered her face with her hands.

Letting the matter drop Sandra continued out to the yard with the rest of us in tow. Fleur followed, after helping her sister off the table so that she could follow along with her parents.

Outside in the yard there was a collection of tents setup close to the rock wall on the far side of the yard. It was a good spot for them as they were out of the main traffic areas and had plenty of space.

Each of the tents looked like an elongated dome shape. They were also covered in some sort of silvery material.

We followed the stretcher into one of the tents, which I presumed was Dave’s one.

I was used to magical tents, having stayed in them many times over the years. But they were tents only intended for short term stays. These tents were a different manner, they were clearly set out with long term stays in mind.

After hearing the earlier stories, it only took one look to see that this was indeed Dave’s tent. There were books everywhere. They were not haphazardly left just anywhere, they were all neatly arranged on shelves.

The first room held a good-sized kitchen, a dinner table and chairs. There was a lounge area with a very comfy looking couch and two reclining chairs a fireplace and a strange black object on the chimney above the fireplace which I couldn’t work out what it was. There were also the numerous book shelves I mentioned earlier.

The walls were covered in what I first took to be paintings. But they turned out to be photographs but on canvas instead of paper.

All the photos were of landscapes, most of which were of the beach. They were also all moving which added to the feeling that they were more like windows than photos.

Off the main area there was a door to what looked like a bathroom. There was also a door into the bedroom. We could see the boys in there placing Dave into his bed.

Curiously there was also a door that went nowhere. Behind it was just a blank wall.

I turned to my sister and was about to ask what this door was for. She anticipated my question and said, “That is to give Dave a place to anchor his doorways to. Much like he did with the door in your scullery.”

“That makes sense” I said to myself.

“Where are the places in these photos?” Hermione asked, “They look gorgeous.”

“Dave will be able to tell you all about them, as he took the photos. It is one of his hobbies.” Sandra answered.

“This one I can tell you about though.” She said pointing to a photo showing a gorgeous looking white sandy beach viewed from the broad veranda of a house.

“Where is that? I would love to go there.” Hermione said with longing. A few other people gathered around to look at the photo as well.

“Don’t worry, you will.” Sandra replied.

Hermione gave her a questioning look.

“That’s home.” Sandra said simply, “that is taken from the veranda in front of our kitchen.”

“When we take you back to Australia to restore your parent’s memories we will have to take you there. As the guest rooms your parents have been staying in are just off to the left of that view.”

Hermione smiled happily and then gave Ron a dirty little smile that I don’t think she intended for anyone else to see.

“All zee’s photos were made by Dave?” Gabrielle asked Sandra.

“Yes, he loves taking photos, especially landscapes like these. His house has an enormous collection of photos scattered all through it.” Sandra replied while looking around at the different photos. Eventually she stopped in front of one of them that showed another beach scene.

“This one is taken from the veranda of the house that he is building.” She said pointing up at a photo that hung near the fireplace.

The photo showed a beach as well, but unlike his parents place this beach had larger more powerful looking waves. A rocky headland jutted out at one end of the beach and there were fewer trees in the photo, but they were significantly larger than the ones in his photo of his parent’s place. It also didn’t look to be as tropical in its location either.

Our contemplation of the photo was interrupted by the procession of people leaving Ivan’s room. Sandra immediately went over to Ivan and asked, “How is he?”

“Knackered.” Was Ivan’s response, “But he is at least sleeping now. His healing abilities seem to be taking effect. But even with them it will take a large effort to make himself properly whole again.”

“I have placed a monitoring charm on his bed so we will know when he wakes.”

The two of them embraced clearly relieved that Dave was on the mend.

Chief Williams entered the tent carrying a collection of parchment and cleared his throat loudly to get the attention of the two of them.

“Minister, I have a preliminary copy of the interrogation report of the prisoners. I thought that you might like to see it as soon as it was available.” He said in a very business-like manner.

“You thought correct, Chief Williams.” He replied reaching for the report, “Thank you for the quick action on this.” He said as he began to read.

“If you all will excuse me, I will organise something quick for you all for lunch as we seemed to have missed it. I also need to start organising dinner if you are all going to be staying.” I said as I made my way to the door.

I was very surprised when Chief Williams stepped out to stop me from leaving. “Actually, Molly you should really stay to hear this as it concerns you.” He said his eyes showing his concern.

At his words, Kingsley and Arthur moved to join Ivan as he sat at Dave’s dinner table.

The three of them quickly read through the report. Once they were done Kingsley and Ivan turned to Arthur who had gone deathly pale.

“What is it Arthur?” I asked, as I felt the icy tentacles of fear begin to encircle my heart. “Who were they after? Is it Harry? They are after Harry, aren’t they?” the questions coming rapidly before I could stop them.

Arthur got up and came over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. I could see his fear and worry showing clearly. “It’s you Molly. They are after you.” He almost cried before enfolding me in a very fierce and protective embrace.

“Me? Why would they be after me?” I asked him.

“Rodolphus Lestrange has placed a price on your head because you killed his wife.” Arthur said his voice almost breaking.

“What’s the bounty?” Fireball asked, concern showing in her eyes.

“Five Million Galleons” Kingsley said as Arthur broke down in tears. I could feel them running onto my neck and soaking the shoulder of my dress.

“Five Million Galleons?” Everyone seemed to say at the same time.

“That’s going to get some rather high level attention.” Fireball remarked, concern now clearly evident on her face.

“High level attention?” I asked her while still holding onto Arthur.

“With a bounty of that size every criminal in Europe is going to start looking for you. Some professional assassins from other regions might also be interested.” She said very clinically but with her concern still showing.

Turning to Ivan she said, “It’s a shame Jimmy isn’t here he was one of the best at this sort of job.”

“True” Ivan replied, the sadness in his voice unmistakeable. “But don’t sell Dave short, he gave even Jimmy a run for his money in these jobs as well. Not even Joseph, or Cameron and their teams or even Doug’s team could catch him in training and simulations.”

“Dave?” Fireball replied, “True he was better at offence side, but we are looking for defence here.”

“The best defence.” Ivan replied in a manner that made me think he was giving an old often used speech.

“Is a good offence.” Shelly, Cassy, Fireball and Chief Williams replied automatically.

“Pardon me” I asked again “but what are you all talking about?”

“Assassinating the assassins.” Ivan replied in a very serious tone of voice, “Jasper is right, with a price like this on your head you are going to get the attention of some very professional individuals.”

“Unless Dave, or one of his legends has been offered the contract we won’t have an inside line on the ‘competition’ we will be dealing with.” He said deep in thought.

“Are you saying Dave ees an assassin?” Gabrielle asked in shock.

“No, he isn’t an assassin, Gabrielle” Ivan replied, “but he does frequently hunt them down and neutralise them.”

“Administratively only” Shelly told Gabrielle “at least so far.” She added with a slightly worried look at Ivan.

“If you are thinking of turning him lose on hunting down whoever is going to be coming for Aunt Molly you are going to have to craft some clever rules of engagement for him. As you know full well what he is like when someone threatens family.”

“He may not be willing to operate administratively.” She stated.

“What do you mean ‘administratively’?” Gabrielle asked.

Chief Williams spoke up here and answered Gabrielle’s question, “An administrative assassination doesn’t involve the target actually being killed.”

“While a body (or parts of one) will often be found, it will be a copy of the target. The actual target is taken away and depending on their crimes and willingness to co-operate is either thrown into jail, for life. Or they are placed into witness protection.”

“Enough evidence is left behind on purpose for them to be ‘declared dead’ by the government of the country in which they are found.”

“Dave is VERY good at this sort of operation. Although he doesn’t willingly accept them. He prefers to ‘legitimately’ catch them as he calls and then have them publicly thrown in jail.”

Gabrielle seemed to be very relieved at this news.

“Steve” Ivan said startling Chief Williams through the use of his first name, “Contact Drunkmouse have him check all of Dave’s cover legends to see if he has been sent an ‘expression of interest’ in this job. Also check any of Jimmy’s that might still be active and could possibly have been offered the contract.”

“Also request him to have my staff send out communications to the other Ministers in our region to ask them if any of their operatives have been contacted.”

“No worries mate. It will get done.” Chief Williams said and left pulling out his mirror phone as he went.

Ivan looked over to Kingsley, “Do you have any similar contacts amongst the local criminals here that might be active on a job this high profile? Can you ask around the Ministers from your neighbouring countries as well?”

“We have lost a lot of people recently, so we don’t have our usual resources. But I will ‘ask around’ as best we are able to.”

“I have good contacts in the French Ministry of Magic, Minister” Monsieur Delacour offered to Kingsley “I can approach them on your behalf if you wish?”

“That would greatly speed things up. Thank you.” Kingsley said to Monsieur Delacour.

“My thanks to you all also.” Arthur said to the three men after he composed himself.

“After losing Fred recently I don’t think I could survive if I were to lose Molly.” He said while looking at me with those adorable eyes of his.

“Who was Fred? If I may ask.” Sandra said a little tentatively.

With the grief, still clear on his voice Arthur replied, “He was one of my sons. George’s twin.”

“He was killed in the recent ’Battle of Hogwarts’”

At this news, Sandra came over to embrace both myself and Arthur, as words were not enough to express her feelings at that point. Even Ivan gave us both a good squeeze. Merlin that man is strong, I was worried for my ribs for a while there.

Ivan seemed to be deep in thought for a moment and then he spoke to Kingsley saying, “Minister, in the light of recent events and with your permission, I would like to offer you the services of the Australian contingent of our team that is currently operating in here in Europe.”

“For the immediate purpose of removing the threat to Molly Weasley here, as well as to continue tracking down the records of those individuals that they helped leave the country previously.”

“I can’t promise the contingents from New Zealand, Fiji and New Caladonia at this point as I will need to consult with their respective Ministers. But given the mission I don’t see them complaining too much.”

Kingsley appeared as though his Christmas had come early, “Minister Webb, I would be greatly honoured to have the assistance of your team in these roles. As our own Aurors have suffered many deaths and many more injuries.”

“Knowing the capabilities and training of your Aurors I would most humbly accept your offer.”

“If you agree I would like them to work directly with Arthur here as he is the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and given the current demands on my time has free reign in running his department.”

“That is acceptable to me Minister.” Ivan replied, “I also don’t think Dave will have any issues with it either. At least once he wakes up he won’t.”

“You have my thanks Minister.” Kingsley said with a smile as he shook hands with Ivan.

“If I may ask one more favour of you Ivan” Kingsley said a little hesitantly, “would it be possible to ask your Aurors to help train both our existing Aurors and the new recruits we hope to be getting shortly. They seem to have a unique way of approaching the job as well as some unique abilities that I for one am very interested in learning.”

“Has Dave been showing off again?” Ivan asked his daughters who looked at him with looks of manufactured innocence. Getting no answer from them be turned back to Kingsley.

“Teaching is one of the primary roles of this particular team.” Ivan said. “I’m sure they will be more than happy to assist you in that regard.”

Openly grinning Kingsley replied, “Thank you Ivan. I have a feeling that this could be a very entertaining and enlightening time for us all.”

“You’re very welcome Kingsley. Let’s see how entertaining you think it is after going through some sessions with this lot. The Fijian minister didn’t talk to me for a week after a practise duelling session with Jimmy one time.” He chuckled.

“We will see Ivan. We will see.” Kingsley replied with a sly smile.

“Brave man” was all Ivan said, also smiling and patting Kingsley on the back.

Chief Williams re-appeared and said “There is a young man who looks very familiar at the gate asking to come in. He says he lives here and wants to know what’s going on and why we are all doing here.”

At this news, Ginny was off out the door as I’m sure she knew exactly who it was. Strangely Gabrielle seemed to have no interest in following her to go see Harry.

Fleur also seemed to have noticed this seeming sudden disinterest in Harry from her as well. For she was looking across at Gabrielle with a very direct and enquiring expression.

Gabrielle for her part was doing her best to ignore her older sister’s unspoken questions. As well as the looks she was getting from her parents.

Shelly and Fleur exchanged a knowing look between them before Fireball remarked, “This could be an interesting deployment in more ways than one.” Before she, Shelly and Fleur had a small case of the giggles.

True to form the men in the room completely missed all of that exchange. Instead they were listening to Kingsley and Arthur who were giving both Ivan and Chief Williams a very quick summary of Harry’s recent past and his achievements to date.

“Are you coming?” I said to the people remaining in the tent as I went to follow the crowd back to the house.

Gabrielle had stayed seated on the couch and was showing an intense interest in a book that had many photographs of Australia its places, people and animals. It also seemed to contain a good bit of information about the country in addition to the photographs it contained.

Noticing that Gabrielle had not moved from the couch Fleur called to her, “Il dormira probablement jusqu'au matin.”

“I told ‘er zat ‘e is likely to sleep zrough until ze morning. Zis ez correct? No?” Fleur explained.

“I believe that you are correct in that assessment Fleur.” Sandra replied with only a small smile showing.

Gabrielle looked up a little disappointed, but nodded put the book back on the table and went to get up and follow.

“If you like the book, I don’t not think he will mind if you would like to borrow it.” Shelley said struggling to contain the smile that wanted to run across her face.

Smiling gratefully Gabrielle returned to the coffee table and retrieved the book. Then we all made our way out of Dave’s tent leaving him in peace.
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