November 25th, 2010. London, England 2:00 PM BST
"I can't believe we can just…leave now." Said Susan in wonder as she looked around the alley I'd teleported us to. After returning from Romania, we'd caught her up on everything, and she'd insisted on being present for the big meeting with Shaggy, Daphne, and the talking dog. Honestly, despite all the magic I'd seen and crazy shit I'd done over the last few months, a talking dog was easily the coolest thing I'd ever heard of, and I was pretty excited myself.
Daphne wrinkled her nose in disgust. "It is convenient, though clearly less so than being teleported somewhere…sanitary." Shooting me a frown, she demanded. "You couldn't bring us to a bed and breakfast or something?"
I rolled my eyes. "Get off your high horse, princess. We don't want people knowing I can do this. The rules about leaving the grounds are logistical mostly, and as adults I don't have to justify going anywhere, but I don't want it getting out I can do seemingly impossible shit like teleporting through the wards."
She sneered at me. "Though apparently you don't mind people knowing you can punch bludgers out of the air."
"There are lots of feasible magical ways to increase physical strength and durability." I said testily. "That's not impossible, everyone probably just assumed I pulled some wandless magic out of my ass. With my reputation for power it's not a stretch. THIS would be a whole different ballgame."
Suzie stepped between us, grabbing an arm in each hand. "Well I think it's a lovely opportunity to spend time together. It's a good thing we're seeing each other, honestly, or the others would be getting suspicious." She blushed prettily. "Although, Hannah has been asking me about how…intimate, we've been."
That got a snort from my blonde. "Enjoy having your spine properly aligned while you still can. I don't think I'll ever be the same from the waist down." She pointed at me sharply. "And don't you dare smile at that you brute. I deserve an order of merlin for letting you rut that beast into me."
We emerged from the alley, heading toward the pub where we'd arranged to meet the other group, and I choked back a snicker. "Yes dear. So how about Christmas, are either of you two planning to stay at Hogwarts? Because if not…well, I wouldn't be against having company."
Admittedly, my selfish reasoning was to introduce them to Seras before bringing her to school. If she had friends already she might not be as thrown by all the magic. I very carefully did NOT let myself imagine adding her to my growing relationship, or how good her massive vampire breasts would look as she bounced in my lap.
Suzie, bless her heart, practically got stars in her eyes. "You want us to come home with you for Christmas? Will you introduce me to your mother?" She bit her lip worriedly as she tugged at her hair, trying to fix messiness that wasn't there. "Oh what do I wear? Does she like conservative dress, or something more muggle?"
"I'm sure she'll adore you." Daphne said acidly. "Sadly you'll be meeting her alone. My father has requested me at Christmas dinner. He's extended an invitation to you as well Ryan, if you're so inclined." She sniffed in distaste. "My stepmother will be putting it on. The little trollop."
I smiled at her sulking. "I'll talk to my mom. We usually go out, but maybe there's some wiggle room. Suzie, you sure your Aunt won't mind you spending the break with me?"
Her beaming smile was answer enough, but she shook her head quickly anyway. Before she could respond though, we heard a crash and some rattling dishes coming through the open door of the pub we were heading to. After the sound, a loud voice complained. "Like, you were the ones who said bottomless shepherds pie man! We already paid."
Glancing at the girls, I heard a strange, slightly muffled voice whine. "Reah, already raid." Frowning, we arrived at the door to see a tall, sandy haired guy with some chin scruff in a red shirt and jeans glaring reproachfully at a puffed up overweight man with huge forearms and a red puffy face under an obvious toupee.
Sitting behind the guy was a large friendly looking great dane, big sad eyes wide as he hid behind an absolute bombshell with red hair and big violet eyes. Figuring this was probably our party, I stepped up to impose myself between the big dude and who I assumed was Shaggy. "Whoa there bud. No need to get so worked up. I can cover any incidentals for my friends here."
They both blinked in confusion at the derail. Shaggy grinned sheepishly at me. "Like, thanks man." He scratched the back of his head. "We didn't bring enough to cover anything but the original bill. That exchange rate is like, killer."
Flipping the pub manager a galleon, I raised an eyebrow. He bit the coin and then nodded happily before turning to leave. I held out a hand to the hippie. "It's no problem. I'm Ryan. This is Susan and Daphne. We're the ones who are supposed to meet you guys. Vincent sent us to help."
His eyes went wide. The dog blinked at me. "Relp?" He asked, his friendly voice making me grin. "Rith the…" He looked side to side dramatically. "Rhost?"
"I suspect you guys could handle a roast all on your own." I joked dryly, glancing at the stack of thoroughly cleared dishes. "But we ARE going to help with the chest of demons. At least for the moment. We're looking for one of the ghosts for our own reasons, but we don't know when you'll run into him."
Daphne…the other Daphne? DB (short for Daphne Blake) smiled gratefully. "We really appreciate that. We're kind of out of our depth here. We solve mysteries for fun, and have for years, but real spirits are kind of out of our wheelhouse." She started, blushing lightly. "Oh, sorry, I'm Daphne by the way."
Shaggy's eyes widened. "Oh, duh. Sorry, dude. I like, totally spaced. I'm Shaggy, and that there is my best friend Scooby-Doo! Say hi Scoob."
"Ri!" Said Scooby enthusiastically as he waved a paw at us. I didn't hear much past that because Suzie's earsplitting squeal as she tackle hugged the adorable talking pooch temporarily deafened me.
"HE'S SO CUTE!" She shrieked in a voice that I think might have cracked the windows. Scooby gave us all a smug doggy grin as she snuggled into him, and I couldn't even be mad at the big pooch.
Looking over to Shaggy, I grinned. "Susan is a dog person. Nice to meet you guys, Vincent said you had some leads on one of the thirteen in the city?" It was pretty convenient it was in London, but then again, this place was old as dirt and full of historical buildings and shit. It made sense ghosts would be into that.
As we sat down, a pretty waitress bustled over, shooting me a shy smile before flinching at Daphne's cold stare. "Ello' luvs." She said in a thick cockney accent. "What can I get'cha?"
"Like…is it ok if we order too?" Shaggy asked hopefully. "We're still feeling pretty peckish."
Scooby snickered. "Reah…reckish." At the dogs comment, Suszie gave me a sad pout, and I just rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, sure. Order whatever you want." I could always refill on cash while we were in London. Plus I still had hundreds of galleons.
DB (the redhead Daphne) winced. "You shouldn't have done that. You don't know what you've unleashed. Sorry in advance." She smiled wryly at my Daphne. "I love your shoes by the way, they're adorable."
Daphne blinked at her, lips quirking slightly. "Thank you. These are my favorite pair. I had them made custom. Yours are lovely as well, are they Prada? My best friend often brings me m- many fashion magazines." She stopped short of saying muggle, since these people probably didn't know about the wizarding world. They obviously knew magic existed, but we'd need to feel out how much.
"And sixteen meat pies." Finished Shaggy, as my attention turned back to the unusually skinny hippy. I blinked at him incredulously as he turned to Scooby. "How about you Scoob? You want anything?"
What the fuck had I just missed. Happily the dog nodded with enthusiasm. "Reah! Reaks, Rish and Chips, Rotch reggs, and Rurry."
Shaggy's face lit up. "Like, zoinks! I forgot about the curry! Eight bowls of that please." He paused as if he was uncertain and looked at me. "I kind of want dessert, but like, I don't wanna go overboard."
I rolled my eyes, grabbed a handful of galleons from my pouch and shoved them at the waitress. "These are real gold, just bring them whatever they want. These should cover it. I'll have the shepherds pie." I glanced at my girls. "You want anything? Other Daphne? Is it ok if I just call you DB? Vincent said your last name is Blake."
She shrugged. "DB works." I had to resist the urge to change it to DD because she was way more stacked than I'd expected under the suit jacket she was wearing. "And I already ate earlier." She glared at her friends. "SOME of us actually get full."
Scooby and Shaggy both looked at her with disdain. "Like, we do serious cardio, man." Shaggy said, making a muscle. "Gotta stock up on fuel."
"That's the most optimistic way of saying you're big scaredy cowards I've ever heard." DB sniffed. Turning back to me after I ordered a root beer for my drink and Suzie and Daphne ordered a strawberry milkshake and a meat pie respectively, she shot me an apologetic smile. "Sorry about those two. I love them both like family, but they're not exactly the easiest to put up with. Anyway, to your earlier question, yes, we've found some traces."
Shaggy grimaced. "Like, we're pretty sure one of them is at the Rathburn manor. Not that it's a surprise, since the whole place is totally haunted." He chuckled nervously. "Tell me again why we have to be the ones to do this?" He asked our newest redhead.
"Because YOU opened the chest of demons." She said mercilessly. "Don't be such wusses. We have backup now. Vincent said these guys are serious ghost catchers." I raised an eyebrow at that, since I'd never caught a ghost, but then, these were devil ghosts, and I was a living devil, so I had to assume I had some advantage there.
The drinks arrived, and Suzie took her milkshake with relish. My redhead had a serious sweet tooth, and it was pretty cute. She tasted it and brightened. "This is really good! We should come to more places like this." She shot me a shy smile, and I returned it with a big grin, I was down for more dates.
Daphne glanced at DB, very deliberately ignoring the exchange. "So, how exactly did you end up with these two anyway?" She gave Shaggy a withering look. "No offense, but they're not exactly fashion icons. You seem to have excellent taste. Is this some sort of charity initiative?"
"Like, hey!" Shaggy said indignantly. "We're the coolest guys around. And Daphne has been friends with us for years."
DB chuckled lightly, glancing fondly at the other two. "They're like the idiot brothers I never had." She admitted. "I couldn't imagine not having them around. We used to solve mysteries with some other friends growing up."
And that's how we got onto the subject of their capers as teens. The food arrived, and we all settled in to listen to the tales of Mystery Inc. I had to admit, Vincent might not have screwed us over here. These seemed like pretty cool people. After the meal we'd head for this Rathburn manor place. Shouldn't be too much trouble, even pretending to be normal.
AN:// Apparently I was wrong, and FRIDAY'S chapter has the big reveal, so people can continue guessing if they want lol. I could have sworn it was this one. Meanwhile the most recent chapter has gotten down to the serious business of real canon welding across all the material, and there is so much to play with. I'll give you a hint about the final piece of the puzzle though.
November 25th, 2010. London, England 3:00 PM BST
After watching Shaggy and Scooby ingest a truly mind boggling amount of food, DB managed to bully them into leading us toward the feeling they were getting of one of the 13 ghosts being nearby. They loaded us up in their van and took us to the Rathburn manor, which was down an old dark street, and as we approached, I felt the hair on my neck stand up.
Slowing down, I pulled Daphne and Suzie aside. "Be careful in here." I said softly. "I'm getting a weird vibe. Keep your wands handy, but don't use them unless necessary."
Because we didn't know them well, we were sticking with the statute of secrecy for now. Scooby and Shaggy were nice enough, and DB was pretty cute, but keeping ourselves on the DL was the safest way to move forward.
My girls palmed their wands. We were in normal muggle clothes, luckily, so no robes to hide. I even slipped my own wand up the sleeve of my jacket just in case. Once that was done, we approached the front of the manor slowly.
Before we reached the door though, Shaggy and Scooby stopped cold. "Like, welp, this is our stop." Said the hippy with an audible gulp. "This is close enough to find the g-g-ghost, and you guys can like, handle it from there." He chuckled nervously, starting to back away.
DB snorted, grabbing his ear tightly and twisting. "Oh no you don't. None of that. You need to be here to open the chest and recapture the ghost." She glared at him. "You DID bring the chest of demons, right?"
He nodded sulkily. "Yeah. It's like…in the van, man." He pointed to the bulky red van we'd driven here in. It honestly seemed like it might be armored or something, the shape was very defensive, and the tires looked big and reinforced. Sort of like a giant ATV.
"So…not to be THAT guy." I said slowly. "But exactly why did a d-despicable ghost." I saved myself at the last second from saying devil. "Come to a place like this."
DB grimaced. "Vincent said he's looking for something. Some magic wand that's super powerful. It's supposed to be hidden here. We aren't sure which ghost it is, but luckily they were cut off from news in the chest. Vincent says the wand isn't here anymore. Hasn't been for decades."
"A wand?" I asked suspiciously."How…interesting. What's so special about it?" Rankor was a vampire devil and practiced blood magic. I hadn't heard about him using a wand, but devils COULD so maybe it was him? Daphne grabbed my hand, squeezing tightly in excitement, and I returned the gesture.
She shrugged. "Apparently it makes spells super powerful or something? It's called the Elder Wand. I can't believe there are really people who can do magic. That's so cool!" I grinned at Suzie, and Daphne tried to hold back a smirk. DB turned to Scooby and Shaggy. "We need you to open the chest to trap the ghost when we find him. So what's it gonna take for you to come inside with us?" I could tell from her exasperation that this wasn't their first time having this conversation. She walked to the van, opened the back, and jimmied open a door panel, pulling out a box. "Would you do it for a Scooby Snack?"
Both of them perked up. I raised an eyebrow at the duo, but Scooby squinted hard hard at the box. "Roo." He said, holding up two…fingers? He had weirdly digital paws.
She thought for a minute, then nodded. Reaching into the box, she pulled two pairs of small brown biscuit like treats, and then threw them. Shaggy and Scooby both ran for them, and to my surprise, Shaggy managed to intercept three of them. I blinked at the maneuver because he and Scooby had both moved so fast even I'd seen them blur a bit. They were both really fast.
With the two of them sufficiently bribed, DB went to the front of the van and pulled out the chest, opting to carry it instead of having the two of them do it, in case they ran away.
As we approached the front door though, we quickly realized someone else was here. A tall, toned woman in tight brown leather pants and a sleeveless shirt that showed off strong arms. She had a literal sword on her back, and was knelt down picking the lock on the door of the manor, which did truly wonderful things for her ass in those pants.
I cleared my throat. "Hi." I said dryly as she nearly jumped out of her skin. She spun to glare at us, drawing her sword in a smooth motion. Shaggy and Scooby yelped and jumped behind me. "Can I help you with something?"
"No." She snapped in a surprisingly upper crust accent for a girl in such badass clothes. "You can't. This place is dangerous, and I'm here to look into some suspicious activity for…the city. You need to leave."
Raising an eyebrow, I cocked my head to the side, curious about what she was doing here. Did she know about the ghost? Who the hell did she work for. "Why?" I asked, not expecting an actual answer. "What makes it dangerous?"
"There's a gas leak." She spat. "Now go. You're not getting in here. Don't make me knock you around a bit to convince you."
I considered overpowering her and taking the sword, but Daphne stepped in to save the day with her bitchiness. "Look. You were just picking that lock, so you clearly aren't supposed to be here. We have business inside, and we WILL go in. If you even manage to drive us off, we'll just go in the back or something, so if you're so tough why don't you come along to protect us?"
The sword wielding blonde grimaced, Lowring her blade. "Bollocks. You mean that don't you?"
We all just smiled at her. She huffed and put the blade away. "Right. Fine. I don't want the deaths of a bunch of random kids on my conscience, so I guess you can come in with me." She held out a hand for me to shake, apparently deciding I was the leader. "Tanith Low. Nice to meet you I suppose. Don't get in my way or I'll bust your arse."
Ignoring her overly tight grip, I grinned at her. She reminded me a bit of Seras, though her hard eyes told me she was far more comfortable with violence than my vampire friend. This woman was nobody's bitch, and she'd put a hole in you to prove it. She'd been awfully good with that sword.
Daphne cleared her throat. "I don't suppose you'll tell us what you're really doing here? Because I don't for a second believe you 'work for the city'." Her tone was pointed, and a little snippy, and I realized I MIGHT have been a bit obvious ogling Tanith's tight little ass in those pants.
"I work for 'none of your fucking business' if you must know." she said sweetly. "Who in turn reports to directly to 'shove it up your arse' from the 'go fuck yourself' division. I like your shoes by the way." She said, unconsciously echoing DB from earlier.
"As fun as this is." I drawled. "And you two being ten seconds from tearing each other's clothes off is VERY fun for me, I assure you." I ignored Daphne's glare as I got their attention back. "I think we should actually get inside, before someone calls the real cops and Tanith has to shed even the pretense of respectability."
Said sword girl got an offended look on her face. "Oi! You take that back! I'm not respectable."
Walking past her, I grabbed the knob of the door and turned it. Hard. Something snapped in the mechanism, and the door swung loudly open. "Huh." I said blandly. "Guess you didn't try the knob before deciding to pick it." I was actually pretty lucky there was no dead bolt. "After you. Since you wanted to 'protect us'."
She scoffed. "Like I don't know you just want to stare at my arse in these pants."
"Yes, I'm sure you wear skin tight leather with no discernible underwear to hide your crippling body shyness." I stopped flirting with the sex goddess in the leather pants as my girlfriends both glared at me. Clearing my throat, I gestured inside again. "Like I said though, you decided to 'protect' us, so you can be first inside."
She nodded, heading in, and I tried hard not to look at her ass again, to only moderate success. "So." Tinith said as she crept soundlessly inside, feet not making a single scuff. "Mind telling me about that big creepy box the redhead is carrying?"
"That's our drink cooler." I lied without blinking. "We're here to party. Packed full of beer. How about you? What's the deal with that big ass sword?"
Apparently deciding to tell an equally ridiculous lie, Tanith just shrugged. "I needed an empty place for a hair cut. I use this giant straight razor, so it can get a bit messy." It seemed she was just as reticent to tell us what she was doing as we were to tell her.
As she stepped over the threshold I heard a hissing clack, my eyes jerked up to the corner of the room, where I saw a menacing spider the size of a manhole cover glaring down at us all. Tanith, acting seemingly on instinct, bolted right for it at top speed.
I wasn't sure what she was going to do to get to it, and was coming up with possible paths, when she hit the wall and kept going, her center of gravity shifting so she was running UP the wall. Her sword flashed, the spider split in two, and she pushed off the wall into a tight backflip, landing on the ground daintily.
The second after she hit, the two halves of the spider slammed into the ground before melting into some sort of green slime and then vanishing. Tanith flipped her hair and glanced over a shoulder at us. "Now do you want to turn back? This isn't a game."
"No." I said. "It's not. And you're clearly not some hot eccentric girl looking for a shave and a haircut. So why don't I let you know what's going on." I gestured to the chest. "We're here looking for a ghost that came out of that box. The only way to get rid of it is to put it BACK in the box. The tall hippy and the dog let it out, so they're the only ones who can do it."
Scooby perked up. "Rog?" He said in confusion. "Rhere?" I suppressed my urge to crack up at that, though Suzie didn't.
Tanith stared at us like we were crazy. "Well…that's a new one." She glanced at Scooby. "The talking dog lends some credibility to your story, however. I suppose I'll take your word for it, I have a trip to Ireland in the morning. So, how exactly are we supposed to do this?"
I smiled at her casual nonchalance, but sadly I didn't think it was going to be quite so easy. "I'd probably start with figuring out why the walls are bleeding." I pointed over her shoulder at the dark red liquid streaming down the walls of the wide open entryway.
"Bollocks." She said again. "That's the last thing I needed. Well then, I suppose I really will take the lead then, won't I?" She gave me a sly smirk. "That is, if you don't mind, pretty boy?" Without waiting for a response she turned and strode further into the house, hips swaying as she walked.
I turned to glance at the others, and with a confirming nod, we folLowd behind her. Tanith appeared to be informed in a different way than we were, and I knew jack shit about ghost hunting anyway. Admittedly, the view didn't hurt either.
AN:// And the final piece of the puzzle is...Skulduggery Pleasant! For those of you who don't know it, it's a series about a Skeleton Detective who works in a world of sorcerers and his apprentice. The power ceiling is extremely high and there are dark gods and monsters involved, it's a great series. Don't worry too much though, I'm not planning to toss you in the deep end. I wont be sticking to the books and am planning my own plotline with all the elements mixed in.
November 25th, 2010. London, England 4:00 PM BST
As agreed, we let Tanith take the lead. Excellent butt notwithstanding, she was the one carrying a giant sword, and had just run up a wall, so clearly she had just as good an idea what kind of supernatural shit was going on than we did. The front hall of the manor was a massive open space with a pair of winding staircases running along both sides.
Shaggy and Scooby were huddled behind DB with the chest of demons, peeking out to look around for anything spooky as we ascended the left side. Daphne and Susan were bringing up the rear, wands at the ready but still hidden. When we reached the top of the steps, we came to a door, and Tanith looked back at Scooby and Shaggy. "You lot are like ghost detectors, right? That the way?"
"Like…I don't know, man." Whimpered Shaggy. "My goosebumps have goosebumps right now. We're in a house with an evil ghost that wants to kill us. Everything feels like a threat!"
To my surprise, she didn't snap, just nodded in understanding. "Well, keep that spook sense peeled. I'd prefer not to be attacked from behind. Or stabbed. I've had quite enough of that for a lifetime thank you. Getting impaled in the guts is extremely uncomfortable."
Daphne snickered lightly. "I don't know. I got used to it eventually." At my glare, she just winked, and I had to return the chuckle. Plus there was a non zero percentage of my ego that enjoyed her talking about how big I was in front of other cute girls. Suzie both blushed and pouted, which was also pretty adorable.
Tanith rolled her eyes. "No offense to your boy toy, but I suspect we have different definitions of getting 'impaled' schoolgirl. Now focus up. This place is giving me the willies, chances of the ghost making an appearance soon ar pretty go- ok did anyone else notice that this hallway seems longer?"
I glanced down, and she was right. The rug beneath us stretched out for a ways in both directions. In the distance I could see the steps, and in front of us, about a hundred feet away, was the door at the top. There was a low groaning and a crack, and green light spilled out between the floorboards.
As we watched, sections of the hallway dropped away into a deep pit, flickering with green flames and smelling strongly of brimstone. Along the hall, there was small islands of wood and plaster stuck to the wall at irregular intervals forming a sort of path of stepping platforms.
Along the walls, the paintings were glaring down at us with hideous expressions of evil glee, and the candles in sconces had blazed up with that same eldritch flame. "Huh." I said with interest. "I'm almost positive this was a level on Luigi's Mansion."
The portraits had begun to howl and jeer, but when I said that, they all stopped short, glaring at me in offended outrage. Shaggy nodded. "Like, you're right man! I think I played that one." He chuckled nervously. "I guess the ghost has like, good taste at least."
"What is 'Luigi's Mansion'?" Asked Daphne in confusion. I blinked at her, trying to figure out how to explain video games if she didn't know what they were, or how to ASK if she knew what a video game was without tipping off the others to our weirdness.
Luckily, it was a moot point as we were cut off by a cold wind blowing down the hall. The green flames flickered, and carried on the chilly air was a hoarse, rustling whisper of. "Fools." Rattling in our ears like dead leaves across a grave.
"Ok, well that was from The Exorcist." I deadpanned, completely unimpressed.
Daphne's face lit up. "Oh! I saw that." At everyone's look of confusion about her enthusiasm, she flushed slightly. Averting her eyes, she snorted in annoyance. "I was just saying I recognized the reference."
I made a mental note to start teleporting Daphne away at night for those movie dates we'd talked about. She needed her horizons broadened. I wondered if that counted as horizoning my broad? My introspection was cut off as a menacing voice boomed. "YOU DARE MAKE LIGHT OF ME?"
"Oh look. It talks loud now. What's next? Rattling chains?" Tanith was visibly trying not to laugh as I taunted the ghost. Glancing out into the darkness that sat atop the fiery pit, I said in an unimpressed tone. "You might as well come out. We're not exactly quaking in our boots."
I glanced sidelong at Shaggy, trying to convey with my expression to be ready. The wind kicked up again, and as it whipped the hallway, putting out all the candles, it swirled into a glowing vortex, inside which appeared a floating spectral figure.
"FOOLS!" Boomed the as of yet unnamed ghost. "You seek your dooms! To dare impugn the awful brilliance of Maldor the Malevolent!" The ghost towered over us, but when I glanced at Shaggy he shook his head. It was keeping out of range of the chest.
It also…wasn't what I expected. It was a billowing robe with wild tangled blonde hair split by a pair of long curved horns. From between the hair and robe I saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes glaring hatefully in complete darkness.
I rolled my eyes. "Ok, pro tip." I said snidely. "If you're going to appear in front of your victims, maybe hit a barber shop. Or get a face. You look like under my bed in a bad eighties wig." Tanith finally lost it at that, busting up laughing so hard she almost fell off the segment of floor we were standing on.
"FOOLISH MOR-" He paused, shocked. "You're not mortal at all." His eyes narrowed. "How are you here? I didn't expect to meet a d-"
Daphne's wand snapped up, and she hissed. "Silencio!" The jet of light hit Maldor (sadly not the guy we needed) and his voice cut off. "Damned wizards." Daphne said primly. "They always say that." She shot the others an apologetic look. "Sorry we didn't tell you. We're supposed to keep it secret."
I heaved a sigh of relief, since I knew damned well he hadn't been about to say that, but my gratitude was cut short as Maldor raised his hands and began making unusual hand gestures. As he did, the air around us shifted again, and Tanith's eyes went wide. "Bollocks." She spat. "He's an elementalist."
Before I could ask what that meant, Maldor snapped his fingers, and the winding currents of wind became massive torrents of flame as he snapped his palms toward us, creating a concussive burst of fire.
Since the wizard thing was out of the bag (lesser of two evils in my opinion) I snapped my wand up and roared. "PROTEGO". Stretching my shield as far as necessary and pouring as much intent into it as possible.
The silver sphere of power erected around us tanked the fire blast, but as I watched Maldor started snapping his palms over and over again. Each time there was a sort of rupture in the air and pressure like a fucking cannon slammed into my shield, making it shake. I was strong enough to hold it up, but not forever.
Luckily I wasn't alone here. Susan's wand had come out, and she was muttering as she transfigured the floor around us, smoothing it back out to cover the gaps so we could walk away from this spot. Daphne was muttering flame freezing charms and cooling spells to try to offset the heat inside the bubble from the flames, because the shield stopped the fire and not the heat itself.
As the floor in front of us mended, we moved, stepping forward slowly, the shield defending us against the explosive slams of hot air. One step, then two. Tanith was growling. "I bloody hate ranged fights. Get me in close and I'll carve his arse like a christmas goose."
"Feel free to carve ANY kind of geese around me, regardless of time of year. Fucking monster birds." I spat. I'd been attacked by geese as a kid, they were pure unmitigated evil. Even worse than the ghost. "But it won't be needed. We're just getting closer so-" I cut off as the chest of demon's eyes began to glow.
"Like, now!" Shouted Shaggy. I shoved at the shield, and it expanded until it got so thin it shattered. The expansion acted a lot like an outward burst and knocked the ghost off balance when it took the hit. Before it could react, Shaggy snapped open the chest of demons. "Back in your box, man!"
There was a pause as Maldor stared at the chest in horror. He hadn't sensed it apparently, just been cautious of us (probably Tanith) when he spotted it his eyes widened in horror. "No! I won't go back! I can't! Damn you Van Ghoul. Daaaaamn yooooouuuuuu!" The latter was said as his body dissolved back into glowing air and was sucked into the dark depths of the chest.
Snapping shut, the demonic horned face on the lock let out a satisfied burp and then its eyes stopped glowing. Tanith glanced down at it in admiration. "Huh. Right handy little toy chest you've got there. Don't suppose it works on other nasties besides ghosts?"
"Nope, sorry." Said DB apologetically. "The chest only holds 13 ghosts. And it's a specific 13. No room for anything else."
Tanith sighed. "Figured. Spooks like that usually have very specific weaknesses. Like this bridge troll I had to catch a while ago. Had to say its name. It wasn't well pleased I figured it out, neither, but I showed the little bastard."
"Yeah, trolls are a bitch." I agreed commiseratingly. "We had a mountain troll to deal with just last month, and some giant lake troll the other day. Bet that sword comes in damned handy dealing with those thickheaded fucks."
She grinned at me. "Too right it does. You're not half bad pretty boy. Ain't never met a wizard before. Never even heard of one. Witches yes, and Warlocks, but you don't seem to be the latter." She shrugged. "Oh well, world's full of weird magic. You were useful, which puts you a cut above most sorcerers."
"Glad to hear it." I said with a laugh. "You weren't exactly dead weight either. Maybe we can work together again sometime."
Reaching into her tight leather pants, she fished out a card and passed it over to me. "I spend most of my time in Ireland these days, like I said, have a trip back planned, but if you're in my neighborhood, give me a call. I'm a freelancer, but I have some connections with the sanctuary over there, so I can hook you up."
I had no idea what she was talking about, so I just nodded seriously. I didn't know if we'd make it to Ireland for any of the ghost hunts, since this one hadn't been the one we needed. I wished I could have questioned him, but I wasn't letting him out of the box just for that.
Tanith said her goodbyes, giving Scooby a scratch and shooting me a wink before sauntering off into the London afternoon.
Once she was gone, I turned to the others. "So, what do we do now? I don't have plans for the moment, this went way faster than expected."
Shaggy walked up and threw an arm over my shoulder. "Like, dude. Stick with us. We'll show you the best spot for fish and chips in all of London. Your treat though. I'm broke, and fighting ghosts is hungry work. I'm like, starving."
Chuckling, I just rolled my eyes and followed him back to the van. Once we finished eating maybe I could take the girls somewhere nice before we headed back. Might as well make good use of our time. For now, I was curious about the fish and chips place. As something to keep in mind for later. Might as well enjoy this little vacation.
Edit: Added a Tanith picture to the character list. Also get excited for the advance chapter that came out today
December 6th, 2010. Hogwarts Express, 4:00 PM BST
The time until winter break started went by quick. McGonagall took down the names of the people leaving for break, which was our whole group, and then a week or two later we boarded the train and headed back to London. I debated skipping it and sleeping in, but teleporting seemed like something that would draw attention because people would notice I wasn't on the train.
"I can't wait to get home for Christmas!" Squealed Tracey happily. "The holidays are always so much fun. What about you lot? Any big plans?"
I chuckled at her enthusiasm. "That's the cheeriest I've seen you. Suzie and I are going to spend Christmas with my mom, and I'm planning to attend a dinner at Daphne's on the twenty third." I glanced over at my other friends. "How about you guys. What do you brits do for Christmas?"
"We burn George Washington in effigy." Said Blaise seriously. "And plot our eventual reconquest of your heathen colonies. Just you wait, our ships will be coming over the horizon any day now."
Grinning, I flipped him off. "Bitch please, the religion thing was just a pretext. The revolutionary war started because we dumped a bunch of tea in a harbor and you all couldn't let it slide. Am I to take it that means you don't have any Christmas plans and are too embarrassed to talk about it?"
Huffing out a laugh, he slumped back against the train seat. "My mother always spends Christmas with me. Usually with her newest conquest. It's often not too bad, they're so enthralled they ignore me except to throw expensive gifts at me to keep me out of the way. There are worse ways to spend time."
I debated making a crack about wanting to throw his mom an expensive gift of my own, but both my girlfriends were around, so it seemed like poor timing. I moved onto Theo. "What about you? Any special Christmas plans?"
He shrugged. "The Ministry Yule Ball because I have to go. Other than that just time at home with the family." He flushed a bit, shooting a glance sideways. "I invited Hannah over. She's going to have dinner at my place. My mum has been practically glowing according to my father. It's the first time I've brought a girl home for a holiday."
Hannah gave him an encouraging smile. "I can't wait to meet them, I was worried they might not like me because I'm a half-blood."
"Ok." I said in confusion. "Am I the only one who thinks that's pretty fast. You guys have been dating like…what? A month or two." I paused. "Ignore me bringing home Susan, it's much less formal. Although I am having dinner at Daphne's…why the hell do wizards move so fast?"
Hannah shrugged. "Courting is considered a prelude to marriage in the wizarding world. If you like someone enough to commit, it's the next best thing to engagement.Trust me if I hadn't grown up mostly in the wizarding world myself I'd probably be totally mystified. But it's a cultural thing."
I just glanced around in confusion. "And none of you are…freaked out by that." I glanced at my girls. "I mean no offense but that's crazy."
Daphne snorted. "Oh, why would we take offense to that? But no not really. Ryan, you need to understand that MOST people our age in our circles have marriage contracts from the time they can walk. We happen to be exceptions, mostly because the people in our group are either half blood or exceptionally powerful to the point where it isn't necessary, but among pureblood children it's the norm."
"It's true." Nodded Susan. "If Auntie wasn't so high up in the ministry, after what happened to my parents, I'd have had a contract. She has the pull to right the ship, so to speak, but if she hadn't a marriage contract with a powerful house would have provided another possible avenue of saving the family."
I had to admit, it just seemed weird to me. I liked Daphne and Susan, but I wasn't getting engaged at eighteen. It was a stark reminder that Disney movies aside, even Hannah and Tracey weren't REALLY muggles. They had the weird worldview same as the rest of them.
Of course, I was also planning to turn my girls into devils, effectively binding them to my side for ten thousand years, so maybe I shouldn't throw stones about jumping into things too quickly.
Deciding that we were unlikely to bridge a dissonance between entire cultures after a few minutes of chatting, I changed the subject. "By the way, you guys hear from the twins?" I'd put them in touch when Daphne and I started our curse hunt. I couldn't afford to spend my time hunting around the school, but the others had agreed to pick up the slack. Especially Suzie.
My redhead sighed. "I did. There haven't been any more incidents in the castle. They don't have the resources to patrol the forbidden forest, so they're kind of at a dead end. They've signed on to stay at Hogwarts over the break to keep an eye out."
"Not likely." Snorted Tracey. "They're probably keeping an eye on Potter and his hangers on. Their brother has been spending a lot of time with him and that swot Granger. He's bound do get in trouble. They're up to something."
I shared a glance with Daphne. They WERE up to something, and I should probably look into it at some point. I'd just been so damned busy. Suzie chimed in, frowning at Tracey. "That's not very nice, Trace. Hermione isn't so bad. She's just a little awkward around people. She's a very intelligent girl."
Daphne snorted. "Oh we know. Everyone knows. I think if she could afford it she would hire someone to write it in flames above the castle, just to make sure no one missed it. I have to say, I prefer Moon if I have to deal with a know it all. Sure her, mountainous udders are unsightly, but at least she's tolerable. I think all of Granger's social skills were consumed by her disgusting flabby arse."
"Yes dear." I said with an eyeroll. "We know you dislike her. There's no need to be nasty."
She sneered. "Nasty? Nasty is those hot air balloons under her skirt. I'm surprised she doesn't ricochet into the ceiling when she sits down."
Tracey couldn't help but snicker. "Don't listen to Daphne. She's got an inferiority complex because Stori has about four cup sizes on her. It's a complete wonder that girl has any self esteem at all with Daph's constant vitriol towards anyone bustier than she is."
That…explained a lot. I wondered when she added fat bottomed girls to her hate list. She seemed offended by the insinuation though. "I would NEVER make my sister feel bad about her unnecessarily large breasts. She's beautiful just the way she is. There are exceptions to every rule."
The looks on everyone's faces seemed torn between amusement and contempt. "Anyway. I suppose I'll see all this for myself when I come for dinner." I froze as Daphne spun to glare at me, realizing how that sounded. "I meant your interaction, not your sister's breasts." I paused thoughtfully. "Though if they're as big as Tracey says I imagine I'll see those too, if covered by clothes."
Daphne kicked me in the knee, and I allowed it because I kind of deserved it after that comment. It didn't hurt anyway. Susan pouted at me. "You aren't really going to ogle Daphne's poor sister are you? She's ill Ryan, that seems a bit rude."
"So he could ogle her if she WASN'T ill?" Demanded Daphne. "Don't ogle my sister at all. She's a delicate girl. Imagining you brutalizing her with that club in your pants fills me with dread. She'd never survive."
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Honey. I love how much you talk up my dick size, but can you please stop insinuating that sex with me involves potentially lethal internal injuries?"
"That depends." She said acidly. "Can you find a way to put my kidneys back where they belong?" She paused. "Actually don't, I wouldn't be able to accommodate you anymore." She smirked at me wickedly. "I suppose a little organ rearrangement is an acceptable price to pay to keep you happy."
Tracey snickered at that. "Judging by the giant smile on your face for the days after you got back from your little trip, he keeps you plenty happy too."
Daphne sniffed. "A proper well bred lady does not wax on about intimate matters. Ryan is given plenty of incentive during our lovemaking. If I didn't deflate his ego once in a while he would be insufferable about it. He knows I find him more than satisfactory in the bedroom." She glanced at Suzie with a wince. "That said…you may want to learn a lubricant spell. Jokes aside, the first time is…intense."
That got a blush as red as her hair from my cinnamon roll. "I'm sure that when Ryan and I…take things to the next level. I'll be more than prepared. We can take things slow."
"You know." Tracey said musingly. "If you weren't my best friend's guy I'd be tempted to take a ride and see what the fuss is about. Sadly for you, I have a code, and as such Daphne's man is off limits." She shot Susan a considering look. "I wouldn't say no to a pensieve memory about your first time for Christmas, if you're so inclined."
"Tracey!" Squeaked Suzie in horror. "That's PRIVATE. I can't believe you would ask something like that."
"So, is everyone getting presents for everyone else?" I asked, desperate to get the topic off my sex life. "Because I've been shopping around, and I'm pretty sure I got all of you the best possible gifts. You might want to tie on your little british socks, because I'm about to blow them off. Also Daph I need to borrow your owl to send presents."
I didn't have my own, being fine using the school owls, so during the break I was kind of screwed. She rolled her eyes but didn't disagree.
Blaise snorted. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you got me. I wasn't able to think of what you might want." I opened my mouth and he cut me off. "Other than some lewd item or other pertaining to my mother." He glanced at Daphne. "Shouldn't you be all bitter and jealous about his constant jokes about my mother?"
She shrugged. "It seems unlikely it'll come to anything, but she's not exactly around us most of the time. It seems better to focus on girls who are an actual threat to me." Glancing at Suzie, she sighed. "A threat to US I suppose." I knew she was planning to team up with my redhead to keep in charge of any girls who entered my peerage in the future.
Now that I thought about it, Tanith hadn't seemed to bother her much either. I guessed older women just didn't seem like a threat to her position? Or maybe she had a milf fetish because of her mommy issues, it wasn't worth bringing up since she'd never admit it anyway. Might as well just ignore it.
We talked for hours, catching up with friends, spending time together, playing games (exploding snap and wizard's chess) ordering a shitload of wizard candy off the trolley, and just generally enjoying ourselves, until we arrived at King's Cross station.
We all said our goodbyes, and promised to meet up over the break if time allowed, then Suzie and I headed for the main terminal where my mom was waiting to pick us up. She gave a delighted wave when she saw us, and then swept me and Suzie up into individual tight hugs, gushing about meeting my girlfriend. Well, at least that part of the break was going well.
December 6th, 2010. London, England 8:00 PM BST
It was already dark by the time the Hogwarts Express pulled in. We hugged everyone goodbye, promised to owl, and then headed off in different directions to meet our respective families. I had a tough time finding my mom through the throng of people, and they were shoving and pushing so hard I had to hide Suzie behind me until I spotted her.
Instead of her though, my eyes met a familiar pair of currently blue (colored contacts) eyes and a wide closed lip smile. Seras stood beaming at me, holding up a big sign with 'Ryan Black' printed across it in expertly penned letters. Next to her I spotted my mother, waving excitedly at me.
"My BABY!" She squealed, diving for me as soon as I came within reach. She grabbed me tight and squeezed me so hard I was pretty sure it would have killed a human. "You're back! I've missed you so much."
Chuckling, I hugged her back. We didn't get any looks, everyone was excited to see loved ones. Still, I had to point out. "You saw me pretty recently. I came home a few months ago."
She snorted. "Please. That doesn't count. This is the official welcome back from Hogwarts celebration. Your last visit was just family business." She turned to beam at Suzie. "And this must be Susan. She's just as adorable as you described." She squealed and grabbed my redhead in a tight hug. "Oh, look at you, I could just eat you up with a spoon."
I turned to Seras, ignoring Suzie's dazed expression. "Hey there." I said with a grin. "I believe the proper protocol is to give hugs." I spread my arms and she bolted forward, slamming into my so hard my ribs creaked and squeezing me tight. I patted her head with a chuckle. "Good to see you too Seras."
After a second of no response I tensed a bit, waiting for her to do something, but she just nuzzled into my neck. I sighed. "Seras. You really need to back up. You can't bite me here. Haven't you been eating the vials I left you?"
She backed up in a flash, face embarrassed. "Oh! Sorry. It's just…hot. Mostly I drink it room temperature or cold. Not…it's not fresh. It's so much better fresh."
"You drink it cold?" I asked, giving her a disbelieving look. "Like…you tried chilling it? What, did you and my mom make Bloody Mary's or something?" I couldn't even think of what circumstances she would be drinking blood cold.
Coughing slightly, she looked away. "What? No, definitely not." Her voice dropped as she muttered in what I'm sure was meant to be a voice too low to hear. "I made a blood smoothie."
I burst out laughing and she glared at me. "Sorry." I choked back. "I didn't mean to laugh. It's just…such a weird thing to do." My face lit up as I remembered something, rifling through my pockets as I held up a bag. "Here, I got you something that might help. They're not ME flavored so I doubt they're quite as good, but I thought you might like these."
Sadly we were interrupted as my mom's interrogation of my girlfriend (admittedly incredibly friendly and good natured, but still an interrogation) ended. Tossing her the bag, I gestured for her to put them away as Suzie and my mom returned their attention to us.
"Why don't we talk at home." My mom said kindly, noticing Seras's awkwardness once Susan joined us. "At least after you two girls say hi." She glared at me. "Since SOMEONE didn't bother to make introductions."
Ever the cinnamon roll, my girlfriend noticed the uncomfortable expression and gave the blonde vampire a big friendly smile. "Hi there! Ryan told me he wanted to introduce me to a friend of his. I'm Susan Bones." She held out a hand shyly. "I really hope we can be friends. I don't know too much about the muggle world and I could use some help."
Being angry at Suzie was like kicking a puppy on its birthday, and Seras couldn't even come close. Even Daphne couldn't really dislike Suzie back when they were temporarily fighting. The busty vampire blonde smiled back at her gently. "That sounds like it'd be nice." She said, taking the hand and shaking it.
We headed back to the car, piling in and pulling out of King's Cross. "So." I said as we pulled into traffic. "How have things been at home? Seras, have you been comfortable at the house?"
My mom beamed. "Of course she has. Having her around has been such a blessing. We've been learning potions, a bit of basic wandwork drilling, some duelling forms. Seras is a wonderful guest, she's always happy to spend time with me."
If vampires could blush, Seras would be. "I haven't done anything much. You took me in and gave me a place to stay. If anyone should be grateful it's me."
"Ryan told me a bit about your situation." Susan said sadly. "I know a bit how you feel. My parents were killed when I was very young. I can't imagine how much worse it must be having so many more memories, but if you ever need to talk I'm happy to listen." She put a hand on Seras's as I looked back at them through the rearview mirror.
The vampire swallowed hard, eyes blinking rapidly like she was trying not to cry. "That's…very sweet of you." She said thickly. "I might take you up on it sometime. This will be my first Christmas without them and I…"
My mom cleared her throat. "Well that aside, I'm happy to have you with us over Christmas." She shot Seras a soft smile. "I'm always stuck with just Ryan, and while I love my son, some traditions are better shared with more people. We don't even normally have Christmas dinner. We just go out to a steakhouse. This year will be a big affair though. Andromeda, her husband, and Tonks will be coming over to ours. Daisy has been beside herself with the shopping."
"Oh, shopping!" Said Suzie excitedly. "We can go into muggle London and look for some clothes. We'll have to go at night, or in the evening, but I'm sure some places will be open."
I shrugged. "If not we can pay someone to open for you guys." I glanced at my mom. "We convert anything of those galleons to pounds? Or should I make a trip to Gringotts. We haven't even dipped into the actual inheritance, I'm still spending all the money I scammed out of the Malfoys and that should last us quite a while."
"I know." She chuckled. "That's part of why I haven't said anything about all the spending. It's not really a huge deal, so I figured I'd let you get it out of your system. If you run out of that too fast you might want to put a freeze on things, but at this rate it'll last you years, and frankly I want to rub it in Narcissa's pointy face."
I snickered at that. "My mother ladies and gentlemen, the family woman. If I'd known you were so vindictive I'd have been giving Draco a harder time."
Suzie, to my surprise, giggled at that. "Honestly I think NOT giving him a hard time is the worst thing you could have done to him. You just swagger around, ignoring his existence and spending time with the fittest girl in first year. You should see the hate on his face when he looks at you."
"You know." I said with a smirk as I glance back over my seat. "While Daphne is stunning, there ARE other girls that give her a run for her money. There's this little cutie in Hufflepuff I've had my eye on. She has the most gorgeous red hair."
My mom snorted. "Don't let him sweet talk you Susan. My son has many fine qualities, but his constant need to flirt isn't one of them."
"Hey!" I said, my tone hurt. "I'll have you know dating two girls is already plenty exhausting. I don't flirt anymore. I'm a two woman man." I gave Suzie a pleading look. "Tell her, tell her that I'm faithful and true."
She gave me a sweet smile. "Of course you are honey. Because Daphne didn't say anything about that blonde girl with leather pants on your little trip. Or the busty redhead. And no one has mentioned you having breakfast with Lily Moon a few weeks ago." She winked at me. "As long as you make time for Daphne and I there's no reason for me to fuss."
Suzie knew that at least part of my peerage was probably going to be women I'd end up sleeping with, and she'd made peace with that. Of course she was determined to be in CHARGE of those women, or at least to help Daphne with wrangling them if possible. She shot a look back at Seras, who was snickering at my misfortune, unaware that Suzie had plans for her. My little cinnamon roll wanted to get Seras on her side before I reincarnated her, which I suspected was the disney princess version of establishing the pecking order.
"Oh!' Said my mom suddenly. "Right, I forgot you got a call." She reached down into the car console with one hand, rooting around before passing me my phone. I'd left her the one I'd bought when I was back for my last visit, since Hogwarts tended to fry them apparently. "I didn't check the message, but that damned indicator light has been flashing non stop.
Nodding my thanks, I took it from her, tapping the screen to see one missed call and a message. Unlocking the screen I hit the voicemail icon. There was a slight delay and then a familiar voice came on the line. "Like, Ryan, man. We had a bit of a clue on the next you know what. We're in London still for right now, I know you said it might take you a bit to get back to us. Give us a call."
The message ended and I checked the date. It had been a few days. I slipped the phone into my pocket. Seras raised an eyebrow. "Not calling him back? Sounded a bit urgent, didn't it?"
"Nope." I said, popping the P. "I'm home for Christmas, I'm at least going to get settled in, drop off my bags, all that. They waited for us a few days they can wait another night. I want to get everyone settled at home, maybe have some dinner or something. There's no rush." I wanted to be well rested and prepared before we got into a new mess with a ghost anyway.
I considered reincarnating Seras right away, but I decided to wait. I was with her and could feed her directly, and I wanted to see how she did on this ghost hunt. I wasn't sure a single Pawn would be enough for her, but as a Vampire she was strong and fast, so I was leaning toward a Rook either way. Before I committed such a powerful piece I wanted to see how she did in a crisis.
As a former cop I was pretty sure she had the kind of nerve I was looking for, but no reason to jump the gun there. For now, I just wanted to enjoy Christmas at home with friends and family. Suzie was practically glowing with happiness, Seras seemed thrilled to have people around, and my mom was ecstatic I was here.
Once that settled down I'd give Shaggy a call and find out where exactly this lead would be leading us. Based on the last ghost we were going to be in for some crazy shit, but there was still the chance it would be the one we needed, so we had to go. I hoped I could find the answer to Daphne's problem soon though. Who knew how much time Astoria really had left?
AN://Fun times ahead, I had a lot of fun writing today's advance chapter, and we're getting into some really cool stuff. I was worried people wouldn't like me going so hard on the canon welding, but I've gotten good responses across all my sites so far which is cool because canonically there isn't jack shit happening in Harry potter through most of November and December until christmas lol.