“See you next year!” Peter waved sadly at his friends while his parents ushered him through the barrier to the Muggle world.
“Bye, Peter! Now, let’s find Remus’ parents first,” James insisted. “Then we’ll find mine; they can tell the Blacks where you went, Sirius.”
“Mum! Dad!” Remus was already waving furiously at a couple standing not far off. Mrs. Lupin had deep blue eyes and sandy blonde hair that came to her shoulders, while Mr. Lupin was a tall, thin, aging fellow who looked like an older version of his son. His hair was also brown, but streaked with gray. Mr. and Mrs. Lupin nearly ran over to Remus and engulfed him in a hug.
“Darling! Oh, we’ve missed you so much! I can’t wait to meet your friends; where are they?” Mrs. Lupin was positively beaming as she looked around.
“Right here, Mrs. Lupin.” James stepped up. “I’m James Potter, and this is Sirius Black.” He shook Mr. Lupin’s hand as well. “We’re missing Bridget McGuire and Peter Pettigrew, but you’ll probably meet them soon,” he added.
“It’s nice to meet you boys. It’s nice to know that Remus has friends that he can trust.” He gave the boys a piercing stare.
“We wouldn’t tell anyone about Remus’ furry little problem for the world, Mr. Lupin.” Sirius sounded a bit offended. “What kind of friends would we be if we did that?”
“Good. I’m just checking. You can never be too careful…” Mr. Lupin trailed off and smiled at the boys.
“Mum,” Remus started, obviously eager to change the subject. “James, Sirius and I were going to use the Floo Network to go Bridget’s house and return her pet.” He motioned to the basket Sirius was holding. “We don’t know where she went; she didn’t get on the train and the only thing that we remembered to grab was Bisou - that’s the dog. Can I go? Please?”
“Bridget? Is that the girl you wrote to me about? The one who’s been camping outside the tree once a month since they found out?” Mrs. Lupin raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, that’s her,” Remus said quickly, his ears tinting pink.
“Well, I suppose if you really want to go… How are you going to get back?”
“Don’t worry, she’s from a Wizarding family and they’re hooked up to the Floo Network. We were just planning to go there, stay for dinner and maybe spend the night.” Remus nearly clapped a hand over his mouth. He hadn’t meant to add in that last part.
“Spend the night? Remus, I’m not sure about this.” Sirius noticed her sudden, small pang of anxiety and quickly moved to placate her.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Lupin. It’s strictly platonic.” He crossed his fingers in hopes that he had used that stupid word correctly.
“Still…” She glanced at her husband, biting her lip.
“Here, why don’t you talk to my parents?” James asked. “They should be around here somewhere.” He glanced around the emptying platform.
“ ‘Around here somewhere?’ ” A woman had snuck up behind him. “Try behind you, sweetheart.” She leaned over and kissed both James and Sirius on the cheek before extending her hand to Mrs. Lupin. “Hi, I’m James’ mother, Allie Potter. Nice to meet you, Mrs....” She paused uncertainly, glancing at her son.
“Lupin.” Mrs. Lupin confirmed, “Melinda Lupin. This is my husband, Nate Lupin.”
“Again, nice to meet you, Melinda. You must be Remus’ mother.” Mrs. Potter smiled warmly as her arms wrapped around Sirius and James’ shoulders.
“Mum, we need to drop by Bridget’s house, you know, that girl that I told you about in the letter? The one that helped push Lucius Malfoy into the Vanishing Cabinet a few weeks ago?” James said.
“Don’t see why not. I’ve got their address in my purse somewhere.” She let go of James and Sirius and rummaged in her shoulder bag. “Here, Ellesmere Range, Scotland. I’ll deal with your mum, Sirius, don’t worry. Would Remus like to come? They’ll probably just spend the night there since Scotland’s a bit more isolated than our own home. In fact, how about we get the kids there and we can all come back to my house for some dinner? I’d love to get to know you better.” Mrs. Potter smiled warmly and hugged James and Sirius again.
“Mum!” James moaned, trying to push her away.
“I know! I’m sorry! I just can’t tell you enough how much I missed you boys!” Mrs. Potter said unabashedly.
“I love you, Mrs. Potter,” Sirius said while he smirked at James.
“Git,” James muttered under his breath.
“Thank you, Sirius. I love you too.” She kissed the top of his head.
“Hey! What about me? You know, the son by birth?” James whined.
“Now look who wants attention!” Mrs. Potter teased, ruffling his hair. “Of course I love you, James. Now, Melinda, how about that dinner? I’m starving.”
“That sounds like a fantastic idea, Allie,” Mr. Lupin said, nodding. “We’d love to come over for dinner.”
“Great! Then it’s settled!” Mrs. Potter rummaged in her purse once more and pulled out a small leather pouch and gave it to James.
“Here’s some Floo powder, and a few Galleons - just in case. I want you three to be extremely careful; you know where the Floo station is, Sirius. Don’t talk to strangers, and watch out for those - what are they called? Oh, yes - automobiles. Don’t get run over! Keep your wands on you, I’ll take your trunks - James Potter, what are you doing with that dog? Don’t hold it like that; it’s a Corgi, you’ll break its back. Oh Godric, what am I saying?” She laughed loudly and took a deep breath. “Sorry, I was getting all flustered there! Well, have fun, you three! I want you back before noon tomorrow, understand? Now, let me give you kiss, Merlin knows I’ve missed you.” She kissed James and Sirius on the cheek, ruffled their hair, and then turned to Mrs. Lupin.
“Now, I Apparated here…”
“FREEDOM!” Sirius yelled. He flung his arms out before falling down and pretending to kiss the ground. He, Remus, and James were standing just outside of King’s Cross Station, tying to fashion a leash out of the ball of string that Remus had found in his pocket.
“Sirius, please act as if you’re not two yeasr old!” Remus laughed, placing Bisou on the ground.
“I can’t wait to see what Bridget’s place looks like,” James admitted, urging the rest towards the Floo station.
Bridget was absolutely petrified.
“I can’t believe I forgot my own dog,” she said slowly. She sat down on the stone hearth and was ready to have a full-on panic attack when-
“Hey, McGuire. Long time, no see.” James, Sirius and Remus stepped out of the fireplace.
“Oh my Godric, James! You have Bisou!” She scooped up Bisou and covered the dog’s head with kisses.
“What’s for dinner? I’m hungry.” Sirius smirked as Bridget engulfed him in a hug.
“You’ll have to work for it,” she leered back. “C’mon. We’ve got a long walk ahead of us.”
Sirius’ mouth fell open. “You mean we have to walk to get to your house? Isn’t this Ellesmere Range?”
“Yes, it’s a ranch. Meaning, our yard is a bit larger than normal. Let’s go.” She jerked her head towards the castle and picked up the handle of her suitcase before setting it back down. “I’m just going to take my wand and have the house-elf come back for the rest of it later,” she said.
An hour later, they were walking through the entry way of Ellesmere Castle.
“My sisters are around here somewhere. Adele! Ninette! Chardonnay!” Bridget called.
Remus snorted uncharacteristically. “Your mum named your sister after a drink?”
“Not my mum - Wife Number Two. She was French, blonde, and crazy, and so, her daughters are also French, blonde, and crazy, but not as much as she was. Adele! Ninette! Chardonnay! I KNOW YOU’RE HERE!”
“BRIDGET!” A female voice squealed. They all whirled around to see a young woman click-clacking down the hall in high heels. She had blonde hair and a smooth, pale complexion. Sirius’ mouth fell open.
“Wife Number Two was also part Veela,” Bridget informed then, pushing Sirius’ jaw back in. “Hi, Ninette!”
“Bridget!” She swooped down on Bridget and pecked her on both cheeks. “Adele and Chardon are getting ready for the party tonight. Lucky for me that I found you though! Papa and that woman are out of town so we decided to have a little fun.” She smiled wickedly and tossed he hair over her shoulder. “We invited your cousin Maria because we didn’t want you to be all by yourself, but it looks like you brought your little friends with you!”
The stars in James’ eyes faded as he scowled. He stuck out his hand, and spoke with an icy edge, “I’m James Potter. This is Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. And we’re not little,” he added.
“My mistake.” She smiled and said to Bridget, “You’re welcome to come to the party, but no alcohol and don’t talk to anyone, okay?” She turned and walked out, her heels click-clacking on the stone floors as she hurried out.
Bridget stuck her tongue out at her sister’s retreating back. “Want to see my room? We can get dressed for the party.”
“As fun as dressing in drag seems, I’ll have to pass on that opportunity,” Remus said.
“Oh, you actually thought we were going to go in normal clothes?” Bridget grinned and clapped sharply once. A house-elf appeared immediately. “Millie, can you please pick up our trunks from the main drive? I’d also appreciate it if an elf could also assist us in picking outfits for my step-sister’s party tonight.”
“Certainly, miss.” Millie the house-elf disappeared and another elf scurried in from out of nowhere to take its place.
“If you would please follow me, sirs and madam. I will escort you to Miss McGuire’s quarters.” The house-elf announced as he or she bowed deeply. Sirius was impressed with the house-elf’s grammar.
“How’d you get it to talk like that?” he murmured in an undertone to Bridget as they followed the house elf up and through the winding hallways of Ellesmere Castle.
She elbowed him hard in the ribs before whispering back, “They have feelings too, you know.” She rolled her eyes and hurried down the corridor.
Ellesmere Castle was very much like Hogwarts. There were a few towers, a main hall, a basement kitchen where the house elves lived and worked, and a lot of twisting, winding passageways. As they walked, the house-elf entertained them by giving them a brief description of the centuries-old fortress. Scottish Wizarding nobility - near the time of Wallace Wallace’s rebellion - built it, but unlike the other castles at the time, it was built for comfort and luxury. It was designed for the nobleman’s pregnant wife, but it was shortly abandoned after the area was over run with dragons. A century later, a wandering sheepherder found it and took up residence in its great halls. The McGuire family line was founded, but they met with little prosperity and much distress. The dragons drove away the few villagers the McGuires had coaxed there, and also devoured most of their livestock.
Their luck turned with the arrival of a poor, but brilliant and handsome wizard who sought the hand of Caitrìona- the daughter of Eideard McGuire. Eideard opposed the match, but he could not see his daughter unhappy, so he set his daughter’s suitor a task. The suitor, whose name was Ian, had to find a way to tame or dispose of the twenty dragons that were destroying the livestock. He set to work. Being extremely bright, he quickly invented a potion to subdue the dragons. Without alerting anyone to what he was up to, one night he snuck up to the lair of the fierce dragoness who was sleeping peacefully. Ian administered the potion without any difficulty, but the dragoness’ mates arrived and attacked and killed Ian.
Caitrìona mourned the death of Ian, but wanted revenge against the dragons who killed her lover. She wanted to take away their freedom and make them obedient, the way she would be made obedient when she would grow up an old maid. From Ian’s notes, she was able to brew huge batches of the potion that kept the dragons subdued and even improved the potion so that it was able to affect multiple dragons instead of just one. All she had to do was light the potion on fire and a thick, heavy smoke would envelope the dragons and make them obedient. A dragon tamer could only control one dragon at a time, but the smoke would immobilize the others while he would slip a golden bridle around the dragon of his choice or administered medicine. Caitrìona died later that year from grief, but the McGuires and their dragon tamers still used the same methods to tame the dragons on Ellesmere Range.
With their newfound wealth, the McGuires were able to make the castle and grounds luxurious. They made away with the drafty, cold halls and modernized the castle. They built stables for huge winged horses, they hired more dragon tamers to help them keep the now over-flowing dragon population in check and built more cottages on the grounds. The castle was the epitome of a more masculine type of architectural beauty, as James, Sirius and Remus saw on their way up to Bridget’s room. They finally reached Bridget’s room that was in one of the towers near the lake. The house-elf pushed open the two heavy oak doors and what they saw made their jaws drop in disbelief.
“Welcome to Casa McGuire,” Bridget joked. It was a small, hexagonally shaped room with tan walls and sandstone fireplace. The dark hard wood floor matched the open-air staircase that twisted almost once around the room before disappearing into a higher level. There were comfortable looking armchairs and a matching couch settled around the fireplace, and there was a large window on every wall except for the one that the fireplace took up. Plants of all kinds were scattered around the room artfully as if the room was more of a showcase than an actual room. There was even a stack of books and magazines on the coffee table next to the sofa and an elf tray were the elves could send up snacks to the room.
“Nice place,” Sirius commented. It all looked unreal, unlived in.
“Thanks. It’s not normally this clean, just so that you know,” she told them. “Let’s go upstairs.”
They walked up the stairs, gawking at the view of the lake and mountains as they went. The staircase was open to the room and ran along the walls, giving them an overhead view of the sitting room. But if they had thought that the sitting room was impressive, her actual bedroom was much more.
The room was the exact shape and size as the one below it, but this time with light pink colored walls, and the windows had sheer, white drapes. A large, queen-sized four-poster bed stood in the middle of the room with white, sheer drapes enveloping it like a canopy. The coverlet was white with pale pink roses and the sheets peeking out from underneath were of a creamy satin. The bed was the most imposing thing in the entire room, with its simple briar vine carvings and dark wood. On either side of it were two matching bed side tables equipped with a Victorian lampshade and alarm clock.
“The bed’s been here ever since the castle was built. They put lots of preservation charms and stuff on it ‘cause it was for the pregnant noblewoman all those years ago,” Bridget explained. The furniture around it was undoubtedly newer, but still old. It looked as if the carver who had made the other pieces had tried to match the design of briar leaves that ran up the posts of the bed, but the design had gone far beyond his own skill. There was a desk in the room along with an old, Asian-looking trunk. Asian art also graced the walls: cherry blossom prints and dragons were placed around the room. The room had also had that unlived-in quality as the room downstairs had, as though the child that had grown up in the room hadn’t played dolls or ever sought solitude there. But one look out the window and the casual observer would see the child’s real room - all of Ellesmere Range.
“The bathroom and the closet are upstairs,” Bridget explained. “There wasn’t any plumbing back when the castle was built so they added an extra room in the attic roof. So, now that I’ve shown you the place, let’s go find some costumes!” Bridget clapped and rubbed her hands together. “This is going to be fun.”
AN: A Floo station is something of my own design. Like a Muggle tube station, it’s public transportation by fireplace for the wizarding population. It’s situtated alongside the Muggle underground in London, so in order to Floo from place to place in London, all you would have to know is the Muggle station name such as “Piccadilly Circus” South Kensington Station” etc. etc. You can also use it to Floo to private residences outside London.
A humongous hug to my fantabulous BETAS, Colores, who is so fantastically fantastic that she’s got me using these flamboyantly happy appellations! AND Abby, abbs866, who read this first. *feels like JK Rowling* LOL