Chapter Text
Minister Scrimgeour was pacing. He hadn't signed the papers to remove the illegality on Dragels. How could he, when they might have to go to war against them? What had been going on in Amelia's head? So they wanted to try Dumbledore in their realm. Good riddance! But, after Amelia's stupid stunt, they had three of their best people. Now he had to try to clean this mess up!
There was a knock on his office door, and he yelled for her to come in. He'd sent for Madam Bones. Amelia entered the office looking somber. “Minister”, she said, inclining her head to him.
“Sit”, he said briskly gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. He waited until she was seated then folded his long body into his own chair behind his desk. He glared balefully at the woman in front of him.
“I've been up all night trying to figure out how to fix YOUR mistake!” Rufus told her angrily. “You keep telling me you tried to take Dumbledore for the sake of justice. But it wasn't justice you wanted, it was vengeance! And it hardly matters now, because I have to figure out what to do about it!”
“I apologize Minister, I lost myself for just a bit”, Amelia said sadly. “By the time I came to my senses and realized what I'd done, it was too late.”
“I notice you only ‘came to your senses’ when your plan failed.” Rufus sneered. “It makes me wonder what you would have done if you had succeeded. I should fire you Amelia! The insubordination alone is enough to do so! But, you've had a long career with the Ministry and I'm not willing to destroy that when I believe you can still be useful.”
“I'm going to arrange a meeting with King Jascha and Queen Mariana, you'll be at my side.” The Minister ordered. “You'll apologize and beg for their forgiveness. Be aware that if they want your head on a plate, I'm giving it to them!”
Nikki woke slowly feeling supremely well rested and content. He was still snuggled under Hadrian's arm. The ace was looking at him, watching him wake up. Nikki smiled and leaned in to give Hadrian a good morning kiss. “I could definitely get used to waking up like this every morning”, Hadrian told him.
Nikki grinned, “Me too!”
They lay there content and then Nikki said, “It's traditional to court an alpha first, then a beta and then an ace. You and I are doing things out of order. I don't mind though. You are the one I want and I'm not waiting to have the other two in place first.”
“You were friendly with the Gorgens-Nott alpha that day in the pool, are you considering him?”
“Yes, I'm getting to know Theo, he seems guarded most of the time. It's as if there is a wall I can't get past. But, yes, we're spending time together. I'm officially courting Devrim, another thing I'm doing out of order.”
“The Storm’s Prince?, I know of him, but I'll make an effort to get to know him better.”
Nikki smiled, “Thank you. I really like Devrim. I may be courting Alec soon as well. He got me a bat I wanted.”
“The Aquakin'e commander? You do have a taste for power and influence, don't you?” Hadrian teased.
“I do not! It just sorta happened!” Nikki said indignantly. He jumped on Hadrian and started tickling him. The ace laughed and grabbed him to tickle back. They spent the rest of the morning rolling and playing.
Mariana was checking their bags. They were returning to Nevarah soon. Truth be told she was anxious to get back. She had a niggling feeling in the back of her mind that she'd forgotten something.
Bas had left earlier, but Nikki wasn't up yet. She was tempted to wake him to ask how his date went. She knocked lightly on Nikki's door then pushed it open. The bed was empty and undisturbed. Nikki had stayed with Hadrian last night. Mariana fought the urge to shadow to the ace and throttle him. No. No, she wasn't that kind of mother, she reminded herself. Her son was an adult now. She would respect that. Really, she would.
She had seen the Evanson circle off this morning. They had portaled out for Nevarah, taking two of the men from the tower portal with them. One of them was Regulus' brother. The babies were settling in just fine. The Babies! She hadn't told Nikki about the clone baby!
“Mera! I'm home!” She heard her son’s voice as he came down the hall.
“Nikki, Sweetheart come sit, we need to have a talk.” She said walking further into his room.
They both sat on the bed. Nikki's mind was racing. Oh no! She's going to give me ‘the talk’. I really don't want to have this conversation. Am I in trouble for staying out last night? No, surely not. I am an adult after all.
“Nikki, I know you saw what your life would be like in Maia's bowl.” Mariana said to her son. “I've honored your wishes and I haven't asked your Dera to see those memories. But, I know from our investigations that you were very important to that Torvak's plans. So important that he tried to recreate a baby just like you.”
Nikki was at once relieved that this wasn't ‘the talk', and then he was worried. “How did he do that, Mera?”
“Well, I don't understand all the details of it myself. But, he made a baby of your birth Mera and Dera and then he took the “stuff” that made them them and made a baby just like you.”
Nikki didn't understand, but there was one thing he wanted to know.… “What happened to the babies?”
“Your Grandmera, Jun, and her circle took the boy baby like you and the baby girl like your birth Mira. They are going to raise them.” Mariana said. “I know I should have told you about this sooner, but I did want to make sure you were okay with it.”
Nikki smiled at his Mera. “I'm fine with it. I want all babies to have good homes. What about the baby like my birth Dera? Will he have a home?”
“Yes, Sweetheart, when we get back we're going to contact clan chief Tauria and see about placing him with the Peverells.” Mariana assured him. “There is something else that I did without speaking to you first. I think I know your heart and what you would've decided. This came up this morning and I had to decide quickly.”
“What was it, Mera? Nikki wondered.
“Regulus got the idea to take the baby that was created to be just like you to the bank and close out the Potter accounts. He was already planning to take his brother and close out the Black accounts. Jun asked me what she should do with the money from the Potter accounts. I told her whatever was there to split four ways between you and the three babies.”
“You do know me, Mera. That's the perfect solution.” Nikki said. She handed him a slip of paper with a figure on it. Nikki quickly sat down on the bed. “That's a lot of credits, even after it's split four ways!”
“No Son, it's already been split four ways, that is your portion”, Mariana told him. Nikki grinned, “Mera, we're rich! This will be great for the babies, too! I'm glad they'll all have what they need.”
"These credits could also go toward a home for your circle", Mariana said.
"That's true, maybe Hadrian and Devrim would come house hunting with me", Nikki mused.
“Oh! Let me show you my new bat!” Nikki handed over the stuffed toy saying proudly, “Alec got him for me, I saw him at the Fun Day Fair and wanted him.”
“His wings are just like yours! He's amazing, Nikki!” Mariana gushed over the bat. “Does this mean Alec is courting you?”
“I'm not sure? We haven't talked about anything.” Nikki confided. “The only two I'm officially courting are Hadrian and Devrim. Mera, is it a big deal that I'm not courting an alpha first?”
“Well, you might be asking the wrong person about that.” Mariana laughed. “I courted the twins first. So maybe courting two gheyos first runs in the family”, she said. Nikki grinned and hugged her.
Ginny was sulking in her room. She couldn't believe her Grandmera! The woman was holding her prisoner! She'd missed the Fun Day Fair! She couldn't wait to go to Nevarah and see her Mum. Her Mum would set Grandmera straight! Then Ginny could get started on setting up her circle!
Ron was also confined to his room. Grandmera was making him look at books on careers. Ginny sniffed, she was glad she was a submissive. Her circle would work to support her. She would need to choose those who had good incomes. After all, Ginny didn't intend to be poor.
Hadrian was searching for the rest of the soul pieces. He would stay on Earth and hunt them down when the others left. But he didn't want to. He wanted to go back to Nevarah and be near Nikki. He smiled just thinking about his submissive. He was incredible! The date had gone really well. Hadrian had wanted to mark him, but had held himself back. He would let Nikki set the pace.
He was thinking of what he'd given Nikki so far. He really wanted to get him something he could wear. In place of a mark, it was the next best thing. Now, what would his green eyed beauty like? He was exploring more of the forest. Trying to see as much as he could before they left. Were there any pretty spots he could take Nikki to?
His pouch alerted him to a soul piece nearby. He was instantly on the alert. It was moving off to the right of him. He sped up and headed in that direction. He saw a large green tail moving through the undergrowth. Catching up he moved to go around the large serpent. It was a gorgeous specimen and he didn't want to kill it, just get the soul piece from it.
The snake, however, had other plans. She threw herself at him in a full bodied strike. Hadrian shadowed away and then back again. The gigantic snake was coiled high and he could see the venom dripping off of her fangs. Hadrian drew out his wings and took to the air. The snake stretched high, extending herself to try to reach him. He did a barrel roll and came in with his sword, swiftly severing her head from her body.
Once he was back on the ground, Hadrian changed to his reaper form and collected the soul piece. “I'm sorry, Lovely, I wish it could have been different”, he told the snake.
A few miles away in a deserted manor home, Voldemort was pouring over some books he had found. He suddenly saw through the eyes of his snake. Nagini was showing him something. A Dragel, she was attacking a Dragel! The prey disappeared then reappeared. She was arching up to strike….
Suddenly, his connection to Nagini was gone! He screamed in rage! Then, grabbing the books, he threw them one by one at the wall. Howling and screaming, he blasted every object in the room until he was sitting, panting in the rubble.
“They will pay for your death, Nagini. I will kill every last one of them!” He vowed to the destroyed room. “Wormtail! Wormtail! Where are you?” The rat man scurried into the room, bowing subserviently. “Wormtail give me your arm, I must summon my followers immediately.”