✧PIT STOP IN AMERICA✧

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"Why can I not stay with papa? He's found his old broom!"

"That all well and nice, but you have a bedroom to pack and I know I'll simply do wrong and not to your tastes. And you are to say goodbye to your cousins until Salem. No arguments, it's less than twenty-four hours and we have a final dinner and a lot of packing." The lad pouted, but he hadn't looked to his father for aid. Instead he ate his breakfast silently for a few moments before sparking a conversation once again.

It was odd—Or it wasn't extremely odd, but when Ronan was the only child, he was much more talkative. He was indeed the middle child out of the five.

Aurora and Ronan were simply waiting on both Avery and McNair to come to stay overnight, yet that didn't stop Rabastan and Ronan from starting another game of cards while they waited.

"Good god!" Avery cheered, and it caused Aurora to overlook the newcomers just over her glasses. The wizard looked just as shocked as McNair as they stared the much too similar father and son.

"Ronan, mind yourself that is not how you introduce yourself to someone new." She spoke, and that caused the young lad to rise up from his seat to greet the new guests.

"Hello, my name is Ronan Lestrange." He spoke rather proudly, holding out his hand to greet the newcomers. And Avery took that as a sign of good faith as he shook the boy's hand.

"My apologies little Lestrange, Avery."

"Ronan, it's nice to meet you son. I'm McNair." Ronan continued to shake the second wizard's hand before grinning wildly at them.

"You're my father's best mates?"

"Sure are...And this is from your godmother." The way Avery smile had risen almost seemed genuine in Aurora's eyes. Almost.

Surely the strain between the two parents has lessened now that Noah is indeed an Avery child. "Er, who's my godmother?"
"That'd be my wife, Amelia Avery. Though Rory likes to call her Harper still." Ronan turned back to look at his mum in question, and Aurora rose up from her seat to greet either of the wizards.

"Ronan, McNair's wife Evelyn is the one who helped with all the bedrooms and commission the treehouse." The treehouse was a touchy subject as Aurora claimed that he had to wait along with the rest of his siblings to properly enjoy it, however the actual thing beside the sketch was near identical.

"Done a brilliant job with it, does Auntie Evie like flowers?" Waldon held onto Avery's shoulder as he curled over to laugh.

"Flirting with my wife already, are you lad?"
"Papa what's flirting?" Now it was Avery's turn to throw his head back.

"Yup, definitely a Lestrange boy. Hopefully you've got your mum's smarts son." Ronan looked between the four adults in a matter of question.

"My papa is smart too."

"Not with the ladies." Aurora kissed her husband's cheek and rolled her eyes at the male taunting.

"I concur on both...I should've asked Evie to babysit the lot of you." Ronan smirked as he heard his mum mumbled the last bit of the sentence and Rabastan playfully scowled.

"Aurora, we're fine." Letting out a reluctant sigh did she call upon the elf to grab their travel cloak. Rabastan had watched the small purse that Rory had been carrying—Surely that was an American made?

"We'll be back soon." She whispered, kissing her husband before giving her thanks to the lads. But it was Ronan who hugged his father goodbye.

"See you in a bit Ronan."

"Will you play with Nymeria for me, she gets awfully lonely," Rabastan promised his son that he'd do just that and off the two went.

Leaving the three adult wizards to silently speak about Ronan. "Rory says he's the only Slytherin child, maybe Cara too but otherwise they're all—"

"It's alright, think all mine are Ravenclaws." Avery joked, and it would be just his luck as well.

Aurora and Ronan made their way to the Ministry, and although the looks of suspicion hadn't faltered. Either Lestrange had taken a potion before taking the return journey home.

It felt strange to Rabastan, he hadn't felt them return, but he surely felt his wife leave. Going so far to clutch his chest in a bit of pain...

"Did Rory tell you anything about separating the hand fastening?" He questioned out, the three Slytherin alumni were simply watching the surplus of elves getting the treehouse together in time for the children's return.

"No—"
"—Yes—"

Either McNair and Avery had looked to one another in a sense of demand. "Only in small detail, not the full damn story. Merlin."

"What else has she told you?" Avery had been the first to speak, but Waldon thought it was unprompted angry, especially when Aurora's husband should be the one to remain silent.

"That isn't for me to disclose." Avery sent him a glare, which caused McNair to roll his eyes. "For someone who fixed your marriage, you're awfully suspicious of them."

"I didn't know she was looking for a divorce!" Rabastan remained still, it was like these past few days had him forget about it.

Forget that Aurora had another man—Another man that would be in America now.

Had Aidan been with the children recently?
Did Romulus favor him as a father instead?

These were the questions that plagued his mind.

"She fell in love again." Avery darted his attention back to Rabastan in pure shock, pure horror. That the famous couple of Hogwarts had broken up and was close to an annulment.

"What?!"
"Avery stop," McNair warned, and Avery had gawked at the man beside him.

Waldon knew about Aidan.

"I understand that she doesn't trust me for what's happened, and that she's protecting the children...But she fell in love again." McNair watched his mate pace, as if it was his problem rather than Rabastan's.

"She's broken it off a while ago mate, and she'll trust you again...I cannot imagine being away from Evie for more than a few days." The sensible wizard was attempting to get through to the others, and light laughter had graced them.

"Well I'm glad you feel that way Waldon, I was starting to worry you grew tired of me," Evelyn spoke greeting the rest of the gents, she had rightly only heard the last bit of the conversation and smiled to Rabastan.

"We're not at all the same Rabastan, but it'll get better won't it?" The man had blinked as he hesitated to come out with an answer.

"If you don't believe it will get better then it won't, that's not the attitude to have. Besides, Rory said that it went very well with Ronan." Waldon had pulled his wife into his side and kissed her forehead.

"When did you become a Ravenclaw?"

"Rory's influence no doubt." The few shared a laugh, but Avery called McNair aside which left Evelyn to invite Rabastan on a small walk around the property as he needed the sun.

"Has Rory told you anything about Aidan?" Evie smiled softly, still holding her beauty with all the years that past. Though in the beginning it was childlike, now it's matured.

"A bit...Though you shouldn't worry, he's promoting the potion off in California." He felt slightly better that the man wasn't near Salem during the time of her return. Though that wouldn't stop the countless other times she would need to return.

"She's a beautiful mother, and I cannot thank her enough or doing all she has. Or giving me another chance..."

"Or claim that Lori isn't yours?... She had two big factors of her life she needed to tell you that gave her an enormous amount of stress and you combined them both into one." Even though she was being assertive, her voice was still calm and sweet.

McNair surely had the kindest wife—Though he silently spoke too soon as he clearly forgot that she too was a Slytherin.

"But I swear, if you chase her out of the country again...You're answering to me."
Evelyn McNair nee Selwyn could indeed be horrifying.

"Yes ma'am."
"Good. And if you hurt your children the same—"

"I would never hurt my children." His voice was dangerously low, and Evie simply shrugged her shoulders.

"I've heard Ronan thinks of the world of you already, your actions now could truly affect them. Just remember that." Her advice was daunting, not only was Aurora's opinion of him the issue, it was all six of them that he needed to strive for...

Aurora on the other hand, had felt a breath of fresh air return into her lungs as she returned to the Halliwell farms. And it was not much of a surprise that all of the children came over to tackle her—And had there been room, she knew Regulus would have joined in as well.

"Rory! Gods I've missed you sister, I won't allow anything less than a visit per month!" Aurora snorted into her brother's hold, he was beyond what she needed, though her attention couldn't be solely to him as Lori tugged at her cloak.

"Mummy I don't want you to leave again, it was scary! I had a nightmare and I didn't have Nymeria!" Aurora sunk down to her knees and picked up her daughter, the young girl was quite petite for her age and it worried Aurora on more than one occasion.

But the healers assured her it was simply a late bloomer, yet that didn't stop Rory from spoiling her youngest or any of her children at that.

"Ronan, how was it?"
"Papa beat me in chess." Aurora rolled her eyes as that was all that transpired over the course of three days in the son's mind. But Romulus stilled instantly at hearing about this, he assumed that his father would just remain in prison but here he had been proven wrong.

"Mother I wish to stay with Uncle Regulus."
"We'll discuss that later Romulus. Did all of you eat breakfast yet? Cara when is your class?" Aurora's brother watched in awe as she resumed her position in her household and ordered her children to pack about. But she was trying her damnest to not appear affected by the tone Romulus used, or how he changed 'mum' to 'mother'. 

It took her entire willpower to not flinch.

"In another hour, can I study beforehand mum? I don't want to go unprepared." Aurora chuckled and allowed the young girl to use her study to get away from all the commotion, and the little witch had been ecstatic to be secluded.

She and Romulus were rightly the same in that regard.

With Lorelei being too young to pack on her own, Rory focused on hers the most as she wouldn't be going to school or returning for some time.

Then it was off to Cara's as she would be missing most of the packing due to her final class and tests.

"Mum?" Romulus spoke, having packed half his bag before deciding that he had built his case high enough to challenge his mum.

"Romulus?" She called out, smirking as she continued to pull out a few dresses and clothes from Cara's closet and have them fly over to the three given trucks.

"When was he released?" Aurora sighed drastically.
"Romulus I do not want you talking to your siblings about this, your father is a good man."
"Obviously not, not by the law standards."

"And by the following the law, I would've had to wait three weeks to come to America with you munchkins, so the law standards can be bent, slightly." He hadn't known his own mother had broken a few, but then again she did more than just break one or two.

"Romulus, he wants to make it up to you and your siblings. He's trying his best to get reacclimated to society and what better help than my little gentlemen here? He's been begging to meet you."

"But I don't want a father, I just want to stay here." Aurora shook her head, wishing that she could simply whisk his pain away, but the young lad that looked so much like her siblings and father pouted before her.

Causing her chest to tighten.

"You look so much like Sirius, Romulus...And if it's any consolidation, Rabastan hates Sirius." If her son wanted to be a bit spiteful, then this would indeed be the winning factor.

"Uncle Reggie said that Uncle Sirius hated him."
"It was a mutual hatred Rommy." The son questioned why and Aurora simply pulled her son into her side to embrace these changes.

"They are my brothers, and my brothers were very protective of me in school. And what do you think that meant for your father when he wanted to pursue a date?" A sickly smirk rose upon Romulus' face as he realized that either brother would have given the man hell.

And Sirius surely had.

"I am not saying you guard your sisters twenty-four/seven Romulus, but if trouble were to ever find them in the sense of a lad taking an interest—"

"I'll jinx them before they even think to see it coming." This had earned her son a kiss to his forehead, and Romulus decided that he would help his mum pack a few things that Cara would indeed want before returning back to his own task.

Only to find out that Ronan was telling Imara about father.

"Do you think papa will read to me before bed like mum?"

"Of course! We played fetch with Nymeria for hours!" Romulus was suspicious, and Aurora would surely be worried if he wasn't. Looking back, Rory knew that either he and Cara were the most like her as a child.

And they could indeed smell bullshite a mile away.

At dinner, they were joined by the whole family. That included Christopher Halliwell as he had graduated from Ilvermorny long ago, and he was simply humoring the nieces and nephews.

The situation had been lightly told to the children, and it sprung a confused face from Cara. "That's why we're returning to Britain?"

"Yes Papa's come back," Ronan answered for his mother, and Regulus rolled his eyes.

Of course Rabastan's mini would adore him instantly.

"But we're still going to Salem?"
"Of course darling, you and Ronan will be going to Salem in the fall and Romulus and Imara will be going to Hogwarts...Lorelei and I will be traveling back and forth because of my potion's work still being based in America." Romulus decided that he best simmer his anger, there were too many family members that he didn't want to make a scene, but he was rightly surprised that even Cara had felt the odd sensation of it all.

But of course it passed over Imara's head.

"Will we go to Britain for thanksgiving Holiday?... And Christmas?"

"I don't want you children traveling so much, perhaps we will have thanksgiving here..." Aurora mumbled the idea and Elizabeth thankfully pushed the notion that there was still plenty of time to decide.

After dinner, the children thought it best to enjoy their final night together. Yet Cara and Paige would indeed be going to be rooming together at Salem, a very emotional idea that Aurora and Liz were gushing over considering it mirrored their own time attending.

"Every month."
"Reg that's a little much, we've been too spoiled living on one property together. And I just adore when you're wife says your smitten with your sister." It was true, the Americans rightly hadn't learned the correct phrases like the children had. But this was indeed the most hilarious out of the bunch.

With the house rightly empty from a personality now, Regulus frowned even further. "I want a mirror call before you go to bed when the children are in bed. Promise. Promise now." She rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek.

"Yes my dear brother, I promise."

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Date Posted: 03-18-2020

Time: 8:24

Words: 2703