Don't expect me to call you Mom

Keith wasn't exactly sure how he was feeling right now.

It was a feeling that upset him. Keith was someone who was used to being in control - of not of others, or the circumstances around him, then at least of himself. But lately even that seemed to be slipping away. Maybe it didn't help that his life was unraveling at the seems.

Keith rolled his eyes. He was being melodramatic. His life was not unraveling at the seams. His family was simply going through some difficult times and he was having a little difficulty adjusting to them. Nothing more, nothing less. There was no need to make such a big deal out of this.

His parents were moving to France. They both spoke French fluently, and his sister attended school at Beauxbatons, meaning that they would be rather comfortable there. His father had a job waiting for him with some new magitech company that was working on fusing magic with more recent muggle inventions. His mother could work as a secretary at the French ministry. They would save better, and with the scholarship Kate was qualifying for they would be back on their feet in no time.

But all the rationalization in the world couldn't let Keith shake the feeling that everything was falling apart. His parents were moving to France. They had wanted him to come with them, but Keith didn't speak a word of French, and then there was always the thinly veiled hatred (sometimes bordering on outright racism) of the country in general. And more importantly, he didn't want to abandon Hogwarts.

Eventually, his parents had caved. Hogwarts, despite it's decline in recent years, was still arguably the best magical school in Europe, and after his father agreed to work something out his mother followed suit.

So they had found Khaat. Keith had heard the name before - he tried to at least keep a passing interest in politics - but he had also heard it dropped around school once or twice. Khaat apparently ran some kind of adoption thing. Keith didn't know the details, but his parents had worked something out involving money and her taking care of him and him getting to stay in England, thank God.

So Keith sat at a table at the Three Broomsticks, his fully packed backs sitting on the floor next to him and a mug of butterbeer halfway full in his hands. He was waiting for Khaat to get here.

He really hoped she would be cool with the whole thing. Or else this was gonna suck.

Khaat had been approached by Keith's parents one day while she was at her office at the Ministry. They were looking for someone who as an experienced guardian for an adolescent. One that truly would want and need regular contact with his parents--well, as often as it could be with his family moving to France. The arrangements had been made, the paperwork signed. The only problem was that Khaat hadn't met Keith yet.

And she wasn't underestimating the powerful feelings he was likely to have. Khaat had tried to put herself in his frame of mind and had decided that if her parents hd gone to Paris and left her here in England, in someone else's hands, she's have been angry and perhaps more than just a little rebellious, no mater how nice the gaurdian had been. She understood that. Especially when that guardian was someone she had never met.

She was wearing a pair of jeans, her tan suede boots, a plain white cotton shirt, simple small gold hoop earrings, and had slipped on a brown leather bomber jacket, tucked her wand in her boot and had gone to Hogsmeade. She loved walking the streets of Hogsmeade. There would always be something about the village that Khaat would love, even though she didn't live in Hogsmeade anymore. She had decided to keep this meeting with Keith simple and low key.

She wanted to offer Keith to make this as painless as possible for him, to hear what it was that he wanted, and to try to meet some of those needs if she could. She certainly didn't want to replace his family. She wanted to be sure he got to Paris on breaks as often as he and his family wanted. She also wanted to be sure,though, that he knew that he was welcome in her home any time. And it was large enough to keep any 12 year old entertained for quite a long time.

She walked the street, feeling a bit of a chilly wind kicking up. She didn't really mind. The streets were so different from London, and she liked the quieter pace here. She went into the Three Broomsticks and greeted the bartender. He hadn't seen her for a long time. He had welcomed her with a warm hug and took her order. Just a cup of coffee for now. And the Broomsticks knew how to brew a decent cup of coffee. She easily picked out the young man sitting by himself nervously. The bartended put his cup on the bar,a nd Khaat picked it up and went over to the table where the young blond lad sat.

"Keith? Hello. I"m Khaat. May I join you?" she asked.

"Hi," Keith said, trying to keep his voice steady. It didn't really work, and Keith frowned inwardly. He didn't want to make the wrong impression here.

Khaat was about 30-ish (Keith had never been good at guessing ages - it was a skill he was trying to improve on) Her outfit was simple, something one may expect from a 30-something divorcee readjusting to the world. Keith didn't hold the divorce thing against her. He didn't really believe in love anyway so messing up with it sometimes was understandable. She projected a demeanor Keith could only describe as "warm", and he took that as a good sign. Unless it was a trick, in which case it was a very bad sign.

But best not to get paranoid. His parents trusted her, and though they had made some bad decisions in the past, they had gotten better. She worked (or had worked, Keith wasn't sure) for the wizengamot, and they didn't let just anyone do that. So perhaps she was just a good person.

"I'm sorry about this whole thing," Keith said. He had learned that is was always best to lead with an apology - it set a good tone and let the other person know you weren't going to try to make things difficult. "My parents should be able to move back to England soon, so I'll be off your hands soon enough. I'll try not to be a problem until then."

"It's not a problem," Khaat smiled. "Your parents sound like they really are trying to do the right thing, and I do know that sometimes doing the right thing can be the hardest thing of all to do. Leaving you here in England is not at all easy for them, I know. I can't blame them for being anxious about that. I would be too. And I'll make sure you get to go see them in France as often as you like--well, as school permits, anyway.

"I know you have to have a million questions. Questions about me, my family, how I might want you to fit into that, and what sort of a family have you gotten yourself into. I know that's what I'd be asking myself. Well, I guess, let me start with saying I only expect you to be yourself. Nothing more, nothing less. You're welcome to be as much a part of my household and my family as you want to be. I don't ever want you to think I'm trying to replace your own family. They seem like they love you a lot. But while they're out of the country, I don't want you to ever think you don't have someplace where you belong. You're welcome to stay with me any time you can get away from school. And I think our place is big enough that you'll have plenty to do. You're welcome to bring a schoolmate with you if you like.

"You will get a weekly allowance from me. It's a bit more than what your parents have been giving you, or so I'm told. Its yours to do with as you please, and you don't get it for anything in particular. Not because of something special you do or don't do. You get it just because that's just the way it is. If you have anything you need, all you need to do is let me know. I'll be sure you get it. If there are things you want, above and beyond your allowance, we'll discuss it. I"m pretty open minded most of the time.

"My guess is that those are your first questions. Well, they'd be mine, anyway. So, tell me a bit about yourself, then. We really should get to know each other a little."

Keith tried to keep a growing look of surprise off his face. What Khaat was saying...well, he really hadn't expected that.

It wasn't the whole "be yourself, have fun, I want you to be happy" thing - he had been expecting that. Though it had been nice to hear it. Obviously Khaat had done this before, or at least something similar. His parents had mentioned her taking in other strays...sorry, "kids in need". So it wasn't that schtick. It was the money.

Sure, his parents hadn't exactly been giving him a ton, but over the years Keith had learned how to make it more than enough. And now that the Spice gave him a semi-consistent source of income, he was really hauling (of course he couldn't tell Khaat that he was making more money than she was giving him off illegal narcotics, but hey, it was still there) With the bonus to his allowance, Keith would be making more money than he knew what to do with. Maybe he really could save up for a firebolt."

Keith shrugged. "Well, I'm Keith, obviously. I'm in Ravenclaw, and I guess I make good grades when I try, which is...sometimes. But I make decent grades even when I'm not really," he said. "I played beater on the quidditch team last year and wanted to play chaser this year, but they cancelled quidditch for that tournament thing." He stuck out his lower lip and blew upwards, causing the hair in his eyes to shoot up before coming back down to rest on top of his eyebrows. "I like pulling pranks, and I've gotten better about not hurting anyone...so hopefully no issues with that."

Khaat listened as Keith described that he was a Ravenclaw and that he did do his best to get good grades. He was smart. She liked that. Ravenclaws were known for their high intellect, and more than a fair few that Khaat knew were more than a little streetwise. She hadn't decided about Keith yet. He was clearly very bright, but was he also streetsmart? She couldn't tell. Not yet anyway. It reminded her of Rob and Jen, though. They had been Ravenclaws. They were both brilliant. Jen was probably the best auror the ministry had now, and Rob, well, few knew that he was the leading maker of illegal potions in England. It had been something she had not known when she had married him. But she had learned to live with it. She didn't have the same dislike of most of Rob's illegal potions that her father had. She believed, personally, it was because she didn't have the intimate knowledge of the differences between legal and illegal potions that her father had. So long as the potion appeared to do its job, she personally didn't care if teh potion was legal or not.

"I've known a fair few Ravenclaws," she said. "They're normally brilliant. And they were nigh onto impossible to beat at Quidditch when I was in Hogwarts. Superb flyers, that lot was."

She laughed when Keith said he enjoyed pulling pranks. "Not a problem with pranking," she said. "Just do please try not to get yourself expelled. I am curious, though. You've gotten better about not hurting people? I suppose that's a good thing. What are your favorite pranks right now?" She liked a good prank as well as the next person. And with Michael Tremaine as a godfather, she had grown up with all sorts of pranks. She didn't pull many of them anymore, but at one time, she had enjoyed it.

"My favorite pranks?" Keith waggled his eyebrows. "That would be telling. And a good magician never reveals his awesome tricks...or something like that, I can't really keep the quote straight." He grinned. Honestly, the pranking's slowed down a bit this year, I've had...other stuff on my mind." He shrugged. "I have a semi-regular article that I write, and that sort of helps my grades so that's been taking up some time. It's just a glorified gossip rag really, but it's less work than transfiguration."

He drummed his fingers on the table. What else, what else... "I hang out with Jack a lot," he said after a moment, shrugging his shoulders again. "Or at least I used to. Jack Dyllan, I mean," he added hastily. "We are...were....are really good friends."

Khaat laughed. She liked Keith, or at least the first impressions of him that she was getting. "Most wizards don't give up their best secrets easily either," she smiled. "Or at least that's what I've found. You really shouldn't stop the pranking, though. It helps lighten things up. I'm sure there are times when that stodgy old castle can get pretty confining.

"I think your article sounds like fun too. I'd like to read it sometime, if you don't mind. Transfiguration? I do what I need to do with it, but I know a few people who really love it. And it sometimes is the core of not only their practical jokes, but also their self defense. I can see why the academics of it would not be your favorite. I know someone who truly loves any chance to transfigure someone into some form of an alternate life form. Usually a bug of some sort. When I start wondering what sort of a bug someone would transfigure into, then I know I need to start hanging around with someone else for awhile. Sorta twists my brain in a weird direction.

"Jack Dyllan? I've heard of her...sorta...from some of the students I've treated. They seem to like her. Good friends? Well, that just really is essential to keep one balanced, isn't it? I can't think of very many things I value more.

"Well, alright...So...before I forget, here." She drew out a little purple bag from her pocket and set it in front of him. It had quite a lot of sickles in it. "Your allowance for this week, and so we're straight? I'm not making money on this. Your parents aren't paying me a thing. They offered, I refused. I don't need the money, nor do I want it. Its not why I do this. Its..just..what I do. I help out when I can. Besides that, I really like kids. I'm happiest when my house has about a dozen noisy teenagers in it all at once. Its just what I like."

Keith accepted the money hesitantly - or with an eagerness designed to mirror hesitancy. Keith had never been one to turn down money in any sense, but found it gave people the wrong impression when he got grabby. So instead he waited for a moment, frowning, then reached forward with a smile and a "thank you".

"So about the other kids at your house," he said after a moment. "You wouldn't mind telling me who they are would you? I just want to know who I'll be...foster siblings with I guess."

"You're welcome. As for the other kids, they're rarely all together at one time," Khaat said. "Not even at Christmas. They're mostly at Hogwarts with you for most of the year. I do have two baby girls at the house. They just turned a year old yesterday." Well, that was close enough. Abbey had turned one. Her adopted daughter's daughter didnt' turn one for another couple of weeks, but who was counting? It was a weird situation even for her to wrap her mind around.

"I have one adopted daughter. Miseria Manson Lupin. And I have several other teens that I am a guardian for. Elijah Krum, Chase Moor, Garulia Slither, and there are a few others, but they have chosen to go to school over on the continent. Beauxbatons, mainly. The other four, well, I don't know how much you will actually see of them. As I said, they are never around much.

"Um..other faces you might need to know...my fiance, Brian Quinn. The man in charge of our estate is Angus Donohue. My parents pretty much come and go from my house as they please. After all, they do have grandbabies to visit. My godfather--he makes himself right at home anywhere he chooses. And there are some witches and wizards who work for Brian that come and go from the house as they're scheduled.

"Whenever you decide you'ld like to come and see your home away from home, just send me an owl. Most likely, I will be the one to pick you up, but if Brian or Angus come, I'll let you know in advance who is coming for you and how to recognize them. Once you learn to portkey, I'll give you a portkey to the house. Its the most practical way of getting there from here."