A Birth day

"I'll do fresh mint sauce if we have the mint," Angus said. He ate and then he collected everyone's dishes, took them to the sink and set a washing up spell in place. "I'll go have a quick word with Jack. I'll be back."

As he was heading out, Simone came over and brought some shortbread cookies that she had cut out with a pumpkin shaped cutter and had used orange and green sugar crystals to decorate them with.

"I made cookies so I thought maybe you lot would like some," she said.

"Of course," Marcus said. "I've never met a cookie I didn't like."

"I have," Simone said. "Someone gave me a sauerkraut cookie once. Just for the record, it was the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten in my entire life. And I like sauerkraut. But these cookies were horrible."

"That sounds revolting," Marcus wrinkled his nose. "You and Edward coming with us to Dartmoor on Saturday?"

"We wouldn't miss it," she smiled. "Edward and I are going to Paris later today to get a couple Beauxbaton's sweatshirts. If you all want some, let me know, and we'll get them while we're going."

"I think everyone's going to want one," Marcus laughed. "And I think that's going to be maybe two dozen or so of us, total."

"Not a problem," she said.

Angus headed over to the barn and went inside, looking for Jack.

Aria saw Simone enter with the smell of cookies following her " those smell wonderful;" she said as she saw her place them down on the counter and listened to her talk of tee shirts " oh that's a great idea and could you have Anise's name on them?" she asked " Aria and I are going to do the decorations." she said to Simone as she took a cookie and tried it " yum" she said and sat down.

Jack had just finished feeding the bow truckles and Thestral's when he saw Angus walk over " Hey Angus , whats up" he asked as he gave the smallest Thestral her treat and brushed its body down. He finished her and placed the brush in its holder and turned to face Angus.

"We can conjure it on if they don't have time," Marcus said.

"And, we can always use magic to embroider it on too," Simone said. "That takes no time at all. Wait. What's her last name again? I know it isn't Donohue. I just haven't had to use her last name."

"Hawthorn," Marcus replied. "Ginger and Anise Hawthorn."

"Hawthorn," she frowned. "I might have to staple that to my brain somehow."

"Well, that sounds painful," Marcus laughed.

"Just a couple things," Angus said to Jack. "First, Anise's competition in the International Dueling Tournament is coming up Saturday. It's in Dartmouth at the same stadium where the World Cup was back in the 90s. I thought perhaps you and Jess might want to go. I'm ordering tickets for anyone who wants to go with us, and I'll be happy to order a couple if you like. That's the first thing. Second thing--Fenrir is going to be bringing the pack back to the longhouses over the winter. The thing that ended up making the decision for him was that they have a female that's pregnant and having all sorts of complications. She's apparently due in the coldest part of the winter. So I told him he certainly could bring the pack back. I can try to get up and make sure it's properly cleaned and stocked, unless you prefer to do that yourself. I think we should get it ready sooner rather than later in case the night weather just gets too cold for them and they need to come in sooner."

Ruby hears Simone and nodded then chuckled at Marcus words then smiled to her " that sounds perfect" she said as Aria nodded too.

Jack listened to Angus and nodded " I'll send word to the crew and get some men over there to open it up and start the cleaning, and for Anise I will defiantly be there, Jess might be doing a double that day but if shes not she will defiantly be there to cheer Anise on too" he said smiling "we've got to cheer our girl on, right?" he added chuckling as he placed the food for the pygmy puffs in the stall for them to eat.

Aria stood up and took her cup to the kitchen placing it in the washer she added the dishes Angus had done and set it going ready for the next meal.

"We do indeed. Oh, and you might find this interesting. Dennis is coming, but so is Fenrir. When he sent me the note about the longhouses, he said he wanted to come. I'm ordering a ticket from him. Clearly, although he isn't moved by much, he still has enough of an interest in her as a former pack member to want to see how she fares. You know, I think it is highly likely that he is still an s.o.b. to other wizards but we have apparently earned enough trust that he does not always have to put his guard up around us. Anise doesn't know Fenrir is coming, and I don't think I'm going to tell her. I think I'm going to surprise her with it.

"As it is, I'm going to ask Nicky and Zoe if they would cook a special celebration meal for after the tournament that we can host a championship celebration here when the tournament ends. If the weather isn't completely miserable, we can use the shelterhouse. It if really is stinky out, I'm sure we can clear space in the basement of the main house and move it indoors."

"Or I could do an enchantment to make my own living room about the size of an airplane hanger, I suppose," he teased. "Pascal is going to work with her all week after school, and I'm going to work with her after supper this week. I think I'm going to suggest to her that she do some dress rehearsals so she gets comfortable dueling in a dress. She didn't have to wear a dress very often before she came to live with us. I don't want her to have the additional stress of clothing she feels awkward in. And since she has to participate in single and doubles duels, we're going to try to provide her with practice in both. She's going to have a very, very busy week, that's for sure."

Jack listened to Angus and looked surprised when he mentioned Fenrir was going to watch Anise duel " well , she should feel proud , hes not one to go to just any ones event" he said listening more as Angus continued and chuckled when he spoke of enlarging his basement or enlarge the living room to hanger size.

"now that's an idea but i'm sure we can make room in the basement, I'll have some men work on that while your all at the tournament" he said smiling as he listened more to Angus talk about having a dress rehearsal for Anises duel "Good idea, might be good to alleviate any worries she has about moving in her dress." he said " I can clear a place so you can do that away from prying eyes if you want or make a mini tournament arena?" he asked as he stood in front of him his mind happy that Fenrir was coming and proud that Anise had impressed him that much he would take such an interest.

"I think we should stay outside and use the shelter house if the weather holds but I've planned enough events for the Lupins over the years that I've learned not to ever do one without a backup plan for bloody everything on the list because something is going to go off the rails somewhere," he told Jack. "Thanks. I'd better keep moving. Lots to do."

He made a trip to the main house, talked to Kate who was in complete agreement. She went with Angus to the kitchen, and they talked with Zoe and Nicky and Shannon who was thrilled that Angus would ask them to prepare a celebration meal for Anise. They were loaded with ideas, and Angus told them that Aria and Ruby were intending to decorate the shelter house in blue and white. Then, he came back to the duplex, talked to Edward and Simone, had a floo conversation with Evan, another with Rosaria and Carlo, another with the jeweler to make sure the necklace would be done on time, and still another with Madame Maxime's secretary to let her know that he would need approximately 30 tickets, he presumed. She was a bit surprised at the number of tickets but since Anise was the school champion, the school had reserved one of the VIP boxes for Anise's family, but now hearing the family was bigger than they thought, the secretary reassured them that they would simply remove the divider between two of the boxes and make a double sized box to accommodate everyone.

When Angus finished making floo calls, Marcus made one to his parents to double check if they would watch the babies if sitters were hard to find. Claire and Jonathan jumped at it, and they said that they fully expected Hogsmeade to be nigh onto empty on Saturday because everyone was going to the tournament. Jonathan did put an extra word of caution into Marcus's ear and said that, because a British girl was representing Beauxbatons, Xenophilius was sending Rita Skeeter and a couple photographers to cover it for the Quibbler. Marcus rolled his eyes but thanked his father for the tip and closed the floo.

"I did not want to hear that," Angus said seriously.

"I know," Marcus said.

"I won't be able to leave Anise for a moment except if she's in the arena because I remember Harry telling us about the horrid way she was all over him at the Triwizard tournament. I do not want Anise to have to deal with her, and Sam will just try to set her on fire or something. I don't dare delegate that to Sam or Victor or Ginger. It'll have to be me. She is allowed a support person when she's not on the field, I think. I think I read that in some of the rules."

"Yes, but you realize that's more to bring her a bottle off water and that sort of thing," Marcus said. "Her support person is not expected to be her bodyguard."

"I'm her dad. That's my job to keep her safe," Angus said seriously. "Tell me you'd do something different if it was your child."

"Oh, you know I wouldn't," Marcus sighed.

Jack listened to Angus and chuckled nodding his head " yep, go one" he said and turned back to continue feeding the animals and bring in the unicorn from the pasture. Ruby looked up from her book as she saw Angus return then open the floo she stayed quiet as he organised the box for every one and smiled as they said they could remove a wall to enlarge the box for them. " that would be appreciated" she said and let Angus continue.

She heard Marcus and Angus talk of Rita skeeter and she sighed " ugh that woman" she said softly as Aria nodded next to her.

"yeah that woman can make a birthday party become gloomy just by being there" this made Ruby chuckle and nod.

"Private VIP box," Angus grinned. "How about that? I remember those boxes. They're basically benches behind glass walls. Not all that glamorous, but still, she'll know where we are. From what I hear muggle VIP boxes are a lot more glamorous."

"Well, that depends on the sport. If you're doing a minor league baseball game, their boxes aren't so plush," Marcus replied. "But, something like American professional football? Now that's an hippogriff of another color entirely. Those boxes are almost like a hotel suite but without the bedrooms. Deep, plush carpet, soft chairs, a kitchenette with marble countertops, commercial fridges, sterling silver warming trays for five star catered refreshments, balcony seating overlooking the field, private ensuite baths. wet bar with all sorts of adult beverages. Very posh."

"And Cornelius Fudge was impressed by metal benches behind glass," Angus laughed.

"They haven't seen a muggle VIP box, so they just don't know," Marcus said. "I'm sure they can't imagine something like that. Look, Angus, I know that if you thought it would keep Anise shielded from Rita Skeeter, you'd wear a suit of armor to Dartmoor and take a lance with you, but let's see if we can't do better, shall we? Aria, what about what's-his-name? Took over your unit. He's worked with us a few times. His name escapes me. He seems pretty efficient. Might he be interested in keeping Rita off Anise's back at least til the tournament is over? And, then maybe we can come up with a second guy. If the Quibbler is sending Rita and two photographers, then the Prophet is going to be sending someone too. And then there are going to be the French reporters who will be covering because she's representing Beauxbaton's. Angus isn't wrong for wanting Anise guarded on Saturday."

Ruby listened and chuckled but Aria looked to Marcus as he spoke " you mean Lucian , sure I'm sure he'd have some one he trusts that could do the job, I'll send a note asking him" she said taking some paper and writing a massage before sending it threw the floo to Lucian who after a moment sent a response right back to her.

"okay Lucian says he has a man who fits the bill, is names Eric Thorn,He started as a private investigator, went into bodyguard work, left that to become an Auror for some special assignments for the ministry and has basically been doing VIP bodyguard assignments for the ministry, hes also said he'll send his profile if you want it" she added showing Angus the some what long note.