A Birth day

Edward had just made a fresh pot of tea, using Robert's spiced pumpkin tea, and he was serving mugs of it to Elwood and Angus when Marcus came in with Ginger and Anise. Anise went over and put two bakery boxes on the worktable.

"What is that?" Marcus asked.

"They're myrtle tarts," Anise said.

"What?" Marcus frowned.

"They honored Anise today at school because of the tournament. It was Anise Hawthorn Day all day today," Ginger said, "and they sent home these two myrtle tarts for her to share with her family."

"They can't be myrtle tarts," Marcus said.

"Why not?"

"There's no such thing as a myrtle tart," Marcus replied. "Ask your dad. He's awake." Ginger went over to Angus.

"Tell him," Ginger said to Angus.

"Tell him? What am I telling him?" Angus asked as Edward handed him a mug of spiced pumpkin tea.

"Anise brought home two myrtle tarts for dessert tonight. The school gave them to us because today was Anise Hawthorn Day all day."

"Congratulations, Anise," Angus smiled, proud of her. "Wait. What kind did you say?"

"Myrtle tart," Ginger repeated.

"Can't be. There is no such thing as a myrtle tart," Angus said. Marcus brought over one of the bakery boxes and opened the lid to reveal a beautifully done tart with a lattice top. Angus started to laugh.

"Well, you were sort of close--sort of," Angus said. "That is not a myrtle tart. That is a Tarte aux myrtilles--French for bilberry. They're somewhat like a blueberry."

"Hey, I was close," Ginger said.

"Yes. yes, you were. It's beautifully done. Someone knows how to do a lovely lattice top," Angus said.

"So are we going to have some sort of supper or just tart?" Anise asked.

"I'm sure we'll have something," Angus said. "Go do your homework." They put the tart back on the worktable and headed downstairs. Angus got up and went to the kitchen. He got out some ground beef and some onions, managed to somehow dice the onions without cutting himself and then added the onions, some olive oil and some garlic to a skillet and then added the ground beef and some salt and pepper.

"Robert is going to kill you," Marcus sighed.

"Unless Robert plans on feeding my family, Robert needs to shut up," Angus said, knowing that he didn't have the strength to stand long enough to finish this recipe. "Mind the skillet for a minute, would you? I won't be long." He sat down at the table to rest, leaving Marcus to make sure the ground beef didn't burn.

Aia and Ruby ported every one back to the duplex yard smiling and talking as they entered , Ruby saw Angus at the table and Marcus in the kitchen " um Aria could you recuse what ever Marcus is guarding please" she said and Aria laughed putting down the teddy beside the couch and heading to the kitchen.

"okay I got it, what was he cooking?" she asked as she kissed his cheek " you look after Angus." Aria said seeing the ground beef , onions and oil and a skillet.

Ruby placed the girls in the playpen still sleeping a she slipped off their coats and boots. " they are tuckered out, they had a great time and we won a lot of prizes for them" Ruby said smiling to Angus.

"I have no idea," Marcus said. "He didn't tell me." He turned to Angus. "What is it?"

"Right now, its beef and onions and garlic," Angus said. "You can turn it into whatever you want, but I was heading for a big cottage pie. I was going to add some of the leftover tomato soup to the gravy because it gives a lot of zest and flavor to the gravy. But I hadn't figured out how I was going to manage to finish it."

"Mr. I-Can-Cook here didn't figure in that his energy would run out by the time he diced his damned onion," Marcus said. "I'm glad you came home because if he left it to me, we'd have been setting the beef aside and ordering pizzas."

"I'm glad you had a great time," Angus said. "Check out that new military board game Elwood and Edward are playing. I think we should get one for Robert for Christmas. It looks like a lot of fun. Oh. And so you know, the girls brought home what they insist are myrtle tarts. Have you ever had a myrtle tart?"

Aria chuckled and looked at the ingredient's she heard Angus and nodded " I can see that" she said and grabbed some potatoes from the veg rack and began peeling them then dicing them before seeing them boiling.

Ruby listened to Angus and glanced at the board game Elwood and Robert had been playing " wow looks super difficult" she said then looked confused at Angus " um myrtle tart, on't think I have ever heard of that, Tarte aux myrtilles , now that I have heard of and is very nice" she said " made with bilberry's, so a bilberry tarte." she said covering the girls with a light blanket. Ruby turned back to look at Angus and chuckled.

"Today was Anise Hawthorn Day all day at Beauxbatons, and apparently, they sent home the tarts for her to share with her family," Angus said, "but they insisted they were myrtle tarts. I thought you'd get a giggle from that. You know, there really is a hawthorn berry, though. In the south eastern states in the US, like the New Orleans area, they call them mayhaw berries, and they make jams and jellies and all sorts of things with mayhaw berries. If we ever decide to do some sort of hawthorn dessert, we should do it with genuine hawthorn or mayhaw berries."

"You know, if they ever do a trivia contest, we need to enter this one here," Marcus teased. "I think half his brain is taken up with useless trivia. He'd probably win."

"Sometimes he turns that useless trivia into something tasty, though," Edward said "I do enjoy that part of things...." As he was speaking a red envelope fluttered out of the floo and launched itself right at Edward. "What the devil is that?" Edward frowned.

"Its a howler!" Elwood burst into uncontrollable laughter. "Who on earth would dare to send you a howler at your age?" The howler burst open, and it was Rosaria's voice in angry Italian that was rattling so fast Edward almost had a hard time keeping up with it. Then the howler went over and started yanking on Edward's ear and shouting into the same ear like he was a naughty child before it head slapped him and then finally exploded into a shower of confetti.

"Who was that?"

"My housekeeper--Rosaria. She's apparently irked with me," Edward said

"Whatever for?"

"Because I didn't tell her that 'her boy' was kidnapped and traumatized and hurt. She apparently saw fit to give me what for about it."

Ruby listened and chuckled nodding as he said there actually was a hawthorn berry. " nice going Anise well done" she said smiling to her as she listened more to him talk of making a desert " oh sounds yummy which ever one you use" she said.

Aria finished putting the potatoes on the cottage pie and brushed it with egg-wash then placed it into the oven to bake while she made some veg to go with it. Seeing the red envelope she laughed at Edward getting a howler " I bet that brings back memories" she said as she cleaned up the skillet and work surface with a smile.

"Not really," Edward said. "I've never gotten one."

"Til now," Elwood laughed. "71 for his first howler. At least you can honestly say you got one."

"Did you ever have one?"

"I had several," Elwood admitted, laughing.

"What for? Do tell," Edward said.

"For nicking potions ingredients from Hogwarts' potions store in order to cobble together potions from the books in the restricted section," Elwood said.

"Wait, and not for taking the books from the restricted section?"

"Oh, well, yes. That too," Elwood said. "The problem was the school wasn't truly all that angry with me because the potions were spot on. My parents were incensed about it though. They believed I was a juvenile delinquent and was going to end up living homeless and spending my life sitting next to a random skip somewhere."

"They never dreamed you'd be wealthy and living in a castle, did they?"

"No. Not once. I was the child that was doomed to be a derelict," Elwood said, as Victor got home for the day, and he had a glass jar with him. And the jar had something in it.

"What'd you find?" Marcus asked.

"Something I've never seen before. It's a purple Fae dog!"

"Wait. What?" Angus frowned.

"Its a tiny dog with big Fae wings. It's a Fae dog!"

"Oh for the love of..." Angus sighed. "Bring me your Fae dog. Let me see it."

"I'm going to be famous for discovering Fae dogs," Victor said, taking the jar to Angus. Angus looked in the jar and looked at Victor with pure annoyance.

"You are the proud discoverer of an everyday, common doxy," Angus said. "Not a Fae dog."

"It is not!" Victor insisted. "Look at it. beautiful purple fur and black hair on its head and big beautiful purple wings....

"Ruby, you've read the magic creature books," Angus said. "Come look at this. You be the judge. Fae dog or doxy?"

Ruby watched Victor return with a jar , he proudly showed it to Angus and Angus asked her to take a look " you do know Doxies have shiny beetle-like wings, and a double row of sharp teeth. If bitten, a wizard or witch should take an antidote immediately, as their venom was highly poisonous." she said looking at Victor " that's defiantly a Doxy, oh and Doxies are considered pests. They could infest houses, so please take this one back where you found it and let it go, carefully" she said looking to Angus with a smirk " fae dog, indeed, maybe you should borrow my creatures book volume one."

Aria chuckled as she finished with her carrots and boiled them too, draining them she added a small amount of butter and a pinch of white pepper to them before placing them in a serving dish . Checking the shepherds pie she found the top to be crispy and golden brown " okay dinners ready" she called out " if some one could set the table please"

"Clearly he either did not listen in Magical Creatures class or skipped a couple lessons altogether," Angus said. Marcus got up to go fix plates for himself and Angus when the floo opened.

"Angus? It's Portia. Does Robert happen to be there by chance?" a woman's voice asked.

"No, I'm sorry, he isn't," Angus said. "What's up?"

"Someone just broke into the nurses' locker room," Portia said. "Jess isn't scheduled to be on shift now, and neither is Khaat. I hoped Robert might be there with you."

"No, but I bet I can find him for you," Marcus said. "Was anything taken?"

"Well, that's some odd business, really," Portia said.

"How so?"

"Took everything in the locker of that nurse that's in the nick. Not sure why, because none of the nurses keep much of anything of any value in their lockers...."

"Dora Hackett's locker?" Marcus asked.

"Yeah, that's the one," Portia said. "I'll have to call that auror bloke and let him know not to stop to pick up her things because they're gonne."

"Lucian?"

"Yes. That's him," Portia said. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess," Marcus replied. "I'll see if I can find Robert and relay the message. How long ago did this happen?"

"Not long. Maybe 20 minutes or so," Portia replied.

"We'll try to get the message to him," Marcus said.

"Thanks, Marcus,' Portia said, and her floo went dark.

"He'd be at the Ministry now," Angus said.

"I presume so, yes," Marcus said. Marcus opened the floo and contacted Robert's secretary at the Ministry.

"Marcus? Is that really you? Long time no see," the woman answered.

"Bonnie, its good to see you too. Is Robert there, by chance?"

"He is but he is not in a good mood. Beulah bit him again."

"What for?" Marcus frowned. "I thought she was getting over that."

"Oh, they had an arguement because she didn't boil the water hard enough a bit ago, and when Robert asked her to make it hotter, she bit him. He insulted her and made her cry, and now they're both unhappy."

"Would you tell him that Portia's trying to reach him, please?"

"Sure," Bonnie said. "Any message?"

"Yes. Tell him that one of the lockers in the nurse's lounge was broken into and robbed, a nurse named Dora Hackett. He'll want to know straight away."

"Of course. I'll go tell him now. He'll probably appreciate the interruption."

"Sounds like it. Thanks, Bonnie." he turned off the floo.

"We need to keep our eyes open," Angus said, looking at Ruby and Aria. "For all we know, we could have another player."

Ruby and Aria chuckled but then paused as the floo opened and a voice came threw they recognised as Portia Robert's secretary and she soke to Marcus. Aria and Ruby kept feeding the babies until they had enough and pushed the spoons away. Listening to the conversation Aria looked to Ruby who nodded and sighed.

Lycian finished his recon and climbed off the Pegasus and walked over to Jack " thanks jack , got the lay of the land pretty easy on that second pass." he said and Jack too the reins of his Pegasus and lead him into the barn . Lucian walked to the duplex hearing a female voice from the floo. " something smells good?" he said as he entered when the floo shut down. " I saw the long houses and got the lay of the land , shouldn't be too much.. okay who spiled the milk?" he asked seeing the grave look on every ones faces.