LONDON CALLING

"Thank you," Angus said, tucking into the soup. "It's perfect. Tastes just how I made it. Michael made it once with a little vermouth added, and it was a great addition. I know the alcohol would have cooked out, but frankly we didn't have any vermouth."

"What's vermouth?" Victor asked.

"It's a kind of a sweet white wine that is actually very, very low alcohol. Michael and I both like to cook with it because it gives you all the flavor of adding a nice white wine to whatever you're cooking but there's actually very little alcohol in it at all," Angus said.

"We heard you talking about godparents," Sam said. "We were both hoping Jessie wasn't on your list. Nothing against Jessie. He's a good guy, and all that, but he's not ready to be a single dad. We think he'll be a terrific uncle, but he really needs to tone down the drama he always seems to have before he's gonna be ready to have a kid in his life. He' a great guy, but his life is always such a bloody mess."

It made Angus laugh out loud. He was amazed at the maturity of Sam's and Victor's thinking on the matter.

"Then you're not upset that you two didn't make the top of our list?" he asked.

"Us? God, no," Victor scowled. "We're still technically kids. Talk to us when you're hatching about your sixth or seventh kid."

"Six or seven?" Angus frowned. "I gotta deal with this one first."

Ruby smiled " oh yes that would have given a little zing" she said then heard Sam ask " we cook out teh alchol but the flavor stays ." she said then heard him mention god perents " no, I think like you said hes got way too much drama , besides he will be an uncle" she said taking another spoon of soup. When she heard sith or seventh she coughed  having the soup go down the wrong hole " who says were having six or seven." she said slightly laughing as she looked at them " could be more." she glanced at Angus with a cheeky grin on her face.

Once supper ws done she cleared the table then headed down to the basement to change out the drying and put more clothes in to the washer. then she folded the dry things into piles of whose they belonged too before taking a full basket up to each room.

Angus just shook his head. While Ruby was downstairs, Andrew cut the cake and served up five slices. He passed a slice to Angus and one to each of the boys and left a slice for Ruby.

"Thanks, Andrew," Angus said. "So, how are your studies coming, you two?"

"Oh, they're alright," Victor said. "We've got a paper to write for Potions about the proper brewing of a general poison antidote. We've never brewed one of those, though."

"Well, I can give you a suggestion. Go see Robert or send him a paper bird and ask him if he'd show you how to brew one. Tell him what you need the information for," Angus said. "I'm sure he'd be happy to help you. When is it due?"

"Three days from now. We have to send a packet of homework back by the end of the day on Wednesday," Sam said. "I hate potions class. It's so boring!"

"Well, Robert could help you with that too. Write a note to Robert, and I bet Ruby or Andrew would send it over to the main house. So long as you're serious about it when you meet with him, I'm sure he'll be happy to help. Maybe if you're lucky, he'll show you the potions lab at St Mungo's. It's one of the biggest ones I've ever seen."

"Bigger than Hogwarts?"

"God, yes. Way bigger. And he's got a lab at his farm that's actually bigger yet, but that's not for putting in your papers or for talking about at Hogwarts. We do not want to put Robert or Kate in danger by giving away their secrets. Got that?" The boys looked at each other and then back at Angus. They hadn't considered there would be secrets. They hadn't told anybody anything because there hadn't been anyone to tell, but, now, it struck them that Angus just be right and maybe not everything they knew was open for publication.

Ruby walked up stairs and palced each pile of clothing into each room then put them in the right places. By the time she was done she walked down to hear about potions assingment and hos  the boys didn't like potions. She heard Angus sugest talking to Robert and send over a bird " good idea" she said " Im sure he'll make it fun for you"she told them while she set the washer on teh go washing the dishes then heaed back down to the basement.

It was now Jack walked up to the door and knocked , Ruby went and opened it " Its Jack with teh wood for teh fires" she said leting him in.

"so here you want these" he asked " upstairs?" he looekd at Angus and chuckled as he balanced a fare amount of logs in his arms.

"Could we have half down here and half upstairs, please, Jack?" Angus asked. Angus glanced at Sam who was busy writing a note to Robert. He wrote the note and showed it to Victor, who nodded, approving.

"Now, should we take it over?" Sam asked.

"Why don't I show you how to change it to a paper bird, and then you can send the bird over to Robert?" Andrew said. "Now, no sending these birds at school, or you'll end up in detention probably. Use a little restraint." Andrew took some spare pieces of paper, and he showed them how to do a charm for a paper bird. Sam cast his paper bird spell intending to send it over to Ruby, but the bird took off on a bee line upstairs where Jack had gone with the firewood. And Victor's bird had made it to Ruby, but it was now buzzing around her head like an irked bumblebee.

"I'm gonna hope your bird isn't buzzing Jack like your brother's is buzzing Ruby," Angus laughed. "Get it, Ruby. Squash that thing." The boys were now laughing hysterically.

"Maybe I'd better send the note to Robert. We don't need that thing buzzing Robert either," Andrew laughed. "Clearly that charm needs more work."

"I could always try," Angus said.

"Hell, no," Andrew said, sending the paper bird over to Robert. "You'd send a paper dragon that breathed fire and caught the house on fire. Nobody needs that."

Jack heard Angus and nodded " allright half down and the rest up" he siad placing some in the fireplace down stairs before heading up as he was placing down the logs something buzzed by his head but he caught it noting it was a paper bird, chukaling he held onto it. Down stairs Ruby was watching then swatting at the bird as it buzzed around her head then she brought out the spatuler and began waving it to finally knock it into the sink. she puleld it out as it dripped into teh sink " Sorry Sam I got it." she said and chukled as she looekd at Angus.

Jack walked downstairs and looked t Sam and Victor " hum, some one missing something?" he asked holding out the bird, " next time specify what the message was about" he said smirking as he palced the partly crumpled bird on the desk " sorry, it would not stop." he said " good try though."

"Hm," Andrew said. "I thought I would teach the boys how to send a paper bird, but it seems they still have some lessons on intent and control to learn. Their spellcasting is way better than when they got here, but we still have some practice to do. They have a term paper to write for potions class about antidote potions, but they've never brewed one, so Angus had them write a note to Robert, and I sent the real message. So until they get that right, they're probably going to need to learn Pip's whistle."

A couple moments later, a paper bird flew over, followed by two identical text books, with the books flapping their covers like wings. Sam and Victor were watching the books and the graceful control the books seemed to have.

"How the heck does he do that?" Victor frowned.

"I don't know," Sam said. "I'd have had all the pages out of it, and it would be a right foul mess."

"Older wizards have had a lot more time to practice their spellcasting," Angus told them. "Some of them, like Robert and Michael, have developed their own sense of style and grace with it. When we were your age and in Hogwarts, the people to imitate were Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. Their spellcasting was smooth and graceful too."

"I wanna learn to do that, but I don't wanna have to get old before I can do it," Sam frowned.

"Then, once you learn how to be accurate with your spells, I suggest you spend more time around Robert and Michael, without annoying the crap from them, and watch what they do," Angus said. "Accuracy first, though. What's the message say?"

"Oh! Guess we should catch it and read it," Sam said.

"Duh," Victor teased Sam as Sam snatched the bird.

"He says he'll be happy to help, but he wants us to read these books, and he's given us a reading assignment of three chapters to start with--the first chapter, the chapter on potions making, and the chapter on Potions and Antidotes. If we get the readings done by five, and if someone can take us to St. Mungo's, he'll show us the potions lab there for a start and then show us a basic antidote potion."

"See? I told you," Angus smiled. "I'm sure if you have your readings done, we'll find someone who might be headed that direction at that time of day. Jack, I just happen to have some gift certificates for the very best steakhouse in muggle London, so if you have the inclination to take Jess out for a romantic dinner for two at the top, five star steakhouse tomorrow night, you could perhaps drop the boys off to Robert at St Mungo's, pick up Jess, take my gift certificates and have an evening out on me. It is a bit of a dressy place, but the food is phenomenal. I'm sure Robert would bring the boys home when they're finished. Give it some thought, would you?"

"I'm going to get a start on putting your bedroom to rights, Angus," Andrew said, excusing himself.

"Would you two go with Andrew and give him a hand, please?" Angus asked Sam and Victor. They got up and followed him. "Thanks for the firewood, Jack. We appreciate it. It's going to be great to be back in our own house again tonight, but I really am going to miss those boys when they go back. If Victor's recovery continues as scheduled, Victor will get his cast off his leg this week sometime, and they'll be back at school sometime over the weekend so they can get ready to be back in their classes next Monday. It's going to be entirely too quiet without them. I think they've adjusted beautifully, and they really are good help with a lot of things."

Jack knelt by the fireplace as he watched two books and a note flutter threw the doorway he took out his wand and lit the fire making sure it was established before standing. He smiled as Angus as he spoke of the steak house " sure i can do that and it's no problem, our anniversary is soon, so will make a nice surprise for her, thanks." he said and chukled as Angus thanked him for the wood " na, I know how good it feels to have your own space," he said " I lit the one in yours and Rubys room to chase out the chill from the room for when your ready to turn in." he added 

Ruby tidied up the dinning room and kitchen as she listened to Agus and Jack talk. Once eveerything was tidy she moved to the living room with some tea and sat down.

"Let me get the gift certificates for you," Angus said. He managed to get to his feet and walk the few steps to the small desk. His main desk was still over in his office in the other house, but there was a smaller desk here too. He opened the drawer, and sorted through several envelopes, found the one he wanted, opened it up, took out a large gift certificates, and then put the envelope back in the drawer. He took the gift certificates to Jack and handed them to him. "Here. This should pay for one truly exorbitant supper or perhaps a reasonable supper tab and a couple lunch specials. At any rate, by all means, have a really great time. I have never been disappointed in the food there." He warmed his hands in front of the fire for a moment. "Gosh, that feels good. This is a great time of year for a fire in the fireplace. Seems to take the cold and dampness out of the house," he said. He heard footsteps and saw the contractors all walking downstairs, their toolboxes in hand.

"Well, Angus, I think we're done til the next time," the foreman smiled. "Looks like it was never touched, my friend. If you find something we missed, give a shout, and we'll be back."

"Thanks, John," Angus said, "I appreciate it."

"Sorry about the baby gear," he said.

"Not a problem. It'll just give Ruby a chance to go shopping again," Angus teased.

"Well, now, if she were mine, that would be trouble. With our first, my Maggie wanted several of everything she saw. We could have outfitted a pediatric unit with all the stuff we ended up with," John laughed.

"Well, we have months to go, so if we end up with enough to open our own boutique, I'l let you know," Angus laughed. "Say hi to Maggie for me."

"Oh, would you send us some of your gingerbread biscuits for Halloween, Mate? The kids loved them."

"Oh, sure. I'll be happy to. The pumpkins?"

"The whole lot. They liked them all. Thanks, Mate. Goodnight." John and his crew waved and left.

"I made all sorts of gingerbread cookies for Halloween last year, in all sorts of shapes, and sent some to John for him and his family, and they were still talking about them at Easter. I guess I'll have to make some this year too," Angus said.

Jack took the envelope and smiled " thanks , you need anything let me know" he said " and I agree Jes has our cabin warm and cosy" he said smiling " and right now I should get back to her." he stood up " oh and by the way nice to see you on your feet again" he said grinning. He stepped back as the workmen came from upstairs taking this time to head back to the cbin he and Jess lived in.

Ruby smiled at the foreman John as he spoke about the baby clothes and shopping. " I actually am not a fan of shopping" she said but as Angus said we got plenty of time" she watche as he spoke to Angus then said good night to them " night and thank you" she said watching them as they left. Hearing Angus explain she chukled " would be another good family event" she said " Im sure the boys would love to help you make them as would I"