A Different Kind of Adventure

[Rowena Jones]

Merlin. Not for the first time did Rowena wish she could still apparate. The Floo was so tedious. And Portkeys, her current mode of transportation across the continent did nothing for her stomach. But she was finally home. 10 long days away from her family as she chased a last minute lead for her research.

“Mum!” Rowena straightened up, a wide grin on her face as her eldest son bounded up over the hill towards her.

“Still alive then?” she mused, taking Artemis at arms length and checking him over. “Your dad didn’t-“ She paused as another bout of nausea rolled in her stomach.

“You ok mum?

She hmmmed and shook herself off. “Of course baby, now lets get home before I get another photo of your brother covered in neon goop. Have you been keeping an eye on my books?”

Artemis nodded sharply. “Dad moved six books while you were away… well he moved one twice because I put it back but everything is in order Mum. Mum? Why does Dad put Dumbledore next to Carol? Doesn’t he know you should never mix Muggle with Magic? I always thought he was supposed to be clever. That’s what Uncle Eoin says. That Dad’s clever. But he keeps writing nonsense in your research notes. The other day I saw him writing that unicorn poop is purple and glitters but even I know that’s not true and I’m only 7!”

Rowena stifled a giggle at the indignant tone of her eldest. It was funny how different her children were. Artemis was a male version of herself, a stickler for rules, precision and order whereas Bryn was very similar to his namesake. Forever curious and always wanting to experiment. Ergo the goop photo that Max had sent her a few days ago.

Without an answer to his ranting, Artemis continued. “Mum, what does unicorn poop taste like? Mum?”

Rowena couldn’t stop the laughter this time as they entered the small cottage they called home. “You better ask your father that one. He’s the one who apparently knows so much about it.” And he’d definitely be answering her questions as to why he was mucking about with her notes when she saw him. Honestly. As if the books thing wasn’t enough. You’d think he’d grow tired of it after so many years but no….

Artemis seemed to agree and ran off calling for Max as Rowena pulled off her coat and scarf and quickly confirmed that the aforementioned books were indeed back in their correct places.

She was just making a cup of tea when she heard the unmistakable pitter patter of smaller feet before a small object collided with her back. “Hey sweetheart,” she smiled as she stumbled around as well as she could with her legs still being held tightly by her youngest.

“Missed you mum” he mumbled into her belly.

“Missed you too Goop Monster.”

“Oh Mum! It was so fun! Dad let me play with some Moondust and when I mixed it with some…”

Rowena nodded and smiled in all the right places as her son rambled about how sticky the slime was and how he’d had to have not one but three baths to get it all out of his hair.

“Three baths?!” she exclaimed. “Dad must be loosing his touch…” She smiled teasingly at the figure waiting by the doorway. “Wait a minute,” she said returning her attention to Bryn. “I think I see some more…”

“What? Where?”

“Right… there!” she said pouncing and tickling Bryn as he squirmed away from her and ran away to hide behind his father, his voice a maniacal mix of laughter and despair.

“Daddddyyyy!!! Help! Dad!”

[Max Kameren]

“Alright, where are we putting this one?”

Max leaned over his younger son’s shoulder, hovering the puzzle piece in his fingers above their current progress. On Max’s lap Bryn shifted as his eyes moved around the puzzle border’s frame, his brow furrowing. Max could feel the concentration in his percolating aura; gears turning, steady, as he tried to solve the problem in front of him. In the seven years since he’d come in contact with the sensation of his sons’ growing auras he’d found this feeling was his favorite.

“Ugh, it keeps moving!” Bryn threw up his hands, snatching the piece out of his father’s fingers in a furious swipe and leaning further forward over the table. Max smiled patiently as he felt Bryn’s concentration bubble then boil over with frustration. The magic puzzle seemed to sense his anger and shifted more, the shuddering leaves of the magical landscape in the puzzle seeming to shiver under Bryn’s hostile gaze.

Gently Max placed his hand on the table, the puzzle freezing at his touch. “Want me to stop it?”

“No!” Bryn barked, pushing his hand off the puzzle and resuming the magical movement. He hunched over the puzzle, swatting at his parent when he felt Max lean forward to try and help. “I want to do it!”

Another few minutes passed with the 5-year-old frozen in place, his green eyes shifting with the movement of the puzzle. Bryn may be the softer, sweeter brother of the Jones family in his parents’ eyes, but under the surface Bryn had a stubborn will and fiery temper when riled. Normally it was Artemis’s doing; today it was the puzzle. Perhaps a too-short nap in anticipation of his mum coming home, too.

When he felt the frustration in his son’s aura begin to peak again, Max pulled his hunched shoulders back against his chest. “Want to know a trick to it?” He took Bryn’s skeptical stare as a concession. Max took the piece out of his hand and held it in front of the pile of scattered pieces shifting in front of them. “The picture moves together, right? When the wind goes, the leaves near each other will pick up at the same time.”

“Here,” Max gently placed the piece back in his son’s stubby fingers, moving his hands to smooth back Bryn’s unruly dark waves. With his touch he sent calm through his aura; Bryn’s skepticism was quelled by interest in his father’s theory and he complied, taking a deep breath at the pleasant sensation of Max’s aura. “Relax your eyes and look at all the pieces together. The leaves near the one on your piece will move together. Now wait…”

Bryn shivered with the wind as it cycled through the puzzle. Suddenly he jumped, making Max grunt with discomfort as he jolted to grab the piece he spotted and fit it to the one in his hand. He twisted around, holding the two pieces up triumphantly to Max’s applause before slapping it down on the table. “Next one!”

“Actually…” Max grinned, his eyes rolling up to the ceiling just as the familiar scrape of the heavy wooden front door sounded above them.

“MUM!” Bryn used his father as a springboard to leap to the floor, stocking feet slipping on the wood floor as he scampered down the hall of the magically-expanded cellar and up the stairs to their muggleworld home. Max followed behind, his creaking knees slower on the stairs to join the jovial auras above him.

“…You better ask you father that one. He’s the one who knows so much about it.”

Max leaned on the frame of the cellar door, cocking his head at the suspicious invoking of his name. Artemis, though the very picture of Max at his age, was mentally all Rowena. At times parenting him gave Max Hogwarts group-project flashbacks. “Ask me what?”

“Dad! What does unicorn poop taste like?”

“Like raspberry jam, but if you swallow it you’ll be sick for a month.” His brow furrowed in slight confusion at the cackle his true answer received. He’d been a Potions Master in his past life, after all. To think he hadn’t had to try it once or twice? Oh Merlin, speaking of potions…

“Missed you too, Goop Monster.”

“Oh Mum! It was so fun! Dad let me play with some Moondust and when I mixed it with some –“ Where Rowena nodded through Bryn’s story Max cringed. Max hadn't noticed Bryn swipe the Dugbog Slime from his cabinet when he offered the Moondust, and by then it was too late and his potions lab had exploded in a gush of green slime. It had taken three baths to get Bryn presentable, to say nothing of his lab which still glowed iridescent green with the mess. He'd only managed to figure out what the little troublemaker had mixed in the triage afterward. 

“Three baths?! Dad must be losing his touch…” She smiled teasingly at the figure waiting by the doorway. Max grinned and shook his head, though it wasn't just her teasing bringing a smile to his face. He'd missed the daylight of her aura, after so long he felt like a part of him was missing without it. “Wait a minute, I think I see some more…”

“What? Where?”

“Right… there!” she said pouncing and tickling Bryn as he squirmed away from her and ran away to hide behind his father, his voice a maniacal mix of laughter and despair.

“Daddddyyyy!!! Help! Dad!”

Little did he know he'd sought refuge in the wrong family member. Max bent over and clamped his arms around his son so his mum could get better tickling access. "I see it now, quick Rowena get him! It'll scrub right off!" The tortured and delighted squeals of their youngest heightened as he tried to twist out of his father's grip. When he finally escaped Max's arms and Rowena's fingers he was red-faced and breathless and grinning, sprinting off in search of Artemis to back him up. 

In their brief moment alone Max pulled Rowena close and lifted her off her feet, kissing her deeply for all ten days of her absence. "Thank Merlin you're back," He smirked as he let her down, kissing her on the cheek and the temple as she slid back to the floor, "I've been overrun without you."

"Got them!" Artemis reappeared triumphantly in the doorway of the kitchen, staring down his father with his hands on his hips. "All the books are in order!"

Max shook his head, clicking his tongue in disappointment as he turned to face his eldest but kept a hand on Rowena's waist. "Missed, one, I know it. Check the medical journals on the top shelf by the fireplace."

"The Medical –" Artemis ran his fingers through is dark hair in exasperation, his green eyes wide. "NO WAY!" The young wizard snatched a chair from the kitchen table and disappeared, the sound of the chair's legs dragging across the living room floor receding with is heightened aura.

"Be careful climbing on that!" Max called after.

[Rowena Jones]

"I see it now, quick Rowena get him! It'll scrub right off!"

Rowena cackled as they teamed up on their youngest until he finally escaped, out of breath and grinning. “No fair!” he pouted as he ran off to recruit his brother.

She felt it as soon as they were alone. The unmistakable crackle of their connection that had never left despite the years that had passed. If anything, it had only gotten stronger with every new experience they had shared together. Rowena pressed herself against Max, relishing their few seconds alone and the feel of his mouth on hers. Ten days really was much too long to be away from her favourite people.

"Thank Merlin you're back, I've been overrun without you."

“Hate to break it to you love, but we’re overrun even with both of us at home.”

As if on cue Artemis reappeared triumphantly from his quest. Rowena hid her smirk in her husband’s shoulder at her son’s stern glare and announcement. She couldn’t help the snort of amusement as Max revealed the one he had missed.

"Be careful climbing on that!" Max called after him as he dragged a chair in the direction of the misplaced book.

“You’re going to give him a complex,” she teased when they were alone again and she turned to snuggle into his grasp. “You’ve certainly given me enough over the years…Now what’s this I hear about you meddling with my notes?” The witch arched one delicate eyebrow as she stretched up to kiss Max softly before biting down on his lip in light warning. “Some things, darling, are not meant to be touched.”

“Artie! Where ar- EWWW! AAARTIE! They’re doing it already!”

Bryn was a whirlwind as he skidded into the kitchen before darting back out, his hand covering his eyes as he attempted to block out the passionate embrace of his parents.

“Reckon we can tire them out enough to be in bed by 7?” she laughed as she reluctantly pulled away from Max. They were lucky to get the kids in bed by 9pm most days but she could always hope. It had been a long ten days and while she had missed her children, she relished the idea of spending a few blissful hours with just her husband for company. She had news to share and time to make up for after all.

A loud thud and a scream changed everything in a second. It was instinct. She could always count on danger to call out the remains of her magical power. Her eyes flashed gold and time froze. Literally. A quick glance in Max’s direction told her he’d been caught up in her unintentional spell, but with no control over it, she wasted no time in darting away from him and towards the sound that had triggered it all.

Rowena scanned the scene in a second. Bryn, had collided with Artie’s chair, which in turn had been precariously balanced against the bookcase. Her youngest was currently frozen, mid trip, scarily close to the fireplace, while her eldest was hanging onto the shelf as the chair was swept out from under him.

She dove towards Bryn, scoping him out of the way even as her spell ended. The chair continued it’s path, landing with a crash into the fire, as Rowena pulled Bryn into her chest and rolled so that the sparks landed on her back and not her son. She glanced up just as the book shelf, with Artemis hanging onto it began to groan and fall.

[Max Kameren]

“Be careful climbing on that!”

“You’re going to give him a complex,” Rowena teased. ”You’ve certainly given me enough over the years… Now what’s this I hear about you meddling with my notes?”

“Artie’s being dramatic, It was only post-it notes. Bryn turned my lab green, then he wanted to brighten up yours – “ Max’s explanation was cut off by Rowena’s kiss.

He was swept in, leaning into her embrace and smiling wryly when she bit his lip. “Some things, darling, are not to be touched.” Rowena’s threat only encouraged him. Max’s arms tightened around his wife’s waist and he pulled her close for a snog only interrupted by their youngest’s disgusted aura in the doorway.

“Artie! Where ar- EWWW! AAARTIE! They’re doing it already!”

“Reckon we can tire them out enough to be in bed by 7?” She laughed as she reluctantly pulled away from Max.

“Bryn, absolutely. Artie? Not a chance.” Max’s laugh was cut off by a loud thud from the other room and confusion as Rowena disappeared from his side and flickered away, too quickly for the eye to follow. His breath caught with alarm and Max scrambled into the living room to the three distressed auras laid out along the fireplace.

Time magic. Max had only seen it performed once before without being grounded to a charmed object like a Time Turner. When his father fought Mosrael the consequences of their tampering caused the Flux, splinching hundreds of people out of time for seventeen years. If Rowena was casting something so volatile unintentionally, whatever the boys were up to in the living room was far from the most dangerous accident they needed to manage.

The groan of the bookshelf was immediately caught by the glisten of a shield spell, stopped and righted by the distant push of Max’s palm. But when he moved to wrap an arm around Artemis’ torso and help him to the ground, Artie’s hands slipped from the shelf without his place moving at all. He glanced at his hands, then between Rowena and the floating child. Had he cast a spell unintentionally? Had Rowena? The concern on her face was his answer, though Artemis voiced it first. “I’m floating!”

“Seven years old and already able to levitate himself…” Max’s worry was slightly broken up by a spark of pride at Artie’s impressive feat. He negated the spell for his son and helped him to his feet. His slight smile faltered as Bryn’s shock at the danger finally broke and the tears started to flow, the young wizard wailing and burying his face in his mum’s arms for comfort.

Max squeezed Artemis’s shoulders, waiting for a nod confirming his eldest was unscathed before bending to help Rowena to a sitting position and kneeling to lend a healing hand to their sobbing youngest.