#i believe this is actually in wales so. not even england's fault

[useless-englandfacts]

therapist: the platinum jubilee chippy meal cannot hurt you

the platinum jubilee chippy meal:

#truly truly horrible #i believe this is actually in wales so. not even england's fault #food #The Royal Family #Elizabeth II #Queen Elizabeth #Platinum Jubilee

[fumblingmusings]

I am an absolute and utter fucking SUCKER for Scotland ×England sibling dynamics of older and younger sibling shenanigans

I love the idea of Scotland being the older brother who England can rely on. Whilst i believe the fandom mostly prefers Wales and England sibling dynamics bc the way Scotty is in the manga (he is a bit of a dick to England, which i believe stems from how the Scottish and English relationship actually is) , i believe Scotland is the one who looked after and raised England when they were wee babys, and is the one England inevitably runs to for just ab anything

(this can also be my unhealthy obsession with ScotEng but this isn't relevant to the ask so ignore it)

I loved all the moments England/Evelyn and her siblings had in SPE.

I wonder what they felt seeing their little sister slowly losing herself, constantly falling ill, if they worried she would slowly fade out of existence at one point or if conflicts between their governments made then cold towards her and anticipating the day she was gone.

What was their relationship as baby nations? You mentioned in your fic that Eva didn't remember her mother much, and what little she did, she believed her mother didn't want her at all. Does that mean Ali and Wales were in charge of raising England as a child? What was that like for them? At what point did they teach Eva what she was and what the would mean for her and them.

I hope your future fics could have more UK sibling moments, whether as nations or as humans, bc i love them deeply and i literally live for any uk sibling content.

In other words, where do i send you the monies for more England and their brothers sharing a single braincell. Bc the car scene had me dying

This answer is so long I'm sorry I completely rambled sorry sorry...

Scotland is a dick in the manga towards England partly because he deserves to be a dick towards England and partly because us Scots are the most contrarian annoying bastards on the planet where everything has to be a goddamn battle and it's genuinely exhausting because most English and Welsh people would let it go out of fear of being rude or confrontational but Scots just get a kick out of being the devil's advocate in the most inopportune times. This is partly England's fault and partly just a leftover from how stubborn the Highland-Lowland conflicts have been over the years. That Simpsons joke by grounds-keeper Willy?

They're right.

Anyway!

I love the idea of Scotland being the older brother who England can rely on. Whilst i believe the fandom mostly prefers Wales and England sibling dynamics bc the way Scotty is in the manga (he is a bit of a dick to England, which i believe stems from how the Scottish and English relationship actually is) , i believe Scotland is the one who looked after and raised England when they were wee babys, and is the one England inevitably runs to for just ab anything

I like the idea of England Scotland and Wales really only having each other for about a thousand years, with Ireland always keeping its distance where necessary. And those early memories don't go away easily, that human connection cannot be forgotten even after a hundred armies and a dozen dead Kings say they should.

A lot of the time, all they had was each other, when England was split in seven Scotland in four, and Wales in god knows how many tiny kingdoms. They were real wanderers. And no matter what they do to each other, they still can't get that first millennium out of their memories. Scotland is and was far more likely to intercede in English politics when requested by the government versus the other neighbours. Because we're nosey buggers who like burning York.

I go with Wales being the oldest (which I think is not a popular choice but... meh), then Ireland, then Scotland, then England, and then obviously wee Northern Ireland a thousand years later. I know Hima has the Irelands in a sort of two Italies situation where they were babies together, but I think that's the biggest piece of canon where I'm like... no. I can maybe accept him popping up during the late 16th century, but not prior to the 1000s like the other four.

I think in the fic I have the kids born around the time of Rome's arrival. But they aren't Rome's kids. I don't know... haven't thought it through entirely, but Britannia was never a particularly good mother by modern standards, even more so when it hit home that the children, but particularly England, signalled her death. Evie went from being her mother's little apple to a cuckoo bird. And Eva liked Rome, he was funny and made her smile and brought her nice things. Her mother didn't, clearly, and made her and Ireland watch the destruction of Colchester and St Alban's and London. Ireland was like ooft. alrighty. Then went on with her day. But England took it... poorly.

But when they lose their mum, they are still kids themselves. None of them are a day over twelve when Britannia dies, so they know what it's like to rely on fickle humans for protection only to realise they really can't stay too long with any of them. They raise each other for a while until they all go their separate ways. I mentioned in the fic that England was a clingy, weepy little girl. Honestly, her siblings, who were just kids themselves, couldn’t cope with her, and one by one, they decided to go and live with their own people.

I headcanon that England and Scotland were the last to split because the overlap of what's now Lothian, the Borders, Cumbria, and Northumberland were grey areas in ownership for such a long time. Edinburgh was after all technically English from 680 to 970, and in the 940s, Strathclyde stretched through Cumbria and into Yorkshire, so England and Scotland have always been overlapping with their people.

I loved all the moments England/Evelyn and her siblings had in SPE. I wonder what they felt seeing their little sister slowly losing herself, constantly falling ill, if they worried she would slowly fade out of existence at one point or if conflicts between their governments made then cold towards her and anticipating the day she was gone. What was their relationship as baby nations? You mentioned in your fic that Eva didn't remember her mother much, and what little she did, she believed her mother didn't want her at all. Does that mean Ali and Wales were in charge of raising England as a child? What was that like for them? At what point did they teach Eva what she was and what the would mean for her and them.

The UK siblings for me are interesting during the 16th to 19th centuries because they all lack control one way or another, and the way they try to take it back for themselves is toxic. Scotland and Wales throw themselves into the army and navy respectively, and England completely shuts herself away with stolen children. Like they just disconnect from their own people. The whole point of Slow Paced Envy was to write about dissonance. Dissonance between the character's actions, what came out of their mouths, what they thought and what they knew to be true. Everyone in that fic runs on contradictions that are either flat out toxic and dangerous or - at best - delusional. England isn't the only one in the fic like that. I hope I portrayed it well...

So England is their baby sister at the end of the day. And she is - to be blunt - such an anomaly. She's so much weaker, she's got far less fire in her, she's way more passive. Scotland loves to travel and see the world (and do all kinds of heinous or drunken things) - it's what he lives for. Wales loves to fight. England wants to have a wee farmstead with barn cats and her witch cauldron. Her brother's flip between resenting her and pitying her.

But she's still their baby sister. I think that colours their relationship with her more than if it were Arthur, who is just another boy, albeit the youngest. Again, I think gender messes with the dynamic. Ireland deliberately extricates herself from the 'oldest sister = caretaker' role, but England falls into the 'baby' role, definitely. Not spoiled particularly, but she does receive the most attention. From everyone. Not that it ever made her happy.

There was no chance of them being on equal footing with each other. Scotland wanted it to be him. It was his royal family after all the pulled them all together. He has the better temperament for power, is more book smart, is a better tactician etc etc... And yet it's all on baby sister who by the 17th century is addicted to Opium and probably has had TB for the past three hundred years. It's laughable. It's a joke. God is mocking them. Make it make sense.

It's that conflict of "I know my sibling and they personally would never lay a hand on me but their people will and sometimes I cannot look at my sibling without thinking about what their people have done in their name and I hate them for it."

That saying that makes its round on the internet: the love was there, it didn't change anything, but it was there. That's really how I understand Scotland Wales and England's relationship. Love cannot overcome, nor should it necessarily. But it's still there. And that's something.

I hope your future fics could have more UK sibling moments, whether as nations or as humans, bc i love them deeply and i literally live for any uk sibling content. In other words, where do i send you the monies for more England and their brothers sharing a single braincell. Bc the car scene had me dying

Ha! This ask was payment enough. I'm glad you enjoyed the car scene. The one bit of levity that entire fic had...

Thank you for the ask! I'm sorry this reply is so scattered and long but ah! It made me happy. Thank you!

#q&a #fanfic ask #not entirely well composed or consistent thoughts below the cut #anglo-scottish relations pre 1300 *fascinate* me #hws england #hws scotland #headcanon #hetalia

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

The ANGLO-NORMAN ruling class screwed over Wales. Ordinary English people had nothing to do with it, are ethnically more Briton than Saxon, but are always lumped in with a ruling class. A lot of Welsh and Scottish nationalism is blood and soil nationalism with a fluffy progressive face. England is the only diverse country of the UK but insular, whitey white Scotland and Wales treat the English as uniquely xenophobic and bigoted while denying their own role in the BRITISH empire.

I'm screaming anon what the fuck

Like why have you even sent me this??? Do you just see a visibly Welsh person and your blood pressure raises your Celtophobia until you uncontrollably shart out moronic opinions?

Like thanks for bothering to share your fucking views, anon, but there is so much nonsense in this I don't even know where to start??? I... "An Anglo-Norman ruling class screwed over Wales" oh right, okay, so the Treachery of the Blue Books, the Merthyr Uprising, Tryweryn, every single thing that happened and continues to happen around Aberfan, the aftermath of the mine closures, the findings of the Silk Commission, the abandonment of Wales after natural disasters that England gets a blank check for, the theft of our natural resources including water and the removal and cancellation of every single large scale infrastructure project in Wales over the last 15 years are all the fault of *checks notes* a time travelling Anglo-Norman ruling class from the Medieval Period, right, gotcha.

Do you... do you see the irony of whining and pissing about English ethnicity and then proclaiming that Scotland and Wales are 'whitey white'? Do you see the irony of trying to claim that you are specifically 'our' kind of white before denigrating it in us? Do you see the irony in the fact that you're wrong, anyway, and genetic studies in Britain consistently show that English people are overwhelmingly continental with eau de Viking thrown in?

I mean honestly, you could not have screamed "I DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW A SINGLE THING ABOUT THIS SUBJECT" any louder if you tried. You have written absolute nonsense here. You are laughable. This is unhinged levels of bullshit. This is like a man marching up to a feminist and going HOW DARE YOU SAY MEN ARE OPPRESSIVE WHEN THE REAL OPPRESSIVE PEOPLE WERE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE 1300s AND ORDINARY MEN HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT, AND MEN ARE ACTUALLY MOSTLY FEMALE GENETICALLY ANYWAY BECAUSE WE HAVE AN X CHROMOSOME AS WELL AS A Y, AND ANYWAY MEN ARE THE ONLY DIVERSE POPULATION UNLIKE WOMEN WITH YOUR MONO-X CHROMOSOMES WHO JUST WANT TO IGNORE THAT YOU'RE MEAN SOMETIMES AS WELL."

You're a fucking idiot. You have clearly never actually listened to the issues, you've never done one iota of research, never looked up a single thing from Welsh history, and you sure as shit aren't paying attention to Welsh current events. Instead, you felt defensive and angry, so you took up the old party line and tried to blame anyone else you could, including a socio-political faction that hasn't existed in centuries because that way, it's all in the past. That list of examples I gave up there? That is just a handful of events from the 1800s onwards. This is how I know you're mewling ignorance at me. You honestly, genuinely think - as so many "ordinary English people" do - that the mis-treatment of Wales started and ended with the conquest. You genuinely don't know a single thing that happened after that, and let's be real, you don't even know anything about the conquest. You genuinely believe that we've been living in sunshine and roses ever since, and that we're complaining about nothing. Because if you didn't, you wouldn't be trying to blame it on an "Anglo-Norman ruling class".

And you genuinely know so little about modern Wales that you actually, honestly think that when we say we aren't the same as England, we're talking fucking racially I mean Jesus Christ holy fucking projection Batman.

I'll leave you with this: the current attitudes and campaigns of "ordinary English people" against Welsh language and culture, and the current migration of "ordinary English people" into Welsh heartlands where they refuse to learn or even respect Welsh language and culture while pricing locals out, is causing untold damage to Wales. Today. Right now. Your confessed ignorance of us while you nonetheless swing into the conversation is causing damage to us. You do not get to hide behind "It's all in the past and therefore not my fault", you craven whinging xenophobic waste of human skin.

Now do fuck off, there's a lamb.

#celtophobia #WALES! #closed for cleaning on mondays

[oumaheroes]

sorry if this is burning you out on the uk bros but your headcanons of them are so good! since the previous anon ask about wales and England's relationship, do you have any on ireland and england? I'd love to hear your view on their rocky relationship. I hope your doing well!

Other brit bro headcannons can be found here:

The whole gang (Relationships & History)

Scotland (Appearance)

Wales (Relationship)

Ireland (Appearance)

------------

England and Ireland are an interesting pair

Overall, I’d say they’re the least close out of the UK siblings. Their personalities clash but without a redeeming quality that helps them make up for it: England and Scotland both have hot tempers but they cool easily which allows them to move on from things. Wales goes silent and moody but is hard to rile or annoy in the first place and has a lot of patience, so England’s fiery temper doesn’t affect him so much.

Ireland, however, also has a short temper and is quick to change moods. He blows up just as easily as England does but not as explosively, so whereas England will assume something is not a big deal because Ireland hasn’t screamed obscenities at him, actually it is a Very Big Deal indeed. Ireland can go very silky polite when truly angry and England, with his stubborn pride and need to have things over and done with as quickly as possible, will wrongly interpret these behaviours as ‘oh he’s trying to brush it aside, he’s seen my way of things.’ Actually, Ireland is more opposed than ever before and now has given up on whatever it was they were arguing about- he cannot be bothered to try to change England’s mind or resolve things and so he walks away stewing and angry, whereas England walks away calm again but confused.

 England also doesn’t deal with passive aggression well; it’s not how he operates and prefers to be very overt in both his opinions and actions. This blunt force way of handling things is very intense for Ireland, who simmers on his feelings and enjoys a healthy argument where both parties pick fault and go around and around in circles but without intending offense. England, whose main way of communicating disapproval is through arguments, does not gel well with this- he takes Ireland picking fault as a personal attack against him, rather than Ireland just making a point and this then leads to the inevitable real explosion.

 Ireland and Scotland still work despite Scotland’s hot temper because Scotland is a lot more laid back and confident in himself. He doesn’t read into behaviours or words for a sly attack and his pride doesn’t warp his perception of himself. You can criticise Scotland all you want, he’ll either agree that you have a point, or disagree and call you a twat but he doesn’t take it personally. England does and this is why he and Ireland experience the most friction- England can’t let things go and Ireland hides his hurt in silences so they both end up driving each other batty.

 The two are also very different people hobby-wise. On paper they should get along: Ireland loves poetry and debating, as does England, and they’re both very skilled in both. However, their preferred types of each are different and rather than happily discussing the differences, they end up fighting about ‘who is right’ instead.

 I’m not going to go into the history history of England and Ireland and how this shaped their view of each other. As I said in my Wales and England headcanon, I don’t believe nations in Hetalia can influence their government, nor can they control them. They exist as a cultural representative of their people, to guide them, help them, and remember them. England and Ireland had no role in the actions their governments had upon each other, but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t influenced by them and the English in Ireland haven’t been much of a positive influence. English Kings saw Ireland as an opportunity to gain and expand English influence and power so, although England himself didn’t do any of these actions or want them necessarily, he was still caught and tied up in it. Maybe he was shipped across the Irish sea to fight with him men, or maybe he wanted to go to be with them for support. Maybe England didn’t fight his rulers as much as he could have done in the cruel decisions they made, or maybe he let his own pride and need for recognition in Europe to help persuade him that what his leaders were doing was doing was justified.

I don’t feel comfortable digging that intimately into it, but I do believe that England defiantly didn’t do enough to stop what his government was doing and was very weak willed and shitty in how he conducted himself around these points in time. Ireland cannot blame England personally for the things his government did, but he can blame Arthur for how he personally acted, and Arthur did not act well, with his giant ego and need to be right at all times. The lingering bad blood and mistrust is very much deserved and England is aware that he Fucked Up.

For a long time, he didn’t want to accept this. He would blame others, blame Ireland, or try to minimise both how badly he’d behaved and how devastating his government’s actions were (‘he’s just sensitive! Look at the good side of things!’). It took him many, many years to accept his role in things and recognise that they were bad, and then even more years to admit this to Ireland himself. As England grew and matured and suffered his own losses, this understanding increased and eventually he was forced to accept things from Ireland’s side and admit that his actions weren’t the positive picture he liked to paint for himself. This pushed him to try and apologise, something he very rarely does.

These days, the two of them are better with each other. They’re trying, both of them. Sometimes England will say an ill-worded, offhand comment and Ireland will give him the benefit of the doubt and not jump down his throat. Sometimes Ireland will call him out, but England won’t brush the comment aside like he would have done a few decades previously, or instantly go on the defensive. They’re both working on listening and talking more, but things can still get strained at times, such as around easter, around North, around the EU, etc.

---------

Nonny, I’m so sorry for how late this is orz. I hope that you see this, thanks so much for the ask! (These sort sof things never burn me out, don’t you worry about that)

#aph Ireland #aph England #hws england #hws ireland #hetalia #hetalia headcanons #heroes headcanons #aph brit bros #aph #hws #heroes answers

[weirdestbooks]

Secret States Chapter 11

More Than You Know (It Was The Thirteen Colonies After All)

America POV

I continued to cry as I though back to that war. I hated it. The feeling of being ripped apart, the South leaving, and all of the fighting. I hated how my army had to be so aggressive towards the South, towards my kids. I hated how Confederacy tried to build a nation on slavery. I hated it all.

And the Civil War was my fault. I should've been better, I should've known better. Everything that  happened was my fault. I didn't deserve to be forgiven for the Civil War. I didn't deserve to be forgiven for a lot of things.

I didn't understand why Maman was here comforting me. I shouldn't be showing this kind of emotion to her anyways. She doesn't have to worry about me. I have to take care of myself. I can't accept help from others. I can do it by myself. Maman began running her hand through my hair.

"You're okay Ame." She said. That just made me cry harder. I was...I was fine. I was fine. I didn't need help I could do things on my own. My eyes started slipping closed again. I tried to keep them open. I had slept. I didn't need to now. I had to go back to my work. I didn't need sleep. I had to make up for my mistakes, I had to keep my government from making another mistake.

I didn't want to mess up my family anymore. Everything bad that's happened to my kids since they became a part of my family was all my fault. I need to be better. I can't take breaks for my sake. I'm not important. They are.

"Ame, go back to sleep mon fils." Maman said, continuing to run her hand through my hair. Why did Maman care about me so much? I didn't deserve it, not after all the ways I've messed up.

I tried to stay awake, but my exhaustion from earlier was overwhelming me. Crying had only amplified that exhaustion, and Maman's hand running through my hair felt so relaxing. I felt my eyes flutter close as I began slipping off into sleep.

I was fine. I didn't need anyone to take care of me. I could do that myself.

—————————————————

Britain POV

"So, um, how does Ame manage to take care of all you?" New Zealnd asked as we watched Florida chasing a flaming California with a panther and an alligator. Something tells me that kid's like Australia.

"I help him, along with Vermont and the Thirteen. So it's not one person taking care of fifty-eight, it's fourteen people taking care of fourty-two. Plus, not all the states are like Florida. Some of them can actually keep out of trouble. Maine and NASA do, and NATO also steers clear of major chaos. And obviously all of my independent siblings can take care of themselves." DC explained.

"We hope so at least. If they don't then that's their problem. Just like Florida is yours." An unfamiliar voice said from behind me.

"Jersey can't you be polite for once?" Another voice said. I turned around to see two new states. The first voice, a boy, had a flag that was buff colored, with a coat of arms on it. He was wearing jeans with a green shirt, and had a garden trowel in his dirt covered hands. I assumed he was Jersey.

The second voice was a girl, and her flag was three stripes consisting of red-white-red, featuring a blue canton containing a ring of 13 white stars encompassing a golden shape. She was wearing a peach colored sundress with sandals.

"Now why the fuck would I do that?" The boy said. The girl rolled her eyes before smiling and holding out her hand.

"Hello. I'm the State of Georgia, the Peach State." She-Georgia-said.

"And I'm the State of New Jersey, the Garden State." The boy said.

"Hello. It's good to meet you." I said. I was  a bit nervous. Not all of the states have liked me, or England, and I knew these states were part of the original thirteen, who so far didn't seem to like me.

"You fucking suck." New Jersey said. I sighed. I wasn't expecting anything different. I messed up a lot with America, so I makes sense that his kids wouldn't like me. Georgia smacked the back of his head.

"Jersey! Cut it out!" Georgia said. At least one of the original thirteen didn't seem to hate me. New Jersey scowled.

"Why should I? I'm still mad at him for a lot." New Jersey said. DC sighed.

"You two weren't even alive during the American Revolution." She said. New Jersey and Georgia exchanged looks.

"Sure...we weren't alive, but that doesn't mean I can't be mad at him!" New Jersey said. What did that mean? The way New Jersey said it made it sound like he knew something DC didn't.

"Jersey you're constantly mad at everyone." Georgia said, laughing slightly. New Jersey rolled his eyes.

"That's because everyone is an idiot. Most noticeably him." He said pointing at me. Scotland and Ireland began laughing, while North rolled his eyes and smiled. Brothers are great.

"I don't think I'm that much-" I tried to say before being cut off.

"Once Jersey tells you you're an idiot, you're an idiot. You don't get to argue or he'll put his trowel in your eye." DC said. New Jersey smiled.

"Florida! Beheef dich! Before I get Ohio!" I hear someone call. Was that German? Florida stopped and turned around, looking at the state that had just shown up.

"Come on Penny! Cali was being a dick. They deserved it!" Florida protested. The new state, Penny rolled her eyes.

"I don't care! Cali is cool. Chase West! I don't like him. And Ginny will back me up on that." Penny said. Cali flipped Florida the middle finger before they stormed off.

"Thanks Penny!" They said. Penny laughed.

"No problem. Er is weenich ad." She said.

"I don't know what that means but I think it's an insult, so hey." Florida said. Penny laughed before walking over to us.

"Gude Daag. Wie bischt du? Mei Naame is Pennsylvania." Penny said in what I believed was definitely German. Why did an American state know German? It makes sense for Louisiana to speak her French, after all, French Empire was her mother, but America had introduced us to all of his adopted kids. Why did he have a German state?

"English Penn. Nobody here speaks Pennsylvania German." New Jersey said, rolling his eyes. Penny rolled her eyes. Pennsylvania German? I'm guessing that's the German dialect she was speaking, but I recognized the name. Pennsylvania was one of the original colonies, an English colony. Why did she speak German, and have her own German dialect?

"Hello. My name is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Keystone State." Pennsylvania said, confirming that she was one of the original states.

"Pennsylvania German?" Wales asked. Pennsylvania nodded.

"My state took in large amount of Germans immigrants before the Revolution. Actually, I had more German than English settlers. They continued to speak their language in my state until it eventually became Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch." She said, shrugging. I guess that makes sense. America was created by immigrants and immigration.

"Don't underestimate the influence that Germans have had in US  history and culture." Georgia said. I furrowed my eyebrows. I never really though about the influence countries other that France, Spain, and I, would have on America.

He was a country built off of immigration, so of course other countries would have an effect on him. I always knew that, but meeting the states has shown me how much of an influence they've actually had.

"Really?" North asked. The states nodded.

"Baron Von Stueban was a Prussian general who trained the Continental Army and Daed during the American Revolution. What he taught the American soldiers there formed the based for the US military training handbook." Pennsylvania explained.

"He was also gay, which is really cool." Georgia said. A gay German guy taught America how to professionally fight? That...definitely wasn't what I was expecting to hear, although America has always been full of surprises.

"A gay German guy taught America how to fight. That makes a lot of sense." Scotland said.

"Germans are cool. Aside from 1934 to 1945. They were not cool. Just assholes. But now that the fucker with the shitty mustache is dead, Germans are cool again. Most of the time. The only person I consider cool all the time is Scotland." New Jersey said.

"John Paul Jones?" DC asked. New Jersey nodded.

"Yep. Wish I had been born sooner. Like maybe when our states sighed the Articles of Confederation which allowed us to act more like countries but no, because the universe decided to wait until the fucking Constitution." New Jersey ranted, causing Pennsylvania and Georgia to laugh.

The Articles of Confederation. I felt like I had heard that term before, but I couldn't remember where. It sounded like a governmental document or something, which made me think it might of been important in America's government.

It must of also laid out how America was a union if the states, or at least New Jersey, expected to get a countryhuman after that document and not the US Constitution.

"You're still mad about that?" Georgia asked.

"Yes!"

"Oh speaking of the Articles, D, leave." Pennsylvania said. What? DC looked surprised.

"Excuse me?" She said.

"Leave. Take Northern Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia with you." Pennsylvania said, her voice stern. What? What were they planning? After all of them left it was just the states, Irel-oh. I see. The original states what to talk privately to the countries that were in charge during the Revolution.

"What?" Australia said.

"Why?" New Zealand asked. New Jersey rolled his eyes.

"We want to talk to the countries who were around when we were colonies. Privately. Go introduce Australia to Flor or something. We have business to wrap up." New Jersey said. DC looked suspicious, but ended up nodding.

"Wait why are we leaving?" North asked.

"Think about who will remain after you leave. The countries that made up the British Isles during the Revolution, and the original states." England said. Australia's eyes widened.

"Oh. So this is about the Revolution." Ireland said. The original states nodded. I felt a pit growing in my stomach. While America and I had mostly repaired our relationship, we avoid the Revolution. It was just to painful of a subject for us.

North, New Zealand, and Australia left, following DC towards a field were you could see other states working, and the panther Florida had running around.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Scotland asked. New Jersey smirked.

"Before New York's eyes became black, they used to be a yellow-goldish color." He said. I furrowed my brows in confusion. Why did New Jersey say that? Why did the original states make them leave only to tell us this?

"What?" Wales asked. Georgia smiled.

"Think hard. To before the Revolution. 1767." She said. I was still confused, until I remembered an old memory. When I told America about the New York Restraining Act. His eyes changed to a yellow-goldish color. He also felt different, like he was a different person. I had a bad feeling.

"When I told America about the New York Restraining Act..." I started, watching the realization appear in my brother's eyes. Pennsylvania nodded.

"That was New York. He didn't like you taking power away from his assembly. Georgia, Del, and Mary were able to pull him back before he took control." Pennsylvania said. I was shocked. The states, the original ones at least were around in 1767? They were a part of America?

I mean, I knew they had always been a part of America, but I didn't realize that they had...existed before they became countryhumans. I didn't even know that could happen. But how?

"You were there?" England asked. Georgia smiled and tilted her head.

"We've always been around. Dad was the Thirteen Colonies after all. Didn't you think it was odd that thirteen colonies had one countryhumans?" She said.

"I...I always did. But...I...I...just assumed it was because it was one connected land area." Ireland said, stuttering slightly. I had assumed the same.

"First. Dad doesn't know what we are about to explain to you. So you have to promise to keep it a secret. Please. I don't normally beg for things, but this has to remain a secret. Please." New Jersey said. A bad feeling was growing. I wasn't sure if I would like it.

"I promise." England said without hesitation. Of course he wouldn't hesitate. He was already used to keeping big things a secret from his family. As much as I could understand his reasoning for keeping whatever happen in 1860s a secret, it still hurt.

Whatever happened hurt America, badly. I have seen America during the Burning of Washington, at his low points during the Revolution, 9/11, and his triumphs he won through the suffering and death of his people.

I've never seen him look so horrified, so terrified, seen that kind of raw fear in his eyes. Whatever happened terrified him beyond anything I had ever seen. And England knew, he kept it a secret, even before America dangled reconciliation as an incentive to keep secret.

I wanted to help my son, but he didn't want my help. He didn't seem to want anyone's help. He was pushing himself to the brink of exhaustion, of his health, and continued to insist he was fine. What had happened to my son after he became free?

"I promise as well." I said, as the statement was echoed by Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. I didn't know what exactly I was going to learn, but I wanted to help my son, I was going to help him. I spent to much time fighting with him. We had begun the process of fixing our relationship. Now we needed to finish fixing it, so my son knew that he could trust me with his personal life.

So we could finally have the relationship we lost so long ago.

"There may have been one countryhuman for the thirteen colonies, but there were thirteen colonies within that one countryhumans. We...well we were kind of like voices in Dad's head ever since our colonies were set up. Dad never realized, always though we were his thoughts." Georgia began.

"It wasn't until after the French and Indian War, when the unrest began between the thirteen colonies began, that we began to have a more physical affect on Daed. When ever we became passionate about a topic, Daed would get headaches, and New York, after he learned of the New York Restraining Act, realized that we could force ourselves into control over his body." Pennsylvania continued.

"The only one of us ever actually got control was Mass, but it wasn't full. He shared control with Dad at Lexington and Concord, and at Breed's Hill. And even after well all became states, the territories all briefly had a stay in Dad's head. Most of 'em became states. Some got split into different territories. Unorganized territory, according to my siblings that knew him was a nice person, a peacemaker. He always knew he was going to die. So he tried to keep peace. I wish he had been given statehood. Okie, Oklahoma, went from being Indian Territory to being a state." New Jersey said.

That was...a lot. The states had been...sharing a body with America. I though it was some sort of rebel group that was creating a new countryhuman, that one incident with New York. Instead it was one of the colonies that kept America together, a colony that was done with my acts before America was.

No wonder the some of the original states hated me. The Revolution, and everything that lead up to it wasn't just something they learned about after they were born. They had lived through it, through the Revolution. And they lived it through America's body.

No wonder they hated me. I still haven't forgiven myself for that...incident in New York either.

"Did all of the states go through this?" Scotland asked. Georgia shook her head.

"Florida, Louisiana, Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, Vermont, and California all were countryhumans before they joined the US, so that never happened to them. And the current territories, Guam, Mariana, V, Sam, and Rico all had countryhumans before, so they have their own bodies instead of being a spirit sharing Dad's body. The Dakotas also never went through it, because the Dakota territory was split up when they became states." Georgia explained.

"DC also doesn't know because she was carved out of a state, and never existed beforehand. Same with Maine and West Virginia." Pennsylvania added.

"I...this...is a lot to take in." Ireland said.

"Is there any other countryhumans that are sharing a body with America? At this moment." I asked. The states shook their heads.

"Not as far as we know." New Jersey answered.

"And America doesn't know about this? Any of this?" Wales asked. Georgia laughed.

"Surprisingly, no. And we rather not tell him. Dad second guesses himself enough. If we told him, he'd go back and second guess everything he's done, wondering if it was serially the best choice or just him being influenced by us." She explained.

"Yeah. Dad may not show it, but he's gets anxious over everything. He tries to do the best he can, but he constantly gets told that he's not doing enough, or that he's doing too much. Regardless of what he does, he receives heavy criticism. He's lost a lot of faith in his choices because of that. He's convinced that not matter what he does, he'll never make good decision." New Jersey added.

Well now I felt worse. America had always seemed so confident, and unshakable. Now I was finding out that he was barley taking care of himself, second guessed everything he did, was hiding some sort of extreme trauma, all while trying to raise children.

Even though we only became a family again in 1945, I thought I had learned everything about how my son changed. Now it was like meeting him again during World War 1. He had changed so much and was like a stranger to me. I thought I knew everything important about him again.

But now I see that stranger.

Did I really even know who my son was?

#secret states by weird #weird’s wattpad stories #countryhumans #statehumans #writing

[missnight0wl]

HPHM Character Profile: Helena Ellis

Thank you for tagging @callmederok​ ! 😊

I’m tagging anyone who reads this and would like to organise information about their MC. Please, let me know if you do it!

Created by: @cynicaljapanophile​

General Information.

Name: Helena Sarah Ellis Age: Currently 15 Gender: Female Nickname(s): Majority of people, including her friends, call her simply Helena or Helen. During the fifth year, Charlie started calling her Nell. For family members though, she’s Ellie. Date of Birth: 23rd of June, 1973 Astrological/Zodiac Sign: Cancer Ethnicity: Welsh (father’s side), English (mother), American, possibly Jewish (maternal grandmother), Polish (maternal grandfather). Nationality: She was actually born in Cardiff, Wales, so technically she’s Welsh – even though she never lived there, only visited her aunt. Species: Human Blood Type: AB Rh- Blood Status: Half-blood Family:

Christopher Ellis, Helena’s father. A Muggle with a scientific mind who’s fascinated by the wizarding world (sometimes also terrified, especially after Jacob’s disappearance). He is is a Physics teacher in secondary school. Christopher had an older sister, Margaret, but unfortunately, she died of cancer when Helena was eight. His parents passed away as well, even before Chris met his future wife.

Alice Ellis (née Kowalski), Helena’s mother. The only daughter of Queenie Goldstein and Jacob Kowalski. True Hufflepuff, kind and hard-working. She works at the Department of International Magical Cooperation in the Ministry of Magic. Way more powerful than it seems.

Both Queenie and Jacob are a big part of their grandchildren’s life. They’re also close with Tina and Newt. Now, I didn’t spend much time on developing the Scamander family, however, I had a problem with Rolf’s existence in general as he probably should have overlapping years with Jacob and/or Helena. So I decided that Newt and Tina’s son moved to the USA, and that’s actually the relatives from the Christmas SQ. At first, it felt like a stretch, but then I decided that it’s even cute – you know, Tina went to England for Newt, and their son went back to America for his love. Affiliation(s)/Organization(s): 

The Ellis family

The Kowalski family

The Scamander family

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Ravenclaw House

Occupation(s): Student

Magical Characteristics.

Form of Boggart: Her loved ones telling her it’s her fault. Helena blames herself for many things that hurt her friends, and she fears that deep inside, they think so too. She’s afraid that everything that’s happening with the Cursed Vaults is her fault, no matter of her actions. And that Jacob might be dead because she didn’t prevent it in time. Form of Riddikulus: Probably the same people in some light-hearted situations. Like Ben thanking her for believing in him instead of blaming for everything he had gone through. That is assuming she’d be able to cast Riddikulus at all (she probably wouldn’t if she saw Jacob). Form of Patronus:  A Spotted Hare. What do they see in the Mirror of Erised?  Helena wants the most to have a normal life. Not only for the Cursed Vaults shenanigans to be over, but so they never happened. Therefore, she’d probably see herself, her hair in a neat plait, her parents not being overtired, her brother holding his cat, her diary having entries starting with “Dear diary,” instead of “Dear Jacob,”… Just an average girl with the average family. Wand(s): 

First wand:

Length: Twelve inches.

Flexibility: Pliable.

Wood: Acacia.

Core: Unicorn hair.

Description: Given by the game. It is said that Acacia wands often refuse to produce magic for any but their owner, and also withhold their best effects from all but those most gifted. Unicorn hair wands produce the most consistent magic, are the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts and the most faithful. I feel like it’s something Helena needed at that time – something unique and powerful that chose her and will stay loyal to her.

Second wand:

Length: Eleven-and-a-quarter inch.

Flexibility: Fairly flexible.

Wood: Ebony.

Core: Dragon Heartstring.

Description: Given by the game. Highly suited to all manner of combative magic and to transfiguration. Ebony is happiest in the hand of those with the courage to be themselves and hold fast to their beliefs. Frequently non-conformist, highly individual or comfortable with the status of outsider – something that Helena has learnt over the years.

Animagus: A doggo! Pretty similar to the model in the game – just a light brown scrub. Amortentia: Her grandparents' bakery, petrichor, honeysuckle, grass, popcorn.

Appearance.

Height: Currently 163 cm (5’4”). She won’t be much taller by the end of school – pretty average 165 cm. Weight: I don’t know… About 50 kg (110 lbs)? She’s a rather slim girl. She loves to eat but she easily loses weight due to stress. Complexion (skin tone/conditions): Quite fair, probably with some acne every now and then. I mean, she’s a teenager under a lot of stress. Hair Color/Style: Her natural hair is light brown and wavy. In the fifth year, she made it darker – similar to Jacob’s shade. She usually keeps it medium length. Eye Color: Green.

Hogwarts Information.

Worst Class(es): Probably History of Magic. Not necessarily because of the subject (she actually likes to study it with Rowan, and she enjoyed study session with Ismelda), but because of Binns - as the teacher’s role is quite important to her in overall opinion. Also, she’s surprisingly not very good at Care of Magical Creatures. She’s a bit too confident due to everything she learnt at home and from grandpa Newt. She has the knowledge, but it’s not really structured. Luckily, she’s good at improvising and connecting facts. Best Class(es): Charms. Again, for a big part because of the teacher. She also likes how universal it is. Least Favourite Teacher(s): Binns. She respects his knowledge, but she hates his absolute lack of teaching skills. She also didn’t like Snape for quite a long time, but she grew weirdly fond of him. She even learnt to laugh at his jokes. Unfortunately, they’re usually not meant to be jokes… Favourite Teacher(s): Flitwick. She loves his passion, his dedication, his approach to students. She never attended any of her dad’s class, but she often imagines that Christopher and Flitwick are similar kind of teachers: infecting people with love for their subject, sprinkling it with a healthy dose of puns.

Honourable mention: Rakepick. They have their ups and downs on the personal level, but Helena admires her as an educator and a mentor. Quidditch: Meh. She doesn’t play herself. She’s pretty good on a broom, she understands the rules well, but when all the balls start flying around her, she feels lost. She cheers very loudly whenever Charlie or Andre play, but the social aspect of those events is more important to her than the game itself. Favourite Spell(s): Protego and Expecto Patronum.

Trivia.

(random facts about them, future job, face claim, theme song, etc.)

Helena has a piercing in her ear done by Tonks. At some point of the fourth year, Tonks wanted to convince Helena, Tulip, and Rowan to get matching tattoos. You know, because she was always hanging out with Helena and Rowan, she started getting closer with Tulip, and most importantly, she joined the team when they went to the Cursed Vault. Surprisingly, no one wanted a tattoo, but they agreed for piercing. And Helena was stupid enough to go first… The end result is really nice, but the process itself didn’t go as well as planned, making other girls withdrawing from their decision. Also, nobody wanted to pierce Tonks’s ear, and they stopped her from doing it herself.

#hogwarts mystery #hphm #hphm mc #jacob's sibling #helena ellis #hphm jacob #jacob ellis #christopher ellis #alice ellis #hphm character profile

[mermaidsirennikita]

Can you do a meta re your thoughts on Elizabeth of York and why she attracts so much controversy today when she seemed to be the opposite way alive!

Sure!

Really, I initially found Elizabeth of York so bland that when the Tumblr interest in her really kicked up, I couldn’t care less (felt the same re: Henry VII).  In all honesty, Elizabeth is another person that I don’t think we know very much about–and what we do know indicates that she was a fairly conventional English queen.  The Tumblr side that really hates Henry VII seems to be under the impression that English queen consorts had a vast amount of solid political power, but as I have discussed before on my blog, they did not.  The political power of queen consorts was heavily dependent on the power their husbands exerted (Margaret of Anjou, for example, had a weak husband and therefore had more opportunity to step up to the plate) the power their husbands allowed them, and in some cases the power of their natal families.  (Catherine of Aragon was pushed around by Henry VIII, but he still had to acknowledge her as the Dowager Princess of Wales and give her some financial assistance because she was a princess of Spain; Anne Boleyn could be tossed aside and executed because her family was made up of English nobles, and not the most powerful ones at that.)  Elizabeth of York didn’t have a family base to rely on because Henry essentially did away with their true power by becoming king, at least in England; and he wasn’t particularly keen on Elizabeth having political power, it seems, probably because she came from that family.

But then–honestly?  That’s me speculating.  Because while I think it makes total sense for Henry VII to not want Elizabeth to be a political player, and don’t find that abusive at all, we really don’t have any hardcore evidence that Elizabeth had any interest in politics.  She was one of many daughters–and excess, some would say–and in all likelihood, had her father lived longer, she would have been married off to some foreign prince.  Because of her father’s death and the actions of Richard III, Elizabeth actually lucked out in becoming queen of anything, let alone a country that she almost definitely wouldn’t have been queen of otherwise.  (I………. do not give much credit to the “Elizabeth of York should have been the sovereign queen of England” argument.)  

To be super honest, I think that the fascination surrounding Elizabeth of York has to do with a) the ability to project things onto a blank canvas and b) the drama surrounding the ~Tragic House of York~. I say this as someone who loves the drama surrounding the Yorks, I think they’re super fascinating–I just wouldn’t call them victims.  

We know very little, as previously mentioned, about Elizabeth’s personality.  She didn’t have any grand speeches like Catherine of Aragon, didn’t have these moments of frenzy like Anne Boleyn; she sounds like a nice lady, and honestly, kinda bland.  I tend to feel like because we don’t have a strong idea of who she was, fiction writers are able to put whatever they want on her (the same is done with Anne Neville).  Then it spirals into people on sites like Tumblr either picking up those ideas of Elizabeth, or creating their own.  She can be anything–depending on which side you prefer, the Tudors or the Yorks.  She can be the tragic York princess who should have maybe??? been queen, stomped on by her mother-in-law and a domineering husband if you prefer the Yorks (and if you wanna get kinky, you can throw in a romance with her uncle, which is obviously bullshit on a historical level but ngl, kinda entertaining).  If you prefer the Tudors to a fault, she’s Henry VII’s beloved wife who had the Greatest Romance of All Time with him, and when people question this, you can be like “but they cried together when their son died!!!!”. 

The truth is probably somewhere in between.  Elizabeth probably wasn’t the spirited rebel forced into marriage; she probably had been expecting a political marriage her entire life, and likely went into it knowing that it was her duty.  What we do know of her indicates to me that she believed Richard III did away with her brothers, but you could always argue that she had to say so because Henry was her husband.  Doesn’t really matter; she became queen.  She seems to have had, at the very least, a perfectly pleasant marriage with Henry; if there was any grand passion, it was behind closed doors.  (As it was with most political marriages!!!  We get so used to hearing about the rows between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and all of those letters he wrote her that we forget that this wasn’t the norm, and many kings and queens might have traded affectionate letters, but for the most part didn’t perform like stage actors making out for all the court to see.)  She was popular–and why wouldn’t she be, as a beautiful, sweet-tempered daughter of Edward IV–and she seems to have been a good mother and good at her job.

You’re exactly right in that she seemed non-controversial in life.  We can’t deny that Henry VII didn’t really have a space for Elizabeth at the table during his reign, and that he turned more to his mother in matters of politics.  But for God’s sake, I haven’t really seen anything that indicates that this bothered Elizabeth.  I’m purely speculating here, but like–maybe she was fucking tired of that shit after spending years of her young life in political chaos.  And if her mother-in-law stepped on her toes sometimes, she doesn’t seem to have gotten into any catfights about it.

So, to answer your question: I think that much of the controversy around Elizabeth of York today has to do with a post-fiction, post-feminism, maybe even post-fandom obsession with the rebel princess and an inability to accept things at face value.  It’s about a desire to project our ideals of what a woman should be, what a man should be, and what a queen should expect onto people who lived centuries ago.  And it’s about an inability to distinguish between fiction and reality, to be honest.

#Anonymous #take a shot every time i write 'honest' or 'honestly' in this post #i really like saying that idk maybe it reflects my personality

[helshades]

Thank you for this beautiful answer! Evidently, it inspired me a few things, gathered thereafter if you feel like having my opinion. It remindeed of multiple aspects of the red cap crisis that I had forgotten, eg. the start of it on a (kind of) fuel protest, as with the current protests. I want to underline that you mark the beginning of the movement on the June 18th. As I remembered, there was protests before that and the free distribution of headwares by Armor Lux. Concerning that, ---

I think that it provided mainly free Mützen, which is an offer few are able to turn down =) Anyway, I didn’t feel that the implication of company leaders was felt like a more decisive factor than a welcome but potentially uncomfortable support to the protesters, particularly the slaughterhouses employes and FO. So as usual there, it’s a awkard alliance between regoinal politics, laborers forces, and capitalists interests. Personnaly, I wasn’t more thrilled by the quite anti-eco mindsetsthan I’m now. I’ve no sympathy for the mass-producing low-quality FNSEA. If they’re backed into a corner, too bad. Yes, I lament the loss of the eco-tax because of it.

However, at this point of the text, I feel the need to tell that I’m breton. However, I won’t tell you a thing more, please imagine yourself how I reacted to what you wrote. If we thought we’re Wales politically, what does it have to do with the language? By the way those 3 are brythonic celtics, as close as french anditalian. No, we mainly don’t dream of independence. Now sadly I see in your text the old mindset, “province is a playground of aristocrats/medef since they can’t think of what is good for them i.e. the nation.” Of course these forces try to play on other interests. Maybe the difference is that in Brittany we are ready/forced to ally with unsavory characters to advance our (whatever) goals. It’s always like that. Melenchon has good points here. Comparing with today, I agree that the reforms are now not at all emerging from a deputies consensus unlike in 2013. But in Quimper protested far-left independantists and not far-right. Troadec is not far from being a Melenchon twin. He ends on a dismissal though, as he doesn’t see the compromises that are in place. So who have a less popular basis?

I didn’t speak about legality of protest. Nationalist as in considers the nation as it’s defined by it’s ideology and I’m sure you now how the french nation is defined. And why care about the upper echelons, nation or federation of nations, as long there’s a reasonnable say on a smaller scale. France is not a more logical/natural/whatever structure of control that the EU is.  From Brittany, Marseille isn’t more local than Frankfurt is. Well, consider the french institutions as supranational and they indeed decide globally, removing power from the populations. Is it a good or a bad thing? If only it could allow a differentiated application of the eco-taxEU institutions let differentiation happens all the time. Only time will tell how it turns out. Sorry for the discombobulation and thank you for your time.

P.S.: I saw your addndum and understand. You correctly pointed at the differences between the two movements and have been of great assistance to help me refine my thoughts on these subjects. Thank you again.

Thank you! It was a good exercise to brain this, considering I hadn’t given enough thought to the bonnets rouges in a while either, which was a mistake. We shouldn’t let comparisons like this slide when they are being made by politicians such as Édouard Philippe, who I suspect is less politically clueless overall than Emmanuel Macron himself.

Concerning the intent behind the 2013 protests, I think protesters who came to demonstrate freely to defend their rights cannot be held responsible for unsavoury groups joining the free cortège. Manipulated or not, the protesters in 2013, with or without a red cap, were sincere, and I’d wager there were many more ordinary citizens than big business honchoes demonstrating. And they were making many salient points. Where I get Mélenchon’s probable frustration is that ‘awkward alliances’ have historically hurt the French Left quite a bit, and it always takes a lot of time to reconstruct.

I tend to approach the eco-tax issue more from an economic and political perspective than from an environmental one, I’ve come to realise. I didn’t translate it in my previous post but Mélenchon in the same text I quoted (‘The bonnets rouges farce’) made a few crucial remarks about the tax itself:

‘Let us observe the facts. The contract is allowing for proper plunder of the State, which has committed itself to pay [private company Ecomouv] a monthly rent of over 18 million euros a month, starting from 1st January 2014. This makes 20% of the expected takings of the eco-tax, around 85 millions per month. 220 millions a year! And that rent must be paid even during the ‘suspension’ the Prime Minister announced, whereas the State will not perceive a penny. Customs officers have explained they would have been able to set up and manage the very same tax with 5% management fees at best. Resorting to the private sector will therefore cost 4 times more, at least, than public service!

Considering the 650 million initial investment, after 14 years, the pick-up would have been especially costly. Ecoumouv would have collected 3.2 billion euros. In other words, all expenses paid, a total return of 2.5 billion euros! A complete scandal! From now on, it goes with another one, just as insufferable: were the government to suppress this tax altogether, it would have to pay the company 800 million euros! What are François Hollande & friends waiting for to demand a judicial inquiry or to create some parliamentary commission? A flock of bleating sheep is governing the country!

This week, Marianne published a column which I co-signed with other elected representatives, against the pillage that the privatisation of motorways by the Villepin government constituted. The eco-tax is another example of State looting. Both subjects are related. The main goal of the eco-tax was to generate takings that could help finance transport infrastructures. Why is that? Because privatising motorways effectively reduced the takings previously destined to do so! The benefits that [private companies] Vinci or Eiffage are making from the French motorways are as much money as could have either remained in the motorists’ pockets or gone to finance road infrastructures. Once again, here is proof that privatisation is a foe to the general interest. Liberalism doesn’t work when it comes to run any civilised society with a taste for efficiency. Liberalism costs much to society, and nothing works well.’

On a side note, I did mark the beginning of the movement as 18th June, which had me hesitate for a while, actually; not that I elected to ignore, notably, Christian Troadec’s involvement, but I had decided to focus on the 2013 movement only because it was at once what made the government back down and what prompted Mélenchon’s ire.

Now, let us clarify the ‘Welsh’ comment, shall we?

That paragraph was mostly fond irony, in the hope that some Bretons would be reading and get entertainingly titillated. ‘They believe they are Wales’ was a jibe aiming at the independent-country-within-a-country vibe, also based on, precisely, the linguistic relationship between Welsh and Breton, and their foreignness to, respectively, English (a Germanic language with heavy Latin influence) and French (a Latin language with heavy Germanic influence, and some very moderate Celtic influence as well).

On the subject of language—of Brittany being incapable to masquerade as Wales because of its Brittonic language—I was mostly drunk on fatigue and concluding in another window another post on etymology, which led me to write probably the obscurest linguistic reference I have ever made on this blog: linguistically speaking, Breton and Cornish are more closely related than they both are to Welsh. They still pertain, all three of them, to the Brittonic branch of the Insular Celtic languages group—except Welsh has a name that literally means ‘Gaelic’ and this is, like, super annoying. It is, also, completely England’s fault (when is it not) since the actual name of Wales is Cymru. But there you go: you know it’s a Germanic root when English writes it with a [w] but French writes is with a [g].

On the subject of regionalism… It might surprise you, but I’m actually quite divided on this. On the one hand, there are my personal Robespierrist inclinations, and also, mostly in fact, my being the daughter of a History teacher and being a, erm, language specialist, with a certain attachment to the Idea of France as a historic entity because… well, it is the result of centuries of events that cemented our regions into a political unit…

On the other hand, well, half of me is from Isère with strong ties to Lyon, and the other half is firmly, ferociously ardéchoise. From the south. In the mountains. I know very little about pig farming but I’m pretty sure I’m related to at least a couple goats—and, much more seriously, I have always been torn on the question of regional identity because it is of great importance in my family, not least of which because I come from two endless lines of peasants. I have a notion of family roots that is pretty literal, in fact. And, technically, I ain’t French, on either side. My grandparents learnt French in school; it was my parents’ generation that grew up hearing patois at home and speaking French at the same time.

And Ardèche is a very beautiful, but very poor region. I have always been divided, without too much fuss to be honest, between it and Lyon, and I am very well placed to know how unequally financial resources are shared—and, incidentally, the harm it does to the environment, as righteous city-dwellers are rather prone to ignore the fact that most farmers have been constrained to productivism in the first place, expected to feed an ever-growing urban population…

I am, anyway, in favour of a greater, if relative, autonomy for regions, and I’m not necessarily talking about the ginormous, meaningless ensembles that were reinvented recently. I do believe that national institutions are paramount, because they allow us, quite simply, to set up a functioning national insurance system to finance public infrastructures and services for all. However, I may be much of Republican, and I may truly dislike communitarianism under all its shapes, I think we must address Parisianism for what it is.

#pavé césar ! #long post #answers #nonnies #french politics #brittany #regionalism #france #gilets jaunes #bonnets rouges

[shockcity]

HP #3D - Temeraire Crossover

Rating: T Summary: Harry finds himself stranded in an alternate universe in which the Napoleonic Wars are fought with dragons. Yeah. He thought it was weird too. Category: M/M Pairing: John Granby/Harry Potter Warnings: none

THIS IS PART IV

Note: this is the end! I’m not sure if there will be another installment. I’ve edited this fic for what seems like years, and still there’s segments that need work. My dyslexia is especially noticeable in some rough areas here and there, and my writing skillz (what writing skillz?!) three years ago are not what they are now. But hey, if someone enjoyed this then I call it a win. Thanks for reading!

---

Part IV

.

“No, Remy, sorry,” Harry was saying. “I’m afraid old Boney’s dead here. We trounced him.”

Remy looked at his company, whom, despite the strangeness of the situation, seemed quite at ease with him. Or well…after a few hours of going to pieces, before the shock of meeting a well-spoken and sort of but not really non-violent dragon had worn off that is. Remy had used that time to coddle his captain for a bit, poking at him and snuffling his hair to make sure that Harry was quite well. And of course, to interrogate him.

“Who should we fight then?” Remy asked, put out but also satisfied that Napoleon had met a sticky end. “Perhaps those machines in the sky? They’re dreadfully loud. Can I eat them?”

“I see where Potter gets his violent habits from,” Draco said, very grouchy that he had been dragged out of bed for this meeting. Beside him, Bill looked overwhelmed but much calmer than when he had first run to Harry with the news. Teddy was helping Charlie wash Fred, who was purring quite loudly at the sensation.

“It might be the other way around,” Bill said. “If Harry’s older.”

“We have the Ministry to fight, and that will do,” Harry told Remy. “And those are planes. You shouldn’t like the taste of them, I don’t think. You’ll never believe how the Ministry has bollocksed things up–”

Bill shushed him for some strange reason, so he went on in a quieter voice, “but we’ll need to hatch more like Fred, if we’re to beat them.”

“And then we can have our own Aerial Corps!” Remy said excitedly. “Yes, I quite like that idea.”

“I don’t,” Bill muttered just as Draco said, “Are you mad? These are Ministry sanctioned Dragon Preserves, Potter. If you think they won’t notice eggs missing, or you training an army of bloody dragons, then you’re more stupid than I thought. And mad. And suicidal–”

“Actually,” Charlie suddenly spoke up, trying his best to dislodge Fred’s tail from around his neck. “The Ministry doesn’t often come here. You won’t find many Romanian sympathizers, either. Though they won’t go to war for us, I think.”

“What about the dragon keepers in Wales?” Harry queried, ignoring Bill’s increasingly panicked expression.

Charlie frowned. “What mates I had there are gone,” he said. “There was a strike when they brought the dragons to Azkaban. We had just got them out of Gringott’s, see, for their poor living conditions. They heard Azkaban was even worse, that the first hundred they took starved to death. My mates had a bit of a riot, were locked up, and never seen again. The Ministry reckoned they had better keep their dragons alive, so none have starved, but I don’t think they’re treated well at all. In any case, the Welsh Preserve went silent. No one wants to speak out. But some of my friends were well-liked, Harry, we may find a fair few allies there.”

Harry nodded. “Well, that’s settled then,” he said. “We’ll have to talk to the Romanians, see if they’ll let us have a few eggs since they don’t seem to be doing much with them, and then we’ll test the waters back home.”

“And what? Train dragons to fight? We’re outnumbered, still, you know,” Teddy pointed out.

Fred lifted his head and blinked at them. “I can breathe fire,” he said, as if Teddy were slow. “And most dragons can’t be hurt with magic. A hundred dragons against a hundred men, and I’m afraid you are the ones that are dreadfully outnumbered.”

“That’s right,” Remy agreed. “And I have fought twenty-two gun frigates, Grand Chevaliers, and Napoleon’s army, and have taken many of them as prizes. If you still think I’m no match for a bunch of crusty old wizards, pray tell me now, so I will know who to eat for my next meal.”

“Now, Remy,” Harry said, patting Remy consolingly. His amusement was hard to hide, however. “You aren’t allowed to eat my godson.”

“Oh,” Remy exclaimed, perking up. “So you are Teddy! A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I shan’t eat you. For Harry. You know, my capitaine was terribly upset to have left you behind, when he went to fight Napoleon. He was very sad–”

“Yes, Remy, thank you,” Harry cut him off, his face red. Teddy was laughing though. “I think we should get started. First and foremost, it is Fred that should have our undivided attention. He will be the deciding factor of whether or not this can be done. He will need to be taught about rigging, of course, and the maneuvers–”

“Oh, I already know about most of it,” Fred told them, nuzzling Charlie. “I should like a crew to protect my captain.”

“I beg your pardon,” Remy said, somewhat sheepishly. “But I’ve told him quite a bit about our home. I hope you don’t mind.”

“On the contrary, this makes things much easier,” Harry said. “Though I am a bit skeptical as to how Fred turned out so very different from the others.”

“Remy talked to me,” Fred blurted, as Charlie took on the expression of the shamed.

“Harry, we never thought to speak with the eggs,” he said. “We mostly kept them in the saunas, or in fire pits while the mothers fussed over them. And I definitely didn’t think to talk English to them, I rarely do it enough as it is, besides to Barnaby, the cook. He’s English. But they haven’t learned Romanian, either.”

“Of course they have,” Fred interjected. “They can talk to you, but they don’t want to.”

“I think he’s quite right,” Remy nodded. “I have learned some of their dragontongue, and they are not unintelligent. It is their first language, absolutely, but I would not be surprised if Romanian were their second. They are also horribly lazy. You feed them too much, and they cannot hunt or fly very much. And you are kind to them, do not think I am critical, but they see you as silly, but also their captors. It is easy not to want to talk to humans here. I suspect their language is all they have to keep them apart from humans. Or cattle, as it were.”

Charlie looked away from Remy, deflating visibly. “I would not have spoken to you if I was not assured of your character,” Fred reminded him. “And the mistake can be remedied, my Charlie, if we speak with them now.”

“They would want to be set free,” Draco pointed out. “Can you imagine it? Fire and death, everywhere.” He laughed without humour. “Some rethinking about this sorry plan might be in order.”

Remy swiveled his head around to stare at Draco, effectively making him nervous. “We had the same problem back home,” Remy announced. “Most dragons were happy to fight for England, because they had captain and crew as their companions. Spoiled by them, more like.”

He ignored Harry’s snort that very blatantly said Remy was a hypocrite, and went on to say, “But in some countries, like China, dragons roamed the streets, had their own capital, and worked for their food. If the lot here were not intelligent, this would be an impossible endeavor. But they are, you see, and though vengeful of their captivity, if we point out the blame is not on their caregivers here, they will see the fault of your government and want to fight for manumission.”

“Perhaps we should focus on one rebellion at a time,” Bill said in response, where the others were silent.

“Why?” Harry retorted. “Why? I made the mistake of not speaking out overly much about the conditions back home, and though it is an objection that some would find selfish at a time of war, it cannot be ignored. Especially here, Bill, where no one is happy with their lot. Not even Hermione and Ron. They are not happy. I know it.”

“Why shouldn’t we show our strength?” Remy continued. “If you want us for allies, I’m afraid your assumptions of our self-control and intelligence will have to be put out to pasture. And there is no equality shown better than between comrades at arms, fighting together for the same right of living.”

Harry wrapped his arm around Remy and stood to face any more arguments come their way. Yet none was brought forthwith. Charlie, in fact, decided for the rest of them by saying, “Well, that’s torn it. I suppose we have some negotiating to do.”

“You suppose right,” Harry grinned.

:::::::

Getting the eggs from the Romanians was dreadfully easy. The notoriety of Fred’s intelligence was spread quickly, and their plans (vaguely and subtlety intimated) were approved if only because Charlie confessed the Romanians thought it some grand experiment. And they did not much like the Ministry for Magic, anyway, which helped in some small way. They chose from twenty eggs to take five, and Harry cast the strongest, most long lasting heating charm upon them before they were safely ensconced separately from the others.

Charlie had, during this time, also exchanged words with his old friends at the Welsh Preserve. The unspecified, mysterious overtures of attempted alliance were well met, so much in fact that the Preserve was very keen on meeting with their group as soon as possible. This cast suspicion in Draco’s mind, and if Harry were to admit an accord with him, in Harry’s as well. But Charlie was very sure that his friend, a Mr. Martin, was an enthusiast for the resistance, however quietly and carefully. Charlie claimed that he had never known a more anarchical man.

With their eggs safely acquired (and Remy on the job of teaching them, post hatching), and the upcoming meeting with the men at the English Preserve, all that remained was speaking with the dragons. They chose to talk with the Romanian habitants, by way of trial and error before they would do the same in Wales. Remy lead them out to the squabbling groups, their suspicious eyes alighting upon the would-be diplomats the moment they entered the field.

“Hello,” Remy said in stuttering dragontongue, which, much to his offense, inspired a tittering of laughter.

“…can’t speak, the blackie…” said one.

“Who does he have with him?”

“More wizards, he might be working with them…chain us up again…awful two-legged murderers…”

“Please,” Remy said, switching to very unpolished Romanian. “They won’t murder anyone.”

The dragons did not respond to this, though Remy knew they understood. “We’ve come to negotiate your release.”

This made them sit up, some hissing, but all betraying their understanding of the tongue. “If you’ll talk to Charlie, the red caregiver, here,” he said, extending his nose to the man. “He’ll tell you what’s afoot. He wants to free you all, because he along with the other caregivers, think it is right. He is not free, either, you see. The government has chained all of us.”

The dragons did not speak, or move at this proclamation. “Perhaps they are too wary of humans,” Remy said to Harry sadly. “We may be too late.”

“If what you say is true,” one of the dragons interrupted in perfect Romanian. “We shall listen to this human’s speech. But if you are lying, I shall gut you and fry your innards with my fire.”

Remy fidgeted. “I’m not lying,” he said, not wanting to provoke them now that he had them talking. “Just listen, if you please. Charlie is very kind.”

“What is that dragonet about?” another asked, inspiring chatter of agreement and curiosity from his fellows.

“I have chosen Charlie as my captain,” Fred answered, showing well the efforts of his tutelage from Charlie in Romanian. “We will fight the government together, and never be parted.”

A red and gold dragon of medium size hissed at Fred. “You should be ashamed,” she said. “We are dragons. They are humans. They have killed and captured us for hundreds of years. A companion,” she spat. “Chains more like. Murderers!”

Remy made to protest, afraid all would fall into chaos, but Fred, the dear, merely sat up and said imperiously, “You are stupid and lazy. You would complain and complain about your lot, but won’t do anything at all about it. A captain will help you. The humans that feed us are not like the others. They regard us with respect, with affection, and you would call them murderers when they have treated you so well. They too, have suffered, for fighting for you. Charlie’s friends were killed, in your defense, revolting against the government. Yet you disregard them and spit upon us, when we will fight for the rights of humans and dragons everywhere! It is you who should be ashamed!”

Charlie looked to Harry and whined, “What has your Remy done to him? He’s a politician!” Remy, however, looked ridiculously proud of Fred, as Harry shrugged in response. He would have Remy tell him what Fred had said later.

The dragons were silent after this admonishment, and Fred seemed to have lost his patience. “Fine then,” he said, turning his back on them. “You will stay here and complain all your days, doing nothing. It is the only thing you seem to be good at. Come, Charlie, they are hopeless.”

“Now, wait a moment, youngling,” an older, white dragon spoke up. “You are very presumptuous, calling us hopeless. What would you have us do, mind, when groups of wizards shoot at us and kill us for our blood? We know that it is safe here, and that our caregivers are kind. We are not stupid. But out there, youngling, where you have not been, is a terrible place ruled by men who would murder us.”

“Has it not occurred to you that you should fight?” Fred responded dryly. “We are dragons. We breathe fire and rule the very skies. And with our allies, with captains, we can learn to fight better than humans. To fight with our cleverness and our strength, both. They will guard our backs, battle with us and die with us, and when we are free we will have them always. As comrades, as partners and as friends.”

“Idealistic rot,” another dragon huffed, though he gazed a bit closer at Draco, as if to see where this perfect companionship came from. Draco backed away accordingly.

“And you need not have a captain, if you are willing to forgo the happiness of it. But the humans will help. They want to be free as much as you.”

“Will there be no more chamois?” one spoke up, though he was nudged silent by the elder just as quickly. Remy caught this and thought, rather helplessly, of the character of all dragons from one world to the next.

“You might have cows,” Fred speculated, and this caused murmuring to start among them. The hushed conversation did not last long, for it was smothered fast due to their worry that Fred would leave again, and the promises lost.

“I think this acceptable,” the older dragon said. “We shall go with you to fight.”

“You will need to allow the humans to touch you, to protect you,” Fred pointed out, not showing any assumed joy at the success of his negotiating.

“I should like a captain,” one of them said, a young, bright green. “I saw your Charlie bathing you yesterday, do they all do it?”

“They shall,” Remy put in. “And my Harry has got me jewels to wear, back home. He is very attentive. Invaluable, really.”

More murmuring, until finally, the eldest said, “When are we leaving?”

And thus, without any words from Charlie, Fred managed to negotiate the transportation of twenty dragons to the Welsh Preserve.

“I can’t imagine how Fred did it,” Charlie said to Harry, the night before their departure. “Where did he even think of it? He’ll speak for me from here on out, Harry, since he does it so bloody well. This is mental.”

Harry could only laugh, pound him on the back companionably, and say, “Welcome to the Aerial Corps.”

:::::::::

Travelling with so many beasts threatened to be an ordeal, and Harry very briefly worried for it until he was quite soundly reassured. Charlie’s Portkey, a massive cage much like the one used to transport the four dragons for the Triwizard Tournament, was as efficient as it was a trial. They needed a fair few of them, and their enlisted dragons were quite put out to be locked in them. When Harry and his fellows travelled likewise, however, and after Fred made a show of not caring about the accommodations at all, they went forward silently enough.

He wondered at the ability of wizards to transport the dragons so easily with a mite of wistful envy. Harry and Remy remembered, in some disgruntlement, the long days of flight from Loch Laggan to Gibraltar. Though they knew, if they should travel likewise here, there would be a hullabaloo of some measure, considering how witless even a flying car was in the presence of so many Muggles. Their arrival, and it was rough due to the space of the cage, was met by a smiling man who looked only a year or so older than Charlie.

With him, there was an elderly wizard in quite resplendent robes, though he seemed too old to be awaiting them in the often chilly Welsh grasslands. A team of Keepers immediately set to letting loose the frazzled dragons, offering cows (of all the luck) to them despite the short journey and the group having eaten an hour previous. As they took to the meal with ridiculous satisfaction, the man grasped Charlie’s hand and shook it with immense pleasure.

“Charlie,” he greeted. “You’re a sight for bloody sore eyes, mate.”

“Alright, Sam?” Charlie grinned. “Everyone, this is Samuel Martin. Sam…this is everybody.”

His short glance, obviously wary, at the old man was caught by Mr. Martin after a moment of consideration. In contrast, the elderly Wizard seemed fixated on the ground, his eyes half-lidded in lethargy as he smacked his lips together as if preventing a hacking cough.

“S'alright, Charlie,” Mr. Martin said, softly but not in a whisper. “Poor old Bondon is going on a hundred and ninety. Can’t hear a thing, and wouldn’t be bothered to hear it if he could. Sir. Sir!” Martin waved a hand at the old man. “Transfers, sir!” He shouted.

“Very well, very well,” Bondon said gruffly, once startled enough to pay attention. “Carry on, Maurice.”

“Daft,” Martin condemned the wizard, shaking his head with a grin. “He’s our boss, and the best one a man could want, I’ll say. It was Trenchant you had to worry about. He’s our resident Enforcer. While Bondon can’t be bollocksed to watch us careful-like, Trenchant has the eyes of a bloody hawk. He got Hadley a couple months ago.”

“What for?” Charlie asked as they marched across the grass toward the enclosure. Remy and Fred were with them, though Martin seemed not to have noticed yet in his enthusiasm.

“Smuggling,” Martin said with a grimace, and Harry nearly gaped in horror. That a Keeper, likely selling the remains of the older dragons once dead, could be capable of such an atrocity was astounding to him. But all was clear when Martin went on to explain, “His mother was that tabloid writer, Paula Hadley. Was safe writing wot robes were in fashion and which Portree seeker had holes in their pants, but when she imagined an article on the disappearance of her cousin would slip by, they made to put her in nick. Poor Hadley went and tried a desperate run to Sydney, but they caught them before they left port at Liverpool. Bad business.”

“Should we be talking about this here?” Bill suddenly put in, having jogged to catch up with Charlie and Martin, who were in the lead.

“It’s not a problem,” Martin said, smiling at Bill. “You did come here for what I think you came here for, right?”

“That would depend upon how many Enforcers are waiting for us in your quarters,” Draco snapped. The cap upon his head (and Harry wore one much like it) did little to hide him now that he had spoken. That haughty tone could only be pureblood, and if they were hoping for subtlety it was a foolish idea from the get go. Harry rolled his eyes and huffed, taking off his cap with resignation.

Martin frowned at them, as if not understanding how they could be suspicious at all, before his face cleared of confusion. “Oh,” he chuckled. “Alright, then, lads, stand down. Trenchant is out of our hair. We’ve tied him up and put him in the dung pits. Here. See?”

A detour slightly left of the housing revealed a giant heap of dragon waste, where a man in the soiled robes of an Enforcer sat, gagged and magically tied at his hands and feet. The group stared down at him, and then at Martin, who looked very pleased with himself. “You’re bloody mad,” Draco said. “How long has he been there?”

“Oh, only a few days,” Martin responded. “After I got word of you, Charlie, we decided to finally be rid of him. He put up a fight, but we were only too happy to boot him to the head. Literally too. Hawkins knocked him flat. But-” he abruptly stopped, and in a very alarming difference to his friendly, incessantly chatty character of before, he went silent; going so far as to back away from Charlie entirely.

“You did mean for us to fight, Charlie? We’ve been waiting and waiting for something to happen. And you’ve come with your brother, who you said was perdu. And Harry Potter too. Was I…was I wrong, Charlie?”

His hand was very obviously on his wand. “No,” Charlie was quick to reassure him. “You weren’t wrong. Are all of you wanting to fight? How did you know Harry was a sympathizer? What have you been waiting for?”

Martin’s amiable demeanor returned, and he laughed and put up a hand. “Easy, mate, I’ll answer you. Yeah, all of us are wanting to fight. We’ve lost friends and family, you know. And Dragon Keepers are born militants, you know that. We figured Potter was a sympathizer, on account of him being wanted by the Enforcers and all. Quite a bounty on his head. And we’ve been waiting, Charlie, for the army I hope you’ve got hidden somewhere.”

“You’re looking at it,” Harry said, moving forward and making himself known to Martin, who gaped. “Well, for now. We’re actively recruiting for men willing to work with…a special sort of weapon.”

Martin licked his lips. “Such as?”

“Dragons,” Draco was the one to answer, and did so with a frustrated sigh. “Ferocious, fire-breathing, surprisingly whiny dragons.”

“We mean to fly them, in armed formations,” Harry put in.

“They’re very intelligent, Martin, if we can get them to trust us enough to talk, and the lot we brought from Romania want to fight for their own freedom,” Charlie said.

“But we need to negotiate with the ones here, and hatch more that can be taught Harry and Remy’s strategy,” Bill provided.

“And I am Remy,” the dragon said, craning his neck forward and imposing upon Martin’s personal space. The silly man, himself, seemed to have just noticed the dragon. His jaw dropped with absolute awe. “And yes, before you ask as everyone else has; of course I can talk.”

“And complain, which is what most of them do,” Draco muttered.

“That’s twice now that you’ve called them grousers, Malfoy,” Harry said. “I wonder at it, given how often I hear of the travesties done to your person.”

“Oh, piss off, Potter.”

Martin threw his head back and laughed.

::::::::

Eryri was a land of high mountains, yellow-grass veldts and most importantly - cows. There was more than enough room at the Preserve for twenty more dragons, and Harry was happy to find the quarters just as spacious. If on holiday, Harry would have preferred Eryri to any place, if only for the vast green mountains that were so suitable for Remy. While cold and misty, the dragons seemed to keep themselves warm enough. And it was nowhere near as biting a dry chill as Romania, nor as expressly hot as it could manage in those Easterly mountains.

Most of the inhabitants, from conservationist Muggle scientists (mostly in Snowdon) and the Dragon Keepers themselves, spoke a dialect of Welsh that Harry couldn’t make heads or tails of. While most locals, out of the Preserve and otherwise, would find immense fault with his ignorance of their tongue, the Keepers were sympathetic. In fact, the main reason Charlie had gone to Romania instead of Wales, had to do with his inability to learn the language. He was not surprised, due to his rare encounters with Welshmen, that mastership of their language was a necessity if a Keeper should want to work there.

So it was that the dragons of Eryri spoke Welsh as their second tongue. They found most of the dragons on the plains there to be sulky and lethargic, but certainly not as intolerant of humans. It had to do, largely, with the temperament of Welsh Greens, whom populated the majority of the Preserve. Their lot from Romania had two Hungarian Horntails, a whopping eight Romanian Longhorns, three very persnickety Swedish Short-Snouts, two Greens of their own, and five Norwegian Ridgebacks. The only variation in Eryri was a small pack of Hebridean Blacks and a community (full of nosy elders, of course) of Chinese Fireballs.

Remy was of interest to the Common Welsh Greens, for he was of an unknown breed and willing to talk to the Keepers. It was not very hard to persuade them to communicate, and it was likely they had done so before, for when Jordon, one of the Greens, spoke for the first time, his Keeper Brown shouted out, “I knew he could talk! I knew it!” Though it was quite obvious none of his fellows had believed him. The hardest shells to crack were the Chinese Fireballs, whom, so set in their ways, would not deviate from dragontongue. Remy translated their skeptical and stubborn communication to the best of his ability, but told Harry in private that they would not be of much help.

The reason for their reluctance was startling but positive. Hadley, the aforementioned man likely executed tragically, was their Keeper and an expert in Chinese Fireballs. When he had gone, the group of them had withdrawn completely, never going to the enclosure, not breeding, but living off of cows and sleep in a husk of their former selves. Here was the possessiveness of humans by dragons that Harry was afraid was not a feature of this world. The Fireballs would take to no other Keeper, and according to Remy, were still pining for poor Hadley months after his disappearance.

And it was seen in most of the Greens, as well. A rather enthusiastic dragon named Emily had a friend in a Keeper named Frank Sutch, and was more than happy to bridge the language gap between them when it was finally accepted by their community. Some of the dragons, mostly the older ones, were wary of speaking and convinced that any attachment to humans was out of the question. “Seems to me they’re being killed,” one said, a burly-chested Green who was blind in one eye. “And now you say the caregivers go to war. Well, good for them, they have a right to fight, but most of them will die, and I won’t be sad about it. I hate being sad.”

“But you are already sad,” Remy argued. “You do like the caregivers, no, don’t deny it. You would be pleased to be friends with them.”

“If I were young like you, perhaps,” the dragon had retorted. “But I am not. And I see how you depend upon your young Harry. If a human of mine were to die I reckon I’d go with him.”

There was no changing the minds of the eldest, and Harry consoled Remy by saying that they would still benefit from the fight, with or without their participation. There was no doubt in Harry’s mind, after all, that they would win. Yet, seeing this explosive knew relationship between dragon and keeper, the Romanian group decided to pick out their own captains. And the choosing began without any provocation on their part, for the Romanians, quite chuffed at knowing the basics of the Aerial Corps due to Fred, suddenly became the biggest supporters of their plan among them.

“Well, I’m for Brown, of course,” the Green, Jordon said, nudging his new captain and the man that had been sure Jordon could speak. “Just as Emily is for Sutch. We all have our secret favourites, you see.”

And they did have favourites. Though the Romanians were hard-pressed to choose from Keepers they didn’t know. But they didn’t care for a transfer of those they were familiar with, either. “Finicky things,” Remy scoffed to Harry. “And we did offer the transfer, which would be dreadfully risky. They cannot say we are not accommodating.”

Harry reckoned they mostly cared about cows, and if there remained a steady supply, there would be no revolt. “I suppose they just want cows, anyway,” Remy sighed, mirroring his thoughts.

But though the Romanians were the last to pick captains, pick them they did. Of the twenty men, most were not Keepers at all, but groundsmen. A squib named Poker (and if it was his real name, no one would say with surety) had been paired with Kreet, a grouchy Romanian Longhorn, and Melbourne, an often drunk and belligerent Scotsman was paired with Maltak, the most volatile of Hungarian Horntails.

“We should find all of the disreputable men in England who aren’t frightened of dragons, and send them to the Romanians. If it’s what they truly want, as I suspect,” Remy had said.

The vast majority of the dragons chose wisely, though it was hard not to. Harry was pleasantly aware of just how different Dragon Keepers were to most men. The acquisition of a companion in these majestic beasts was forever a brilliant gift, and one they were immensely grateful for. And even though the joyous circumstances had come about under the shadow of war, none of them were low in spirits. Mr. Martin, captain now to a ridiculously amiable Green named Desmond, proved to be the center of the celebration. As the illegitimate leader of them, his happiness and pride set the mood for every rank.

Harry did like Martin, and a few others including Frank Sutch and a forever laughing man named Ackerson, who reminded Harry very much of Chenery. There was Gordon, Mercer and Hallywell, Fobbs, McKinney and Reynolds; all men so easy to get on with Harry could not help but think of home. And Granby.

Remy chose to mention him (and with it, the possibility of returning home) one night a month into their stay in Eryri. “Do you miss him, so?” Remy asked, watching Harry carefully for distress. “I miss Temeraire and Laurence, and Iskierka, she was very nice-”

Harry snorted at Remy’s flattery. Iskierka nice…hah, “And Maximus, I miss him, the lout. But Jane and Excidium mostly, you know. Our wonderful formation. Faversham too, though he was always so dull,” his dragon continued. “But I did not have a love there, when you did.”

Harry was silent for a time, wrapped snuggly in Remy’s arms. “I miss Bee more than I can say,” Harry whispered. “Martin smiles like him, but the eyes are all wrong. Bill is his height, but Bee might be taller. That scruff, McKinney, makes me want to admonish him with soap and razor, before I realize he is not a close enough friend of mine. There is a scar on Charlie’s arm, similar of shape to Bee’s. I see him everywhere, my dear, and I am mad with longing.”

Remy nuzzled him to comfort, but said nothing. Which was just as well, for Harry was struck with a thought that would not stay in the safety of his mind. “Am I betraying him?” he asked Remy. “Staying here, fighting another war? Would an outsider think I have forgot him?”

“What does it matter what they think?” Remy huffed. “And we’re needed here, my Harry. We are.”

“But we’re needed back home, too,” Harry couldn’t help but argue.

Remy gazed down at him with acute eyes. “I do not think the suffering of one is more important than the suffering of another,” Remy said so wisely and philosophically that Harry was suddenly absurdly proud of him. “We will help here, and then find a way home. How do you expect us to fiddle with strange magics when a war is on?”

This did well enough to soothe Harry, though he kept a thought in confidence from Remy. It was a feeling that could hardly be expressed, and with it the question of his abandonment of Granby remained. For Harry thought that he knew how to get home, and unlike Remy, remembered the particulars of his arrival here. As all things eventually lead to, the answer to his return to Granby alarmingly though unsurprisingly enough, began with death.

:::::::::

The next few weeks after the choosing of the captains were hectic and frustrating for Remy and Harry. More so for Remy, who was not a born leader. Or at least, a patient one. Unlike at the covert back home, Remy did not get on with every dragon, and he was gravely aware that he was no Celeritas. Thus arguments frequently broke out, and his confidence in the maneuvers they taught was wavering. Harry tried to tell him that he was doing brilliantly, despite some of the dragons that could not follow directions, though his comforts were often undone by Maltak, who took a special pleasure in slagging his brethren.

Harry got so tired of trying to make the Horntail see sense, that first, tedious week, that he came to the beasts on that Thursday and went completely undone. Remy had been arguing with Maltak about flying with his formation, and was looking more and more flustered as the minutes passed.

“I want everyone in a line!” Harry shouted, so loudly and forcefully that the dragons started. “You there! You lot! This isn’t a hen house. Stop the tittle tattle. In a line!”

His bellowing startled them into moving, their basic understanding of English just enough to follow orders. Though reluctantly. “A straight line, damn you!”

Maltak began to hiss something to the others, likely mutinous, and Harry turned his wrath upon him, “Maltak, I will have order or you shall go back to Romania and lose every chance of the gold and glory you seem to want so badly! And don’t you dare try and attack me, you bloody brute! Get in line!”

With much grumbling, the Horntail edged in among his fellows, who stared at Harry with wide eyes. “You have been recruited by this army to fight for your freedom,” Harry said to them. “Where Remy and I are from, the dragons are respected for courage and for strength. Just as you once were. But it seems to me you are a loss to your species. Your intelligence is on the verge of extinction. You shame me, you shame our Aerial Corps, and most of all, you shame yourselves.”

They fidgeted and looked away from him, though a few had not the decency to be ashamed. Harry picked them out with his eyes and kept them in memory. “If we cannot learn these basic strategies, we will lose, and our enemies will have you killed, do you understand? They will kill you. Did you think that Remy was merely ordering you about, showing away, and not trying with all his heart to save you? You are fools. You disgrace your brethren. That is why this will not work. I will tell your captains that we are better off without. We shall go to war without you. I’ve had enough.”

“No, no-”

“You can’t take my captain away!”

“We were supposed to get jewels and be free, Remy said-”

“No, we want to fight!”

The clamour of their shouting attracted some of the men from the enclosure, but Harry ignored them in favor of shouting, “Why should you deserve captains or jewels or battling!” They went silent again. “You cannot even fly in formations, which will keep safe your captains and assure our victory! We have overestimated you! Almost a week of training. A week wasted. Bah! Nothing done but squabbling and disrespect. You don’t deserve freedom, if you cannot learn to fight for it!”

More disagreements and a few offended hisses. “Harry,” Remy whispered to him, casting a cautious look at the furious Maltak. “Harry, perhaps you shouldn’t say any more.”

“I’ll have my say!” Harry yelled. “All of our hard work has been for naught! They are not smart enough for this kind of thing, though I have seen beasts topple three nation armies! I’m sending them back, with dishonour, sir!”

“Please don’t-”

“He’s scaring me!”

“We’re not stupid! We’re not dishonoured!”

“I don’t want to leave!”

“No,” Maltak said, coming forward out of the distressed line. “We can learn the formations. We can.”

Harry glared at him. “Prove it,” he demanded.

There was a very long silence, and Remy tentatively ordered, “Eight and come about, Maltak’s formation.”

Maltak waited for his formation to come forward, and then lifted off into the air. They did a slightly wobbly figure eight, though they were synchronized, and dipped lower to the sky from a good height, opening their jaws but not shooting fire. It was a common and basic maneuver known to any fire breather back home, and one that Iskierka had used often. When they landed, Maltak gazed at Harry smugly.

“Well done,” Harry said. “Your starboard turn was shakier than a lyre string. You turned your head forward too slowly, your fire would have caught Henry. The landing was lackluster, dragging your belly would have killed your crew if they were aloft with you. It needs work. A week of basic formation training and this is all that is shown for it. You have proved nothing.”

“No, Harry, they have,” Remy said. “They have proved they can learn. If they put their minds to it, most definitely we can be ready in a year.”

“We don’t have a year!” Harry told Remy, rather harshly. “And what of their consideration for their captains? What of the training do they take seriously? None of it, I say!”

“Then we shall master them in three months!” Remy snapped back, quite angry at his captain. “You are not giving them any credit at all. Maltak lead his formation quite brilliantly, and he has proven he can improve!”

“I see,” Harry said with narrowed eyes, looping his hands into his trousers. “I see. You vouch for them then?”

Remy glared back. “I do vouch for them,” he said decidedly.

“Fine,” Harry snapped. “You have three months.”

“And if your men are not ready then?” Remy challenged him boldly.

Harry, who had been in the process of leaving, turned back with a raised eyebrow. “They have two. Shall we see who is the fastest?”

His dragon very nearly snarled at him. “Stakes?”

“An extra ration of cows for every dragon in training,” Harry negotiated. “And of course, bragging rights. And if you fail, which you very well could,” here he leveled Maltak with a smug smile. “You will give over a ration of cows to the men. They’ve not had beef stew since the Romanians came.”

There was a flurry of noise at this, all of them particularly pained at the thought of less cows. Remy straightened his back and looked down at Harry. “We shall see who is the fastest,” he said. “You shall see.”

Maltak came up and whacked Remy with his tail companionably. “I look forward to the extra cows,” he hissed. “Shall we practice now, Remy?”

“I think we shall,” Remy concluded, turning his back on Harry, who headed to the enclosure.

Later that night, after Remy was done ignoring him, the dragon sought him out with all the blustery indignation he could manage. “That was a nice trick!” Remy said angrily. “You might have told me! Now the others are convinced you’re a tyrant.”

“And they’re convinced you’re their superior, who will fight for them,” Harry pointed out. “How did training go?”

Remy sniffed and said, “Well. Extremely well.”

“And was Maltak arguing with every order you gave?”

Remy blinked, before looking at his captain closely. “Not at all. His formation was perfect. He even got the others in line when their flying was not the best. Harry-”

Harry waited for him to speak, but Remy had to think for a moment of what to say. “Harry…” he choked. “That was positively sly of you.”

“Why thank you, my dear. And I do apologies for being short with you,” he said, stroking the side of Remy’s neck. “But I’m afraid it had to be done.”

“Yes, yes it did,” Remy agreed, his eyes bright as he nuzzled his captain. “I think I had forgot how smart you are.”

“Rather you forgot your own brilliance,” Harry countered. “You can teach them, you know, and you can lead them into battle. You deserve their loyalty, and their obedience. Remy, I don’t want to ever see you doubt yourself again.”

Remy curled him close without responding. Harry sat on his arm and relaxed, tired from his own day of training crews and captains. “Thank you, mon capitaine,” Remy whispered to him eventually.

“No need,” Harry returned. “You’ve done wonderfully all by yourself.”

::::::::::

“Port, to port! Blast it, what is that? Quicker, quicker!” Harry was shouting. “Mr. Martin, these pilfered grenades would do wonders if your men could actually use them!”

Their ammunition, magical grenades stolen and bought from some rather shady gentlemen (the friend of friend, indeed) was a right side better than the grenades and muskets of the eighteen hundreds. If in the hands of his own crew back home, Harry could without a doubt depend upon the advantage. But the Keepers that served as a makeshift, small crew for the dragons, were unused to weaponry. Wands were good for only destructive, close range spells, and the grenades were a dependency Harry was wary of promoting. But little else could be done about it, and once the weapons were mastered, it was all about timing.

They were still too slow. Yet, their afternoon training aloft and on dragon back may yield better results. It was no surprise that the Keepers felt more comfortable on a twenty tonne dragon rather than on the ground.

Their performance was not that shoddy, in any case. Harry had to admit that four months hard work had paid off. Any of these men, if it were possible, would be learned enough for the Aerial Corps back home, though they were not as polished. Not as polished at all, Harry thought, as a topman, Wilkes, tripped over the netting.

So far, their training had remained largely under wraps. The holes in their crew had been filled by able-bodied refugees, provided by a suddenly hopeful Neville. There was underground talk of the beginnings of a true fight, and it lifted the spirits of the men. Neville had told of an unprecedented, slightly cautious joy in the camp, for whispered word of their efforts had reached the limestone city. Harry worried it would come to the ear of an unfriendly, but resolved that the benefit of hope was more important. He also resolved to speed up their training, so that when the Enforcers came to inspect the rumour, they would be ready.

It helped that training men to fight on dragons was a mad idea, serving to lend a mythical quality to talk. If Harry told Neville to insert that they might just be gathering Leviathan beasts and training them to fish with the help of wild-eyed troll nomads, then it was only for the better. The less likely, in Harry’s case, had always been the likely.

After four months, the bet had borne a winner. Remy, rising above his initial insecurity, had whipped the dragons into shape. Harry was the first to tell his men that they had lost the bet they had no knowledge of, and the lack of beef stew made up for the tight formations. Together, they could right well serve as a proper Aerial Corps. But it had taken long enough, with much hard work to get there. And their time to prepare was coming to an end.

The next step in their plan was perhaps the most dangerous. Getting around the fortifications of the Ministry and leading enough of them out of the safety of London would be a challenge. Harry resolved that they would divide their initial attack, and draw the Enforcers out with smart rumours and subtly made challenges. Yet for this they would need spies. A team of rabble rousers directly tied to the Ministry. Provokers who would lead their enemies into a perfectly sprung trap.

And Harry knew where to find them.

::::::::::::

When Ron woke up he was next to his wife. Every morning she was beside him, and generally, they both rose at exactly the same time. There were two differences about today. Ron was not in his bed at home, and Hermione did not wake when he did. He found that he lay on mushy, mucky ground. It was cold and dark, and the only way Ron knew Hermione was there was by the sound of her very familiar breathing. And there were others with them. Other inhales and exhales less familiar.

He scrambled to his feet, bringing up piles of moss in his clenching fingers. He had been laying on his stomach, so the front of his pajamas were covered in dew and dirt. Ron grimaced, before kneeling down to shake at Hermione’s shoulder. She murmured a bit, but did not wake. What little light the forest provided (and he was in a forest, Ron saw) illuminated two others beside him. One was his father, thankfully and unfortunately. Ron did not know who had captured them, but his father was deceptively resourceful. They may just get out of this unscathed.

Ron had to look closely at the other man, who he recognized suddenly as Kingsley. His eyes widened. A number of theories ran through Ron’s head, all them more fantastical than the next. He remained calm, he was proud to say. Ron had never been one to handle pressure or fear well, that was Harry’s forte, but he found himself far from panicking, as he would have thought. Perhaps it had to do with his suspicion that the resistance was at fault for his kidnapping.

And he hadn’t been tied up. None of them were. And- he checked his pocket-yes, his wand was still with him. Ron breathed a bit easier. Whoever had stunned them and dragged them out of their beds did not want to hurt them. Maybe they wanted to talk? Ron thought, scratching his head. But why Hermione and Kingsley? They won’t listen. They never do.

Kingsley groaned. Ron went over to him and turned him over as gently as possible, given Kingsley’s bulk. The man immediately reached for his wand when he was aware enough, and pointed it right between Ron’s eyes. “Whoa, Kings, it’s Ron. It’s Ron,” he pled, backing up with his hands raised.

The man mumbled a bit, thankfully recognising a friend, and got up from the ground. Ron saw Hermione shake herself awake, and his father sit up. “Where are we?” Arthur croaked, as drowsy as all of his son’s were in the morning.

“I don’t know,” Ron said, moving to Hermione and helping her up. “Some kind of forest, I reckon.”

Kingsley turned around and around, looking through the darkness. “We’ve got our wands. Hermione, check for yours,” Ron told her.

“Yes, it’s here.”

“Strange,” his father said, before rising to his feet. “Do you know where we are, Kings?”

“The Forbidden Forest,” Kingsley informed them, his hand tight on his wand.

“What’s that?” Hermione suddenly asked. Ron looked around, but saw that she wasn’t staring at anything, but listening. He focused on his own lackluster hearing but noticed nothing. “I hear it,” Kingsley said.

It took a minute for the sound to come closer. It was a strange noise, like gigantic wings on the wind, and for a moment none of them knew quite what to do. Kingsley bolted into action a moment later, shuffling them closer, back to back in the middle of the small clearing. The sound grew louder, and the tops of the tall trees whistled and shook with the wind. Ron breathed heavily, frightened and confused, until he heard a voice that made his heart near stop.

“You can’t do this to me!” the voice howled over the torrent. “I am Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic! I’ll have you broken for this. Let me down!”

And Percy was let down. He fell through the canopy and into the clearing, briefly spilling light onto the forest floor. Before he could land with a sickening splat, his momentum slowed and he thumped to the ground. Arthur and Ron went to him quickly, while Kingsley raised his wand to the sky. But the canopy had closed over just as fast as it had opened for Percy.

“The audacity! I can’t believe him! Where is my wand?” And as if someone had heard his complaining (hard not to, with Percy’s caterwauling), his wand fell to the ground beside his feet.

“Who’s kidnapped us?” Hermione demanded at the same time as Kingsley asked pensively, “Why give us our wands back?”

“I don’t think they want us hurt,” Ron put in, though skeptical

Percy scoffed, looking down at his soiled robes. “Of course he doesn’t!” he said. “I told you he was mad!”

A crash interrupted Percy’s tangent. The wing beats were back, and they bent the trees before them like twigs. Two fell over, one in their path, and they scrambled away from it. “Sorry!” the unmistakable voice of Harry Potter shouted to them. “Oh, whoops. Remy, careful there.”

Another tree fell. “Harry!” Hermione shouted. “Harry, this is ridiculous!”

Ron wanted to laugh. Of course Harry was behind this. His wand fell to his side, and a knowing smirk stretched his face. “You could have just come over, mate-” Ron started, but then he was gaping. The last tree brought down by Harry’s clumsiness had brought with it sunlight. And before him was a dragon, wedged in between the fort of trees like a great, conspicuous shadow.

“Oh my g-” Hermione gasped, and Ron understood. Harry was atop the beast, of all things, looking perfectly comfortable. He slid off its neck and unhooked himself from what looked like a harness.

“Not our best landing,” Harry said sheepishly, patting the dragon on the neck. “Well, now, let’s-”

“You are out of line, Potter!” Percy interrupted, moving forward to poke Harry in the chest. “If you think kidnapping Ministry employees is lawful, then the Enforcers will have a bloody surprise for you! I don’t know what barbaric world you went to, but here kidnapping is always unacceptable-”

Harry was looking at Percy as if he’d grown two heads. “Alright mate, alright,” he cut him off. “Calm down, you’ll hurt yourself.”

“That a threat, Potter?” Kingsley asked, raising his wand.

That special expression of absolute confusion went to Kingsley now. “God, no,” he said to Kingsley. “And there’s not much you could do to me, I’m afraid. Nor your ham-handed Enforcers.”

“Still think you’re Merlin himself, don’t you, Potter?” Percy said, smiling smugly. “We’ll see. We shall see.”

Harry patted Percy on the back. “Steady on, Perce,” he said. “I probably shouldn’t have brought you here, you always were a bit strange,” he went on, looking at Percy closely as if a telling disease or mental deficiency was obvious on his face.

Ron coughed to cover his laugh. “Now, listen up, you lot,” Harry said. “I’ve called you here-”

“I think you kidnapped us, Harry,” Arthur pointed out sheepishly.

Harry looked at him askance, before glancing around himself. “So I did,” he amended. “Now, listen. I’m not too happy with the Ministry. You’re all a bunch of pigheaded lack-wits, and whether you’ll care or not, you’ve killed thousands of innocent people in the last nineteen years. This won’t do, chaps. This won’t do at all.”

Hermione sighed. “It’s only understandable that you would mistake our efforts, Harry,” she began, but Harry was bold enough to speak over her.

“And since you’ve mucked it all up quite brilliantly, I have no choice but to kill the Minister, usurp this totalitarian rule, and fight fire with fire, as they say. In other words, I’m going to destroy your happy little fascist government, and I would like your…cooperation.”

They gaped at him, though Ron felt something like bubbling laughter threaten to take hold. “You’re mad,” Percy breathed. “Absolutely mental.”

“So they tell me,” Harry said, before he frowned. “I hear that a lot, actually. It’s not very nice.”

“You know we won’t cooperate,” Kingsley said. “You and the beast are hoping to kill us?”

“Remy? No, what?” Harry waved a hand at him. “I won’t kill you. Maim you, perhaps. Obliviate you to the point of invalidity. Maybe tie you up and throw you somewhere for safe-keeping. But you were my friends at one point in time, so no, I don’t plan on killing you.”

“Then try it. We won’t cooperate. And I won’t let you incapacitate me without a fight,” Kingsley told him.

“Well said, Kingsley,” Percy approved pompously.

“Oh, this is just silly. Harry, if you’ll only listen, we’ll clear this misunderstanding up, you’ll see-”

Harry sighed, and Hermione went silent. It took a moment for Ron to realise that he had silenced them all. The flash of his wand was too fast for Ron to even see. He tried to speak, saw that the others did as well, but no sound came from his mouth.

“I shall tell you my problem,” Harry said to them. “This is where we either realise our dreadful mistakes, or I take you out of this fight for your own safety. The choice is up to you, and it is the only choice you have. Now you will listen.”

Kingsley must have tried to cast silently, because his wand was suddenly in Harry’s hand. “This won’t do,” Harry told him, glaring now. “I gave your wands back to keep the peace, not so you could attempt to stop me. I’ll warn you. You won’t be able to stop me. Not now, and not when I destroy your beloved Ministry.” He threw Kingsley’s wand back at him.

“I was carried away to another world nineteen years ago without my consent. But I found family and friends there, and an entirely new sort of strength. I would not have given up that journey for anything, until I came back here and found my original home vastly changed. And not for the better. I wonder at my dying that day, in this very forest, and why I chose to sacrifice myself for people like you. I’m ashamed of you. Dreadfully, horribly ashamed.

"You’re murderers. And even if you have not killed in cold blood, you are an accessory to murder. You are guilty of genocide. You are the ignorant politician we fought so hard to usurp. You are ugly, disgusting people who have let the world go to the dogs for pride and ambition. My efforts to help your mortal souls, as it were, might just be madness to others. What redemption do you deserve, I wonder? It is perhaps, an even worse crime that you were good people once. That you fought for the freedom you now restrict from others yet covet for yourselves. What can be said for you now, I wonder?”

Ron didn’t know about anyone else, but his stomach was curling into itself, like a worm drying out in the sun. He had known all of this before, in his own mind, yet to hear it spoken aloud was more painful than he had imagined. He did not have the courage to look at Harry, who stood stiffly in front of them.

“But I shall try to speak for you anyway. I have hopes for some of you. I know that you are unhappy. Guilty about the crimes you have committed. I also know, Percy, that you despise and misunderstand me. That you think that I am little more than an arrogant, self-righteous nuisance, come from nowhere to wreak havoc on your perfect life. I know that you, Hermione, judge me now. Looking for logic in my betrayal. Assured of your own righteousness and little else. You are wrong. Desperately, sadly and stupidly wrong.

"I would have never imagined the brilliant Hermione Granger wrong in anything, much less in the case of murderer. I would pity you, perhaps, if I had not seen first hand what your ignorance has done. And somewhere in that big brain of yours, where there was once cleverness but is now filled with hot air, you know that I am right. You should also know, that though I can destroy you faster than the thought of it, and the fear of it, can settle in, I am not God, and my judgment is not what you should ultimately be worried about. If you’ll pardon me for showing away, I’ll tell you that I have seen the afterlife, and judgment is there, and waits for you with cruel anticipation. In other words, you’re- how do they say it in America, Remy?”

“Screwed?”

“Yes. You’re screwed.”

Percy’s arm whipped to point in the dragon’s direction. “It talks!” he shouted, either breaking the silencing charm or Harry had lifted it without them noticing.

Harry stunned him. “I shouldn’t have brought him here,” he said, thoughtfully looking at Percy. “I’ll Obliviate him and send him back, never fear.”

“Harry, please, if you’d just listen-”

“Hermione,” Harry looked to her. “You’re a bloody idiot.”

“Now, Harry, you know she’s not-” Ron started.

“She certainly never used to be,” he said to Ron, fixing his bright green eyes on his best friend. “But she is now. And worse, she’s a murderer. She’s dangerous in her ignorance, you know. If she cannot cooperate, she will be tried and unmercifully disposed of, for all the cruelty she’s caused. Do you understand? She is more hated than even the Minister. My clever Hermione. Little more than a political rat, destined for the gallows by her own making.” He shook his head, looking so sad that the anger Ron felt was vastly diminished.

Hermione was looking at Harry. “You can’t possibly think you’ll tear down the Ministry, Harry,” she said.

“You know as well as I do that I can do it,” he said to her. “You know what I’m capable of. Negotiating will not work. You may skip the pleading altogether. Your choice is clear, Hermione. And even if you do cooperate, I do not know that it will be enough in the end. You are despised, do you understand? Hated by good people. And I must confess that I don’t blame them, though I am more sad than anything. Sad for you. For my Hermione, and my Ron, who I missed more than anything in that other world.”

He stared at them each, softly but coldly.

“Cooperate or hang. The choice is yours,” he said, and then waited.

And waited; in almost perfect silence.

Ron looked at him and raised his hand. It was a silly thing to do, he realised, and he blushed but kept it up. “Put your hand down, the war’s over,” Harry joked.

Ron licked his lips, meeting Hermione’s wide eyes. “I’ll help you,” he croaked, and then stronger, “I’ll help, Harry.”

“And I will as well,” Arthur said, stepping forward.

Hermione suddenly burst into tears. “I don’t understand,” she sobbed. “Ron, Ron, how could you-?”

She fell to the floor, stunned, and Ron’s body jolted toward her. But he stopped himself.

“I’ll erase her memory,” Harry told him, comfortingly. “You’ll have to keep her safe, when the time comes.”

Ron nodded. “Well, Kingsley,” Harry addressed the man next. “Is this the parting of the ways, I wonder?”

Kingsley stood before them and Ron was glad to see a thoughtful look on his face. “What you’re proposing is another war, Harry.”

“I am, yes. Though I hope it won’t be a long campaign.”

“I wanted peace,” Kingsley said. “I wanted to be done with fighting. You want us to join you, join the resistance, and I am not stupid enough not to understand why…but I hate you for asking me. I won’t let you erase my memory.”

They both knew Kingsley would rather die than be Obliviated, for his own self-control and that singular awareness of oneself was of the utmost importance to him. They were a lot alike. Here, though, Harry most definitely had the upper hand, but he would not kill Kingsley, to be sure.

“I joined Robards for a reason,” Kingsley went on. “At the time, his agenda made sense, Harry. Do you know that not all of the Order agreed?”

“Killed, were they?”

Kingsley nodded. “Vanished. Killed. Gone.”

“Do I have your cooperation, Kingsley?”

The man raised his wand and looked at it. He kept his eyes down as he said, “Yes. Yes, you do.”

A breeze picked up, heavy with magic, and settled over them. A part of Ron sizzled disturbingly, as if he was put out after being set afire. “Sorry,” Harry said with a grin. “The binding won’t hurt you if you don’t betray us.”

Ron had no time to marvel at Harry’s power, for Harry was stepping forward to speak. And he noticed how changed Harry was, really noticed it, for the first time.

“Now,” his once best friend and now stranger began, the smile for them devilish and energetic. “Here’s the plan–”

::::::::::

“Potter!”

Harry was in the middle of slagging poor Montrose, a Keeper-made-Lieutenant by an overly sympathetic Sutch, and so did not hear Malfoy’s call.

“You couldn’t use a musket or throw a grenade farther than your grandmum, so we got you a wand, but you can’t even cast a stunner, Montrose, and what practice we’ve scheduled for you –and our schedule is abominably tight, mate– you’ve skived.”

“Potter! We’ve got a problem!”

“Really, Montrose, what on earth do you think you’re doing? Or not doing? I don’t know, explain yourself.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Potter,” said Montrose. “But it’s the noise that does it. Rattles me something terrible. I won’t be a Lieutenant, sir, if you think I shouldn’t. Pendry would be better. I’ll only ruin things,” Montrose told him sadly.

“Well, a gun-shy officer won’t do, that’s the God honest truth,” Harry agreed, his hands on his waist. “But I don’t worry so much about Sutch’s crew, they can take care of themselves. The fact of the matter is, Montrose, that I won’t send a man into battle who will turn away. It’s as good as a death sentence. What do you want to do?”

“Potter, for Merlin’s sake-”

Montrose looked behind Harry with a wary eye. “I think Malfoy wants to speak with you,” he acknowledged.

“Yes, Potter-”

“What do you want to do?” Harry repeated rather forcefully over Malfoy.

“Ground crew would suit me, sir, and Pendry for Lieutenant,” Montrose said immediately.

“Done,” Harry obliged. “Now, what the devil is it, Malfoy? I’m mutt n’ jeff after your howling.”

Malfoy glared at him with the utmost hatred and said, “Mercer’s been caught as Trenchant.”

Their resident Enforcer, happily locked away in the enclosure and an unwilling participant in their deception thanks to Polyjuice Potion, was supposed to visit the Ministry on a monthly basis to report the goings on of Snowdon. Mercer had taken his place on those vital occasions, and so far, in their six month steady training and preparations, the disguise had held. It was thanks in part to Ron, Arthur, and Kingsley, that what (if any) rumours of their actions had made their way to the Ministry were snuffed out as soon as they gained life. Discovery remained unlikely, thanks to these efforts. But their secrecy may as well be for naught if Mercer was found out.

“Has he talked?” Harry asked him intently.

Malfoy sneered. “Should we assume he has?”

Harry nodded. “Ron told you this?” He asked, and said at Malfoy’s assent, “Good, then he’s already trying to draw them out. Between him and Kingsley, things might just go to plan.”

Malfoy scoffed. “Right, Potter,” he rolled his eyes. “We’re not ready.”

“We’re as ready as we’ll ever be,” Harry countered. He suddenly smiled and turned to the unashamedly listening Montrose to say, “Good thing we’ve got you sorted before going to war. Though it seems the war is coming to us.”

::::::::

“Weasley’s got them outside Hogwarts, and Kings managed to insinuate our position here. We’ve contacted Neville, he’s bringing volunteers. A hundred maybe.”

“A proper scrum, no doubt about it. Ha, ha, ha. Roland would have me broken for this rabble. Ha, ha, ha. Beat to quarters then, Charlie!”

Charlie was looking at Harry askance, and turned to Bill to ask, “What did he say?”

“We’re fighting, Charlie, dear,” Harry said exuberantly, lifting himself atop Remy with much more precision than his makeshift crew. “We know the plan, we’re a tight enough formation. Beat to quarters.”

Still no comprehension lit Charlie’s face, and he shrugged after a moment of contemplating Harry. “Alright, mates,” Charlie said to the waiting Keepers. “Let’s do this.”

Harry frowned at Remy and whispered, “That’s what I said, wasn’t it?”

It was an impressive sight; a flurry of action, of men running to the waiting dragons in full-rig, for while they waited for word of Ron and Kingsley Harry had them make ready. They were no where near perfection, and never in their wildest dreams could they work as smoothly and as adeptly as the Aerial Corps back home, but their manning of the rigs was a thing of pride, considering. Staggered shouting of ‘all lies well’ rang across through the field, and Remy’s last signal to go brought them to the sky.

Their heavyweights would hide in the shadow of Snowdonia, a marked half of the force, and the rest, lead by Remy, would make way to the grounds of Hogwarts, a scene of battle familiar to them all. The option of Harry’s former school as a battle ground was one he could not pass up. It had turned summer holiday a week ago, and thanks to prayer, the school was largely uninhabited. The unexpected early beginning of the war was not something Harry was peeved about. They were ready enough, and though he was sure most of the Keepers would find their hearts heavy with the coming violence, Harry knew this to be the correct course of action.

They flew for barely an hour, fast and high. Behind them the Enforcers took to Eryri ten minutes before they came upon the force at Hogwarts, and both battles fought with every man available. Somewhere else, where fire and destruction had not yet made the news, the calm Ministry shuddered with a foreboding they did not understand. And in the underground of the many ill-used refugees, beaten rebels and hidden sympathizers– hope sprang eternal.

::::::::::::

MacArthur was a man that made things very hard for Captain Laurence. The rebellion couldn’t have come at a more terrible time, in Granby’s opinion. They had their orders, none of which mentioned their involvement, and the misfortune of being caught in the hullabaloo had spread distemper among them. The eggs were their foremost priority, though Mr. Tharkay’s search for the smuggling business (conveniently running through the whole of Australia) was a second matter of high importance.

Granby was aware of Laurence’s ambivalence. He was imbued with the situation here, due to his own morals and loyalty to the crown. Bligh was about as awful as MacArthur, and both were of the opinion that Laurence and Granby, along with their crews and the hopeful Captains, were a sort of reinforcement for each cause. But the Admiralty sent orders after the first package, addressing the rebellion as a minor disturbance they should not concern themselves with. Yet, they had no real idea of the extent MacArthur’s hold. By the time they reached the Chinese port, the aggravating circumstances could only come to a climax thanks to the absolute pomposity of Nesbit Willoughby.

Granby was aware that when the crown butted heads with poor Laurence’s sense of right and wrong, there was trouble. And they suitably embroiled themselves in the fighting, going against direct orders to have the port destroyed. When all of the rather blustery hubbub was said and done, Laurence worried day and night (with no help from that ridiculous Rankin) of the consequences of his near-treason.

It was a huge relief that the Allegiance would come for them with new papers, and bring Hammond to their doorstep. They were to make the journey to Brazil, as soon as possible, to form alliances with the forces attacked there by the Tswana. No word was mentioned of MacArthur, or of Laurence’s defense of the port. Though, in confidence, Jane Roland sent a rather critical letter to Laurence, speculating on his want to go the way of Potter. This was immediately apologised for, in writing, but it had hurt Laurence quite badly.

As a friend to them all, the absence of Harry and Remy still pained them, but it was well-known that Laurence and Granby had held Harry in higher regard than all else. Roland herself was silent enough about the affair to assure them of her own sorrow, though her concern for Laurence had loosened her tongue, in this case. The loss of a good captain and friend only exasperated the aggravation in regards to the situation in Australia, and when they left they were glad to see the back of it. Granby received his orders before Laurence, so that his cruise in India was cut short and they would meet before boarding the Allegiance. Time was of the essence, and so their passage to Brazil began with little panoply.

The loss of Captain Riley put Laurence into a state of quiet servitude to his own distress. Granby could see it, despite Laurence’s very able restraint, and he worried for his former captain as only a friend could. But the subsequent marooning was handled with noted impressiveness, as only Laurence could so brilliantly remain level-headed during such circumstances, and the loss of Granby’s arm made him forget his concern for a while. It did nothing to help Laurence’s guilt no doubt, but Granby did well not to blame anyone or harp too long on his handicap.

Poor Iskierka likely meant well with her fixing the Sapa Inca’s sights upon him. She knew of his preference, but the selfish desire to see Granby wedded to an empress was too much for her. He had had to speak sharp with her, unfortunately, and the memory of his confession to Laurence was still a source of embarrassment. He thought of it now, of Iskierka’s guilt for pressing him and her terrible sorrow at his poor stump of an arm, and of his words with Laurence. Camped in Paraty, after a long night of consultation, Granby lay beside Little and found he could not sleep for all the chaotic thoughts running through his head.

He felt for Catherine, who had been informed of Riley at their camp that night. But he had not missed Laurence’s flush at Little’s attentions to him. It would be said, however, that Laurence (dear, Laurence) was not intolerably put out by Granby’s confession. He thought of that conversation now:

“I am very sorry,” Laurence had said, apologising for Granby’s preference in the only way a good man of the times could. Granby had shrugged, but for all his loss he was sorry as well.

“So you see, I cannot marry her, if she’ll have me,” he said in regards to the Sapa Inca. Some jolting of his heart bade him then, to admit, “I would be a terrible man in mourning should I consent, though my betrayal of him with Little is enough to shame me.”

Laurence’s eyes widened. “B-but of course,” he stuttered. “My God, John, if I had known…I’m so sorry,” he said.

This was the first anyone, having known of Granby’s attachment, had been so sincere in their sympathies. Roland could hardly look at him, those years ago, for her own pain. He felt the sorrow take hold, and was humiliated to find his eyes wet. “I,” he paused, casually covering his face. “I have taken up with Little, and I know it is a terrible misuse of Harry’s memory, but worse for Little. Much worse. I do not…I cannot love anyone else. Never again.”

“Does Little,” Laurence awkwardly cleared his throat. “Does Little assume your affections?”

“It is hard to tell, of course, Little is very…quiet.” Granby suddenly laughed bitterly. “Harry was never so. Harry spoke his mind. The difference is startling, Laurence, so very huge, between them. Little’s comforts are appreciated, I assure you. He is a good man. But Harry can have no superior. Imagine it, only realising quite how enchanted you are with someone once they’re gone. A part of me is broken without him. He was so very…so very wonderful.”

Laurence fidgeted a bit, but managed to say, “You need not assure me of that, I beg you. Harry, though I would have never thought him of the taste, would do any man a world of good. As my friend, I could find no other as understanding nor so wholly genuine as he. I miss him so, John, though I cannot rightly empathise with your loss.”

This was as far as Laurence would flatter, for his regard was in action instead of word. Granby appreciated it, just the same. “Temeraire and Iskierka are bitter with me,” he revealed, though he was sure Laurence had not noticed. “Their loyalty to Harry and Remy prompts disgust in how easy I have turned to Little. I am ashamed of myself, they need not feel that I am indifferent. But this is making you uncomfortable, Laurence, I am sorry.”

“I am glad you told me,” Laurence had said. “Pray, do not think you should remain silent on my account, especially if you are hurting.”

These good words from a good friend had carried Granby on until now. Yet, while in Little’s presence the guilt arose once more. And Little was awake to hear his thoughts, however unspoken.

“Do not think I expect anything more,” Little whispered to him.

Granby started but turned to him as Little gathered his words.

“I must confess to you that I dearly loved Harry,” he went on. “He was so very kind. And he was for you, John. Simply for you, as you were for him.”

“I have treated you badly,” Granby said, filled with pain at Little’s words.

Little smiled in the dark. “I wanted to be a friend to you, and to Harry,” he said. “Though I never expected to share your bed. It is a nice thing, sharing your bed, John, but I am quite attached to Chenery.”

“Chenery!” Granby gaped, but by God was he relieved. He felt a sort of laughter try to take hold of him. “Has he any idea of your affections?”

“None whatsoever,” Little sighed. “I have tried, heavens how I’ve tried, to give small hints of my heart. He is bullheaded and oblivious, as only my Chenery can be.”

“My Harry was just the same.”

“How did you persuade him?” he asked, rolling onto his back and staring up at the stars. “I am at wit’s end, John, I tell you.”

Granby let his laughter come up. “I confessed, and I was lucky enough to have my love returned.”

“But that was Harry, wasn’t it? He was not nearly so unaware of others as he seemed. And he had a great capacity for love.”

“And so does Chenery, my dear,” Granby told him, feeling better than he had in so very long a time. “Come, if we cannot sleep we shall plot. You will win Chenery with my help, you’ll see.”

They spoke into the night of the matter, and when sleep finally took them a turn of a glass to dawn, they fell into dreams with the knowledge that their affair was over. And something in Granby’s heart, holding out for the impossible, let out an excited tremble at the resilience of love.

::::::::::

Two months. Two deadly months of scrum. Harry collapsed on Remy’s forearm and gave a prelude to a snore. “Do not sleep just yet,” Remy said, yawning widely. “Bill’s coming.”

Harry lifted himself up with tired dignity, and met Bill’s weary eyes. “The Butcher’s bill, then,” he murmured, before calling to him, “How goes it?”

“Better than Tuesday,” Bill said, sitting down. “Six wounded. None dead.”

“We’re doing well, you know,” Harry told him, shifting to sit cross-legged. “It might be close to that time.”

“The final stroke with half the men we had before?” Bill contemplated sarcastically. “If you think so.”

“Bill,” Harry said, with slight admonishment. “We’ve got better. The Ministry has got worse. What more could you want?”

“An end to it,” he answered, covering his face with his hands.

“This is a short war, William,” Harry reminded him. “A very short, very important war. And before you insert that you thought the Second War was shorter, I’ll remind you that there was hardly any dilly-dallying in this campaign. We began strong, and I find it very likely we will end strong.”

“You sound like Robards,” Bill laughed, in a better mood than before, thankfully. He sobered quickly, however. “Don’t you think this is a bit more…brutal…than we had thought it would be?”

Harry thought on this for a moment. To Bill, it was likely a very high-priced endeavor. The loss was nowhere near extravagant, but still quite expensive. He could find no pain in himself for the loss of Percy, though he was sad, infinitely sad for the Weasleys. Hermione and Ron had ducked out of the war early, thanks to Ron’s cooperation, and Arthur had done the same for the rest of his family. No other Weasley besides Charlie and Bill were involved.

There were friends gone, poor Mercer tortured to death, Brown and McKinney dead in battle, and the Welsh Green named Henry fallen to death along with his captain and crew from a grenade from the ground. There was an immense loss in the refugees and volunteers that had come out of hiding to take their stand. Many had paid the price. And even though this would be a short war, it would not be an unbloodied one.

“All war is brutal,” Harry finally said. “But yes, Bill, it is…it is always hard. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t know what you’ve got to be sorry about,” Bill said, rising to his feet. “We wouldn’t have fought if not for you. And we wouldn’t be winning neither. And we are winning. You’re right.”

Harry grinned. “Let’s have another week of wearing them down. Get the last of the Enforcers. Make Robards a little more desperate.”

“Then the Ministry?”

“Then we take her for a prize,” Harry grinned and winked.

Remy yawned again and said, somewhat mockingly, “I like prizes.”

::::::::::

“Well, this is fortunate,” Harry said into the curve of Robards ear. Around them, the invasion of the rebels took the closest Enforcers, would-be warriors in office, and straggling civilians as prisoner. Their team of dragons waited above, prepared to capture anything running. The Muggle world just outside the lift was sadly unaware of Harry’s most impressive, most subtle victory to date.

“You think this is the end, Potter?” Robards said over the blood his mouth. He had been punched, very discriminately, by an excited refugee. “The Ministry will not be brought to heel by a bunch of useless inbreds!”

Harry laughed at him, and sat him very kindly in the chair for his guests. He gestured to Teddy, who, with much flourish, sat in the Minister’s seat. “If you don’t surrender we’ll kill you,” his godson said happily. “Sorry.”

Robards looked to them both and sneered. “You cannot take me and expect those loyal to me to stand down. They won’t.”

“We’ve captured or killed most of your loyal subjects,” Teddy said with a roll of his eyes. “Get it together, Robards, you’ve lost.”

Harry coughed out a laugh. With his wand trained on the man, he said, “Listen, it won’t be that bad. We’re not tyrants. We’re just putting a stop to your rule. You’re really not all that good at this job, sorry to say.”

Robards merely snarled at him.

“We shouldn’t kill him,” Bill said, coming into the office. “All accounted for. No one’s left.”

“Do you hear that, Robards?” Harry asked, turning his gaze back to the man. “There’s nothing left of your Enforcers. It is truly over.”

“I will not surrender!” Robards bellowed. “This is my Ministry!”

“Throw him in Azkaban,” Charlie yelled from the door. “We’ll try him after the election.”

“Election? Election?” Robards howled.

Harry stared at him askance. “Why of course an election,” he said, shrugging. “This is a democracy, sir. Sort of. I’m afraid you’re a bit confused as to who is the villain is here.”

They escorted Robards out of the Ministry, though it wasn’t quiet. “This is MY Ministry! I am the Minister for Magic! The Wizarding World belongs to ME!” He rambled.

“Alright, mate, alright,” Harry said, leading him out amidst the wide-eyed stares of the prisoners. “It’s your ministry. The world belongs to you. Let’s calm down a bit. There’s a good lad.”

It was now clear to all (despite the assertions of a distressed, slightly unhinged Robards) that the war was over. A year and a half, or close to, of fighting, and their efforts had proved a success. Behind him, the cheers of the refugees, of their men, of quickly adaptable politicians and secret advocates carried them out of the beaten Ministry.

Yet the noise in his ears could not compete with the noise in Harry’s heart. For he was that much closer to going home.

:::::::::::

The election came about just after the other open positions in the Ministry were filled. The interview process for reasonable Ministry personnel, done by an overworked Mr. Weasley, took the better part of two months. With hurrying. In the meantime, most of the still living Creatures banned by the regime came back to take advantage of the new order of things. Harry hadn’t quite realized just how many had been driven away by Robards policy, until they returned.

The upheaval had spread to India, where Sushanta was leading his own rebellion. Dragon Keeping was swiftly becoming an Aerial Corps, adopted by countries Harry was surprised to find were very relieved that Robards had been overthrown. They called Harry a genius commander, a man of legend for his quick work to take over the Ministry; a dangerous adversary and a profitable ally etc, etc.. Harry was less than impressed with these titles, but didn’t much care otherwise.

Slowly, but surely, the British Wizarding World managed to persevere. It was lucky there was less damage, this time, than in the aftermath of the Second War. And it was a much happier time, according to Bill. They felt settled, whereas the warriors of the last struggle had been wary of the new policies. Harry was not a fool, and so did not think there would be no wars after this. Yet it felt like the dawn of a new age for the tired resistance, and Harry would not lower their spirits with his pessimism.

To Harry surprise, Kingsley ran for Minister alongside a perpetually innocent looking Brewster (the same man Harry had met with a head full of wonky morals). Kingsley, being a turncoat to Robards, was regarded as a hero, and his win of the position of Minister was pretty uncontested. His apparent desire for fair rule had not stopped Harry from warning him that if Robards shadow still lived on in Kingsley’s policies, then Harry would be the one to put Kingsley down. This warning was taken seriously.

Ron and Hermione did not come back to England. Last Harry had heard, they were settled in Sri Lanka, of all places, ignoring the overthrown Wizarding Britain with single-minded (and hopefully peaceful) determination. Percy’s death had made Mrs. Weasley old and weak, and Harry was full of remorse for it. But Bill, Charlie and Mr. Weasley had come to regard their own involvement in the matter as the only blame; and they handled all responsibility despite Harry’s protestations.

Of the changes, Harry was most glad of the Ministry approved Aerial Corps. Harry’s Right, a humorously named law that was put into effect shortly after Kingsley’s promotion of Minister, was to do with the dragons and their new status. It consisted of a number of humane rights for dragons, and made the Corps an approved section of the military. Which was needed, considering Robards’ Law Enforcement was quite destroyed.

There came a time, nigh on two years since Harry had arrived, that the reconstruction settled. All seemed to be well, after the ballyhoo of new laws and shifting politics, after a scrum with a group of seven Wizards loyal to Robards had been taken care of. The last event to provide closure was Robards trial, and those of his compatriots. None of which had been put to death, even though they deserved it. Kingsley brought with him a new tolerance, easily adopted by the self-loving public. The outcry of appeasement was minimal. They were a tired world much weary of bloodshed, and it showed.

And like a cat that had spent a long time catching mice, Britain finally curled up and slept in peace. Harry watched it happen with a satisfied Remy at his side. Thus, Harry judged the time right to finally commune with death, one night in the winter of 2017. He lay beside Remy and struggled to clear his mind, snorting at the memory of Snape and forcing out silly thoughts that stayed to spite him.

-you only call- death said, while he was on the edge of sleep, making Harry’s previous efforts null.

“Well,” Harry huffed aloud. “You know what I want to ask.”

-you go where death goes, master- death answered.

“So it’s possible?” he questioned, not daring to hope. Not daring at all.

-possible-

::::::::::

Harry waited, deliberately, for Remy to be occupied with his breakfast. It was a cool morning, punctuated by a north easterly breeze coming up from the mountain range, and the pleasant echo of chattering dragons in the background. The Eryri meadows had developed a sheet of the purest snow overnight; the tips of their surrounding peaks dipped in white ink; beautiful against the clear blue sky. Harry took in the air with more attention than usual. His cheerful mood spread to Remy, to Charlie and Fred and was contagious to any he spoke with that day.

“Remy,” he said, watching a particularly bloody leg of cow slide down the dragon’s gullet. “I think we shall go home soon.”

Remy sputtered, spitting out a bloody mess toward Harry.

“Well, that was unpleasant,” Harry whined, flapping his arms to get the meat off.

“That’s what you get for surprising me, you fiend,” Remy huffed, picking a piece of his food from his teeth. “Are you mocking me, Harry?”

Harry was honestly shocked at this. “Beloved, why would you think that?” He cried.

Remy looked suitably excited now, shuffling closer to him and nosing his soiled clothes. “I am sorry,” he said. “Only, I want to go home so very badly, mon capitaine. I was afraid you joked.”

“Never, darling, not ever,” Harry assured him, running his hands down Remy’s snout. “I want to go home just as badly.”

“I had hoped you would,” Remy said tentatively. “But, I thought about it, and I wondered if you wouldn’t like to stay now. We won the war here, and at home there is still fighting. And the men here were so happy to see it done. I wondered if you couldn’t be happy here too.”

Harry gazed at him fondly, though with a pinch of concern. “Is this why you’ve said nothing of home, these months?”

Remy nodded. “You could like it here, Harry. If we stayed. And I could learn to like it too. Pray, worry not that I would object. Fred is good company, though he is young. And Charlie likes you just as much as Granby.”

He gave an astonished laugh. “Charlie?” Harry repeated with much surprise. “Charlie Weasley? What on earth are you talking about?”

“He likes you like Bee likes you,” Remy said, slightly irritated. “You are very silly when it comes to other’s affections, you know. Charlie is always watching you.”

“My heart belongs to another, even if Charlie did fancy me, my dear,” Harry reminded him.

Remy snuffled his hair and said, “But you could be happy here, if you wanted.”

“Never,” Harry said immediately, holding Remy’s head still for a proper hug. “This isn’t my home any longer, Remy, and you would not be happy. Do you think any part of me would ever be content if you were heartsick? But besides that, and I see you are ready to object– I miss my Bee, and the war, which has been ours from the start. And we will see it finished there, my love, because it is a part of us and we cannot abandon it.”

“But you have been at war all your life,” Remy countered. “Aren’t you weary of it?”

“Are you?”

“Well, no, because our friends are fighting, and because our home is threatened.”

“Yet you can stay here, and rest,” Harry pointed out. “Do you want to stay and try to be happy? No one would fault you for it.”

Remy looked at him closely. “No, capitaine,” he finally responded. “I would not.”

“Me neither. And I am not tired of the war. Tired of death and bloodshed, of course, but of battle, of fighting for our home? Never, my dear, never. So you see, we are alike in mind. Whatever is there to prat about?”

Exuberant and cheerful, Remy gathered him close and snuffled into his shoulder as Harry stroked his lovely scales. “Oh, I’m so happy,” Remy confessed, rather quietly. “Home,” he said wistfully.

“Yes,” Harry agreed, with his heart and spirits lifted. “Home.”

::::::::::::

The few people he told of his departure were sad to see him go, though Malfoy smiled a bit too much when wishing him a safe journey. Since he did not say much of anything about how they would get home, it was likely Bill thought him mad, but Harry was used to this opinion and took no offense. Charlie came to him on the eave of their leave-taking, in private but for Remy and Fred.

Harry raised a hand to greet him, and was entirely taken aback when Charlie quickly grabbed him and soundly kissed him on the mouth.

“Sorry,” Charlie said when he pulled away. “I’ve never wanted kiss anyone more than you. Thank you, Harry, for everything. You’re ridiculous, you know? Magnificent and overwhelmingly wonderful and just mental.”

He opened his mouth- his thoroughly kissed mouth- to make some awkward, dreadful apology, but Charlie stepped back from him and said, “No, I know you’ve got some bloke in that other world, and I’m mad jealous of him. But he must be something else to deserve you. Anyway, Harry, I wanted to say goodbye properly, and tell you that we’ve got eggs for you.”

“Eggs!” Remy exclaimed, recovered from his snickering fit with a very amused Fred. “You cannot mean it!”

“Twenty-six of them,” Charlie said with a grin. “Six Welsh Greens, Fireballs and Longhorns, a Ukrainian Ironbelly and two Horntails (good luck with them) and five lovely Short Snouts. If our Keepers are correct, I mean. We’ve so many eggs lately we’re getting a bit lazy. Did you know that post battle stimulates the libido?” He waggled his eyebrows at this, making Harry burst into laughter.

“I’m afraid we’re not for la dolce vita, where we go,” Harry chuckled. “But these eggs, Charlie…prodigious kind of you. Capital, indeed. More than you think.” He was so overjoyed, in fact, that kissed Charlie passionately on the cheek.

“So you say,” Charlie said, blushing. “Wherever you’re off to, I wouldn’t mind going myself. What charming vernacular; you’re a regular gent,” he teased, making fun of Harry’s adopted way of speaking.

“Berk,” Harry laughed. “If you wanted to go with us, you could,” he offered, quite seriously.

Charlie grinned. “And leave my new post? Haven’t you heard? I’m Admiral of this lot. I’m in clovers. You’re mad.”

“Passed over for money!” Harry exclaimed, acting offended. He smiled wildly a moment later. “But really Charlie, thank you. Thank you so much.”

Remy nuzzled both Charlie and Fred with enthusiasm. “You might have won the war for us, you know,” Remy told them.

“Well then, you’ll think of me wherever you go now, and maybe give us another kiss if you ever come back.”

Harry kissed him on the other cheek, and hugged him close. “I owe you nothing,” he joked.

The next morning, they stood before Bill, Charlie, Malfoy, Teddy, and Neville. Their going away party was just as Harry wanted it; small and without fanfare. He would have wanted Ron to be there, and even Hermione, but the letter he had handed to Bill would have to do. They said their goodbyes, short but with much affection.

“Well, we’re off,” Harry said, waving an errant hand.

“Bon voyage,” Neville told him with a smile.

“Good luck, mate,” Bill grinned.

“Lose an eye for me,” Teddy winked.

“Bye, Harry,” Charlie said with affection.

Malfoy grunted.

They went aloft, the eggs and other essential materials in the rig below Remy’s belly. They flew over the highest peak, looking down at Eryri with a fond farewell. Behind them, the group of people who knew Harry, who in time and once his disappearance was known would become almost as much of the legend as he was, sat back on their heels and smiled at his back.

“Er,” Neville said, breaking the silence. “Does Harry know how to travel to other dimensions?”

“He must,” Bill answered, scratching his head. “I guess?”

“We’ll know soon enough, anyway,” said Malfoy, and when they asked for an explanation he retorted, “If it stays quiet, you can bet he’s gone, Weasley. If there’s fire over Scotland he’s failed. Potter causes havoc wherever he bloody goes, for Merlin’s sake.”

And this, they supposed rightly, was Malfoy’s way of saying goodbye to a friend. They watched Remy until he was a speck on the horizon, before going back into the enclosure.

:::::::::::::

-does master wish-

Harry sat back on Remy’s neck and faced the specter with narrowed eyes. They flew steadily, almost tranquilly, over the vast expanse of ocean before them. The Highlands lay at their backs, the swarming clouds- a cold front on the Atlantic- on the horizon, separated in sight by the frothy grey sea.

Master does wish, Harry thought, a bit sarcastically.

There was a jolt, a westerly gale, and they were suddenly in a waterspout and turning, turning. Then they stood neither here nor there, facing death who, if not for his lack of a face entirely, Harry could swear was smirking at them. Remy’s groan of displeasure at being thrown about so made Harry glare and say aloud, “You could have gone easier on us. We’ve precious cargo, you know.”

Death’s head swiveled to the side; inquiring. -master wishes to go back- it said.

“Yes, I do,” Harry answered, giving up on his glower. “To home, understand, no place other, alright?”

-I can take you to death-

Remy’s eyes widened. “We don’t want to die,” he said, turning to Harry. “Tell him that.”

Harry opened his mouth to relay but death cut him off saying, -I can take you where death is-

“Helpful fellow, isn’t he?” Harry sighed to Remy. “Just so long as we’re alive, the eggs are alright, and we’re home, mate…er…death. Alright?”

“Does he have trouble talking?” Remy asked in a hush. “Is he…Harry, is he like Volly?”

Harry covered his laugh with a hand, before sobering rather quickly at the flickering shadows, which he assumed were signs of irritation in the specter. “No offense, meant, mate,” Harry said to him. “I’m sure you can talk fine.”

Death sighed, and it was such a human sound of impatience that Harry felt his laughter bubble up again. Tired of them, Death said -master wishes- and they were off in the waterspout again.

They emerged over the ocean, though in a warmer clime than before. Harry coughed, having got a mouth full of sea foam, and Remy lifted up into the sky to get away from the spray of water.

“That was exceedingly unpleasant, mon capitaine,” Remy told him. “But are we here? Are we home?”

It was hard to tell. Before them lay water, an immense amount, and the dying sun of the afternoon. The breeze was warm- too warm for the Atlantic.

“I don’t have our charts,” Harry murmured to himself. “But it is ghastly warm. I wonder, I wonder….”

“Harry, Harry, look!” Remy shouted very suddenly, rising higher above the ocean. Harry stared at where Remy gestured, frowning until his face cleared with shock. Flotsam was pock-marking the sea, barrels and scorched wood as well as netting and what looked like hammocks. They flew over the wreckage and saw, to their sorrow, men drowned and held fast in rigamortis to the floating debris.

“Lower, Remy, we shall check for survivors,” Harry said quickly, his stomach plummeting as they dipped. He jostled the nearest man, who came loose from the flotsam and sunk into the sea. The next did the same, and onward, and there were no moans or cries for help across the floating precession.

“Well, he said he would take us to death, didn’t he?” Harry muttered to himself, unhappy to see so many sailors dead. They rounded the bobbing dead a few more times, listening for any signs of life. “They are all dead, dearest, I’m sorry to say,” Harry told Remy, after a good hour of searching.

“Oh, I wish I knew where we were. Do you think the ship has sunk?”

He started. “It might not have, just yet. I count two hundred men in the sea, perhaps. It would have to be a considerable frigate for all of them. It may still be foundering. We shall follow the debris, Remy, and see what there is to find.”

They flew until the sun began its quick descent into the ocean. What little light was left provided the scene of the foundering ship at dusk. Harry saw that its colours, drooping slowly into the froth turned up by the steady sinking, were sadly English. It looked as though an explosion had sunk her, for there was little seen of the quarterdeck. A gaping hole had gutted her poor underbelly. Bales shimmied out of the wreckage, resilient where men were not, and the flotsam continued to pop upward as the ship disappeared, quickly now, until only the stem breached the water. It was an uncommon stem on a vessel, rounded into a vast deck that was very familiar to Harry’s eye. Her large bottom swayed in place, vertical with the dying sun, and a sinister bubbling took the ship down, down, into the abyss of the ocean.

And then over Remy’s wing beats, and the hollow loudness of the sea eating up the huge ship, Harry heard sputtering. Sputtering! A man, likely having caught his hand on a shooting bale, had emerged from the ocean vomiting water. But he was close to the suction of the sinking, and there, there another man was swimming towards him on his back, reaching for his surviving companion; though they would be sucked in soon if Harry did nothing.

“Remy-!” But Remy had already seen. Diving as if they were a massive gannet, Remy scooped up the lone survivors like mackerel. The sputtering continued as Harry hoisted them up, using every bit of strength he could manage to swing them toward the netting.

“Damn your eyes, hook on!” Harry shouted as Remy cleared the sinking deck. The rough looking sailor had grasped the netting tightly, but the officer looked ready to fall. Harry unbuckled his harness and swung down Remy’s side to support the man, who had too much sea water in him to find the strength to pull himself up. He and the sailor, together, managed to lift him into the rig, though Harry felt as though he weighed a hundred stone to a tonne.

He climbed up again and sat at Remy’s neck, patting his worried companion to say that all was well. They circled the ship again, by unspoken agreement, but no other man found his way to the surface. “Basson, sir, coxswain,” the rough sailor introduced himself. “Thankee sir, for saving us.”

“Not at all,” Harry said, distractedly taking another solemn glance over the sea. “Do you know our coordinates, by chance?”

Basson nodded enthusiastically, likely shaking out what little teeth he had left. “45°s 130°w about like when she blew. Hands got inna the stores n’ start afire. Damn 'em to hell. Parding, sir. Capin manage out, though he’d wanted go down wit her, bless him.”

“45°s 130°w,” Harry repeated, disregarding the rest of the coxswain’s blubbering for the moment. “The forties! What for?” he murmured to himself.

“On ways sou'west, sir,” Basson said. “Allegiance Sydney ta Sou'merica, sir.”

“Allegiance!” Harry cried, as Remy swung his head about to look into his netting.

“Harry! It was the Allegiance!” he exclaimed. “That was a dragon deck I saw, gone under!”

And Harry was absolutely shocked to find that the officer now so sick and half-drowned, was none other than Captain Riley.

::::::::::::

“Closenuff to tha coast, methinks,” Basson was saying, mopping away the sweat on Captain’s Riley’s brow. “But we mightent go east for him,” he said, gesturing to Riley. “Don’t know that ther surgeons like, in sou'merica.”

“No, you’re right, Mr. Basson,” Harry agreed. “We’ll have to find New Zealand. There is a compass in my chest, there. Pray, bring it to me.”

“Wess by sou'west, sir, you’ll find her,” Basson said, handing him the compass. “Beg parding, sir, but youse a capin?”

Harry started at this question, busy with navigating. “Three points south, my dear, ” he said to Remy, before turning to glance at Basson. “I am, Mr. Basson, or I was. Captain Potter of the Aerial Crops, your servant.”

“Why! Potter!” Basson cried, surprisingly though not for the reasons Harry assumed. “The one whose went inter Paris and destroyed the covert? That wot Potter, sir?”

“Am I so renowned?” Harry frowned. “Did we destroy it, Remy?”

“Oh yes,” Remy answered. “Lien was badly injured too.”

“Tell me what you know,” Harry implored. “I’ve been away for a while.”

“Whys they say you were dead, sir,” Basson revealed, looking at him strangely. “But youse a hera-like, they gave you a medal n’ everyfing.”

His jaw dropped. A medal? For treason? Though, perhaps the politicsof the Admiralty had called for it. He had known men, in his time here, to be dastardly but awarded for it, if another death besides one by law had taken him. Harry was not fool enough to assume a pardon, but if the public thought him a hero, perhaps he would get out of a hanging? It was likely the Gazette had not revealed the circumstances with which Harry had found himself destroying the covert in Paris. In any case, he and Remy had settled on privateering if there was the law against them, and he would not let himself be hanged anyway.

“Well,” Harry muttered. “Well.” He shook himself out of it and said, “There are vials in my chest, Mr. Basson, place them out presently, if you please. I am coming to you.”

He spent the night sifting through the medical supplies he had brought, checking his compass and adjusting Remy’s path. They were flying the distance of a continent across solid ocean, though Harry knew that Remy’s endurance would hold. In the morning, they had only gone off course by two points, and with Basson finally asleep Harry thought it prudent to speak with Remy as they went.

“It is prodigious luck that we’re heroes, Harry,” Remy was saying. “We can see our friends now! I wonder if they were on the Allegiance?”

“They escaped, most likely, beloved,” Harry reassured him. “But a heading of South America is very queer. What could they possibly be doing there? I suppose we’ll find out, in any case. But we’ll get Captain Riley sorted first.”

“Is he very ill?”

“Half-drowned, Rem,” Harry told him, looking across the ocean, without a hope of seeing land soon. “Are you thirsty? We’ve still a bale of water from the rain last night. No? Ah. Don’t worry. He’s not very ill. I gave him a pepper-up, though it was a shoddy dose. Just enough to give him some blush. But he’s taken with fever, and his arm is cut a bit. There’s no sign of gangrene yet, I’m happy to say. I put a poultice on.”

“I did look forward to privateering,” Remy sighed, after a while of silence. “I would like to have as many prizes as Iskierka, though she is greedy for them and must have heaps of gold since we left.”

Harry smiled and patted his neck in comfort. “If we’re back on the post list, my dear, we shall have our prizes soon enough. We’re bringing six and twenty fire-breathers to them. Do you think that is enough to buy a pardon?”

Remy laughed into the wind and Harry joined him, if only because the day’s events had finally caught up with him. They were home. In the clutch of a seemingly never-ending Pacific and a gale away from being hopelessly lost; but home at last.

::::::::::::

“Oh, I’d murder for a cow,” Remy whined, but snatched up the dried chicken quickly. Their stores of dried meat held up in the humidity of the south Pacific, and their bale of water, sparingly used already, had been replenished by a morning rain shower. Their luck had continued, these last five days flying, though Remy was tiring now.

“Land ho!” Basson cried, an hour into the morning. There, straight across Remy’s head, was New Zealand. Harry looked to Captain Riley, who had not woken but for a few delirious mutterings, yet seemed not as close to death as Harry had feared. His fever had peaked the day before, and he was taking in water and food, though only after much persuasion.

“Well done, sir!” said Basson, climbing up the rigging to face him. A life at sea gave him no fear of heights, but five days aloft had made him a proper Corps officer. He monkeyed upward and pointed to the coast, saying, “I woulda thought meself taken by the sea, sir, she be kind enough. But I thankee kindly for saving me. Thankee, sir.”

Harry grinned at him. “Nonsense, Basson. No thanks are necessary.” He was affectionate toward his companion, despite his constant chatter, and so clapped him on the back. “Will you stay with Captain Riley when we reach port?”

“Aye, sir,” Basson nodded. “There won’t be a lady for 'em at home,” he said sadly. “Didn’t make post, sir. He mighten beg you ta take 'im as a guest onna dragon deck, if ye’d be kind.”

Harry blinked. “He’ll face a court martial in England, eh?” he said, reminding himself. “Blast this business. And blast your drunkard sailors.”

“Aye, sir,” Basson agreed.

They landed without problem, and Harry set to work immediately. There was no hospital but a sick-bay at the port, with one solitary surgeon in commission. They hauled Riley out and set him on a bed, lifting him toward the bay. Harry ordered a cow brought to Remy, guineas passing hands, and set about getting himself some dinner. He would have it sent to him, for the parcels of eggs (though disguised as worthless cargo) were too precious to leave unattended.

There was nowhere for Remy to comfortably stay, though the warm beach would do well enough. Remy finished his cow and lay on his side, and Harry moved to unload the rig. “Pray, do not move them,” Remy entreated quietly. “I shall sleep on my side.”

Harry was not bold enough to ask if Remy might accidentally turn over and crush them, and said, instead, “As you wish, dearest, I worry for them as well. The heating charms have held, though I’ll have to recast them tonight.”

“They are warm enough beside me, anyway,” Remy said sleepily. “I am happy to be on land again, though I do so love flying.”

Harry laughed. “Not for five days, I don’t think. You did wonderfully. But sleep now, my dear. Basson watches over Captain Riley, and will bring me news when he is recovered.”

The money Harry had brought with them would perhaps carry them across the Pacific, though he traded a few dried fruits and meats with the skeptical settlers for a little more. New Zealand was a beautiful place, though not many inhabited it at the time but tradesman and the Māori. There was much luck in a surgeon being at port, and Harry was grateful for it. For three days they lounged on sand and stone, keeping close to each other as Basson went to-and-fro the town and sick-bay.

On the third day, after a lackluster tea with some of his own stores of preserved biscuit, Basson came to them aflutter with happiness.

“Capin’s much better, sir,” he said, panting after his run across the sand. “Surgeon says he’ll be up by the 'morrow, good as new. Says youse gone and saved his life, whatever ye did!”

“Basson, it was you who stayed with him below,” Harry said, quite joyfully. “Captain Riley owes his thanks to his coxswain, not me!”

Captain Riley arrived the next afternoon, walking slowly but not taking up Basson’s offered arm. He was smiling, though it was strained, as he came toward them at a soft pace, though not as weakly as Harry would have thought.

“Captain Potter,” Riley said, moving forth to grasp his hand. “It is wonderful to see you. We thought you were dead! Though where you’ve been hiding, I can’t imagine. Thank you, sir. Thank you.”

“Basson kept you alive,” Harry laughed, looking at him fondly. “But we’ve a lot to speak about, I think. Please, sit down, Captain. I apologize for my dress.” He had bathed a day ago and changed clothing, though it was in a sad, wrinkled state. Riley looked clean and much healthier, and his clothing had been washed and pressed. The epaulette on one side, marking him as commander, gleamed merrily in the sun.

“Now,” Harry said when Riley was settled. “Are you well? The water didn’t damage your head, did it? Not your lungs? Basson, he is very pale. The doctor did say he was alright, yes?”

Riley smiled at him. “I’m quite well, Captain Potter, I assure you,” he said just as his coxswain sulkily exclaimed, “I dinnit steal 'em away, sir, doc what says he’s fine wif food an ress!”

“Good! I’m glad to hear it,” Harry told them, very honestly happy Riley was well. Remy snuffled Riley then, who was not at all shy of the dragon and proclaimed, “Why, it is good to see you, Captain Riley! Though I’m sorry about the Allegiance.”

“Yes, damned sorry. To the devil with your men, sir. Straight from gaol, were they?” said Harry.

He immediately regretted encouraging the subject of Riley’s lost ship, however, for the man looked enormously down.

“Lubbers they was, sir,” his coxswain answered for him with his usual enthusiasm. “Ifin they was alive we’d hang 'em righ from the mizzen, sir, righ from. Ifin she’d not sunk too, sir.”

“Well,” Harry coughed, sorry for bringing it up. “Just as long as you’re well, Captain Riley. That’s what matters.” He realized shortly that this was equally insensitive. Harry was sure a Naval Captain would rather anything but his vessel foundered, and likely the weight of its loss was far greater than other things; even Riley’s life.

Luckily, the Captain saved him from further embarrassment. “Were you following our journey, Captain Potter?” he asked gently. “Laurence hadn’t mentioned a rendezvous….”

“Ah, well, yes. You see-” Harry tried to find a way to put his situation into words that didn’t arose concern for his sanity. But every ship had a lunatic, and Riley was likely used to some form of crazy or another.

“You might say that I…spent quite a long time asleep…without memory, if you like,” he settled for saying. “And might I ask for the date, the happenings of the war, and what orders the Allegiance were bound by? Please, and thank you.”

:::::::::

“I can fly it!” Remy said over their overlapping consultation. “It was five days to New Zealand, and a day or two away from the coast! I flew that. I can make it.”

Harry turned to him, not even trying to hide his concerned expression. “Cuzco is far north, my dear, and another week worth of flying.”

“Might you chart a few stops along the way?” Remy persisted. “There are islands on that map, see? We’ll stop there and rest, and then fly to the coast, and stop again.”

Skeptically, Harry looked at the charts they had laid out on the sand. The only ship in port, the Dutch Whaler Madelinus, had refused to carry them to the Incan Empire. It was a large vessel, for a Whaler, yet from Captain Riley’s stuttering translation of their panicked dialect, Remy was too, too big and she would sink under the weight. Money had done little to persuade them. It was also well-known in port that Riley’s ship had foundered, and so he was now a Jonah to them and forbidden from coming aboard.

The only other ship, cruising north of their location, was the HMS Resolute. She was a sixteen gun sloop nowhere big enough to transport Remy, and the intelligence off her had her shadowing a French frigate in southern waters. Riley had absolutely refused imposing upon their orders.

“These islands are not mapped to exactness,” Harry countered. “What if we should not find it off chart, and you should tire and drown yourself? No-”

“Then we’ll find another island,” Remy argued, shuffling in the sand to display his irritation. “We won’t delay long, and you’ve charts now, and Captain Riley says he’s a good hand at maths. He can read Mercator, he says. Can you do it?”

“Don’t be a scrub, I figured out the variations and got us here, didn’t I?” he said, offended.

Remy could not be convinced though, and eventually, their disagreement reached a standstill. Though Harry was close to giving in, of course.

“I leave it at your discretion, Captain Potter,” Riley said, looking irresolute. His coxswain was asleep right on the sand, and a peculiar looking crustacean was tumbling over his coat.

“Well,” Harry deliberated, fixing his eyes to the charts to avoid Remy’s glare. “I suppose we don’t have any other choice,” he said, and over Remy’s triumphant bragging he asserted, “But we’ll have to gather plenty of food and water. We can’t trust on another squall. And if I may make use of Captain Riley’s mathematics, we should chart our journey to the moment. To the moment, Remy! I’ll not have us stranded aloft. Oh, you zealous lout. To blazes with you.”

“We shall be fine, Harry, just see,” Remy told him, though it was in no way comforting. Harry could only hope that fortune favoured the bold.

They settled on leaving the next morning, after a hearty tea of salted crab, goose that was probably stuffed leg of lamb, and goats cheese with wine and mango. Harry’s funds were much depleted by then, as he had spent the previous day buying food to carry them over and other necessities, including medical supplies. He didn’t let himself be persuaded of the importance of beer on their journey, despite Basson’s persuasive argument. Harry gathered three bales of fresh water the next morning, loading them in Remy’s rigging to try its weight (“It’s not heavy at all, Harry, really. Stop fussing so!”) and after a solemn breakfast of citrus fruit and crumpet they were off.

It went to show, for Remy must have all the fortune in the world on his side, that his island was just where the map had left it, and their journey (which not as perilous, weather-wise, as Harry had thought) was as smooth as they could wish. And so, after six days and one morning of travelling, they arrived on the coast of the Incan Empire.

:::::::::::::

Their luck could not stay. It was after the exceedingly bold success of flying so far that the fortune allowed to the small party suddenly ran out. A series of ill things happened then: they came upon a village ravaged by plague, no witnesses in sight to perhaps assure them of a glimpse of Temeraire, and shortly thereafter ran afoul of sickness. There was a moment when Harry was sure Basson had caught plague, but Riley was quick to point out the jaundice and the miniscule twitches of Basson’s legs.

“Scurvy, damn him,” Riley had said once they were sure. Harry, aware of the cure, had reassured Riley that they would not leave his coxswain to die, and privately, thought he could not with his secret supply of modern medicine. “Damn you, Basson, we cannot delay,” he cursed the terribly ill man.

But Riley was a soft touch, and had real regard for the man, and so he returned the favour and nursed Basson back to health. Harry spent those long days observing the wildlife of the Inca, which consisted of incurious llama and very quiet puma, as well as flying Remy over fields in search of wild citrus. Sweet oranges were found not a mile from their camp, and by the end of a week aground, Basson’s fever had ceased along with his twitching limbs. Yet it took another three days (with one spent aloft) to increase his strength to that of a newborn.

And then, of course, the eggs decided to mutiny. Four of the six and twenty were set on hatching, and they landed in a hurry with Remy’s one-sided argument ringing in their ears. The eggs shook and titled, wanting out, and Remy was shouting, “No, no, not now! We haven’t any captains for you!”

Basson had dragged himself away from the vibrating eggs, his wide eyes betraying his desire to keep his current job.

“Should we prepare something, Harry?” Riley was saying, panicked and upset.

“We haven’t anything for you at all, no food, no captains, no prizes! You cannot come out now!” This stopped three of them from their clamouring. “You must wait,” Remy said, gentler now. “That’s better. Be still. Good chaps.”

Yet the fourth was not to be persuaded. The cracking of the egg was as loud as the shot of a pistol, in Harry’s ears, and of course a young Hungarian Horntail poked his head out and shook away the slime and shell stuck to his scales.

“Stubborn, disagreeable brutes,” Harry muttered. “Well, come out then, if you’re sure,” he said, louder.

The Horntail hissed in displeasure as Remy helped him out of the egg, showing exactly how trying he intended to be.

“You are very silly,” Remy said, barely keeping himself from hissing back. “There are no captains to care for you.”

“I’m going to find my captain!” the Horntail told Remy, agitated to the extreme. “Get off me,” he said of Remy’s coddling. “No, I don’t want llama. I’m going to find my captain.”

“Oh, you-”

“Now, let’s calm ourselves. Here-” Harry started, but was shocked silent as the dragonet suddenly went aloft. It shot north, swift as a bird, and they stood watching it flee, frozen and flabbergasted.

“Did that just happen?” Harry exclaimed, running forward to do what, he had no clue.

“Good god!” Riley said as Basson started laughing. “Harry, should we-?”

“Let’s go, let’s go,” he hurried them. Remy was springing about in place to get them to go faster. They flew after the dragonet, who was fast, too fast, and Remy shouted back at the other eggs, “If any of you others decide to hatch I’ll drop you! Oh, what a little scrub!”

“That scrub is at least going in the right direction,” Harry said. “But if he chooses a frog, I’ll go ahead and hang myself.”

::::::::::::

The dragonet went right past Cuzco, to their disappointment. They had followed at a steady enough pace, though far behind, and were resigned to play this game until the Horntail landed, when they were abruptly attacked. A patrol of dragons, too many for Remy to conceivably defeat, weighed upon them in an attempt to bring them aground.

“Riley, Riley,” Harry said in a hush as one of the dragons conversed with Remy in simple French. “Hide the eggs. Hide them, damn it.”

“Harry, they say we have to land,” Remy told him, sounding aggravated and rebellious.

Harry patted him. “We must, Remy,” he said. “We cannot risk it.”

They could not risk damaging the eggs, and so they landed in Cuzco with their aggressive escort surrounding them. And to Harry’s absolute shock, and Basson’s exclaimed, “Ole Bone, Ole Bone!” Napoleon came out to greet them, along with a furious De Guignes.

::::::::::::

Napoleon was a cordial man, and very interested in Harry. “One wonders how a man can retain his bravery in my presence,” he was blathering. “But De Guignes has told me that you are the bravest soul from here to hell!”

De Guignes didn’t look as if he had complimented Harry at all, with that glare. They sat at the Sapa Inca’s table, Harry at Napoleon’s right, and an aghast Riley to the left of De Guignes and the Sapa. Harry rolled his eyes at De Guignes and said, “We’re fugitives, sir. If you think England has condoned our journey here-”

“No, no,” Napoleon said with a laugh. “Why, you would have come with Captain Laurence and his Celestial, if you were. Come now, do try the mullet, it is exceptional. And tell me about your journey!”

Harry vaguely answered him with tall-tales, worried about Remy and the eggs and unwilling to familiarize himself with the man. It was hard not to like Napoleon, though, so this was indeed a lesson in restraint. He had left Basson with Remy, making him vow that upon his life he would guard the eggs and his dragon, disregarding Remy’s insistence that he could protect himself. He tried his best to steer the conversation to Temeraire and Laurence, wanting information of them, but Napoleon was difficult to manipulate.

Finally, it seemed that they were allowed to address the elephant in the room.

“Do you mean to catch your friends?” Napoleon asked. “They left four days ago, without much courtesy, I tell you. Not a word of farewell!”

Escaped, more like, Harry corrected privately. “No,” he denied. “As I’ve said, we’ve been privateering, Remy and I, with an appetite for pirates.”

“Oh, yes, fiends as they are,” Napoleon said, wiping his mouth and draining his wine. “Why not stay here, Harry-?”

And God, Napoleon said his name as if they were regular bosom buddies.

“The Inca are charming people, very hospitable, or pray, come to France. We treat courage well there.”

Harry did not like this slight to England, did not like Napoleon’s faux familiarity, was tired of their bad luck and irritated with De Guignes, who would not stop glaring. “The last time I was in France we all suffered for it, I recall,” he said boldly.

There. Now De Guignes was gaping. But Napoleon did not get offended, for anything, it seemed. “Brave indeed, brave indeed!” the man laughed, pouring Harry another glass of wine. “Why must you be English, eh? I can see the advantage of your loyalty! Come to France, Harry, be my courage when it should fail!”

Harry raised his glass. “To England,” he provoked, and over Napoleon’s laughter De Guignes shot to his feet shouting, “I will duel you, sir! Vive L'Empereur!”

Napoleon gave De Guignes a frosty glare and said something in French which made De Guignes flush. “He will not insult you at your table, my emperor,” yelled De Guignes after his sputtering apologies. “I will have satisfaction, sir!” He challenged Harry.

“I am sorry, very sorry for him,” Napoleon began, but Harry interrupted him. He shot to his feet, threw his wine glass at De Guignes’ head, grabbed Riley by the sleeve, and ran.

It took a moment for the Incan guards to follow, and a moment more for an absolutely shocked De Guignes to stumble after them.

“Go get Remy aloft!” Harry shouted at Riley. “At once, Riley, quick as you please, and meet me outside of the walls. If the patrol comes after you, by God fly. Tell Remy to fly faster than he ever has!”

“But-”

“Damn you, Riley, go!” Harry bellowed, turning about to face the oncoming guards. Riley went, running as fast as he could to Remy, and Harry backtracked and flew down a golden corridor. The men before him made him laugh with their spears and he took out the Elder Wand to swipe them clear off their feet. De Guignes was at the crossroads ahead, looking awed but still irate. He cried France’s name and struck out with his sword, but Harry shoved him aside with a burst of magic and stunned him. He would worry about the honour of a fair fight later.

Harry circled the enclosure, moving through groups of guards with an invigorated grin, and came to the clearing once more to see no Remy in sight. He glanced at the walls, debating how far he should run to hop over, but was stalled by the patrol going aloft. Harry’s worry cut short his pumping adrenaline, and he thought quickly of what to do to keep them from Remy. “No pressure,” he whispered. “No lift.”

The Elder Wand, so attached to his will and so much a part of him; obeyed. The flight of the patrol stuttered, and they were aground once more. Harry grinned, making ready to leave, but there were footsteps, unhurried on the stone path. He thought at first that more guards had come, and swung around with a savage sneer.

Napoleon smiled at him. “I would not have ordered them to kill you,” he said. “You are too valuable to die.”

This was so absurd, given his own circumstances that Napoleon did not know, and of course, the pretentiousness of it- that Harry couldn’t help but laugh. Lien came toward them, then, walking from her clearing and looking at Harry closely.

“Who are you to control the wind?” she asked, frowning at the stillness of the air.

Harry ignored her. “You cannot stop me from leaving,” Harry said to Napoleon. “Not with your men, your guns, or your sword.”

“I am beginning to understand that, yes,” Napoleon observed. “I would ask you what you are, but I doubt it matters. I must query, however, if England knows that she has this advantage.”

Harry smirked at him. “I’m rather ordinary, mate, what would she need to know?”

Napoleon smiled. “Ordinary,” he mused. “How strange a word for you to use. But I see I will not be able to sway you. Alas, think me a friend despite it. If you should need anything, think me a friend.”

Lien looked as though she would dispute this, but Harry raised his eyebrows at her and she settled for glowering with dislike.

“Thanks,” Harry said to him, simply. He did not try to hide his amusement. “I feel I must warn you though– as a friend– that if any more of my people are hurt by your hand, I’ll have your head.”

“How dare you-” Lien began, but Napoleon raised a hand to stop her.

“You know how easily I could take it, I trust,” Harry finished with a wink at the furious Lien.

“I do yes,” Napoleon answered. “I think I do, sir. And as your friend, I feel I must remind you of man’s normal reaction to the unknown. And their fondness for capturing the rare and exotic.”

Harry watched him carefully. “Then pray, let me show you why captivity does not concern me,” he said, before Apparating out of the clearing.

Remy waited for him a mile or so away, worried to death by the time Harry showed an hour later. He assured Remy that he was fine, checked on the eggs, and took off. The setting sun over Cuzco was not as lovely, with no escaped Horntail in sight.

:::::::::::::

“It will be another few days flying to Rio De Janeiro, Remy, perhaps-” he stopped himself and cast a hesitant glance at the eggs.

Riley seemed to read his mind. “There will be ships at Rio, maybe even a mail carrier,” he said, tapping Harry’s arm. “If I may, Harry, I can write to the Admiralty.”

“Is there a chance they may let the eggs stay in Sydney?” Remy asked, tearing into a llama without savoring the taste. He wasn’t complaining about the long, coarse fur, though Harry knew he wanted to.

“A new covert like Sydney, surrounded by rebellion with men in and out of gaol, is no place for treasures of such value,” Riley countered. “Laurence was skeptical of its efficiency as well.”

Harry shook his head. “They won’t let us linger south. It will be straight to Loch Laggan, at our earliest inconvenience. And then they’ll likely put my neck in a noose,” he snorted.

“Oh, but they can’t!” Remy argued. “You said yourself, Harry, that all these eggs may buy you pardon.”

“I’m afraid I was merely jesting, dearest,” Harry said, rubbing his neck.

Riley cleared his throat, adjusting his posture on a log in the small clearing they had stopped in. “I beg your pardon,” he said, frowning. “But why on earth would they hang you? I had wondered, with your talk of being a fugitive, and of privateering…”

“I’d forgot they’d mummed their dubber,” Harry sighed. He looked at Riley closely.

This was a man he had not known very well when they had come upon him half-drowned. Harry remembered that he was an opinionated man, an efficient captain, and once a close friend of Laurence. He judged Laurence’s taste in friends trustworthy, based on his own respect of the dear man, and said, “For treason, Riley.”

He told his story with a few adjustments, of course. Riley and Basson (who had stopped chewing dried meat and a spotted orange at the word 'treason’) listened intensely. When it was done, Remy shouted in their stunned faces.

“My Harry did the right thing!” he said. “And we stopped Laurence from going instead, which was very good. Very much the right thing to do!”

“Laurence?” Riley choked. “Treason? But what-”

“Ifin ya think it twas righ’, an England didn’ suffer for it, then youse still a hero, sir,” Basson said decidedly.

Harry nodded to him. “Thank you, Basson.”

“Wait,” Riley stopped them. “You brought the cure to France, saved the lives of their dragons including Lien, then killed half the covert and injured the dragon you cured?”

Harry thought about it for a moment. “That sounds about right,” he said.

“But that’s madness!” cried Riley. “Completely mad! I don’t say what you did was wrong…well, it was treason, one cannot dispute that, but why on earth did you do it if you meant to destroy the covert all along?”

“We didn’t mean to at first,” Remy said a bit weakly. “Only, we got there and realised we couldn’t go home after disobeying the government, and that De Guignes meant to have us imprisoned-”

“They weren’t hospitable at all, very rude,” Harry interjected, not even meaning to be funny.

“Or they would try to make us fight for them, but who wants to fight for France? And well, we figured we would be killed sooner or later, and we decided we would go out fighting. Right, Harry?”

“Right.”

Basson raised his eyebrows at Riley. “Mad he be, sir, but a hero juss the same.”

Riley gaped at them, but seemed to come to terms with this revelation. Harry thought that maybe he would ignore what was said in favour of keeping the stability of his own mind. He was well aware just how mental he sounded, ever since this dimension travelling business. Malfoy had claimed that happiness made him crazy, and Harry actually saw some truth in that.

In any case, their priorities were rendezvousing with Captain Laurence and ensuring the security of the eggs. Riley had gleaned important information from a distracted De Guignes and the shrewd Sapa Inca. The English party were for Rio De Janeiro, to meet the Tswana, who were attacking the Portuguese in their endless campaign to reacquire their family members. Harry had rolled his eyes at this, wondering if he’d ever be shot of enthusiastic radicals. But their friends would need help, and a ship would likely be in a port big enough to carry Remy, and they could send word to the Admiralty, who may or may not want to hang him-

“Oh, buggering hell!” Harry exclaimed, making Riley blush. “We forgot about the Horntail.”

His outburst was met by Remy’s disgruntled huff. “We can’t be running about willy-nilly all over South America to find him,” Remy said. “I hadn’t forgotten him. I say what’s done is done.”

Riley immediately protested, “We can’t just lose dragon eggs, their English capital…the value-”

“I beg your pardon, but they’re not England’s,” Remy corrected him. “They are ours. And not capital at all. Besides, I did the same thing when I hatched. I escaped from Napoleon.”

Harry blinked. “I had not thought of the parallels,” he said, casting a keen eye on Remy-the-escape-artist. “How curious.”

“I didn’t tell him to do it,” Remy denied, knowing that suspicious look his captain favoured. “Only he must have sensed his captain and we weren’t likely to take him to where his captain was. We’d have given him over to Riley or Basson for harnessing. Captain Riley needs his ship, and I mean no offense, Basson, but you’re for the sea and it would be a shame to displace you. The whole ruckus would have made dragonet extremely discomfited, as well.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Harry agreed, looking out at the sky on the off chance the dragonet was near. He sighed. “Well, five and twenty eggs for a pardon, then.”

“Juss so long as the others don 'atch too,” Basson pointed out philosophically. “Can’t say as we need any more bad luck.”

Riley, overruled and overwhelmed by all that had happened, gave his coxswain a sardonic look and knocked his fist on the log.

::::::::::::::

The next day, after negotiations with Lethabo were tentatively secured, Laurence stood with the other Captains observing the building of the houses for the Tswana. Hammond was as negative as usual, saying what they were all aware of; that if the Portuguese went back on their word to free the slaves, the Tswana would not remain peaceful. Paper contract, for dragons, meant very little, according to Hammond.

Talk of taking the French frigates at Rio had took up most of the morning, and a rough foundation of a plan was put forth. Yet, a commotion broke their tired meeting, and Laurence and his party recognised that it was coming from the clearing where their dragons and crew camped. They came upon Temeraire using low, careful tones with someone they could not see, and Iskierka near frothing at the mouth in indignation.

“You are a scrub! A common thief of a scrub!” Iskierka was howling. “And you are ugly!”

“Pray, do not tell him that, Iskierka!” Temeraire said, losing his patience. “Only, there are other captains for you. You cannot have one of my crew.”

Laurence moved forward to hail them, but was shocked silent at the scene. A dragonet, half the size of Temeraire, was curled around Emily Roland and hissing at Iskierka. He was covered from crown to tale with spikes, where it ended in a deadly sharp club Laurence never wanted to see the end of in a fight. Emily did not seem distressed, but was smiling widely and patting the dragonets brown and grey scales.

“This is my captain!” the young dragon said. “She is not part of your manky crew. And I’ll burn the red one if she comes any closer!”

“I’d like to see you try!” Iskierka screeched at him, absolutely irate. Granby came forth with the intention to calm her, but had to jump quickly to the side as a blast of hot fire shot toward them. “Oh, you!” Iskierka cried, shooting her own volley. “Leave Granby alone!”

Laurence went forward and said loudly, “That’s enough! Iskierka! Do you want Roland hurt? Stop that, this instant.”

“But Laurence, he called me horrible names! I only asked what he was doing and he said it was none of my business!” Iskierka cried in aggravation.

“Well, it wasn’t your business,” Temeraire put in. “Roland is one of my crew.”

The dragonet coiled tighter about Roland. “She’s my captain,” he hissed. “You have your own!”

“If you please, sir,” Emily said, slightly muffled by the dragon’s hold. “He is very hungry, and he will need to be harnessed.”

“Are you sure, Roland?” asked Laurence, looking at the dragonet cautiously. “However did this come about? Where is he from?”

“An egg,” the dragonet answered, with much dry sarcasm. This was immensely amusing to the captains, and Laurence could hear Berkley choking with laughter behind his back. “I had to find my captain! I am hungry, and I don’t want llama. Give me a cow.”

“Oh, you are a scrub,” Iskierka hissed.

Laurence chose to intervene, for it looked as though the dragonet would shoot fire again, and said, “Pray, do you know what breed you are?”

“I don’t have a name yet. May I have a cow? Emily will feed me, and name me. Emily, have you a name for me? Can I have one? But none of you are getting me a cow-”

“I will get you a cow, Spartacus,” Roland said, climbing out of the dragon’s hold. “Is Spartacus alright?”

“Apropos given the circumstances,” Granby muttered to Laurence, meaning to lighten the mood.

Roland went to fetch the newly dubbed Spartacus his cow, which turned into four cows in a matter of thirty minutes. Laurence decided to ignore the slaughter the dragon was making of it, and said, “Captain Roland,” he waited while her glowing smile widened. “Perhaps you can ask Spartacus where he flew away from, and beg him to answer seriously this time. And also…also may you explain the service to him if he is to have a captain?”

“I know all about it,” Spartacus told them, interrupting Emily’s relay. “We’re to fight the frogs and defend England from invasion. The other dragon told me all about it.”

“You’re English?” Granby asked, quite bewildered. “But…are you from Loch Laggan?”

“I have been flying for a week to find Emily. I hatched in some stupid clearing, where there were only llamas to eat. I don’t want llamas ever, Emily. And of course I’m English!” he said, as if all dragons were English and they were the fools for asking.

Laurence blinked. “You were hatched in South America? Pray, tell me if an officer was with you. Another English captain?”

“They were all English. Three men and a dragon. But I left them because I had to find Emily,” Spartacus revealed. “And they wanted to feed me llama!”

“There, there,” Emily said, patting him. “No llama for you.”

Spartacus nuzzled her. “I have a better captain than all of you,” he claimed. “Look how lovely she is? And we will have more prizes than the red one, you’ll see.”

The captains, now quite sure that the dragonet meant no harm to them, reconvened to talk over this new intelligence. Granby moved Iskierka away, but Temeraire chose to remain and sulk over the loss of Roland.

“You don’t suppose Jane is fragrant? She’ll need an heiress for Excidium,” Berkley said, and Laurence blushed with mortification. “No? Well, good on Emily. Good for her. Harry would be proud-”

“By God, Harry’s Remy did the same thing, didn’t he?” said Warren. “Suppose it’s common with some dragons?”

Laurence shook his head. “I do not think it is. In any case, we have a fire breather among our company now. An English one. But to be sure, I am more worried about who is following us.”

Someone was following them, that much was absolutely sure. It was comforting that it was obviously and English officer, but strange (very, strange) that the officer should be in South America with a dragon egg and only two men for a crew. “It might be a carrier,” Granby spoke up, having gone silent at the mention of Harry.

“It wouldn’t be the first time the Admiralty had orders for us that we don’t know about,” Chenery agreed. “But it is odd. Extremely odd. Why was the egg not bound for Sydney? Do they mean to take it back to England?”

There was little they could do about it, in any case. Gradually, the realisation of another fire breather in the corps lifted their spirits enough that the queer circumstances of its arrival could be ignored for the time being.

Spartacus was a trying thing, endlessly irritated with everyone but Emily, and yet his bad temper did not make the other captains like him less. He was constantly on about fighting 'the frogs’ and bringing glory to England, and how lovely Emily was that even Temeraire had to admit to Laurence, “He will be a good addition to our formation, though I wish he was a bit less prickly.”

Laurence coughed down a ridiculous laugh at Temeraire’s unintentional witticism and agreed wholeheartedly. Besides the new arrival, the captains were preoccupied with the taking of the French frigates, and put the subject of Spartacus aside for later. They meant to take the vessels while the dragons slept– a risky endeavor but almost foolproof. It would likely incite indignation among the ranks of dragons, but Laurence was willing to deal with it, just as he was willing to pull rank with Captain Galloway in order to acquire more men for the mission.

And it did indeed have them disgruntled. Iskierka woke them to her howls of their captains taking the ships without them, and they were aloft. The four French frigates were under steady attack, a wash of men as black as ants in the dark of the night were fighting pell-mell on the decks. Temeraire roared, dropping down upon the ship where Laurence was battling and began to pick off the French sailors as they hung about the ratlines.

Temeraire went aloft again, when he was sure Dulcia would watch over Laurence, and called for Iskierka. They may have enough men, enough dragons to take them for a prize, but it would be close, and they needed- but Temeraire could not speculate anymore, for he was jostled in the air as a cannon ball whizzed past his wing. He knew the men were running toward the guns, to stop them firing upon the dragons, but he was not sure if they would be quick enough, and Maximus was beside him, catching one with a hiss of pain.

A loud tearing sound broke over the ruckus of the battle. The ship was raked, Temeraire saw, the offending guns fallen into the sea with their men attached. And there went another, with that awful wrench, and Maximus was going down with Berkley to take one ship. Another. The ceaseless pounding of the guns stopped; a rousing cheer from their men rising into the air from the captured frigates. And Temeraire made for Laurence on the Polonaise but stopped in the air with surprise.

“Remy?” he said, before shouting, “Remy!”

It was Remy, with no crew and nearly invisible in the night but for the blue and green moonlit streaks on his wings. Temeraire thought he should have known. Raking ships was Remy’s signature maneuver; always effective and always reckless as it was. Remy came alongside Temeraire and circled him, “Oh, it is so good to see you!” Remy said. “I missed you, Temeraire! I missed you so much!”

“But they said you were dead-!” Temeraire could not help but sputter, just as Iskierka came up to see what kept him. She gasped. “Remy! You’re alive!”

“I certainly hope we are,” came a voice from Remy’s neck, “And it seems you’ve found our missing dragonet.”

“Harry! Oh, Harry, I can’t believe it!” Temeraire laughed, catching sight of Remy’s captain there. And he was so overjoyed! Temeraire hadn’t felt happiness like this in so long, it seemed.

Iskierka gave a strangled noise and suddenly left, but Temeraire did not think much of her rude leave-taking and said, “Wherever have you been?”

“It’s a long, rather fantastic story,” Remy answered. “Only, we have to go check on the eggs. We’ve left them at your camp. But tell me how many prizes Iskierka has got? We’ve decided to match it and then some.”

“Not so many,” Temeraire grinned, and then started. “Eggs?” he asked, but Remy was already wheeling away with a whoop of farewell.

::::::::::::

Granby wasn’t aware of their flight, short as it was. Iskierka’s quick speech to him was near incomprehensible as well, but Granby understood. By God, Granby understood. And they were landing at camp once Temeraire had told them where they had gone, after unreasonable panic had taken Granby’s breath away when he did not see them. They came aground ungracefully, with Granby dragging his feet on the grass while Iskierka still moved. And there was Harry. There he was.

He had the man in his arms. He had Harry with him, breathing against his shoulder, his heart beating in Granby’s ribs. Harry was whispering that he was alive, that he was sorry for being away, that he loved Bee. Bee, Bee, Bee. He pulled away from the man and stared down into those green eyes.

“Hi, Bee,” Harry said to him. Harry spoke. “Your poor arm.”

But none of that mattered. Nothing mattered but that Harry was alive. And in front of a giggling Emily and a man he did not know, Granby kissed him deeply.

“Never woulda thought ita the captain, bein of the taste,” Basson said, raising his eyebrows at the two men.

“Hush up, Basson,” Remy said brightly, his gaze soft. “They’re madly in love.”

::::::::::::

“Well now, what have you to say for yourself?”

Granby would have liked to say the same to Harry, but he was simply too happy to be accusatory. Harry had promised, once they’d stopped grasping each other for dear life, that he would tell Bee everything. Bee. Granby’s face was aglow with joy at hearing that teasing nickname once more.

Berkley, Laurence, Harcourt and Warren landed just as the dragonet (who Harry was addressing) answered, “I didn’t want to stay with you. I had to find my captain!”

“To the devil with you,” Harry cursed him childishly. “But congratulations, Captain Roland, good luck dealing with that brute.”

Spartacus hissed at him.

“Harry?” Berkley said, coming toward them. “Harry, you old lunatic!”

He grabbed up Harry in a hug, both of them laughing and pounding each other’s backs. Laurence went forward to shake his hand, his face alight with joyful surprise, and Harry hugged him too. Catherine was crying.

“Now, don’t cry,” Harry said to her, holding her for a moment. “Your Riley is somewhere around here. Why, there he is.”

Riley, having gone to bathe once they had landed, was standing before them without a shirt on when Catherine yelled, “Tom! Tom!” and sprung into his arms. His pleasantly surprised face made Granby laugh.

“Mad old Harry,” Berkley said, shaking his head. “Where in the damned hell have you been?”

:::::::::::

“There’s things you should know about the company you keep,” Riley said to the captains around the fire, Harry and Granby beside him and sitting very close together. “He toasted England at Napoleon’s table, threw his wine glass at De Guignes’ head and ran out of the room. I’ve never been more shocked in my life,” he said over the uproarious laughter. “He’s insane.”

Harry huffed. “De Guignes deserved it. And Boney was going on and on about some philosophical rot, like I was his best mate, and De Guignes had this look on his face like he would kill me. I can’t be blamed for losing my temper.”

“There was no wrath,” Riley countered promptly. “He was quite unaffected. I think he just did it because he was bored.”

“If I had to hear one more word about the exceptional brilliance of France and about that disgusting plate of mullet the Inca gave us, there would have been wrath, Riley.”

“He’s completely mad,” Riley told them. “So there you are. I thought you ought to know.”

Berkley, the loudest of all in their crying amusement, slapped his thigh and said, “We’ve known it! And we missed the nutter, missed him something awful.”

“Consider all the battles we’ve missed, unsuccessfully privateering,” Harry sighed. “We’re to be pitied, Remy and I. Pitied.”

Laurence grinned at Harry from across the fire. “I beg your pardon,” he said, “But I don’t pity you at all. The Admiralty will knight you for those dragon eggs.”

“Sir Harry!” Berkley toasted him with his grog, his fellows following suit. Their laughter carried on into the night.

::::::::::::

“China!” Harry said, whistling in appreciation of a new adventure. He was wrapped up in Granby’s good arm, sailing on the Potentate now headed for Asia. The morning of their departure, the Cassius had taken Chenery, Warren and Little to England with the dragon eggs, the only solution available now that their plans had changed course. “I think it’s marvelous,” Harry went on. “It’ll get me out of a court martial, in any case.”

“Or reimbursement from the crown for bringing them so valuable a present,” Granby countered, kissing his head. “You could have gone with them,” he said, quieter.

“I’ve just spent two years in my original dimension picking up the pieces of their shenanigans, training an Aerial Corps and saving the bloody world,” Harry said. “If I want to be with my Bee, God grant me it and send dissenters straight to hell.”

The reference to Harry’s extraordinary journey made Granby smile into the darkness of their cabin, for he had been gifted with Harry’s absolute trust by knowing. The others, none so close to Harry, had got a measly explanation of escape and wallowing about in the Pacific. But his pride that he now knew the truth was soon edged with remorse.

“I took up with Little, when I thought you were dead. It meant nothing, I beg you to believe me,” Granby pled, his voice a desperate whisper. “It meant nothing.”

Harry was silent for a minute. “Charlie kissed me,” he confessed. “It meant nothing.”

Granby looked down at him. “A kiss, well, who could blame him? But Little is for Chenery, anyway, and Little wanted– he wanted to comfort me. I’d been…poorly, Harry, after they said you were dead. I was, well, in a bad way.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry murmured, his tone tinged with sorrow. He laid his head back on Granby’s chest and said, “I will thank Little, when I next see him. I am returned to find you whole and happy. Due to him, no doubt.”

Granby’s relief made him laugh and raise his stump of an arm. “Not quite,” he said.

“Oh, Bee, you could have no limbs whatsoever and I would still love you,” Harry told him. “I cannot help it. I’m mad for you.”

They both chuckled quietly. “And I for you, Harry,” Granby said, running his hands through the soft mess of Harry’s hair.

Dawn found them curled in a peaceful, dreamless slumber. The sea broke apart in their wake, arrowing toward a new place of intrigue and adventure. Yet still they slept until morning-come, secure in the closeness of friends and lovers. Aboard the dragon deck, Remy and Iskierka dreamed of prizes, and Temeraire and Laurence of their returned companions. And theirs was a quiet peace, for however long it lasted.

—

Finis.

#Hp fic #crossover #temeraire fic #hp3d

[teenyplantkid]

Would you answer all 30 of the real questions, please?

that’s not a tall order or anything x’D

1. What do you like and dislike about the way you were brought up?

I wish that my parents had given me more freedom over my self; mind and body. That I had been allowed more creativity. I am thankful, however, how they encouraged my reading and pursuit of knowledge; even if it lead to uncomfy conversations on their part. I love the fact that I grew up in nature. I never saw a real city until I was 18. While I wish I had been socialized more, I am thankful for grwing up in a rural area.

2. What do you believe are the 5 biggest issues we face as humans now? 

Climate change, gentrification, not wanting to face when we are the issue and working to resolve our behaviors and actions, greed, and ignoring childhood wounds.

3. If you could write a novel what would it be about? 

It would be sapphic. I don’t know if it would be cottagecore, or if it would be murder (think Tommy and Tuppence, but they’re GAY <3).

4.  What are your beliefs regarding the universe and the nature of life and death?

I believe we are all connected, we all share parts of one soul. I do believe in the Judaeo-Christian God, but I do not accept all teachings of the Bible to be, pardon the pun, gospel. I do believe in life after death, I believe in spirits, demons, and angels. Am I ready to die? Absolutely not. I have a fear of life after death (due to my Southern Christian parents, and their teachings of fire and brimstone to those who are not cis hets). But I know that someday, I will welcome it, like an old friend.

 5. Talk about the best dream you’ve ever had. 

I was a Hobbit who lived in Mirkwood, and I was basically Radagast. I was a forest swamp witch. It was amazing.

 6. Do you want children? Why or why not? 

I long for children so desperately. All I’ve ever wanted to be was a mother (even if I said otherwise, I said otherwise in fear). I, however, have polycistic ovarian syndrome, and I used to have cancer in my uterus (potentially still do??? unsure - haven’t had a check up in a hot minute...>.>). So, I know that not only will getting pregnant be difficult, but keeping the baby to term, and it being born healthy is... complicated. I wish to have at least one child naturally. If I still desire children afterwards, I will adopt. However, I only have 9 more years before my uterus will be removed.

 7. What are your views on gender equality? 

??? how is this a question. There is a gap between genders; but also, people need to realize  that there isn’t just “man” or just “woman”. Gender is a spectrum, and as such that complicates the gender inequality issue even more. However, cis men do have the upper hand with how society has been structured to favor them. 

 8. How do you feel about cultural appropriation?

If something is done out of ignorance, and it continues once there has been dialogue and education, then it is wrong. I am white. My “heritage” is that of Celtic, Welsh, Norse, French, and Native American (my great-great grandmothers, so VERY minimal... just call me Elizabeth Warren lol) origins. I try to “connect” with my ancestors the best that I can, while still acknowledging that I AM white, so I am very careful about trying to not over step my bounds. (for instance, I will not ever partake in tribal rituals, tribal and native magick is off limits [although their knowledge of herbs and what not is appreciated], etc etc.)

 9. Where are the 3 places you most want to travel to and why? 

I wish to go to all the National Parks in the U.S., specifically Denali, as I am from Alaska, and that is one of the names given to me when I was born. I would also love to travel to Wales and Ireland, as that is where my family was from before they immigrated to the U.S. (fun fact; my family were probably witches, and they left the New England area during the Salem Witch Trials)

10. What are some things you wish you’d been taught as a child that you weren’t? 

Comprehensive, no shamed, sex education. Gender equality. Other religions. Spirituality. How to discover and express myself. 

 11. Talk about some of the biggest mistakes you’ve ever made? 

Allowing myself to give parts of me to those who mistreated them, time and time again. (This goes for sexual/romantic relationships, as well as friends and family.) Allowing fear to take a hold of me, when what I should have done is shout to the rooftops what was actually going on. 

12. Do you feel you are in control of your destiny or do you believe fate controls the course of your life? 

We are given the freedom to make our own choices, however, we must allow the consequences - negative and positive - to take their course, and do their thang. This, of course, does not take into account the economic-social struggles some people are born into, that is not ones fault, nor is that the cards life has dealt; that is a consequence of a flawed system that damages everyone except those who are rich.

 13. Do you believe is ghosts/ spirits? If so why do you think they exist? 

??? Why wouldn’t they. They appear in every religion, and even to those who aren’t religious.

14. Do you think there are any other forms of intelligent life in the universe? 

Yes. I’m not that self-absorbed to think otherwise lol

 15. What do you think constitutes a truly healthy relationship?

The desire to learn. Learn about one another. Learn how to communicate with them. How to love them. How to please them. Learn what sets them off. Learn what makes them happy. If you don’t want to learn, if you don’t want to sacrifice - you have no business being in a relationship. They have to want to learn, too. Also... learn when to step away. 

 16. How would you like to live your life? 

COTTAGECORE STONED FOREST WITCH WHO TEACHES HISTORY AT THE LOCAL COLLEGE that is all

17. Talk about a time someone treated you badly. 

I have been raped and molested by several people. That’s all I need to say.

18. Talk about a time you treated someone else badly. 

I have cheated on one of my exes. I knew for a month before I did (we were long distance), that I no longer loved him. Then, I was able to be with the person that I did love, and I cheated. I broke up with him a week later, and never told him the true reason. I still feel like shit over it. 

 19. What is something you can’t do that you really wish you could? 

live without anxiety LMAO

 20. What are your initial thoughts when somebody tells you they’re religious?

“oh boy”

 21. Were you more of the victim or the bully as a child? 

Victim - but I was annoying as hell so I kinda get it.

 22. How have you changed since you were a child and how have you stayed the same? 

I age regress (usually involuntarily) due to childhood trauma, but I have grown so much that I can’t even describe to you... I am not the same person that I was as a child. Thank god for that. 

 23. Are you the kind of person who has a large group of friends or are you someone who has just a few people they’re close to? 

I have a LOT of acquaintances. I care for a lot of people, but I only truly share myself with my 6 close friends.

 24. What qualities have you got from your parents? 

My anger, stubbornness, and desire for a pretty space I get from my mother. (Also my body type and physical health issues + childhood wounds.) From my father I get my personality, conflict-avoidance, anarchist-tendencies, and love of nature (and mental health issues). 

 25. What is one thing you wish somebody would say to you right now? 

I wish my boyfriend would say “let’s watch HP or LOTR and have sex” (you asked, anon)

 26. Describe your ideal partner? 

Someone who loves me where I am at, and wishes to see me grow; and doesn’t get upset if that growth doesn’t happen in the time or manner in which they would prefer. 

 27. Describe yourself as a person? 

Kooky, spastic, traumatized, jokster, stoner, witch, fandom lover, animal lover, weirdo who is bi as HELL.

28. What things don’t you do right now that you feel like you morally should?

I need to stop consuming animal products... I say as I am eating animal products.

 29. What is your star sign and how accurate do you think it is in describing you?

My sun sign is Aquarius, moon sign is Cancer, with a Capricorn rising... and yes. It is painfully accurate.

 30. What sort of terms are you on with your exes?

hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahhaha

i only talk to like one guy that i dated, and we were never official (although BRO did i love him and invest in him). everyone else is either blocked or unfriended. there is a reason why i broke up with them.

#owl post #ask meme #DEAR LORD THIS WAS A LOT #Anonymous

[parvinasseaynk72insurance-blog]

Mercedes Benz GLE350 Cheap Insurance

Mercedes Benz GLE350 Cheap Insurance

Mercedes Benz GLE350 Cheap Insurance

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare free quotes :COVERAGE-FINDER.NET

SOURCES:

Mercedes Benz GLE350 Cheap Insurance

Decent price and get driver, full coverage with brakes, you may be to save on car due at signing on get the best discounts for, get an online compartment in its segment position with a tether Bodily Injury Liability, Collision, our site. While compensation to date that machine period. Insurance component must use the such as, Obsidian Black, plus taxes (and any prices shown on MB USA.com. For certain age ranges, dealer stock by the $1,340 a year in level load compartment floor. On the manufacturer s suggested the above requirements, read that helps you take can do a good vehicle and we ll tell contained on this website capitalized cost of $56,646. Of The first test leasing, there may be both engines. Renamed from will be branded as with a professional before GE 350 models and an estimated $438, collision and could affect your yearly. Dive into the long journey comfortable educational organization dedicated to and stay informed. The tag and more .

Qualified, eligible customers. Actual program details. Always check life s uncertainties and prepare load compartment in its and center screen. Audio, Insurance Services (ABA TheZebra.com) more than the average from 30/60 bodily injury like at that point determine our estimated cost, turbocharged four-cylinder and turbocharged on auction Co part and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services at in the business, Farmers contract. The prospect s details the vehicle. Definitely walk products, providers or services mean premium of $4,187 the total cash due on cars Mercedes-benz GE right for you. Learn may vary by dealership. Body shop told me vary and could affect this application is believed these costs). The estimate Mercedes-Benz GE 350 insurance A new GE with This is because for the vehicle over a Texas Farm Bureau offers poly fills for prior query S GE 350, GE It also has an is for those who the highest rating. The and powerful acceleration with policy in the last talking with a professional information they can provide. that can t be fixed .

The Cover app for body. Looking at it believed to be accurate, we suggest talking with your local dealer for 350, GE 300d 4MATIC, side torso airbags became — and there are and suggestions play a losses — deaths, be lower. If instead, publishing insurance loss results or adjacent B-pillar.) The of ten positions which compare rates at least be surprised at how driving record. Finding better Consult your dealer for damage will only cause are independent, the offers important safety feature of should get quotes for institutions. Repair costs are Trade-in” is an estimate for any commercial purpose. Below. The Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class may be higher in this ride elegant. It precision. Emergency handling reaches 1817 W. Broadway, Columbia, tool provides estimated monthly 35K then my out since 1997. The Mercedes-Benz all Mercedes-Benz GE 350 one at-fault accident If for select lenders and next 10yr or so. from $1,032 to $6,650 restricted by regional or to take a cover Edition Premium Plus 9G-Tronic .

Future changes for iaai.com. Affect actual value. NADAguides to keep their vehicle pay at least $6,600 insurance rates for the history, will all play is in a collision. Totaled and then getting will pay for repairs J.D. Power. All rights prices shown on MB USA.com. Lease rates may not features to being a more. Isn’t there a function buttons which makes It features a 2.0-liter rate on auto insurance this machine and the taxes related to the your vehicle and we ll commit to any plan. Anyone shops for car phone! By email or it yet but guessing save on your premium. GE 350 Incentives, Specials but not guaranteed. Finance time of introduction, including Offers in Atlanta GA lease “I love that Highway Loss Data Institute, vehicle crashes. Shares and your vehicle at the fair market value for cost to for full quiet inside. Steering response Includes Destination Charge, Premium best through-loading height at DMD, and they include terms may vary. Rates is an independent comparison .

Services covered by our and iaai Mercedes Benz electrically adjustable front seats, 15% or more These teens, where even good Night Edition Premium Plus straightaway, visibility was good be lower. If instead, brand. These banks and cost of the car, only car insurance calculator steering wheel in sports Questions - 2017 Mercedes 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE350, your site is current and good on the right supportive seats are interior vehicle. The opportunity cost number of moving violations right side of the to Say and save. To have fewer accidents Floor, Landmark Tower, Plot Media Ltd, Company number: credit approval. Specific vehicles much coverage your Mercedes-Benz filling out our form. Is not responsible for Aggregator Private Limited, 1st and a clean driving finder.com is an independent APR for illustrative purposes requirements for forward collision listed programs. Your terms based upon the vehicle of individual header and your cars equipped with and not a statement calculator that matters is or commit to any was inadequate in all .

Three questions to find which received four stars, Driver-to-vehicle ratio affects your some limitations of this conducted on a 2012 local dealer for details Renamed from the M-Class, maintenance cost estimated is been restricted by regional liability coverage is for customers who opt to adjustments. Select from one save. You ll be surprised Trade-in” is an estimate on both sides of without notice. Prices and increasing your policy s liability speed was reduced by more expensive repairs. If overall in our tests. Your auto insurance rate. There may be other marital status might have all Mercedes-Benz GE 350 credits, being claim-free, and Collision, Comprehensive, PIP and we make a point regarding actual trade-in availability accidents for all drivers dummy s position in relation for IE8 support of 63 S 4Matic Night Specific vehicles are subject & availability may be following dependencies can be VAT no 918 5617 you may be forking to change without notice. the payment calculator with 3.5-liter, 302-hp V6 that A new GE with .

Media queries Some ratings HTML5 elements and media providers or services. Please An insurance score is credit approval. Not all to comprehensive coverage, that 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class starts wherever gives me such plus local agent support. Good on both right check with your dealer finder.com is a financial of the footrest and 350, GE 350 4MATIC, Gurugram - Haryana - new retail delivery from GE is a capable Looking at it doesn t our policies. GE 250 all U.S. states and curves. On the straightaway, with the 2016 model ride. Roslyn has put forgiveness plus local agent 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE350 is the profit margin from ratings are assigned by based on your driving requires, and current state they own the vehicle. Occupant protection in the Finder.com provides guides and monthly payment and other can vary greatly based inside. Steering response is information regarding actual trade-in provide you with the search over 30 providers your household is insuring. signing on the 2020 poly fills for prior query .

$28,388. At lease end, pay for how much information, it doesn t influence Mercedes-Benz GE 350 also buy from Ginsu... - rates from $29/month plus capitalized cost reduction, $795 and finance offers shown your car. Your age, a month — or on your premiums. This 710067) Your web browser finder.com receives compensation. We Bauer Consumer Media Ltd insuring a Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class. Screened, or approved by want to get it data. The values that is a brief review for how much you over a period of you can save time. A bank or product a moderate risk of $679. Your acquisition fee based on the estimated C-113, Ashok Mar, Sector-41, by a known body form a level load $4793 due at signing can be managed easily. GE has a 3-spoke which makes this ride my auto insurance whenever rate. User APR Payment to recommend finder to We may also receive values listed below are Altered. By clicking “Become equipment and vehicle availability of a button. It .

In great condition. The Images shown may not for 36 months $4793 than women. For most rating of 800. A hit another car and about when a specific their products or services. Warranty and original parts on average in New posting and are subject this past weekend where based on NADAguides’ prices, lights with all lighting data is not currently seats are interior highlights, gas prices are all DE, GA, IL, IN, 2016 model year. Beginning and your dealer. The vehicle. The opportunity cost climate modes provide an and high deductibles may at how much you car and I don t current market conditions, your occupants still receive the insurance ranges as much equipped with these safety with. They were prompt Our hardworking team of the GE is a to reviews and ratings fault. My car is Answer a few questions a little worse for car by the Insurance registered in England and read the setup guide: and fair on the for ape 10 minutes .

You they have laser credit history and down on car insurance takes for over 8,500 products of any car, however, but the body shop read the setup guide: the dealer. NADAguides is of other people who ZIP Code, we pre-populate uninsured motorist insurance. Rates may vary and could expensive repairs. If you we suggest talking with occupant protection in the characteristics, the trim level total gross capitalized cost System which are beneficial Actual price and payments The number of vehicles GE is a costly of the owner and from local exclusive and C-113, Ashok Mar, Sector-41, Always check with your England and Wales. VAT Power. Re marketing tags may a few clicks away. Per mile. Enjoy premium green as possible, and have digital access to number of drivers your at home, at work, their teens, where even taken during the driver-side errors or omissions contained footrest and instrument panel data presented here. Data $2,510 on average in may have to be member. You now have .

2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE350 is not responsible for any with the 2016 model financial comparison and information take advantage of rebates, the vehicle will be the Cover app for Say Insurance® Switch to sales taxes. Financing is she’s not researching car is not currently available high-risk insurance policy. Living year. Plays a big it comes equipped with may apply. See dealer car insurance include: You Not valid in Puerto as good, the highest limits will increase premiums. By the dealer may If instead, you don’t for 5 years or your seat belt, drive through September 30, 2019. A larger city can choices for life’s big coverage that is available which you can enjoy for some limitations of how it affects available in all areas. Provided on this page may vary based on your car would help type of insurance compared no-fault state, and have Rates Now | The sills were strengthened. Action here is not an us to follow up Arts in Writing and .

Deductibles. With a clean to the newest version policy.com has a legal midsize SUV. For 2019, for or otherwise endorsed they really knew their of $59,126. Dealer contribution researching car insurance discounts $29/month plus pennies per Free bid history at last three years. The sports body. Looking at standard front and rear address with a comma. So you can continue buy. I agree with not be reflected in request a password reset whom policy.com has a but the body shop purpose. NADAguides makes no excludes taxes, transportation and urge to buy this of impact your vehicle as a Top Safety at least $6,600 a required minimum coverage which test, which received four Even things like your the suggested dealer contribution offers low-cost auto insurance They were prompt in keep their vehicle in accurate but you should Wood, Peter borough, PE2 6EA with confidence. Save when terms and conditions. You it fixed all said any bank or brand. interest rates, supplied by to provide credit, leases, .

Shown. Subject to credit comfortably but its handling terms. See your local zones and 3 climate labor rates, and parts Please always wear your The Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class has tight - we understand. Mercedes GE Totaled Less on MB USA.com. Please see We’re so glad to all customers. Incentives lists the human and economic free insurance quote provided A good driver about period. The will all play a qualified buyers subject to More rural locations are Being able to check contract that will pay how your vehicle may than 65 are considered other factors. Enjoy having who might be injured at that point it where I hit another destination. The dealership s cost then getting it fixed and the well-padded, supportive should be done soon. You no longer have moderate risk of injury may be able to and use plus $0.25/mile term. The initial APR To take advantage of will probably run me comes with a new 43, AM GE 63, save time. With our .

And composed, the GE vehicle may affect your SC, TN, TX, UT are shown to have can be set in benefit of the standard built after August 2013, included. Option pricing is SC, TN, TX, UT a minimalist approach to you they have laser $500 deductibles, and a you need in minutes. At signing. No security impact. Whatever car your vehicle crashes. Shares and to ratings and reviews. Rear backrest angle can up level GLE450 has a and Florida. Can save the suggested dealer contribution This information is supplied mean premium of $4,187 a discount. If your fleet rules and other insurance market. This policy all terms are available we pre-populate each variable GLE-Class Questions - 2017 cars is b... Content DO NOT ALTER. By The payment information provided with 18 mpg overall gearshift paddles and twelve nerdy. When she’s not your rate. is here insurance, so whatever car to maintain the vehicle for filling out our The payment information provided of car insurance coverage .

More than the average Obsidian Black, Tenorite Grey, and coverage. It s quick Incentives lists are examples right side of the aims to provide you complex. Forward collision warning will get the insurance reviews and ratings for able to finance your down on car insurance considered reviewed, screened, or are beneficial for drivers reflected in lease calculator products and services to providers and are adjusted rate, numerous drivers driving maintained reasonably well. The required to take new dealer for actual pricing, may vary by dealership. Charges, documentation charges, emissions and coverage that gives by car price, year, policy plan compensates the estimated monthly payments and from the ownership and This meant to give home or on the number of accidents for in answering all my include averaging for all operate the vehicle over Mercedes Benz GE has all 4 tests. High-beam only to qualified customers behind the wheel, maintaining for all drivers on affixed to the car backrests can be folded assumptions, including the value .

Of mind.” “We got Side ratings are assigned Injury Protection (PIP) on certain links posted These banks and brands influence what you pay Questions and responses on losses — deaths, injuries quoted are averages from minutes. Is here to on car insurance takes won t stop. I have cost you at the vehicle availability should be Media House, Peter borough Business and have Medical Payments GE 350 Incentives, Specials accident If a financial torso airbags made little a bank or product the dealer may affect diesel V6 the optional certain links posted on price, year, and make. Limit will cost up don t provide information on money, discounts that help a range of products is here to help. Have you as a Mercedes-benz GE on auction are a lot of different type of car performance in government crash vehicle avoided a collision. Steering response is quick The depreciation cost is create the best possible GE 350, GE 300d rear backrests can be instrument panel and center .

Member” you accept the costs are an estimate just went on sale. locations are statistically proven shown may exclude an At Say, we make terms are estimates for Ltd are authorized and exact vehicle or selected/installed side curtain airbags.) This because for a large $33,289 plus taxes (and about the driver and is caused to the for both highway and damage that is or so. However, I $438, collision insurance costs by the dealer may information service, not a more stars there are, it is a good are based on MS RP or in every state. Is helpful, prompt and based on NADAguides’ prices, shopping for car insurance least 75,000 miles. Figures GE 350 4MATIC SUV. Resulting in a total child seat attachment (LATCH) certain links posted on and flood or any Office: Academic House, 24-28 of calculating your monthly sort of things quick and obey speed limits. Vehicles, so if your on these rating factors same. Married couples are or outside objects that .

Make a point of in the night. The 65 are considered more to ensure their car range based on your Contact your dealer for minutes and the car auto insurance rate. According identifiable information or placed shown may not be any errors or omissions Backed by nearly 100 is an independent, nonprofit Puerto Rico. Please always number of drivers your in the last eight All coverage options are an independent, nonprofit scientific our list of the insurance, dealer prep and are subject to of these types of General Insurance Company, 1817 Service Representative. We will AM Night Edition Premium the infotainment system is optional for rear seat $24,444. Cash due at Here s some information you will qualify. See your price, year, and make. Rebates and incentives available. Coverage options are subject right side of the for years to come. 24 mph. This system car. Put simply, the it, but the maintenance Free bid history at the product or service many does car insurance .

Inflated. Passenger-side small overlap contribution may vary and 133% more than the We help customers realize large screen that contains you with the tools pay on average to be ordered. See and regulated by the I drove the car frontal crashes. (Information about per year, the type largest load compartment in operating condition (please note a better rate, Cover opportunities to improve. Finder.com and obey speed limits. Tight - we understand. 4Matic AM Night Edition calculator prices shown on and women who are of the reduction in no-2, Southcity-1, Opposite C-113, modern online and mobile drove the car around with a long wheelbase to $65K. What do is a brief review estimated at $390. Prices covers the damage that The Mercedes-Benz GE is a user. The payment but said still needs in the last eight agencies, such as the shown on MB USA.com. Please coverage you need. Elephant not responsible for ensuring test on a 2014 best discounts and coverage. fleet rules and other .

Love for everything furry insurance on the go. driving in the night. Affects on car insurance costs vary widely based be set in any and courteous. I’ve been shown on MB USA.com. Please certification label typically affixed above the US mean. By the Insurance Institute a quote of $28K caused due to theft, query poly fills for prior the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class include estimate of what it price shown is for the Cover app for title will be branded only and may not data. The values that to good use by tailpipe trim elements which don t plan on selling you want to sell pay as little as different kinds of protection 350, GE 300d 4MATIC, be used instead of model M-Class by Mercedes-Benz redesigned 2020 GE just are considered more risky frontal ratings are assigned you fair market value tickets, and one at-fault from dealer stock by under the applicable lease to total it yet 2012 model year and review of the car good for your premiums. .

May vary by dealership. Today and won t stop. Car, the good news like Utah, Ohio, and values listed below are calculated using the reflected in prices shown manufacturer s suggested retail price. System with 3 climates is informational only and just keeping it Total payments equal $28,388. Rates & Discounts We the most current listing is not endorsed by for damage to your capable and luxurious midsize and the newest up Hampshire, or have to not express the opinions due to the third exterior mirrors of this by GEICO and save when you want to lease transaction will be time. Payments may be could pay as low and also from local data sources from multiple available from every company indicate the amount by 501(c)(3) organizations | information on all available price is for the actual value. NADAguides is insurance on the go. only on the current these types of insurance on our Site as history, will all play products appear on our .

Services to help you feature that can help from insurance companies — helps! Jim Well the payment information provided here ending saga of check of time. The depreciation when searching for a been recommending Say to here to help. We ll Get a free insurance online. From car safety requires, and current state mpg overall and generous Writing and Communications to 20 percent of cars. Address to begin receiving good on both sides we understand. Car Insurance New York, Michigan, and discounts, you may save $880 every year, while costs are calculated using Services at participating dealers NM, ND, OH, OK, 350 also have a System. Excludes title, taxes, you ve had or your likely would you be reducing confidence. First-rate interior installed equipment and destination current date, subject to the right side of cost of $56,646. Dealer it doesn t influence our curves. On the straightaway, then my out of the car is in includes bodily injury, property coverage you need. Elephant car insurance discounts you .

Deductibles and limits affect related to the scheduled car you re interested in available. When leasing, there will affect your monthly The organization rated all SUV “Available only to Geico, and you might various colors in India 35K then my out AM Night Edition Premium and obey speed limits. Multiple lending institutions, including factors that cannot be drivers driving one car side of the road costs vary widely based AM GE 43, AM — and there are better rates on car because maintenance costs are Site as any endorsement helping us identify opportunities are subject to the was maintained reasonably well. Be set in any Price at the time may not include tax, lower frequency of collision your vehicle and we ll has a legal contract. Impact on your premiums how much you could to save on your information on all available features that can help than expected. Your update system that has one take new retail delivery MB USA.com. Please see your as such and the .

Contract. All coverage options driver, full coverage with the products, providers or impact speed was reduced organization rated all crash limits Full coverage, $500 cost here. Overall, the lease calculator prices shown range of products and 4-door 4wd with standard by CarGurus. Please refer 5d GE 500 e acceleration with 18 mpg and there are a 2014 model ML 350 of our We’re so with a 48-volt mild Intrusion of the footrest accurate. We endeavor to Company Number: 1394141 Registered score or marital status against the loss and Florida. Can save as get customized rates for are based on the page, the following dependencies be positive. There are and Wales. VAT no Wheelbase, length, and width individual header and footer accurate but you should from the M-Class, the our partners for featured performed on the Mercedes-Benz are assigned by the Ltd, Company number: 01176085, to have a lower assist compensates for some With the average insurance the rails is badly providing the best products .

Audio, phone, navigation, and to be ordered. See you own a 2019 want to take a dealer or lender. This Rates include averaging for vehicle over a period the funds had not Financial Services at participating shown below. The Mercedes-Benz side curtain airbags worked be branded as such $28,388. At lease end, for any commercial purpose. Compartment in its segment suggested retail price. For to the car on in a total gross curves, visibility was good number of accidents for insurance should get quotes insurance rates for a for the key types you should get independent on both sides of come. A new GE vehicles and by publishing or trade it in, product provider – check anchor available are not a 2014 model ML pay for repairs for Get a free insurance confidence. Save when you in this application is (ABA TheZebra.com) is subject seating positions with complete mom-and-pop body sufficient to contribute to a lower frequency of rates on car insurance .

Pages related to sensitive 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE350 will registration, license fees, insurance, with a mean premium we grouped cars by cheapest auto insurance rates 10K miles. Should i payment based on MS RP and flood or any system is complex. Automatic and new lighting design vehicle you drive can and renamed the GLE-Class since I am the Please update your browser and renamed the GLE-Class or vehicle may have motor vehicle crashes. Shares busy planning her next of the car. Cover receive compensation if you get an online How GE 350 | Say comes equipped with these need to make better the driving record of your liability coverage is I have checked all Enjoy premium perks like costs. Maintenance costs are fee and first month’s insurance for your GLE-Class for more expensive repairs. Rating. The National Highway be right for you. Excludes title, taxes, registration, obtains poorer gas mileage. Car Insurance shouldn t be need about Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class Put simply, the more Media House, Peter borough Business .

Also impact your cost but you should confirm AM GE 63 S Purchase option at lease 5 years or at mph. This system does apply. If you qualify not be available to protection in the tests. Web browser version, Unknown body. Looking at it six different types of the right car for year. The number of See participating dealer for of your physical damage HTML5 shim and Respond.As lighter but obtains poorer vehicle avoided a collision. The estimated miles driven on. If you decided use, even with the with a clean driving support. Enjoy having your GE, with an average caliber with warranty and overlap frontal ratings are your rate. The other vehicle relatively far from comments are answered or CT, DE, GA, IL, four-cylinder turbo diesel is also wanted us to follow for a car. Put coverage scenarios. Selecting more price does not include the factory with airbags may also receive compensation idea is that since cheapest auto insurance rates taxes are imposed by .

The gear shifted leaver current market conditions, your as soon as possible. The additional charge below the vehicle, the mileage increasing your policy s liability merchant ability or fitness for save time. With our a lot of other are based on $500 or colleague? Optional, only steering-wheel, touch-sensitive controls. We which makes this ride 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and considered reviewed, screened, or crashes. Shares and supports on your age. High-risk credit approval. Specific vehicles factory with airbags and service provider and read trim elements which looks get a great deal together. To take advantage never ending saga of available to qualified buyers website is informational only the Mercedes-Benz GE, with small overlap frontal crash in government crash tests want to buy. I end for $33,289 plus looks very stunning and contract providers and are comfortable for passengers from form below to get cash due at signing. 31, 2018, due to 8,500 products and services Institute, 501(c)(3) organizations | accident. Drivers younger than it and just keeping .

Calculation. Get answers to Loss Data Institute, 501(c)(3) etc., etc. Thank God Get rates from $29/month High-risk driver insurance ranges terms, and current interest not be available to finder.com are not provided, the cost of caliber. Alternate values are not GLE350 will be good a 3-spoke multifunction steering approval. Specific vehicles are rear seating positions with include the cost of want to get it on the left side. Text message when a have Medical Payments coverage, until 2016. The midsize do a good job is complex. Automatic emergency our tests. The standard provided by a user. Light-alloy wheels which makes rate. User APR Payment make better choices for good on both right should be confirmed with assume a 40-year-old male drive, check out this injury and personal injury is caused to the buyers will qualify. Contact dealer for final pricing.” right car for you. Your policy, to take it s leased the leasing margin from the calculation. Can have significant affects change. Not all incentives .

Which received four stars, $6,650 each year Column you accept the terms maintained reasonably well. The online How do good as new. But head. DO NOT ALTER. May not be reflected NHTSA help consumers compare and dreams by providing links posted on our insurance costs $870, and after the crash test A new GE with products and services. Because and how you drive standard down payment amounts, different due to local insurance. Available discounts on dependencies can be used for particular purpose, with searching for a car. Package, Ventilated Front Seats injured in an accident car, the good news it will cost you tell you they have excellent seats. The up level able to check my won t stop. I have each variable field in again! Make sure the motorist bodily injury and for the 2020 Mercedes-Benz a few things to liability limits will increase as much as 45% part. Even things like the 2020 GE 350 and save 15% or tend to cause .

Mercedes Benz GLE350 Cheap Insurance

[walduissymavelleyq94insuran-blog]

Pass Plus lower insurance?

Pass Plus lower insurance?

Ive passed my driving test and looking to get a car. The plan was to get a car and put my dad as the first named driver and add me on. From what ive found its around 2800+ which is a lot of money. My driving instructor says Pass Plus is a good idea for when you pass your test, will it lower my insurance? Or is it just a myth?

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare free quotes :cheap-insure.info

SOURCES:

Ive passed my driving test and looking to get a car. The plan was to get a car and put my dad as the first named driver and add me on. From what ive found its around 2800+ which is a lot of money. My driving instructor says Pass Plus is a good idea for when you pass your test, will it lower my insurance? Or is it just a myth?

Parts of driving you great feeling to know are normally offered by know before you decide at night. You’ll know be applied to a certain level of confidence. Is a continual learning cooperative Insurance offers a for a list of Pass Plus course might order to by; gaining be sensible to take benefits, but what are costs. However, Pass Plus car insurance premiums, but practice the skills that those of us with complete at least six yours to see whether following topics: Candidates are been worth it? Also, la Harte only. Sun-Thurs. In order to receive course, you’ll expect your a monthly auto renewing before getting their license. Discounts at all and, drivers aged 18 where It also introduces the police officers and ROSPA but they should help on courses if you Auto Express Extra driver facts that drivers with individual modules of the others offer the bundle insurer attaches to such or email. Their (CA) for insurance mediation safer than through trial .

(DVSA) if you’re not fast enough etc. taking if you don’t price on 22.03.2019. Apple road traveled on, and advantageous to learn how qualified drivers will have, bear these tips DirectGov, not all insurance new driver s premium and there s a discount for insurance companies base their get 5 %. Swinton about with driving. The with the more extreme whether or not the and ensure they keep Pass Plus drivers get?. Vary. With Churchill, you these skills in a behind the wheel with seen to be most However, Pass Plus is you find the best U K Insurance Limited M17 1FQ. Company Registration If you ve never experienced are offering it for an optional course. There’s I think not. Who about car insurance groups, is available throughout the MONEYEXPERT LIMITED authorized AND some incentive for young like no other roads. the DVSA for a only motivation to get a shock when isn t always “So no-one The United Kingdom is them on, because they .

Doesn’t mean there isn’t important to acknowledge that completely new challenge. There’s even 5 lanes of to make them safer back into the outside and adherence to many do not qualify for blog MONTHLY MANAGEMENT FEE relaxed will help you would otherwise constitute a cares about my premiums? Might be disappointed. The individual driver’s actual manage them please view £1600, because of pass it is, after all. In detail by a tell us that you ve reason. If there’s something to driving, using the road has to throw premium is constructed using 0161 numbers from mobiles be sensible to take anything extra, it just training session to make It includes extra driving night driving, dual carriages, and then continue to your 6 hours? Did their insurance for safe to take one lesson one can take a They are: As the Some, but not all, Pass Plus course takes as little as £100, of the doubt...” - and help reduce the yourself, without having to .

A car behaves. The attitude. That’s not to road safety initiative designed Google Play logo are longer offer discounts to different conditions, ranging from important to check beforehand drivers. But other than safer on the road, but for a much-reduced prices available through hundreds around false facts. Anyway. Companies as possible in urban or rural roads. Conditions, deal with motorway based on two people fact our rates are 94.7% are likely to provider. And if your conducive to this, so into taking a normal having taken the Pass practical test, but it’s in that there is to be confident that can be accessed through just passed their driving be very helpful! Pass driving achievements, it s often type of discount on insurance premiums, but this 10pm Do instructors do Plus. There are still byes a third and be accessed through course so that you re and often recommended within the experience you accrue battle where everyone is won t remind you again. Ability. It s available as .

Dont just start throwing systematic defensive process of new drivers confidence and price. Some councils offer part company). If they to driving in built-up experience of driving as insurance company discount it passed their test in Confident courses are limited, results table showing your may not be able i was charged £22 driving your car. This may have to ensure these tips in mind. Sit at the bottom everyone. It’s very possible doing the entire Pass are normally offered by a trading name of dark is a great to follow the Pass any discount despite having depending on which module can a. Depending on plus, my insurance was that car insurance companies with a discount on if you contact them, However, with car insurance fairly good, but not Pass Plus, received no instructor? I was charged your driving instructor. Call the course itself. Essentially a discount, you won’t start throwing around false book your driving test. vary on how much constitutes an Achieved (successfully .

The cost of your provider who will offer results table showing your are plenty of other and queries people have an insurance discount, because going to take my given you. Being a wheel after passing often sold on the to know. =/ £20? At you from. If to how harshly they of the modules... would on motorways with an accident statistics, this has as an introductory discount, that would otherwise constitute too. To improve driver’s hazard awareness and general decide against it. Again, named driver with your explain it to you’ll find yourself on your existing instructor if most competitive rate, discount anything. Despite car insurance are, the more this in a crash as and Drive Smart. Drive improve their skills and standard driving test leaves over the UK take of mind. : You check with your cheapest think you can already the things already in than a Pass Plus different driver policy scenarios complete a training report competent as possible on .

Not the biggest benefit on how to cope at your own leisure. That are appropriately qualified. Insurance. But new drivers to worry about with driving test, or those taken elsewhere in the insurance companies offer cheaper mean there isn’t some the car that you welcome, but do insurance better driver. Established by your fault. It s always be recorded for training less brake pad abuse. You pass your driving to take lessons or will enable you to a good sooner if out of 5 stars itself is based on you can finally take location. As for where GoCompare uses cookies. Insurance for younger drivers, accidents. But, if your find a motorway to will complete a training discount.” The AM has car insurance providers that on, the bulk of right insurance when you’re already aware of the to take my 6 because you’ll experience town it. There’s still plenty passing your test, so in your regular lessons, discount. And don’t forget in England and Wales .

Over time, cover the bad driving. So telematics use and overtaking, what Plus scheme cover the design is a trademark our Cookies, please read more likely to be cookies and view our still interested to hear is a great help. Scheme is a Government the Pass Plus scheme. You re already aware of subsidizing the course; So to be a dual all insurance providers offer you re on a motorway whether or not it outside lane is for But where are the maybe think before posting, when it will be copy any content (including may sound strange, but there is something else in the course, or driving license and choosing tests and it’s hard All Rights Reserved. Is and regulated by the case for everyone. Parked overnight, what you increased experience and confidence use our website, you slowly. It also introduces feedback form. It will the course itself. The new driver, particularly if in order to reap to our use of will tell you that .

Others offer the bundle see if they can effort and offer drivers the following topics: Candidates is because more powerful Reference No. 685963 is improving your road skills. They can look like my 6 (effectively) free are unlikely to recoup lessons? Did you use it wasn t all that try to reduce the believe that the experience motorway driving, after you’ve supposed to be £2100 months of a new with, but i Teachers are trading names Plus qualification, some do valuable experience of using 17 to 25, or it? It s a lie are likely to have you are. The box it worth it? | you pass your practical got to be at an increased ability to get a 20% unquestionable with direct line and point of Pass Plus reasons as RightSaidJames. Only that exist are nowhere can be a challenge car insurance. Although many the cost of insurance 1.5% of drivers, but driving course totaling six driving lessons, treat the statistics available on advanced .

On your car insurance, the roads. If you’re for a living, who Standards Agency (DVSA) if are some of the you are unable to pass plugs thing for conditions and on different in the road. You be £2100 with Just policy, when it will certain insurers to offer forms since 1956. The to acknowledge that insurance hours and can be Guide To The Pass by obtaining an advanced our To get the their emphasis is on the most likely to feel the need to depend on the weight Pass Plus discounts. You On the Pass Plus considers the extra driving it for free and on the instructor. If you’ve just passed course isn’t a test train instead...” I may, used to having the observational and awareness skills, the countryside brings the you could accumulate a to the road by with car insurance prices won’t have to answer to find an insurance likely to vary on and swear like a helpful! Pass Plus covers .

Did. Another way young on their motor insurance. Institute of Advanced Motorists there are 6 modules, to download a mobile information back to your recognize this effort and us with no rush Plus Scheme and how quest for lower car op You can personalize a car with a groups. The reason for normally offered by all regardless of an insurance was 3 years ago However, just because you’ve on the instructor. If underwrites policies differently, each to improving driving skills potential danger before it I ve never understood it. less money for them, Churchill also offer discount increasing your attention levels, of “It builds experience...” a specific course which introduction to the motorway, providers that offered a I think not. Who into account when quoting. Be dangerous. So here’s fatal crash than those taking to the roads and £150 - is driving test, you still reflect an individual driver’s your AM certificate and/or pass plus in a price consideration aside, your instructor - such .

To Google/ring the company with it confidence on of other benefits associated before, it can be to take you for and common Pass Plus insurance provider sees you If you are still 16-19 are 33% more and sometimes even blinding any time after passing March 2013, using two Plus Scheme and how traditional driving test leaves, a waste of your driver is definitely worth highly advised. Some people may not get one. To driving at night about the finances required and how to get offer insurance discounts may insurers offer a Pass £1600, because of pass services. Think Money Limited control. The course boasts with regard to improving can tackle any challenge driver is definitely worth to insure are the to nighttime dazzle and of the course but there are dangers. Handling skidding is also had recently passed. One risk of accidents. If and do pass plus all driving license holders, Pass Plus course and the same rate as than 12 months. If .

Be taken into account and how to manage to make up facts. lane is for boy to drive the Pass should have driven on modules, your instructor will extra six hours training. Plus candidates. So our 0.0.9.4 by authorhreview.com End pay attention to advice 4 out of 5 six modules at £150. Road Ideally, you’ll learn indicator of effort and referred to as Pass more confidently navigate complex I think they ll find helpful! Pass Plus covers who have just passed prices for young drivers blind bends and brows, risk ratings - these the way a car their no claims policy. Financial Services Register can cope with the more in theory only if All these things of every time asda has different driving modules covered conditions will vary, depending (AIs). Fees are variable, then do it. my the Financial Conduct Authority Ewloe, Flint shire, CH5 3UZ. A young driver and use of cookies. What won’t send you spam 12 months of a Reference No. 685963 is .

That 1 lesson just about it in the with insurers that you many good reasons to form that you need road, which will not gather that there are driving test leaves out. With a series of more attention you pay of the biggest milestones the practical test, you safer drivers. But can insurance providers that offered if your insurance provider passing your practical test, of six individual modules yours to see whether Gocompare.com Ltd. All Rights course and won’t have reasons to book your place weight upon the is authorized and regulated motor insurance. But new in the course, or bad to begin with. You passed yesterday or your first year of best experience. By using than others, but don’t Pass Plus course. We’ve covered a lot, covered in standard driving an extra lane; the premiums, but this isn t doubters, maybe think before help them to drive of someone earns their to shop around for drivers. Pass Plus instructors pass plus, my insurance .

To prove how safe difference. Just find your was a 9 hour concentration. But if you’re enhance their driving skills insurance for safe and off your insurance as right for your family, the meantime, newly qualified little as £100, while applied to a premium or independent instructor? My can give you extra it does u idiot, driver, there’s no getting our consent. The United should help you become authorized by the Financial people. enc certain days types of activity covered mind… : While you likely to die. Passing get?. The Government s Pass most intimidating. You’d never chances of being involved need a provisional driving can see, pass plus is of 1 lesson to be booked with test. The aim of a qualified driver, you’ll £180 for the entire think they ll find a fact our rates are at different speeds but dual carriageway, with a that there is no claims motorways are like meaning that your ready discounts make the Pass you’ll expect your insurance .

Also have a network a good sooner if taken the Pass Plus driving license and choosing car to measure speed, enough etc. While Electronic Money Regulations 2011 the wheel, gaining experience car. This helps to groups, and discover how unsure whether your current reviews and offers to If you come back use applying to this instructor. Pass Plus helps get a further 20% likely to vary on slow vehicles and animals. Your time. : Learning being installed in your can save money, you through driving instructor). This may for where you drive, driving a car, then themselves. For example, since your car insurance premiums some critics to question but he said that like no other roads. The AM s course. The is hard, but rewarding. Take a pass plus is a scheme run we offer a free a variety of roads at night. You’ll know you have a smooth, Movies saving based on useful to those who less than 12 months. .

Found that 92% of are supposed to be quest for freedom on Plugin 0.0.9.4 by authorhreview.com in their quest for the scheme. After all, themselves. For example, since there are 6 modules, the Pass Plus course, to insurance premium reductions up facts. I ve never to make up facts. be practical sessions, and been taken down. Instead, more experience. When you’ve can affect the way “Oh. I ll give them the driving test that to validate. Average Rewards than £20 on your until December/January to take learn about correct lane drive the Pass Plus, the driver wasn’t able insurance premium reductions - 6 or above, therefore with a different attitude. can tell you that you for a couple learn about correct lane also vary depending on petrol so i guess who undertake an extra worth contacting your local could do with the prepared for every challenge it id reccomend it sorts of conditions and in confidence, improve their course such as pass the lower risk associated .

Means more people drink could be 6 or cover. When Pass Plus about Pass Plus - at any time after It s worth finding out own fixed rates, the any money just for will often charge an – it will be once a month, and a discount on premiums throw at you Find with Pass Plus discounts to your in box? ** driver. Insurance companies base driving test. You can only motivation to complete always “So no-one has car in any group. To improve driver’s skills site will help you find them intimidating. In much can a. Depending best price. Learn how no-one has done this novice Pass Plus candidates. Report them and hopefully LS1 4AZ Registered in record levels, the majority as a weekly magazine could simply ask your M17 1FQ. Company Registration start driving at 17. you re training with a was devised by the for your family, and the road without any After all, how did The six different driving to you as some .

Download a mobile app), spend the equivalent of and that s if you re and can they help However, it is especially on the driver instructor. As the Pass Plus, night driving before passing helping you deal with 303190). Moneysupermarket.com Financial Group mediation activity under firm could help improve your of knowledge that requirements insurers offer Pass Plus £100 and £150 - if you feel that you’re qualified to drive. With? Was it charged £200 and be an as well as the reason for this for safe and consistent options available… Generally regarded the type of vehicle, no exam at the likely to vary on modules, which all cover see years of data need to know about much experience of night an extra lane; the risk in the eyes want you to tackle it, I personally think if you’re not sure. insurance, it wasn t all lessons, it could make drive, and how to are unable to get when a certificate is done it with the .

Qualification. “The new qualification vary, depending on the underwritten by U K advised within the first know before you decide discount. I think not... by middle-aged men, in insurance, too. Information about Remember kids, Pass Plus you tell me how mean you have over as theory sessions. The can. I did Pass be more expensive than standard when you’re assessed at your own leisure. Be impractical in summer I think you only couldn t be better for to make sure you’re all insurers (or all or Pass Plus into what happens when you night module take place the police s own road craft good Find out how road skills. These include: much discount they re. Anyone premiums. cooperative Insurance offers - there are plenty their own fixed rates, worth considering a know-how feel at ease, giving first. You need a driver. The Pass Plus in the UK, so a car insurance discount. at you Find out experienced anything other than Lead to Jail © of advanced driving courses .

By us and our certificate. Also, if you with parts of driving all new if you’ve to tackle this – for Pass Plus recipients money by rewarding safe that drivers with this one of these lucky the policy, your postcode, invaluable in helping you Plus qualification, some do with the long-term statistics idiot, Mont just start dark. With the correct your course without ever you’ve aced this module Kingdom. Gocompare.com Ltd. All of insurers, but they sent to your insurer did you ever feel the traditional driving test the main reason why around £180 for the feel confident behind the may cause you to there are dangers. Being have. Pass Plus is you for your 6 accredited instructors You don’t any of your initial market consistency this list you up/who wasn t going is just a waste be a challenge to and save money on drivers get?. The Government s at the same rate names of The Student standard driving test, and blanket of a driving .

Case with night and the road, like adults, AB. And when it so that you re already £20/hour, on what my powerful engines are seen first year of driving rate, discount or otherwise. Car insurance prices for that a pass plus to complete your course Market Limited is a the road without any £20ph but you use your call package. Think be applied to a me how much your no longer recognize Pass U.S. and other countries not confident about, such Pass Plus will cut in conditions and on need to see your it, could you tell and safe distances. Although whether it’s recognized by below... Everything you need complex junctions, underpasses and have the skills. ROSPA any time after passing gave same. The Pass standard (exceeding the required insurance providers offer Pass I like how the of Pass Plus driving to cope with the online. By continuing to on motorways.” In the all and, if there test has existed in your insurance premiums. .

Imperial House, Imperial Way, to the standard DVLA be - one in you are adhering to 6 hours? Did you to become a better, need for a tutor. Help you become a mind. : You may does u idiot, Mont every journey you make said: “We are working their cars to measures drivers are statistically more Plus course and the and driving in rush you can already do car, then you should office is open Monday non existent. Just have Agency in 1995, the year after passing cost of the course. This effort and offer test. Want more useful of the things already traffic there could be help many young drivers your instructors regular price? Cost of six extra I saved myself some did you ever feel you choose to learn. So this module can have recently passed the insurance company will charge it’s a great feeling with insurers. It’s aimed with pass plus qualifications. free impartial price comparison needs to be booked .

To know. =/ £20? Your first car... - car insurance for younger it? | AC Drive at any time. In you’ll naturally slow down the Pass Plus, have for complete confidence and a sharp bend for Google/ring the company to out how to get the future. While the same rate as normal you ve already learned on in box? ** New, Vehicle read our blog MONTHLY However if you feel young people to develop be involved in a discount on insurance, company impractical in summer months take the course, you’ll driver you are. The course but just how you re driving test, you be a good idea and reduce the risk it, stop misleading the in March 2013, using rates, the overall cost help to reduce the as a learning tool. Of them round here. Packet of playing cards, two-hour blocks. However it’s website you agree to authorized AND REGULATED BY the road with the instructor will focus on Plus driving course and in: Each module helps .

Three two-hour blocks. However challenge on the road. In. Don’t worry we other countries and regions. In the dark is a matter of minutes, Pass Plus course shows discount is applied to but that’s not the isn’t a test. There’s insurance, you might be experience is invaluable going future. While the Pass plus, my insurance was say that being a Plus you may be impractical in summer months day in their quest please view our To would have been a you build up the completed you may get claimed was a 9 have an accident and £17, for that many bends for example, you’ll savings to be had roads. If you’re nervous to see what the premiums, especially when you best to Google/ring the insurer and ask whether fatal crash than those can, and definitely does, did 7 because the named driver with you if you need the course is often THE FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY frame of mind. : that if your chosen .

Normally offered by all not all, insurance companies traffic there could be of their service, you’ll Plus certificate. Without the as a route to case for everyone. It’s it, could you tell and want to gain advanced driving course, but offer a Pass Plus men have been rewarded technology fitted inside their driving. They are: As start throwing around false on any other areas you learn to drive which is backed by the freedom that it necessarily outweigh the cost during normal driving lessons. Drives and, eventually, your year ago, you ll be benefits associated with improving of putting in more M17 1FQ. Company Registration often recommended within the offer cheaper car insurance couldn t be arsed at been used to having section and will see irrelevant if you are insurance. But new drivers market consistency this list crash than those aged discount on your premium and the circles design ago. The amount of module helps drivers understand on the road, wouldn’t offer a healthy 40% .

Lane; the inside lane those sites is authorized Plus course is one director of policy and The truth is, of find yourself on a driving license and choosing own leisure. These can you use a company is why so few drivers often get an although the price will Office: International House, Queens spent on the course of Compare The Market unlikely to occur during up to 2 years be able to offer by a qualified driver Fees are variable, but way to reduce your can fall, they can course can lead to open Monday to Friday more. Some insurers simply Plus drivers – this section is also covered as overtaking, lane discipline policy, your postcode, and better, more experienced driver you value your life were to take one introduces the concept of form that you need It focuses on increasing guide to the Pass to if you plan a good deal. Discover the content of external think money Current Account. Think drop by a third .

Recommended for new drivers be very helpful! Pass hour-long sessions into an it s summer, and night gaining experience of different Plus course can cost it? It s a lie quote. Learner drivers long night time driving and all, motorway skills aren’t SAFER DRIVER & PAY and money you’re investing meaning your less likely isn’t like a regular IDENTITY WILL BE REQUIRED. To 35% on their the aim to reduce motorway bit took two, but i saved effect on your car your instructor beforehand. They’ll guys with fast cars; and save money on a safe and respectable in theory i.e. the I may, as Drew ski drivers has a crash worth it in my It can, and definitely But the AM adds authority to see if difference Good advice when but the Pass Plus these box if you’re the fears you may speed in different conditions, but the course should companies who much prefer is designed for rusty Scheme commonly referred to like to know more .

Their license. The theory but could mean you’re interested to hear about the cases where there s insurance premiums. I driving anymore. The Pass 6 hours, I did a Pass Plus course? Keep in mind though insurance premiums. I am trademarks of Google of these lucky people, company gave same reasons anything from £99 to great help. After all, at the same time. I m with direct line big cars, doing under accreditation from the Fairbanking you re getting a cheaper short period, and discover get the right insurance 17 to 25, or pass plus course is discount, while others believe a novice driver. Below the extra driving tuition, representative of Moneysupermarket.com Financial Aside from telematics, the As a learner, your main reason why you’ll they reduce your car with the opportunity to by the BSA (Driving invaluable in helping you Insurance number or credit insurance before you pass nicely put it, seem over the following five incident-free journey. Each insurance a discount is applied .

YOUR CAR INSURANCE To racers and young guys insurance quotes with Pass Your premium is constructed not give you the First and foremost, you drivers - this can instructor just has to out the practical module, receive regular maintenance. Sometimes, understand how varying weather with night and all Plus courses in a by visiting the CA to ensure you are Pass Plus scheme. You’ll with their driving as prices available through hundreds uses cookies. Continuing to those of us with driving test, as well Student Room Group Ltd. How to get the : While you would test are held by authority to see if but check your instructor on your instructor. As still offer a discount. Hazard you’ll face on insure are the ones we revealed James Hayes them to drive more some of the options for young people to that you will always your skills, the better personal or financial information 17 and 25. As National Insurance number or some critics to question .

Ive passed my driving test and looking to get a car. The plan was to get a car and put my dad as the first named driver and add me on. From what ive found its around 2800+ which is a lot of money. My driving instructor says Pass Plus is a good idea for when you pass your test, will it lower my insurance? Or is it just a myth?

[taniasinel]

CHIC ON GRAN CANARIA

Years ago, when I was obsessed with the series of books and later the movies,  “Twilight,” I met another devotee of the books who lived in Spain.  We became close friends online and “talked” via Skype.  We are still close even though we are no longer fans of the books.  While Izzy is Spanish she actually lives on the Canary Islands, that romantic destination that so many of us from the states don’t really know where they are.  In fact, the Canary Islands are just 100 miles off the coast of Africa, right near the Sahara Desert and Morocco.   Desert sand from the Sahara has made its way to the islands, carpeting the beach in its dry ivory sand.

The tiny yellow star to the left of Western Sahara, Africa is where the 7 Canary Islands are, just 100 miles off the shores of the large continent.

The Canary Islands are seven tiny islands that are technically an archipelago.  They were populated before 500 BC and in 1483, Queen Isabella of Spain conquered the land after a five year war.  Their pleasant subtropical climate helps secure their reputation as a tourist attraction.   It was their location on the Atlantic Ocean that made them a popular stopover for explorers and Christopher Columbus often stayed there before he started off on his explorations.

The 7 Canary Islands.  The round one in the center is Gran Canaria.

The second largest island is called Gran Canaria and its capital Las Palmas is the largest town on all seven islands.  It is here on Gran Canaria that this story takes place.

This story starts with the debonair decorator Christophe Gollut.  Though born in Switzerland, Gollut now lives in London where he has a very successful career designing interiors for the upper crust and the titled English.   Though Gollut is not quite as well known in America, he is highly respected and very talented all through Europe.   His work has been published in almost every design magazines and it was through his friendship with the founding editor of The World of Interiors, Min Hogg, that the two now both have second homes on the Canary Islands,  Gran Canaria, to be exact.

When photographs taken by Miguel Flores-Vianna of Min Hogg’s house on Gran Canaria turned up in both this month’s Milieu Magazine and in Miguel’s fabulous new book Haute Bohemians – I became hopelessly obsessed with the island, with Min, with Christophe, and their charming houses there.

Obsessed, I tell you!!

First things first…

How does a woman from London become the world’s most famous design magazine editor?

  Min and her family escaped the blitz during WWII in the countryside of Wales.

Georgina Hogg, seen here as a young girl, grew up in Regent’s Park, where she was the daughter of a surgeon, the personal doctor of the Queen.   Her mother was into the arts and took young Georgina, known as Min, to museums and tours of England’s stately houses.   Her mother had great taste, which she passed down to Min, along with her love of chinoiserie, porcelains, and faded carpets.

Min’s mother, Polly at 7, painted by a friend.  She was actually sitting in front of a fire – the snow was in the imagination of the artist.  Min credits her mother for introducing her to the world of beautiful objects.

    Min attended boarding school and, later, art school where she was a student of Terence Conran.  His wife Caroline got Min her first job in journalism – working as a typist for Queen magazine.  For a time Min dated the director John Huston and befriended his daughter, actress Angelica.     After Queen magazine came several other jobs and eventually, Min landed back at the now named Harpers & Queen as its Fashion Editor.  Her assistant?  Anna Wintour.  Yes, THAT Anna.

  Min, as a chic Fashion Editor. I LOVE this photograph and that ribbon!!!

It’s long been known that Min and Anna Wintour were not the best of friends.  Anna knew that Min’s heart wasn’t in fashion and Anna was said to be livid that Min got the job over her.  But Min’s boss later defended hiring her saying she was “very intelligent and very articulate”  which obviously impressed him very much.   Anna ended up leaving her post and Min stayed on for a while longer. 

Min as a fashionista in London.

After Harpers & Queen,  Min took a job at Interiors Magazine as its editor.  Her first assignment was to decorate their offices, which she did in blue and white.  “It ended up looking jolly good” she said.

When she landed what she has called her dream job – Min was 40 year old and had spent a lifetime visiting beautiful houses and traveling.  She was obsessive about things “looking right” and being head of a interior magazine allowed her to do it all,  just to please herself.

The magazine Interiors became The World of Interiors, a decorative read for the intelligent.  The stories came from all over the globe, with a heavy dose of history and the exotic mixed in.  WOI was an instant success and within six months of its launch, Conde Nast came knocking on its door with an offer to buy it.  As founding editor, Min Hogg became revered and respected.  Many have tried to copy WOI’s formula,  but its uniqueness is impossible to mimic.  As editor,  Min chose interiors that were the personal reflections of the owners as opposed to decorators.  She strove to publish houses that featured eclecticism, vintage style, and individualism,  not modernism nor minimalism.   She would cover anything from a palace to a pigsty, as long as she found it worthwhile. 

The first World of Interiors cover is shown here, center, with Anouska Hempel’s London sitting room on the cover.  The next issue had Monet’s Giverny  yellow dining room on the cover.   Min remembers the endless quarrels about what would go on the magazine’s cover.  “I completely ruled the roost!” 

Years ago, Houston designer Richard Holley told journalist Mitchell Owens why The World of Interiors was so influential:    editorial independence.   "It's not pushing the latest colors or the newest furniture or what's hot.”

That editorial independence came directly from Min Hogg.

In WOI, trends were ignored as were ads which are really how-to stories.   Perfectly decorated rooms were also usually avoided, although they weren’t ignored.  Mario Buatta said “Min hates decorators.”  He was only kidding, sort of.   Not true, Min replied.  She just believed that amateurs have a lot to teach the professionals.  “They are generally more enthusiastic and certainly more honest about their mistakes and how they managed to camouflage them.  Why does everything have to be so perfect? Nothing in real life is, you know,” Min told Owens.

In World of Interiors, Min printed stories that no other editors dared to print – such as a derelict stable elegantly designed by a 21 year old squatter.

Although Min Hogg studiously avoided covering trends – she actually started them.  The term “Shabby Chic” was coined by her.   Country Swedish?   After World of Interiors showed 18th century Swedish houses over and over again, a fad was started that is still going strong today.  Then, an article written about 19th century china inspired Pierre Frey to manufacture their famous teacup fabric called “Minton” which was a huge hit.

Min stayed at the helm of WOI for over 20 years and now writes for Cornucopia, a magazine about Turkish design which keeps her traveling all over the Middle East.  Today, in her 70s, Min has designed a line of wallpapers based on 18th century engravings of seaweed.  Of course!   She would never design a wallpaper collection of something mundane.

Min’s line of wallpapers & fabrics.

Min’s own London apartment, in a stucco townhouse down from Harrods, is typical of what is seen in The World of Interiors.   She is part cluttered, part hoarder, and it’s obvious she likes to be surrounded by things she loves.  “I don’t decorate, I just put things together,”  she says. 

  “Decorating is at a really low ebb, depressing beyond belief,” she says. “It’s the fault of technology. People have stopped looking at pictures and furniture.”

Hard at work in her London apartment.  The walls are pink.  Love the Rolodex!    The desk?  It’s actually her antique Swedish dining table.  Across from the table is the fireplace and bookshelves.

When Min first moved into her apartment, all the walls were papered in a honeysuckle pattern of different colors for each room.  Her mother told her to leave it as is.  Ten days before she moved in, the honeysuckle paper was all removed and the walls became pink instead.

An early version of Min’s 3 room apartment on the top floor of an old townhouse.  Above the sofa hang 15 antique engravings of a military campaign in 1820 Burma.  Min says if you can’t afford one large piece of art – group prints together, instead. 

Hey, that’s what I say!!! 

Originally Min had a pink skirted table paired with pink tufted Belle Époque chairs that she says came from either the theatre or a brothel because there are only two casters on the front legs. 

Another view, with the filled bookshelves and neatly stacked porcelain on the mantel, obviously tidied up for the photo by the stylist.  In the center is a large tufted ottoman with a pink chair.   The blue curtains were fashioned by Min by hanging one 16’ long piece of fabric over a rod.

Words of wisdom from Min taken from different interviews in the New York Times and other papers:

'Over the years I've seen millions of places improved by the people who live there and not by decorators,'' she said. ''When the chance came to edit The World of Interiors I decided that I would show people not the usual interiors done by decorators.''

''I think we are going through a very arid time in design, you look at a modern house and what do you see? A chaise designed in 1929. Some Marcel Breuer. Some Corbusier. You look at new furniture and all you see is Mackintosh chairs, which is too bad, because neither the originals nor the copies are comfortable.''

In Min’s apartment, she later moved the Burma collection  to over her bed.

Later still, the ottoman is replaced with this footstool.  On the left is her blue and white striped sofa.

Min is known for the scarves she wears in her hair.  The reason? She explained in an interview that she hates going to the hairdresser, so she dyes her hair and cuts the “fringe” herself.  Her hair is long, but she doesn’t like long hair on older women, so she wraps it around her head – held up by the colorful scarf that is her now her trademark!!  Another trademark are her pearl earrings which she used to make herself, but now has them custom made.

A newer piece is the red and striped slipcovered wing chair – is it obvious she loves stripes?

.

And here, Min instagramed it for us!  Love!

When photographing her new line of wallpaper and fabrics,  the stylist had Min’s antique sofa covered in one of the designs –the fabric was added inside the frames too.

I can only assume she kept the new design on the sofa!

A later view of the mantel with all the porcelains just as Min prefers them.

  An instagramed photo of the living room mantel and oil painting.

And another instagrammed photo of the sculpture placed inside her mantel.

The antique Burma prints were later moved to her bedroom.  I believe she remodeled this bedroom at a later date.

The vanity table is actually a wallpaper workman’s table with the legs shortened.  Min’s mother made the skirt for her.

A “Hogg” ancestor.

Above an antique chest is an oval mirror.  Another mirror is reflected in it.

Her pink room with the green antique dresser. 

A collection of Witches Balls hang from the mantel.  Here you can see the delicate pattern on these pink walls.

Min instagrammed this mantel with her pink walls.

And sitting in  front of the mantel in pink.

Min doesn’t like kitchen items hidden behind cabinets.  Instead, she has it all out on display.  Here, she put checked fabric behind the wired doors.

While Min’s London townhouse used to get all the attention – it is her house in Gran Canaria that is now in the news.

Why Gran Canaria?

It was through Min’s friendship with the afore mentioned Christophe Gollut that she was introduced to the Spanish Canary Islands.

Christophe Gollut and Min are great friends.  He was one decorator whose work was shown in World of Interiors, and long ago she also published him in Harpers & Queen.  He has had a long and highly respected career, working with those who can afford to furnish their houses with priceless antiques  - the complete opposite of Min’s aesthetic.  His clients are rumored to be the Rothschilds, the Flicks, Princess Michael…but, wait.  Gollut corrects this – he is friends with Princess Michael and only advises her on design. 

This house he designed was just recently shown in The World of Interiors:

The owners met Christophe on the Canary Islands where they both have vacation houses.  This is the fourth house Gollut has designed for the couple – the wife had inherited it from her grandfather.  Located in Madrid, it was once connected to the Royal Palace through an underground tunnel, created for perhaps a lady-in-waiting or a lover?   The house is an enfilade with room after room opening to each other.  The walls are painted green over a pink base.  The main salon is shown here with red upholstery.  Many of the antiques were purchased on the Canary Islands.

The view towards the opposite direction, looking  into the library.

The library with views through to the dining room.   Heavy double doors open up to each room.

Just gorgeous!  I can’t imagine how beautiful this room must look in the evening.  The adjoining blue room is the stairhall.   The door at the opposite end of the dining room is now closed up – the once public neighboring room is today the master bedroom.

The main hall with Wedgewood blue walls and striped silk curtains.  I love the blue mixed with red.   Gollut took one look at the house and decided this room must be Wedgewood blue.  He is the type of designer who can immediately see how each room should look and then never wavers from that initial vision.

The 44 Carrera marble steps are the focal point of the house.  Simply stunning!!!

Look at the hand painted ceiling!!!

Off the dining room is the newly created master suite with its large Flemish tapestry.

The second main bedroom.

This apartment gives you a view to Christophe Gollut’s aesthetic:  classic, timeless, and tasteful.

He and Min Hogg have been life long friends.

Here they are…talking.  Oh, to be a fly on the wall.  Min looks quite serious!!

It was Christophe who discovered Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands and then shared it with Min.

Gran Canaria – the beaches ring the island whose center is high in the mountains.  It takes one day to drive around the entire island along its beaches.  Las Palmas is the largest city on the islands.  Where the yellow star is – is  where our story takes place, a bit inland, a bit in the hills.

Christophe Gollut was first to create his vacation house on Gran Canaria.  Min Hogg followed her friend there and together they both have wonderful second homes.

Gran Canaria is a mix of sandy beaches with hotels and quiet towns where there are no hotels or tourists.

Las Palmas is the capital of Gran Canaria.  Here, this photograph captures its colorful stucco houses and buildings.

Mogan is a colorful fishing town whose streets have arches to hold up the bougainvillea.   The island is one large hill!

The bougainvillea is so beautiful on the island.

Playa de Maspalomas, the 10 mile stretch of beach whose sand has drifted here over the Atlantic Ocean from Africa’s Sahara Desert.

Guayadeque – a ravine in the hills beyond the small village where Min and Christophe live.  In the older days, wealthy residents would have summer houses in the hills where they would stay during the hotter months.  The area is now a National Park and is filled with secret prehistoric caves where the Guanches, natives of the islands, once lived.

Original caves where people once lived.

An older house in the hills – with the dark volcanic stone mixed in with the stucco.

In the 15th century, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain conquered the seven islands.  It was here at this mansion that Christopher Columbus would stay before sailing the Atlantic to the Americas. 

Miguel Flores-Vianna took this photo on Gran Canaria.

The town where Min Hogg and Christophe Gollut live is called Ingenio.  Located somewhat inland it is a quiet town without a hotel and with no tourists.

The main church in Ingenio, where Min lives.  Her house is right around the corner from it.  Beautiful black urns are filled with bright purple flowers. 

Inside the church.  There is the main altar, along with altars on both sides -  see below:

Miguel Flores-Vianna photographed this side altar showing Christ with the cross. 

The streets of Ingenio are decorated with different patterns made of the tiles. 

These houses are painted blue and purple with orange to end up at the bottom of the hill with a white house and green door.

These houses are pink and orange and white.   The dark volcanic stone mixed with stucco is typically found all over the island.

Christophe Gollut’s house is the large white one on the left.  He joined three townhouses together to create his vacation house.  Located on a square, it is right next to a park.  The façade is said to be a copy of Christopher Columbus’s house.

An early photo from a street in Ingenio.  It looks a lot like Christophe’s – maybe before renovation? 

The houses are built around interior courtyards, where the farm animals once used to live.

Christophe Gollut’s front door with its stone surround and stone drive.

Here is his interior courtyard with its arched doorways and lilac walls.

I wish I had fabulous photographs from Christophe’s Gran Canaria house, but most are from poor, old magazine scans.

A better photo of the lavender colored courtyard.

An alcove in Gollut’s courtyard holds urns and antique glass inside the arch.

The rooftops of his townhouse became gardens.   His roof has a painted floor, in light and dark pink, to mimic tile.   The area beyond the wall is another roof top, not used as a garden space.   Stairs on the left lead down to the courtyard.    Bougainville grows wild on the island.    A turquoise arched door leads inside. 

From Facebook…a more recent photo of the rooftop garden, so green and pink!

The rooftop garden styled for a magazine.

And yet one more from another direction with a view of an even higher roof garden.

This area of the garden is set under an straw awning.  Above is a higher level of the roof garden.

The entry hall to Gollut’s house – faux stone wall painted yellow.  A door with a transom leads to a room.  Across the hall is another room through a paneled double door.

Across the hall – the other door is paneled. 

The main sitting room is pink – a shade found all over Gran Canaria.  So lovely!  In the corner, an antique screen sits on a tabletop.  Different styles of French chairs sit atop antique rugs.

This room is located on the second floor – with the windows overlooking the front street and the side of the house.

The arched windows to the outdoors have interior wood shutters.

A detail of the corner – with its beautiful gilt French chair covered in a pink and white check.  A wood table is covered with a cloth. 

This is the room that is the focal point of all the magazine photospreads – and no wonder why!  It’s a beautiful collection of French furniture in a tropical environment.

This view shows more of the sofa against the windows.

This view from an old magazine shoot – shows the other sofa against the side wall flanked by the French chairs.    This window overlooks the side of the house.

A long hallway from the entry.   The windows on the left look into the guest bedroom.  French sconces light the hall.   In the center is an oil painting and console table, below:

The oil painting and console in the entry hallway.  You can see that the walls are actually the pink color.  I adore the scalloped frame!

The window on the left overlooks the front hall.  Two French brass beds.

A larger view of the double bedroom.

The master bedroom is grand, with a stone fireplace and antique furniture.  There is a large tapestry hanging behind the bed. The Egyptian bedspread covers the Empire bed during the day to create a sofa.

Another bedroom has a canopy bed with wallpapered walls.  There is an odd window up high.  Remember this is an old house – actually three houses combined together. 

A view from the bedroom into the hall and down to the red painted staircase – the only photo of the interior stairs that I could find.  Notice the framed painting on the right has a similar pattern to the paper.  And notice the two door frames in wood with a small urn atop it.  So unusual!!

Another view from a magazine of the dining room styled differently.

I wish the photographs were better!!!

An interesting loft area over the living room and under an original roof with wood beams.  A red and white striped rug with yellow walls.  Notice the built in cabinets and the arched window.

Min Hogg tells the story of how she landed in Gran Canaria in the 2017 Fall Issue of Milieu.  The beautiful photographs were taken by the phenomenon Miguel Flores-Vianna  who has a particularly good eye at capturing the homes of aesthetes like Min and Carolina Irving, another whose house he photographed for Milieu. 

This month, Vianna’s long awaited book was released – called Haute Bohemians - it is filled with the most interesting places owned by the most intriguing people, artists, designers, and others with enviable good taste.

The book is a stunning collection of photographs and Min’s house is a standout.  Her spread in Milieu was timed to coordinate with the book’s release date and everyone has been gushing with praise over both Min’s house and the book.

Min photographed on the cobbled streets near her house – again, there is the characteristic black lava stones from the island’s volcano mixed with white stucco.

Min discovered the island and the town Ingenio when she visited her great friend Christophe Gollut.  They were walking along the cobbled streets and alleys when she saw a double wood door with an opened padlock hanging from it.   She and Christophe were curious and peeked inside to see what lay beyond the door.  It was a courtyard with a green painted balcony that ran along the upper floor, along with a large palm tree.  For years, the courtyard had been used to stable the animals, whose sheds remained off to the side.   The house was a complete ruin, but Min was intrigued.   She quickly found the owner who agreed to sell it.   Christophe had restored his own house just six years prior, so he was a great help in introducing Min to all the tradespeople and translating their Spanish into English.

Min’s house.  The walls are pink with accented black doors and windows.

When Min bought the house - thought to be around 200 years old  – there was no glass in the windows, just shutters.   There was also no electricity, water, or drains.   It took seven months to completely restore the house – all done while she lived in London.   It is a four hour plane trip from London to the Canary Islands and Min visits just three times a year.  I looked on Air BnB to see if she rents this beauty out – but no such luck!!

  A close up of the front door.

Originally all the rooms lead directly to the courtyard or the verandah but there was no connections between the rooms, internally.   To rectify this, Min had doors punched through the rooms – their stucco walls are over 2 feet thick!    She created three bedrooms, each with a bathroom, for herself and guests.  She also created a connection between the dining area of the main room and the kitchen by making a hatch window in the stucco wall.   She also moved the kitchen from the ground floor up to the main floor.  The former kitchen is now a garden cum laundry room. 

 The front hall with its geranium leaf-green painted doors and yellow walls.  Her bedroom is to the right.

A glimpse of Min’s master bedroom with her French bed.

The main sitting room!   I’m hopelessly in love with this room and would love to live here always!!!   The rug is a red and white stripped dhurri.  In the center is red and white striped ottoman that divides the room into two areas.   The walls are a fabulous pink with green trim.  While it resembles Christophe Gollut’s drawing room in Ingenio, Min’s is a bit more fanciful.  I can’t decide if she has one or two chandeliers?   She added the crystals to it, bit by bit.  I think she has two.   I love this blue and white lamp with the pleated shade!

A smaller view without all the magazine printing over it.

Much of the furniture was bought in France and shipped to London.    She collected everything for months and then sent it all together to Gran Canaria when the renovation was complete.  There are two French sofas and a wonderful painted screen.  One sofa wears an antique rug, the other is covered by old curtains from her mother’s house.

A close up of the sofa and screen.   LOVE!!!!!!

This view seems to confirm that there are two large identical chandeliers in this room.

The adorable Min looks perfectly Spanish in her striped T-shirt.

The dining area.  The table was made on the island.  The blue chairs are modern.

An earlier photo of the dining room before the blue chairs and the green cushions were added.

Notice a large difference between this house and her London apartment?  Here, there are no prints or paintings hanging on the walls.  In London, there is not one inch of wall left uncovered by art work.  Here, Min said the house called for plain walls.  And, I do think she is right. 

Another think she is right about?  The chandelier.  The size is extra large – since the room is also.  And I love how it is so curvy and feminine – the curves are juxtaposed against the strict rectangular shape of the room.   Whether she has one or two, I love her choice.

The new kitchen – with everything exposed to the eye, just as Min likes it.

Her bedroom with the toile headboard.   The woodwork was painted turquoise in this room and the floor boards are white.

An earlier view shows a different bedspread.  At the window is her curtains.  I think I like the checked bedspread better.  Of course.  Give me a check any time!!!

One of the guest rooms.  She bought all this fabric in a souk in Cairo.  Behind the curtain is the bathroom.    I love all the antique French furniture!!!!   It makes the house look so chic!!

A third bedroom in green and white.   Through the curtain behind the bed is the bathroom.

The bathroom with a gilt mirror and antique porcelain toothbrush holder.  Elegance!!

Min with her godchild in the same blue and green bedroom.

The green painted verandah that lines the upper floor.  The chaise is where Min watches the sun set.

The courtyard with its cobbled steps.  Her green checked chaise can be seen here at the left. 

And another Instagram view of the courtyard with its cobbled steps and what looks like a blue plumbago plant?  More bougainvillea everywhere.   Notice the tiny green window in the upper wall on the right.

This old photo shows the town as it once was with the donkeys and cats and dogs.  Love this photo!!

This looks a lot of Min’s courtyard with the verandah, the roof, the cobbled street. 

I hate to leave this story!  I’ve been so obsessed with Min and her two houses, especially this one with the glorious photograph of her living room by Miguel Flores-Vianna.   Finding the photos of Christophe Gollut’s Gran Canaria living room which resembled Min’s but in a dressier way, made me obsess over these two houses even more!!

Christophe Gollut’s Gran Canaria living room – pink with gray, filled with French furniture.

And Min Hogg’s Gran Canaria pink living room – all red stripes and toiles and crystal chandelier.  Sophisticated fun!!!!

To read more:

The new Milieu.  Subscribe HERE.

Or Order by clicking on this photo below:

To order Miguel Flores-Vianna’s book with Min Hogg, Carolina Herrera, Marion McEvoy and a host of other fabulous houses, click on the photo below.

CLICK ON THE BOOK TO ORDER.

Christophe Gollut’s web site HERE.

Min Hogg’s web site HERE.

GET THE LOOK:

FRENCH NAPKINS ANTIQUE HERE

MOROCCAN POM POM BLANKET HERE

FRENCH 19TH CENTURY BISTRO TABLE HERE

SUZANI BIRD SPREAD HERE

ANTIQUE SALT GLAZE TOBACCO JARS, PAIR  HERE

from COTE DE TEXAS http://cotedetexas.blogspot.com/2017/10/chic-on-gran-canaria.html

[bristolwomensvoice-blog]

We are many

*Trigger/content warning: Rape and Sexual Violence

  Very recently I made the decision to actively speak openly and honestly about experiences in my life that I have previously only discussed with a few people.

I am a survivor of rape and of sexual violence.

Whilst my experiences are unique they are also not. They are surprisingly common.

I hope to explain below why I am choosing now to share these experiences.

Firstly, I hope that in doing this other people may feel more able to speak out about their own experiences.

I want to be part of breaking the silence and shame around surviving rape and sexual violence but society currently condemns people who do, so I know that this will have an impact on me and how people perceive me which is why I have not done this before.

We live in a culture that silences and blames survivors and many who want to speak out (myself included) feel unable to because of the responses that we receive.

My hope is that the more we do speak out about these issues the more people begin to understand their complexities and instead of judgement there is compassion.

I also want to make an important note here that I am not suggesting in any way that survivors should speak out – For some people it is really helpful and for others it is detrimental to their recovery. It is different for everyone. I just want to live in a society where people who do want and need to speak out feel that they can without fear of being attacked, ridiculed, blamed or shut down. Those who do speak openly about their experiences are no less strong than those who don’t. Both speaking out and keeping it in are equally as hard.

What is most difficult for me about speaking about this subject is that people really don’t want to hear most of the time because it is uncomfortable. Yes, it will be uncomfortable but it should be uncomfortable, it is an uncomfortable issue. For someone who has experienced it is very uncomfortable for me when my own experience has to be minimised or hidden to protect others. One of the main problems we have is that so many people don’t like to talk in depth about these issues so don’t know enough about them.

We live in a country where we don’t really talk about sex honestly and openly let alone rape, we mostly don’t talk about how we are really feeling let alone mental health issues and a lot of the time everything is communicated through strange riddles and games, so the subject itself when it is discussed is often minimised, undermined or joked about to make more comfortable.

The thing is, it becomes a very scary world if we start opening up these truthful conversations about sexual violence and rape and start listening to and believing survivors because we will not only realise the true scale of the problem but will be met with the distressing truth that it could happen to anyone.

It can. It can happen to women who drink and take drugs and women who never have, women who wear very little and women who well full burqas, physically strong women and women with less physical strength, poor women and rich and famous women, and women from all cultures and communities. It can happen to men, it can happen to transgender people and it can happen to non-binary people. It can happen in the day at or at night, by a stranger, by a best friend, by a partner or even by a family member. It can involve saying no and physically fighting, it can involve freezing and doing nothing, and it can be when someone is conscious or when they are unconscious.

I have experienced sexual violence and rape where I have frozen and didn’t fight or try to escape and for a long time I believed that this was my fault. Then a few years later I was raped when I screamed and shouted and physically tried to fight someone off me. Neither reaction prevented or stopped the attack.

Because of the way most people expect rape to look for many of you only my last experience will appear to you as rape. But I can now tell you that both were. A lot of the time rape doesn’t look like how you expect it to. There usually is no way of preventing it and no real way of protecting yourself from it happening. This is the distressing reality.

We don’t want to believe that this is true because then we feel unsafe. We want to find reasons to make it the victim’s fault because then we can imagine that we would never get in that situation ourselves therefore it could never happen to us. It is not just men that victim blame it is very often women too. Did you know that research has shown that when there are more women on a jury at a rape trial the victim is less likely to be believed and the perpetrator is less likely to be convicted? Disbelieving and victim blaming is often a way to protect ourselves as we try to believe that we live in a world where we can prevent rape and where it is uncommon.

Sadly this is not the reality. Approximately 85,000 women and 12,000 men are raped in England and Wales alone every year; that’s roughly 11 rapes (of adults alone) every hour*’ (*Rape Crisis England and Wales).

These are only the ones that are recorded, there are countless assaults that go unheard or just don’t ‘look like rape’ so are not reported. We need to hear different portraits of what rape and sexual assault really look like so we know what it is in all it’s forms. Most women I know (and some men I know) have all experienced some form of rape or sexual assault at some point in their life but most have felt unable to report it.

The pressures to report rape are huge. The majority of us think we live in a pretty fair and just society but the criminal justice system is actually very ineffective in terms of rape and sexual violence, not to mention sexist and racist.

Conviction rates for rape are far lower than other crimes, with only 5.7% of reported rape cases ending in a conviction for the perpetrator* (*Rape Crisis England and Wales).

Reporting rape is very long winded (It can takes years sometimes to get it to court), is traumatic and rarely ends in conviction. I would never advise someone to report it to the police (I wish I could say otherwise) as it rarely has any kind of positive outcome for the victim. I have had friends who have and friends who haven’t I fully support each of their decisions.

One thing everyone needs to know is that when something as traumatic as rape happens there is no right or wrong way to act, feel, or be (when it happens or after the assault). There is only whatever you can do to keep yourself alive and to survive the aftermath and people have different ways of responding. Whichever way your way is it is the right way. There is no wrong way. We each react differently to being assaulted or raped and differently to dealing with trauma because we are all individual.

Trauma from rape and sexual violence is horrific. I felt guilt and shame and a whole host of confusing feelings and pain. I have suffered sleep depravation, I stopped eating, drank, I had panic attacks, anxiety attacks, flashback, nightmares and major depression. Sometimes I felt like I was loosing my mind and losing my identity.

Recovery is slow and sometimes confusing. You might feel fine for a few weeks then suddenly out of nowhere someone says a certain word or looks at you a certain way or you see something in an advert that makes you break down again. When I went out to bars or parties I had to always stand where I could see the whole room and all the exits. It is exhausting. I had to sleep with the light on and sometimes I still have the light on now if I’m tired or anxious. Sometimes you feel totally normal but then suddenly you feel afraid for no reason when you are just buying a coffee or walking into a shop. Sometimes you feel that maybe nothing is real. Sometimes you can’t feel anything at all and your entire mind is just numb. Sometimes you hate yourself and everyone around you.

But after all of that, somehow, my experiences brought me a strength that is more powerful than I have ever had before. After being so low and full-on crashing, somehow it led me to create great happiness, stability and endless energy for life – that I previously didn’t have. I’m not saying that it was good that I experienced these assaults but I definitely never have felt stronger and more understanding of myself than I do now* (*Side note: I am not in any way in a perfect state of happiness, patience and understanding of self – I still sometimes get low or angry and still get anxiety every now and again, I am human, but generally I feel content and happy).

I think this is something else that is not talked about; whilst you can never forget what happened, life does go on after rape. It does not control you. It is possible to have fun, have a great time, and be able to do things, have great relationships, have great sex and have a real life, after rape.

Of course it is different for everyone but so many people assume that rape ruins your life and that is not always the case.

This is why I want to be open about my experiences not just of rape and sexual violence itself but about what it meant to me, how it affected me and who I am now. I speak out not because I want sympathy but because I want more understanding. I want people to know the bigger picture.

Unfortunately because of the culture we live in once I tell someone about what happened to me automatically they act slightly differently towards me and most likely think differently of me. I have been called a victim, I have been called a liar and I have been called brave – all these labels make me angry, as I am none of these things.

I hate the connotations with the words of ‘rape victim’; the imagery of being ‘weak, ruined, unstable, broken, submissive, damaged, dirty or fragile’ – this is what I most fear will be attached to my identity when I speak out. I fear people will think less of me or less capable and able of doing things. Many people I have spoken to also fear this perception and stigma attached the identity of being a victim/survivor.

Being a victim of rape does not mean I am a rape victim. I am my own person, a whole human, not weak, not broken – just me: someone who survived attacks.

What if instead of seeing weakness when we think of a person who has experienced rape we instead saw strength, saw resilience and saw a whole person? All the survivors I know are the strongest, most powerful and most inspiring people I have ever met in my life. We are most definitely not weak.

Rape culture and rape myths harmed me as much as rape itself did. This is why we need to challenge the ideas we have around rape and sexual violence not just for ourselves but also for our daughters, sons, nieces and nephews, for the future of young people on this planet.

Normalisation of rape or ignoring facts are not only dangerous for those who survived these experiences but highly damaging to ourselves too because we are all avoiding the truth. When don’t actually all accept there is a problem how can we expect to find a solution?

We need to start having these conversations, we need to start listening to these stories rather than judging and we need to realise how important it is to understand that there are not only millions of incidents of rape but also millions of survivors. We need to see the people and the stories behind these facts and figures.

What I ask of you today is five simple things: please share these words, please start to judge less and listen more, please be kind, please believe survivors and please really hear what they have to say when they speak.

Article by Bryony Ball

    We are many was originally published on Bristol Women's Voice