Wanderlust
On the advice and support of several people who said they would like to see this continue, bluestocking79 and I collaborated on a sequel to "Let Them Eat Cake"
So here you have the first chapter of the sequel, Wanderlust...
Title: Wanderlust
Authors:
lithiumdelusion and
bluestocking79
Rating: PG 13
Characters/Pairings: Leon/D, Jill, Snape, McGonagall
Summary: Leon's finally found what he was looking for, but a chance encounter with a stranger has Jill starting on a quest of her own.
Disclaimers: We do not own either Pet Shop of Horrors or Harry Potter. All rights belong to Matsuri Akino and J.K. Rowling.
Set after book ten of PSOH and HP & DH
WanderLust
Chapter One: Looking for Trouble
Jill watched avidly as D turned the object she had handed him over and over in his slender hands, frowning at it. “Well?”
D turned his strange eyes on her, his usual smile gone in an expression of concern. “Miss Jill, I must ask if you truly intend to pursue this?”
Jill matched him frown for frown. “Count, spill it if you know something! What is it?”
D smoothed his fingers over the black-stained wood. “It is a wand, Miss Jill. Whoever owns it is a powerful sorcerer. And not altogether a good one, I would wager to say. This wand has seen battle and darkness and channeled darker magic.” D’s gaze was distant. “Ebony.” He held the wand up as if to trace something in the air. “The core was harvested from a gryphon, a primary feather willingly sacrificed to make this wand.”
He offered it to her and Jill accepted it with a wondering stare. “Miss Jill, I strongly advise you not to follow this course. I am familiar with this kind of magic and I do not like it. Not at all.”
Jill shook her head; letting her memory travel back to the sharp-featured man she had seen in the bakery. “He wasn’t bad, D. If you’d seen his eyes, you’d understand. No one who’s seen that kind of pain can be that bad. I just want to find him and give it back to him…” She implored. “That’s all.”
“Better listen to her, D. She’s as hardheaded as me and as determined as you. She won’t give up, and she’ll do it with or without your help.”
Both Jill and D looked up as Leon entered the room, carrying Lea in his arms. Lea was happily giggling at Pon-chan, perched on Leon’s shoulders. Leon settled down on the settee opposite D and settled Lea on the floor. He plucked Pon-chan from his shoulder and set her on the floor next to the giggling toddler. He patted the raccoon on the head and grinned at her. “Keep Lea out of trouble, okay, Pon-chan?”
Jill forced herself not to stare as the raccoon nodded and scrambled to retrieve the bag of toys that Jill habitually brought with her whenever she left her apartment. She looked away as both of them started playing with blocks. She wasn’t going to comment. Nope. No comment…
“Count,” She implored again. “Please?”
D looked from her to Leon, who grinned unapologetically at him. “Give it up, D.”
D glanced back at her before returning his gaze to Leon. “In all my life, I have only met one human more determined than you, Miss Jill.”
Leon snorted. “And he’s sitting right here.”
Jill watched D’s gaze soften and his smile melt into something far more real and gentle. She could never be sure what had happened between them, and neither of them would answer her questions about it, but it was clear something had blossomed between them. After all, Leon lived at the pet shop now.
Leon looked away, clearing his throat uncomfortably. Was it just her imagination or were his ears turning red? The blush spread to his cheeks as he met her gaze and Jill allowed herself a smug smile. She’d always known there was something special between Leon and D.
D sighed, dragging her attention back to him. “Very well, Miss Jill. I still do not think this is a wise course of action, but I will help you.”
Jill squeaked. "Thank you, D."
He said nothing, but held up a hand. A small bird with bright plumage darted from somewhere in the depths of the shop to land on his fingers. “Will you carry a message for me, little one?” D addressed it.
The bird cocked its red-feathered head sideways and cheeped softly. D lifted it so that his forehead touched its breast. The bird remained unnaturally still for perhaps a heartbeat, and then shook out its bright feathers.
“May the winds carry you where you need be with all the swiftness of thought.” D’s voice carried a note that made Jill shiver.
The bird chirped softly and fluttered into the air. It darted through the door and was gone. D rose. “Now we wait. I’ll make tea. Leon, will you do me a favor?”
Leon chuckled softly and rose to his feet. “That little bakery you like, right?”
D offered him a smile again. “Indeed. Please, in addition to the usual, would you see if they have those delightful raspberry scones?”
Leon made a face but nodded. He grinned sheepishly at Jill and hurried into the street. Jill looked after him in bemusement. She shook herself and glanced back at D. “In all the years I’ve known Leon, I’ve never seen him as happy as I have this past week. You’re good for him.”
To her surprise, D colored. She’d never seen him so… flustered. D had always seemed something other than human, something cool and untouchable. Leon had been the only one who could get a rise out of him.
“Perhaps, Miss Jill, it is that we are good for each other. He reminds me to take joy in fleeting things.” His gaze was introspective as he picked up the teapot and went to make fresh tea.
Jill followed him into the immaculately appointed kitchen. She yelped and jumped a foot as a soft growl came from beneath the small table. D’s favorite pet, the strange sheep-thing he affectionately called T-chan, slunk out from beneath it.
It growled quietly at D. “No, T-chan. I will make the tea. If you wish to add to the things Leon is picking up at the bakery, your contributions will be most appreciated. Our guest will be surprised to find her luncheon was prepared by a Totetsu.”
Jill watched the exchange, somehow unsurprised. She had seen for herself that D could barely tolerate meat, yet somehow Chris was fed properly. Why should it surprise her that one of his pets was capable of cooking? She glanced back into the parlor. It was no more surprising than the raccoon that was coloring with her little girl, wielding the crayons as neatly as if she were a child herself..
“So have you been to see Chris yet?”
D’s face darkened briefly. The Totetsu dropped a pan and he started. “No. We have not.”
There was something more than he was saying and Jill was about to grill him on it when the bird returned, swooping in through a small window above the door. It alighted on D’s hand and chirped rapidly.
“So soon? I did not expect her so quickly!” D listened to the bird for a moment longer and hurriedly set the teapot aside.
“Miss Jill, if you would be so kind as to step back.”
“Huh?” Mystified, Jill obeyed, stepping away from the small fireplace. As she did, the flames turned green and flared. Then they subsided, replaced by a matronly woman in a tall hat and a robe of red and gold. Jill yipped and skipped back another step, feeling her heart skip a beat. She had a feeling she was going to have to get used to such strange goings-on. She just hoped her heart could take it!
“Count D. It has been a long time since one of your people has willingly spoken with mine. I remember meeting you when you were younger.” The woman stepped unscathed from the flames and offered her hand to D.
“Yes. It has been a long time, Lady McGonagall.”
She chuckled as D bowed over her fingers. “Minerva, please. Let us not stand on ceremony. You have called for me?”
D nodded. “Please, allow me to offer you tea.” His eyes sparkled with sudden humor. "Do you still prefer it with milk?"
She turned to regard him with an amused smile. “Pleasant as always. Your grandfather could have taken lessons in polite manners from you.”
D glanced at Jill. “Miss Jill, if you would be so kind as to show the Lady Minerva into the parlor?”
Numbly, Jill obeyed. Lea giggled and toddled up to her mother. Jill scooped her up as she politely waved the lady to a seat on one of the low couches. To her surprise, McGonagall paused to peer into Lea’s face. “A lovely child. I look forward to seeing her when she is of age.”
Without clarifying that mystifying remark, she seated herself with feline grace, just as Leon returned, his arms laden with boxes from D’s favorite bakery. She smiled up at him as he stopped in surprise. “How do you do? Are those raspberry scones that I smell? I haven’t had those in ages.”
Leon blinked as D glided in, laden with a tea tray. “Ah, good timing, my dear detective. This is the guest I was expecting. Leon Orcot, this is Minerva McGonagall. Lady Minerva, this is Leon Orcot.”
“Pleasure.” Leon growled, setting the boxes down to shake the woman’s hand.
“A pleasure, Mr. Orcot.”
D smoothly ushered them all to seats and set about pouring tea and serving pastries. The woman chuckled as he offered her the raspberry scones. “Such a good memory to remember how much I loved these.”
D had just seated himself when a strange young man strolled in, pushing a cart that filled the air with savory aromas. Jill blinked at him when she realized he had a pair of curling ram’s horns peeping through cinnamon-colored hair. He offered her a grin full of sharp teeth as he served lunch. She knew those amber eyes. “T-chan?” She breathed softly as he offered her a plate.
“You were expecting someone else?” The Totetsu chuckled with wicked amusement as Jill tried to adjust to her suddenly skewed worldview. To say she was unsettled would be understating the case. She shivered and forced her attention back to the woman and D, trying hard not to keep glancing at the suddenly human-looking Totetsu.
McGonagall ate daintily and neatly, before finally setting her plate aside to stare at D. “So why was it you called me after all these years, Count D?”
D explained quietly about Jill’s strange encounter in the bakery and her desire to return the wand to its owner. Jill managed to tear her eyes away from the lounging Totetsu as he finished.
McGonagall frowned and held out a thin hand. “How odd. I thought I was aware of all wizards who were living among the Muggles. As Headmistress, I am required to keep records on them, in the case that one of their children are wizard-born. May I see the wand, please, young lady?”
Jill pulled the slender piece of wood from her bag and offered it to the woman. Her fingers had barely touched it when she gasped and let it clatter to the floor. McGonagall's face had gone pale and she swayed in her seat.
“Impossible,” She breathed, obviously shaken to her core. “I saw his body myself!”
*raises glass in toast to partner-in-crime*
So here you have the first chapter of the sequel, Wanderlust...
Title: Wanderlust
Authors:
lithiumdelusion and
bluestocking79
Rating: PG 13
Characters/Pairings: Leon/D, Jill, Snape, McGonagall
Summary: Leon's finally found what he was looking for, but a chance encounter with a stranger has Jill starting on a quest of her own.
Disclaimers: We do not own either Pet Shop of Horrors or Harry Potter. All rights belong to Matsuri Akino and J.K. Rowling.
Set after book ten of PSOH and HP & DH
WanderLust
Chapter One: Looking for Trouble
Jill watched avidly as D turned the object she had handed him over and over in his slender hands, frowning at it. “Well?”
D turned his strange eyes on her, his usual smile gone in an expression of concern. “Miss Jill, I must ask if you truly intend to pursue this?”
Jill matched him frown for frown. “Count, spill it if you know something! What is it?”
D smoothed his fingers over the black-stained wood. “It is a wand, Miss Jill. Whoever owns it is a powerful sorcerer. And not altogether a good one, I would wager to say. This wand has seen battle and darkness and channeled darker magic.” D’s gaze was distant. “Ebony.” He held the wand up as if to trace something in the air. “The core was harvested from a gryphon, a primary feather willingly sacrificed to make this wand.”
He offered it to her and Jill accepted it with a wondering stare. “Miss Jill, I strongly advise you not to follow this course. I am familiar with this kind of magic and I do not like it. Not at all.”
Jill shook her head; letting her memory travel back to the sharp-featured man she had seen in the bakery. “He wasn’t bad, D. If you’d seen his eyes, you’d understand. No one who’s seen that kind of pain can be that bad. I just want to find him and give it back to him…” She implored. “That’s all.”
“Better listen to her, D. She’s as hardheaded as me and as determined as you. She won’t give up, and she’ll do it with or without your help.”
Both Jill and D looked up as Leon entered the room, carrying Lea in his arms. Lea was happily giggling at Pon-chan, perched on Leon’s shoulders. Leon settled down on the settee opposite D and settled Lea on the floor. He plucked Pon-chan from his shoulder and set her on the floor next to the giggling toddler. He patted the raccoon on the head and grinned at her. “Keep Lea out of trouble, okay, Pon-chan?”
Jill forced herself not to stare as the raccoon nodded and scrambled to retrieve the bag of toys that Jill habitually brought with her whenever she left her apartment. She looked away as both of them started playing with blocks. She wasn’t going to comment. Nope. No comment…
“Count,” She implored again. “Please?”
D looked from her to Leon, who grinned unapologetically at him. “Give it up, D.”
D glanced back at her before returning his gaze to Leon. “In all my life, I have only met one human more determined than you, Miss Jill.”
Leon snorted. “And he’s sitting right here.”
Jill watched D’s gaze soften and his smile melt into something far more real and gentle. She could never be sure what had happened between them, and neither of them would answer her questions about it, but it was clear something had blossomed between them. After all, Leon lived at the pet shop now.
Leon looked away, clearing his throat uncomfortably. Was it just her imagination or were his ears turning red? The blush spread to his cheeks as he met her gaze and Jill allowed herself a smug smile. She’d always known there was something special between Leon and D.
D sighed, dragging her attention back to him. “Very well, Miss Jill. I still do not think this is a wise course of action, but I will help you.”
Jill squeaked. "Thank you, D."
He said nothing, but held up a hand. A small bird with bright plumage darted from somewhere in the depths of the shop to land on his fingers. “Will you carry a message for me, little one?” D addressed it.
The bird cocked its red-feathered head sideways and cheeped softly. D lifted it so that his forehead touched its breast. The bird remained unnaturally still for perhaps a heartbeat, and then shook out its bright feathers.
“May the winds carry you where you need be with all the swiftness of thought.” D’s voice carried a note that made Jill shiver.
The bird chirped softly and fluttered into the air. It darted through the door and was gone. D rose. “Now we wait. I’ll make tea. Leon, will you do me a favor?”
Leon chuckled softly and rose to his feet. “That little bakery you like, right?”
D offered him a smile again. “Indeed. Please, in addition to the usual, would you see if they have those delightful raspberry scones?”
Leon made a face but nodded. He grinned sheepishly at Jill and hurried into the street. Jill looked after him in bemusement. She shook herself and glanced back at D. “In all the years I’ve known Leon, I’ve never seen him as happy as I have this past week. You’re good for him.”
To her surprise, D colored. She’d never seen him so… flustered. D had always seemed something other than human, something cool and untouchable. Leon had been the only one who could get a rise out of him.
“Perhaps, Miss Jill, it is that we are good for each other. He reminds me to take joy in fleeting things.” His gaze was introspective as he picked up the teapot and went to make fresh tea.
Jill followed him into the immaculately appointed kitchen. She yelped and jumped a foot as a soft growl came from beneath the small table. D’s favorite pet, the strange sheep-thing he affectionately called T-chan, slunk out from beneath it.
It growled quietly at D. “No, T-chan. I will make the tea. If you wish to add to the things Leon is picking up at the bakery, your contributions will be most appreciated. Our guest will be surprised to find her luncheon was prepared by a Totetsu.”
Jill watched the exchange, somehow unsurprised. She had seen for herself that D could barely tolerate meat, yet somehow Chris was fed properly. Why should it surprise her that one of his pets was capable of cooking? She glanced back into the parlor. It was no more surprising than the raccoon that was coloring with her little girl, wielding the crayons as neatly as if she were a child herself..
“So have you been to see Chris yet?”
D’s face darkened briefly. The Totetsu dropped a pan and he started. “No. We have not.”
There was something more than he was saying and Jill was about to grill him on it when the bird returned, swooping in through a small window above the door. It alighted on D’s hand and chirped rapidly.
“So soon? I did not expect her so quickly!” D listened to the bird for a moment longer and hurriedly set the teapot aside.
“Miss Jill, if you would be so kind as to step back.”
“Huh?” Mystified, Jill obeyed, stepping away from the small fireplace. As she did, the flames turned green and flared. Then they subsided, replaced by a matronly woman in a tall hat and a robe of red and gold. Jill yipped and skipped back another step, feeling her heart skip a beat. She had a feeling she was going to have to get used to such strange goings-on. She just hoped her heart could take it!
“Count D. It has been a long time since one of your people has willingly spoken with mine. I remember meeting you when you were younger.” The woman stepped unscathed from the flames and offered her hand to D.
“Yes. It has been a long time, Lady McGonagall.”
She chuckled as D bowed over her fingers. “Minerva, please. Let us not stand on ceremony. You have called for me?”
D nodded. “Please, allow me to offer you tea.” His eyes sparkled with sudden humor. "Do you still prefer it with milk?"
She turned to regard him with an amused smile. “Pleasant as always. Your grandfather could have taken lessons in polite manners from you.”
D glanced at Jill. “Miss Jill, if you would be so kind as to show the Lady Minerva into the parlor?”
Numbly, Jill obeyed. Lea giggled and toddled up to her mother. Jill scooped her up as she politely waved the lady to a seat on one of the low couches. To her surprise, McGonagall paused to peer into Lea’s face. “A lovely child. I look forward to seeing her when she is of age.”
Without clarifying that mystifying remark, she seated herself with feline grace, just as Leon returned, his arms laden with boxes from D’s favorite bakery. She smiled up at him as he stopped in surprise. “How do you do? Are those raspberry scones that I smell? I haven’t had those in ages.”
Leon blinked as D glided in, laden with a tea tray. “Ah, good timing, my dear detective. This is the guest I was expecting. Leon Orcot, this is Minerva McGonagall. Lady Minerva, this is Leon Orcot.”
“Pleasure.” Leon growled, setting the boxes down to shake the woman’s hand.
“A pleasure, Mr. Orcot.”
D smoothly ushered them all to seats and set about pouring tea and serving pastries. The woman chuckled as he offered her the raspberry scones. “Such a good memory to remember how much I loved these.”
D had just seated himself when a strange young man strolled in, pushing a cart that filled the air with savory aromas. Jill blinked at him when she realized he had a pair of curling ram’s horns peeping through cinnamon-colored hair. He offered her a grin full of sharp teeth as he served lunch. She knew those amber eyes. “T-chan?” She breathed softly as he offered her a plate.
“You were expecting someone else?” The Totetsu chuckled with wicked amusement as Jill tried to adjust to her suddenly skewed worldview. To say she was unsettled would be understating the case. She shivered and forced her attention back to the woman and D, trying hard not to keep glancing at the suddenly human-looking Totetsu.
McGonagall ate daintily and neatly, before finally setting her plate aside to stare at D. “So why was it you called me after all these years, Count D?”
D explained quietly about Jill’s strange encounter in the bakery and her desire to return the wand to its owner. Jill managed to tear her eyes away from the lounging Totetsu as he finished.
McGonagall frowned and held out a thin hand. “How odd. I thought I was aware of all wizards who were living among the Muggles. As Headmistress, I am required to keep records on them, in the case that one of their children are wizard-born. May I see the wand, please, young lady?”
Jill pulled the slender piece of wood from her bag and offered it to the woman. Her fingers had barely touched it when she gasped and let it clatter to the floor. McGonagall's face had gone pale and she swayed in her seat.
“Impossible,” She breathed, obviously shaken to her core. “I saw his body myself!”
*raises glass in toast to partner-in-crime*