Summer Vacation III: Honeymoon in Japan, Part 8

by Geri ([email protected])

My homepage: http://www.geocities.com/geri_chans_fics/index.html

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Aric/Takeshi, Snape/Lupin

Author's note: {} Indicates character's unspoken thoughts

Disclaimer: Based on the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling; no money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.

Warning: This is a continuation of the Always series, but the main focus is on Aric and Takeshi, and Snape and Lupin appear mainly as supporting characters.

Sequel to: Always, Summer Vacation, For Old Time's Sake, Three's a Crowd, Return of the Raven, Phoenix Reborn, Phoenix Rising, Aftermaths, The Revenant, and Ash's Story. Although it's not so much a sequel to the latter two stories as it is a companion piece. The Revenant, Ash's Story, and Summer Vacation III all begin at around the same time, a couple of days after the ending of "Aftermaths," and pretty much run concurrently.

Summary: Takeshi's cousin Tsubasa meets with Dumbledore, Snape, and Lupin.
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Things were quiet in the valley the day after the wedding; Chizuru and Karasu departed on their honeymoon, and everyone else was resting and recuperating from the wedding preparations and the actual party--and in the cases of some people, mainly the tengu--sleeping off hangovers.

Takeshi sent a message to his cousin, who agreed to meet with Dumbledore the following day, and Takeshi sent his response on to the Headmaster at Professor Kamiyama's temple. With that obligation out of the way, Takeshi and Aric were free to spend most of the day lounging around the house, not doing much of anything.

"I feel a little guilty about being so lazy," Takeshi murmured as he lay sprawled out next to Aric on the futon in their room, but despite his words, he looked sleepy and content. A faint breeze caused the wind chime hanging in the open window to make a soft, tinkling noise.

"You deserve a chance to be lazy once in awhile," Aric told him firmly. He knew how hard Takeshi worked, at both St. Mungo's and the clinic, essentially holding down two full-time jobs. His mate smiled at him, and before long, Aric saw Takeshi's eyes close fully, and his breathing grew slow and even. Aric soon dozed off himself, lulled into slumber by the summer heat.

When he woke up, he saw a crane crouched beside him, plucking feathers from its breast. There was a small pile of white feathers lying beside it, and a patch of bare, exposed pink skin on its chest.

"'Keshi?" Aric asked in a startled voice.

Takeshi transformed back into his human form, then calmly gathered up the feathers and placed them in a cloth bag. "Ah, you're awake," he said, smiling at Aric affectionately. "I thought I should start gathering feathers for the robe that my brother promised to make you."

"Doesn't that hurt?" Aric asked in a worried voice, pulling open the folds of the kimono Takeshi was wearing to examine his chest, which seemed unharmed, although the skin there looked slightly flushed.

"I'm fine," Takeshi assured him, as Aric gently stroked his chest. "It's just a little tender, that's all."

"I'm sorry," Aric said contritely, kissing Takeshi's chest. "If it hurts, we can forget about the robe."

Takeshi shivered as Aric's lips touched his skin. "No, honestly, I'm fine," he insisted. "We cranes do this all the time; where else do you think that the weavers get all the feathers they use to make their silk? It would hurt if I tried to pluck a full robe's worth of feathers all at once, but it won't hurt if I just pluck a few feathers every day until I have enough. I want to give you this token of my love, Aric. Please let me do this for you."

"All right," Aric said softly, feeling very moved. "Then let me make it up to you." He continued planting gentle kisses all over Takeshi's chest. "Does that feel better?"

"Mm-hmm," Takeshi sighed. "That feels nice. Ah!" He gasped as Aric's mouth closed over one of his nipples, gently sucking and nibbling.

Aric looked up and gave him a wolfish grin. "Shall I cast a silence spell?" he asked.

"Yes, please," Takeshi groaned.

Aric obliged, and the two of them made slow, tender love all afternoon, the breeze that blew through the window cooling them as it dried the sweat on their skin, while the wind chime tinkled merrily, although it could hardly be heard over the moans of the two lovers.
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The next day, Lupin, Snape, Dumbledore, and Tsubasa arrived at the Kimuras' cottage, where Takeshi had offered to let them hold the meeting. The Headmaster bowed and handed Takeshi a large box of Honeydukes sweets. "Just a small token of my gratitude, Mr. Kimura," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I appreciate all your help."

"The pleasure is mine, Headmaster," Takeshi said politely, accepting the box. "Please be seated and make yourselves at home while I get some tea."

The four guests sat themselves on the floor around a table in the living room with varying degrees of awkwardness or grace. Takeshi returned a few minutes later with a tray holding a pot of tea and some cups, while Aric followed, carrying a plate with some of the sweets arranged on it. Aric laid the plate on the table while Takeshi served the tea; he tried to keep his expression as serene and calm as Takeshi's, but he was fairly bursting with curiosity over this mysterious meeting that Dumbledore had asked for.

When Takeshi had finished pouring the tea, he bowed and said, "Aric and I will leave now, to give you some privacy," ignoring the glare that Aric shot his way. "My parents are visiting my brother right now, so you will have the house to yourselves."

"We didn't intend to throw you out of your own home, Mr. Kimura," the Headmaster protested.

"It's all right," Takeshi replied with a pleasant smile. "It's a nice day for a walk, and I thought perhaps Aric and I could take a stroll by the lake."

"Or we could just wait in the next room," Aric said innocently.

"Where you could overhear everything with with your keen wolf ears?" Lupin asked, grinning and winking at Aric; Aric grinned back at him sheepishly.

"I think it would be fine if the two of you stayed for the meeting," Dumbledore said. "But I must ask you to keep what you hear in confidence."

"Of course, Headmaster," Takeshi said. Aric was eager to know the reason behind the meeting, so he nodded in agreement as well.

So they seated themselves at the table, and Dumbledore politely introduced himself to Tsubasa. The two of them exchanged a few pleasantries as Aric tried not to squirm with impatience, while Lupin nibbled on some candy, and Snape and Takeshi calmly sipped their tea.

"Your performance at the reception was quite impressive," Dumbledore was saying.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Tsubasa replied. If he was curious to know what Dumbledore wanted, it didn't show on his face, which was set in an expression of polite but slightly detached interest. Either he wasn't particularly interested in what a foreign professor might want from him, or he was just better at covering up his curiosity than Aric.

"It seems rather dangerous, though," Lupin interjected. "You could have been seriously injured if the timing of any one of the dancers had been even slightly off."

"Of course," Takeshi said with a laugh. "That's what makes it so impressive." His cousin just smiled modestly.

"Well, I am glad that you escaped without any damage, except perhaps a bit of a haircut," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon glasses. "More of a slight trim, actually."

Takeshi and Tsubasa both laughed. Snape raised an eyebrow and asked in his low, sardonic voice, "Am I correct in assuming that the incident was staged?"

"Oh!" Lupin exclaimed. "You mean it was all part of the act?"

Snape rolled his eyes. "It should have been obvious to anyone but a Gryffindor," he said in the scathing tone of voice that the students at Hogwarts were so familiar with, and Aric found himself flushing, because he had not been aware that it was part of the act, either, although as a Slytherin, he should have known better. The timing of the dancers had been so flawless that he should have realized that even a small mistake was out of character. How humiliating, to be proven as dense as a Gryffindor!

"I confess," Tsubasa laughed, the polite mask on his face slipping into something more natural. "Yes, it was staged, to make the dance more dramatic. My companions chose me for the role because they said that my hair was the longest, so I could best afford to lose a little of it."

Takeshi, Lupin, and Dumbledore laughed along with him, while Snape smiled smugly, looking pleased to have been proven right. Aric was still feeling a little chagrined, but he laughed along with the others.

"Well, I suppose we should get down to business," Dumbledore said, and Aric thought, {Finally!} He noticed that Takeshi, despite his outward pose of indifference, leaned in a little closer, as if not wanting to miss any of the conversation.

"I would like to offer you a position at Hogwarts as the Transfiguration Professor," Dumbledore continued.

If Tsubasa looked startled, both Takeshi and Aric were outright shocked. "What about McGonagall?" Aric asked. "Is she retiring?"

"That's Professor McGonagall," Dumbledore gently chided. "But to answer your question, Aric, she is not the one retiring. I am."

"What?!" Takeshi and Aric both exclaimed. "But you've been there forever!" Aric blurted out without thinking.

"Yes, I know that I'm as old as the hills," Dumbledore said with an amused smile. "Which is all the more reason for me to retire."

"What he meant was, we just can't picture Hogwarts without you, Headmaster," Takeshi said tactfully.

"Hogwarts will do well enough without me," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "I am sure that Professor McGonagall will make a fine Headmistress, and you must remember, I am over a hundred and fifty years old now--closer to a hundred and sixty, in fact! Surely this old man has earned the right to a little relaxation."

"Oh, of course!" Takeshi said hastily. "No one would deny that. But...what will you do when you retire?"

"Oh, some fishing, perhaps," Dumbledore said vaguely. "Catch up on my reading--I'm several decades behind. Knit some socks."

"Socks?" Aric asked incredulously.

"One can never have too many socks, Mr. Dietrich," the Headmaster assured him in a cheery voice.

"Socks," Aric muttered under his breath, wondering if the old man had lost it. Maybe it was time for him to retire, after all.

"But I am not retiring just yet," Dumbledore continued. "I plan to remain at Hogwarts for one more year, to help our newest instructor, Mr. Zabini, get settled into his position. I had intended to take my time searching for a new Transfiguration Professor, but if there is already an ideal candidate available, why wait?" Dumbledore smiled at Tsubasa. "It might actually be beneficial to have you and Professor McGonagall working together during the next year, as a kind of transition period--if you are willing to accept the position, of course."

"Forgive me, but I don't understand," Tsubasa said, staring at Dumbledore in confusion. "There must many qualified candidates in Britain already; why seek abroad for a replacement? Surely you aren't offering me the position just because I Transfigured that toy into a dragonfly for the children at the wedding!"

"It really was quite impressive, though," Lupin said with a smile. "It takes skill to Transfigure an inanimate object into an animate creature, even temporarily."

"I contacted your old teachers at Salem," Dumbledore told Tsubasa. "They assured me that you were a very talented student, and that you were offered a number of prestigious apprenticeships in the U.S. after you graduated, including an assistant teaching position at Salem, but you turned them down to return to Japan with your family. You've been training in martial arts and weaponry with the tengu, but according to Professor Kamiyama, you've also continued your magical studies. And you have experience as a teacher--"

"Teaching fencing, not magic," Tsubasa protested.

"Oh, I hear that you informally teach the tengu children a bit of magic as well," Dumbledore said. "But actually, it really was the dragonfly incident that convinced me that you are the right person for the job, Tsubasa-san. Not because it demonstrated your skill with magic--although it is, as Remus says, quite impressive--but because it demonstrated how well you work with children. And you could also teach your original subject, if you wish. I spoke to our Physical Defense instructor, Master Diggory, and he said that he would welcome your assistance. His wife is pregnant, and he would like to take some time off when she is ready to give birth, so we could use a substitute instructor for perhaps a few months. He also says that a few of his most talented students could benefit from advanced lessons that only someone with formal training could give. You would, of course, be paid extra for any additional duties outside of your Transfiguration lessons."

Tsubasa just stared at him, looking a little stunned. "I...I don't know what to say," he stammered. "I am flattered by the offer, but I never really considered leaving Japan to work in another country. I assume that this is a permanent position?"

Dumbledore nodded. "I do not wish to announce my retirement in advance, so you would officially be working as Professor McGonagall's assistant for one year. But after she becomes Headmistress, you would become the Transfiguration Professor." Tsubasa hesitated, and Dumbledore continued, "Of course, if you find that you are unable to bear living away from your homeland, we would not try to hold you against your will. I propose that we draw up a temporary contract of one year, to be extended at the end of that year if both parties are in agreement. That would enable you to return home to Japan without dishonor if life in Britain is not to your liking. But if you choose to accept the position, it should be with the intention that we will work towards making the arrangement a permanent one."

"I understand," Tsubasa said solemnly. "If I enter the contract, it shall be in good faith. But this is a major decision...I need some time to think it over and discuss it with my family."

"Of course," Dumbledore said. "Please take your time. I'll be returning to Hogwarts today, so when you make your decision, you can contact me at the school. Remus and Severus, or Mr. Kimura and his family know how to reach me."

"Thank you, Headmaster," Tsubasa said, bowing. "I promise that I will give serious thought to the matter."

Dumbledore bowed in return, then got to his feet with Lupin's help, making a joke about his "creaky old bones," and Disapparated.

"You recommended Tsubasa to the Headmaster, didn't you, Remus?" Takeshi asked almost accusingly.

"Yes," Lupin admitted, grinning a little sheepishly. "I admit that I was meddling again; it's a bad Gryffindor habit. Are you upset?"

Takeshi smiled and shook his head. "I must admit, it would be nice to have my cousin living in Britain." He turned to Tsubasa and said, "Aric and I could show you around Hogsmeade and London, and you could have dinner at the Sakura whenever you like. But of course it is your decision, Tsubasa-nii."

It suddenly occurred to Aric that it might be to his advantage if Tsubasa accepted the job. Takeshi spent a lot of time with the werewolves, and it would be natural for him to introduce his cousin to some fellow shapeshifters. And it certainly couldn't hurt to have a young, handsome, and single gay man around to distract Ash's attention away from Takeshi. Then they could all be friends without Aric having to feel jealous of his rival.

"You should definitely accept the position!" Aric said enthusiastically. "You'd be a great teacher, and Takeshi would be happy to have his favorite cousin around, and I'd be happy to have a sparring partner!"

Lupin gave Aric a slightly quizzical smile, while Snape gave him a suspicious look. "I certainly hope that you'll join us at Hogwarts," Lupin told Tsubasa. "I look forward to working with you. But I understand that it must be a difficult decision. It's a major change, moving to another country..."

"But you could use the Portkey at the Sakura to go back home for a visit anytime you wanted!" Aric pointed out. "It's not like you'd be cut off from Japan permanently."

"That is true," Tsubasa conceded. "But still, it is a major decision...a commitment that would last for many years. I need some time to consider it." There was a very pensive, almost sad look on his face that Aric didn't understand. Then Tsubasa smiled, and his face settled back into a polite mask. "For now, why don't I show Professor Lupin how to make a take-tonbo, as I promised, and you can all tell me about Hogwarts."

"Of course, but please call me 'Remus,'" Lupin said with a friendly smile.

"Then you may call me by name as well," Tsubasa said. "You needn't bother with 'san' or 'sensei'; my sensibilities aren't as delicate as most of the other cranes."

"Do the shapeshifters not have last names?" Aric asked curiously. He noticed that the cranes and tengu seemed to be called only by their given names, and Master Satoshi, who was a tanuki, went by only one name as well. The Kamiyamas, who were kitsune, had surnames, but perhaps that was because they were trying to pass as human among the Muggles who lived near the temple.

"Our clan is small enough that individuals don't really need a family name to be identified," Tsubasa explained. "Everyone in the valley knows everyone else by face and name. Generally, only those of us who are part-human or who live among humans use a surname. In a very formal situation, I might be introduced as Tsubasa-son-of-Yokuto-of-the-crane-clan, but in general, I am simply 'Tsubasa'."

"And technically, our last names are our first names," Takeshi added. "In Japan, the surname is given first, so here I am 'Kimura Takeshi' instead of 'Takeshi Kimura'."

"The names are given in order of importance," Tsubasa explained. "Family or clan first, and then the individual."

"Ah, I see," Aric said. "The purebloods back home are like that, too--the family name and bloodline are more important than anything else." Important enough that they would turn their backs on a son who might sully that bloodline, Aric couldn't help but think with a touch of bitterness, but when he looked at Takeshi it reminded him that he had gained much more than he had lost, and the bitterness eased.

Tsubasa showed Lupin how to make the take-tonbo, and while Lupin whittled the dragonfly wings into shape, he and Snape told Tsubasa about the curriculum at Hogwarts; Aric and Takeshi occasionally interjected a comment about what it was like from a student's point of view. Tsubasa said that it sounded similar to the education he had received at Salem, for the most part.

"The curriculum is basically the same in America," he said. "They use the traditional Latin spells, and follow the teachings of Merlin. The rules are a bit more relaxed, though. The students are allowed weekend passes to leave the school to visit their families or to go on day trips to the neighboring village. And we didn't have Houses. There was a bit of competition between the different dorms, but the dorm assignments were by random selection."

"It was sort of like that at Durmstrang," Aric said. "But then, Durmstrang was essentially one big Slytherin House."

"Doesn't it make more sense to group the students together by aptitude?" Snape argued.

Tsubasa smiled politely and shrugged. "The Americans believe in focusing on the individual over the group. In theory, each student is supposed to be unique. In practice, the students do tend to form cliques based on their backgrounds, abilities, and personalities."

"I suppose it's the same everywhere, to a greater or lesser degree," Lupin said with a pleasant smile. "Ah, I think I've got it!" He put the completed tonbo together, spun it between his hands, and tossed it up in the air, laughing as delightedly as the children in the courtyard had as he watched it fly.

"It takes so little to amuse a Gryffindor," Snape muttered under his breath. The wooden dragonfly flew nicely until it struck the wall and fell to the floor, and Snape added in a dry voice, "You might want to do that outside, Lupin."

"Oops," Lupin said, smiling sheepishly at Takeshi.

"It's all right, Remus," the mediwizard laughed. "There's no harm done, to either the tonbo or the wall."

"Still, I think Severus is right," Lupin said, getting up to pick up his fallen toy. "I should take this outside." He grinned impishly. "Perhaps I can find some children my own age to play with."

Snape rolled his eyes. "Are you speaking of your chronological age or your childish mentality, Lupin?"

"I would say that I am youthful at heart, Severus," Lupin said lightly. "Thank you for this," he said to Tsubasa, twirling the tonbo between his fingers. "I hope that we'll see you at Hogwarts in the fall."

"Perhaps," Tsubasa said, in a polite but noncommittal tone of voice.

Lupin and Snape bowed to him and prepared to leave, when Takeshi called out, "Professors, you'll come to the Tanabata festival this evening, won't you?"

"Festival?" Aric asked, startled.

"Didn't I mention it?" Takeshi said, and Aric shook his head. "I guess with all the excitement of the wedding, I forgot."

"What sort of festival is it?" Lupin asked eagerly, while Snape had a slightly pained expression on his face that seemed to say, "Not another party!"

"It's the festival of the Star Lovers," Takeshi started to reply, and Aric interrupted, "Oh, I remember now! It's that fairy tale you told me, about the Weaver and the Herdsman who can only meet once a year."

"I don't think I know that tale," Lupin said, looking intrigued, so Takeshi told him the story of how the lovers Orihime, the Weaver, and Hikoboshi, the Herdsman, were separated because they neglected their duties after they married, and thereafter were only allowed to meet once every year, on the seventh day of the seventh month.

"So every year, the birds form a bridge across the Celestial River so that the lovers can meet," Takeshi finished. "But only if the sky is clear; if it rains, the birds are unable to form the bridge, and the lovers must wait for another year."

"Such a lovely and sad story," Lupin murmured.

Tsubasa smiled affectionately at his cousin. "As I recall, it was always one of your favorite stories, and Tanabata was always your favorite festival. I remember that you cried one year when it rained, because you thought that the lovers wouldn't be able to meet."

Takeshi grinned sheepishly. "Yes, I remember that; in my defense, I was only five years old. Okaasan had to tell me that it was only a story, but I still felt bad for Orihime and Hikoboshi." He added, in a mock-accusing tone, "You and Niisan teased me about it."

"We did," Tsubasa admitted with an apologetic smile. He informed Aric, "Takeshi was a very sensitive child, and Ichiro and I were several years older, and we liked to tease him a bit. But when he wouldn't stop crying, we felt bad..."

"So the two of you bought me some candy and a pair of goldfish at the festival to cheer me up," Takeshi finished, smiling nostalgically.

"And you named the fish 'Orihime' and 'Hikoboshi!'" Tsubasa laughed.

Takeshi laughed along with him, then said to Aric, "They weren't really so bad for older brothers. Or rather, an older brother and older cousin. They teased me a little, as older brothers do, but mostly they were nice to me."

"My older sister used to pick on me when we were small," Aric said. "But I don't think that she ever felt guilty about it!"

The others all laughed, and Lupin and Snape departed, promising to come back for the festival. Tsubasa left as well, still looking a little pensive.

"Is something wrong?" Aric asked Takeshi. "Your cousin seems...not upset, exactly, but..." His voice trailed off, unable to find the right words. "I mean, he doesn't have to accept the job if he doesn't want it. The Headmaster and Lupin would be disappointed, but I'm sure they wouldn't hold it against him."

Takeshi smiled a little sadly. "Tsubasa is like me, I think. He spent too much time abroad to properly fit in when he returned home, which is why he no longer lives in the valley. Perhaps this job offer is a good thing, a chance for him to make a fresh start somewhere new. At the same time, it won't be easy for him to leave behind his homeland and start over in a foreign country."

"I see," Aric said, now able to put a word to the expression on Tsubasa's face: conflicted. "I can relate to that," he said with heartfelt empathy. It hadn't been easy to leave behind his old life as the Dietrich heir, even if he had done so willingly. "Well then," Aric said, smiling a bit ruefully, "he should fit right in with rest of us. When you think about it, we're all kind of misfits, aren't we? You, me, the werewolves--even Draco and Narcissa, and Snape and Theo. They may be purebloods, but they don't really fit into pureblood society anymore."

Takeshi laughed gently. "Yes, you're right, my love. We're a pack of misfits, an odd family of sorts, but still a better family than others I could think of, who are tied to each other by blood but not love."

"I can't argue with that," Aric said, wrapping an arm around his lover.

"I'll try to reassure Tsubasa that our friends will welcome him, and accept him for himself instead of judging him for what he is not," Takeshi said. "But ultimately, the decision is his."

"I know," Aric said. "But I hope he decides to take the job at Hogwarts."

Takeshi smiled lovingly at him. "It makes me happy, my wolf, that you have welcomed my family as your own."

"Your family is my family," Aric said virtuously, although he felt a small twinge of guilt that Slytherin practicality quickly rationalized away. He really did like Tsubasa, after all. And if he hoped to play matchmaker and get rid of a rival by pairing Ash off with Tsubasa, well, where was the harm in that? If the two of them ended up hitting it off and actually got together, then he would have done them both a favor, right? The way Aric saw it, it was a win-win situation for everyone involved. He pulled Takeshi against his chest, hugging him tightly, so that his mate would not see the smug smile that was slowly spreading across his face.
 

Summer Vacation III Part 9

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