Michael was pacing about the apartment trying to decide whether everything was ready. By the Christmas tree were two neat stacks of presents ready to be summoned away, one with presents for Iden's family and one with presents for Michael's family. On the hob were several dishes keeping warm until brunch at Iden's mum's house. In the refrigerator were several more dishes keeping cool until dinner at Michael's parents' house.
"Iden, are you ready to go?" Michael called from the kitchen.
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Everyone around the table nodded a little bit at the idea, it sounding like a reasonable plan. Over the course of dinner, a variety of topics came up. Michael asked about Sam's work, and how it had been going. Maggie talked about the family, both sides, and what everyone was up to. Michael talked about work a little.
"So, Steven, we never talked about how your internship last year went. It all work out well?" Michael asked.
"Oh, yeah, it went pretty good. Nott Commodities is so huge. They do ridiculous amounts of work. And I got to do personal research for Mr Nott, himself, which was pretty cool. Apparently, he's in charge now," Steven replied.
"Yeah, I think I'd heard that. Theodore was in my year. We studied together a lot. He was brilliant. I always thought he should have been Head Boy, but he seemed to just let Draco Malfoy stay ahead," Michael said shrugging. Then he asked, "Doing anything more there?"
"Not for a while. They said I should get in touch with them after my O.W.L.s," Steven responded.
"Sounds like a decent place to work. Iden's brother works in H.R.," Michael said.
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"Yeah, Ollie's been at Nott Commodities since he got out of school. He's, er, got a lovely cubicle," Iden said, mustering a grin. "Getting internships at your age, Sam. Very impressive. You know what you wanna do after the castle yet?" There, a topic that isn't his brother. Much better.
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Steve shook his head, "Not really. I suppose I've got a lot of options. I've been thinking business, but there are a few Ministry jobs that I think might be cool. Oh, and Gringotts has been doing some interesting things lately. I might consider them if those projects are still going when I get done."
Maggie smiled at Sam across the table. They were proud of both of their sons' accomplishments. Michael was a brilliant boy but a bookworm. They were excited when he found a career that meant he could use his smarts and his love of books together. Steve was just as smart but much more of a socialite and a doer, not as into books (but not opposed to studying hard).
"I don't get to Hogsmeade much these days, Iden. Anything changing lately?" Sam asked, trying to make pleasant conversation.
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"Not on the main drag, no. That always stays the same, but the side streets are growing. A few new pubs have sprung up, no real competition for Rosemerta but good for handling overflow. The park's being taken care of by a small club of elderly witches who are doing wonderfully with it. Around my shop and the rather wild salon, a gallery opened. Oh, and the offices of Magical Music Magazine relocated to Hogsmeade next to my old flat," Iden reported, telling the truth without mentioning that the headquarters of alternative Britain seemed to be in Hogsmeade these days. Sam didn't need to worry about Steve getting alternatively influenced on Hogsmeade weekends.
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Sam was impressed that Iden seemed to know what was happening in the business world of Hogsmeade. That showed promise. He decided to give Iden a chance. The boy seemed to him to be nice enough with a good head on his shoulders, if a little odd. "I hope this one," pointing at Michael with a fork, "isn't too much of a bother to live with. He was never good about keeping his room clean when he was young. And we had to nag him over and over again to take out the rubbish. Is he any better now that he's a man?"
Maggie chuckled at Sam's ribbing. Steven knew better than to speak up; he was no better. And Michael just buried his head in his food, attempting to hide his embarrassment. He thought to himself, "Oh Merlin, just don't get mum started on her stories."
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Iden grinned widely. Was it the embarassing childhood story part of the evening? That sounded like too much fun. "He's not so bad now. I mean, we're both busy so cleaning and whatnot has to be a team effort. I can safely say he does his share," Iden conceded. "Other than messy, what was he like as a kid?" he asked, smirking at Michael.
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"Oh, no..." Michael started to say, not liking where this was going.
Maggie didn't let him stop her. "Oh, he was adorable, when he was 6, he wanted to be a nurse like his aunt. It took Sam a year to make him understand that Wizard's became healers, not nurses."
Sam smirked. Maggie laughed. Steven laughed harder. Michael just put his head down on the table.
"He made me buy him a little hat with a red cross on it."
Another round of laughs.
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Iden chuckled into his hand and looked at Maggie "Do you still have the hat or at least photographic evidence?" he asked through the chuckles. He rubbed Michael's shoulder lightly, knowing full well that he would likely take his revenge when he saw Moira next. Ah well, this was worth it. Well, this and the nurses outfit gag gift that Michael would someday get.
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"Oh, tell him about Morag Mc..." Steven started.
Michael interrupted, "Don't you DARE!" He looked at Steven and said in a menacing voice, "I will hex you so that every time you look at a girl, your face will break out in giant, purple pustules!"
Steven shut up fast and went back to eating. Sam and Maggie just started laughing again.
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"I don't think he actually knows that hex," Iden told Steven authoritatively. "Hmm, Morag Mc- Mc- McDougal, right? Your year, I think. She sent Diggory about 15 valentines your first year. Did you date her, Michael? Did he, Steven?"
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Michael let out a noise of disgust, "No, I didn't."
Maggie chimed in, "They were playmates before going off to the castle. Michael was somewhat taken with her."
"We never dated. I got the 'you're too much like a brother' line," Michael admitted.
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"Oh, ouch," Iden said. "The 'love you like a brother' bit is always a killer. Ranks up there with 'can't risk losing the friendship by dating' one. What's Morag doing these days?"
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Michael was suddenly uncomfortable talking about Morag. Despite the discomfort presented by discussing embarrassing childhood stories, he didn't like thinking about his sexuality. It made him feel odd.
"Um, I dunno. I haven't really kept in touch with her since the castle. We were friends at school, but we didn't hang out much besides to study. I'm not sure why, come to think of it."
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Iden shrugged a bit. "The castle's a different beast entirely. Everything is so divided. In retrospect, I wish I'd spent time more with other houses. Now, most of my friends aren't Puffs. Just Han, really," Iden said, smiling a bit at the thought of Han and her baby.
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It occurred to Michael that he hadn't really stayed in contact with much of his class or housemates. He and Mandy used to see each other on occasion, but she hadn't spoken to him since Tonks's party. He doubted that she approved of Iden.
Iden was really the one person that he spent all of his time with, and he was pretty sure that that was okay. He wouldn't mind having a few friends around, but when it came down to it, Iden was all that he needed.
He smiled at Iden for a minute, just looking at him.
Maggie caught the look right away. She sighed happily and got up from the table. "I think it's time for dessert. I hope you like pie, Iden."
"Oo, Iden, can I visit you at your shop on our next Hogsmeade weekend?" Steven interrupted.
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"I'm quite fond of pie," he said as Maggie left and then turned to Steven. "Course you can, but don't let any of your friends get funny ideas about aging charms and the like. We've got ways of keeping kids from getting ink. When is the next weekend?"
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Steven was clearly excited about the prospect of going to Iden's shop. He expected all of the other guys in his year to be jealous that he was friends with one of the tattoo artists.
"Not until February," he said, slightly disappointed. "Hey! Do you have any tattoos?" Steven asked Iden.
Michael made a mental note to punch his kid brother in the stomach.
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"Er, yeah. I've got four, actually," Iden said, not elaborating just yet. If Michael's parents reacted adversely he'd stop there. If not, he had no real qualms about telling Steven more. "Thing about tattoos, though, is you have to really make sure that you're going to want them forever. The spells to take them off are nasty and pretty painful," he said responsibly.
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Sam was about to say something when Maggie reentered with pie. "Alright boys, pie for everyone." She passed the dishes around and sat back down.
"So, after pie, presents," she said.
Sam took his plate and said, "Iden was just telling us about the art of tattooing. Go on."
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Iden coughed slightly into his drink and smiled at Maggie as he took his pie. "Well, er, wizarding tattooing isn't terribly different from muggle tattooing. Of course, the muggles' tattoos are put on with a needle gun and they don't move. But, er, both of them start with a drawing on paper... And, well, wizarding tattoos can do a lot of things. I mean, they move and you can program responses in to react to outside stimuli, and some of them can disappear or partially disappear or store information. I, er, recently figured out how to tattoo a metamorph so the tattoo can only appear when she chooses it to," Iden rambled on, tactfully avoiding talk of his or Michael's tattoos.
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"Oh, interesting, was that terribly difficult?" Maggie asked, not really having much of an idea.
"It sounds like a complicated series of charms would be necessary for that kind of work. Did you invent this yourself?" Sam asked.
Michael squirmed a little in his seat, something that did not go unnoticed by Steven.
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"Yeah, I mean, some of it I talked to other tattoo artists about. There's a witch in China who has been doing a lot of revolutionary work with ink submersion and a wizard in San Francisco who has been doing the behavioral charms, and from there I just kinda synthesized their findings and fiddled with it. It took a while to come up with the new charms, mainly because of the extensive testing needed before it can be put on human skin." Iden blushed very slightly, knowing perfectly well that the testing was only that extensive because it was Michael's tattoo that came first with this work.
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"Extensive testing? Is that something that the ministry regulates? Or do you just do it to make sure the customers are happy? I mean, I suppose that I would want to be sure that you knew what you were doing before I let you put something permanent on my body. Who wants to be the first to try something new like that?" Sam followed up.
Michael's squirminess was becoming generally noticeable. He finally turned to Maggie and said, "So, um, mum, great pie."
Steven started to say something and without missing a beat, Michael kicked him under the table.
"Oh, thanks darling. So, Iden, these customers of yours must trust you a great deal," Maggie said, apparently not noticing the interaction between Michael and Steven.
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"Well, the Ministry doesn't regulate it, but we're the only tattoo place in Britain, so they wouldn't have any trouble tracing any irresponsible behavior to the source. Plus, apprenticing is really expensive. Even if the lads like a prospective artist, the candidate still has to cough up about a thousand Galleons. Took me a few years to save it while living with my mum, so I guess with all that thrown in, people trust us. I mean, nobody becomes a tattoo artist just to mess about with people," Iden said, fairly sure he'd steered the conversation away from Michael. Content, he took a bite of pie.
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Sam nodded along as Iden spoke. Despite himself, Sam was appreciating the level of skill and devotion that Iden's profession required. Maggie, noticing this, smiled and rubbed Michael's arm.
"So," Michael interjected, "you said something about presents, mum?"
"Yes," she responded, "let's move to the living room. I'll put on the tea. Steven, pass out the presents. Michael, darling, clear the table."
Maggie got up and went to the kitchen. Sam stood, slowly, and put his hand on Iden's shoulder. "So, talk to me about my son," he said. "What do you see in the little git?"
Michael scowled at his father and Steven laughed.
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