FicWad

Bad Author Notes: Yes I know it's been forever since I've update this fic but I ran in to a problem with poison ivy... they don't have it in Scotland and I wanted a character to get it on their rear. Sigh. Oh well I did the best I could without it. As for the next chapter... umm I'm not exactly sure how to hand it; I'm split between two bunnies so it might be a while before one bunnie defeat and kill the other bunnie.

Fire, Parchment and Murder
By Lady FoxFire
July 2, 2006


"Mum! We're home!" Harry shouted as he leapt into the house, his shoes leaving crumbs of dried mud in his wake.

"How was the trip, Harry?" Mary asked as she walked into the hallway, wiping her wet hands on a kitchen towel.

"It was great! I got to use a fire extinguater when Mr. Green set his tent on fire," Harry said as he practically bounced around every corner of the room.

"His tent caught on fire?" Mary exclaimed in disbelief, her eyes wide in shock.

Harry nodded his head like a bobble-head doll. "Yeah! The fire left a huge hole in the roof," Harry said excitedly as he tugged off his shoes while doing the hop-on-one-foot dance people do while trying to remove a shoe without sitting down or untying it.

"Was anyone hurt?" Mary asked in concern.

"No... well Mr. Green's eyebrows are gone but that was the worst of it," Harry said as he finally tugged one shoe off, letting it clatter to the floor.

Mary blinked a couple of times. "His eyebrows are gone?" she said in an unsure voice.

"Yeah, from when Mr. Hammond set Mr. Green's hair on fire," Harry explained as he plopped down on the floor so he could work on the other shoe.

"Mr. Hammond set Mr. Green's hair on fire?" Mary repeated.

"Yeah." Harry said as he yanked the shoe off his foot and then pulled his socks off. "And then Mr. Green knocked his hair off his head and it landed on the tent."

Mary blinked. Then again. And once more. "Okay," Mary said in a singsong voice one often finds oneself using when they're totally confused and don't want to get any more confused. "So what else happened?"

Harry climbed to his feet and brushed off his backside. "Well... I caught the biggest fish. It was this big," Harry said, as he spread his arms as wide as he could.

Mary raised an eyebrow at the size of the fish Harry said he caught. "That must have been a monster of a fish," Mary said with a knowing smirk.

A blush rose to Harry's face. "Well it might not have been that big but it was the biggest one anyone caught," Harry said.

"Harrie!" a squeal came from knee high as a blur raced from the living room and slammed into Harry, followed by a black mass, which barked and jumped around the children.

"Tina," Harry said as bent over and hugged his baby sister.

Tina pushed Harry away. "Harrie yucky," she said her nose crinkled with disgust.

"Daddy and me went camping," Harry explained as Tina retreated to hide behind their mother's legs. "We couldn't take a bath."

Tina refused to come from behind her mother's legs; she just shook her head no.

With a shrug of his shoulder, Harry turned his attention to the dog. "Hey, Duke," Harry greeted Duke, but the dog sneezed at Harry and backed away. "Traitor," Harry mumbled softly while he shot it a dirty look.

"Daddy got boo boo," Tina said suddenly as she looked up at her father who was leaning heavily against the door frame, his head wrapped in so many bandages that he looked like he was wearing a turban.

"Oh yeah," Harry exclaimed. "We got to practice first aid on dad, too."

"Oh, Sean," Mary half sobbed half laughed as she rushed over to her husband.

"It's nothing," Sean stated as Mary caressed his face, carefully avoiding the bandages. "Just a small cut."

"It bled a lot," Harry volunteered. "Mr. Hammond fainted from all the blood and Steven's dad thought Dad was going to die from blood loss."

Sean rolled his eyes as he allowed Mary to guide him over to the foot of the stairs so he could sit down.

"Daddy hurt?" Tina asked with concern from where she stood next to her daddy's knee.

A soft woof from Duke, as the dog trotted over to Sean and nudged his hand with his nose, echoed Tina's concern.

"I'm fine, honey" Sean said wearily. "Daddy just has a boo boo."

"Mama kiss. Make better," Tina ordered as she turned to face her mother.

"Yeah, Mama. Make better," Sean mimicked.

Mary raised an eyebrow at her husband, who only smirked in return.

With a smirk of her own, Mary bent over and kissed Sean gently on the tip of his nose.

Sean's eyes crossed as he tried to look at the tip of his nose.

"All better," Tina said in a singsong voice as she patted her father's knee.

"That's right, honey, Daddy's all better now," Mary said with a half a smile. "Now Harry, I want you to take the camping equipment into the back and I want you to pitch the tent so it can dry out."

"Awww, Mum," Harry whined.

"Don't you 'awww, Mum' me, young man. I know perfectly well that you can set up that tent by yourself," Mary said in a firm voice and wearing a matching 'don't mess with me' expression.

"I help," Tina chimed in.

"And Tina can help too," Mary said with a nod to her daughter

"But, Mum," Harry protest.

"No buts," Mary stated in a firm voice. "Now go."

"Yes mum," Harry said dejectedly, his shoulders slumped. "Come on, Tina."

"Coming," Tina sung out as she ran after her big brother

A soft bark drew Mary's attention to Duke, who watched innocently as the children walked out the door, his tail wagging the whole time.

"And you," she said to Duke. "You can go out with them and supervise."

Duke's ears drooped, his tail curled underneath him and he looked up at Mary with big sorrowful eyes.

"That doesn't work for Harry and it's not going to work for you. Now go," Mary commanded.

With a woof of surrender, Duke trotted after the two children.

"Sometimes I swear that dog was human," Mary mumbled to herself as she watched Duke nudge the door to close it as he slipped out before it shut.

Turning her attention back to Sean, Mary found him still staring at the tip of his nose, which twitched every so often.

"Come on," Mary said as she pulled Sean to his feet. "I'd better take a look at that."

"Do I get another kiss to make it better?" Sean whined.

"Yes but only after the children are fast asleep," Mary said teasingly as she lead him up the stairs.

Sean raised an eyebrow a mischievous look in his eyes. "Any chance we can send them to bed early?" he asked as Mary guided him into the bathroom

Pushing down on Sean's shoulder until he sat on the toilet lid, Mary said, "No."

"Phoo," Sean pouted, his bottom lip stuck out.

Mary smiled fondly at her husband's antics as she started to undo the mass of bandages. "So, how did this happen?"

Sean held up two fingers. "Two words. Thomas Hammond." Sean said.

Mary raised an eyebrow at Sean's statement.

"The man is a walking disaster," Sean said with absolute conviction. "He should be locked up for the safety of the community."

"He can't be that bad," Mary said in the defense of the poor man as she started to examine the small cut on Sean's head.

"Harry told you how he set George's hair on fire, didn't he?" Sean asked as he winced at Mary's gentle probing.

"Sort of," Mary replied. "He said that Thomas set George's toupee on fire and then some how it was knocked off and onto the tent, which then caught fire, but he didn't say how it all started."

Sean nodded his head. "No one's really sure how it all began, but I just know if it wasn't for Harry's quick thinking, George would have lost everything in the tent. As it is, the tent itself is a loss."

"He is always smart on his feet," Mary said as she started to clean the wound.

"That he is," Sean said with a chuckle. "Well after the fire incident, Tom somehow managed to flip the canoe he was in with the other father and two boys all because he lost his paddle."

Mary snickered. "At least the boys got to experience a water rescue."

"You'd better believe they did, especially after Tom flipped the group that was trying to rescue him."

Mary pressed his lips together tightly to keep from laughing.

"And this," Sean pointed to his head wound as Mary applied the dressing. "Tom did this to me this morning when we were taking down the tents."

"How?" Mary asked.

"Tent pole," Sean said simply. "Damned if I know why he was swing it around."

"My poor baby," Mary cooed as she kiss Sean's forehead.

"And that not the end of it!"

"It's not?" she said in disbelief.

"He locked his keys in the car and guess who everyone expect to get them." Sean snarled his arms crossed over his chest.

"You," Mary said.

"Yep, me," Sean growled. "And while I'm working on the lock guess what happens next."

"I'm afraid to ask,"

"His boy opens the passenger side door and climbs in."

Mary started to snicker softly. "My poor baby," Mary said as she wrapped her arms around Sean, resting his head against her chest as she tried to not to break down into laughter.

Sean wrapped his arms around her waist. "This weekend sucked."

~*~

"So then Tina decided to play Lady Godiva with Duke," Mary said as she strapped Tina into her highchair.

"Lady Godiva," Harry said as he set the dinner table, "She was that lady who rode naked through town, right?"

"That right," Sean said as he carried the hot pan over to the table. "She was trying to get her husband to rescind the high taxes he had placed on his people. He said he would only would do that if she rode through the town naked."

Harry got a curious look on his face as he tried to process the story. "They sure did weird things back then," he said as he sat down at the table.

"Speaking of weird, a letter arrived for you today, Harry," Mary said as the family settled down for dinner.

"Really?" Harry said in surprise as he served himself a helping of shepherd's pie, "Who's it from? And how is that weird?"

"Well I don't know who it's from, but for the reason its weird... well when you get it you'll see what I mean," Mary said with a nod to the kitchen counter where the mail was sitting.

Shoving a fork full of food in to his mouth, Harry quickly got up and retrieved the letter.

"What weird paper," he commented as he turned the letter over in his hands, examining it.

"It's called parchment," Mary said. "It was used before the making of paper became more standard. It used made from sheepskin or goatskin."

"Ewww," Harry exclaimed dropping the letter on the table, rubbing his hands against his shorts.

Sean let out a snort of amusement as Mary shook her head.

"I doubt that is 'real' parchment," Mary said as she placed Tina's dinner on the child's highchair. "Real parchment is expensive and hard to find. What you have is probably just normal paper. Heavy duty but completely normal paper."

Harry raised an eyebrow at his mother. "With green ink and a wax seal? What kind of person uses those?"

"Someone who is eccentric," Sean replied. "Why don't you just open it and find out."

Harry glanced at his parents one by one, and then, taking a deep breath, he broke the seal on the letter and unfolded it open.

"Well?" Sean said impatiently after several moments had passed in silence.

"I am invited someplace called Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry," Harry said as he rolled his eyes. "It's probably Mark's idea of a joke. He must have gotten his older brother to write it up."

"Is that all it says?" Mary asks.

"No it also says that a professor will be here on the 20th to explain everything," Harry said looking down at the letter once again.

"Can I see it?" Sean said reaching out for the letter.

Harry nodded and passed the letter over to his father.

Sean read over the letter, his body tensing slightly.

"Sean?" Mary asked calmingly as she noticed her husband's reaction.

Sean hands Mary the letter. "Harry, you said you recognized the handwriting?"

Harry shook his head. "No, but I figured Mark got his brother to write it. You know how he is. He loves to pull pranks."

"You're probably right, but do you mind if I hold on to this?"

Harry looks up from his plate, his brow furrowed with concern. "Sure. But why?"

SPLAT!

"Tina!" Harry exclaimed as he stared down at his shirt, at the mashed potatoes sliding down the middle of his chest.

Tina clapped her little hands together while giggling.

"That was bad, Tina. Bad," Mary said firmly.

Tina looked at her mum thoughtfully for a moment before reaching for another handful of mash potatoes.

"Oh no you don't," Mary said as with one hand, she grabbed Tina's plate and with the other hand, she snagged the hand that held a fist full of food. "Harry, get me a wet washcloth."

"Ok, Mum," Harry said as he left the table wiping at the mess on his shirt.

"Stop smirking, Sean," Mary commanded, not even looking at her husband.

Sean's smirk grew into a full blow grin. "Yes, dear."


~*~


Mary quietly pulled Harry's door shut, a contented smile on her face.

"They're asleep?" Sean asked as he leaned against the wall of the landing.

Mary nodded her head as she stepped up to Sean and into his arms.

Sean sighed happily, as he tightened his arms around her. "I love you," he sighed happily into her hair.

"I know," Mary replied.

"I need to go to the station," he said as he loosened his grip on Mary.

"The letter?" she asked looking up at Sean.

Sean nodded his head as he reached out and tucked a lock of Mary's hair behind her ear.

"When will you be back," Mary asked as she stepped out of Sean's grasp.

"I don't know. It's probably nothing but..."

"But better safe than sorry," Mary said with a sad smile.

"I won't be gone long," Sean said as he stepped closer to Mary and kissed her softly before turning and heading for the stairs. "Duke. Stay. Guard."


~*~


Sean quietly pushed the door shut, reached down, and threw the deadbolt on the door.

Turning around, Sean exhaled sharply as he found Duke sitting in front of him. "Real funny, big guy," Sean whispered sarcastically. "Everything alright?"

Duke let out a soft woof before rising to his feet and heading up the stairs towards the children's room.

Sean's eyes followed his partner up the stairs until he disappeared from sight. With a shake of his head, he walked down to the living room where the sounds of a late night B rated horror movie could be heard playing.

Sean found Mary fast asleep on the couch, the horror movie playing unnoticed on the screen.

Crouching down next to the sofa, Sean remained there for a moment, taking in the sight of his sleeping wife. With a gentle hand, he brushed a lock of hair from her face. Leaning forward Sean gently kissed his sleeping beauty.

"Hey," Mary said groggily but happily as Sean pulled back after ending the kiss. "What time is it?"

"Quarter 'til two," Sean replied as he picked up the remote from the coffee table and turned the TV off.

"What is it?" Mary asked sensing something was bothering Sean.

"The letter murders," Sean said simply.

"The what?"

"From the mid 60's to the late 70's and early 80's, there was a series of unsolved murders," Sean said as he sat down next to her," in which the whole family was killed."

"I don't remember anything about them," Mary said as she leaned against Sean.

"You wouldn't," Sean said as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. "Often the crimes were put down as murder-suicides committed by a family member or as B&E that went wrong. No one ever figured the cases were related."

"But they think so now?"

Sean nodded his head. "One woman lost two of her sons and their families to murder-suicides; while going through her grandchildren's things she found some letters."

"Like Harry's?"

"Almost exactly like Harry's," Sean replied. "It was in mid 80's when they started to put unsolved cases in the new computer system. They found a link-the letters-between some unsolved cases. After that, they started to look through those closed cases more closely."

"But why haven't I heard anything about this? It should have made the news."

Sean shrugged his shoulders. "I can't answer that one, love."

Mary sat in silence as she digested everything she just learned. "What are we going to do?"

"Trap the bastard."