Who: Katherine, Arcturus, Sirius What: Kat notices the boys on an outing Where: The Wheel 1 park When: Early next week
On a bench, in a quiet corner of the park, sat two boys. The winter snow had turned cold on the station, but this bench was clear of it, as was the small area around it, as if it radiated heat. The older boy wore a long, winter-weight robe, and there was a black top hat on his head, a glimpse of a white starched collar and dark tie at his throat. The younger boy's robe was similarly warm, but shorter, revealing knee breeches, thick woollen stockings, and sturdy boots on his feet. His tie was a little askew, and he wore a brimless, rounded cap. A broomstick was propped up beside the bench, and the older boy carried a satchel, from which he produced sandwiches and, more remarkably, a teapot, from which he poured his companion a steaming mug of tea, giving what was clearly a warning to take care with it.
Arcturus and Sirius Black had flown to the lower wheel that morning. A longstanding mistrust of elevators, trains, and anything else that counted as muggle technology meant taking a somewhat unusual route, but by broomstick one could follow tunnels and waterways, and it wasn't an unpleasant journey. Although Siri knew how to fly a broomstick of his own, Arcturus insisted on taking him as a passenger, seated safely in front, because it was an unfamiliar route, and a long one. The younger wizard had grumbled about this, but if anything, Arcturus took that as an encouraging sign. Better that than more clinginess and tears, which he was far less equipped to handle.
It had been a shock, hearing Siri's voice over that telephone, and stranger still to find that the child barely out of infancy that he'd left behind in 1849 was now a sturdy little boy of seven. There had been no question about what to do, of course. He was family, and he was younger, and that made him Arcturus' responsibility. He needed to be protected from people who would harm him, and from muggle influence. Arcturus no longer believed that all muggles were immoral and dangerous, as he once had, but the fact remained that some of them were, and wizards had their own ways of doing things. He tried not to think back on the blind terror he'd felt upon being told that he was trapped inside some muggle structure in space, a feeling that hadn't abated until he'd felt for himself the presence of magic on the station, the absolute strength of it. His home here was inside a pocket dimension, an apartment door in a neglected residential level on the second wheel that opened up to reveal a field, a little house atop a hill. Safe.
Some of his caution had been unnecessary. The spot he had chosen was an isolated one, and there was nothing to fear from empty walkways and long-abandoned rooms. He had started to venture out further, searching shops for spellbooks and magical supplies. He had found a deserted pub, where he could enjoy the occasional beer by the fireside, with no puritans from the future to try to prevent it. It wasn't an unsatisfactory routine – there were certainly far worse places one could be – but it was, for the most part, a lonely one. But now there was Siri. His brother Cygnus' little boy. And Arcturus knew - he'd been told, by someone from a later time, who was certain about it – that in a few years an epidemic would tear through London's magical quarter, and Cygnus and Sirius both would die. His plan had been to find a way home and get them both out of the city by any means possible, but that Siri was here, and older than he should be? That meant something. Arcturus just hadn't worked out what.
These concerns came a distant second to trying to settle the little boy and make him comfortable, however. To make him less unhappy, because although he was doing his best to be brave, it was obvious how much he missed home. When Siri asked if they could fly to the park and play in the snow, Arcturus had told him what a fine idea it was, and that they'd make a day of it. And they had. A broomstick flight, a snowball fight, a walk around the park to look at some of the animals, and now a tea break on a bench that Arcturus had warmed and cleared with a quick spell.
'Are there bears here?' Sirius was asking excitedly. 'And flying horses? Can we go to the races? Can we see a dragon in a meni...in an animal collection like Mr Selwyn has?'
Arcturus smiled. 'A menagerie? Mr Selwyn used to have a dragon, but the Ministry wouldn't let him keep it.'
'I know! Papa told me! But is there a dragon here?'
'I haven't seen one. But I haven't been to all the parks, so I can't say for sure that there isn't one, either.'
'Can we go to all the parks?'
'Maybe. Some other time. Didn't you say you were going to make a snowman?'
'No.' Sirius grinned. 'I'm going to make a snow DRAGON.' And with that, he handed his mug back to Arcturus, hopped down from the bench, and ran off to start gathering handfuls of snow. Arcturus poured some tea into the mug for himself, and kept a watchful eye on the younger wizard as he sipped at it.