Lookin’ For Some Hot Stuff Baby This Evenin’ (Bonies/Kyra/?)

[Deleted]

I need some hot stuff baby tonight

The Wasps beater rocked and swayed with the music playing in his mind, not really caring if anyone saw his little weird dance as he bopped his head to the muggle music. The disco song had been stuck in his mind for the better part of this week, playing in a constant loop during waking hours and even sometimes during his less than lucid hours. Despite the endless hot stuff rocking his brain, the former Gryffindor didn’t seem to mind as he was bored out of his freaking mind lately.

I want some hot stuff baby this evenin’

It was currently October now, where leaves were turning yellow and red and pumpkins were being prepped for slaughter. The weather was nice and cool and perfect for flying and all should have been well in the world. So why was it the freaking off season for the Quidditch leagues?! Merlin f*ck him. The beater had lost count of the parties he had been wasted in, and when that got old, he had resorted to his worstfavorite past time – gambling.

Gotta have some hot stuff

As luck would have it, Ruff had lost the bet with his fellow quidditch fanatics about whether their boss was f*cking their new reserve seeker – not that they cared at all, it was just something to bet on – and it turns out the old man was face deep in their coach instead. f*ck.

Gotta have some love tonight

And so, that’s how the Wasps beater ended up on this side of muggle London, shaking to muggle disco music as he wandered around in search of this mysterious carousel, a muggle contraption that goes around and around and around and…apparently it made kids happy. Weird.

Hot stuff

Ruff rounded a corner and came upon the site of a large…thing. It had a center piece and it went around and around. There were also…horses that were impaled on metal poles and moving up and down while carrying kids. f*ck this sh*t. It looked both horrifying and interesting to the former Gryffindor, though he thought the ride could do with some upgrading. I mean, it wasn’t going anywhere…it must be very dull going up and down all the time. And since his debt collector/teammate had just said ‘cause a scene in muggle London’ he assumed this would be good enough a deal.

I need hot stuff

The lion took a quick look around him, making sure that no one was paying attention to him, before he stepped behind a large oak tree next to the carousel, wand at the ready for his mission. “Let’s make the merry go all around shall we.” as he pointed his wand in the horses’ direction, casting first a transfiguration spell to change the horses into hippogriffs, then following that up with an animation spell to make them come to life, and finally, a well-placed vanishing spell to get rid of the stakes and set the creatures free.

Ah, the kids would have so much more fun this way.

“I want some hot stuff…” He sang cheerfully, happy with his work as he waved to a muggle kid flying by. You’re welcome, kid! Maybe he should do this more often? He obviously has talent for this kind of thing.

I need hot stuff

[Kyra Thatcher]

"I mean, I'm sort of seeing Greg from work," Kyra relented, filling her best friend in as the kids moved up-and-down between them on the carousel, "but you know my type - it's not gonna last much longer. Lots of fun for now, though, don't get me wrong." The blonde grinned, giving a suggestive raise of her brows around Gray. Chaperoning Phoebe's kids on the carousel at the children's park wasn't the ideal situation to get her caught up on the goings on in her life, but seeing as any time together wasn't long enough, she was trying. Not one to get too attached to a bloke, no matter how handsome - having learned better as a teenager - she always had a few new stories to entertain her married friend with. Thankfully, since the kids were so young, the content went over their heads both literally and figuratively...or so she hoped.

"But how are things with you? I'm free this weekend if you need any help. Ed's back from that training camp soon, isn't he?" She ruffled her godson's fair hair as he rose up again, giving him a grin. "Excited to have Daddy home, Gray?" How the kids were seemingly so well-adjusted for having their father off with the military so often was something Kyra had to hand to Phoebe. She was able to maintain a sense of normal, of security, of happy, even with the stresses of managing the house on her own...when Kyra had, more than once, worn mismatched thigh-highs without the intent of making a statement, just because she was running late and not paying attention... How're we the same age?

As Grayson started to launch into everything he was going to do when Edgar returned, everything around them...changed.

The painted horses that the children were on just morphed into creatures from another world, keeping their tails but swapping their horse heads for those of eagles, feathers and all, their saddles for wings...Kyra met her friend's eye quickly to see if she was also seeing this - she hadn't taken any psychedelics that morning, this was happening, wasn't it? But the rising sounds of laughing children and confused adults changed into cries of fright and exhilaration as the creatures began moving. As if that wasn't enough, the pole that Kyra had been holding just vanished, sending her stumbling into Gray and the disgruntled creature he was riding -

"Mum! Mummy, it wasn't me, I swear!"

By the time she'd regained her footing, she'd had to dodge out of the way of a handful of the creatures as they flew out of the moving carousel. Children in tow.

"Oh for f*ck's sake - Pheebs, I've - um - I'll get them - " Her friend had her arms full with the Bones' youngest, but Ellie and Gray were...flying away. Gray hugging the creature's neck for dear life, Ellie whooping with delight. She jumped off of the carousel and started running after the children with the other caretakers, all of this happening too fast to fully process, but not fast enough for her to miss that she was in the middle of something wholly, unequivocally, wonderfully...magical. That thought had her nearly grinning as she chased after the kids, despite the circumstance. I knew it was here somewhere.

[Phoebe Bones]

"Perhaps you need to find a better type," Phoebe retorted with a grin, looking past her two older children gleefully enjoying the carousel to her best friend. Grayson was blissfully ignorant to the full meaning behind his Aunt Kyra's words, and Phoebe had to roll her eyes. Here she was a mother to three children, and her best friend still hadn't even settled down. It wasn't as if Phoebe wanted Kyra to rush into anything, but the two would have far more time together if they were bonding over children's play dates because Kyra had a kid or two of her own. There was only so much Phoebe could do when it came to going out, especially when her husband was so often gone.

"Next weekend would be great, actually. I don't know when Edgar is going to be home - just that it will be soon. We should invite the twins over and have a night out, assuming this phase Cami is going through ends soon," she said with a sigh, her youngest daughter clinging to her neck. The one year old was having attachment issues, constantly demanding to be held. And while she savored the time her kids wanted to be in her arms when she lived her life like a single mother, it was exhausting.

Kyra had Grayson engaged in conversation, when movement caught her eye. Oh this can't be happening. There was something so obvious about magic, she was surprised Edgar had managed to keep it from her for years. And when you had two children prone to magical accidents, little changes didn't go unnoticed. But horses turning into mythical creatures - or perhaps not so mythical, given what you don't know about magic and Phoebe felt a sigh escape her lips as she locked eyes with her son, who was adamantly declaring it hadn't been his fault.

Kyra was taking the sudden exposure well (as she usually did, seeing as this was far from the first time the secret had gotten out), giving chase to the two children that were off into the sky. But what exactly was she supposed to do? It wasn't like she could call up her husband and let him know what was happening, but she needed to find a place to stand besides the carousel packed with panicking parents chasing after their kids, and so she made her way down towards an nearby oak tree, a landmark that would be easy enough for Kyra to find. "Well Cami, think we should call Uncle Roderick or Aunt Amelia? Can't exactly call your dad to come to deal with this...unfortunate I don't know magical protocols."

[Emmeline Vance]

It wasn’t very often that she got a night off of work now that she’d been promoted to agent, but it was even rarer that it was a night that her ole wan would allow her to take her brother out for something fun. The boy was 12 for merlin’s sake, he deserved to have some fun. After all, his dream of living in a magical world had only been totally destroyed a year ago when he hadn’t received a letter for Hogwarts. Besides he would enjoy this, a night out with his big sister. At least, that had been what she had thought. But it seemed the magic of a muggle carousel just wasn’t enough for her anymore, as they’d be standing there watch families go on and get off for at least twenty minutes.

“Come on Jake, just one ride? For old times sake - come on bud I know you were hoping Zach would be free-“ she cut herself off mid sentence, looking down at her younger brother who’s attention had been drawn by something behind her. He was going to be a teenager in a year so she shouldn’t really be surprised by his behavior, but she wanted her sweet little brother back. Not the pre-teen who had spent the last few hours talking about all the girls in his class at school in painstaking detail.

“Em, that guys got his wand out.”

Giving a roll of her eyes, she turned only to see that her brother was pointing at a guy her age with an actual wand out. “God damnit, Jake get behind me...wait...” It didn’t seem like a Death Eater, in fact it looked like Rufus Fudge, one of her former classmates turned Professional Quidditch player. Before she could react an excited gasp from her brother brought her attention back to the carousel where the horses where turning into Hippogriffs and taking off. “Are you f*cking kidding me - what? Yeah yeah, I’ll put a galleon in the swear jar later just stay with me kid.” There was no way she was going to be able to handle this herself - or possibly even handle Rufus herself depending on the state of his mind. If he was under some sort of curse, there could be Death Eater’s lurking...

A whisper under her breath and a flick off her wand had an owl made of light flying off into the night, headed to HQ to send an update. They would send people if needed, her main focus needed to be on keeping who she could safe. Only a few feet now from Rufus, she pulled her brother back behind her and held her wand out steadily, eyes trained on Fudge. “Rufus?”

[Deleted]

Ruff had to admit, he’d never thought he’d have so much fun in a muggle carnival. He would definitely have to find more muggle things to go to, cause clearly he had a knack for enriching muggle life. It’s not that he thought any less of muggles, seeing as the beater had never really cared about blood status, but he really thought muggles could do with a bit of magic in their lives to make everything more exciting and fun. Take today for instance, he was sure that the kids flying around the muggle park were having so much fun! Just looking at those happy faces!

Maybe he should do this more after he retires some day? Just think, he could help so many muggles be happy!

“Rufus?”

‘Now where have I heard that voice before?’

The lion turned around at the sound of someone calling his name. f*ck, no one was supposed to recognize him. Wait. Em? What the f*ck was she doing here? “Hi, Em! It’t been a while!” The Wasps beater beamed at his friend, waving cheerfully at her as he walked closer to her, though suddenly noticing her wand pointing firmly at him and her serious expression, the former Gryffindor swallowed a bit as he contemplated his next move.

Ok…so they haven’t talked much after school, but did she really have to be this angry and point her wand at him? She wasn’t supposed to curse him in front of muggles!

Though the patronus message sent out gave him a bad feeling about this, as if she were calling for back up to beat him up.

sh*t.

“Well nice seeing you, Em, but I gotta run!” laughing a bit as he quickly grabbed onto a riderless Hippogryff and swung himself onto the magnificent beast with his beater arms in one go. “Brunch next Saturday? I’ll owl you the details!” waving in a cool pose – well he thought so anyway – the beater quickly steered his ride in the way home, excited to tell Charlotte all about his good deed today.

“Oh, I’ll send you some tickets too! Come cheer for us at our next game, Em!”

[Kyra Thatcher]

"Nah," Kyra retorted with a wrinkle of her nose, "I do all right." The serial dater knew her best friend was slightly or more frustrated with her for not having "settled down" yet. But seeing as any time she'd tried to get serious with a bloke and it'd turned into a disaster, could she really be blamed for guarding her heart? It was better to stay unattached - she had fun, and she was happy, wasn't that enough? She was glad, though, that Phoebe accepted the offer of help. Cami was a cutie, but a clinger, and she did not envy her Pheebs. "Yeah, we should, been too long since I got to take the mickey out of those boys. I'll see if Liz is available, she'd be happy to take Cami off of your hands for a while." Godmothering suited Liz, and encouraged Kyra too - yes, one could enjoy spending time with children, crafting special bonds and all that jazz, but you didn't have to have your own! She and her sister got all of the perks of parenting, without the stuff that kept Phoebe and Ed up at night! It was perfect.

There wasn't long to bask in the moment, seeing as the carousel was becoming a madhouse and Gray and Elle were flying away on enchanted creatures. As she started chasing after them, Kyra caught a glimpse of the lack-of-surprise on the children's mother's face...What's that all about? She needed to devote her attention to running and not thinking that through; kids and caretakers were everywhere, and by the time she'd caught up with Gray she was feeling woefully out of shape. When's the last time you actually exercised? Oh who cares - godmother of the year! "Gray, baby, no time to argue, don't think, just do what I say," she got out as she kept pace. "Swing your leg over and jump to me. Oh no, don't give me that face, you can do it!" Some frustrated cajoling later and the boy was haphazardly making his way from creature to Kyra to ground, and the pair, hand-in-hand, ran to track down Ellie. The little girl did not want to get off of the ride, but being smaller than her brother, could just be picked up off of the creature and swung into a piggyback.

Her children-of-interest secured, many others still flying around the park, Kyra finally let out the laughter that had been bubbling inside of her since the horses had become whatever these were. She bent over at the force of it, perhaps slightly hysterical. But could she be blamed? This was wonderful. Still laughing, Kyra made sure Ellie was stable before standing up and taking Gray by the hand. "So I'm pretty sure this is the raddest day ever," she declared. "Let's find your mum." After ducking around a zooming creature holding a man instead of a child - Someone's got the right idea. - Kyra was still full of laughs when they came across Phoebe and the youngest Bones under the largest tree in the park. "Can you believe this? I think I've finally earned knighthood, put in a good word for me," she said giddily, letting go of Gray as he ran to hug his mum around the legs.

[Phoebe Bones]

“Oh, could you? Liz is magic with her,” Phoebe answered. The smallest Bones child absolutely adored her god-mother, and to have a weekend without Cami clinging to her would be the best thing in the world. Unfortunately thanks to magic the conversation was cut short, and frankly she was so tired she couldn’t even fake surprise. A situation like this was not exactly what she was used to, so feigning it by the time Kyra got back should be easy...although with Gray’s comment in might not exactly be the best method of handling this. The last thing she needed was a fight with her best friend on top of chaos that was happening around her.

Standing there, watching out for Kyra as best she could, it was hushed voices that caught her attention. Hushed voices and a familiar looking girl with her wand out. Phoebe took a step back, trying to remember where exactly she recognized the young blonde from. She didn’t know the man she was talking to - and he was quickly taking off on one of the flying creatures in the sky. She didn’t have too much time to think on it, as Gray was running up to her and hugging her legs. Her attention back on her best friend and children, she gave a laugh as she ran a hand through Gray’s hair and met Kyra’s eyes. He was rambling on about knighthood, which was baffling, but she gave a nod to his eager statements. “Well, this is certainly not what I was expecting. I honestly don’t even know what to say...”

[Emmeline Vance]

All she wanted was a nice night with her brother, not to deal with the chaos happening around them. She hadn’t wanted to leave the field, but it hadn’t been a choice. Not since she found out about the baby, and she wasn’t even going to try and argue staying in the field. She’d been injured once, the last thing she wanted was two lives. Being moved back to HQ was the safer option, even if it did make running into Gideon incredibly uncomfortable. She hadn’t mentioned being pregnant when she had ended thing between them, and she’d only really just started to show at the end of last month.

Needless to say, she was not pleased with Rufus’ reaction to seeing her. If he wasn’t under control by Death Eaters, he was doing the most idiotic thing she had ever seen. Which was saying a lot, considering her boyfriend was running around on his own hunting dark wizards. Before she could even get any words out, her friend was off on a hippogriff and shouting to her about brunch. “Damnit,” she sighed as she looked back to her brother, pocketing her wand. Someone from the order would be here shortly, and probably the Ministry as well. “Jake, go find a payphone and call Mum. Tell her what’s going on and that you’ll be back late.”

Her brother was giving her a nod - thankfully, no arguing over it - and she ran a hand through her hair as she caught sight of two familiar faces. It had been months since she had met them, and neither of them had exactly seemed overjoyed by her or Marlene. Then again, the blonde - Kyra? had brought the most attractive man with her, and it’d been a fun night. Adjusting her jacket to do what she could to hide her stomach, she headed over towards them. “Kyra? Phoebe? It’s Emmeline - we met at your Christmas party. Ah, so seems something odd is up.”

[Arthur Weasley]

"Weasley!" Donald, a young secretary from the Obliviators Office, swung into his office, a harried look on his face from the news or the scamper, it was unclear. Arthur looked up from the documents he was annotating (surely there was a legal workaround for wizards modifying cars) to see the boy and gave him a nod to continue. "What's happened, Donny?" he asked as he got up, moving around his crowded desk with some careful maneuvering (delicate objects that should be moved to his workroom at home were half pieced apart and haphazardly organized). The office only sent a messenger when he needed to go into the field, so he gathered his hat and cloak as the boy spoke. "Sir, the children's park downtown, someone's raised hell," Donald said anxiously, reading off of a scrap of notated parchment. "The horses on the carousel were charmed into hippogriffs and are flying away, passersby are entering the scene - we've got agents Apparating there now, but we need you to reset the carousel and do some damage control. The agents going aren't the best with words," he added as an aside. For as more than competent with spells as the agents were, sometimes it was better to have a fatherly sort smoothing things over at the scene.

Arthur shook his head, hoping that nothing more nefarious was going on. "Muggle-baiting" was hardly uncommon these days, but hopefully this was just the doing of a bored teenager. "Consider me on my way, son, we'll be in touch," said Arthur, clapping the boy's shoulder as he swept out of his office...

"Sonorous," Arthur spoke, wand to his Adam's apple, minutes later as he overlooked the park. A pair of Obliviators was securing the green space, casting muggle-repelling charms to keep others away, while their third and fourth were starting to corral the muggles for memory-modification... "Hello everyone, everything is going to be just fine," he assured, smiling voice on as he addressed the chaotic scene down the sloping hill. He sent an Immobilizing Charm to stop the wayward hippogriffs but kept them levitated. He strode down it as quickly as he could while giving instructions and keeping his balance, smile on and maroon cloak blowing around him. "Kids, hold on to your rides, we're going back to the carousel. Guardians, if you would gather under the oak tree nearby, that would be incredibly helpful. Most importantly, I need everyone to stay calm. Do that for me? Let's go!" He waved his wand, turning the children and their rides around, and gently sent them floating to the structure. Once they were all stationary, he undid the Transfiguration; children slid off and ran to find their fellows. Thankfully many of the adults were willing to follow direction, and the Obliviators waiting for them under the tree could peacefully do what they needed to...He stepped onto the carousel and gave a friendly wave to the stunned operator. "I'll make sure she's working, why don't you go join the others?" While genial, his tone brokered no argument, and the young woman stumbled away from her post. Arthur was nearly giddy in his eagerness to put his hands on the machinery, and hopped into the controls alcove where the girl had been. He cracked his knuckles, ready to try, when his head snapped up at hearing his name rather bellowed...

[Kyra Thatcher]

While this was positively mad, Kyra couldn't have been happier. The kids were safe, and magic was real. She'd seen it with her own eyes, and nothing could take this moment, this bliss, away. And so she just chuckled as Phoebe struggled for words, and let out another true laugh as Emmeline appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. After hearing of the breakup between the girl and Gideon, she honestly hadn't figured they'd cross paths again. London was a big city, after all. But this surprise was another good one, as Emmeline, despite the age difference, had seemed to have be good for her friend for a while. And anyone all right by Gideon Prewett? Should be all right with her. "Hey! You could say that again," Kyra agreed, looking about with just as much wonder as the children. She just wanted to soak in the goodness, the sharing of this experience with her best friend and the kids...

But good things never lasted for her, did they?

There was a quick sequence of loud pops, and she instinctively tightened her arms around Elle at her back as she looked around with more purpose. What the hell was that? It only took a few moments for her to see dark shapes - people shrouded in robes if she wasn't mistaken - appearing at the park's boundaries. Kyra eyed the one closest to them, still smiling as she saw the fellow was holding a wand. So magic existed, as did magic wands? Phenomenal! The witches and wizards must be coming to explain, to put the carousel back together...

"Real wizards, isn't that cool?" she said in an undertone to the child she held, relaxing her hold a tad. That is, until she heard a familiar voice booming across the grass. "That can't be Arthur," Kyra exclaimed, eyeing Phoebe before squinting at a wizard who didn't quite match the others. He was in burgundy, clashing terribly with his red hair, but that truly only solidified her recognition; whenever she'd seen Fab and Gid's brother-in-law, the older man never quite looked fully capable of putting himself together. She'd figured he was colorblind or something of the sort, but now...was he just trying to blend in, but didn't know how? Her mind so wanted to take off - If Arthur's a wizard, Molly's got to be a witch, and it must go through blood, so her brothers - but reality stopped her from processing too much. The black-cloaked people were, after Arthur's instruction, directing people to the tree they were under, having them queue up. A chill ran through the blonde as intuition gave a big no to that, and she sidled closer to Phoebe to whisper, "This doesn't feel right. C'mon, let's bail." 

No plan, really, but to try and get out of the park - and if not that, at least make it to Arthur - Kyra stepped out of line. But she hardly made it a meter before someone was instructing her to get back into line, and none to kindly. "Not likely. We're on our way out, no trouble." A sterner "reminder" had her waving towards the man at the carousel. "Look, I know him, all right? He'll explain. Arthur, over here! Arthur - do not touch me, mate - " She gave the bloke a withering glare as she stepped out of range, bumping into Emmeline on accident, and cupped a hand around her mouth to yell. "ARTHUR WEASLEY!"

[Phoebe Bones]

Phoebe thought the situation was bad enough, but at the appearance of Emmeline Vance, she was hoping that some sort of buffer would be the next surprise to appear. She’d gotten used to the fact Gideon was dating a child, they had seemed happy enough together. But the amount of drama that has come from all of that nonsense - Phoebe was quite thankful that the twins and Kyra had ended those relationships in the spring. Not that she was going to say that to the young girl that had appeared. “Hi love, how have you been?”

An odd question because while Kyra was distracted by the wonder of it all, Phoebe was well aware of the fact the girl was pregnant. She gave her a gentle smile - the last thing she had wanted when she was young and pregnant was judgement - before a series of pops drew her attention. She gave a nod to the closest wizard that appeared, shifting Cami to her other hip as she nodded to her son. “Em, do you think you could get him?”

Kyra was looking back to her, a familiar name coming from her lips that made Phoebe’s heart sink. With Arthur here she couldn’t simply pretend she didn’t have a clue about magic, Kyra would undoubtedly figure it out. It didn’t help that wizards in black cloaks were having people form a queue, and Phoebe nodded to her best friends words. Emmeline had already stepped out with Grayson, but the wizard was stopping them. Kyra was yelling for Arthur and Edgar, wish you were here right now.

“Get your hands off her,” Phoebe snapped to the wizard, “My husband is Edgar Bones, you can contact Gregory Bones at the Ministry if you must.”

[Emmeline Vance]

Perhaps she shouldn’t have approached them, given how tense things had been this spring. Fabian had practically lost his mind when he found out Kyra and Zach were an item, and to be fair she hadn’t exactly been thrilled about it either. It was really a headache to even think about, and she hadn’t seen much of that group since she had ended things with Gideon. Phoebe was giving her a knowing look, and she pulled her jacket tighter around her uncomfortably. “I’ve been alright. Just sent my brother off to call our mum, was taking him out for the night.”

She knew Edgar was out on a mission, and honestly she had to wonder how Phoebe dealt with having three children to deal with. The familiar sound of apparition drew her attention away as she saw the arrival of Obliviators, which meant this situation would soon be dealt with. Arthur Weasley, bless him, was quickly giving directions and Emmeline scooped up the eldest Bones child when his mother asked, taking a few steps back to wait away from the crowd.

The other two woman didn’t immediately follow, however, and she frowned as she turned back to see one of the Obliviators stopping them both. Giving a sigh, Em headed back to help, but with Kyra bumping into her to yell at Weasley there wasn’t much she could do. Thankfully Phoebe seemed to be taking charge, and the wizards eyes looked to her, “You’re Vance’s kid, right?”

“Yeah, they’re with me you can let them go,” Em responsed, pleased to see him step back to let them by. The boy in her arms was squirming, so she let him down to go and chase after his mum. “Me brothers about, send him over when you find him please?” she added, before turning to follow the group.

[Arthur Weasley]

Merlin's beard, what rotten luck!

Finding who it was calling his name, Arthur's heart sunk into his work shoes. Phoebe Bones and the kids, Emmeline Vance, and a muggle he truly wished he hadn't seen. I'll do what I can, Fabian, he thought, a silent promise to his brother-in-law, as he sped off of the carousel and towards the eye-catching group. Keeping magic a secret from Ms. Thatcher had led to a number of arguments over the years, but to his knowledge she hadn't ever been caught at an event like this. Fabian's way of altering her memories to conceal the truth was something he had trouble digesting, but for the girl to have this memory completely wiped away by a stranger, in front of the kids...

The Ministry man trotted up to the tense break in the queue of reconnected families, doing his best to look chipper in the face of all of this. He was in time to hear pieces of Phoebe and Emmeline's words, and nodded in support, shooting them a wan smile before turning his attention to the tetchy Obliviator. "All's well, Marshall. Emmeline Vance, Phoebe Bones and her children, Kyra Thatcher - they're in the clear, you can grill me later if you want. Why don't you head on up to the front to speed this all up, and I'll escort them out." 

Marshall nodded, stepping aside to let Emmeline, Phoebe, and the children pass. Arthur gave them a look of encouragement, hopeful for a moment that he'd be able to give his family a positive report of the day. But the man stopped the last young woman in her tracks, and Arthur did not envy the man's position. To be on the receiving end of a look of such fear and anxiety, so many times in a week...

"Look, Marshall," Arthur stammered agitatedly, coming up to him, "this really isn't necessary. She's a friend of the family, I'll get her home and explain - "

"If you've got a problem, Weasley, take it up with the Wizengamot," his coworker replied stoically, wand arm raising towards her. "You know we can't make exceptions, especially in this day and age. Obliviate."

Containing a curse, Arthur gave him a harsh look as he laid a hand to the back of the stunned woman, slowly guiding her out of the park with the others. "It's best she doesn't see me now," he whispered as Kyra began regaining her steadiness. "I'm sorry, Phoebe, I am - send me a note if you want to talk." With that he took his hand from the blonde's back and, heavy-hearted, returned to the scene.

[Kyra Thatcher]

She shot her best friend a grateful look as Phoebe joined her, feeling like they were back at one of the protests they'd frequented before the Bones' started having kids. This was just like standing up to the coppers, wasn't it, but with wizards? Wizards who weren't explaining why they needed to form this line, which felt very ominous. But wizards who, apparently...knew Ed? Kyra looked to Phoebe with all the confusion she felt as the brunette brought up her husband, feeling like it was a way to get them out of whatever this was. Were wizards and the British secret services known to each other? Damn, Eddie, could've told me. The wizard still vacillating, Emmeline came back and was recognized? Kyra's look of confusion transferred to the younger woman, but apparently whatever Emmeline's in with these wizards was, it was enough to appease this one.

Arthur finally showed up, which was muddling in and of itself, and something she needed loads more time to think on. His smile didn't reach his eyes as he spoke, which concerned her, but at least he was wanting to stick with them. I've got questions for you, Weasley. How many times have I been by, and you never showed me magic? Elle was making unhappy sounds at her back, and Kyra set her down to run in her toddling manner to the others as they started out. I'd be pissed too, kid - we were having a grand old time before this lot showed up. 

When she went to follow, though, the wizard was firmly in her way. She looked from his eyes to his raising hand, the wand in it no longer a thing of wonder to her, but an instrument instinctively bringing her fear, now that it was pointing her way. The droning in her ears, her heartbeat the only thing she could properly hear, muddled Arthur and the wizard's speech. Usually vocal to the point of unnecessary, the young woman's voice was caught in her throat. What are you doing? Why stop me? His wand pointed between her eyes, and she felt locked in place, fury and terror in her eyes as she met his...

"Sorry, what was that?" Kyra absently swiped at her back - Leaf in your shirt from roughhousing with Gray, you're killing it at this godmother bit. - and gave an apologetic smile to her companions, having missed the last piece of conversation. Letting your mind wander so much is going to get you into trouble one of these days. You've got to be present, Kyra! Because she was out at the park to enjoy a day with Phoebe and the kids! She should be here. It wasn't often enough that she got to enjoy time with all of them...and Emmeline? "Emmeline! I'm so sorry, spaced out for a second there. How are you? Been an age, hasn't it?" she laughed candidly, trying to not make the girl uncomfortable. After they'd dated, it'd turned out that the girl Zach was so hung up on was Gideon's ex...what a mad world!

[Phoebe Bones]

Emmeline was there to back them up, something Phoebe did appreciate, although she did have to wonder what exactly the girl’s father did for her to be recognized by this lot. And with Arthur here, surely they could just get out of the situation? There was no way to know how long it would be before they could get in contact with Fabian - but surely there was something Arthur could do in the meantime. It wasn’t worth pleading her case for Kyra to know about magic in this moment, not with so many other muggles around watching what was happening. But the intimidating wizard - Marshall - was stopping her best friend as they all left the line, and Phoebe didn’t like the look on his face.

What is the Wizengamot?
            Wizard lawyers, right, well there will certainly by hearing from me about-

Her thoughts were caught off as the Obliviator cast a spell, a glazed look appearing across her best friends face. Arthur was ushering them away, muttering apologies to her under his breath. “I don’t think it’s me you should be apologizing to,” she snapped back, doing her best to control all three children who were now clinging to her with concern on their faces. Tears were threatening to burn in the corners of her eyes, and she squatted down to pull Elle and Gray into a hug as Kyra began to speak.

She just had to keep it together until Edgar came home, and he would hear exactly what she was thinking right now. It was absolutely absurd of that wizard to erase Kyra’s memory - especially when she was clearly with a magical family. Fear did not help change a world for the better, fear was a tool to control people. And if she was supposed to live in this world, watch her children grow up with magic - she had every right to voice her opinion about their outdated practices.

“Let’s go get some ice cream hm? And then head home? Turns out there’s some construction and the park is closed - thanks for letting us know Emmeline.”