"You should be a dab hand to fix Edwin's car then," Elixa told their visitor with a smile, "I tried to borrow it to get into town like a Muggle and it wouldn't even start."

"You tried to drive my car?!"
"What, it was Sunday, you were out visiting someone, I was bored…"
"You haven't got a license to drive it, if you were caught, I'm glad it didn't work for your sake!"

Now the following Sunday morning, all that was visible of Monty were his legs jutting out from under the car on the gravel driveway of Edwin's house. Edwin was cooking lunch for them in the kitchen, lightly humming along to the wireless.

"Coffee's there." Elixa told Monty, setting it down on the front doorstep, peering from the doorway to the car, stepping out and closing the front door to behind her, the sound of the kitchen and the wireless vanishing as she did.

"So is it easy to make a car fly?" She asked, in a voice loud enough so it could be heard underneath.

There was a pause and the noise of metal against metal stopped beneath it. Why had she asked that question of all things? He'd just offered to take a look at Edwin's car, nothing more...

"Takes a bit of time, yes," Monty's voice replied, and there was an edge of suspicion to it. His hands were busy beneath the car, and his wand was getting a bit of oil on it.

"I suppose that'd be right, otherwise everyone would be doing it." He just about made out what she said, and heard her feet stroll round Edwin's car as he worked.

Edwin's car was a bit of a classic. Monty had explained that the modern ones were a bit unsuitable to be around magic because Muggles were putting things called circus-boards in them. Was that right? Either way, they weren't so easily fixed or charmed and were rather expensive.

For sitting outside, it was in good condition, the paintwork was repelling dirt. Elixa smiled to herself, Department Head and letter of the law Edwin might be, he still bent it when convenient, in that he didn't have to wash his car as often.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," She remarked, stepping round his feet. He was clearly preoccupied, and she didn't want to have to try and treat him for dropping an engine on his head under there.

"Give me a shout if it gets close to lunch, cheers darling," Monty's voice beneath the car requested. Much as he liked her, this job was definitely easier to do in peace. He wiped his wand on his overalls and began to quietly incant the necessary spells.

Wriggling out from beneath Monty made quick work of the rest of his wandwork, making furtive glances to the front windows of the house. Thankfully Edwin kept most of his business to the back of the building to avoid attracting the attention of Muggles, yet here was Monty on his front drive in smudged overalls, brandishing a wand to Edwin's beloved car.

The grin he was wearing would not instil confidence in anyone.

It was a chilly January day, and she left Edwin fussing in the kitchen after re-offering her help, and retreated upstairs for a bit to the guest room she was occupying. Edwin's friends were all well and good, and so was lunch, but she would still rather get out of the place and into her own space. Her belongings were still very much in boxes charmed to contain more than ordinarily, and she couldn't be bothered with breaking and resetting them for the sake of a book or two.

Settling down on the end of the bed she hummed along to the wireless tune coming up from the kitchen downstairs and contemplated her own reflection in the mirror which faced the windows to the front of the house. Over the music she could still hear Monty occasionally drumming on metal outside on the driveway, hidden by the trees at the front from the street.

She was getting some lines, heavens! Elixa peered at herself in the mirror, turning her head this way and that as she inspected the skin around her eyes. No wonder Arcturus Hollingbury thought she was ugly (he didn't, he just didn't notice, but she worried he did).  Outside there was a sudden burst of engine noise which hummed and puttered and then came clean, but she didn't turn to the window to take a look at Edwin's revived car, but pulled a few faces in the mirror to try and see what the damage was.

But when she saw Edwin's car behind her face in the mirror she stopped, stared and whipped round, rushing round the foot of the bed to the front window.

"Edwin!!" She yelped, and gaped, but the car had soon risen above the height of the window and was difficult to see. She rushed down the hallway and stairs.

"Edwin!!" She called again as she rushed through the kitchen and into the hallway, wrenching open the front door, sending the cup of coffee she had placed on one end of the doorstep flying with her foot.

Monty was a true pal for helping out with his car, Edwin mused as he fixed a Sunday lunch. It wasn't a proper roast, just something light enough for them to share, knowing Octavius would be having a roast dinner that night with the rest of the Peppers, pushed back so he could fettle machinery with friends.

He hadn't anticipated his temporary lodger would yelp his name like that and dash out of the front door. He dropped everything and hurried down the hallway and out of the front door in alarm.

"What? What is it?" Her older relative followed and joined her in the middle of the driveway where Edwin's car had been only a matter of minutes before.

They gazed upwards into the grey January sky, and the bottom of Edwin's car which was rising and doing a loop at about fourth storey height from the ground.

"Merlin!" Edwin, clad in apron, tea towel in his hand was staring up in horror as he saw one of his best friends drive his car through the sky in a loop, before waving an arm out and then a head to shout triumphantly before taking it for a lap of the village:

"Ed! I fixed your car!"

Lunch had sounded far better before Aisling had apparated in. Even with everything she'd gotten from St. Mungo's, the nausea hadn't abated completely, and apparating seemed to make it far worse. But, it was the easiest way to travel there, and lunch with old friends (and a new friend), had sounded pleasant.

And she did have a little bit of news to tell Octavius. She'd just leaned against the back door for a moment, trying to calm her stomach. The small bag in her hand, which contained an impressive quantity of small packages should it be opened, swayed back and forth.

"Ed! I fixed your car!"

She looked up to see Edwin's car darting away in the sky, and let out a sigh before starting towards the front of the house. This would rather complicate the lunch plans. Especially when she caught sight of Edwin and Elixa staring upwards, Edwin still outfitted as if he'd just rushed out of the kitchen. "Did he forget what country he is in?"

Just what she needed. At this rate, she'd have to start locking herself in on weekends to avoid getting pulled into work.

"Isn't he meant to be invisible?!" Elixa yelped, staring up, only interrupted by Aisling's feet on the gravel and her query about which country Monty thought he was in.

Her arrival couldn't have been timed better. Reinforcements, and a mutual friend between the two wizards. Here was a witch who would make Monty see sense, and bring the car back before any Muggles saw him. Though as he drove away in the sky that seemed a little futile.

"I'll get a broom, catch him up!" Elixa darted for the front door. She was pretty sure Edwin kept an old looking one in the pantry. However the yelp from the other two as she did made her stop with one foot past the front door and turn in surprise at that being a really bad idea.

In the distance, the drone of the car up in the air was punctuated by it backfiring.

Mord turned up on the outskirts of Cambridgeshire with a subtle crack that only woke a sleepy cat from its nap. It hissed at him and shot off as he dusted leaves off his jacket, having Apparated into a hedge. He was thankful he had gone unnoticed.

And it was no wonder he went unnoticed. The flying car was drawing far more attention. Resisting the urge to Obliviate every single Muggle, he strode past them as if he was a regular to the place until he located a handy tree to Apparate to Edwin's house, and then stalked - quite annoyed - up to the doorstep, where two people he definitely recognised was standing at the doorway and gaping as much as everyone else around them was doing.

"What in the world is the meaning of this, Edwin?" he said. "My wife turns on the radio just in time to catch the WWN abuzz about a flying car, and then I hop into the MLE to find that it's yours. Whoever's responsible for this is going to get a right earful, and I have a feeling you know exactly what's going on and who's flying that car."

Aisling groaned. Octavius wasn't the most well-behaved sort usually, but dragging Edwin into his antics like this was very much a new low. One which could cause a great deal of trouble for both of them. "I'll send my patronus after him, it'll catch him quicker than any of us would." Not quick enough to keep this quiet, though. Merlin.

She turned to Edwin. "You'd best owl Level Two and report that your car's been stolen. Even if it does give the Aurors a good laugh." Her expression was stern, she wasn't just going to let him take the fall because someone had decided to make a point through blatant idiocy.

And then Mordecai Hollingbury had to appear. Which meant that the area would soon be crawling with other Ministry personnel. Oh, but this would be ugly. "It's Octavius Pepper. Seems he's trying to make a point, again." And to do so at the worst possible time, unfortunately. "I was just going to see if I could talk him down." She gave the small group a nod, then turned and started to the back yard where she could safely cast that patronus.

"Did he forget what country he is in?"

"Evidently!" Edwin snapped, not greeting Aisling, but glaring up into the sky.

At Elixa's suggestion of grabbing a broom, he yelled after her.
"No! You'll do no such thing - we don't need this adding to!"

"I'll send my patronus after him, it'll catch him quicker than any of us would." Aisling suggested.

"Yes - do - the back garden."

"You'd best owl Level Two and report that your car's been stolen. Even if it does give the Aurors a good laugh."

She was quite right, but he didn't have a chance to do so before there was another set of feet on the gravel drive and the familiar sight of Mordecai Hollingbury had appeared.

"It doesn't rain but it pours." Edwin exclaimed in anything but a mutter.

"What in the world is the meaning of this, Edwin? My wife turns on the radio just in time to catch the WWN abuzz about a flying car, and then I hop into the MLE to find that it's your. Whoever's responsible for this is going to get a right earful, and I have a feeling you know exactly what's going on and who's flying that car."

"It's Octavius Pepper. Seems he's trying to make a point, again. I was just going to see if I could talk him down."

"He's not got my permission, Mord, whatever you might think. He was repairing it - I didn't ask him to make the bloody thing fly." He rounded on Elixa who was on the front doorstep, "Did I?"

His younger relative shook her head, looking a little daunted at the arrival of Mordecai who she hadn't met before. Edwin didn't read more into her expression, that she was actually more surprised to come face to face with a man who looked remarkably like her healer colleague.

"I've got to report it as stolen, he's a bloody idiot." Edwin walked purposefully past Elixa into the house where they would be out of sight of any Muggles.

"If you think for the last minute I'd want a flying car, you'd be mistaken!" He seethed at Mord from the hallway, who Elixa was gesturing to follow Edwin with a shrug of 'I'm not sure what else we can do'.

"Much as you're here, Mord, I'm only going to get strung up for not calling the calvary." Edwin fumed, throwing the tea towel in the direction of the kitchen as he emerged at the other end of the hallway.

Leading them into the open plan living room, Edwin seized a box from the edge of the mantlepiece and flicked his wand with such irritation the flames that burst into life in the grate that was normally empty singed a patch on the rug, more so as he threw in the powder to speak by floo to level 2.

"Edwin Glass - I need to report the theft of a motorcar, urgently - and its modification by the thief to fly."

Glorious! Absolutely amazing! The Cambridgeshire countryside by air. Edwin's car had been modified with great ease, and it had brought back the thrill of getting his hands dirty back in America. The wind roared in the half open windows as the engine purred beneath, and gave the occasional backfire - the modification to run on magic rather than petrol needed a little tweaking, but it'd all be fine.

He changed gear, and ascended a little higher towards the clouds. No trouble at all, the Muggles below couldn't see him at all. Invisibility had always been a little tricky, but Monty was sure he'd got it right this time.

Then, racing up towards the car in the wingmirror was a bird like shape that wasn't entirely a bird either. It looked rather more like a patronus in the shape of a bird, and none too pleased.

Merlin, it spoke like Aisling... and it was hopping mad.

"You'd best owl Level Two and report that your car's been stolen. Even if it does give the Aurors a good laugh."

"The Aurors are already laughing, you might as well do it anyway," said Mordecai gloomily.

"He's not got my permission, Mord, whatever you might think. He was repairing it - I didn't ask him to make the bloody thing fly." Edwin addressed the third person Mordecai did not recognise. "Did I?" She shook her head; there was a vague expression that looked distinctly like surprise on her face when she looked at him. Mordecai gave her a brief, but not curt, nod. "Good day."

"If you think for the last minute I'd want a flying car, you'd be mistaken! Much as you're here, Mord, I'm only going to get strung up for not calling the cavalry." The third woman was gesturing after Edwin, and it wasn't as if Mordecai could do anything else. His work was more on the administration side, not out on the field like the Obliviators and Aurors.

He watched as Edwin set up the fire, holding his wand at hip height and gently flicking it at the singes in the rug. They quickly disappeared. Despite being annoyed that he had to get out of his comfortable armchair on a Sunday, he didn't feel particularly annoyed with Edwin now he knew it wasn't his fault.

Mordecai peered out of the window at the speck in the sky that was the car and noted the silvery shimmer of a patronus heading purposefully for it. He could only imagine Aisling being mad, and was a little glad he didn't have to face her instead.

"All right, all right, Edwin," he said, eventually. "Your name's not going to be heading the report, but you're going to have to tell me exactly who he is past the name. And if you're hoping the car hasn't been seen on a sleepy Sunday, I might want to add that I passed a number of Muggles in your area gawking at the sight of it. You might as well get an army of Obliviators out here before the damage goes too far."

Jonas had not been surprised to see his name on the list for early morning duty on this particular day.  Truth be told, he'd actually been more surprised that Ed Pratt hadn't been assigned the same shift -- but then, maybe this was Tamis's way of putting cracks into their camaraderie and convincing one of them to spill the beans on who had organized the "surprise" engagement party the night before.

Even so, all was fair in pranks and war, and he'd shown up for the shift without complaining too much.  A little hungover, but hell -- it wasn't nearly as bad as the last time, and at least Sunday mornings were usually quiet, now that all of the debauchery from the night before was good and settled.

And it was quiet.

At least until the flames in the fireplace began to spark, and a disembodied voice came through the Floo.

"Edwin Glass - I need to report the theft of a motorcar, urgently - and its modification by the thief to fly."

Jonas had been sitting in the office, nominally working on paperwork but really just doodling in the margins of the Corpus Inversus file when the call had come in.  As the voice spoke, he glanced up, an enormously devilish smile immediately threatening to spread over his face.

"To fly?" he asked, grinning like a madman.  More voices were drifting through.  All right, all right, Edwin... and then something about an army of Muggles.  In an instant, this morning had gone from barely-tolerable-and-slightly-hungover to better than Christmas.  "Which name is the motorcar registered under, then?"

Aisling was furious. This was obvious (at least to those who'd known her for a few decades), from the cold and rather clipped way in which her patronus spoke. "Octavius, you've made your point. Land before every Muggle nearby sees you. Enough trouble for Edwin already, you could at least have used an invisibility charm."

The raven-shaped patronus flew in through the car's half open window and perched next to Octavius, then tipped its head to watch him in an almost human fashion. Aisling's voice came from it again, a bit softer this time. "And there was something I'd wanted to tell you, today. Preferably before half of Level Two arrives."

Far, far below, Aisling looked up at the sky from the back garden, then stepped into the house to check on the others.

Edwin was already already engrossed in contacting law enforcement, and so she simply waited at the back of the room, arms crossed beneath the folds of her cloak. This would be so complex, so difficult, and right when she least wished to manage it.