"Don't worry, kid," Adon told Sasha over his shoulder as they walked down the pebbled trail that led to Akiva and Dreogan's picturesque, limestone home, "we'll figure this out."

To Adon, "figuring this out," meant keeping the number of Schlagenweits under his roof to 1. If that meant that DreeKi also had to take in a Schlagenweit, so be it. Adon had spent the previous day quarreling with a Hogwarts Governor about it. They'd taken a recess because Adon's face had turned a shade of red that preceded violence. But that didn't mean he'd yielded.

Well, he had. To Dreogan. He was passing the torch. And the Schlagenweit.

Rapping his knuckles on the door, Adon peered into the window to see the dark windows and vacant interior. That wasn't particularly telling. Dreogan'd witched the place up to arbitrarily reflect various scenes through the window. None of them actually what was going on. It made it harder to stalk you that way.

What was telling was the silence. Adon heard the scuffle of claws trudge towards the door, but there was no further movement, no shift of the doorknob. While perhaps occupied by two or three individuals, there was a decided lack of opposable thumbs in the house.

"So," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets, trying to hide his disappointment. This meant he'd have to start up small-talk with the quiet little brother. Sasha had, understandably, been out of spirits. Adon could have dealt with tempers or mean-spirited words better than stammered apologies and polite thanks and courteous demeanours, though. The kid was a teenager, for Merlin's sake.  It was like Schlagenweits skipped adolescence and childhood altogether and came out full-fledged humans. But at least Jacoba --

well, best not to think too much on this. "So," Adon began again, "I imagine that you'll set up just fine in the guest room for now, yeh? Baldur'll have some company. . . Dree's got a cat and Akiva's got another and a dog. . . "

There was the sound of two faint pops and the scraping of gravel. Adon looked up, euphorically at Akiva and Dreogan. "Well, if it isn't the lovebugs!" he pronounced. "And look!" he said, gesturing to Sasha widely. "It's a boy!"

Dreogan dropped his suitcase upon the graveled walk.

Don't worry?  Sasha stared at the man.  The uncertain bunching of the skin at the bridge of his nose was subtle - almost subtle enough to be completely overlooked if it hadn't been for the otherwise expressionless nature of his features.  Did Adon really think this was that simple - especially coming from him? 

The connections between this man and Sasha were pretty significant - even if there was a degree of separation in each instance.  He was Dreogan's brother and he, supposedly, was dating Jacoba.  And, they lived together though, somehow, those two facts were not directly related.  At least, not in terms of ... well, nevermind.  It was just confusing.  Despite all those connections, so far this man seemed to display an uncanny knack for only showing up under dire circumstances.  The first time Sasha had met him was that brief encounter at Sasha's family's home.  And, then, when Adon arrived at the Hospital Hut with the other Aurors to investigate Ava's death.  Now, this. 

That wasn't the only one contributing factor to Sasha's uncertainty.  He didn't share whatever confidence Adon might have that this would all be 'worked out.'  Right now, nothing felt sure in the boy's mind.  Jacoba had tried, repeatedly, last night to reassure Sasha that this turn of events wasn't going to change things for Dreogan and Akiva - that they would take him back - and, for the most part, Sasha knew she was right.  But, a small part of him that had learned to subconsciously fear the consequences of disappointing his stepfather to any degree was, out of sheer habit, twisting his gut into a tight, nervous knot. 

"Yeah.  Sure," he answered, more because etiquette required some response than a desire to actually share his thoughts on the matter.  "They've been trying to do this all year," he said to Adon's back as the man peered through the window.  He waited, anxiously, though his own attention was on the dog standing next to him, rather than on the door.  If there was something to hear or smell inside the house, Baldur would be the first to know. 

Sasha looked up as Adon seemed to try to strike up conversation, though his fingers couldn't resist fidgeting with the ring on the dog's training collar.  Set up just fine in the guest room for now.  He cringed slightly and nodded, looking down at the dog as he offered one more stammered apology.  "I"m ... I'm sorry.  I don't mean to be, you know, an imposition."  Though, apparently, he'd become too much of an imposition for school.  "We were here over the holidays; Baldur met-"

Akiva and Dreogan's arrival interrupted that train of thought and Sasha turned towards the walkway, though with much less gusto than Adon.  Who, really, was offering a much more ... robust fan-fare greeting than was really necessary.  Sasha's face burned bright red and he quickly dropped his gaze to the walkway as Adon gestured towards him.  "I'm sorry," he offered, looking back up.  Despite his current humiliation and Adon's efforts to intensify it, after what had already transpired this year, it was good to see Dreogan. 

It had been the most amazing weekend -- quite simply, ever. Dreogan felt light, happy, and refreshed. He was more in love with Akiva than he'd ever been, and with her willingness to support him on the Muggle Affairs, with his health returning, and with their wedding date approaching, Dreogan felt himself drifting through a charmed life.

He made sure to cleverly postpone their checkout with a breakfast in bed. Then he'd ensured a less clever postponement when he realised he'd lost their keys to the house somewhere along the waterfront and had the hotel staff scour the premises for it. Such things usually would put him out of spirit, full of apologies and frustrated sighs, but Dreogan'd taken the extra time to curl up and read books with Akiva for a couple more hours until the keys were procured.

As they Apparated to their home, Dreogan took extra care to carry both of their things (and feeling quite fortunate that Akiva was not one of those high-maintanence girls who needed several trunks, but rather one light, rolling Muggle suitcase). He grinned back at Akiva. "Think Gordon'll remember us?" he asked. What he did not ask was whether they suspected Tabitha had finally taken advantage to tear their couch to pieces. She'd never cared for the new acquisition. "Think they'd mind," he said, grinning as he craned his neck to kiss her, "if we totally ignored them for a couple more hours?"

Even a torn couch, he could deal with. A return to work was slightly less appealing, but everything -- just everything -- was more bearable after this weekend.

"It's a boy!" he heard Adon's voice proclaim with gusto. Rounding the corner, he saw the wide gestures being swept towards Sasha Schlagenweit who stood with a traditional expression somewhere between sheepishness and humiliation.

"I'm sorry."

Dreogan was ready for everything but that. Stumbling a bit, Dreogan's grip on his own suitcase slipped, causing it to fall onto the walk. "Uh," he managed, looking back at Akiva somewhat anxiously. "Well, it's okay. . ." he said, reaffixing his smile. "Another weekend away from Hogwarts?" He asked, flipping through his mind's filing cabinet of Sasha-related excuses to get him away from school. "You're not needed for more questioning, are you?" He asked, somewhat accusatorily at Adon. Adon knew Dreogan's thoughts on that matter.

There were some things that people just needed.  Before they had left, Akiva took this as a luxury, an experience that was going to be a nice, relaxing time away from home, but as soon as they were gone, well… she instantly knew that it was just what they needed in their lives.  After everything occurring earlier in the winter - the unfortunate events surrounding what happened to Sasha, having him stay with them (which wasn’t bad - just different), Dree’s… incident… that she wasn’t still sure how she would classify it, but it had been stressful and when everything fell into place it reminded her of just how happy she was.

Most of the weekend had been spent relaxing - a few adventures here and there, like getting to hold an iguana on the beach.  That had been an experience - she was sure the picture would make its way into one of the many frames designed to document their very new life together.  Several of them were on reserve for the real beginning - the wedding, but she was sure she’d be able to find one to accommodate the silly photo (and put it right next to her favorite of Dree - the canyon.) 

Considering it a major success (even the minor torment of the disappearing key, but even then, it hadn’t been so bad… a few extra hours never hurt anyone), and with the procured key safely back in their hands as the final memory of their vacation, they were on the way home. 

Their homecoming was filled with smiles and giggles, a carry over from the amazing mood their vacation afforded them, even if it was disgustingly cold on the walkway up to their perfect house - and she almost blushed as he kissed her again (perhaps the thousandth time for the day, not that she minded - or was keeping track and wrinkled her nose playfully at him after pulling away from just one of hundreds of thousands of kisses to come.  “Mmm… I don’t think he’d mind too much,” she confirmed, starting to lean up to seal the deal with yet another lip-lock.

Of course, as soon as she heard a voice, Akiva felt her stomach drop and stopped dead in her tracks.  Her cheeks immediately flushed and she paused before glancing over, feeling about two feet tall.  How absolutely embarrassing! Not that she should be embarrassed, she reasoned, but it was his brother and Sasha! Oh goodness.  Reaching up she fixed her hair immediately, nervous habit and blinked. 

Whatever was going on, Akiva attempted to remove herself from mortification and cleared her throat, “Oh, no, no don’t apologize,” she assured the young man - he needn’t be sorry, whatever was going on, it probably wasn’t his fault, she couldn’t imagine he’d willingly leave Hogwarts, nor would he have Adon accompany him if he did, at least that was her guess… She glanced at all three men, feeling the cold prick at her skin, imagining that it couldn’t be particularly comfortable for anyone…

“Perhaps we should take this discussion inside?” she pointed out, fumbling for the key in her pocket, hoping to further the suggestion of making their way indoors with a visual cue. 

Adon felt a slight twinge of guilt -- Dreogan and Kiva looked so carefree. So happy. So newlywedded, it was like he'd interrupted their honeymoon.

But he reminded himself that they weren't. And he hadn't. So. When Kiva suggested the move inside, Adon nodded his head. "A good idea. Must be cold. I've got some things to do today, so I'm sure you'll have plenty to--"

Dreogan grit his teeth. "You're coming inside," he said shortly.

Adon attempted to keep the smile affixed. "Sure, brother," he said lightly, glancing at Akiva for some mediation. If possible, Dreogan had become even more controlling and overprotective of Adon in the past month. It was getting stifling, and Adon'd done what he could to steer clear of the house altogether. Their relationship was, once more, Strictly Professional. "Don't know what much all I can do . . ." he protested weakly as he followed the others across the threshold, looking back longingly at the light as he closed the door and watched Dreogan and Akiva shift their things.

Which reminded him.

"We'll need to get your things, too, Sasha. Remind me to do that. Do you need to owl for anything at Hogwarts? There should be a train coming--"

"Just how long is this stay?"

Adon didn't like how all of Dreogan's questions were directed to him. Like he'd done something.

"It's not my fault. Hogwarts did it."

Dreogan looked perplexedly to Sasha, now. Adon felt some relief. "What did they do?" he said in a softer tone.

He tried to ignore their reactions - tried to disregard the surprise and anxiety that flittered across both of their faces.  He was on the verge of another apology to replace the one that had been dismissed by all in attendance but he managed to swallow it before it surfaced. 

But, he hated this feeling!  Hated this feeling of imposing - of intruding.  Especially right now, in this state, when he'd been dismissed, without warning, from school.  Like he was some rebelrouser or troublemaker.  The kind of kid that casual acquaintances were less likely to open their doors to.  The kind of kid Sasha was, most definitely, not.  But, after a few casual visits and those two weeks over winter break (which couldn't be considered typical, anyway - he'd been largely emotionally withdrawn most of those two weeks), what were they likely to think? 

"I - no," Sasha offered quietly, shaking his head when Dreogan asked if he was back for more questioning or a weekend away. 

He followed the adults inside and hovered just inside the door, nodding when Adon offered to help get his things.  He shook his head, though, when asked about what might be still waiting at school.  "I've got all my stuff in Jacoba's room, I think.  They ... they gave me a few hours to pack yesterday before Mr. Wentworth picked me up.  Everything else is back at home." 

Slowly, Sasha looked back at Dreogan and took a deep breath but he could feel it waver slightly in his chest.  Adon insisted no culpability and Sasha followed with a quick apology.  "I'm sorry," he offered.  "They ... dismissed me," Sasha finally answered, his voice breaking slightly and he quickly dropped his gaze to hide his frustration and embarrassment under the guise of dropping his backpack from his shoulder and fishing out the letter from the governors.  He held it out to Dreogan and shifted the bag back on his shoulders. 

"They say I can go back for summer term.  But - I don't want to impose," he quickly added, shaking his head.  "I'm sure I can stay elsewhere if, you know, it'd be easier.  I don't want to intrude." 

Akiva was glad that the talk was coming inside.  She unlocked the door and let everyone in, while she dragged her suitcase behind her, and quietly waited until they filed through.  Adon closed the door behind him, finally sealing all four of them inside. 

Taking a moment, Akiva sighed softly.  This was entirely unexpected, coming home to find Adon and Sasha on their doorstep.  But, then again, was anything predictable at this point?  For a while she thought their lives would be fairly easy to understand as a natural projection… recently, it was becoming quite clear that her assumption couldn’t be farther from the truth.

She didn’t necessarily mind. 

What would have made it a little better though, was if they knew what was going on, or had a head’s up on this situation, whatever it was.  It couldn’t have been good, even if Adon was in good humor about it, the rather glum looking young man couldn’t really be a great sign.  Sasha had that same puppy-dog sad expression on his face, as though he had done something wrong, knew about it, and with tail tucked between his legs, was awaiting punishment.  Now, Akiva could not figure out just why he would be like that on their doorstep, they wouldn’t turn him away, they weren’t going to judge him. 

The tension was high though, she could see it between the brothers and she rolled her shoulders anxiously.  Tea was not going to fix this, but she smiled apologetically at Adon, not fully comprehending the complexities of the relationship between the two brothers, but she had no problem with Adon and was thankful he was here to at least fill in some of the gaps.  “Maybe you could help Sasha bring his things?” Akiva offered, thinking it might be a good suggestion. 

She had to remind herself of what she knew of his situation before this point and instantly felt deep pity for the young man, expecting to be a burden – to impose on them, as he so quietly stated, handing Dree the piece of parchment. 

Akiva stepped in at this point and looked at Sasha, trying to soften her expression as much as possible – not a difficult feat for the emotionally intelligent woman, “You’re not imposing,” she looked at Dree, hoping that was the response he wanted – she had an inkling it might be, but  well, she was already talking – he needed something stable and comfortable, he’d stayed here before…

“You can stay here as long as you need to,” she affirmed, looking to Dree to back her up on this.  The poor kid needed something stable – more stable than Adon’s that was for sure, and even though his sister was there, it was probably not the best situation for a kid in his situation.  She gnawed the inside of her bottom lip, waiting for a verdict. 

Dreogan was silent -- hardly breathed -- as he read the letter. His lips compressed into a straight, white line as he regarded their haphazard words that clearly demonstrated their lack of understanding, if not genuine concern. He'd do better. He crisply folded the letter up.

“You can stay here as long as you need to," Akiva input optimistically, and Dreogan gave her an encouraging smile before looking to the boy.

"Of course," he said once before nodding. "Yes, of course you can stay here. As long as you need to or . . ." he looked down at the letter before adding, bemusedly, "are able to."

There'd been no mention of a guardian. Only ah, Jacoba's warm. . .

Dreogan felt a resurgence of frustration. "Bouncing as ever." "Congratulations are in order." "As any young man might be."

Sasha Schlagenweit was not any young man. And if they didn't see that ripping him away from the one place he felt at home when his entire home had been torn apart and his family destroyed -- "Let it not  be said that the priority of the Governors is not entirely with the health and happiness of our students".

Dreogan would say it as loudly as he felt he needed to. This was playing games with a young mind. At sixteen! To have lost his family! To leave school and lose everything that once had brought security, to find onesself rootless and purposeless and so hopelessly lost --

Dreogan looked at Sasha with an expression that moved from sorrow to shock. Not waiting to see if he approved or felt comfortable, Dreogan moved forward to wrap his arms around the boy in a sincere embrace. Dreogan wondered if anyone else in the room knew exactly how he felt.

There would be talk of guardians later. For now, Sasha had no where but here -- or he wouldn't be here, right now. "Adon, can you take Sasha's things up to his room?"

"Which one? The guest room?"

"The one he stayed in last time. Sasha's room," Dreogan repeated, voice growing more insistent. There was no guest room anymore. Adon nodded and leviosa'd the trunks up the steps. Dreogan heard the heavy footfalls move away from them, then double back, overhead.

He looked at Akiva and handed her the infuriating letter. "They want him to take time off to recouperate." Which was precisely what Dreogan had done at this age, after his father's abduction, after he'd been a victim, even after he'd been promised the Head Boy position for the following year. He'd left it all, but it had been voluntary.

He gave a somewhat forced some to Sasha, willing the optimism to come. "We'll get things arranged; you won't fall behind in your studies." This was as much as a promise on Dreogan's part as an attestation to Sasha's work ethic. Even without Dreogan's assistance, he felt certain the boy'd devote himself to his studies. "But you must be hungry -- Adon probably tried to feed you peanuts or something all day." Adon, a known meat-lover, would have had little to accomodate Sasha's particular diet.

"Peanut butter!" came the call from upstairs, followed by two soft thuds.

Dreogan looked anxiously from Sasha, to glance hopefully at Akiva.

Time ticked on painfully slowly as Sasha waited for Dreogan to finish reading the letter.  He knew, beyond a doubt, what his own family's reaction would have been to such a letter.  There would have been no explanation - no apology capable of tempering the fury that such a letter would have prompted.  To be dismissed from school - for whatever reason - was inexcusable.  And while they weren't around anymore, he was certain he could still feel their disappointment. 

He didn't know what to expect from either of his temporary guardians but, if Sasha had learned anything in the months he'd known Dreogan, he knew no such response would come from either Dreogan or Akiva.  He knew he was unlikely to face an overtly aggressive response from either of them, but that only helped a little.  Still, he assumed they'd be disappointed.  Even if not, he was disappointed.   

Right now, he felt so out of control - so confused and lost that waiting for the unknown response from them was almost as bad as anticipating the known entity of a heavy-handed disapproval. 

But, they weren't going to dismiss him.  Sasha felt a rush of relief and gratitude when both Akiva and Dreogan reassured him he could stay there.  He opened his mouth, about to offer some expression of gratitude but, before he could, Dreogan moved towards him and wrapped his arms around Sasha.  There was the usual, reflexive moment of confused tension but it passed quickly.  It took only a moment before he returned the hug, tentatively at first and then with a little more commitment.  The gesture was unexpectedly welcomed and reassuring. 

"I'm sorry."  He offered, again.  He knew things still weren't settled with the estate and, well, him.  "I know the Ministry just wants me to go with Jacoba but-"  It was all extremely complicated.  The Ministry was having some difficulty finding a way to completely incorporate the full estate into the wizarding world and put it under their jurisdiction.  It wasn't a simple matter of removing the files from the muggle lawyers office and modifying their memories.  The estate currently encompassed two pieces of property in two separate countries and, in short order - whenever Sasha's grandmother passed away - would include a third.  A property which the muggle German government held some stake in.  So, the fact that the Ministry wanted Sasha staying with Jacoba and the muggle lawyers having explicit instructions in the will that Sasha's sister remain entirely uninvolved with the estate made things very complicated. 

Dreogan knew all of this.  Sasha suspected Dreogan also knew: "- I'm not sure I could live your brother."  He liked Adon and visiting was alright.  And, he certainly appreciated Adon's help ... and had really enjoyed watching Adon lay into the Governor.  But, they were about as opposite as two lifestyles could be.  Adon had had clearly as little idea what to do with Sasha as Sasha had had with Adon.  Jacoba had intervened when she'd spotted the 'meal' Adon had prepared.  "Jacoba went out and got me something.  I didn't eat much, though." 

"I ... is there some way I can help?" he offered, looking at Akiva.  She knew he was fairly useless in the kitchen - his culinary skills hadn't really improved over the last few months at school.  But, it really wasn't unlike potions.  If he had a recipe, he was sure he could manage. 

The immense sympathy Akiva felt for the young man ran deep.  She had very vivid memories of leaving Hogwarts.  Maybe she hadn’t left in the middle of term, but she knew so many people that did.  And making the decision to not go back had been the hardest thing she had ever done.  Granted, now, she could look on it as the right decision, but at the time, she had been so upset about it – so devastated.  Imaging what was going through his mind – well, it couldn’t be pretty.  She knew when it was her, it wasn’t, and she had made that choice… this was made for him.

Touching Dreogan lightly on the arm, Akiva was surprised as he yelled the line from the letter, her hand jumping back like he was suddenly made of hot coal.  Her eyebrows pulled together with concern, her mouth hanging open slightly.  She went to say something, but couldn’t find the words. 

The only thing she could find for her hands to do was wring them in front of her.  She took a deep breath and looked between Adon and Dreogan – she could hear the tone in Dree’s voice – the one he got when he was sure of something, or at least wanted to sound like he was sure of something.  It was most assuredly Sasha’s room at this point, it would be for as long as he needed somewhere to go – that was no question between the two of them.

Akiva did not have the relationship with Sasha that Dreogan did, she didn’t think she ever would, but she wanted to be a good influence on his situation.  She knew together they could both make this part of his life a little better, at least. 

But, then she suddenly felt very important.  Dree asked Sasha about food, and that was her cue – particularly when Adon yelled down peanut butter.  In a situation where she had previously felt quite useless, she now had a place, and she perked up, straightening her back and letting her hands fall more relaxed.  “We’ll fix that,” Akiva said softly, smiling in a way that matched her tone – taking a step toward the kitchen, stopped by Sasha’s question.

“Oh, Sasha, no – no,” she was so surprised he offered, and she looked at him with both admiration and a little twinge of sadness.  Even though he had been removed from school and basically ripped out of everything that was normal, he was still offering to help.  “I’ll take care of it.  Is there anything specific you want? I’ll get whatever it is.”