And what did you find... Torchwood!

Title:  Arcanum 101
Series:  House of Torchwood
Rating: R/NC-17
Summary: Hogwarts has fallen to the enemy.  Now holed up under the protection of the Cardiff Rift, the team rushes to get things ready for the final battle while old friends and old enemies resurface.  Nothing is as it seems yet it more important than ever for the good guys to prevail.
Pairings: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones; Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams; Owen Harper/Toshiko Sato; Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy; Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson; Neville Longbottom/Ginny Weasley; Ron Weasley/Lavender Brown; Blaise Zabini/Luna Lovegood; OCs
Warnings: Male Pregnancy; Semi-Graphic Torture; Parallels to real world history (Nazism & African Slavery) which could be disturbing to some readers
Spoilers: All Torchwood up to S2X06 Reset; Harry Potter up to the end of Goblet of Fire
Disclaimer:  Torchwood is ©2006-2009 British Broadcasting Service Wales (BBC Wales). Harry Potter is ©1997-2007 J. K. Rowling.  Copyrighted material is used without permission with no intention of profit from the works contained herein.
Author's Notes:  I totally blame this story on my beta, bookwrm89, and her cohort, cjharknessgirl. Also special thanks to merucha for her assistance and many head smacks on getting this done. This story is the third in the House of Torchwood trilogy following A Kind of Magic and Where the Road Diverges.  For purposes of this story, all events after Torchwood episode 2x06 Reset and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire should be disregarded and are not relevant to this story

 

* CHAPTER THIRTEEN *

What should have been a fun Christmas celebration was quiet and subdued; Ianto would pace if he was able, but one glare from Alice settled him at the large writing desk in a corner of the living room. In a nearby armchair, Jack was cuddling Hermione and Mica in his lap. Occasionally, he’d hear a soft whisper from Jack – not clear enough to hear the actual words being said – but for the most part Jack’s voice was merely a murmur of sound where he focused on comforting their daughters.

In front of him, Gwen paced as she demanded answers from various police agencies. She would pace back and forth, her voice crisp, and occasionally pause to make notes on a pad on the desk. Every time she stopped by the desk, she’d smile reassuringly at Ianto. As she paced by Hermione, a hand would brush over the girl’s hair in reassurance.

Ianto leant over to look at what Percy was doing on Tosh’s laptop. The Gryffindor had all the makings of a future technician as well as archivist. As much as Ianto wanted to apprentice the boy, if he preferred to work with Tosh he’d have to let him. Percy seemed to have an instinctive grasp of how to use the mainframe and interconnected laptops. Still it was frustrating to lose the closest thing Ianto had found to a replacement for himself.

On the screen, Harry was staring about himself, muttering softly, while Tosh scanned things. Draco, apparently behind the camera was providing them with a detailed running commentary of everything in the room. Draco’s attention to detail was amazing. Another move of the camera showed John leaning against the frame of the door into the room, watching both the room where the other team members were and the hallway beyond. Ianto watched as Draco panned back to Tosh again, his commentary ending, and the camera microphone now picking up the conversation between Harry and Tosh where they stood over a thick pool of blood. Ianto was very glad neither Jack nor Hermione was looking at the laptop with him.

“I’m finding some kind of energy here,” Tosh was saying to Harry. “Could you run a scan here, Harry?”

“I can try, but…” Harry trailed off. He waved his wand, shrugged one shoulder, and shook his head. “It’s not magic. I know it from somewhere, but it’s not any kind of magic.” As Ianto watched, Harry gave Tosh and John a confused look. “Whatever it is, it makes my skin itch a bit and I’m a little nauseous, like when the Captain zapped us to his sitting room at the castle.”

To Ianto’s surprise, John flipped open his wriststrap to conduct a scan of his own. A curse slipped from John’s lips as the scan completed. “You got everything you need, Toshiko?” he asked. After Toshiko nodded, John waved them all over to him. “Then let’s get out of here now.”

Draco shut down the video connection as the team gathered around John. As the video died away, Ianto saw Toshiko’s expression. There was shock and surprise on her face. Ianto rose to his feet and headed for the hall to meet the group on their return, leaving Gwen to commandeer Percy and the laptop for scanning police files. He leant against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, and waited as patiently as possible. The pop announced their arrival in the hall. Draco reaching out to steady Harry and John nodded in answer to whatever Tosh was pointing out to John.

“What did you find, John?” Ianto demanded.

“Let’s get Jack in here,” John replied. “We can debrief everyone at the same time.” He grinned at Ianto. “And do we have anything to eat?  I’m starving.”

"I wondered if any of you were going to eat this dinner I've been slaving over,” Rhys said. He stood in the doorway to the dining room. A soft oof escaped him when the back of Ginny’s hand slapped him in the stomach.

“Tad!” she protested. “Don’t you mean Mipsy and I were slaving over while you ‘supervised’?”

“You can all argue over the bragging rights to the meal,” John said. He waved a hand toward the group with him. “Come on, guys.”

As they trooped off, Ianto returned to the sitting room. He smiled at the people gathered there. “Dinner’s ready. John’s said we can debrief over the meal. He seems to have found something interesting on the scene.”

Jack hummed, shifted Hermione in his lap, and, to Ianto’s amazement, picked up both Hermione and Mica, who was in Hermione’s lap, at the same time. As Jack passed Ianto, he leant over and kissed Ianto’s cheek. Ianto offered Gwen an arm as she joined him and escorted her into the dining room. As they entered the room, Mipsy crossed in front of them with a huge platter of baked ham. The smell made Ianto’s stomach growl; however, before he could seat Gwen in order to have any, she made a soft noise, swayed and started to fall to the floor, pulling him down with her. Only a timely catch by Owen kept them both from landing in a heap.

Ianto took a step back to let Owen settle Gwen on the floor. Rhys now hovered by Owen’s elbow, asking questions so rapidly no one could keep up, while Pommy knelt down and scanned Gwen with her wand. Rounding out the group was Alice who was checking Gwen over in a more traditional manner while speaking what Ianto was privately referring to as medical-ese to the two doctors. John reached over, grabbed Ianto, and tugged him to a chair.

“Let them check her out,” John said. “I heard your stomach growl. You need to eat. Don’t tell me you forgot.”

“Alice didn’t let me,” Ianto said. “She made me pause for a snack.” He looked up at John from the chair he’d been rather forcefully seated in and chuckled. “Could you make another batch of that fruit salad tomorrow? I…” he broke off embarrassed.

“You what?”

“I devoured it,” Ianto said softly. “It’s been hard for me to find things to eat that I like. It was good.”

"It's an old family recipe," John said. "Dad swore mother went through tons of it while pregnant with me." John blushed a little. "I'll make sure there's always some in the fridge."

Ianto was about to reply when Rhys’s inarticulate shout drowned him out. Even as he craned to look at his fellow Welshman, he couldn’t resist a smile as a plate was passed over to be set in front of him. Automatically, he started eating what was given to him.

“She’s what?” Rhys demanded. “Gwen, why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t know…” Gwen said. “I can’t be,” she protested to Owen and Pommy.

“We’re never wrong,” Pommy and Owen chorused. “You’re pregnant.”

“You're marrying me right now,” Rhys ordered. “And that's all there's to it!”

“Rhys!” Gwen shouted. She struggled away from the medical people to get up and glare at her boyfriend. “I can’t get married!”

"Don't you ‘Rhys’ me, Gwen,” Rhys retorted. “We're getting married just as soon as it may be.”

Ianto watched the argument which had slid into harsh Welsh and wild gestures. Hermione had bounced out of Jack’s lap, grinning merrily, and grabbed Gwen’s arm. “Dad can marry you,” she shouted.

He laughed at her, shaking his head, and called to her: “He can’t, Hermione. That’s a Navy Captain’s privilege not Air Force.”

 “How about Minerva?” Hermione said. “Come on a wedding would be a cheery thing. I need something happy.”

“Minerva can’t,” Ianto said with a quick nod to the older witch. “But Alys can. She’s head of her own coven.” He looked over at his future stepdaughter with a smile. “Aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am,” Alys said. “What are you thinking, Ianto Jones?” She smirked at him. “If anyone should be getting married, it’s you.”

“I’m thinking that would settle Hermione down and make Rhys happy,” he replied. “As to my marital status, take it up with your father.”

“Excuse me?” Jack protested. “I’ve asked, haven’t I?”

“I agreed,” Ianto snapped. “But with everyone telling me to relax, how can I arrange a wedding?” He cast a look over at Gwen but the woman was still arguing in Welsh with Rhys and paying no attention at all to the conversation at the table.

“Ianto Jones!” Alys scolded him. Her tone made him feel like a child again being scolded by his adoptive mother. “I’ve heard better excuses from a nine-year-old with his hand in the biscuit jar.”

Ianto dropped his gaze to the table. He could feel himself blushing in response to those words. It was strange sometimes to realize two of his ‘children’ were actually years older than him. He looked over at Jack and then smiled at Alys. “If Gwen doesn’t mind sharing the occasion,” he said. “And Jack doesn’t mind a traditional wedding, then go for it.”

“Pansy, Draco, Harry, come on!” Hermione cried. She flung her hands up in the air before grabbing Pansy’s and bouncing a bit in place. “We’ll decorate the conservatory while the grooms and the bride are getting ready. We’ll set up near the Christmas tree. It’ll look beautiful with the white and red poinsettias and some holly and…”

Pansy rolled her eyes and dragged her off. Hermione babbled away even as she was dragged from the room. Harry shook his head, chuckling, and grabbed Draco’s hand. He led Draco out after Hermione, murmuring, “Better to just go along with her, love.”

Ianto shook his head at the whole situation. He looked down the table at Alys. For a very long moment, he stared at her in silence. Then slowly he smiled at her as he understood her motives. He shifted a bit to look over at Jack. “Is it okay, Jack?” he asked.

“I’ll take you any way I can get you, cariad,” Jack replied.

The suggestive tone to the response caused Ianto to blush. He bit back the automatic retort and nodded. “Alys, what do you need?” he asked. “It’s been some time since I was around a traditional coven.”

“Depends on how formal you want it,” Alys replied. “It’s really all about your intention and your choice. Let’s see what Hermione comes up with.”

Ianto nodded. He considered everyone in the room and chuckled at the sight of Mica occasionally bouncing in Jack’s lap causing his lover to grunt in response to the motion. He thought a bit more and decided that Mica would be okay with Jack. He rose to his feet, walked over and grabbed Gwen’s arm. “Come on, Gwen,” he said. “You and I have a bit of work to do.” He smiled at her. “Seeing as Hermione’s taken on the setup of the room.”

“What?” Gwen said. She was bewildered by Ianto’s comment. She’d been so focused on her argument with Rhys she’d missed everything going on around her. Ianto’s quick explanation, given in their native Welsh, had her staring about wildly. “Tosh… I need Tosh to help me,” she said. “What am I doing?”

“You and I need to go change,” Ianto explained. “It seems we’re getting married tonight.”

“Come on, you two,” Tosh said with a grin. “Let’s get this wedding started.” She looked back at the room. “Owen, John, you’re in charge of Jack and Rhys. Presentable by this time’s standards, boys, unless you want a houseful of women howling for your skin,” she ordered.

“”Of course, Toshiko,” John said. “We’ll get them there on time.”

“Owen,” Ianto interjected. He waited for the medic to look up at him. “Jack should wear his RAF Uniform. It’s in the blue garment bag in our closet.”

“Understood,” Owen replied. “Get to it, Teaboy.”

“So,” Alice laughed. She smiled over at Alys. “We’re getting a stepfather tonight?”

“We are,” Alys replied. She offered a hand to her sister. She nodded toward the door where Ianto was starting out firmly tugging Gwen along with him. “Let me show you how traditional Welsh magic works.”

“Stephen?” Alice asked. Before she could get her son to join him, Stephen shook his head and bounced off to join Ianto in the hall.

“I’m going with Grandtad, Mom!” he said. “He needs a boy, too.”

“Quite right,” Ianto said. He offered Stephen a hand. “I need a bit of male support.” He looked back at Jack and raised an eyebrow in question. Jack just nodded to him and, in return, Ianto nodded toward the unusually silent Mica still ensconced in Jack’s lap. Jack nodded again and waved a hand at Ianto who continued toward the stairs.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” Jack asked Mica. He stroked her hair and tilted her up to look at her face. “Mica?”

Mica shook her head at him. “I’m confused,” she mumbled. She pointed a finger at the door. “Why is Mione all happy now when she was sad and crying just a bit ago?”

“She’s still sad inside, sweetie,” Jack said. “It’s just that sometimes when people are sad they like to forget it for a while.”

“Oh,” Mica said. She sat very still and seemed, to Jack at least, to think about his words for a bit. “Okay, Daddy.”

“Why don’t you come with us, Mica?” Alys asked. She crouched down in front of the chair and smiled at Jack. “Help get things set up for the wedding.”

“Is that okay, Daddy?” Mica asked.

Jack thought for a moment, looked at Alys and then nodded. He pressed a kissed to Mica’s temple and nudged her toward Alys. “I think it would be very okay.”

She scrambled up, causing Jack to grunt softly in pain as her foot slipped off his thigh, and kissed his cheek. “Okay, Daddy!” she squealed. She scrambled down to the floor and then held her hands up to Alice to be picked up. As his three daughters left the room, Mica craned back over Alice’s shoulder to call: “Don’t be long!”

“I won’t!” he called back. Grinning happily, he rose to his feet. He reached out and caught Ginny’s hand. He kissed the back and murmured, “Stasis spell for dinner, please?” Her happy smile and nod reassured him that the meal would be saved. He circled the table, gathering up John along the way, and threw an arm around Rhys’s shoulders. “Come on, Rhys,” he said. “Let’s go get ready. In an hour or so, you’ll be my son-in-law.” He laughed gaily at the other man’s stunned expression.

Chapter Fourteen