[HP AU]

[mnt_raph]

"An' you're sure this is the right address?" Raph asks again, for what Mike thinks might be the millionth time.

"Yes, I'm sure Raph. For like the millionth times. I told you," the smaller boy says sighing. "I read the map. I followed Donnie's instructions to the letter. Just...be still, look tough, and try not talk so much. Your accent kind of a dead give away that we're tourists, okay?"

"Bite me, Mikey."

"You'd probably like that too much," he says with a waggle of his eyebrows as he presses the doorbell of the Montoya's East London home.

Comments

[mnt_mike]

"Oh I'm not expectin' it to open," he says with a grin that is positively evil.

"He's planning on the best way to kick it down," Mike chimes in as he slips his arm around Renee's waist, in an attempt to pull her down the street.

[interrogoiterum]

Renee is pretty damn hard to budge when she doesn't want to be. She carefully uncurls Mike's arm from around her waist.

"Here, hold this." Her broomstick.

"Alright, biscuit brain," to Raph, while pushing her right sleeve back. "Look over here."

[mnt_raph]

"...oh boy," Mike sighs taking the broom.

Grudgingly, Raph obliges her.
"What?"

[interrogoiterum]

The second he's facing her, Renee lets loos with a right hook to his cheek.

It's one of her many ways of getting Raph to pay attention to her.

[mnt_mike]

When Mike later tells the story, he'll remark about how it sounded almost as if someone had thrown an apple at a brick wall.

The force of the punch, which he takes by the way, is enough to make him take a step back.

"What the fuck was that for?" he manages after a second to regroup.

[interrogoiterum]

"Saves time, doesn't it?" She says, rubbing her knuckles. "Now you don't need to go over there and get me into any more trouble, because I've already hit you and we can have this out now if you want."

She's up for that. She is not up for him making it worse with her mother.

Of course, that's when a group of kids turn the corner up the road.

"...Renee?"

One of them is a boy a couple of years younger than them, and is striding towards them right now.

[mnt_raph]

Mike, who had been chuckling at Raph's expense...because really, it's not like Renee didn't have a point...goes wide-eyed at the approach of the other kids. He's already shaking his wand down from where he stows it up his sleeve so as to place a concealment charm on the broom he's holding.

Which now...for some reason looks like an overly large umbrella.

Raph has a few more choice words for what he thinks of Renee's cut to the chase, but they die on his lips as the strangers approach.

[interrogoiterum]

The look on Renee's face tells Raph this isn't over before she looks over and turns towards the boy.

Who from appearances alone cannot be anyone other than her brother.

The rest of the group - two boys and two girls, stay where he left them, watching the conversation. At least one of the boys looks like he hopes this is going to turn nasty.

"Hi, Ben," says Renee.

Ben looks at Mike and Raph, "are you okay?" he asks his sister.

"Yeah, this is Raph and Mike. They're friends of mine."

She drops her sore hand and takes Mike's in her own.

[mnt_mike]

"Ben Ben?" Mike asks raising an eyebrow in Renee's direction. As if making a show of just putting two and two together. "I thought you said he was little!"

Because once again, Mike is damn near the shortest person here. It's just so unfair.

Raph's heard stories about Ben, not many but enough to warrant giving the kid a once over. Then...because it's Raph, he also has to size up the people traveling with Ben, just in case.

Including the...wow. That...that blonde girl. She's kind of cute. Raph suddenly forgets that half his face hurts like hell, because Renee punches like a mule kicks, and instead runs a hand through his hair.

[interrogoiterum]

"He was little at Christmas," is Renee's excuse.

Ben looks at the hand holding, and up at Renee, and doesn't even notice Raph making eyes at his friend.

"Are they friends from school?" he asks Renee.

"Yeah. they showed up at home."

"Oh."

Ben's face tightens with worry, then he nods.

"I'll go smooth things over with her, 'kay? I'll text you when it's safe to come home."

[mnt_raph]

Mike gives Renee's hand a reassuring squeeze before he lets go and takes a step towards Ben.

"We really didn't expect to be in town today, and probably should have called first, but I'm kind of crap with phones. Not exactly the best introduction, I'll admit, but...I'm Mike, and it's really nice to finally get to put a face to the name," he holds out his hand to Ben.

"There's a whole shiny dollar in it for you if you can impress upon your mother that Raph and I can become estranged at any time...if that helps."

"Hey!" comes Raph's reply. He's just about to try and smack his little brother upside the head for that, but Renee's in the way, and she's already hit him once today.

[interrogoiterum]

"And," as if this is the worst thing in the world, "you're American."

Ben grins at him, and shakes the hand.

"You hurt my sister and I'll kick your arse," he says cheerfully, without any idea who he's issuing the threat to.

"And yes, you should have called."

He glances at Raph, and then over his shoulder at Abi.

"I'm going home!" he yells back. "Mum's got tea ready!"

There's a yell of annoyance, but his friends move away.

The final warning glance is given to Renee.

"Tell them to call, next time. Or at least send one of those owl. Things."

He gives Mike another look, and jogs towards his home.

[mnt_raph]

When Ben is out of earshot Mike turns to Renee and says, "He's cute. So that runs in the family."

Raph...well, he's just keeping his eyes on the other kids on the street. He doesn't have to say anything, the dare for them to make the first move reads loud and clear in his body language.

[interrogoiterum]

"He's too young for you, Mike."

And, as far as she knows, likes girls. But that's irrelevant to the ribbing.

Renee follows Raph's gaze to the kids. "And they're too young, too."

Two of them have turned away anyway. One kid is squaring up, returning the dare. The other - the blonde - She's got her arms crossed and is waiting to see what's about to happen.

"Raph," Renee repeats. "Com'on. There's a magic shop down here I've been dying to check out for years."

[mnt_mike]

To heck with being irrelevant to the ribbing, it's irrelevant to Mike, who habitually crushes on straight boys. It's a curse, really.

"He won't always be," Mike says with a grin, before turning his attention from Renee to his brother.

"C'mon Raph, you can flirt later. It's the Easter Holidays, they're not going anywhere interesting."

Raph squares his shoulders, tilting his head just enough to the side that his neck cracks, and then turns to follow in Mike and Renee's wake.

[interrogoiterum]

Renee is heading down a side street with all the self assurance of someone who lives in the neighbourhood and isn't going to let a thing like a seeming dead end stop her when this iron gate is never left unlocked and it's not actually that hard to squeeze through this wall.

"Bet you didn't know there was a magical neighbourhood in the East End," she's saying. "It's not all Diagon Alley down here, you know."

[mnt_mike]

"I don't bet against sure things," Mike says easily.

Raph...is still kind of distracted by the blonde girl who at last glance was still giving him the stink eye.

"You know we ain't ever been to London, right Renee?"

[interrogoiterum]

"And I've never been to America so we're even," Renee tells him cheerfully.

[mnt_mike]

"Do you want to? Because that's a thing that we, thanks in part to today's today's test run, we are now proud to say we can offer."

Ta daaaa!

[interrogoiterum]

Outside a shop that's no different from any other shop on the street, except it offers fresh fruit on display outside and the usual flyers stuck to the window include PSYCHIC READINGS and HERBAL REMEDIES, Renee pauses, and considers Mike's offer.

"Not while it could get me kicked out of my house. Let me finish school first."

[mnt_raph]

"Fair enough," says Raph with a shrug. He can't imagine why she'd want to stay with a family that fears her like her's does, but as she's told him time and time again: he doesn't have to understand. His job is to merely accept it.

"Provided everything goes according to plan? There'll be one waiting for you when you're ready," Mike adds.

[interrogoiterum]

"One what?"

Renee has stopped dead, and now she's dropped to one knee, pulling up her trouser leg to reveal a knee length sock.

Into that she has her wand tucked.

[mnt_mike]

"Set of emergency travelling papers."

"Say it a little louder, Mikey. I don't think the people down the block heard you," Raph scolds.

[interrogoiterum]

"Yeah, I don't think they can while we're outside this shop," Renee says.

She stands up with her wand and taps the doorhandle before pushing the door open.

"You guys coming?"

[mnt_raph]

"Yeah yeah, sure. Who wouldn't want to look at crusty old herbs and spices?"

"You mean aside from you, right Raph?" Mike's grin is cut short by the sound of something vibrating in his back pocket.

"Uh...you guys go ahead. I'll be right there."