The Once and Future Muggle King

"Speaking of diplomatic clean up," Rodolphus began. "There is the matter of the Arthur fellow."

"Who," Bellatrix and Kereston asked in unison.

"The bloke who lent you his car, Bella," Rod explained. "He says his name is Arthur. He started talking to me and Rabastan when you and Gori were speeding over Delphini followers in his car."

"Yeah, he could tell we knew you because we were trying to get as close as possible, and bitching that we couldn't Apparate into the car when we tried to join you lot. Good going on blocking that sort of spell on the fly, Gori. Impressive shit," Rabastan added. "Back to the Muggle, though. He was exposed to our world, but I still don't think we should Obliviate him. It just wouldn't feel right. For one thing, it seems unnecessary. He's handling things pretty well."

Rod nodded in calm agreement with his brother. "He seems a solid sort."

"Yeah, and considering there's supposed to be a Muggle version of the nearest thing to Arthur here, and his name is actually Arthur," Rabastan enthused. "I mean, Arthur knew about magic back then so our Arthur should probably be allowed to know about it now. Perhaps he can even be useful sorting out this current mess."

He turned to Kereston. "You did say there is much diplomatic cleanup to be done, in both magical and Muggle sectors alike. He could probably help."

Kereston's lips twitched. "Repeating my words to me just like a talking raven," she teased and Rabastan grinned, nodding.

"Damn right. I listen and repeat."

The amusement faded from Kereston's small face, a thoughtful frown taking its place as she considered. "And you think this Arthur will be willing to assist us?"

"He appears to have the temperament for it," Rodolphus said. "The intelligence too."

Bellatrix shot her husband an incredulous look. He was speaking relatively highly of a bloody Muggle. Recalling the calm steady way the man had handed over his car had her considering, though.

"When I told him I needed the car and asked how it worked, he answered my question at once and readily. I recall that he looked a bit shocked that he did, which I found interesting. I used no magic to compel him in any way, mainly because I was too focused on the car to think about it, though I certainly would have had he not given me the information quickly.

"My point is he answered me willingly and looked surprised so...perhaps fate was moving him. If he is the true Arthur, here while Merlin and Nimue are a world over, or even if he is just a near version of Arthur, he was moved to play his part. He was chivalrous enough to stop when I waved him down while many other crass Muggles simply ignored me and sped by. His actions at least seem to be the sort of which King Arthur would approve."

Rod nodded. "Yeah, we thought about that, and it appears to be the case if you take into account his reactions to magic, elves, and all the killing he was seeing."

"What were his reactions," Kereston asked. Her blue-gray eyes were alight with curious interest. Bellatrix was just as intrigued to know that answer.

"Well, he asked if the goblins and elves were aliens or demons," Rabastan said with a chuckle. "He was interested, though, not frightened as one might expect."

"What did you tell him," Kereston asked.

Rabastan chuckled. "We told him they were goblins and elves, of course. We don't know anything about demons or aliens, after all."

"Unless you count bloody Dementors," Bellatrix murmured with a shudder.

Rodolphus chuckled. "Too right," he agreed.

"So how did he react to the fact that goblins and elves exist," Kereston inquired with a slight lift to her brows.

The tension in her posture said that it had been a long day that would just get longer. After all it was night for them in the UK, even if it was only late afternoon here in Washington, D.C.. For her part, though, Bellatrix was feeling quite relaxed. Apparently running down a ton of people did that to one! Who knew?

"He said the elves were far uglier than in the books and movies he'd seen, but he didn't comment on the goblins," Rodolphus answered thoughtfully.

"Do you know what he does for a living," Kereston asked. "It may help us to know how much assistance he can give in various situations."

Rod shrugged. "If he said, I don't recall what with so much happening at the time, but I do remember that he was vastly concerned about his car. He said it was very expensive. I reassured him that we could cover it. The car was an interest of his so perhaps he works with cars."

He shrugged. "He spoke of how powerful and fast that particular type of car is. I had no idea cars had names other than car, but his is...rather, was a Porsche. It is a power sports car or something like that. I remember laughing and saying my wife was certainly enjoying the sport in it. She certainly picked the right one for driving people over, according to Arthur, due to its speed and power or something like that."

Kereston's eyes shot wide. "He was alright with his fellows being run down?"

"Not exactly," Rod replied. "He was more shocked than anything else in the beginning over everything he was seeing, which was a lot of magic and killing and stunning. We told him the people were bad, and that Bella was saving lives. In turn, he told us about the advantages of the Porsche for that sort of war maneuver. He said he'd never think of a Porsche the same again."

He and Rabastan both chuckled, and Bella found herself exchanging a thin smile with Goriandor who still stood at her side.

"Where is he now," Kereston asked.

"With Hydra," Rodolphus replied. "She was telling him all about the Ministry and Hogsmeade and the various things magic is used for."

"Ah… So it's a good thing we won't be getting rid of his memories, else she'd have wasted all her time," Kereston said drily.

Rod grinned. "Right."

"But we haven't actually decided that yet," Kereston reminded. "We need to talk to this guy more. Really see what he's about and what he's capable of handling. If he has a family, secrets will be harder to keep as well, and we need our secrets kept."

"Well, perhaps you should come and talk to him," Loughness told her. "Get to know him for yourself. My sister is a good judge of character, so she'll likely have some insights to offer by now."

Kereston nodded.

"They're over there behind that pile of rubble," Loughness indicated with a muscular arm before dropping a hand to Kereston's shoulder to walk over with her.

Bellatrix smirked. He was finally flirting, it seemed.

"Let's go meet the probably once and future king," she drawled to Gori.

"Umm… Are we waking Lyra up yet, sir," Cassius asked, glancing at the sleeping girl in his arms.

Rodolphus regarded Lyra thoughtfully. "No. She can miss everything interesting and learn her lesson," he decided.

Cassius bobbed his head. "Yes, sir."

Rod smiled, clapping him on the shoulder. "That's my boy! I don't think I'll kill you, after all."

Cassius gave a boyish grin. "Thank you, sir!"

Rod nodded kindly. "You are very welcome."

Bella and Gori led the way over to join Kereston where she stood with Loughness and his twin sister Hydra. They were chatting quietly with Arthur, but when Bella and Gori approached, the tall man turned in their direction.

"There's the woman I allowed to destroy my car for some entirely unknown reason!" he exclaimed.

The friendly smile on his face as he spoke was unsettling. It made Bellatrix smile back. "Hello there. Thank you for the use of your car. It was surprisingly enjoyable to drive."

"It's not a drive worth driving if it's not a Porsche," Arthur said fervently. "Sweetest most powerful car made, at least in modern times." He chuckled. "Though until you, I never thought of it as a weapon before. I can never unthink that now, but I won't use it in such a way."

"So are you a car salesman or something," Bellatrix asked and Arthur laughed. The sound was low, warm and oddly comforting.

"No. Not at all. I don't think I'd be good at selling much of anything. I joined the army to pay my way through school but ended up teaching martial arts. I have a studio in the next town over."

"Does he know he's the closest thing there is to the original King Arthur," Bellatrix asked Hydra.

"I explained that a bit, yes. He wants to talk to Merlin and Nimue, but I said I'm not sure that can be done without magic."

Rodolphus laughed. "A Muggle with requests we can't meet. He must be a king! Kings always make impossible demands, after all."

Bellatrix smirked. He was right. Any Muggle would want things that magic could easily afford them, but this one had to be different.

"Is the young lady hurt," Arthur asked, nodding to Lyra, still cradled in Cassius's arms.

"No. That's just our daughter. She was naughty so I had to knock her out. Now she's just being punished by not being allowed to meet you."

Arthur chuckled. "I don't have children."

"No family, then," Kereston asked carefully.

"I have two brothers," Arthur said. "Both live out of state now so it's just me and my students."

"We were wondering if you could help us with whatever aspects of cleaning up this mess are Muggle related," Rod said.

"If I can," Arthur said willingly. "What kind of mess are we talking about? Hydra told me about this Delphini snake woman and everything she was doing, but she's dead now so what trouble is left?" He shook his head. "I keep waiting to wake up in front of the TV after having fallen asleep watching some weird fantasy movie. It will explain how all this could be a dream."

Kereston smiled apologetically. "Believe it or not, I've felt the same way for weeks, minus the TV. Delphini's powers were so vast and unexplainable I kept thinking it couldn't be real… but it was. The more we uncover, the more we understand where she derived her power from."

"Speaking of that, we were able to kill the dragon easily," Albus said. He'd joined them without Bellatrix even noticing. "Elves and giant spiders are a marvelous dragon killing combination as it happens."

Arthur blinked. "Damn! Dragons are real too? Let me ask you something. What isn't real?"

Rabastan grinned. "We don't know nothing about demons or aliens."