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Meet the Connellys
by house_potter_NCIS
Wilson pored over the paperwork that Dumbledore had given them. House's name was already scrawled across the bottom of the paper--House had spent a solid thirty seconds thinking about the arrangement before agreeing to it--and at the moment House was slouched in the chair next to Wilson's, watching Wilson with those calculating blue eyes of his.
"House, are you sure you're ready for this?" Wilson asked.
"Relax, Wilson," House said. "I don't see what you're so wigged about. We've already discussed having kids."
"Having kids," Wilson said, "but not..."
"What?" House smirked. "Wizards? Wilson, your brother is a werewolf!"
"I know." Wilson ran a hand through his hair. "House, I think the program is great. I want to improve magical and non-magical relations as much as anyone. I just want to be sure that you and I know what we're getting into."
"What I know," House said, "is that it's difficult for two gay men to adopt. It's twice as hard when one of those gay men takes vicodin on a regular basis and has a less than clean record. Dumbledore has given us a free pass to adopt here. I want to start a family with you, Wilson. I'm certainly not going to let the fact that our adopted child might be magical get in the way of that. Why should I? I have nothing against magic, for one, and for another, we could go through the regular adoptive procedures and still wind up with a magical child."
"I know." Wilson sighed and glanced at the paperwork. "I'm just scared, House."
"Of adopting?"
"No." Wilson twisted his lower lip between his teeth. "Yes. I don't know. I'm afraid of adopting a kid who won't love us. A kid who can't love us. What if we get a wizard, and they hate us for being muggles?"
House nudged Wilson playfully in the shoulder. "No one could hate you, Jimmy."
Wilson gave House a pained look.
House sighed. "Wilson, they're not going to hate us. Not any more than any other kid would hate their parents, anyway. Stop worrying so much, okay? There's no guarantees to parenthood no matter what, but you and I are going to be fine. Okay?"
Wilson rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, and then he nodded. "Okay."
House watched Wilson autograph the paperwork, and then House walked to the fireplace and flood Hogwarts. Dumbledore stepped through to their house a moment later, smiling genially at them.
"Gregory," Dumbledore said, smiling. "James. How are you two doing today?"
"Fabulous." House grabbed the paperwork from the table and handed it to Dumbledore. "We want a kid."
Dumbledore scanned the paperwork and then he nodded. "I'll contact you in the next couple of days."
***
Simon whimpered in his sleep, his pale brow scrunching up tightly. Teddy wrapped her sweatshirt more firmly around his body and then wrapped her arms around him for good measure. She didn't blame him for having nightmares: for her own part, Teddy couldn't sleep at all. The fact that Teddy couldn't sleep now was actually saying quite a lot considering all the places she and her little brother had been forced to sleep in the year and a half since they'd been kicked out of their home. None of the cold, damp, uncomfortable places Teddy and Simon had been forced to camp even compared to trying to catch a few minutes of sleep white sitting in this hallway waiting for a bunch of adults to figure out what to do with the two of them.
***
Dumbledore was as good as his word. Three days after they'd signed the paper, the fireplace flared to life and Dumbledore asked to have a word. Wilson, who'd been doing the crossword puzzle on the couch, fetched House from down the hall, and the two of them flooed to Dumbledore's office.
When they arrived in the office, it was to find not just Dumbledore but also a thin-lipped man in a tweed robe. House glanced at the man and then gimped to the nearest seat and plunked into it.
Wilson sighed, shooting an irritated look at his partner, and then he approached the sour-looking man and held his hand out. "Dr. James Wilson. It's a pleasure to meet you."
The man sneered at Wilson's proffered hand. "Indeed."
Wilson let his hand drop to his side, and after an awkward moment he took a seat beside House.
Dumbledore was giving the tweed man a look of disapproval, but after a moment the old man's features cleared. He took a seat across from the three men and said, "James, Greg, I'm happy to announce that we have found a couple of children for you to consider adoption."
"A couple children?" Wilson asked.
"Two siblings," Dumbledore said. "A boy and girl. They're muggleborns, and they seem like perfect candidates for our program. Mr. Delacour, who would have been their caseworker if they'd been placed into Wizarding Family Adoptions, is here to speak with you about the children."
The tweed man, Mr. Delacour, sniffed at the introduction. "I don't understand why they aren't being placed into Wizarding Family Adoptions. This whole project seems highly suspect to me."
"You've made your position clear," Dumbledore said. "However, the ministry has agreed with 'this whole project', as has your department. Now is certainly not the appropriate time to dispute the matter."
Mr. Delacour sniffed again, but then he turned to House and Wilson. In a bored voice, he said, "The two children are Theresa and Simon Connelly. Theresa is eleven and Simon is nine. They've been living on the streets for about a year and a half. Their disappearance was not reported by anyone, and we only became aware of their living situation when Theresa's Hogwarts letter went out."
Wilson felt a little shaky at the cool assessment of the children's past, and even House was looking soberly at the social worker.
"In addition to the year and a half of neglect they faced," Mr. Delacour said, "we have reason to believe that the children were badly abused by their parents. From what we can gather, Theresa displayed signs of magic very early in her life. Her parents apparently condemned her as a devil-worshiper and alternately beat her or kept her secluded from the rest of her rather large family. When Simon displayed signs of having magic as well, the Connelly parents decided that Theresa's devil-worshipping was spreading to the other children in the household, and they kicked both children out."
Wilson said, "That's disgusting."
"Indeed," Mr. Delacour said. "We don't know much else about the children, to be perfectly honest. The younger one hasn't said a word to anyone since we brought him in. His sister, in contrast, is rude and defiant at every turn."
Wilson glanced at House and said, "The two of you should get along brilliantly."
House ignored Wilson. He looked from Dumbledore to Mr. Delacour and said, "How soon can we take them?"
"The sooner the better, I should think," Dumbledore said. "If you can get Severus and Remus to help you prepare your rooms tomorrow, you can perhaps pick the children up the day after."
House and Wilson exchanged looks. It was fast--a much faster timetable than they ever would have gotten in the muggle world--but House was an impatient man by nature, and Wilson was always willing to jump headfirst into anything if he was dedicated to it. Coming to an agreement, the men turned back to Dumbledore and nodded.
***
The hospital room they were in smelled like mud. Teddy paced the room, her eyes glancing from one white wall to the next. She felt like a caged animal, trapped here without any chance of reprieve. In the few days since she and Simon had been brought here, they'd been given clean clothes and medicine and real meals, but none of that was enough to soothe Teddy, not when her brother was still so scared he couldn't look at any of them.
Teddy had seen her brother act like this before. After they were kicked out of their parents' house, Simon had shut down. It had been months before he'd said anything, and then it was only a word or two at a time, and only when he and Teddy were alone. Even at his worst, though, Simon had always been able to look her in the eye. Now he couldn't do that. Now he could barely even dress himself. Teddy couldn't stand it.
At least today they'd be getting out of the hospital. Mr. Delacour had informed them the night before that a family had been found for them and that their new parents would be picking them up just after breakfast. Teddy glanced over at her cleaned-off breakfast tray and scowled. Obviously Mr. Delacour needed to be taught the definition of "just after.",
When the door to the hospital room finally opened, it was to admit a nurse. At least, Teddy assumed it was a nurse, even if the woman didn't act like any nurse Teddy had ever seen in her life.
"Hello, Theresa!" the woman said pleasantly. "Are you excited to meet your new parents?"
Teddy's jaw tightened at the woman's insistence on using her full first name. "Go fuck yourself."
"Well, that's hardly likely to endear you to them, is it?" the woman said. She turned to Teddy's younger brother and said in a saccharine voice, "What about you, Simon? Are you super-duper excited?"
Teddy watched her brother carefully. He was giving very little away these days, but at the words super-duper his eyes narrowed slightly.
Teddy said, "Simon thinks you should go suck a dick."
The woman crossed her arms over her voluptuous chest and glared at Teddy. "Young lady, that is not the way to speak to an adult."
"Well, I'm hardly gonna say it to a kid, am I?" Teddy said.
Before the nurse could respond, Mr. Delacour strode into the room carrying a briefcase in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He raised an eyebrow at the two children. "Are you ready?"
"Yup." Teddy grabbed her backpack from the floor beside her bed, swung it over her shoulder, and held a hand out to Simon. He took it from her and walked with her towards Mr. Delcaour.
Mr. Delacour led the two of them through the ward and pointed to the door of a conference room. "Your new parents are in there. Go in whenever you're ready."
Teddy, sure that Mr. Delacour expected her to hesitate, pushed the door open immediately and strode through it just to prove him wrong. She regretted it when she felt Simon's slight pull on her hand, and she shot him a somewhat reassuring smile before looking to see who their so-called new parents were.
There were two men seated in the conference room. One of them had a soft, friendly sort of face and thick brown hair. The other one looked to be a few years older. He had sharper features and a face in desperate need of a shave.
Teddy frowned when she saw them. She said, "You're both dudes."
Mr. Delacour, who'd stepped into the room behind Teddy and Simon, said, "Theresa, Simon, let me introduce you to Dr. Gregory House and Dr. James Wilson. Dr.'s, let me introduce Theresa and Simon Connelly."
"My name's Teddy," Teddy corrected automatically. She looked at Mr. Delacour in shock and said, "Seriously? You find two kids who were raised in an extremely religious, homophobic household, and you think that the best thing to do is stick them in a house with a couple of fags? Who the hell runs your department?"
She was gratified to see the muscle in the side of Delacour's jaw begin to twitch, but all the man said was, "Yes. Well. We hope that you'll be happy here."
Teddy watched with grim satisfaction as the man backed out of the room, leaving Teddy and Simon alone with the two men. Teddy waited for the door to swing closed behind him before she let out a shaky sigh.
"I don't like him," Teddy announced. She poked Simon in the rib and said, "He looks kinda like Bart, doesn't he? All sour-faced, like he's just waiting for you to screw off so he can tell the rents?"
Though he didn't meet her eyes completely, Simon did shoot Teddy a quick smile and a nod.
Teddy looked at her new guardians and explained, "Bart's one of our brothers. We don't get along with him much."
"How many brothers do you have?" Wilson asked.
Teddy frowned, counting on her fingers. "Abraham, Matt, Lucas, John, Joseph, Bart, Elijah, Michael, Christopher... I have nine. Well, ten if you count Simon. And three sisters."
House said, "You know, the benefit of being a fag is that we can have as much sex as we want without concerning ourselves with birth control."
"House!" Wilson hissed, glaring.
Teddy, though, found herself smiling at the man. Just looking at the two of them, she'd have expected Wilson to be the friendlier of the two, but this House guy at least seemed to realize that he didn't have to treat her like she was a delicate flower. That counted for something. Hell, with Teddy it counted for a lot.
"I only said the fag thing to piss Delacour off," Teddy said. "I don't really care what you do with your dicks as long as you leave my brother and me out of it."
Teddy gazed at House assessingly, but his reaction was hard to read. He was clearly observing her, but she couldn't tell what he was looking for. She lifted her chin a notch and glared back at him.
"That's enough," Wilson said quietly.
Teddy looked at him in surprise. She'd already judged Wilson as being a bit of a floor mat, and though she'd figured he'd try his authority out once or twice before giving up, she hadn't expected it to be quite so soon.
Wilson stood. He walked over to the nearby fireplace and held a hand out towards Teddy. "Come here."
Teddy eyed the man uncertainly. The expression on the man's face was grimly determined, but he didn't actually look angry, which gave Teddy hope that maybe he wouldn't beat her. She tightened her jaw, reminding herself that she didn't care even if he did just so long as he kept his paws off of Simon, and she strode across the room to the man.
Wilson lay a hand firmly on Teddy's shoulder. He looked at Greg and said, "I can deal with this alone if you just want to take Simon to my brother's. We can meet you there."
House grinned. "Let you be the bad guy? Any day."
Wilson rolled his eyes. He looked at Simon and said, "There's a family gathering at my brother's house that we thought we'd bring the two of you to. My brother has a son just about your age that I bet you'll get along great with. Your sister and I will be along shortly; we're just going to have a quick conversation first."
Simon didn't show any sign that he'd heard Wilson. Wilson bit his lip, contemplating the scene.
"Don't get your panties in a wad," Teddy snapped. "Simon's a big boy. He can wipe his own ass and everything; he'll be just fine without me." Truthfully, Teddy wasn't sure that her brother would be fine without her, but she knew that it would be better for him to go to some weird family reunion than for him to watch her getting the snot kicked out of her. He'd always been sensitive about that sort of thing.
Wilson hesitated another moment before throwing some powdery stuff in the fireplace and saying, "Wilson-House Residence."
Teddy closed her eyes as she was pushed towards the fireplace, terrified of the fire but determined not to scream in front of her brother. Instead of the unbearable heat of flames that she'd expected, though, she felt a warm licking sensation. Wilson's hand stayed on her shoulder, and he stepped into the fireplace after her. It wasn't until she was swirling through the air that it clicked in Teddy's head that this must be some sort of magical travel. She wondered what her parents would say if they knew witches and wizards travelled by fire. She was sure it would only increase their certainty that she was a devil-worshipper.
Teddy stumbled slightly when she landed, and it was Wilson's hand on her shoulder that kept her from falling. She shot him a confused look. Her own father would have let her fall, figuring that it would teach her something.
Wilson's dark eyes were concerned. "Sorry. I should have warned you."
The words served to fuel the anger Teddy had lost hold of in her confusion. She glared at him and wrenched her shoulder out of his grip. "Yeah, you think?"
Wilson sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
Teddy crossed her arms. "So where do you want me? Over the desk?"
Wilson's eyes darkened. Teddy felt a moment's regret for baiting him, but she pushed it away. The last thing she needed was to start guessing herself now; she knew from experience that this was the time that she needed her anger the most.
"Go stand in the corner," Wilson said quietly.
Teddy raised an eyebrow. She didn't usually get sent to the corner until after a punishment.
"Go, Teddy," Wilson said.
Teddy hesitated a moment longer before walking over to the corner. She wasn't scared. He could come up behind her when she wasn't looking all he wanted. She felt a lump in her throat at that thought and forced herself not to turn around. She couldn't help her ears from picking up every sound going on behind her, though. She heard the sound of a desk chair being rolled across a hardwood floor and a creak as Wilson sat down.
What the hell was going on? Teddy scratched the back of her arm nervously. Maybe he was just building up the suspense? Her father had never had the patience for that sort of thing, but not everyone could be as impatient as Clyde Connelly, could they? Teddy checked her watch. It had only been two minutes.
By the time she reached the ten-minute mark in the corner, Teddy had gotten comfortable with the fact that Wilson was still sitting there at the desk. By fifteen minutes, she was bored out of her mind. Her legs were starting to her. She leaned forward and rested her forehead tentatively against the corner.
After twenty minutes, Wilson said quietly, "Okay, Teddy. You can come out now."
Teddy pushed herself away from the wall and pivoted to face Wilson. He was still sitting at that desk, looking as calm as ever. There were papers on the desk that he'd apparently been sifting through while she was in the corner.
"Sit down," Wilson said softly, gesturing with his chin towards one of the green wingback chairs in front of the desk.
Teddy hesitated for a moment before walking around to the front of the chair and lowering herself into it.
Wilson looked at Teddy silently for a moment. His gaze was not accusatory, nor was it pitying. It was just soft, a little bit sad and a little bit curious. Teddy didn't know what to do with that sort of look. It wasn't one she was accustomed to. She picked nervously at a scab on the back of her hand.
"Explain," Wilson said.
"Explain what?" Teddy tried to give her voice it's usual edge, but it was hard when he just kept looking at her, as if he were expecting something from her.
"You were trying to make us angry," Wilson said. "Why?"
Teddy swallowed, feeling exposed. "What's it matter?"
"It matters," Wilson said.
Teddy glared at a corner of the desk. She figured that if she was silent long enough, he'd give up on getting her to answer. But he kept just sitting there, waiting, and eventually Teddy had to say something. She swiped a hand across her nose. "I... If I make sure people are always mad at me, then they'll leave Simon alone."
"What had Greg and I done to make you think we'd hurt Simon?"
Teddy snorted. "You don't have to do anything. I know grown-ups, okay? They've always gotta take their frustration out on someone. I was just volunteering."
Wilson sighed. "Teddy, Greg and I aren't going to take our anger out on either of you."
"Yeah." Teddy snorted. "And pigs can fly."
"I know you have no reason to believe me right now," Wilson said. "Hopefully time will prove it to you. Until then, however, I can't have you speaking like that all the time."
"I'm not a nice kid," Teddy said. "I have no intention of turning into one."
Wilson crossed his arms. "Instead you'd rather teach your brother to say things to hurt other people? You say you want to protect him, but if he follows the example you're setting... Well, how well does talking like that work out for you?"
Teddy's throat tightened at those words.
"Furthermore," Wilson said, "while I might understand you offering yourself up for trouble if it looked like someone was going after Simon, your doing so when neither Greg nor I had shown signs of even being irritated was just foolish. If we were the monsters that you thought we were, you'd be baiting us into hurting you when it wasn't even necessary. You of all people should understand how dangerous that is."
Teddy's body betrayed her, and a single tear slipped down her cheek. She rubbed her hand over it, irritated. She'd been beaten by her father without letting out a single tear, but just a couple of words for this guy and she was crying like an infant. It didn't make any sense.
Wilson sighed.
"I get it," Teddy said. "I suck. What are you going to do about it?"
"You don't suck," Wilson said. "And I'm not going to do anything."
Teddy looked up sharply at those words.
"You spent twenty minutes in time-out," Wilson said. "We talked about it. You won't bait us any more?"
Teddy didn't know how to answer that. She could probably refrain from baiting them as badly as she had that morning, but she didn't know if she'd be able to refrain from baiting them at all, ever. Sometimes it was fun to say things that would shock the adults around her a little. More than that, though, sometimes she got scared and she just couldn't help herself.
In the end, Teddy just shrugged. "I don't know."
Wilson sighed. "House and I will never rise to the bait, Teddy. We'll never hit you, no matter what you say to us. But if you're being blatantly rude just to get a reaction, you will find yourself in time out or grounded or something equivalent. Understand?"
Teddy nodded sharply.
"Alright," Wilson said. "Set your backpack down, then, and we'll go to the party."
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Legal Disclaimer: The authors published here make no claims on the ownership of Dr. Gregory House and the other fictional residents of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Like the television show House (and quite possibly Dr. Wilson's pocket protector), they are the property of NBC/Universal, David Shore and undoubtedly other individuals of whom I am only peripherally aware. The fan fiction authors published here receive no monetary benefit from their work and intend no copyright infringement nor slight to the actual owners. We love the characters and we love the show, otherwise we wouldn't be here.
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