The Ties That Bind

Khaat didn't like that Kieran had hit Steven, but she'd have liked it less if it had been done on purpose. She sighed heavily and the more she cleaned Kieran's apartment, the more she saw that Kieran was using Brian. He clearly hadn't ever lived her except when Brian came to town. And the minute Brian left, Kieran was living in the lap of luxury at Brian's expense. That made her angry. Kieran had used Brian's home for activities Brian would never have dreamed of doing. Khaat had a strong urge to buy new furniture and carpet for most of the main house and to paint and redecorate to erase every trace of Kieran from it.

"I"m glad you're here," Khaat said to Steven as she worked on the cleaning. "Brian's brother or not, I really do not like him whatsoever. If Brian doesn't toss him out, I believe I will. After all, as far as Kieran knows I"m the tart Brian is married to, am I not? I think I just might be able to accomplish that. I'd rather have our operatives here in the state overseeing this estate rather than Kieran. It just seems like it might be time for Kieran to get a job. What do you think?"

steven looked at Khaat and nodded " know how you feel Khat and thats what im here for , to stop jurks like him" he said " maybe its time this place and him did get a job " he closed his magazine and setting it down beside him his lip now a deep crimson but he ignored it to walked over to Khaat " im not just your employee im your freind, all of us including Cassidy feel your a strong woman , some one who we all respect and love to work for " he said and smiled picking up a dusting cloth beging to wipe down a mirror that hung on a wall " besides Brian would kick my butt in aheart beat if anything happened to you " he said chukaling.

"Well, he'd be looking for whatever stupid thing I did to put myself in that situation," she smiled. "He'd look at me first. And chances are, he'd be right. It's very seldom your fault--any of you. Its most usually mine because of what I got myself into. I'm supposed to be well trained by sometimes it just does not seem that it seems to work as well as I'd like it to."

She looked around at the dingy apartment. "This place really is pitiful. It might have been nice at one time, but Kieran''s never done a thing to make it a home. I think he stopped needing or wanting a home a long time ago. He likes the perks of what he can suck out of Brian, but I hate what it does to Brian. Why don't you go next door and get an ice pack for that before it really bruises. We might not be able to stop all the bruising, but we certainly could reduce it and the swelling. Besides, how are you going to enjoy Angus's secret recipe dry rub on his steaks in a couple hours if you're all puffed up like you've been to the dentist?"

steven listened to her and shook his head silghty " Khaat we have all done silly things we regret , I married Ronata who couldn't cope and broke down , jess she got involved with a dark man who did things to her, its not our fault but we learn from them " he said and nodded running his finger over the lump on his lip " yeah can't miss that " he said grinning at her as he moved to teh kitchen , taking a clean tea towel he placed several cubes of ice in it then waiting till it grew cold placed it on his lip as she walked back in " I feel stupid I should have ducked , Delilahs going to think i was in a fight and worry" he said and sat back down on the couch.

"Well, maybe the day will come when she gets to see that not only can you take care of yourself but that the Minister trusts you with his daughter and his granddaughters. Certainly that should account for something. I do know that it is normal to wory for our loved ones when they go to battle, though. I worry every time Brian goes out or my father goes out. I lost Remus. I don't have any desire to lose anyone else. In that respect, I do understand Delilah. But I do also have enough of my parents in me that I don't know what I would be if I weren't a fighter. It seems to just be part of who I am."

She finished her cleaning and put the supplies away. She picked up her wand and decided to transfigure what was there. She selected a light brown color, a light taupe, for the walls in the living room. She made the carpet a neutral. She repaired and changed the furniture to duplicate Brian's tasteful preferences that were at the main house. She conjured wall art, duplicates of what hung in the house in England. She made the entire apartment a virtual showpiece of southwest decor and reproductions of Native American art.

"Well?" she asked Steven. "What do you think? I didn't do it for Kieran. I did it for Brian. Do you think he'll like it?"

steven chuckled " yeap Delilahs like that to., thats what I love about her " he said and smiled " ow your a fighter all right, I see that " he said and stood up as the couch changed right under him he looked around the room "never mind Brian, I like it , its great , ever thought about interior decorating?" he said and smiled but winced as he placed the ice on his lip again he felt the swelling had gone down a little on his lip as hemoved to sit on the new couch " comfy " he said smiling " ow I think Brian will love this look."

"I just copied what Brian already did," Khaat laughed. "He gets the credit for all of that, not me. I just know that if I decorated it to suit my tastes alone, it would look all too much like that little cottage in Hogsmeade, or my rooms at my parents' farm. One or the other. Just comfortable English country style. That would be me. But it really isnt' Brian at all."

She heard the crash of breaking glass coming from Kierans' room and she raced off before she could utter another syllable. Kieran had broken a drinking glass and was trying to use it as a weapon to fight off something that only he could see. When he saw Khaat, he started shrieking at her about killing "it" quickly. She aimed her wand and was about to fire a petrificus totalus spell at him. Kieran though, hurled the glass at her instead. It hit her, slashing deeply across the back of her hand, her wand skittering across the floor.

Steven followed and heard him " greeat halusinatios " he said waching in horror as Kirain threw the pices of glass as it sliced her hand . aiming his own wand he finished th spell Khaat was about to do and kiren fell back to the bed totaly out of it encased in stone . He quickly grabbed a cloth and placed it over her hand " better let jess heal that " he then looked at her " can healers heal themselves?" he asked some what curiose to know if she could or not . He glanced at Kerian " maybe we should leave him like that till morning ?" he said .

"Well, the Petrificus will wear off. It isn't very long lasting. We may have to reapply it or something similar. We're going to have to keep it contained until Daddy can come back. His spells last a lot longer. Thanks," she said as he wrapped a cloth over it. "Unfortunately, healers are not all that good at healing themselves. At least not our family. Unless it involves potions. If it involves a spell, it requires a certain amount of energy. We can give it to others, but its just really hard to rechannel it to heal ourselves with. This one would take multiple episkies, really, because of how many cuts there are. I don't know how Jess heals, but I've been a guinea pig before," she laughed. "I don't mind being one again. There are a lot of cuts and some of them are deep. Part of it should be easy, and part if it could be a bit of a challenge. If Jess isn't comfortable, we'll just bandage it until either Daddy gets here or Brian wakes up. After all, isn't that what muggles do? They don't work magic. They just live with it. It'll be alright. Its not a sectumsempra. Its just one crazy muggle."

steven smiled and nodded rubbing his lip gently and chukaling to him self " ok well we could return now or i can send jack over to watch while we get you looked at " he said softly and moved as if he wanted to aoerate her back to the main house . He knew Jack would be willing to sit for them as he didn't need as much sleep as they did , and Steven had to admit h e was feeling the effects of a lack of sleep his eyes wanted to close and h e yawned uncontrolably .