Wardrobes and wonders will never cease (Khaat)

Jess watched him leave as she stood she knocked over her own cup spilling the contents quickly she cleaned it and paced till he returned she saw him wash his hands and felt the block in his mind . She stepped forward " Jack?" she asked as a wife would with concern in her voice " what of jack?" she asked " sir I ...I " she could not finish her sentance as she stood facing him, her arms wrapped around her waist hoping the sound had not ment she was a widow yet. Though she felt inside he was still alive she felt his anger still even though changing to anquish and guilt . Her eyes looked at him pleading with him to give ehr some small peaice of new be it bad or good, she just wanted to know. She knew inside it was going to be along night she knew she would not sleep that night nomater if he ordered her to.

"I didn't see him," Robert replied. "I didn't go looking for him, though, either. I'm not that stupid. As long as he is not in human form, I'm not dealing with him. No one can. Not right now. Surely you've been through this before, Jess. You know how it goes. He's not going to be human again until daylight. Until the moon has passed. For now, there is nothing we can do. He did this to himself by not taking his potion and thinking he was some bloody superhero. We're magical, not myth. Jack got addicted to the power of it, and now he's paying the consequences of it. Much like a naughty child has to learn his lesson just in the same way, by paying the consequences of it. And, no, I'm not giving him any potion. None. Not until he changes his thinking. I've changed my mind about that. The lad needs to learn what happens when he thinks he can control an uncontrollable curse. When he's learned his lesson, I'll know. Its that simple." Robert knew his words sounded harsh, but he was angry with Jack. Remus would have given anything to not spend one night as a werewolf. Anything. And Jack was becoming more like the one person that, given the chance, Khaat and Robert would kill without any remorse. Fenrir Grayback deserved to die. And if Jack followed that Greyback sort of mindset, then Robert would walk away from him altogether.

Jess looked at him then she thought about their children " I understand and yes but not like this with so much anger " she said " ushualy I can subdue it I guess he let loose , but your right he should not have done that , I would not tolerate andrew's temper tantrum and I won't his, so its wait till morning " she said sighing " I'd better put on some coffee " she turned to him " Khaat is worried that one or more of her children will be ..." she paused " I don't sense anything but Its early days yet" she turned and sat back to the table trying to force her eyes to stay open as she sat she woukld not sleep while he was away this was the first time she was not there for him to help him after he changed back.

"I know she is," Robert said. "And I can't ease her. The possibility does exist. Remus bit me when I was younger, but I never transformed. The possibility always existed that Khaat could have been, or is, a werewolf. However, her necklace prevents her from transforming if she is. We probably will never know if she really is a werewolf or not. Remus didn't allow any possibility of her ever having to go through that. I am grateful to him for that. However, none of us could guarantee that her children won't carry the curse. Abbey seems to have followed her father. As for these? I can't give her any guarantees. She knows that. She has a right to be frightened. I hope to heavens that Rob killed the wench that decided she needed to drug both Khaat and Rob. If he didn't, I probably still will. And she will wish she had died at Rob's hands instead of mine," Robert said coldly. If Robert had one fault, it was that he was a very dedicated father and grandfather. He was, beyond all else, a family man. Family was everything.

Jack and Jess and the others were part of that, but sometimes Robert felt a need to treat them in a rather paternal manner, and right now, that was exactly what he believed he needed to do with Jack.

Jess nodded " I understand I have the same worry with my own " she said and looked at him " I hope he did " she said softly her voice hard and direct . She sat now in the living room faceing Khaat her eyes slowly closing as she sat , glancing out she saw the faint red glow of the sun just behind the trees and she looked at Robert " suns almost up " she said hoping they would now find jack alive she didn't care if they had to lock him in askaban now just that he was alive.



Jack found himself under a fallen tree close to teh assault course, how he'd got there and why he now sat half naked cut and cold he could not remeber then it his him and he shook violently. He looked at his hands and arms all spattered in blood , was it human or not he didn't know , he felt a flash of memory, Khaat, he'd attaked khaat, Now panic raced threw his mind and body , was Robert after him because he'd killed her and thats was why he was where he was. Another more sickening thought entered his mind had he killed Jess in his maddened state this was enough to make him cry out her name as loud as he could his face streaked now with his own tears as he fought with his own mind. " jess what have i become " he said softly pulling back under the tree its bark cutting his bare back but he didn't care he as far as he felt deserved it.

Robert had slipped a bit of a sleeping potion into Khaat's tea out of his concern for her. Her mind just wouldn't stop. He could see it in her face. He had intervened to stop the madness. Now she was in a light sleep, curled up into a little ball on the sofa, and she had covered herself with her father's long wizarding cloak. Its smell mean safety to her. Besides that, it was closeby. Robert watched her sleep and decided to let her rest. He borrowed a tan leather jacket from Brian and walked outside alone, the cool of the morning air making his breath rise up in gentle smoke-like wisps around him. It was chilly here in the mountains in the morning.

Robert could clearly smell blood. It was the healer in him. He could smell it, and he could smell death. He knew where he found the victim last night. He paused to try to smell the fainter scent of blood. Fresher. Kept warm by Jack's body heat. It did take him a bit, but once he had the smell of it, he simply walked out and saw him sitting under a tree, huddled there, half mad.

"So, Jack," Robert asked calmly, "what do you think of the curse now?"

Jess saw Robert leave and sat watching khaat as she slept.

Jack shook as he heard Roberts voice close to him he closed his eyes as he spoke " it is just that, a curse , one I don't want " he looked at him " I hurt some one I care about, I swore that would never hapen yet I let it " he turned his back to Robert " Im not fit to be a father, I wish i had never gone into that forest " he said his body shaking once again " lock me away if you have to I don't want to hurt any one , not even...jess" he spoke her name softly and his head dropped as he let his own tears roll down his face " I can't get rid of it , yet it was not my fault , I was no more than a boy lost and alone, s...some one ran out at me, I still feel his claws as they dig into my skin as he holds nme down then the feeling of his teeth agenst my shoulder as he almost ripped of my arm as he bit me, why he didn't kill me i still don't know but it would have been better if he had , for now I am no better than he" he shivered again.

"Now you are learning," Robert said. "There are a lot of werewolves who believe, like you did, that they could become magical superheros by gaining control over the uncontrollable. Yesterday morning at this time, you were a fool. This morning, you have a bit more wisdom. Thats a start.

"Now, as for the madness that you're twisting your mind around, lets look at that, shall we? First of all, Khaat's fine. She's asleep on the sofa. She might have a bruise or two, but she's fine. You didn't hurt Jess. You scared her, but you didn't hurt her. Not physically anyway. Don't expect her to welcome you back with open arms. She has every reason to be outraged with you. You put everyone you love at risk because of your own foolish pride.

"You do notice, though, that you have a lot of blood that is not your own. You killed last night, but it was not a friend. From what little I can identify from what's left of him, he may well have been one of Gelding's spies. I won't grieve him, if that's what you're expecting from me, but he didn't deserve the dismembering you gave him. Go apparate back to your room. Don't go back through the main part of the house. Go shower. Clean yourself up. You're a mess."

Jack looked at him when he said Khaat was fine and that jess would be angry at him standing up slowly he moved carefully as he kept his head down " y..yes s...sir" he said now feeling more humiliated than he had every before as he did as he was told aperating back to the bed room. He went to the shower and sat under it letting the water wash away the blood he hoped jess would accept him again as he hugged his legs.

"Jack!" she said with a start sitting up rom where she had dosed off to sleep " hes back " she spoke in a whisper but didn't move frozen as she fought her own fea and anger , she felt his humiliation and had no simpathy for him at that time.

Robert took longer to return than Jack did, but when he did, he apparated straight to his room as well. Khaat and Kate and Brian had been through this too many times. Kate got up silently and went up to the bedroom to talk to Robert. "It'll be fine, Jess," Kate said, knowingly.

"What am I missing?" Angus asked Brian. Khaat woke slowly, sleepily. She could feel tension in the house.

"Brian?" she asked.

"They're back," Brian said. "They're showering."

"Damnit," Khaat sighed. She got up and went to the kitchen and made a fresh pot of French Roast. She poured herself a cup and then sent the pot in to refill everyone else's mugs. This pattern of apparating directly up to their rooms only meant one thing. It meant that there had been a kill. She knew how Robert and Remus had done this over and over and how Remus had tortured himself for it. Khaat hated those days more than any other. The days when the curse tortured the very roots of Remus's soul.

"Khaat," Brian called to her softly. "Remus isn't tortured with this anymore. Let him rest, Love. He's not grieving today. You know what I think he's doing?"

"What?" she looked at him. He sat with her, setting her coffee cup aside, knowing he would never be able to totally steer her from French Roast.

"I think he's celebrating our babies," Brian smiled, kissing her.

"You think he knows?"

"Remus never missed anything. Why would he miss that?" Brian laughed. Angus smiled and got up and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.