Marriage is Murder

"Daddy's been training him," Khaat said. "He and Michael have been teaching him a great many skills he's not supposed to know yet, by wizarding laws. He's recruited Andrew into espionage inside the school, which means he had to take a different role this year. Andrew had to look like he wasn't such a goody two shoes so that Grindlewald would not make the connection that Andrew has any relationship with us. If Grindlewald were to find that out, Andrew's days would be numbered. And--Michael has been looking out for him. I am presuming that Andrew's role of not being such a good lad might have caused him to need to run off to play his part well. If anybody has any clue of where to find him now, I'm guessing it will be Michael. And Michael won't go without talking to Daddy first. Let's not worry about Andrew unless Daddy or Michael can't find him. If there was some reason Andrew left to protect himself, he'd most likely slither into the underworld in the streets, and nobody can penetrate that circle of irreputables like Michael can."

"Am I supposed to be flattered by that?" Michael asked, entering with his coat on, and his wand in his hand.

"Yes, actually," she replied. He went over and kissed her cheek.

"Just kidding," he said. "Actually, it flatters me to have you have such faith that I can penetrate both worlds. I have talked to Robert. We do have some ideas. It is not safe for your father to come with me. I will make far better time alone....Unless..Angus, you are starting to penetrate those circles. If I need some assistance..."

"Just send the word," Angus said quickly. "I'll go gear up, just in case. Can you ladies handle the clean up of lunch? If I am not needed, I'll continue working on my other cooking duties."

Robert returned a few moments later, minus Dakota, as a staff member picked up Abbey and began bonding with her very quickly and talking affectionately to her, taking her upstairs for her afternoon nap.

"Where is my daughter?" Khaa asked her father.

"MY granddaughter is asleep and taking her nap," he laughed. "Her sister will join her soon."

"How'd you get Dakota to sleep so soon?" she asked.

"He bored her to sleep," Kate said. Robert scowled.

"Is that an editorial, my dear, supportive wife?" he asked.

"Would I do that?" she asked gracefully.

"What exactly do you want?" he said. "You're baiting me for something."

"You know exactly what I want," she said.

"Oh. That," he replied. "You shall have to wait until Christmas and see if that appears under the tree for you or not."

"Christmas? We never talked about Christmas!" she said. "You can't buy things for me except at Christmas? You are incorrigible!" She huffed, aggravated by him and got up and left. He repressed his laughter until after she was well out of earshot.

"What is it she wants?" Khaat asked.

"Oh, she is tail over teakettle over a ring she saw in the jewelers shop when we were at the safehouse," he laughed. "She thinks I forgot."

"Of course I did," Robert said. "And it sounds like she's going to love your gifts. Don't worry about Andrew. Its not every day that a 13 year old gets personally recruited by the minister of magic for espionage. Its stressful for him. He's having to alienate himself from his friends to try to help us unwind whatever Grindlewald is up to. Andrew is not all that different from Brian. Andrew is a good lad. He is doing his best to try to figure out what he wants in his life and where he belongs. He knows how to find Michael and me and a few others who are back in England that have promised me to always provide him a safehaven that would be unlikely to Grindlewald. I have others who are supposed to be keeping an eye on him--at least as well as anyone who can keep an eye on a street kid like that. When Brian was his age, he dealt with his anger through rebellion and a smartalecky attitude. Andrew isn't any different. He just has yet to figure out what I will and wont' tolerate coming out of his mouth and out of his behaviors. I promise you it won't take very long."

"Perhaps," Robert said, "Perhaps not. I know you didn't, and if that is something that is bothering him, I'll deal with it. Brian had a hard time with the holidays too, though. For a lot of years after he lived with us."

"Yes," Brian admitted, "I did. It always reminded me of what I felt I should have had and I felt cheated out of it, no matter how much I loved the Lupins. I was a Quinn."

"We offered you to become a Lupin," Robert reminded him.

"I know. Countless times. It felt like I was cheating on my family. In Andrew's case, my guess is that he never felt worthy to become anyone else's child but Diamond's."

"But...the Order is mobilizing to move against Grindlewald. That means that anyone who knows me is in more danger than when we left England. It may well simply be that the boy had to hide. I believe we need to stop speculating until I have a chance to talk to him. Alright? So all of you, stop letting your imaginations run away with you."

"I remember you, John," Robert said. "Good to see you again. The staff member who brought you will show you to your room. Do you prefer to be with us? Or if you like, you can hang out with the aurors in the barracks. Sometimes the young men I've worked with would rather hang out with some of the 'tough guys' and if I thought there was any real danger by staying there, I would ask your father to choose, but since we're all family here, I would guess he wouldn't care whether you're with us here or whether you're with the same number of people in the building just a short bit down the trail from us. If you like, perhaps you'd like your dad to take you on a short tour and then you can decide. You really probably do need a bit of private time with him anyway."