Marriage is Murder

Michale portkeyed back to England. To right outside the Hogwarts grounds. He boldly entered and went straight into the castle and searched it carefully, including making easy work of gaining access to the Gryffindor tower and the bedrooms and the common room there. He found that Andrew had left most of his things except for his backpack with a few personal items and some clothing, and Frog. Frog was gone too. And his heaviest winter coat and hat and gloves that Robert had bought him. The school robes had been left behind in his trunk. His wand and his father's wand were both gone, along with ready cash. Then as he further searched the school, he saw that a large bowl of fruit in the Great Hall had been completely emptied, along with a whole platter of scones. So--he had food. He was running. That much Michael could figure out. He hastened on to the train station and found footprints in the deep snow. Andrew's size. He'd gotten on a train. Michael interrogated the ticket clerk and found he'd bought a ticket--to southern England, past London. The route went through Kings Cross station and then onto another train going south. He went to his own room and double checked a small hidden book that held the details of Andrew's dossier in it. That told him all he needed to know.

He left the school grounds and followed the same path Andrew took. It took him some time. He was an hour behind Andrew the entire trip. On the last leg of the journey, he found himself walking through a small village and then a woods on the edge of a grand estate. The estate hadn't been well maintained, but it was still here. A small curl of smoke from the chimney was his final clue. He now apparated into the house, into the great hall, and he found Andrew, huddled in the cold in front of a fire in the great hall's fireplace. Andrew was wrapped in a large heavy velvet drape he'd taken off a window. He was eating a scone.

"You've made us all crazy, Boy," Michael said, sitting down in the battered wing chair not far from him.

"Its the holidays. I'm not needed at Hogwarts now," Andrew said staring into the fire.

"So--you plan to stay here and freeze?"

"I'll survive," Andrew said.

"Yes, you would. You're good at that. But..."

"Robert sent you to take me to Colorado," Andrew said. "What if I dont' want to go?"

"If you make Robert come to you, you risk his arrest, maybe his death. Is that what you want?" Andrew looked up at Michael.

"No."

"Then come along and talk to him with me. If you still want to come back I'll bring you back here. I promise," Michael said. "Just give him a few moments of your time."

"Its a long way to go for a few moments," Andrew scowled.

"You got something better to do?" Michael asked. Andrew sighed and got up and shouldered his pack.

"Good lad," Michael said, drawing out his portkey. He clutched tight to the boy's arm and activated his portkey. It had taken several hours, but he had found him. By now, he figured they would be not just done with lunch, but done with dinner as well and doing whatever evening activities they had planned in Colorado.

"Abilities take time," Kate said, "And yours might not be anything like your father's. You could develop your mother's, or you could develop something that someone farther back in your family had. Khaat has seer abilities like I have, but not my ability to talk to animals. She also has Robert's healing abilities that he has but not his skills with potions. We dont' know if she has the werewolf curse or not because her necklace protects her from that. You can do some basic spells at least, right?'

Kate was temporarily distracted by a biitterly cold breeze blowing momentarily across her. And she got a slight whiff of his brandie tobacco. "Michael is back," she said quietly. "I presume he'll be going straight to Robert. Let's give him a minute and then Robert will send us a report."

It was about 45 minutes later when Robert came downstairs. "Hello, John," he said. Then he turned to the others. "Well, all is well," he said. "MIchael is fixing some late dinner for himself and for Andrew. The boy is fine. He had some mistaken ideas that he and I did really need to discuss. He's feeling better now. And Michael promised him a decent meal before I send him off to bed. He's been out in the cold a long time and he's walked for miles and miles. He needs to eat, warm up and sleep. He'll be right as rain by morning. Michael and I will keep him in hand if we need to. He's learned to be a bit closer to Michael because of Michael's job at the school."

Then he looked around, "Where are Kate and Brian?"

"Brian took her up to their room," Kate said. "Its a big day for people tomorrow, and he wants to be sure that she is well rested," Kate said. "He said he was going to see to Andrew's clothes and his Christmas gifts as well as getting ready things for himself and for Khaat and the babies for tomorrow."

"Well, that definitely take awhile," Robert laughed.

"John," Robert said seriously, "listen to me a minute. The very fact that you're here and you know where I'm living and Khaat is living could very well undo us all if anyone discovers that your father works for me or that you know me at all. You need to not give anyone one single reason to suspect you for one thing. You need to do whatever you can to look as invisible as you can until we get Grindlewald out of the picture. If they find you out, you will be surely used as a weapon to get every one of us arrested--or worse. I'm sure you've seen enough horrors there already that you can understand how serious this is. You will be seeing and hearing a great many things that Grindlewald can never know--or anyone with him.. In fact, you can't share those things with anyone--except perhaps Michael, Andrew,..and if you get into a real bind, you can trust Professor Wilson, Elijah Krum, Sabriel Gardiniere--and I think he's a fellow Ravenclaw but he's an upperclassman. You will have to be very, very selective. Otherwise, you need to pretend as if you had a simple holiday with your father. Nothing more.

"Definitely, do not ever trust Zada Forbes, Felix Barker, Alistair D'Eath...any of those lot. When in doubt, leave information out. Am I making myself clear?"

"Well," Robert said, "In this case, at least for now, its a good thing that you dont' like it there and its a good thing that they're leaving you alone. You're far safer that way. Use it to your advantage for now."

It was just a few more minutes when Michael came in and spoke quietly in Robert's ear. Robert just nodded his consent. Michael left again.

"He's got Andrew fed and settled," Robert said. "Andrew is in his room with a mug of hot tea. Its going to be a very early day for all of us. I suggest we all head off to bed ourselves very, very soon. "

"I'll come soon," Kate said. "I have something to do, Dear." She got up and kissed his cheek and excused herself and left the room.

"Well, then, I suggest the rest of you head off soon yourselves. I'm going to make a security check of my own, so I can evaluate where we stand, for myself. I'll see you in the morning. Sleep well," he said to them, getting up and accio'ing his coat. He didn't think that going outside in the storm was going to be pleasant but he knew how to survive that. He put his coat and gloves on and drew his wand. He apparated out.