Marriage is Murder

Steven took Cassidys hand and walked to the dining room smiling at the spread in front of them he picked up two plates and began taking some food to place on both plates. Cassidy held her plate and once had enough moved to the tables sitting she smiled as others began to eat. " this has been magical Steven " she said smiling to him she could not help herself but kiss him over and over. Steven chuckled and smiled holding her against him.

"Cassidy you deserve this, this is what you should have had the first time not that quickie wedding he gave you " he said and kissed her back " I did this because I love you so much, I just wish I could have done this last year and not let you go, but that's over now you can be happy and I won't run away from you" he said and kissed her back smiling but he still worried about Andrew who he'd not seen in a while.

Everyone else fell in line to eat. Brian was about to make a plate for himself and one for Khaat, but Angus stopped him and said that he'd taken a plate to her and that she had eaten. Brian was relieved. He woried because her appetite had been sharply off because she was so very tired.

Michael did noticed Andrew hadn't come down to eat, but he didn't take it all that seriously. He mentioned it to Robert, but Robert thought little of it either. They both knew that being here was a bit stressful for the boy and guessed that Andrew was just preferring to be off by himself, as he frequently preferred. Michael promised he would go up as soon as he had eaten to check on him.

When Michael went upstairs, he found Andrew reading an old book of Michael's. One on theft techniques. A manual that, at one point, had taught Michael some of the skills he had.

"Where'd you find that?" Michael frowned, already knowing.

"In your room," Andrew said simply. "Is that a problem?"

"Only in the fact that you didn't ask," Michael said.

"I'll put it back," Andrew said.

"No, but be careful how you use what you learn in there, Lad. It could well get you a one way trip to Azkaban or get you killed."

"Yeah, I know," he said dryly, going back to his book.

"You alright, Boy?" Michael asked.

"I hate parties. You know that," he said.

"Alright. Don't miss dinner. You be there," he told him firmly.

"Yeah, yeah."

"What?"

"I mean, Yes, Sir."

"Better," Michael said, leaving and heading back downstairs.

Steven saw Michael leave and head up stairs he was please some one was keeping track of Andrew or he would do it. He finished his dinner and sat back with cassidy " hes fine " she said knowing who he was thinking of.

" I am just so annoyed he didn't get any of the things I sent to him , its as if they just all vanished on me " he said looking at her. Cassidy stood up and took a piece of paper and held it out to him.

"your not going to relax till you do something owl the postal service and get them to start a search as to where it all went" she said and he smiled and kissed her cheek.

" you know just how to appease me dear " he said and she smiled at his term of endearment towards her.

" isn't it a wife's job to know that " she said and chuckled as she watched him write the letter and send for an owl once that was done he sat back.

"now we wait" he said as Cassidy nodded and cuddled against him.

That evening, Andrew didn't come down for dinner. Michael got up and went upstairs, not ready to give Andrew any more slack. He found Andrew sound asleep on his bed, face down, evidently having fallen asleep over the book. Andrew was laying with his feet on the pillows and his head at the foot of the bed. Michael simply tossed a blanket over him and let him sleep, laying the book aside. He turned down the lights and left him sleep.

He went back downstairs. "I think the time change has gotten to him," he laughed. "He's dead to the world and I just don't have the heart to wake him up."

"Thats fine. He was up late last night and up early. He probably needs the extra rest," Robert said. "Lets not worry unless we need to.

But in the morning, Brian and Khaat got up and got dressed. He went to get Khaat a special emerald ring she wanted to wear with her green plaid shirt and her jeans, and when he opened her jewelry box, he saw things were overturned a bit. Not at all how he and Khaat would have left them. He began going through it. When he discovered what was missing he searched the bedroom throughly for it. Khaat had no clue either. On a hunch he went down the hall to Andrew's room. He found Andrew was gone, and so was his winter outerwear and his wand. He uprooted Michael and Robert immediately and sent out a general alarm to search the compound completely for the boy. He and Michael and Robert knew better though. Andrew had somehow stolen Khaat's portkey to London.

Michael was going to go, but he had been downstairs cutting a large smoked ham for breakfast. The large butcher knife slipped in his hand when he heard Andrew was gone and he felt the knife cutting flesh. Deeply. He had a very large, serious bleeding wound across the palm of his right hand, and it bled fiercely.. He cursed, angry and frustrated and now in pain as well. This wound wasn't going to heal with a simple episkey. And if he went to London after Andrew he'd bleed out long before he got his task accomplished.

Steven woke early and smiled as he saw Cassidy next to him again he was glad he kissed her cheek and slipped out showering and heading down for his morning work out he heard all the commotion was about and walked into the kitchen. He saw Jess walk in behind him and over to Michael putting a clean cloth and pressure on it. " well that's some morning wake up" he said moving to help hold the cloth on the cut tight to stop the bleeding. Jess looked back wishing Robert was there but she knew he was more than likely asleep still.

" morning Steven , Michael this might sting a little " she said and slowly made the cut start to heal " I'll take it as far as I can when Robert wakes he can tend to it a bit more I'm not sure if you have cut any tendons" she said and slowly the cut stopped bleeding.

"Thank you, my dear," Michael said. "That will need to hold. I can't wait on Robert. I have to go to London straight away. Do tell Angus I'm sorry for ruining that nice ham. I'll bring him another when i come back, if i can--after I find that little scallywag. I'llgo get my coat and be off. Don't let them forget to take the pecan sticky buns out in another 7 minutes." He headed out of the kitchen and saw Steven. "Good morning, Steven." he said, clearly miffed and preoccupied. He headed upstairs to his room to go get his coat and decided he would not be able to wear his gloves because of the wound on his hand.

Steven heard Michael and dove after him " let me go you can barely do up your jacket, besides it might give me time to talk to him and check out why he didn't get any of the things I sent. " he said standing in front of him determination on his face that he would go not Michael. Jess walked up to them both with a knowing look on her face

" hes right, you could re open that at any moment, Robert real should look at it and heal it more. " she said folding her arms over her chest as she waited.

"Listen," Michael said. "Khaat has a great number of portkeys. This one was specific to Diagon Alley. Start there. I have no earthly idea why he went back to London, but he got distant emotionally yesterday sometime. I don't know what's going on but for some reason he feels he needs to resolve it by himself He does usually come to either Robert or me. That's what I don't understand--why he didn't come to us this time. I;ll stay behind, but do be his ally, would you? Not disciplinary. You need to be his friend if we're going to find out what's going on with him. He certainly knows something we do not. And thats what interests me."

Steven looked at Michael and nodded " Diagon alley and don't worry I want to get to the bottom of this too " he said and grabbed his jacket from his room. He found Cassidy sat up and watching him.

" whats going on?" she asked him watching him pick up a small wooden figure and slip it into his pocket he said nothing but leaned over and kissed her.

" Andrews gone to diagon alley and I going after him " he said and cassidy nodded she understood.

" be careful " she said and watched him leave heading down to the living room, taking the figure in his hand he ported to Diagon alley beside olivanders.

Andrew had gone to intercept a man from his own past. A 'business partner' of his father's. He had managed this year to get close enough to some of the dark arts followers who knew him for them to tell him that this man was going into hiding, living off of the money he'd made by stealing and selling the jewelry that had belonged to Andrew's mother. Andrew had kept hold of this rage for years, and he wanted to catch him and avenge his mother. His father had told him one night in a drunken stupor that he had always suspected this man had killed Andrew's mother. Andrew didn't need to know if it was true or not. He knew the man had stolen his mother's jewels and that was enough for him.

The message had been addressed to Robert. Someone had tried again to get information about Andrew's Gringotts account. Had tried to overpower a goblin down in the vaults and had been strongly driven off. There was an allegedy buy going down in Knockturn of a locket that held a single dose of a potion in a blue glass heart that looked so much like a sapphire that it was difficult to detect whether it was real or merely glass. Andrew remembered the pendant well. It had been enough to drive him out of Colorado and back to the darkened dangerous Knockturn Alley.

He slipped silently and unseen down the narrow stone street. He saw his mark and robbed him blind. He found a blue sapphire necklace in the man's pocket.

"Well, well," the slimy deep voice laughed. "Little Andy Diamond. How like your father you are. Back to the sewers your parents tried to slither out of, are you?" Andrew bristled.

"You took this from my mother," he challeged.

"Yes. I did," he shrugged. "And now I need the cash for it. Give it here, and I will let you live." Andrew stood firm, not moving. He wasn't surrendering it. And when the man suddenly drew on him, Andrew fired an expelliarmus at him. The man was blown back into the brick wall in the alley, striking his head. Blood flew everywhere and the man's body slipped and fell down the wall into a sickening limp heap. Andrew knew instantly. He'd seen it too often. The man was dead. And Andrew had killed him. He hadn't meant that to happen. He only wanted to knock the wand from his hand. He stood, frozen, shocked. He was now a murderer.