Marriage is Murder

"then maybe you ought to check the face behind that mask before Grindlewald's lackies show up. But I wasn't worried about you," she said. "I just got pissed off at that idiot that thought I was coming along quietly. Really? A Lupin? Being arrested quietly? Boy did they get that one wrong. When did any Lupin ever go quietly? Alright. Well, they got the point, anyway. They know we're both out of hiding now. And thats all we needed them to know. When you get a chance, would you send someone back to my office at Sparks? I''ve got enough shopping bags stashed there that it might take 3 or 4 of you to get them if you dont' really shrink them. Brian was silly enogh to give me his credit card. And I took full advantage of it this afternoon."

Jim moved to the body and pulled the mask off and sighed " stupid kid really stupid, I know him hes one of the4 new recruits " he said and threw the mask at the dead body" one less to worry about , I'll send Jack and Steven once were back and your tended" Jim could not help but chuckle at the thought of Brian giving her his credit card " poor boy is is broke yet?" he said smiling at her " ok, ok come on " he said pulling her to her feet he held her close as he aperated them back to the main house. Jess came over and placed her hand on her.

" Robert " she said and turned to see if he was coming to heal her more.

Khaat could tell her father had just arrived home himself. He still had his black wool topcoat on, and she could feel the cold still radiating from the wool. He showed very little emotion as he walked casually over to her.

"Let me see," he said. He turned her cheek to look at it, as Brian came into the room and saw his wife's face covered in blood. "Well, let me guess. Its no secret anymore that you're back in town is it?"

"Nope," she smiled. "I think I made a perfectly respectable display of rebellion."

"So I see. Who did you piss off?"

"Doesn't matter," she shrugged. "I won his wand." He frowned a bit, stopped his work, and looked at her.

"Do we need to worry about someone looking for him?"

"Don't know," she said. "If so, I'll just add them to the list. Not a deal. It was just the wrong day to decide he was going to take it upon himself to try to scare me with those tacky death eater masks and arrest me and toss me into Azkaban. I wasn't in the mood for it."

"Good girl," he said. "Well, this isn't a sectumesempra."

"No. Just a blade."

"No, not just a blade. It has a spell on it to cause relentless bleeding."

"Can you undo it?"

"Well, certainly I can," he said. "Brian, keep an icepack on that. Wrap the icepack in a thick towel to absorb the blood. The ice will slow the rate of bleeding down. Jess, keep an eye on her energies. You and Brian work toggether to not let those energies fall to far. I bet you didn't think about taking the blade did you?"

"I didn't" Khaat said. "But I think Jim did."

"Well, he'd be off his game if he hadn't," Robert said. "Jim, the blade please, so I can undo the spell. I'll work on either a counterspell or a potion that undoes the enchantment on the wound. Also, somebody look over that wand and see if there is any telltale information on it. Unless one of you were actively thinking of checking to find out who this was. Did you?"

Jim looked as Robert tended to Khaat at the mention of his name he reached into his pocket " I would not be doing my job if I left it " he said and showed Robert it " didn't have to hes one of the rookie Aurors I saw him around the ministry, Smith I think his name was, Rob Smith, no family, bit of a loaner from all accounts" Jim looked at Khaat " still got that fight in you hay Khaat" he said grinning. Jess kept her hand on Khaat focusing on keeping her pain down and her energy level up so she would not go into shock. But the longer it took the more she felt hr own energy wanning.

"Jess," Robert said, "Not a steady stream of energy. You won't be able to fuel her that long. She's going to have to use Brian and me too or actually just rest. It might mean she needs to just stretch out and conserve what she does have until I get this unbuggared." He took the blade and the wand from Jim. "Thank you. This will help. Brian, you might as well make her comfortable. This might take a bit. I'll be in the lab." He took off his top coat and suit coat and sent them upstairs. Then he headed down the hallway, rolling up his sleeves so he could work. Abbey met him in the hallway, running to him, calling "Papa!" He always had a smile for her. He picked her up.

"Do you know how much I missed you today?" he asked. She nodded, and it made him laugh because he knew she didn't entirely know what she was agreeing to. He kissed her. "You want to come with me? How would you like to play with a bug while Papa works." She nodded. "That's my girl. You might as well learn to like bugs early." She babbled at him as he headed down to the lab carrying her. "You want a butterfly? Well, let me see if I have any."

"I don't know how he understood 'butterfly' from that babble," Brian laughed.

"He's a grandpa," Khaat said. "You should see him with the kids at St. Mungos. He just seems to get it, and even if he doesn't, he makes it look like he does get it."

Jim chuckled and nodded " ah, we fathers develop our way of understanding " he said as he watched Jess take Khaat up stairs. Jess looked at Robert limiting her flow and staggering it as she moved her up stairs to her room. Once done Jess moved to sit close by in case she was needed she felt a little drained but knew she would feel better in a few hours. Jack brought up some hot tea for her and she smiled thankful for it as she drank. Jim moved to follow Robert interested in what he would find out from the knife, he felt his own press against hi lower back as he moved.

Robert laid the wand and the knife out of Abbey's reach and then he took her over to a shelf of bug jars. "You see a bug you like?" he asked her. She looked over the sheles of bugs that she was tall enough to see. She pointed at a jar. "That one?" he asked, picking up a jar with an unusual colored butterfly. "Nice choice," he said. He enlarged the jar so the butterfly had more room to flit around and had more sticks and leaves to hop around to. He put the jar on the floor for her.

"Mine!" she said, claiming the butterfly.

"You can play with her. Just play nicely," he told her. "Don't touch anything else without Papa, okay?" She nodded. He went over to the desk where he could work and keep an eye on her at the same time. He took a couple of potions and drizzled a couple of potions over it. One of them didn't react at all. The other made the blade glow with a cold, icy blue color. "Its just got a dark enchantment to stop any healing efforts to any wounds it causes. It isn't much more than what it appears. Bulgarian dark blade. The maker's mark is a Bulgarian dark weapons maker. He's known for such blades. He's pretty good at only about 2 enchantments, and this is one of them. The rest of them are pretty easily undone." He got out a potions book and thumbed through the pages. He began making a ruby colored potion. "Making the potion goes quickly. But it has to be heated exactly correctly or it will be rendered useless. And heating it correctly takes a couple of hours."

Jim smiled watching Abby watching the butterfly flit from one stick to the other and back he looked at Robert " yeah I know I bought one from him , never used it though " he said and took his out laying it on the table beside the one Robert was working on , he looked at Robert . " if you need help I'm here " he said and glanced down at Abby who he noticed was trying to open the lid " Abby I think the butt4rfly would be best left in the jar " he said softly and smiled screwing it tight once again.

Robert smiled, seeing her attraction to the fragile butterfly. "Here, Abbey," he said. "This one isn't so fragile. And we can make more. Your mama makes lots of these." He created a kitty out of sparks of light, like the ones that floated along the ceiling at Sparks. He made this one out of pink sparks. "It will do what you tell it. Watch." He flicked his wand at the pink sparkle kitty and then told it to run. It began to run around the edges of the ceiling. Abbey was delighted and clapped and giggled.

"Kee kee!" she was excited.

"Yes. Kitty. You're right," he said. "I presume you wont' mind making sure she doesn't lose it someplace?" he asked Jim. "You know the attention span of a two year old is about 2 minutes tops. I just dont' want her to get into something she shouldn't. She can play with anything in here that won't hurt her. Everything in this lab is replaceable. Its not like my lab back in the farmhouse. She might as well start to learn now. Khaat was already playing in my lab by her age." He poured the potion he'd made into a cauldron and then put it over a cold hearth and started a small, gentle flame. "And now the waiting begins. This isn't a difficult business. Its just annoying because it takes so much time to heat." He scribbled a note on a paper bird and sent it to the kitchen asking for a pot of coffee for himself and Jim and a sippy cup of juice for Abbey.

Jim chuckled and shook his head " nope I don't mind " he said " reminds me of my youngest" he made the cat dance chuckling himself watching it he heard Robert moving about as he heated the potion. He played with Abby as he glanced over seeing the note head down and the tray with tea coffee and a sippy cup float up. once it set down he picked up the sippy cup and gave it to Abby then gave Robert his tea while he sat with his own coffee in his hand. " Guess this is the waiting bit, isn't it Ozzie " he asked blowing over the top of his cup.