Marriage is Murder

Jack looked at Jim who smiled " Jack took the body to the morgue and I took David to Whitehall though it best the body not be seen by muggles " Jim said finishing his tea " last I saw he was talking to his aid about arrangements" he said Jack looked at Robert.

" Last I saw some guys in black had taken the body inside and they told me none too politely to leave " he said and rubbed the back of his neck trying to relive the tension he felt there.

"Well, thats understandable," Robert said. "Remember, it was Grindelwald who killed the last muggle prime minister. They don't trust wizards. As human beings we tend to not trust what we don't understand. It just is what it is. They knew you were there with Davi'd endorsement, but they wanted you gone before you 'did something' to them that they didn't understand. Remember, for muggles, magic does not exist. So those who do know we exist thing we're supernatural. They don't see us as fellow humans at all, not for the large part. And if they had known Jack was a werewolf they'd have run away screaming. If you really want to learn more, come to the farmhouse sometime and spend a weekend watching some of the movies about muggles' ideas about what werewolves are. Some of it is pretty truthful, but its geared to terrorize. Personally, I think we have a lot of terrifying things in our world, and an out of control werewolf is one of them, but I don't believe in creating situations to just terrify my friends and my family just for fun. Muggles enjoy that. To me, I've always found the monsters were real enough that I never needed to make them up."

"Robert?" Kate came downstairs, tying her beautiful embroidered silk robe shut. "Are things alright now?"

"Yes, my dear," he said. "How's Khaat?"

"Frightened. How much of it was real? Was Remus right?"

"Yes. He was. I'll tell you later. Is Brian still with her?"

"Yes," she said.

"I'll go see her and reassure her, then. Excuse me," Robert told them all, leaving his newspaper and his brandy and his pipe behind once more to go reassure his daughter.

Jim stood up and went to the kitchen to refresh his tea as Jack stood listening to Robert talking he gave a sigh " yeah shame if they got to know is rather than fear though who are good it wouldn't be so bad , but can't change that , same though " he said and watched Kate come down the stairs in hr robe he turned his eyes to the floor so not to see her like that until he heard Roberts foot steps going back up the stairs to Khaat. Looking back up he shook his head gently " shame muggles think that way about us " he said and moved to sit down.

"Jim," Kate said, "Its a bathrobe, not a bikini, and I do have a nightgown under it. And I don't have anything you haven't seen before anyway. Relax, would you? Would it be easier for you if I had one of those big ugly chenille ones with the disgusting flannel nightgowns under it and big puffy bunny slippers?"

"No," Michael said, coming back into the room. Michael had a large glass bowl full of fresh hot popcorn "It would not. Thats just disgusting, Kate. You never wore that in your life."

"No, I guess I didn't," Kate laughed.

"Help yourselves. Its an American version called Kettle Corn. It is made with butter, salt and sugar to have a mix of salty and sweet. Its been a favorite over there for hundreds of years. And I don't make it for myself. Its too time consuming for just one. There are lots of cold sodas in the fridge. Angus seems to really be getting the hang of making his own sodas. I think Brian might as well add another fridge just for all Angus's flavors of sodas."

"He's thought about adding two commercial sized ones in the basement in the wine cellar to hold those sodas and the extra food that our growing brood requires," Kate said.

"So, are you and Khaat done spazzing yet about the intruder?" Michael asked, putting a hanful of the fresh popcorn in his mouth.

"I am. I don't know about her," Kate said, taking some of the popcorn too. "Hm..Sugar. Never would have thought of popcorn and sugar."

Jim chuckled and shook his head " no you look just fine as you are Kate, its just who I am, you should know that, I'm a gentleman through and through." he said smiling at her as he looked at the kettle corn Michael held. Moving closer he took some ate it and smiled. " nice Angus ,very nice " he said and chuckled as Jack took some also " it doesn't bite Jack" he said popping some more into his mouth " ow your home made sodas are the best " he smiled " be a good idea that way we'd stop asking you to make them all the time" he sat down as he accioed a soda and drank it to wash down the wonderful Kettle corn.

Robert came back downstairs and brought Brian with him. "Khaat's fine," Robert said. "Resting. I conjured her a mug of calming tea. She'd rather be awake right now. And I'm good with that." He took a handful of the popcorn. "Oh. Kettle corn. I haven't had that in probably ten years. Very nice, Michael. Brian, do take Khaat a bowl upstairs. Popcorn will settle her stomach a bit."

"Popcorn will?" Brian frowned.

"Yes. It does the same thing that saltines do for upset stomachs. Besides that, it is very tasty and it will lift her spirits."

"I'll do it," MIchael said. He went into the kitchen and took a smaller bowl and put some of the popcorn in it for her. He grabbed an icy cold bottle of Angus's creme soda and took them upstairs to her.

"Creme soda?" Robert frowned. "I didn't even see that in there."

"Bottom shelf, on the far left side," Angus said.

"Never mind," Robert said. "Too much work." He accio'd a bottle for himself.

Jim smiled and raised his soda to Robert " Angus was telling us about his idea for a walk in fridge in that dead space in the corner of the basement " he said watching Robert accio a soda as Brian took a small bowl up to Khaat. He felt it would lifts her spirits and make her feel more human again. Jack accioed a bottle for himself too and sat down to drink it , eating the kettle corn.

"Do you think the muggles will get close to James?" Jack asked popping more corn into his mouth.

" I'm guessing they will be bloody lucky if they do Jack" Jim said but looked at Robert wanting to know for himself if he was right.

"No," Robert said. "They won't. David knows I'll send him a photo--a muggle version--of James. He will be deliberatly not allowing muggle officers to approach him. Our aurors will have to deal with it--or we will. One or the other. David knows better than to let a muggle deal with a wizarding matter."

"Thats fine by me because I want him," Brian snarled. Robert smiled slightly. He knew Brian didn't normally want to go get someone. Not normally. The only people he'd ever seen Brian seriously target was Tom Gelding and Felix Barker. He was still waging war with Gelding, and Barker seemed to have vanished. But he wanted James. And Robert sensed it was because James had terrorized his wife and children. And that was over the mark in Brian's book.

"Be careful what you ask for," Robert smiled at him. "You just might get it."

Jim sat and listened to Robert he looked at Jack who was about to speak when Brian said he wanted James for all the pain he'd caused Khaat and the youngsters. Jack listened and folded his arms across his chest he let out a deep breath and was about to say if he got his hands on James he would tear him limb from limb. He looked at Brian and the more he thought about it the more he knew Brian was the right man to deal with James.

"Well if it was me, I'd just tear him limb from limb and let it rot, but if you want him alive, best be you finding him" he said to Brian and looked at Robert. "Blood might be thicker than water, but in this case, I'm glad mines different to his. "He said and moved to place his empty soda bottle in the box.

"Yes, and I intend to," Brian said.

"You need to get a grip on your priorities," Robert cautioned gently. "Don't get so hung up on revenge that it makes you lose your perspective."

"Its not revenge," Brian said. "I want my family protected. I want him to stop haunting my wife and my kids."

"Make sure it stays that way. We'll get him, but I would much rather you take my direction on it than to go chasing for him yourself. I would much prefer than you stay live a good long time for the sake of my grandchildren," Robert said.

"I get your point. But it doesn't change the fact that he needs stopped."

"Yes. Yes, he does. And we will."

At that moment, there was the sound of thunder that sounded from the kitchen. Robert looked at Michael and they rolled their eyes at each other.

"Come in, Rene," they chimed together. The wizard came in, and he was clearly angry.

"What's the matter, Rene?" Robert asked.

"You didn't bloody tell me you had a git of a werewolf on the property! I'd have never agreed to it if I'd known you had those nutballs on the loose here!" he bellowed.

"He's not my nutball," Robert said. "He's an intruder, and..."

"Well, what do you plan to do about it?" Rene demanded.

"Off him," Brian said. Rene looked at Brian. and then back at Robert.

"I like him," Rene told Robert. "I like to see a good practical young man."