Here Too Often

Danny shrugged his shoulders at Whight's first response, his face showing clear signs of thought. "I don't know...I think about...three, I think," he said casually, shrugging his shoulders again out of habit "Like I said, I've done a lot of things over the years, and that happened to be something I caught onto." He couldn't remember the exact amount of people that had infiltrated into the Order, but he knew there was as least one that had successfully gotten some information. The other two were from Hogwarts at the time, some posing as Dumbledore's Army members in order to provide some information for Headmaster Majere. He scowled just at the thought. He hoped he was dead by now...or he would personally see to it.

Quickly deterring himself from his thoughts, he answered Whight's second question with "When you're 'dead' for two years, people often overlooking the books and go under the table about the matter. I don't up front tell people I've been laying low for two years, so it works to my advantage. I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up one night with a black bag over my head..." An intimidating thought, yes, but something Danny could handle if it were to ever happen. He trained himself specifically for situations like that...let's just say he had a lot of free time over in America, and being paranoid for the first year didn't settle well inside him.

"Well, I guess the only thing I can ask of you is to help track my brother down," he said casually, looking back up "As I had already said, he was somewhere out in America for about a year, but all I need is just a clue as to what city he had visited last. After he left Britain, he had apparated there, and I am in no position to be tracking him down for the next month until I get something." He leaned back in his chair, strecthing out of his tense back muscles, a small pop barely audible in his back. "If you could do that for me, I'd definitely owe you one."

Whight thought long and hard about the adventure he was about to undertake. He realize that he was now working with a man he barely knew, but that was typical in his line of work. In this case Whight had the upper hand between the two of them considering Danny's past. Though, he would only use what he knew against the man if things took a spin for the worse.

"Seems like we are off to America then. I've never been to the States but I have read many books on the subject. One of the largest countries in the world. Should be interesting. Your brother chose his hiding place well.

"I suppose we go to the state you believe he may be in hiding, that would be the best place to start. There must be a reason he would flee there, which you probably have a guess at, which will be the start of our search. Perhaps he wished to return home, visit a friend or family. Whatever the case may be I'm sure you have some sort of idea why he would go to America which makes America our ideal, well only, starting point. Often times those who are victims of traumatic events will revert back to the place or time the once felt stable, safe or even the happiest. So consider that. It's possible an owl could even do the work for us in tracking him down. Also, is there anyone else who can assist us on this search? Our odds will be far greater in finding your brother if we search with more numbers."

Whight enjoyed discussing his thoughts on the whereabouts of Danny's brother. Information gathering, along with puzzles were always things he found himself good at doing. It wasn't what he was best at but it was a solid second on his skill list.

Danny listened to Whight's word, trying to piece together something Andrew might've followed by. It was true that Andrew chose America as his home because of his nationality, yet England was a second home to him. Seeing as how England could no longer be considered safe in his eyes, Andrew had to have fled there. The treehouse Jack had mentioned a while ago seemed to be a breakthrough in the case. Up in Utah, she said? He would need to check there.

"Well, apparently Andrew was facing some serious issues in England. People wanted him dead and he nearly lost his life once...apparently took a shard of glass to his thigh, rupturing a blood vessel, he must've fled to America to avoid risking any more contact with his enemies. A friend of his named Jack told me about a treehouse or something. Apparently it's a safe haven to go to: seclusion, natural resources, and shelter." It started to add up, he had to be there, or at least had been there at one point. It was the only logical conclusion. "Thing is," he said cautiously, his eyes averting down to the counter again "I'm not entirely sure how mentally stable my poor brother is...last I heard, his lover had died and he was being chased by two men, one whom I don't even know about and another...turns out he's an old friend of mine. Get how ironic this is, the guy I had talked about a minute ago, the one I freed from Azkaban? He's one of the guys giving my brother a hellish time. He even offered to help me search for him, but I think he'd just want to end up killing him."

He began to laugh abnormally, mostly keeping it under his breath. The entire situation was screwy enough, but to have one of his old friends being his brother's arch-nemeses, and then have his own brother go missing...some Hollywood producers could take the entire story and end up making some really bad story off it. He could see the headlines in his head. "I gotta feeling this is going to end badly..." he said truthfully, a smile plastered upon his face.

Whight listened as Danny continued on about his brother. The more he learned about Andrew the less Whight felt Danny would find what he was really looking for. The times of being the best of brothesr between the two was more than likely going to be at an end. For all Danny knew, his brother could resent him for not telling him he was alive. And judging by how mentally unstable Andrew had become, Danny might had been better off letting his brother continue to think he was dead. None of that though was any of Whight's business. The man wanted his help in finding his brother and he was there to offer just that.

"Well I say this Jack fellow," he said wondering if it was the very Jack he knew as well, "sounds helpful. Is it possible to bring him along as well? It seems as if we already have our first lead, I think we should jump on it soon before the trail grows any colder."

Whight looked around the bar. He noticed the crowd was beginning to thin and the bartender was starting to clean the place up. A table that once laid in pieces on the floor was once more structurally sound. The broken glasses and bottles were too place back to the previous state and positions.

Danny listened to the background nose begin to fade, the people's voices becoming more and more silent. It must've been getting late, Danny hadn't checked his watch anytime soon. He didn't even bother to do so, His arm outstretched towards the map he had already possessed, folding it back up into a neat sheet so it could fit in his jacket pocket once more. He looked back towards Whight and said "Well, I have no idea as to where she's at," he said "last I saw of her was at the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes place, even then she seemed hesitant to talk to me about certain things." He shook his head lightly "I suppose I could ask if she'd want to tag along, but just from her initial reaction, it seemed as if she was willing to bury the memories of Andrew more than actually find him." What had happened between the two?

He took another look around the small pub, noticing that about seventy-five percent of the patrons had already departed. Such a strange sight really, but it hadn't bothered him that much. Nothing strange usually happened when a pub was nearly empty, it was only dangerous when it was completely full...or out of booze. "Perhaps we should talk more of this at a later time," he said, still not bothering to check the time. He would still need to plan this whole 'rescue effort', and possibly think of a few back-up places to search. It was going to be a long night, that was for sure.

Whight knew that there was little else going to be done about the subject for the day. It was now up to Danny to plan out the majority of the logistic for the trip. Whight was willing to wait, he knew these things took time.

"Oh yes, that Jack. I know her well. I believe she would be of much help if she agreed to come along. But for now I suggest we part ways and meet once again when you're ready to make your way to America. I too will further prepare for our endeavor. Contact me when you wish to leave. And Danny," he said with a serious look, "we will find your brother."

Whight stood and faced the man throwing out a hand to shake once more.