The Burden of Information

Jude knew it would be better had he not been there, so this duty would not fall to him, but he had a great amount of respect for Locan d'Eath. Like Augustus Rookwood, he was a giant in the pureblood circles, and Jude had always thrived among the approval of such dignified men. Katrina-Carlotta had assured Jude he would not be a foot soldier in the Death Eaters, and he knew to retain this status, he had to remain on an even keel with those who held the most power among them. And what would become of him if Lorcan discovered he was present at the time of Alexis' death and did not seek him out to inform him immediately.

He apparated outside the gates and quickly entered, moving with the quickness of purpose. He was allowed inside the home by a house elf.

"I need to speak immediately with Mr. d'Eath," Jude spoke.

"I'm sorry, I do not recognize you!" the elf squeaked.

Jude remembered his disguise and quickly reversed the Transfigurations that had changed and hidden his features during the battle. The house elf nearly shrieked in surprise when they discovered it was one of the Ministry officials they had been instructed to be incredibly obliging to. "I meant no offense, Mr Shaw! I shall alert Master d'Eath!"

Jude called after him, saying, "It is of the utmost importance. I would not disapprove of the word emergency." Jude watched the little form walk away, and then took to following it, stopping as it entered a large door.

Lorcan had been smoking a cigarette and had working at his desk. He looked up from his task on the upkeep and the running of the Death Eaters. It was not a cost free operation. Jude Shaw was here? Lorcan had not sent for him. What sort of emergency could this be? He drew another puff from the cigarette, barely noticing the warm soothing taste of the bourbon flavored tobacco in the handmade smokes, and laid the cigarette in the crystal ashtray.

"Thank you," Lorcan told the house elf quietly, "You're dismissed. I'll take care of it."

"Yes, Master," the little elf said, bowing and leaving. Lorca stood up and closed the financial ledger for the Death Eaters and tucked it into his desk drawer, clearing his desk to give Shaw his complete attention. It was the proper thing. Beyond that, it was good business practice.

He headed to the door of his study and opened it. "Mr. Shaw," he said. "How nice to see you again. Won't you come into my study? We'll be undisturbed there. My house elf said this was a matter of some importance." He gestured, with his open hand, towards the open door of his study.

Jude waited patiently, his mind tearing in different directions as he attempted to focus on the matter at hand. Not only would he have to deliver terrible news to the d'Eath head, he was seeking information on Charlotte Topez, who had been captured. Jude had never thought Topez dedicated to the cause enough to feel easy about this development. It would be another blow to Lorcan.

The door was opened for him and Jude inclined his head. "Thank you. I wish I could say I am pleased to see you, but I am not happy with the circumstance that brings me to you, this night. Any other occasion would be a treat, I assure you, but as of now..." He cleared his throat and stepped inside, looking about to properly gather his bearings. This was not going to be an easy, nor pleasant conversation.

He gestured to the desk. "I think it would be best if we sat. I hope to end the suspense soon - I am only trying to draw the proper words."

"By all means," Lorcan said, closing the door. "Sit, please." Shaw had come on some weighty business. Something that Lorcan could tell already would be dreadfully unpleasant.

Lorcan was not a stranger to unpleasantness. Some of that, rightfully or wrongfully, had come by being a Death Eater. Some of it had come just because his on life path had not always been kind. It wasn't an excuse so much as it was just bleak reality.

This, though, already had the vibe of being something that Shaw did not want to be the messenger for, for some reason. That made Lorcan a bit curious. Shaw was not a timid man. He was ambitious, by Lorcan's assessment. Ambitious and professional.

Lorcan went to the antique sideboard in his office and chose a bottle of well aged fine French brandy. "Brandy, Mr. Shaw?" he offered, pouring himself one into a crystal snifter. "It can make difficult situations a bit more palatable."

Jude was happy to have moved the pair to the desk, for he would prefer Lorcan sit for the bad news. It was always a cliche to ask someone sit for bad news, but Jude knew all to well that once you saw someone sway with grief or shock, you never again saw them stand firmly upon the earth. There was always the ghost of that weakness and Jude did not want to weaken Lorcan thus in his mind over such a delicate matter.

Lorcan offered him a drink, which Jude would have typically accepted. But with the potential business with Topez, he would need an unafflicted mind. "No, thank you. I would usually be more keen, but I have so more tedious matters that will require my full attention soon enough."

He paused. "Let me give some explanation before I deliver my blow. I was near Hogsmeade this afternoon, just an hour or so before now, when I spotted a Dark Mark over the Shrieking Shack. From what I now gather, it was a panic on part of a student or Death Eater sympathizer to draw our attention to help. I quickly disguised myself and arrived to assist, to find students fighting, along with some Order members, the most noticeable being Jaquellene Dyllan, who has caused us problems before. A duel unfolded between some troublemakers, myself, Charlotte Topez, and your daughter Alexis in an attempt to drive away the youngsters and the Order members. Two disastrous results occurred. As we were outnumbered, a young Auror managed to capture and carry off Ms Topez. I have begun my own safeguarding steps to find out where she has been taken and should get an answer perhaps by the end of this very meeting."

He paused. Here it was. "This is the news I have the terrible duty of giving, however. During the course of the duel, someone loosened the second floor floorboards which caved, whilst Jaquellene Dyllan attacked the floor beneath your daughter's feet. It caved in below her as the upper level caved in above her. Jaquellene Dyllan checked and declared her... She found that she had been killed by the incident. I am very sorry to tell you this, sir."

Lorcan sat and listened to Jude's news, but started to feel a certain dread before Jude came to the bottom line. And there is was. A numbness came over his mind at first. He sat in silence for a moment.

This wasn't right. Alexis. His daughter. No--she wasn't dead. That wasn't possible. That wasn't the order of things. Children weren't supposed to die before their parents.

But accidents were more prevalent in the wizarding world. Magic was dangerous. A fight? He'd ordered nothing. What was the purpose of young ones, little more than children themselves, fighting. Over what? What in the world was it that she died for?

Oh wait. Jack Dyllan. That was what she had ultimately died for. Bitterness rose up in Lorcan's mind immediately towards her. He picked up the brandy and took a sip.

"I sent for no action," Lorcan said hoarsely and quietly, feeling the brandy burn like a smooth fire down his throat. "I will deal with that later myself," he said, not normally given to dealing with dirty work.

"However," he said. "Ms. Dyllan is another matter. She killed my daughter. She usually tends to be present whenever chaos erupts in our world." His tone was becoming flat. Flat with an underlying icy edge that he was trying to master and for some odd reason, he was finding that impossible to cover at the moment.

"I need to send a strong message to Ms. Dyllan," he said. "She has no children of her own, so I may have to work a bit harder to get her to appreciate even a part of what a parent feels at times like these." He looked at Jude. "This is business. Purely. She needs to be 'educated' that her foolishness affects more than herself." He gave it a moment more thought.

"Yes, I do believe she needs to be taught. I would prefer this takes a calm, calculating mind. A steady hand. I don't want someone impulsive, nor wand happy to deal with this. Perhaps to 'impress' upon her what pain is like when 'accidents' like these affect the ones she loves." His mind was filled with anger and bitterness, and he was tempted to hurl all sorts of bitterness into the mix, simply because it was right there on the tip of his tongue.

Instead he picked up his cigarette and took a large drag from it, inhaled deeply, lingered over the taste of the smoke in his lungs and exhaled deceptively lazy curls of smoke up towards the ceiling.

"If I could find such a man," Lorcan said, his tone now smooth, calculated, all business, as he mentally walked on the edge of a knife between control and rage, "It would be worth a great deal to me, if I could find a man that would be willing to make the decisions and put forward the action, somehow, to send the lesson she needs to learn in whatever way he calculates to be strongest. He would be very valuable to me indeed. I could provide for him money, power, position...depending on how effective he could be in his duties."

He was depending on the man to have a free hand and the capacity to make wise, calculated choices. He knew his own capacity to simply want Jack and everyone she knew dead. It was not wise for him to act right now. He needed to trust this to another.

"Recommendations, Shaw?" Lorcan asked, open to suggestions of who he might ask to take on this task in return for money and power. "Who would understand this is business? Not vigilante justice. It is about protecting our world, our families. It is..just...business.

Jude inclined his head at Lorcan's first words. "Something I think all involved now deeply regret. It was an assumption based on the idea that help should be given to our allies regardless of prior notification. I think the mistake will never be forgotten by those of us present." Jude indeed had been kicking himself for answering the call despite the fact that he did not want to, nor had he been ordered to. He should have trusted his laziness.

He listened with interest to Lorcan's statements, finding that there was an opportunity to further clear his name of any involvement, as well as grow his investment in the Death Eaters. He would not have to answer such calls anymore, but would be the one to help assemble and call. This had been his rightful place all along, and now he only had to reach out and take the role, by proving to one of the most powerful pureblood men that he was one to be relied upon.

"Sir, I would very humbly take up the task you now present," he said. "For our cause, for Alexis... For business."

Lorcan was, by nature, an opportunist himself, and he did not list 'opportunist' as an obscene term. He embraced it. He preferred to work with people who were clear enough to lay their cards on the table. He saw the opportunist in Shaw, and he liked it, honestly. A trace of a satisfied smile crossed his face.

"I take ambitious people very seriously, Shaw," Lorcan said, unafraid to allow Shaw to know that there was definitely room for growth and advancement if he delivered. "And I happen to be looking for reliable, ambitious people at the moment because I have some significant positions that need strong leadership for the right people. It seems we have an accord.

"One ground rule, however," Lorcan said. "I will depend on you to make your own decisions here. Call your own shots and function independently. That's my rule. However you believe that you can send Ms. Dyllan a message she will never forget, and however long you feel you need to accomplish it, then feel free to do so. Understand this is not, at the moment, a Death Eater matter. This is a D'Eath family matter. You can report directly to me and no one else. I would not like anyone interfering in your work or the freedom you have to do it. If you need operating cash, I trust you will let me know.

"Now," he looked at Shaw, "What considerations or questions do you have?"

Jude listened intently, his face the very picture of gentility and professionalism as he began to prepare himself for the task ahead. He may even find a way to enjoy the whole process - Jack Dyllan had not made it easy for himself and other officials during her time in the Ministry. Confidentiality had never been her style, and she had always bragged of having a mouth that longed to speak "truth." Well, it would feel good for him and many others to find a way to get her to hold her tongue, would it not?

"None," he said, rising. "I shall begin immediately. Ah, but..." he cleared his throat. "Ms Topez has been captured. Myself and other Ministry officials know that low ranking Death Eaters are always to be given a deal. Names for freedom. Before I begin with Ms Dyllan, I'd like to go pay Ms Topez her respects. Anything you'd like her to know?"

"Topez, huh?" Lorcan said, thinking. "Do not let her forget herself. Our organization's heritage, as you know, has been in keeping things secret because it is the only way to protect the magical world. If Topez has been enticed to put her priorities elsewhere, that would be most unfortunate. Do what you can to remind her of the right priorities, would you?"

Lorcan trusted in Shaw's abilities to handle business quietly and professionally but he had an additional thought.

"It would be very good of her to tell you who she has been confiding in already, don't you think?" He opened his desk drawer and drew out a small test tube with a cork in the end. The tube had a parchment label with elegant script from a quick quotes quill--Veritaserum. He laid the slender glass tube on the desk. "I must remember to put my toys away," Lorcan said pointedly. "One never knows what would happen if a vial of this came up missing." Lorcan needed Shaw to find out what the devil Topez knew and believed Shaw had the ability to do it without Lorcan's help. However, sometimes a simple drop or two of a potion could make the job infinitely easier.