Marriage is Murder

Brant smiled and nodded " I understand, so I have come to the source" He said smiling as he gently tok the small bottle from her hand smiling as he stood up and moved to a second vase palcing a single drop in it he waited to see if he had done it right before moving to the next vase. He smiled seeing them move to clean the house. " Ow, please stay out of my room, its clean enough." He said knowing he had little of his own things to make a mess of it to start with and he hated things to be moved. He moved to Khaat's room and saw the flowers withered beside her bed and he moved to palce a drop in the vase and watched as they became in full bloom again knowing the scent would he hoped make Khaat smile.

The house elves went off to do their new job. Dottie was accustomed to the aristocratic ex-Slytherins that she had typically worked for having areas that they put of limits. Dottie had never ever issued a syllable about it. The human in front of her appeared to be a bit more weird even by human standards, so she just ignored it.

Upstairs, Marcus had helped Khaat do a bit of freshening up. The others had been preoccupied for the last couple of days. Marcus had taken on her care, largely, giving her the potion she needed and keeping it on schedule. The food had come up somewhat regularly, but her other needs had been left to him.

This morning he had helped her wash, had helped her change her dressings, find clean clothing, and he had massaged out some of the tight muscles she was getting from laying in bed.

Now he had her on the sofa, with pillows and a light blanket, and he poured her fresh coffee and was changing the sheets on her bed. He replaced one of her bed pillows with a clean one because one of her dressings had seeped during the night, and the soiled pillow needed washed now.

"Thank you for all the extra help, Marcus," she said, leaning back on the pillows tiredly. It was a huge amount of effort getting cleaned up and moved.

"Its not a problem," he smiled at her. "If I'm here, I'm glad to help. You've done very well today, actually. Are you sure we should have tried all that, though?"

"It'll be fine," she said. "I can't lay there forever. We just won't tell anyone else, so they don' get upset."

"That I had you up?" he asked. "It was a bit premature for that. I believe I told you."

"You did, but I'm also guessing you've been out of bed yourself a bit sooner than you were told." He just grinned at her, not commenting.

Jess moved around the living room then into the kitchen she made a cup of coffee and headed back out to the porch. She glanced up at Khaats room and smiled feeling the energy lift and she knew things would be better. She saw Brant walking quickly around the rooms with a small bottle in his hand and she saw the flowers lift and become as if fresh cut . Walking in she smelt them and looekd at them." thats a good potion" she said and saw Bran shake his head.

" Dottie's potion" he said and moved out the room . Jes headed up to Khaats room and knocked before she entered smiling.

"You have been up and your energy is stronger today." she said looking at Marcus "its a good sign" she smiled as she checked her but said nothing as thee was nothing for her to do.

"Now how would you know I'd been up?" Khaat frowned. Marcus didn't get involved in their discussion. He merely finished making up her bed and then turned it down so he could carry her back to it when she was ready to go.  

He heard a knock at her window and turned to see Archangel there with a package in brown paper.  

"Ah, well done," Marcus smiled. He had kept a piece of sausage from breakfast and now he fed it to Archangel as he took the package from the bird's large talons.

"What did you send for?" Khaat asked him.

"Its for you," he smiled.  "You are about as bored as you can get, and you've got a long way to go."  He opened the package and revealed a very large stack of fresh magazines for her. These issues were on holiday decorating and recipe ideas--magazines written in English from all over the globe--as many as he could find.

They were reduced in size so that Archangel could carry them all.  Even then it had been a large package. Marcus resized them and then flicked his wand at them to organize themselves, alphabetically, and in manageable stacks that he tucked beneath the coffee table in her bedroom sitting area.

"I'll get you whichever ones you like," he told her. "You tell me what you want, and I'll get them."

"Thank you," she said to him, appreciative of the gesture.

"You know," he said. "I should try to find your quick quotes quill and your notebook so that if you see ideas you want to try for the holidays, you can make a note to yourself."

"All I want is a bit of peace and quiet," she said. "I've had enough of chasing monsters and assassins. I just would like to not have to worry about that for a few days. Has anyone heard from Lee yet this morning? I do realize its still very early."

Jess smield and looked at her " I saw you in the window I was out side taking some air eariler." she said smiling she jumped when Arch tapped at the window she gathered the breakfast things on the tray and headed back down to the kitchen to place them in the washer as she then sent up a tray ow fresh water and some fost chocolates should she want any later.

Bran moved about the lab taking down books reading up on potions , their ingrediants and where to find them. His own note book was up on a shelf as he tried to remember each one closing his eyes as he said each potion and its ingrediant out loud. Soon he sat back in the chair and just flicked the pages over glancing in teh fire light as he did so. " I wish you could talk Robert and help" he said softly.

"Well, if you're trying to memorize potion formulas," Kate said, pausing in the doorway, "you certainly aren't doing it the way I've ever seen an adult potioneer do it. I've seen students trying to memorize, but graduate potions makers? No. Robert would tell you that you learn by doing. That's why you had a lab in potions class.

"If you want to learn them without the books, make them. Any cook will tell you that if you make a recipe enough, you don't need to look it up anymore. But if you want to make it harder than it has to be, then you're certainly welcome to."

She went up to her room and found Robert busy reading and studying and doing research of his own. She got out her coat. He looked at Kate, uneasy about the idea that she would go out by herself.

"You worry too much, Old Man," she said softly. "I won't be long. If I plan to be more than an hour or two, I'll let you know." She put her coat on. "Robert, I'm going to ask you one more time. I'd much rather share any curse with you than to continue to live my life without you. Don't shut me away from you so much."

He looked at her trying not to be sad about it, but he couldn't touch the ones he loved the most, not even her. He couldn't hold her hand, couldn't stroke her hair, couldn't kiss her. Couldn't read to his grandchildren, couldn't do the things that meant the most to him. At times it was tempting, and he wanted to simply take the risk to avoid being alone and isolated. But he looked at her, remembering how very much he loved her, more than himself, and he shook his head. He couldn't risk it.

"Alright," she sighed. "Please consider changing your mind. I'll be back." She apparated out.

Brant looked at Kate as she spoke about making the potions and he chuckled "Sure, if Robert dosn't mind having his lab taken over, and strange noises, smells and sounds coming from it " he asked feeling that was the way to go he took down several bottles and lined them up and one by one remade potions one by one. He was so involved he didn't hear Kate leave. Jess passed the potins lab abd heard a bang opening it she heard a bang and opened the door to see Bran wiping black soot off his face. "That didn't work" he mumbled pacing abck and forth.

Jess closed the door and chuckled seeing he was learning quickly. She moved up to the nursary and checked on the children finding them playing and laughing. Steven moved into the kitchen and washed his hands, " next batch of vegtables will be big ones " he said wiping his hands on a tea towel.

Edward looked up over his newspaper when he heard the noise from the lab. "Start with what you know, Boy," he shouted. "And don't blow up the house."

Robert didn't have time to get overly worried about Kate because there was an explosion from the lab. His first thoughts were that a couple of the kids had gotten into the lab again.

Upstairs, Khaat jumped, startled and jarred. Marcus laid his hand on her knee.

"Calm yourself," he said to her. "We're not going to get upset unless we find there is a reason to."

"Go check," she told him.

"No," he said. "My job is here with you. Big noises are big distractions. I'm not leaving you."

Robert left his room and looked into her room. Marcus looked at him.

"I'm here, Sir. We're alright. I'm not leaving," he reassured Robert. Robert nodded and went downstairs. Michael met him when he got to the bottom of the stairs.

"We're alright," Michael said. "Its just Brant. I have no idea what the hell he's doing, but Edward appears to have a clue." Robert went into the living room and saw Edward reading the paper. Robert crinkled the newspaper, and Edward frowned.

"You've got some cheek, crumpling a man's paper," Edward said. Robert motioned down the hall towards the lab.

"He's got it in his head he needs to memorize the potions and not rely on the books," Edward said. "He'll get it...eventually." Robert rolled his eyes.

Brant heard Edward and rubbed his chin he thought back and took some ingrediants down they mixed perfectly and he grinned " YESSS, I GOT IT!!" he called out in glee then he carefully pored it into jars and labled it before placing it proudly on the shelf and he moved to the next potion he could remember not looking up. Brant walked out the lab and saw Robert with Edward . " Robert sir, when you mix the ingrediants for black fire potion, Bursting mushrooms, Salamander blood and Wartcap powder,I add it but I think Im adding too much salamander blood, it turns red then just conjeles." he said pacing as he tried to think if he was doing it wrong.

It was a common mistake, Robert knew. Those ingredients often didn't get on well together, and it needed a gentle hand, even though it was a simple formula.

"You're probably right," Edward told him. "Did you try using a bit less? If that doesn't work, you could try, oddly enough, adding a bit of olive oil. Just a couple drops at a time. Not too much or it will turn." Robert looked at Edward frowning. He'd never heard of adding olive oil.

"Desperate men do desperate things," Edward shrugged. "What can I say? It worked." Robert shook his head, not sure about that bit of oddness. He drew his wand and flicked it and summoned a jar of newt scales. He handed the jar to Brant.

"What the hell is he supposed to do with those?" Edward frowned. Robert gestured to Brant to use 2 pinches to one batch. "That is never going to work," Edward frowned. Robert was just as confident in the newt scales as Edward had been about the olive oil.