Little Busy Bodies

Christy needed some time to think. She needed to be alone, strangely enough. Being alone was something that Christy had been used to lately. After all, her twin was somewhere, and up until the man who raised her had been murdered, she had never really gone without being able to talk to Godric. Part of her yearned to know where he was and part of her had learned how to survive without him.

She made her way into the Garden of Solace. She had received plenty of letters from the German Ministry since the incident…hell forget incident, it was murder plan and simple. And what was worse, was that the murderer, if they found out who it was could be implicated to Christy in a very nasty way. It could cause her to lose everything. Of course, she always had a cover up story for it. Godric had made sure to teach her those things. If by nothing else, watching him and learning from him all those years. She was like a sponge when it came to learning.

The garden hadn’t been there when she had left school. It was a beautiful memorial for those who were lost in the battle of Hogwarts. As Christy moved through the garden, she stopped to look at the beautiful flowers that were blooming, reading the names that were listed on the plaques that honored the fallen. She had been grateful in a way that her father was murdered. It spared her a lot of heartache of having to say goodbye to friends. She sighed and pulled out the letter that Oded had given her, along with another from the head of her Aurors back home.

She sat down in the grass near the gazebo, letting the sun soak into her skin. It was warming her. She smiled slightly. How silly Oded was to have thought that he could get away with trying to charm the letter to burn after she let go of it. He should have known her better than that. Charms were her specialty after all. In fact, other than the history of magic, it had been her best subject while she was in Beauxbatons and continuing on when she had attended Hogwarts.

She looked around, making sure that she was alone before she opened the letter from her head Auror. If things had been done the way she wanted them to, her head Auror would soon be changing. Seeing that she was alone she decided to read the letter outloud. It was something that she had always done when studying, because it helped her to understand and remember. Funny how now she was still using those tools from school in her real life.
“Christabelle,
I feel that with the murder of the former Minister, and with your father having been murdered in the last few years, that as the acting Mistress of Magic that you stay in Britain until further notice. I feel in my heart, having been gracious enough to serve your father for many years that your safety is our first and former concern.

On another note, I also feel fairly confident that you will be named permanent Mistress of Magic in short time. However, that being said, while we search for this would be assassin, and believe me we will find them, you need to stay in Britain until further notice. If Godric were around, it would be another story as we feel that he could better protect you here than we could.”

Christy laughed a little, “Sad thing is I don’t need any protection…I sent them. Too bad I could never take credit for it. He got what was coming to him for taking all the credit for my hard work.”

Casey Weasley was glad that summer had come. Waiting in the castle to be freed so she could spend time with her cousin had been torture, but now the torture persisted. Lily did not want to see her. It seemed Lily did not want to see anyone. Casey was not an emotional girl. She never had been. As a baby, she had hardly ever cried. She had been on those odd kids who could fall in the washroom and bust her head on the toilet and not shed a tear. She had never been a heavily emotional girl, and why should she start now?

Hmm, maybe because I was the one there when Lily got bit and I've stuck by her side the whole time, and I didn't tell a soul, and I've been with her for every single full moon except two and those two were the ones that got her into trouble. This flood of bitter thought hit her hard in the stomach as she climbed the winding staircase that led to the second floor of the regal gazebo in the middle of the garden of solace. With each step, she left the disappointment her family so graciously offered.

Her mother would be mad, she was sure. They had come to Diagon for a family day. Casey had quickly ditched them, right after she had gotten a bunch of free new gear from Wheezes - perks of sharing the name of the store. The bag bumped against her heels as she climbed the stairs, finally reaching the top of the gazebo. She checked her watch - her mom would start panicking in an hour. That was when they were supposed to meet for lunch. She was free until then.

The small-framed Gryffindor plopped onto her bum, spilling the contents of the bag between her legs. She began to look through the products. More Dyllan fireworks. A tiny plunger that grabbed onto anything you threw it at and reeled it back in. A chocolate frog that refused to be caught. A lighter with a multi-colored flame. Extendable Ears with an attached mouth that projected the contents of the conversation in a loud voice.

They were all prototypes, of course, not yet on the shelves. The Weasley/Potter clan was always guaranteed the products before they were approved. It was how they were all was tested. Casey opened the chocolate frog which immediately hopped towards one of the windows. She scrambled after it, but it was climbing up the gazebo. Lost that quickly. Casey took in a breath to sigh and then held it.

There was someone in the garden who had not noticed her. The girl shrank back a bit and watched the woman, who had pulled out a letter. Casey looked to her hand, where the plunger was caught between her fingers. She unraveled the twine that was connected to one end, debating whether or not she should use it. The woman said something cryptic and Casey, her curiosity that easily whet, decided to go for it. To take the plunge.

She tossed the plunger out the window, the other hand holding the twine. The magic kicked in and her line went taut as the plunger sucked up the letter. Casey reeled it in quickly, figuring she did not have much time before the woman stormed into the gazebo and demanded the letter back. And when she did, Casey knew exactly where she would put the letter.

outfit

((Casey will probably need to keep the letter to properly have something on Christy))

((I figured she would. We can work something out I’m sure))
Out of nowhere, Christabelle was given the notice that she wasn’t alone in this beautiful garden. Sh*t. she thought to herself. Godric had always taught her to check everywhere before you opened yourself up to an attack, or well in this case a letter thief! Normally she wouldn’t have an issue with losing something, but this was an extremely valuable piece of information. One, that if it could be traced back to her could very well place her out of power in her own country. She couldn’t let that happen.

As fast as she could she jumped up, looking to see where the thief had come from. Seeing that the letter was making its way up to the second floor of the gazebo, she could only guess where the mysterious letter thief might be. She was thankful for the fact that she had started wearing heels at a young age due to her being so short. It gave her the chance to run in them, being fairly certain that she wouldn’t break her neck.

Christy made her way into the gazebo hurriedly running up the stairs to the second floor, reaching for her wand. That letter could not get into the wrong hands. Everything in that letter had the power to undo everything she had spent the last five years working for and she could not let that happen. Especially when she didn’t have her back up with her. Actually more like her protector. Her twin brother had made it quite known that when it came to Christabelle, he had no problems with ending up in Azkaban for her. Not that he would have to, but the threat had always been available to someone if the need arose.

However, this time Christy was on her own, and little did she know that she would be faced with a student. The girl couldn’t have been older than twelve or thirteen at the most. She stopped at the entrance, staring at the girl, pointing her wand at her. “And just what do you think you’re doing?” she asked looking at her. “Don’t you know it’s extremely rude to steal from someone?”

Christy knew she would have to be extremely cautious to get the letter back. She would have to choose her words very carefully, except that right now part of her just wanted to knock the little brat unconscious and steal back the letter and deny it if she was ever stupid enough to open her mouth…well if she was stupid enough to open her mouth then Christy could use another means other than magic to keep her quiet. She was done with being the little goody two shoes that everyone had thought her to be.

Casey could not believe what she was reading for several reasons. Firstly, there was the outlandish content, the proof that coordinated with what the woman had said to make for a very startled Gryffindor girl. Then there was her shock that the woman beneath Casey could be so thick as to let the facts slip from her mouth so easily. And that she would hold such an incriminating paper out in the open when so much was obviously at stake.

Sometimes Casey was certain she could take over the Ministry, so useless most adults seemed to be.

Truly, the letter was not horribly incriminating out of context. It told mostly what anyone could figure out themselves. But the confirmations that the deaths were murders, the reassurance that these deaths secured this woman the role of Mistress of Magic, coupled with the bold exclamation the woman had uttered. There was no certainty that anyone would take Casey's word for it. But it would raise suspicion and, in cases such as this, there was always a paper trail or someone willing to save their own skin and tell the truth.

My, my, was blondie in trouble.

She stormed in just as Casey finished the letter and she sprung to attention, seeing that a wand was trained on her. It was the first time anyone had ever done such a thing, so she was naturally frightened at first. As her wits gathered, however, she told her mind to sharpen, seeing as her limbs still weren't cooperating. "I think I'm being threatened by an adult twice my size and that I should call for help," Casey said, her expression blank and her words cold.

The woman continued on and Casey tilted her head. ""Don't you know it's extremely rude to steal a ruling position through murder?" She was cheeky, Casey was. "Seems we're both less polite than we should be."

Christy lowered her wand slightly, “Little girl,” she said taking a deep breath. “Do you happen to have a name?” she asked raising an eyebrow to the little thief. It wasn’t as if she would forget someone who now held some sort of power over her, but she had to remember, she was the adult, she was the one with the real power.

Inwardly she laughed. The girl obviously didn’t know who she was. It didn’t really surprise her. After all, she had made sure to keep fairly quiet since her arrival in England. Only doing things and seeing friends that could be trusted. This little girl was quite amusing in all honesty. The girl was using her brains from a young age. If she had actually known the girl she would have been proud of how she was acting.

But Christy wasn’t the only one in trouble. This little girl was about to find herself in a very unsavory situation. Christy knew other ways that she could make the little girl suffer for her words and threats without even using magic. Godric had taught her that magic wasn’t everything. Sometimes people just needed good old fashion fear. She knew she would have to cross that bridge when she came to it.

Christy wasn’t stupid, she just let it slip her mind at the time that she should have checked every little corner for someone around her. This was a mistake that she knew could cost her. She laughed, “Well then I guess I need to take my shoes off because then we might be about the same height.” She retorted to the child. “Maybe I need to get down on your level for you to understand.”

She was speaking coolly and emotionless. A delightful little trick that she had learned from years of watching her brother and being raised in the political game that she had been finding more and more use for as the years went by. “And just who says I murdered anyone?” she asked raising an eyebrow. “I very well could at this very moment in time and no one would even think to point a finger at me. And then where would you be little one?” she asked curiously.

“Now, I will ask you to politely hand over that letter.” She said looking at her, “It’s of the upmost importance that someone other than I receive it.” She was trying to level with a thirteen year old child. Could she even remember where she was at thirteen? She thought to herself. Not like it matters, that girl has something that could implicate you in a murder and cost you everything. “Or are you thinking it’s a wise idea to use blackmail?”

The wand came down ever so slightly and the Weasley knew that the woman was not predisposed to murder, not evil by nature. She had grown into it, surely, but she did not prefer violence and cruelty. Casey had seen it in the woman's slight movement, the hesitation. She was taking in every movement, every nuance, because (like it or not, believe it or not) her life could depend on it.

A name was demanded and Casey found the answer quicker than she could have found her own. "Brooke Belby." It was the first name of a girl her age that came to her mind, and it came so quickly for the girls only ever having met once. The lie was hidden with a blink, because there had been no thought to reveal. It had just happened.

Sometimes Casey's ability to decieve frightened her.

The woman made some weird comment about her shoes and Casey shrugged. "You're still like... what. Three times my age?" She quirked her eyesbrows, making it evident that she was being insulting, not ignorant. She could tell the woman was no older than thirty, but it was still nice to get a solid insult in to the woman who could cause her harm. Intelligent? Maybe not. Satisfying? Certainly.

Casey tilted her head. "If I recall correctly, and I do, you said so. You said 'I ordered it to be done' and this note has the M word an excessive amount of time, soooooo..." She offered a threat and Casey threw a hand outwards. "See! There it is again. You don't exactly sound innocent."

The woman demanded the letter but Casey was not willing to part with it. She was not certain of what she would do with it, or what she could do with it, but she knew that the letter held power, and she had been powerless for too long. So, without another word, she shoved the letter down the front of her pants, threw the plunger at the woman, and clambered out the window, crawling down the side of the gazebo.