The Letter & The Meeting

At the comment Marcus made, Mariana finally laughed though not loud since this place seemed too quite for such noise. "Yes I carry a lamb in my purse all the time." she said through gigles, this guy sure had a sense of humor.

"As much as your advise seems attractive I think I'll stick to Khaat's. Patronus are one of my specialities." she replied regaining her composure. She did hope she didn't offend Marcus, but he had to admit that his proposition sounded hillarious even if it was serious. Personally, she didn't like to consider him attacking her first for her friend and second because she didn't really know how great her bodyguard's abilitty is, as an Auror he probably had access to larger spekter of spells, but she was getting ahead of herself, after all no one would attack her for a simple joke.

Mari grimaced at the mention of identical twins. She was never going to tell tham apart unless one starts growing his hair or something. "I'm looking forward to meeting tham. I hope you will invite me in the close future, I don't like to show up uninvited." she said misachivously thinking of all the exuces Khaat gave her to go baby shopping.

And here goes the question which had a complicated long answer. "I don't know how far are you informed. I was in Monterey in Mexico with Jess. I don't know where to start, did I tell you that my grandfather died when I was last in England?" she asked trying to establish what excatly was the last thing Khaat heard of her.

"Its a good thing he is more capable that he looks," she laughed, "Actually, Marcus's last assignment was as the primary bodyguard for the Minister of Magic for Bulgaria. I think he just missed decent fish and chips."

"Oh, that was it. Entirely," Marcus said sarcastically.

"Seriously, though," Khaat said, "It was because of James that my father hired Marcus late last summer. Marcus came highly recommended, and I think I understand why now. He's just downright inescapable."

"You've never mentioned wanting to escape me," he laughed. "I just know your attempts never work."

"They certainly don't," she said. She looked back at Mari. "Anyway, you know you're welcome anytime," Khaat told Mari. "And as much as I know its your way, you certainly don't need an invitation. Not as far as I'm concerned."

She listened to her say she was in Monterrey. Well, that explained where Jess had been too. She and Brian had thought of taking a vacation to Mexico, but they had been thinking of Cabo San Lucas.

Mari mentioned that her grandfather had passed. Khaat frowned. She hadn't heard that.

"No," Khaat said. "I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather. Was he ill?"

"Really? You've been to Bulgaria? I heard it's a beautiful country." Mari replied interested, she always wanted to visit one, or all of those countries on Balkan, but her trips took her to Mexico, France, Australia, Egypt, USA, but never to Bulgaria. She liked traveling. or rather seing different countries and cultures.

Haha, Mari contained her laughter at this. "Yes I'm sure, one thing though Bulgarians aswell as Britains fish, so in his place I would rather escape to Switzerland to get away from all the fish." she half-gigled.

Mari let tham bicker like little children and enjoyed the sight very much though without popcorn it wasn't the real expirience. How do these 2 spend every waking hour together without killing each other is a complete mistery. "You can expect my visit very soon K. I'll see where can I find a little time from my job, and Order trainings and Order meetings and my new good idea of studying French when I'm already this busy." she replied smiling as she started making plans of what to buy to her old neices and new nephews and neices.

"I wasn;t there when it happened. A neighbour called me from Monterey to tell me he had a heart attack. My grandfather was old, but he wasn't sick, I went to see him often after I finished school, if there was something I would have noticed it." she frowned hating when her healer insticts kicked in at very inapropriate times. "Anyway after I buried him, and started legal procedures for the ranch, I came back for a short while, mostly to see Jess and apologize. Our relationship was still strained back than, and I guess my grandpa's death made me vividly concious of our own mortality so I decided to talk with Jess sooner rather than later. After that it all went pretty quick, I knew the procedure for the inhertance of estate proprety in Mexico would be long and tiresome so we agreed to go together. The money was soon legally put on my name, but the fact that I didn't have a permanent residence in Mexico even though i am Mexican and British citezen, made things legally more complicated." she said going quickly through how she had to deal with British embassy in Mexico City to get all the papers they required, and even than the procedure itself lasted for an entire year. "Well anyway once i took possesion, we came back here. I still didn't make up my mind about selling it" she finished.

Wow that was the longest speech i ever made/ she thought to herself, she wouldn't find odd if Khaat fell asleep in the middle of her not so short speech.. "How familiar are you with the new apparation laws?" she asked trying to establish if what she thought she knew was correct.

"I lived in Bulgaria for a long time," Marcus said.

"Well, that's only part of the story," Khaat said. She looked at Mari with a bit of mischievous grin. "Here' the real story. Marcus's first wife was Elijah Krum's nanny and still works for the family. He kept the job and ditched the wife."

"Well, if that doesn't make me sound a bit heartless," he laughed. "But--I was originally on loan to the Bulgarian minister but they eventually made the assignment permanent. When the chance to come back to England came up, though, I decided having Khaat as a client was a refreshing change of pace that stuffy old men with stinky cigars. And, I have to say, there hasn't been a dull moment. I don't regret the change a bit."

He laughed when she said Bulgarians fish. "Its true. There are some good fish in Bulgaria, but they don't ever get the batter right. Not like good and proper British fish and chips."

"You always have entirely too many things going on at once," Khaat said to her, hearing the long list of things she was multitasking on. She listened to Mari talk about her grandfather and how she had gotten the estate in Mexico.

"There's nothing like having a place in warm weather. Brian and I bought a villa in Tuscany just after Abbey was born, but we're already having to add onto it. Brian wanted to just buy a bigger place, its on a small point, so it has a Mediterranean beach on three sides and quite a bit of land. Besides that, I really like it. So I talked Brian into just adding on."

She took a sip of her coffee when Mari asked about the apparition laws. "Apparition laws? What about them? That's not usually a question I get. I usually get asked about my opinion about the stinking marriage law. "

Mari listened them talking with great intrest. "Wow you guys are worse than gossip ladies in a park on sunny days." she announced amused. "Not to mention your life seems like a Mexican soap opera Marcus and trust me I've seen a lot of those." she added not sure if she was conveying right her degree of amusment.

"Do I look like someone who ever tried Bulgarian fish before Marcus? I did say they fish, but I can't compare their fish to ours since I never tried it. The fish in Mexico however is disgusting, and the fish in Australia and France are tasty, fish in Egypt however is good, but not as good as those 3." Mari laughed first at their bickering than at the topic of fish and at her big mouth too.

"The ranch is not merely a place to live at, it's fully functional estate with cows, horses, sheep and so on.. Having all those requires the food too. My grandfather has big production of milk and wool and meat." she corrected Khaat in her assumption. Maybe her friend didn't really realize the difficulty in keeping such a place especially for someone as inexpirienced as her. "I try hard, but if I don't find a permanent solution, selling won't be an option. I don't have funds to maintain such a large proprety especially if I start loosing profit from it." she explained thinking out loud more than actually to giving information on purpose.

Khaat's remark brought her to another topic she was worried about. "Yes that marriage law makes me happy that I've been married to Jess for almost 5 years. However I don't seem to understand the kids part?" she replied detouring from apparation laws since this was a more pressing issue.

"I do understand the problems you're dealing with," Khaat said. "My parents still own their farm--the place where I grew up. They still run it And since Brian and I got married, we've expanded our own estate. We have livestock and crops and orchards--and, its taken awhile, but Brian's made the estate entirely self sustaining. It sounds like perhaps what you need is a partner, even if its just an investing or an advising partner to help you as you work to take over the estate from your grandfather. I'm sure Brian wouldn't object to us helping you somehow."

Mari's question, though, about the marriage law was a good one--one she'd heard more than once.

"As I understand it, someone came up with some research that said that if the purebloods didn't start marrying out of their own bloodline that eventually the wizarding race would become extinct. So, someone there has used that research and made this foolish marriage law to get people to marry and to try to force wizards to have children.

"I don't see that there is any way that research could be actual because forcing purebloods to marry out of their bloodline would only dilute the wizarding race in time. At least that's how I understand it.

"But-whoever wrote the laws forged my father's signature on them and wrote the laws in such a way that my father is the only one who can rescind them--knowing he is on medical leave and isn't able to rescind anything. In the meantime, my best guess is that someone who is already on the inside at the ministry is working to get control of the entire ministry."

"We'll find out who it is and we'll put a stop to it, Khaat. They won't get away with it," Marcus reassured her.

"I know. But not only do we need to find out who it is but we also need to be able to prove it," she said.

"Brian's advise is always welcome. Perhaps I do need an investment partner, but K. have in mind that ranch is in Monterey. Maybe your husband doesn't want to leave you and your children for so long. You know the laws about inter-continental apparation. He would be obliged to be absent for a week every time he visits the ranch." Mari tried to pinpoint the problem to Khaat. If she could just apparate in and out of there whenever she liked, it would make things far simpler.

She stopped herself from snorting at that explenation. "That is just plain ridiculus. Wizzard race is growing with or without that law. What happens to couples who can't have children or the ones that have children, but live unmarried? We are in the 21st century after all. Do they simply divorce/marry tham or is there some other policy?" she asked trying to understand the complete picture even though nothing could make this law any less ridiculus.

"I don't know what's the procedure with laws here, but if you're father is still the Minister, is it possible for him to issue a new law that would annulate the previous one?" Mari asked thoughtful. That would not require them to proove that the first one was irregular. Then again she had no idea who was in charge of Ministry now..

"There are exceptions to that law," Khaat said. "Certain government officials can become exempt to that because of the nature of their work. I know my father and I both fall into that, and I believe Brian does too. But if Brian needs to go for a few days to help you with your estate, then I'm certainly fine with it. And we're well staffed enough at our place now that we'll be safe while he'd be gone.

"The marriage law applies to all single citizen within the age limits on the law. The law really doesn't care of two people have been living together or not. The ministry pairs two individuals of different blood types together for the purposes of marrying--for the purposes of having two children in two years.

"My understanding is that if someone within child bearing years is unable to have children, they are mandated to have medical treatment to resolve it or face Azkaban. The bottom line appears to be that they want people having children or in prison. One or the other.

"However, the law itself has to be rescinded. Either by revoking the current law or writing a new one that amends the other. And the way this one has been written, the only person in England with the power to do it is, by name, Robert Lupin. No one else."

"It would be most unwise for him to rescind the law now," Marcus said quietly to Mari. "Whoever is making this grab for power is most likely already inside in the Ministry. Its critical that Robert find whoever this is and stop them from not just this but whatever else they're doing. Rescinding the law is just only going to make the criminal go deeper into hiding. We have to find who this is and stop them for good. Not just temporarily."

"I suppose nurses don't fall under that category." Mari grimaced at that. "I'll talk to Jess about it, one of us would have to go with him since the ranch is on both of our names right now. I can't ask for days off right now, I just got back, it's an abuse to ask for favors." she replied gratefully. "I'll talk to him and find Brian when we decide. The ranch will be fine for 2,3 months at least." she added drinking her tea to he bottom.

Mari haven't heard about that new amendment to the law. "Two children in 2 years!? Is that even physically possible? I mean it's a great risk to have 2 children in such a short period of conception in between." she asked alarmed. Her and Jess wanted children, but she wasn't pregnant yet or at least she thought she wasn't. She would have noticed the symptoms, after all she was a healer.

The prison was in store for her for sure and she didn't very much like that idea. "I hope we can resolve this situation soon, that law is ridiculus by all standards and I don't look forward to a trip to Azkaban.." she shuddered at the thought. Dementors and her parents' screams were on the menu if she set a foot in that place.

"How do you find somebody who doesn't want to be found? I mean is there anywhere we could start or we just go in blindly hoping for luck? It is someone very cunning if he managed to pull this off and not get caught." Mari was adressing Marcus now. The whole situation seemed to get even more confusingly complicated with every new piece of information.

((OOC:Ughhh.. I need to find Jess and soon, he said he was coming back, and I don't look forward to Mari ending up in prison..))

"Well," Khaat said, "for now, if you would perhaps just send Brian a topographical map of your estate with your buildings marked on it, that would let him at least get a look at the land, the layout, and the natural resources you have. That would give him a head start. Then, whenever you decide to go there, he might have some ideas for you.

"The two children in two years wouldn't normally be safe for muggles, but, two things there. First, as wizards we can provide better medical care and reduce risk. So, for us, it is more possible to do it safely than if we were muggles. The second half of the answer to your question is that whoever wrote the law honestly cannot care if its safe or not to create those guidelines. What they care about, I think, is diluting the wizarding bloodlines--weakening the magical world. If one is stronger than one's enemies, he has a definite advantage. Whoever it is just simply doesn't care."

"Mari," Marcus said, "you look like a smart woman. When have you ever known of Khaat to see that sort of injustice and do nothing?" He wasn't at liberty to say that Robert knew and was taking it all very seriously. He didn't want to mention Robert's name in public because he didn't want to put any of Robert's thoughts or intentions at risk. If Mari knew the family like she said she did, though, she would surely know that Robert had a plan. He was never without a plan.