Bollixed

"You're just in time," he told her. "The others will be flooding in, in a moment." He handed her a plate. "Here.  Help yourself. I had a bite in the kitchen while I was cooking.  Brian is going to go with me into London this morning. I've got to stop at Ollivander's and get a new wand. They don't work well when they're broken in two."  


He poured himself a half a cup of coffee. "Archangel should be back any time now.  Do me a favor and stay here til I get back, would you?..." His words were cut off by the sound of porting. Someone new was arriving.


He was going to go check it out, but before he could the 6'6" cutting figure of his grandfather walked into the dining room, and he had two five gallon buckets with him.


"Nonno!" he had reverted to his Italian without thinking. His grandfather set the bucket on the floor, and the two men embraced.  "What brings you here?"

"Your brothers had an exceptional haul this morning, so I brought you the best off the boat. Fish, spiney lobster, scallops, mussels, shrimp, crab, the best of the lot. You know what I was thinking..."


"Cioppino!" Angus's face brightened.  "You'll stay, won't you?"


"For your cioppino, certainly," Edward beamed. He saw Isobella there. "Isobella, good morning. Good to see you again.  How's Rose?"


"If you'll excuse me for a moment, I want to go get something more appropriate for my trip to London," Angus saId, deciding to leave Isobella for a moment to talk with his grandfather.

Bella smiled at Angus' words and said, "It looks great Angus." She said taking the plate from him. "Ok, I'm glad you'll have someone going with you." She laughed softly at his words about broken wands not working really well. "Yeah that does tend to happen when they are broken in two." She went and grabbed herself a cup of coffee to help wake her up.

"Remember you owe him a whole fish," Bella said remembering his words from last night to Archangel. "I'll be here when you get back." She looked over at Edward when he walked into the dining room. She grinned hearing Angus talk in Italian and embrace his grandfather.

She looked at the buckets and grinned remembering that Angus got fresh seafood from his grandfather. "Good morning. It's good to see you as well. She's good. I'll be picking her up today from my mother's house. How's everyone back in Tuscany? Rose keeps asking about them constantly. How have you been?" She asked smiling at him. She nodded when Angus excused himself to go get something. Standing there with his grandfather alone, wondering what to say to him. Half the time she didn't know what to say to Angus' grandfather and the other half she tried to make small talk. Today she had no idea what to say to him but she was going to attempt to make small talk with him. "Angus' brothers seem to have got a great amount of catch today." She said not knowing quite what to say.

"My family talks about you both constantly," Edward smiled. "Angus doesn't bring many people to the compound. We loved having you.  There's one thing our family never tires of, and that's more people, more family. The bigger, the better. I suppose thats why my little house eventually grew into this big family compound. We never get tired of one another."


"Oh, breakfast. I think I'll have a look." He saw the cinnamon rolls and laughed. "I think he needs to make them bigger," he teased. He took one and a cup of tea. 


"We make a good living off the fishing boats," he told her.  "But today's catch hat not only a big haul but the quality was just exceptional. So, I helped myself to the best of it and brought it here for you lot. I don't think Angus made cioppino while you were there. It really isn't an Italian soup, you know. Its an American thing. But Angus really does a fine job with it.


"Tell me,though. He's not one to dress for appearances. He looked fine to me. Why does he need to change to go run errands in Diagon Alley?" he asked her.

"We loved being there, your family is wonderful. We didn't want to leave but we knew we had to come back here though." Bella said smiling softly as she took another sip of her coffee. "Sometimes it's nice having such a big family. I know I would to love to have a family that big. Being around everyone there made me want a bigger family."

She laughed when he said they needed to be bigger. "I can't even get through an entire roll. They are delicious though, I always have to have one when I'm here for breakfast." She said as she grabbed one then and began put it on the plate she held before placing it on the table.

"I bet the catch in the buckets looks amazing." She said going over to it and looking in before going back to where Edward was. "That's great. I'm glad that your catch was exceptional today. No he didn't make cioppino while I was there. It sounds good though."

His question had her looking down at her coffee. "He's helping me break my lease today. I've been having issues with my landlord who hasn't been the kindest person. He wasn't the landlord when I first moved into the apartment I live now. He came after the other one was let go because they didn't want her there anymore. Basically the man has been stalking me and last night I had a bad feeling. That's when i ran into him last night. I told him that I had a bad feeling about going home and he brought me here." She said her eyes still on her coffee when she finished telling him.

Edward put his plate and the teacup on the table as she told him about her difficulties with her landlord. Then Edward understood. Angus was undoubtedly trading the casual denims for something a bit more foreboding. He intended to threaten.  Well played, Edward thought.


Suki came in and saw the fish buckets.  "Oooh!" She opened the lids. "Lovely! But it needs to be on ice straight away." She cast a spell on the buckets and Edward presumed she apparated them to the kitchen. "Watch the negative energy in here, would you, Mr. Donohue," she instructed him, as she trotted out of the room.


That hadn't been lost on Edward. Edward was a seer, and there was something that had riled his instincts a bit, made him a bit more on alert. And then, when she told her tale of the landlord, Edward knew that was what it was about.


He didn't have time to say anything before the others came in, and went straight to the sideboard, chattering and filling their plates. They were delighted to see Isobella and him there, of course, and they all welcomed them. 

Angus came back downstairs dressed in black, his night wear.  


"Who are we battling?" Robert asked when he saw him.


"Nobody," Angus said. "Its for appearances."


"Mind if I tag along?" Edward asked.  Angus looked at him, not expecting it.


"Tag along?" he asked.


"Yeah. As in, go with. Unless you object," Edward responded. "I'm always up for a good spook patrol."


"You would be," Robert teased the famous werewolf slayer. 


"Suit yourself," Angus said, swallowing the last sip of his now very cold coffee.


"Thank you. I intended to," Edward said, with a grin, not easily put off. He loved action, and this sounded like fun. He looked at Bella. "I think we should be able to sufficiently scare the living daylights out of him and get him off your trail, don't you think?"

Bella wrapped her hands around the cup clearing her thoughts of the man from her. The chill felt like it was going to wrap around her. So instead she started thinking about Tuscany instead not wanting let the man taint today or ever again.

She looked at Suki when she said something about negative energy and for Edward to watch for it. She wondered if she was the one who was responsible for it, she shifted uneasily as she watched everyone come in. She took a deep breath and steadied herself as she sat down knowing talking further was impossible now.

She smiled and was so happy seeing everyone again, she enjoyed the talk that went around the table.

When she saw Angus come in wearing all black she smiled softly at him. She heard Robert ask who he was battling and that it was just for show. Her eyes widened slightly when Edward asked to go with them. She wasn't expecting his grandfather to join in with Angus to go talk to her landlord.

She smiled at Edward and said, "Yeah I believe so Mr. Donohue, I don't envy anyone coming up against you." She laughed softly as she took another sip of her coffee.

Angus couldn't help smiling when he came back and saw her looking at him.  He did think perhaps he saw just a trace of anxiety there, though.


"Don't worry," he said. "You're right. There aren't a lot of wizards that aren't intimidated by one almost seven foot tall.  We'll be back before you have the chance to miss us."


"Well, that depends on how long it takes you to pick out a wand," Brian laughed.


"I'm only going to keep these boys in line," Edward teased Isobella. "We'll be back soon."


The three of them ported out and went to Isobella's apartment building.  They saw the curtains move in the downstairs apartment.


"He knows we're here," Angus said.


"They," Edward corrected. "They know."


"They?" Angus frowned.


"There's more than one," Edward said. "Dark energies. Something's not right."


"That's what Bella said," Angus said quietly.


"And she was right, but in more ways than she knew," Edward said.


The three of them entered the building, and as they stood in the foyer, they heard footsteps overhead. Angus frowned. That placed the footsteps in Bella's apartment. He lurched forward to run up the stairs, and Edward clutched his arm, stopping him.  He pointed silently instead to the landlord's door. 


Leveling his wand, Edward fired a spell and blew open the door. The three of them entered the apartment and saw a weasel-looking man with horn rimmed glasses, sitting at a table. He was urgently pouring over a series of palantirs.


"Holy mother of Merlin," Brian was stunned, looking around.  "Look." He pointed to the walls. Angus and Edward looked around to see the walls lined with shelves, and the shelves lined with hundreds of palantirs of all sizes and colors. 

Edward walked around the room, looking at the hundreds of crystal balls. He turned around, looking at the man at the table, who was now staring wide eyed at them.  Edward simply walked over to him and picked him up by the collar, lifting him off the floor


"Where is he!" he demanded.


"I...I don't know what you're talking about!" the man stammered. Edward pointed to Brian to go upstairs. Brian ran up and found Bella's apartment door ajar. He went in and found another man--a twin of the man downstairs.  

Downstairs, Edward pointed to the palantirs. Angus looked and saw, in the palantirs, Brian as he stood in Bella's apartment.   Angus felt sick and outraged both. Twin brothers, spying on Bella. He recognized the angle. It could only be from the mirrors in her apartment. It was the only way. He leveled his wand at the man his grandfather was detaining.


"You wouldn't let him kill me!" the man said desperately to Edward.


"Oh, sure I would," Edward said coldly.  They secured the twin brothers, and summoned aurors to take them.  Angus was not going to let Bella's things stay there one more moment. Edward agreed.


Angus sent Bella a quick owl to try to keep her from worrying between now and noon. It merely read:


We've reached an understanding. Your lease is over. Got some things to do now, but we'll be home by lunch.

Angus was determined to leave nothing undone. Brian and Edward agreed.


It was just 17 minutes past 12 noon when the three of them ported back to the estate.  It had been a good morning's work. They'd taken just 30 minutes to stop at the Leaky for a quick drink before heading home, but they purposely made it quick.


When they got back to the estate, they were smiling and laughing about how bloody long it had taken him in Ollivanders, just as Brian had predicted it might.

Bella smiled softly still concerned about them going to meet with her landlord. "I'll try not to worry but it's kinda hard considering." She said then smiled at his comment. "Be safe."

She laughed at Edward's words and said, "Make sure they don't cause too much ruckus."

Once they left she excused herself from the table and headed out to the garden hoping to calm her nerves. She paced once out there among the flowers and it only seemed to make her nerves worse. Deciding to just walk the estate she took off in a direction hoping to calm herself enough. Her hands shook only slightly as she walked the estates land which was vast.

She was walking halfway through her walk when an owl came flying towards her. Holding out her arm to the bird to allow it to land she took the letter from it. "Go to the kitchen and see if someone can get you a treat." She said to the owl which took off for the kitchen. Opening the note and reading Angus' words she felt better knowing that he was safe.

Turning around she began making her way back to the house. She clutched the note in her hand as she walked her shoulders no longer felt like the held the weight of everything. She walked back to the garden and sat down on the grass near the flowers. She took a deep breath, breathing in the scent that the flowers gave off. It began calming her more as she took deep cleansing breaths.

Her anxiety was under control once more when they returned back to the estate. Taking one long last look at the flowers she stood up and walked back in the house. Hearing their laughter upon entering she walked towards it quickly. Seeing them there laughing and that they were all okay she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Welcome back." She said with a small smile.

She had worried the whole time he was gone, he could tell. He gave her a reassuring smile.

"It's all good," he said to her.


"What'd you find out?" Robert, who'd come home for lunch, asked.


"Grundge brothers," Brian said.  "Up to some rather foul games, but we've got them both in custody now. And enough palantirs to keep the department of mysteries confounded for weeks."


"Wait," Robert said, halting, "Both?"


"Yeah. Rupert and Randal," Brian said.


"There's just one problem with that," Robert said, still frowning.


"What's that?"


"The Grundge boys are a rare set of identical wizarding triplets. You missed one," Robert said.  "Roger Grundge."


"There were only beds and clothes for two," Angus said.


"Roger won't be far, I promise you. They're inseparable," Robert said. "How are they involved in this?"


"They were posing as one landlord," Edward said. Robert thought for a moment and looked at Bella.

"Figures. Typical Grundge nonsense. You were very lucky to get out when you did," Robert told her. "They're petty criminals, but they are...unpleasant to women. They can't get a date to save their lives, any of them, and they're always trying some version of a get rich quick scheme that they hope, in some twisted way, is going to land them a girl. 


"In this case, this is nothing about you," Robert said to Bella, "Nothing you did or didn't do. This is about them and their own little bizarre ideas.  They're not that bright, actually, if you think about it. Their normal modus operandi to try to get a girl's attention are trying to do something espionage-like with a great lot of Zonko's chained together in some crazy way. And they're complete snivelling cowards around any man with any drive. More than likely those three scared a few years off their lives. Still, you would be very wise to not go back to that building."


"She doesn't have to," Angus said. He looked at her. "The reason we were late getting back was that we packed up all your things and got them out and put them in storage where they'll be safe. All but your wall mirrors. We took those to the Ministry to let the Department of Mysteries check them out to be sure they're undamaged."

"Bella, it may take a few days to catch Roger, but we'll get him," Robert said. "They're a trio of little idiots, and, on their own, they get frantic and are easier to find. You might consider letting me helping you to arrange some time off from the Leaky until we've got Roger too. I'd rather you and Rose be here and safe."


"I'll get Rose," Angus said. "I don't know your mother, but Rose knows me."


"She certainly knows me, too" Edward laughed, remembering the hours he spent with Rose in Tuscany. "I'd be delighted to go along and get her."

"This is 'grandfather code,'"Angus said to Bella. "He intends to be a part of getting Rose, no matter what. He gets to protect her from Grundge and spoil her at the same time. The greatest danger that child will face on the way home is an overdose of chocolates."

Bella nodded at Angus' words and went over to him. She hugged him briefly mentally assuring herself that everything was fine. She then listened in to what happened and was floored by the information. Then it dawned on her the first time the man began following her.

"Well that explains a lot when he first...or rather they started following me. At first I didn't think it was possible and I thought I was seeing things because one of them was always in that apartment." She said remembering it then shook her head to clear the memories of it.

When Robert said there were three of them she thought of something. "You said that Roger wouldn't be far from his brothers right? I think the top floor needs to be checked. The top floor of the building is still under construction. The previous landlord wanted to remodel the apartments on that floor because they looked out of shape. Maybe he's hiding up there," She offered wondering if it was possible to be more creeped out by her 'landlords'.

Looking at Robert when he started talking to her she nodded. "I'm glad that I did get out when I did, otherwise I don't know what would have happened." She said not wanting to think about it. "Oh I don't have any intentions of going there any time soon. The only thing I need from my apartment is my furniture and things."

She looked at Angus when he said that she didn't need to worry about that. Hearing that he took her mirrors to the ministry had her suck in a breath. "They were watching me through my mirrors weren't they?" She said her voice barely a whisper. She immediately wrapped her arms around herself. She shook her head at the thoughts running through her mind.

"Yeah sometime off from work will probably help me. I'll just have to send an owl off to Declan and ask for some time." She said trying to keep her mind off everything else.

Hearing Angus say that he would go get Rose had Bella biting her lower lip. "Uh, if you go get her you'll have to deal with a million questions from my mother. She'll ask why your getting Rose and not me. Then she'll ask more probing questions. She doesn't ask twenty questions it's more like ten million questions." She said trying not to laugh because she could imagine her mother interrogating him.

"Rose would be happy to see you Edward. She calls you paw paw." She said laughing softly, "She loved all the time she got to spend with you."

She laughed at Angus' words knowing that they would take good care of her daughter. "I'm sure she wouldn't complain. Though she'll probably tell you all about what she wants for her birthday." She said remembering that she was going to have to figure out when she could get to diagon alley. "Speaking of which I need to get to Diagon Alley sometime this week."