Small Packages

"Yeah, well, she wanted to prove she could make it on her own, I think," Angus said to James.  "I'm glad she's a strong woman. She's got to be if she's going to be with me. Living with an auror isn't easy business. I can't promise I'll be safe, and she knows that. But I think she knows I'll make sure she and Rose are safe, no matter what."

Angus agreed, they needed to go to Bella's old apartment. When they apparated there, Angus simply walked into the building, quickly, not wanting to give any warning. He heard voices for a brief moment in the upstairs hallway of the apartment building, but then, just as quickly, the voices stopped.  

Angus pointed to the upstairs to James, knowing that he'd definitely heard something upstairs.  He raced up the stairs, hearing running footsteps ahead of him. When he reached the upper hallway, he saw the door of Bella's old apartment was ajar and then he saw it slam shut.  

He wasn't giving them a second chance. He ran down the hallway and simply blasted open the door and went in. He saw the three Grundge brothers, with a whole new collection of palantirs on shelves all around the room.  And on the table in the center of the room were pieces of clothing that Angus knew belonged to Bella. Toys that had belonged to Rose that he knew they hadn't been able to find when he'd moved them to the estate. Now he knew why. It had been easy to simply chalk those things off as being misplaced. Certainly small children lost toys, and clothes often went into the wash and didn't seem to come back for some odd reason. He had been wrong. In the chaos of daily life, he'd taken things for granted, and he'd missed something important. Clearly, they'd been taking little things from Bella all along while she'd lived here--hopefully things she wouldn't easily miss. A sock, a scarf, an earring, a small toy, a hair ribbon. Little things, but they added up.

And then he saw something else. Photos and paperweights. A letter opener, a crystal bud vase. A cold wave of dread went over him. These were things that belonged to Khaat. Things that, over the years, had simply disappeared off her desk.  

He scanned the images in the palantirs and knew he was seeing flashes of the estate. Flashes of the cabin that Bella and Rose sometimes still stayed in. Flashes of light that he knew all too well were the leaded glass windows in the main house at the estate. They had actually penetrated their visions into the main estate. His home, his safe haven. His family--being stalked.  And he wasn't having it.

Laughter came from one of the Grundge brothers at the table.

"Day late and a galleon short, aren't you, Donohue?" he asked. "We're already in. I know you see it."

Angus flung himself at the man and slammed him to the floor.

"Bad move, Mate," Angus hissed. "You have no idea how bad this is going to get." The Grundge brothers were about to have to face not only him and James Watson, which was certainly bad enough. Now they were also going to have to deal with Brian's rage at having his home violated, and Robert's cold, calculating way of dealing with those who had dared to try to touch his family. The Grundge brothers were now seriously outnumbered by a whole platoon of husbands and fathers--men who were about to be very angry..

And the man he had pinned to the floor just kept laughing.

"More than likely with my daughter she has a strong will like her mother." He said chuckling softly. "Yeah, well I'm glad she's with a man who can keep her and Rose safe. True, it isn't easy. I remember when Jennifer's father was alive, he was a very difficult man."

He walked in behind Angus his wand at the ready. He heard voices as well coming from upstairs but they had stopped when they came in. He had a weird feeling when they had came in and couldn't help but wonder what was giving him this feeling.

He looked upstairs when Angus pointed and nodded to him. He took off after Angus started racing up the stairs, hearing the footsteps in the front as well. He looked around then heard a door slam shut and looked at it seeing that it was Bella's old apartment.

He ran down the hall with Angus keeping on his tail to make sure he covered the man's back. Going in after him and looked at the three Grundge brothers with new palantirs on the shelves. He saw the items on the table and he saw red, he couldn't believe that they would prey on his family like this.

He looked at the other two Grundge brothers who were standing behind the one laughing.

The second Angus slammed the man to the ground, he immobilized one of them as he took the other down by force. He pinned him down with his face pressed against the hardwood floors. He made sure that he had the man's arms pinned behind his back. Ropes flew out of his wand binding the man so he couldn't move and the ropes were extremely tight.

He pointed his wand at the other and ropes flew from it again. The ropes were just as tight on him causing a little bit of blood around the ropes. He wanted to kick all of them and he wasn't in the mood to play fair with these men. He wanted to end them for good so they would never harm another living soul.

"Laugh all you want you bloody coward. You won't be laughing when I'm through with you." He said to the man who was being pinned down by Angus. "I may just use you as target practice and it will hurt like hell. I'll make sure that you feel everything then I'll heal you and do it all over again. You hurt my family I hurt yours."

"Not a bad idea," Angus said. He got up and pulled the man up to his feet. He was about to secure him when he heard more footsteps on the stairs outside. Was there a fourth to this mess?

Before he could respond, a dark figure came into the room, with a strong, commanding stride. Angus looked at the figure. Dark dementor's cloak, hood pulled up, and where the face mask was supposed to be was no face at all. Just an empty, gaping dark shadow. Angus didn't move, still clutching the Grundge brother. He had no intention of interfering with this figure he knew.

The figure made a sweeping motion with his hand, and it blew everything off the table. A swiping motion with his wand sent the table flying off the other direction.

"This is about to get to get unfortunate," Angus said with quiet anger to the man he held fast. Angus glanced back at the figure and had just enough time to let go of the man he held before the figure fired at the Grundge brother and pin him fast to the wall. The dark figure clutched one black gloved hand around Grundge's throat.

"You're a Death Eater?" Grundge shrieked at Angus.

"No, but you're about to wish I were," Angus said, with a satisfied smile. He turned back to Watson, content to leave the last Grundge brother in the hands of the dark figure. "You're alright, then, Watson?"

James got off the man who he had pinned down since he was secure. "Yeah, it.." He stopped when he heard footsteps in the stairwell outside.

He looked at the brothers and was about to ask how many there were but he saw the figure come in like a commanding force. There was no face with the hood was pulled up of the dementor's cloak on it had on. He didn't know what it was but he didn't dare get into the man's way.

Moved out of the way of the objects flying off the table, one glancing off his thigh but luckily it wasn't anything harmful. He watched the table fly in the other direction and he seriously wanted to know who this was so he never made the figure made.

Seeing everything that the figure was doing made James glad that he wasn't on the receiving end of the power behind it. He made sure that he was completely out of the figure's way just in case, he looked over at Angus trying to see if the man knew who it was.


"Yeah I'm fine," He said to Angus who had been smiling but he lowered his voice. "Do you know who that is? All I know though is I don't want to be on the receiving end of that." He said looking towards where the figure had the Grundge brother pinned against the wall.

"I do," Angus replied. "Don't worry. He's an ally..." He saw a flash of a wand in Grundge's hand. "Wand! No!" he shouted to alert Watson and the dark man. Grundge intended to fire upon the dark man, who blocked the shot, but when Grundge saw his wand fire wasn't going to hit the dark figure, he made a quick twist of his wrist and fired swiftly and nonverbally on Angus.

All Angus knew was that he'd been hit. Things instantly jolted through him, like a dark current of electricity, and then it all went black, all in the fraction of a moment. His mind flashed to Bella and all the dreams he'd had that, right now, felt like they were all gone, as if he'd never be coming home again. He didn't realize he was falling until his head bounced against the stone floor.

The dark figure saw the wandfire hit Angus and saw Angus fall like a rock, motionless. The figure fired his wand into Grundge and transfigured him into a cockroach. He drew a jar from his pocket and put the roach in the jar. He quickly followed by turning the other two Grundge brothers into roaches and dropped them into the same jar and put the lid on the jar and handed the jar to Watson.

Then the dark figure went to Angus and laid one hand on Angus's chest and one on his forehead. It took a moment, but finally, Angus started to breathe and coughed and woke.

The dark man stood up and then offered Angus a hand up. Still hurting, Angus was glad for the assist. He knew that an instant more, and he'd have not been going home to Bella today. Or any other day. He was likely to hurt for a few days, he knew, but that was far better than the alternative.

"Almost too bloody late, weren't you?" Angus scowled at cloaked man. Then Angus looked around and didn't see any of the Grundges. He sighed, frustrated, thinking they got away. The dark man pointed to the jar. Angus started to laugh. "That never gets old, does it? Seems fitting enough for them. For now, anyway. You want to keep them, Watson? Or shall we turn them in? I don't think anyone is going to miss them if we leave them that way."

"Well that's good." He said looking at the dark figure. He heard Angus should wand and immediately put up a shield to block in case the man wanted to hit him. He saw the man's wrist twist but he was quick to fire a shot at Angus. He felt like it was in slow motion when he saw it going towards Angus.

He saw it hit him so he began running towards him seeing his falling backwards to the ground. He ran to him after he hit the ground, "Angus?!" He shouted trying to figure out what it was that he was hit with. He had no idea because the man never said anything when he fired the shot.

He looked over at the figure who starting turning the brothers into roaches and putting them into a jar. He took the jar that he was handed and placed it on the floor next to Angus. He watched the figure placing his hands on Angus' chest and head. He thanked the lucky stars that Angus started breathing and woke up from what it was that happened to him.

James stood up after the figure helped Angus up on his feet, he took the jar with him as he stood. "Well lucky he was here with you I wouldn't have known what to bloody do. Except try to find someone to heal you." He said with a slight frown at the circumstances of what happened here. "Merlin's no. I'd rather feed them to a bird than keep them anywhere near me. I doubt it considering they were pests in human form, now they are pests for real. Is there anything else beside a bird that eats roaches?" He said shaking the glass lightly sending them flying all over the jar.

"He's a decent ally to have--at times," Angus said with a slight sarcastic jab towards the dark figure. "When he's not catching bugs instead." The figure shook a finger at him for a moment and then diverted his attention to exploring the palantirs on the shelves.

"Oh sure," Angus said, answering Watson about the bugs "Frogs like 'em. Toads. Lizards..." He watched the bugs getting agitated as Angus talked about things that would eat them. Somehow it didn't bother him a bit that they were now a bit nervous. "Told them things were about to get unfortunate.  As it is, we could just leave them that way--indefinitely. They'll live a long and harmless life in there. But then again, maybe Bella would like to see for herself that we got them."  He looked and saw the three wands that the brothers left behind.

"These rightfully belong to you now," he picked them up and handed them to Watson.  "They won't be needing them. Do with them what you will..." He was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass. He turned and saw the figure had tossed one of the palantirs onto the floor and shattered it.

"You leaving any of them?" Angus asked. The figure shook his head. "Then I think Watson and I can certainly handle breaking the rest of these. You want to take custody of the jar?" The figure picked up the jar and left as quickly as he came.

"I'm sure he's sorry he didn't feel he could identify himself," Angus said. "Its not clothing he usually wears. Sometimes its best, though. I trust him, though. I trust him with my life.  Seems to me that as long as he's got them in that jar, you're all safe from them.

"I know this is going to sound excessive, but I don't want this property to have a chance of ever coming back into Bella's life. It would be far better if this building were demolished so that there is no trace of it for anyone to ever use against her or Rose ever again."  He had full intention of finding the seedy little man who owned the building, trying to offer him enough to buy the property, and then raize it to the ground.

(angus will tell bella who the figure was, but he doesn't feel at liberty to tell her dad--not quite yet anyway.)

"Seems like he came in at a good time." He said with sigh of relief. He laughed when Angus said when the man was catching bugs. "Depends on what kind of bugs." He said with a smile.

"Well that ironic I have a pet lizard at home that really likes bugs. These guys might make a good snack for him. He likes to play with them first make them think they'll get away then he attacks." He said making up the whole pet lizard thing wanting to watch them squirm in the jar. "Yeah well they shouldn't have messed with family. Well maybe, I might do something every now and then I might pop in just to freak them out." He gave the jar another shake with a satisfied grin as he watched them all fall on their backs struggling to flip over.

He took the wands looking at them. "I have no use for them, I'll figure out a way to get rid of them." He said the looked over at the figure tossing a palantirs to the floor.

"Yeah I will definitely will enjoy shattering all of these and making sure they are completely broken." He said looking at all of them. He watched the figure pick up the jar and leave quickly impressed with his quickness.

"It's okay, I understand." He said with a smile. "Seems like it pulls it off pretty well. Scary looking figure dressed in dementor black. That'd scare anyone within a twenty foot radius of him, it sure enough scared them boys. Good, let's just hope they are smart enough to stay right where they are."

"I understand, let's get rid of these palantirs then I'll see what I can find in the computer in office downstairs." He said looking at several of the palantirs before swiping five off the shelf and shattering them on the floor. He started working around busting all of the ones he found making sure they were all destroyed. "I can get the name of owner to the building and talk to him about destroying this place." He looked at the items they had collected from his daughter and granddaughter he sighed softly.

((OOC: Okay ))

"He finds it necessary from time to time," Angus said. That was about as much of a hint as he felt free to give Watson just then. He was sure that anybody that had managed to keep a training room hidden from his own wife in a garden shed understood about secrets.

"Just snap the wands in half if you want to destroy them," Angus said. "They're bloody useless then. I actually don't keep most of the ones I get stuck with. Occupational hazard, I'm afraid." He saw Watson picking up Bella's and Rose's things. "I think I'll leave those with you," Angus said. "I think Bella's had enough nastiness for one day, don't you?" He began picking up some of the things from Khaat's office.

"These belong to Khaat Lupin," he told Watson. "They sat on her desk at St. Mungos for a long time, and one by one, things just disappeared. Khaat never pursued any of them because none of them were worth much. She chalked it off to petty thievery. Looks like Mr. Belby will need to improve the enchantments on her office."

He helped Watson blow up the rest of the palantirs. "If Bella's right in her assessment of the landlord, he's a pathetic, money hungry little weasel. He won't be so agreeable to destroying the place. I'm betting the only way to get rid of this place is to buy the property from him and then tear it down."

When the palantirs were all broken, Angus took a good look through the rest of the apartment to make sure there was nothing else that had been stolen or left behind. He saw nothing.

"It's looking pretty clean to me right now. And, with the Grundges apprehended, you and your wife might be able to breathe a little easier. Might not need to rush to sell your home if you don't want to. It's served your family well for a long time, after all. I think it looks good here for right now. Shall we head for home, then?"

"Well it came in handy today." He said understanding the fact that the man wanted to remain hidden. "Tell him I said thank you."

"I think I'll do just that, I don't want these wands anywhere near my home." He said breaking them in half and placing them on a shelf. "I don't have much use for wands that I'm forced to take from anyone. Well that's understandable that you don't keep half of them." He saw him pick up Bella and Rose's things but didn't know if there was anything wrong with them. "I think these would be best to be destroyed just to be sure. I'll buy replacements for Bella." He said looking at them. "Yeah I think she has had enough for one day. Hopefully for a while at least."

"I wonder how they got past the enchantments on her office. It doesn't make any sense why they'd take her things." He said looking at Khaat's things then looked around the area they were in.

"The landlord is more than likely was just someone who ran the place not the one who owned it." He said looking around for anymore palantirs. "Well that will work if I can find the owner of the building."  

"Good, let's just hope they don't have anyone else. Yeah we might be able to breathe a little easier. I'm still gonna sell the house just to be sure. It will ease my worries if we moved back to our old street. I'm gonna head to the office downstairs and find the owner of the home then give him a call tomorrow about this building." He said as he headed towards the door of the apartment. "You can go home if you want, it won't take me long to get the information then get out." He said before heading out of the apartment then walking downstairs to the office. He looked around the office with his wand out in case someone was in there but saw no one. He went to the computer did a few tricks before he pulled the owners name and swore under his breath. He printed out the owners name and number shaking his head as he pulled the paper from the printer. "Mosley you have some explaining to do." He said to himself looking at the sheet.