The Round Table

Kip Parsons had just put the finishing touches on his letter to Katarina, a sickness in his heart as he told her there was no way he could leave the country now, and his trip to visit her at university would have to be postponed. Part of him felt his chance, whatever that chance was, slipping away. He was so proud that she was heading off the find herself and to contribute to the world as an artist – it was exactly what they had been encouraging her to do since they first met her. It was only with a touch of irony that he realized now how hard it was to see her go.

He pulled on a shirt over the tank top he had been wearing and gave his hair another once over before sliding a belt on. Within a matter of moments, he was stepping onto the street, deciding to take advantage of the morning by paying Kenna a visit. Rory would probably be hungover, and Yuri and Remy off at their respective places. He liked going to the farmer’s market with Kenna on Saturday mornings, as she ranted and raved about Remy and Rory, and complained about business, and sighed about a life she was certain would never find her. In another life, he might have loved Kenna. She was sweet and simple and devastatingly clever in ways only those who loved her could see. But in this life, Kenna was a sister to him. And, in this life, he liked darker-haired brunettes.

He had just slipped into the pub and exchanged a smile with her from across the way as she conducted the morning inventory. She held up a finger and turned, and he watched as the cord of the ancient phone wrapped around her, her soft features distorting as she delved into the Scottish fury to demand a fairer price on new mugs.

Something compelled him to turn around and when he did, he spotted a familiar silvery wolfhound alighting on the floorboards. Instantly, he felt himself stand at attention as the dog gathered itself and sat down before him. For a long time, it stared at him. And then it opened its mouth and did something most patronuses didn’t do. It barked.

He knew what it meant and when he turned ‘round to locate Kenna, he could see by her tired but accepting face that she knew he had to go. Mouthing a sorry, he walked out the door, as the patronus faded into mist.

Gabby was hungover, but he had still popped by mum’s. She was shrinking, these days, and he was worried for the day where he would come only to find her to be something out a fairytale, impossibly small. All of her ailments, explained and unexplained, were all working against poor Lenora’s, who life of hardship had already rendered her weaker than most. Without Callie there to help her, Lenora would have probably been gone by now. And all of Gabby’s own personal anguish would pale in comparison to the pain of losing his devoted mother.

So he visited and sat with her and held her hand and told her some lies about how well he was doing and how happy he was. She didn’t seem like she would remember much of it, so he even attempted to talk about his reconciliation with his father (would never happen), the great times he was having with Max (not anymore, thanks Jack), and the excitement he had about his current girlfriend (no such woman). Her gentle, if somewhat dreamy, pleasure at these tidings left him feeling sick as he stepped out of her cottage to let her sleep.

He needed to get home, he knew that. But he found himself standing in the middle of her garden, smoking a cigarette. His eyes wandered to the window, where he could see Callie dimming the lights in his mother’s room, before they travelled across the way to the kids playing in their own garden. He blew smoke into the air and that’s when the patronus entered the garden.

“Oh, noooo. Leave me alone!”

The patronus walked forward, sitting down out of reach. “C’mon, I don’t want to-“ The patronus barked and he leaned forward. “F*ck off! Yeah?” The Patronus blinked and barked again. Gabby swatted out at the patronus only to have it disappear. The children were staring at him, unable to see any creature over the garden walls and he could not help but sneer in their direction.

They all happened to land outside the nightclub at roughly the same time. Kip, Keiran, Frank, and Gabby. There was no sign of Fred, odd but not horribly unusual, and of course no sign of Robin or Mira, but that was unfortunately to be expected. There was that all too familiar rumble of men greeting each other in their civil, all-too-casual way before Gabby squinted. “Isn’t showing up here at day a bit against the reasons we use it as a cover.”

“She’s leasing it out for business functions in the day,” Kip explained, opening the door. Indeed, inside was some sort of mixer, a makeshift table here or there, and it all seemed a bit jarring when one knew the grinding and gyrating that had happened the night before.

Kip led the way upstairs and to the room that served their purposes, right past the room no one was allowed into. Kip stepped in and barely managed to suppress a grin. My, she had to make an impression didn’t she.

All the boards were up, with pictures of known criminals plastered everywhere, as well as some other pictures the Kip couldn’t even hazard a guess to their relevance. Maps, maps, everywhere, as well as random words he supposed they were supposed to use to generate ideas. On top of that were articles and articles, spanning the length from potions to werewolves, to Hogwarts to quaint village activities. At the center of the room was a round table with plush chairs. And she turned around as they all spoke, facing them.

“Come on in, gentleman,” Jack Dyllan said…

…maintaining her austere demeanor for only a second before she smirked. “Okay, c’mon, that was pretty badass, right?”

Gabby poked Kip. “You’re related to that.”

@Frank Longbottom @Keiran Hayes

Frank was concerned. He hadn't heard from Keiran Hayes in over two weeks. And, really, that wouldn't have been a strange occurrence were it not for the fact that Frank had been asked to help watch the Hayes children during the divorce proceedings. And then nothing. Not an owl to say he didn't need help anymore, not a word. He'd tried to follow the scent of Keiran's day-to-day workings, but even that had failed. Whether or not Theodore asked Keiran to take his spot because of what was happening, Frank didn't know. But now that he was the new Headmaster, Keiran had something else to focus on. Surely that was a good thing?

The news hadn't surprised him, as Frank couldn't picture anyone else being asked to return to Hogwarts in order to immediately take the top spot and to teach again. The Lupins probably had something to do with it, though Frank didn't know them well enough to tell.

Either way, the patronus pulled Frank's interest from his latest subject. He was trying to find the Simon that Mairen had been threatened over, and from there he could expand to discovering who would have reason to want her to refuse when asked for help. There were far more men named Simon than he had ever expected, and following this one would have gone over much more easily if the patronus hadn't given him away. The brown-haired man lifted an eyebrow as Frank glared at the wispy image.

Jack's patronus made the other man's eyebrows lift far more than they should have and Frank narrowed his eyes at the other man. Simon Marek asked something in another language and Frank would have thought he was a Muggle in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he knew better. So he cursed but disapparated anyway.

When he landed, Frank was still glowering at nothing. Keiran, on the other hand, appeared with one of the most exhausted expressions Frank had ever seen on another human being. Although his own expression relaxed a bit after seeing Hayes, the Gryffindor wasn't about to let Jack get off that easy.

So when they walked in, Keiran trailing behind, Frank shot Jack an annoyed look. "You just had to call this meeting now, didn't you? I almost had my latest target on lock."

"If you're as good as you claim to be, you'll have no problem finding him again. Let's just get this started."

Keiran's response was unexpected and held less venom than the sentence suggested. Perhaps because Hayes crossed his arms after sinking into one of Jack's chairs without invitation. Perhaps because he just didn't care about much of anything anymore. Probably both.

Frank was already grumpy, but being surprised by that would be like being surprised that the sun was bright or the night was dark or alcohol was the best. It was a favorite hobby of hers, finding new and inventive ways to make Frank mildly cross. She had gotten quite good at it, really.

She was about to say something much to the effect of Keiran's words, but with a smirk and a bit lighter of a tone, when he spoke and took a chair for his own. Jack blinked and she briefly met the gaze of her perceptive cousin, who could keep a careful mask over his curiosity or concern, both of which she knew was brewing under his gaze. Had this been poker night, they might have slowed the momentum to discuss what was wrong, because there was something particularly lifeless to Keiran's response. But Jack had a feeling he didn't want to talk about in front of everyone, so she nodded her head. "Right. What Kevin said. Besides, it'll keep you from getting bored."

That was when the smirk came out.

Kip moved towards the wetbar where he collected chilled water bottles for the group, silently handing them around while the others took their seats.

"Right. Fred's off doing something for the Department of Mysteries, so he's not going to be here, and Mira is obviously still off in Russia- or Germany. Wherever. She's somewhere." Jack shrugged. "Anyway. It's time to regroup. The big thing we can focus on now is making sure this guy," she reached forward and clapped a hand on Keiran's shoulder "has support at Hogwarts. Orchestrating another train heist is a long stretch, but it'd be nice if we knew there was nothing to worry about."

Keiran jumped sharply when Jack's hand landed on his shoulder, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he glanced at Frank, expecting that the lad would have something else to say. Keiran wasn't disappointed.

"The train thing didn't even happen on the Hogwarts grounds. If we're 'bout to start putting wards on everything then we may need a bit more help, innit?"

Keiran couldn't handle that. He turned properly to squint at the man who could, if he so chose, be the most proper, posh man there was. "Do you really talk like that?" He asked, massively curious.

"Sometimes it's more fun to be a chav," Frank said with a shrug, dropping down into a chair as well.

Keiran very nearly chuckled at that. How strange. He hadn't actually laughed it what must have been weeks now unless it was for his children. Still, nearly wasn't "did," so while his lips twitched, nothing much changed. "But really," Keiran began, looking between Jack and the others, "if Theo's right, this job can drive a man mad. The safer the better, even if that means the lot of us go and put wards up."

Kip was certain he was the quietest of this group. Most of his contributions came at the turning points in arguments, after long meetings in preparation for the next. He was a man of thought that had volunteered to be a man of action, but he still spent most of his time with these particular peers in silence and inaction, waiting only for when he was needed. He would never admit it to his half-sister, but he would have never joined such a group if it weren't for her. It wasn't his brand of aide. But he wanted it to be as effective as possible.

Point being, his silence usually meant he could feel out the situation relatively well. There was something off with Keiran. He seemed on edge, and there was something in his air that had that 'alone in a room full of people' vibe.

Helpful as it might be to know something was wrong with Keiran, Kip didn't know what he could do about it. Who would be qualified for such a task?

Jack was looking a bit irritated. "The point is they attacked the students once, they could do it again. Unless you're against added security for the school?" she said, her voice a bit droll as she flicked her gaze towards Frank. "Is that the stance you want to take?"

Kip chuckled, leaning back. "We're the most unfriendly, sarcastic bunch..."

"Oh, do calm down, Jack. I'm quite sure I didn't say it like that." Frank said, waving a hand in her direction rather dismissively. "I meant that we'd better figure out where we need to start."

"Forget the train," Keiran said sharply. "No parent will let their child back on that damned thing. I didn't want to myself after the whole werewolf incident, and after this, there isn't a chance in hell."

Keiran wasn't kidding, that much was clear. Frank didn't know the story behind Keiran's hatred for the train as far as the werewolves went, but with the Headmaster's rotten temper already at what Frank considered to be an all-time-high, he didn't feel like asking. Maybe he could pry around at the Prophet to figure it out himself. It certainly wouldn't be the first time he'd done something he shouldn't have around there.

In truth, Keiran appeared less down than he had upon arrival, and Frank attributed that to the man being more or less in his 'zone.'

"Alright. No train," Frank put in quickly, holding his hands up. "Wasn't my point. I'm just trying to say that if we want to go about protecting the whole world, we need to pick a place. If Hogwarts is that place, that's well enough. But parents will panic about every little thing, we all know this. Keiran's not going to be entirely without fault in their eyes."

"Oh, that's nothing new," Keiran replied darkly, the cloud around him returning twice-over.

Kip could see the redhead preparing to flay Frank; whether it was verbal or not, however, Kip could not be sure. He supposed diplomacy was probably best left to him, as the only one with any sort of experience in the matter, so he leaned forward, his gentle voice firm but not unkind. "I don't think anyone was suggesting we ward the entire world, Frank. I believe the intention here was exactly as you suggest - start with Hogwarts. We don't needed added reminders of how impossible the task of defense truly is."

Jack wanted to tack onto that but she knew she didn't need to prove herself as the leader here. The effort was communal, with her at the forefront, and the only reason any of them were even there was because she had recruited them. She hardly had to worry about putting people in their place.

Besides, it was just Frank being Frank. You know. Impossible.

"I don't care if the parents are worried, no offense, as long as they worry in vain, as long as their kids are safe and their worries are just annoying, rather than warranted," Jack said. "First step is to make sure they're extra secure. Keiran and I know the kids that plan on taking the buck on Potter's Army. It might be good for us to support them, seeing as the Order tends to flip flop on supporting them as a group. Not saying they will-" she added, quick to ensure nothing sounding like a dig was pointed at Oliver "-but the masses of the Order aren't reliable, so we can be an extra layer if need be."

She paused. "And how about working to find whoever did this, huh?"

"That's the Ministry's job-" Gabby said, lazily drooping his head.

"And they're going to have to spin it whatever way they have to so they're not implicated," Jack quickly added. "Once again, I'm not saying anything except that we keep our eyes and ears peeled in case anything turns up. Yeah?"

((Still trying to figure out what Jack's been doing during my hiatus but thought this could get me back in her head).