A Birth day

"I hope we can get to them in time. After all, being stupid is one thing. Dying because you're stupid seems a bit excessive, if you ask me. You'd have thought that if they made it as far as their fifth year they'd have seen an accident or two in potions class that would have taught them that certain things just shouldn't be mucked with. Oh. Here. Nigel and Robert sent this." He handed her to bottle of bruise lotion. "It'll take the sting out of the bruises and help them fade faster. We did have some in the house but one of us used it all up." He knew he was referring to himself and the countless bruises of his own that the previous bottle of bruise lotion had been used on. "I won't worry," he told her.

"Come get some soup," Kate called to them. "It's wonderful. The wild mushrooms and the wild rice are such a special treat. It was Simone's idea."

"Where did you get wild mushrooms this time of year?" Angus asked.

"My daughter has a friend in southern France who likes to hike and she finds them in the wild. She sent this batch on to us, and I thought a soup was a good idea," Simone said, ladeling up a bowl of soup for Ruby and one for Angus. Kate had put some of the creamy soup broth in a bottle for Caprice who seemed to be enjoying it and was eating little bites of the fresh bread.

"Flirting? With me?" Marcus frowned. "Didn't notice, actually."

"He gets flirted with every stinking day he's here," Khaat laughed, talking to Aria. "And he has never once noticed. Every nurse in this place has tried to hit on him, and he's just completely oblivious."

"You are greatly exaggerating," Marcus said.

"See what I mean?" Khaat asked. "Blind and deaf both."

"As for the kids? Um...yup. Us. That's exactly what that means. Little idjits," Marcus said. "Unless you have some trustworthy and capable mates left on the aurors force that could take over this for us and put a stop to them before we have a couple dead kids. Otherwise, it might be us first stringers--again. I don't mind, I guess, especially if we can rescue the kids. And, maybe, if we could turn their lives around somehow. I do know, though, that sometimes kids prefer to go down the wrong path instead of taking the help offered to them. So what do you think? Should we try to get the rest of our motley crew together to go take care of it, or do you think we should turn it over to the aurors? I'm okay either way."

"Eat," Khaat said, handing Asian chicken salads to each of them. "Food first, work later."

Ruby smiled at Angus and then chuckled as he spoke of the bruise lotion " I'll use this tonight when I change for bed" she saisd " for now your jumper is fine" she added then looked at Kate as she soke of the soup. Hearing him say he wouldn't worry she smiled again " good " she added and followed him inside to where the soup was she took a deep breath and smiled " smells heavenly" she added as she took a bowl and tasted it loving its flavor " thnk you for coking the soup it is wonderful" she said moving to the table and sitting down to eat.

Aria listend and nodded to Marcus " well, I do have freinds in the Aurors but I don't think they will help in regards this" she said " so, yeah its down to us " she told him then chuckled as Khaat told Marcus that yes her secetery was infact flirting with him " well I am not jelous as I know at the end of the day he comes home to me" she said softly with a chuckle picking up her cross word again and sitting down to finish it.

"It's perfect. I wouldn't change a thing. Make sure you write it down, exactly as you did it," Angus told them.

"I'm not sure I remember exactly. I didn't measure things. I just added them," Simone said.

"Do try, would you?" he asked. At that moment, Caprice let out an angry squeal, and Angus looked over to see Finn dashing off with one of her stuffed toys. Edward got up at the same time that Angus was ready to yell at Finn. Instead, Edward reached Finn with the toy and raised up his hand to stop Angus.

"Don't you dare raise your voice to this wonderful dog," Edward said, taking the toy from Finn. "He was protecting her. There's a black lace spider crawling on this toy. I'll take the spider outside, but I am very glad Finn kept her from a painful bite. Good dog, Finn. I'll take it from here, Fella." He gave Finn's head a scratch and took the spider outside.

"I'll have to find some sort of spell to find any more that might have gotten inside," Angus sighed.

"Why don't you leave that to me? I can prowl Robert's books over at the farm, and I'm sure I'll find something. More than likely, it was drawn inside because it's getting colder, and they do like log structures. Don't stress it because Finn's already on it," Edward said. "And, spiders hate citrus, so, for now, you could put lemon wedges near the doors and windows and that would do quite a lot to ward them away." Angus nodded, knowing he was right. He had heard of the lemons somewhere before but hadn't had to actually use them.

"Put your crossword down and eat your salad," Marcus told Aria. "Certainly your crossword can't be that riveting, can it? And besides, you might want a little fuel if we're going to be hunting nitwits this afternoon. Khaat, tell Zoe to keep this salad recipe. I like it quite a lot."

"I'll tell her. That will make her happy. Very little makes her happier than to know she's pleased someone with her food," Khaat said.

Ruby smiled and chuckled as Angus spoke about the soup and writing the recipy down so they could make it again. When she heard Caprice cry out she looked to see Finn run away with one of her toys. Hearing why he ahd done this she smiled " I would say hes a realy good by" she said and saw Finns tail wagg faster at her prase. Listening to the use of lemons she stod up and went to the pantry taking out several lemons and cut them walking around she placed halves by the doors and closr to the pay pen for good mesure.

Aria chukled and placed down her crossword to pick up her salad to eat it smiling " yes dear" she said as she began to eat " oh this is good" she added " wonder what the dressing is?" she asked as she wondered so she could put it on her salads when she makes herself one.

"Well, the girl that gave him to us told me he was a smart dog. I guess she was certainly right," Angus said.

"He clearly likes little ones," Edward said. "He's been good with Caprice and with Abbey both."

"Thank you for making such a great lunch," Angus said. He stood from the table quickly, intending to clear the table of the lunch dishes, but his head spun, throwing off his balance. Kate took hold of him and sat him right back down.

"I'd rather pick up the dishes than you," she told him. "They're lighter than you are. You sit, and I'll clear the table."

"Sorry. Forgot," Angus said.

"Didn't anyone suggest you limit yourself a little today?"

"Probably," Angus said. "Wasn't actually paying attention."

"That's Angus-speak for 'I was blowing them off,'" Edward said. "I'm sure they did. Jess is too efficient not to have told him, and so are Robert and Nigel."

"Hm. Well, Brian has the same language, actually," Kate said. "That was his primary language when he moved into our house with us when he was about seven."

"He lived with you?" Simone asked.

"Yes. Brian''s brother and sister are about ten or eleven years or so older than he is. They were at school at Hogwarts, and Brian's father had a business trip in this area for a few days so he brought his wife and Brian along. While the grownups were busy during the day, Brian and Khaat hung out together in the village down at the beach and such and got to be friends. However towards the end of that trip, the family was in the muggle car they'd rented and got into a car accident. Brian was the only one who survived. Brian was devastated and angry and a real emotional mess, but because he and Khaat were friends, the local authorities asked us if we would look after Brian, so of course we said yes. We took legal guardianship of Brian and Kieran and Fiona."

"Well, then he doesn't just look like the boy next door," Simone said. "More or less, he was the boy next door."

"Yes. He was. He's never quite lost the ability to blow us off when he doesn't want to hear us, though," she laughed.

"Neither has this one," Edward looked at Angus. Angus wasn't entirely paying attention. He was already considering what he needed to think about getting out of the freezer to defrost to fix for supper. "See? He's already turned me off."

"She makes her own dressing," Khaat said.

"I'm certainly not a cook but I think its probably a fairly traditional sesame dressing," Marcus said.

"You're right. She uses seasoned rice vinegar, olive oil, a bit of sugar, toasted sesame oil, and soy sauce--basically. There sometimes are some little variations in it, but that's the basic recipe, I think," Khaat said. "She makes a pretty big batch in a mason jar and then just shakes the jar until it emulsifies. I can ask her for the recipe if you like."

"Or, you might take a look at Angus's big notebook. He might have something close," Marcus said.

"So what are your first moves going to be after you drop me off at home?" Khaat asked.

"Well, I might see if Jack wants to come with us, and maybe we'll go try to talk to these little idiots. If we can't get a location from them, we'll go take a look through the catacombs just for good measure."

"Too bad my father can't go along. He knows those better than just about anyone but maybe Angus," she said.

"Yes, well, I don't think either of them should be prowling around down there today," Marcus said.

Ruby finaihed her soup but seeing Angus stand up then wobble she stood up quickly to help him but Kate got ther efirst and sat him down again " don't worry I got ti" she told her as she gathered the soup bowls and side plates and sent them over to the sink to be washed but kep her eyeds on Angus as they spoke to him.

Aria chuckle and nodded " what ever it is its delishious and I'll just check Angus file Im sure its in there someplace" she said finishing her salad as Khaat asked what they were going to do once she was back home. " Im sure Jack will want to come with us to find the boys who hurt Robert by pushing him down the stairs" she said placing her empty container into the bag they were brought in and she sat back sipping some soda.

"I think you're right," Marcus said. "And Jack has been there before too. He might well remember the basic layout at least of the rooms where Rob's lab was. Angus might be able to give us a rough sketch of what he remembers the floor plan being. That would be enough to get us started. Honestly, I'm not really expecting them to have even known about the catacombs since they're just kids. It would make a lot more sense to me if they were using a basement at their house or a friend's house."

"Or someone's garage," Khaat said. "Or some abandoned building somewhere."

"Exactly," Marcus said. Khaat's secretary brought in a sheet of paper with the addresses.

"Looks like your lads both live in the same neighborhood in Puddlemere. Looks like they probably only are a couple doors apart," Khaat told them.

"Probably how they met. They probably grew up together," Marcus said. "Is it an upscale neighborhood?"

"Well, I'm not that familiar with Puddlemere except to know there's a quidditch team there," she said. "I'm just guessing not because it seems to maybe be on the opposite side of town from the quidditch stadium and such."

"Probably a good guess. Well, alright, then. We'll be off to Puddlemere this afternoon, it seems," Marcus said. "Ever been there, Aria?"

Aria sat and listened to Marxua and nodded " he's be a good choice then if we find them, and if they live that close it would make sense they would band together." she said as she watched the secetery return with some addresses of the boys "Puddlemere?" she said to her self and shook her head " nope not been there , posibly flew over once or twice but, not stopped there" she admited as she watched Marcus talking to Khaat again before turning to talk to her " Im ready when you are but might want to send a messge to Jack so he can meeet us there." she said finishing her drink and tossing it into the same bag as the container.

"We can pick him up when we stop back at the house to take Khaat home," Marcus said, collecting the empty salad containers and repacking them in the bag that Zoe had sent them in. "Oh. Look. She included a cookie or something for each of us." He got out three plastic sandwich bags, and each one held a pumpkin shaped piece of shortbread that had been decorated with orange sugar crystals. He handed one to Aria and one to Khaat. He took his out of the bag and bit into it. "Orange flavor. Very nice. A nice way to end lunch."

He wrote a note to Jack and asked the secretary if she would send it to Jack through the floo. The note asked Jack to come along to Puddlemere while they tried to talk to a couple suspects about the potions thefts. He also told him that there was a possibility that they would have to go check the London catacombs just to make sure there were no more potions dealings there. He said they'd be dropping Khaat at home to work at home this afternoon so that they could pursue their suspects, so Marcus believed Jack could join them when they brought Khaat home shortly.

"Would you wait a moment so you have Jack's reply?" Marcus asked her. "I presume he will agree to come with us, but do wait and see if he sends back a reply please."

"Certainly," she told Marcus, taking the note to go to the floo to send Marcus's message.

Jack had just changed when he rcived threw his bedroom fireplace a note from Marcus he paused, caught it and opened it and read it. With a soft growl he dressed in jeans a black tee and leather jacket in the inside pocket he slipped a torch then sent a note back to Marcus teling him he would be ready so they could go and search for the boys as soonas they got back with Khaat. He sent it threw and finished adding his wand and some muggle matches incase.

Aria took the cookie and opened it taking abite she could not helo but moan at the flavour " oh this is so going to be a best seller" she said " the orange flavor goes so well with the cinimon" she added taking a second bite of the cookie.