A Birth day

Jack paused at the back door and laughed as Victor spoke of Sam's attempt to put the dragon together " Oh boy" he said then nodded to Victor when he asked to help dig out the barn "Sure, they could use the help" he said and looked to Angus as he spoke of Diamond " all right, most likely be tomorrow then" he said to him. " welp come on Victor lets get to digging, so the animals can have some fresh air" he said and chuckled again " they must be wanting to be outside just as bad as you do" he smiled and held the door open for Victor. " don't worry I'll bring him back in one piece and not an ice cube ether" he said and chuckled.

Ruby smiled thankful Jack was watching out for Victor and giving him something to do other than stay inside " Thanks Jack" she called and he waved her off with a smile. " he'll keep him busy I don't doubt." she said to Angus as Aria walked over with four cups of coffee and handed one to each of them.

"Here warm up and relax" she said sitting down on the couch and throwing her legs up under her so she could sit comfortably while she watched the babies sleeping. She picked up the book Ruby had been reading and chuckled "This one of Angus's books?" she asked and Rby nodded.

"yeah I read the cover and thought it was interesting," she said taking it from Aria and opening it up " Im up to the part where they have to investigate a death in a hotel, I thought it was the bell hop but he died a few pages back," she said with a chuckle.

Victor grabbed his winter gear and went with Jack, glad to get out of the house for awhile. He was glad the storm was on its way out, and he was even gladder to have something purposeful to do.

"I'm sure he will," Angus replied to Ruby. "There will be a lot to do after this much snow, and its times like this where being a wizard can be helpful. Shoveling snow is hard, heavy work, but the proper charms can make that job a lot easier. I'm sure Jack will teach him some snow removal charms to clear walkways and things like that. They're not powerful enough to cover the entire estate at once, but doing them repeatedly over smaller areas can do the trick. The down side is that the same charm has to be cast over and over. One of the biggest jobs is clearing the running trails. Robert usually wants that done in a two step process. He wants the snow cleared off, and then he wants a gentle warming spell place on the tracks so that it all takes time and multiple spells to do all that. The up side is that the track is cleared and dry and able to be used again, even in the deepest winter conditions. In a winter with a lot of snow and ice, its a good place to exercise the horses and the unicorns and such. They can walk the trails to use some pent up energies and to keep in shape. I'm sure Kate will be out as soon as she can be and getting all the flyers up for a good flight. The owls and the hippogriffs, the pegasus's, and Archangel will all need some time in the air.

"That reminds me. Kate told me about an offer she came across an offer from some friends in Ireland. Apparently some old duffer up in the hills has passed on and left behind a mating pair of thestrals. They need a home for them, and it sounds like whoever in the Ministry deals with magical creatures doesn't know what to do with a pair of thestrals because they can't see them. And it takes a special licensure to keep rare magical creatures, and the estate has that because of Kate's abilities to care for them. So, Kate is considering getting Robert the thestrals for Christmas.

"The biggest issue i can see is that we'd have to look at enlarging the barn because the barn is damned near full, and we'd not be able to ever fly the smaller birds when the thestrals are in the air because thestrals hunt small birds to eat. Either that or we'd have to increase our allocation of chicken for food for them. Still, having a pair of thestrals would be really incredible, I think. I dont' know if we could stable them near the unicorns because the unicorns thrive on light magic, and the thestrals are so tightly connected to death energies. Still, under the proper conditions, it would be fantastic to have a pair. I'd love to ride one. Supposedly, they're so intelligent they do understand English. I suppose we could temporarily stable them at Robert's barn but they're actually incredibly social creatures, so we couldn't keep them there long term.

Ruby smiled as she watched Victor leave behind Jack to clear the barn of snow she nodded when Angus spoke of Jack teaching Victor how to clear snow magicaly" more like he'd use a fire charm and melt it but ether way the animals will be glad to be out and about again as will Kate. "she said and chuckled at the notion. She sat and listened to him talk of thesterals and nodded as he continued to talk of them smiling as to her it seemed he had already made up his mind to take them " we'll enlarge the barn maybe add a cellar so we can put some creatures that live below ground down there and store feed and tack too." she said as she marked her page and closed the book placing it on her lap.

Aria meanwhile had been busy in the kitchen making home made ice cream with a cherry compote along with some roly polly pudding and fresh made custard to go over it should any one want some for supper " ok, i made the deserts if you want to make the main course for supper Angus" she said returning from the kitchen with a towel in her hand as she dried them. She looked around and didn't see Marcus assuming he'd gone up to shower then fallen asleep. She accioed thre cups of cofee and gave each a mug before she sat down and sipped hers. " lovly" she said smiling a she glanced out the window and chukled " okay Victor has some way to go to learn that charm" she said seeing Jack sudenly wrapped up in a snow blast covering him from head to toe in light dusty snow.

"Okay. I'll come up with something. I might do a cottage pie. I saw a recipe that, strangely enough, added some tomato paste and some additional worchestershire in order to punch up the gravy a little. I rather like the idea of it. Evidently there's a muggle recipe that uses a tin of tomato soup to add additional flavor to the gravy. I haven't tried it, but Zoe says she's tried it and she actually prefers it to my recipe. So I might need to see what she's on about. And i think there's some leftover mash in Edward's fridge that Simone would like us to get out of there. It would solve a couple issues," Angus told her.

When she mentioned Marcus, Angus shook his head. "I don't' think so. I think he was going to go to the floo in our room to talk to his dad about Christmas presents for his kids. Jonathan is tentatively planning to take the kids for a skiing holiday this year, and Marcus learned from Sergio and Ana when they were here that there is some great skiing in the mountains near his village and it's so remote that their ski lodge is not very crowded. So he was going to tell his dad and maybe try to connect Jonathan to Sergio. Marcus has made it pretty clear to me that, as much as he likes Christmas with the kids, he doesn't want to spoil their trip, and he honestly would rather be here this year."

When Ruby said Victor hadn't done so well with the charm he glanced outside to see Jack getting pelted with snow.

"Yeah, that's actually a common issue with that spell. The casters believe the snow will be hard to move so they put too much strength behind it and not enough control. That is, by far, not the worst thing that Jack has been pelted with. And it isn't the first young worker he's supervised. He'll have that controlled without much trouble, I'm sure. Jacks' a good teacher."

Aria heard Angus and nodded " sounds quite harty " she said then heard him mention Marcus and christmas " hum good idea, keep things flowing I guess" she said as she sipped her coffee. As she waited she picked up the paper and opened it to rad about the going on in the world " seems Suzzanes back in the news this time shes under investigation for fraud of potions and possible child neglect." she said and showed a full two page spread to Angus. The floo in the living room lit up and Lucians face appeared in it.

" hey sorry to do this but its leacked some how , damned Rita Skeeter, she must have seen one of my men following Suzzanne, we did get what you wanted " he sent a file threw the floo " your safe and sound all lagit and filed with the ministry, the only hiccup is I have to visit to check on Diamond for my self as an offical, don't worry your good." he said and chuckled " whens best to pop over?" he asked.

Ruby laughed and nodded as Angus said it was not the worst Jack had been pelted with " no I guess not" she said then nodded agreement as Angus said he was a good teacher " well they have it in hand now so yeah I say he is and Victor is a good listener too" she glanced up at the stairs and sighed " I wish Sam would join him and work of some of that frustration" she looked to Angus knowing only time would cool him of.

When Angus heard Aria mention Suzanne and the scandal hitting the Quibbler, he sighed.

"Well, if there's anything good in it, its in the Quibbler, and nobody who has more than one brain cell actually believes Rita Skeeter anyway," Angus replied. "Still, she does know how to make noise. In this case, I think it might help, though. It might stop anyone from believing that Robert would put out a great lot of tainted potions. And, it also keeps him and me out of Azkaban. So I'm not worried. You should come whenever you like because that way you can actually truthfully say that we had no advanced notice of when you were coming. You come whenever you want."

When his conversation ended with Lucien, Angus got the leftover potatoes from Simone's fridge and brought them back and then started work on putting together a large cottage pie, with a four cheese garlic mashed potato on the top and then he added some crumbles of crispy bacon to the top.

"Ru, how about making one of your good salads to go with the cottage pie for supper? I have an overabundance of Romaine lettuce that needs eaten, so maybe a good Caesar salad? Or whatever you like that will use up the Romaine," Angus said.

"See? I told you. Jack doesn't get rattled by that stuff," Angus said. "He's a good sport about that. Sam will cool off. If he doesn't, I'll take him outside, and take care of it." He didn't explain what he meant by taking care of it, but that was something that, right now, he didn't need to go into with Ruby. He put his cottage pie togther and put it in the oven to bake. As he did, he saw Nigel and Michael coming over. He put a fresh pot of tea on for them.

"Can someone get the door? Michael and Nigel are almost here," Angus told them. "I'm sure Nigel his here to see Diamond."

Ruby heard Angus sign off from Lucian and stood up as he asked if she could make a salad to go with the cottage pie to use up the lettice they had left " of course" she said and smiled walking over she heard him mention Sam and chuckled " all right I'll leave him to you" she said softly a she pulled out the lettice that was left. She pulled down Angus's file and smiled as he found a recipy of his that went realy well with cottage pie. Taking it she gathered the ingridiants and made up a big bowl of Arugula Salad with Maple Vinaigrette to add to the meal.

Aria chuckled as she heard Angus but then paused as she heard the door knock. Placing down her cup she stood up and walked over to it " oh hey , Angus its both" she said steping back to let both Robert and Nigel walk in to the house. " good to see you on your feet Sir." she said smiling to Robert as she then moved back to fetch Diamond so they could see her easily since Angus and Ruby were in the kitchen. She stood holding her and making her laugh by pulling faced but Diamond just looked puzzled at her making her laugh.

"He's on some limited privileges yet til I say otherwise, but he's definitely better than he was," Nigel said. Robert went over to Diamond and took her.

"She's definitely already a bit better than when I saw her a couple days ago," Robert said. He handed her to Nigel. Nigel didn't speak while he made his check of Diamond. He tended straight to his work, making a lot of notations as he worked.

"Tea, Nigel?" Angus asked.

"Maybe just half a cup," Nigel said. "I have to get this assessment done and turned in as soon as I can, so I really can't stay.

"We've heard that this was all leaked to the Quibbler," Angus told Robert.

"Oh. Good," Robert nodded. "I was hoping it would."

"What? You wanted that to happen?"

"Certainly," Robert said. "I want the blame for that to go squarely on Tom and Suzanne for all their stupidity and not on me or St. Mungos or you for that matter."

"You had a hand in it, didn't you?"

"Me?" Robert asked with a mocking tone. It confirmed for Angus that Robert had somehow put Rita onto it. "Not me. Well, not specifically, anyway." That told Angus everything.

"Full cup of half a cup?" Angus asked.

"Full, please," Robert asked. Angus poured tea for Robert and Nigel and set the cups o the coffee table for them. When Nigel finished his exam, he put Diamond in the playpen to observe her for a bit, as compared to Caprice who was almost the same age.

"I'd like to see your final written report, Nigel," Angus said, not wanting to press Nigel for any answers right now.

"Of course," Nigel said. "You do have temporary custody, after all. I'll try to have it written up yet tonight if I can get it done. What am i smelling?"

"A cottage pie with a four cheese, bacon, and garlic mashed potato topping for supper," Angus replied.

"I'm eating here then," Nigel teased.

"He's only half teasing," Robert said. "Nicky is making a beautiful cream of asparagus soup for supper, and Nigel loathes asparagus."

"The only asparagus I've ever actually liked was some grilled asparagus Angus made the last time I was here," Nigel said. "I am not eating some snotty, slimy asparagus soup."

"You're welcome to stay for supper or I'll send a portion back to the main building for you, Nigel," Angus said. "I promise there is no asparagus in my cottage pie."

"You're a kind soul," Nigel laughed. "I figured I'd have to find a bag of crisps over there."

"We can do better," Angus grinned, not wanting anyone to have to eat something they didn't like.

Aria handed over Diamond to Robert and chuckled as Nigel said he was on limited activities " ah okay " she said and chuckled as she watched Robert check Diamond over befofe handing her to Nigel. It was now Aria heard porting and stood by the door looking out at who it could be, but whom ever it was was taking their time.

Ruby heard Nigel and chuckled " theres salad with maple syrup too go with the shepards pie" she added noting to make a bit more so there would be enough for all of them.

" Aria nice to see you again" came a familier voice and Aria chuckled as a tall well built man with light brown hair and blue eyes walked over sporting a light beard.

"Lucian good to see you too, didn't expect you so soon" she said and stepped to one side " Mr Lupin this is Lucian he's the man that did the investigation" she said and let him step inside. Lucian walked ovr to Robert and shook his hand.

"Good to meet you minister, I sent your man a full report but the boffins in the big offices want an observation report." he said glancing down into the pen " okay, let me guess the non active one is Dimond, compared to her photos shes looking better, your doing Sir?" he looked at Nigel " I have heard of your reputation Mr Sigworth, all good things."

"I might not starve after all, then," Nigel replied. Angus poured more tea and offered it to Lucien to warm up with

"Nice to meet you, Lucien," Robert replied, shaking Lucien's hand. "I'm sure you probably know that I was the one who did the initial exam at the ministry following the Geldings' break-in there and then, following the law, I relayed my findings to the aurors. They were in agreement with my contacting the Wizengamot for emergency custody since both her parents and her half brother were under arrest and no other blood family remained and no nanny was apparently in residence at the Gelding house. I had concerns about her going there anyway, given her health. Mr. Sigworth is my equivalent of the Chief of Staff at the wizarding hospital in the states, and he comes highly recommended by Lee Shepherd, who, I'm sure you know, is the President of their Magical Congress. That seemed to satisfy our Wizengamot, and that's when they asked that I try to reach him to ask him to come for his own assessment."

"I just finished my assessment," Nigel said to Lucien. "She's seriously underweight, suffers from multiple nutritional deficiencies, and is developmentally no where near hitting her developmental markers. She's ten months, just a wee bit older than Caprice here, and she should be the same size or a tad bigger, and more developed than Caprice is. Obviously, that hasn't happened. She's smaller, thinner, weaker, not able to do nearly the things Caprice can do. She barely hits her six month markers. Without some continued close care and stimulation, she will suffer long term from this very clear cut neglect. I have no other words for it. She should weigh close to 19 pounds at ten months. She barely hits 13. She should be able to sit up, pull herself up to her feet by hanging onto something, eating some solid foods, pick up toys, and understand some words, She does none of that. She does exactly what you see her doing--absolutely nothing. She lays silently because she's learned that crying for a caregiver gets her nothing, so she's stopped doing it. That's clearly not normal."