A Birth day

"Thorn. Thorn," Marcus said, rolling the name around in his head. "I've met him once or twice in name only at diplomatic events, but I honestly don't know much about him. I can tell you what he looks like but not much more than that.

"Obviously, Robert would," Angus said.

"Oh, very clearly. If Thorn is doing VIP work, then Robert is his boss."

"So I presume I'd have to ask Robert for him, then."

"Well, not necessarily," Marcus said. "Thorn is allowed a vast number of personal days per year, at his own discretion because of the extreme danger in the work. If Thorn is decent at the job, then he's stacked up scads of time off because he's not going to leave his client to lesser hands. If you want to reach Thorn, maybe Lucian has a link to him. If not, then I'm positive Michael would, given that Michael is in the same branch as Thorn. If Thorn wants the assignment, he can talk to Robert for a personal day if he needs it. At this point, you don't necessarily need Robert. You only need someone who can put you into contact with Thorn himself. However, yes, Aria, if Lucian can send us the dossier, that would be very helpful indeed. I'd like to look that over for myself before we put Anise under his care even for a moment. And there's something else you can't overlook, Angus."

"What's that?"

"You need to make sure that Madame Maxime is good with Anise having bodyguards. It very well might be against the rules. I'd check with her first before I went any further."

"Well, Anise will have either them or me, and if she can't, then Beauxbatons will be without a champion," Angus said.

"You feel that strongly about it?" Marus asked.

"In light of the fact that my gran is all wiggy about something and we don't yet know what that is? Yes. I do feel that strongly about it," Angus said. He looked at Ruby. "You're the only mom she has now since Molly died. What is your honest opinion about it?"



"

Aria listened to Marcus but before he had finished a dossier floated threw the floo with an attached note " well, looks like he knew you'd want to see it, here it is." She said and held it up before handing it to Angus as he spoke to Marcus.

Ruby looked at Angus and nodded " I think the same as you, if they can't see that she needs a bodyguard after all that's happened around her, well I agree she shouldn't be there as its unsafe and if she can't see that then she's a bad teacher putting one of her students at risk." she said crossing her arms to show she meant every word she had said. Aria looked at Marcus and nodded.

Aria stood up and made several cups of Irish coffee and sent them out to every one in the room " to calm things down" she said smiling as Ruby took her cup and drank letting out a soft deep breath as she finished.

"I needed that" she said and smiled.

"Irish coffee is always a good thought," Angus laughed. "Thank you." He looked briefly through the dossier and handed it to Marcus. Then he opened the floo to try to call Beauxbatons again. When he told Madame Maxime's secretary he wanted to hire protection for Anise, the secretary asked him to wait a moment.

"Mr. Donohue," Madame Maxime herself appeared in the floo a moment or so later, "how nice to talk to you. We are so proud of Anise here. She is an outstanding dueling pupil, and she has always credited her skills to the training she's gotten from her family. I believe she is going to surprise our competition this year because they have no clue how skilled she is. I know that a couple of the schools have wanted to get into our castle to watch her practice, but they have not been able to penetrate. Nor do they have any idea of Anise's special arrangement with us. They don't know she is actually not in the castle. All the better for us, I say. How can I help you?"

"I have heard for years what a wise woman you are, and I have often heard Hagrid speak of you in nothing but the highest terms..."

"Ah. Hagrid. He still speaks kindly? That is nice to know," she smiled. "What is your concern?"

"May I speak in confidence?"

"There is no one else in the room. I am alone. You may feel free to speak," she said.

"I am employed by Robert Lupin, and as such, I sometimes do specialized work for him...."

"Daniella is one of my dearest friends. I know of some of your, shall we say, classified employment. I am positive I do not know everything because Robert has been one of the most secretive men I have ever known."

"A fair assessment, Madame," Angus replied. "As such, there are times when my own safety is at risk and I have had to take great precautions for myself and my family."

"You speak of Mr. Belby."

"You know of him, then."

"I know his former employer very well, and so I am familiar with who Mr. Belby is and with his skill set. If he accompanies you everywhere, as he has been with you here, he is not with you for friendship's sake alone."

"Correct, but that has also afforded me a few local connections too. I am aware of the British papers that will be there to try to press upon my daughter at the tournament."

"Ah, well, that is not a secret, I'm afraid. They always come, rude lot that they are. We have typically had professors that shadow the champions to try to shield them..."

"Your professors may not be as effective as they need to be with some of these particularly pushy people."

"And you wish to protect her yourself? You and Mr. Belby?"

"If we must, yes," Angus said. "I am considering, though, that the wiser option might be to hire her a pair of trusted and experienced guards to stay with her at all times except when she is on the field."

"A highly unusual request. Still, it has merit because they will undoubtedly be far less penetrable than our well-intentioned professors. I am willing to make an exception if we can agree to some conditions. First, I need a letter from Robert vouching for your selection of guards as well as attesting to their character and integrity."

"That's easily done," Angus said.

"Copies of their credentials, and appropriate identifications, which Robert should be able to obtain if he does not already have them. And, that they do not interfere in the competition in any way whatsoever, except if Anise would be in legitimate physical danger."

"And one more that I request. I still want to be able to have access to her as her father's representative."

"I can do better than that. I can give you that access not only as her father but also as her coach. As her coach, you would be able to be down on the field level if you felt you needed to provide her additional guidance in her gameplay in the tournament to help keep her focused on the task at hand."

"Excellent," Angus said.

"And, yes, we will have the expanded box for you and your guests. Anything else?"

"Not at the moment, but we will talk again I am certain as we discuss the two I am considering engaging for her."

"Definitely. Fair enough," she said. "We will consider our agreement tentative until all the conditions on both sides are met. Is that sufficient?"

"It is. Thank you so much," Angus said. 

"She is very fortunate to have come under the care of such excellent guardians. I shall talk to you soon, Mr. Donohue." And with that the floo went black.

"What do you think?" Angus looked at Ruby and Marcus and Aria. "A good starting point?"

Ruby heard Angus and watched as he opened the floo to talk to Madame Maxime's secretary before talking to Madame Maxime herself. She listened to everything she had to say and looked to Angus as she spoke of each thing they were worried about that Angus asked her. Each time she was relived that Madame Maxime was accommodating to their worries and needs.

Once Madame Maxime signed off and the floo went quiet she looked to Angus as he spoke to her and she nodded. " yes very good start now we just have to find two bodyguards and get Roberts okay on them and send her their details." she said sipping her coffee.

" well what about the man Lucian sent over and Lucian , hes already cleared by Robert all we'd have to do is clear this Thorn guy" Aria said looking at them both.

"Well, if Lucian and Thorn both still work for Robert, then it should be very easily taken care of, when and if we can get 30 seconds with him," Marcus said. "That could be tough, given the kidnapping of all those kids from ministry employees today. That will surely be his only focus for the moment."

"I think this is one occasion I might consider going the long way around the proverbial barn," Angus said.

"What?" Marcus laughed.

"I think I will see if Michael happens to be at the main house and if he is, I'll approach him. I would rather doubt he's there, though, since he's an extractions agent," Angus said.

"Well, if they don't have a solid lead yet, he could still be there," Marcus said, "but Michael will be able to vouch for both men, and perhaps write the letter and just slip it under Robert's nose for a signature. You do realize that you still need to ask Lucian and...oh wait. Here's something helpful in Thorn's dossier. He's currently on a brief assignment that he has apparently requested to be taken off of."

"That's unusual," Angus frowned.

"Not in this case. He's on assignment in Brazil working for one of the Ministers of Magic there. I know the woman," he said, phrasing carefully. "She is a baracuda of a whole different species. Enough said?"

"Oh, really?" Angus said, giving Marcus a bit of an amused smile.

"That was a long, long time ago," Marcus replied, looking at Angus directly. "And at the time, I was rebounding from my first breakup with Ana."

"So we're talking 13 years ago," Angus said, knowing Ana had first broken up with him when she had gotten pregnant with Poppy rather than to tell Marcus she was pregnant, but that was typical of Ana, from what Angus had gathered.

"Yeah. It was," Marcus said. "I am far wiser now--at least where that one is concerned. Still, Thorn has reason to want to be out of Brazil, and if Robert is aware of the woman's less that pristine reputation now, he's liable to let Thorn come home anyway. I think Thorn might be relieved to have occasion to leave Brazil. Then Robert would have to send in a replacement, and you'd have your man. Now, that is definitely worth talking to Michael about."

Ruby and Aria both sat and listened as Marcus and Angus talked between themselves each noting how they bounced o0ff each other when Marcus mentioned Thorn and the minister he was bodyguarding and hos she was a barracuda of a whole different species and she chuckled but listened to Marcus talk about how she knew her " oh I see but good thing shes over there then." Aria said with a chuckle as did Ruby .

Ruby listened to Angus and nodded to Angus words " sounds like a plan" she said with a smile to him as she checked the girls in the play pen , both sat and looked at Marcus and Angus giggling to each other " well they seem happy about something?" she said

"He's saying the woman was a hook up for awhile," Angus clarified.

"She was, but, as you so correctly said, that was thirteen years ago. It was non-committal, no emotional investment on her part or mine, so there's no need to feel threatened or to speculate. It ended relatively quickly because she lied to me. She told me she had broken up with her boyfriend and she was rebounding too. That wasn't the case. She had never broken up with her boyfriend, and she told him my conduct was, well, a clearly inappropriate nature. He blindsided me when he stole a man's car and used it to try to kill me out of jealousy. I was in St. Mungos for nigh onto 8 weeks solid for the injuries. I have no desire to see her at all. I'm liable to give her more than a piece of my mind."

"Well, doesn't she just sound like a keeper?" Angus said sarcastically.

"Oh, yeah. Absolutely," Marcus said, disgusted by her memory. "Look, if you can behave and stay here for three minutes, I'll go see if I can talk to Michael, but you have to stay put."

"Fair," Angus nodded. "Besides, if we're doing lamb, one of us has to actually put the damned meat in the oven. I should do that."

"Good. I'll be back," Marcus said, heading to the main building. Angus got out three large legs of lam and some potatoes, onion, garlic, along with three roasting pans, got them ready to roast and put them into the oven. He made a large roaster of honey roasted carrots and put them in the oven. He heard the sound of apparating, and, looking out the window, he saw Evan bringing Anise and Ginger home

"Okay. I have meat, potatoes, and a veg. Can one of you do dessert and someone else do a good salad, please?" Angus asked. "She's even earlier than usual. I think I should go spar with her if she's in the mood."

Aria heard Angus and chuckled " I got that and don't worry I'm not jealous or anything, we all have a past " she said chuckling " I agree with Angus, she sounds a really nice woman." she said sarcastically and stood up hearing the mention of the lamb she looked at Angus" oh yeah , forgot about that"

Ruby chuckled returning from where she had snuck to the kitchen " I didn't its out on the side ready for you to add your magic to, I also readied some veg wasn't sure what you wanted but I knew potatoes went well with Lamb." she said to Angus as she passed by him she kissed his cheek

"If you took care of salad and dessert, we're fine, then," Angus said. "The lamb's in the oven now, so we're good for awhile. I'm going out in the yard with Anise." He went outside, greeted her, asked about her school day, and he was pleased she was ready and eager to work on her dueling skills.

Angus focused on teaching her to be observant. He talked to her about how to determine from her opponent's stance and movements if they were right handed or left handed, how to observe carefully to know when they were planning on firing and how to time her movements to try to fire or to raise her shield before they could fire. She struggled with learning to observe and how to know what movement she needed to do next to either attack or defend herself, and how to do it all in the matter, sometimes of a second or two. One of the grounds men brought over two training dummies, and Angus used them to help her drill on the skills he was teaching her.

"If you two want to improve your speed, you should go watch what he's teaching her. He's actually breaking down the mechanics to her of how he moves as fast and effectively as he does," Marcus said. "I wasn't sure he was going to ever show anyone some of the fine points of how he makes it work, but apparently, he will show her. And it looks like he's going to actually have her try some of his moves to see if he can learn them."

Ruby smiled and nodded " of course you go to Anise" she said and went back to the kitchen and started the salad along with Pears with speedy choc sauce as a desert while she watched Angus out the kitchen window with Anise.

Aria stood up and followed Angus to the back door watching him she heard Marcus and smiled " he makes a very good trainer." she said watching Angus show Anise how to observe carefully and how to raise her shield before they could fire. " oh I'm watching closely don't worry" she said glancing at him with a smile.