Tuscany Trip

'Anyone is welcome to go, I'm sure," Khaat said, "I'm going to look for some ingredients for a dinner I'd like to make for us some night. I sort of miss cooking. I don't get to do much of it when St. Mungos's gets busy and I would like to fix a couple of special things before we go home. If that's okay with everybody."

"I'm good with anytime you want to cook," Brian grinned. "So what I'm hearing you say is that you're bored with being in the house and you want to go out. Particularly to go shopping. YOu need some fun again on your vacation. Am I right?"

"Yes," she said. "I'm sick of being indoors. I want to be outside in the sea air and the sunshine...."

"Well, you realize the more you do of that the bigger a target you make of yourself."

"Daddy? Can you come?" Khaat asked.

"I'm' sorry, my dear," he said, "But after breakfast, I really do need to go. Thank you for letting me horn in on a night of your vacation. I'll try not to do it again."

"Don't be silly," Brian said, "Our house is your house. You're welcome here anytime."

"Thank you. Delicious breakfast, Ronata, but I do have to go now," Robert said, taking his dishes to the sink. He went over to Khaat and kissed her cheek. "Be very careful, Dear. Don't take any unnecessary chances. Please."

"I won't," she smiled. "Come back to me--in one piece."

"I plan on it," He smiled. "Watch your backs, All." And with that he apparated out. Khaat couldn't help but feel a small twinge of almost homesickness at his departure. She took a deep breath and said, "Well, shall I clean up the breakfast dishes and then we can go?"

Ronata nodded to Robert as he complimented her breakfast, quickly moving to gather the plates and place them into a dish washer to wash during their outing.
"all done" she said smiling at Khaat as she slipped the list back in her bag and looked at Steven then at Brian lastly Khaat she wondered why things had gone glum all of a sudden but mental she gave her self a slap it was because of Robert leaving. She walked over to Khaat "Im sure he has a good reason for everything " she said softly "ok whos up for a mango hunt, I could use some about now " she sat patting her stomach as she tried to lighten the mood a little, just alittle she knew now it was work.

Mangos. Khaat smiled slightly. Well, mass quantities of mangos weren't any cheaper than her cheesecake cravings that she had had with Abbey. Well, maybe the cheesecake was cheaper. She still could only eat one slice of cheesecake at a time. "Let's go," Khaat said. "I really, really want to get out a bit."

Brian picked up the keys to the red car and said, "I'm ready to go whenever you are. Let's go." They moved down to the garage, Brian's wand drawn, just in case. But there was nothing. No sign of trouble.

They drove into the village and Brian parked the car near the farmers market. "Do you know what you need, Babe?" he asked, turning off the ignition. "Yes. I do,"she smiled.

"Care to share?

"That's a secret," she smiled. She started at the meat market. She bought a mix of ground beef, ground veal, and ground pork. She moved on to the produce. She bought onions, tomatos, bell peppers, celery, carrots, garlic, and more.

She moved on and bought fresh pasta, tomato paste, ricotta cheese, fresh mozzarella, paremesan cheese, mascarpone cheese, asiago cheese and a couple of others-- and all sorts of ingredients for perhaps one of the most delicate and delcious desserts she had ever made. She bought a fresh baguette, fresh creamery butter and incredients for a wonderful salad. She kept shoving things into shopping bags, and Brian, laughingly, just kept taking them from her. This was going to be an incredible dinner.

She barely noticed he was buying things of his own for a meal he had planned to make at some point. And he was enjoying every thought of cooking this meal. He had an idea of what Khaat had had in mind, and he wasn't going to spoil it for her. But his plans were very, very different.

As she passed a dress shop, she saw a skirt on the mannequin in the window that totally captured her. It was a beautiful print that had just a bit of knotted fringe on the bottom of the mid calf length skirt. "Go in if you want to look at it," he told her. "It doesn't hurt to look. And it would be beautiful on you."

Ronata sat waiting in the second car as Steven sat next to her they drove down in silance no ssoner he ahd turned of the car engine she slipped out to join both Brian and Khaat as they looked around the market , quickly Ronata moved with Khaat the the shope "it would look good on you , your colors" she said but looked back at steven who quickly caught up to them standing behind them like he was ment to mean business if any one started trouble.

Steven stood behind Ronata and Khaat his arms folded and his mind on looking after Khaat, heloked more like a bouncer on holiday than a body guard on vacation.

"You think?" Khaat asked Ronata. "I do like it. Lets go look." She went in and inquired about the skirt. The shopkeeper showed her the skirt and Khaat tried it on. To her dismay it was much, much too large. The shopkeeper brought her 3 other, progressively smaller sizes until she found one that fit. Khaat has irked. She had not worn such small sizes since she had been pregnant with Abbey. Neither her father nor Brian had said anything about it, but she had noticed her own clothes had been, what she had thought was merely a trifle baggy. She had just been magically altering them once she had gotten them on. She grabbed Brian by the front of his shirt and looked at Ronata and Steven, "Excuse us one moment." she said, dragging Brian away from them into a far corner of the shop.

"What are you keeping from me, Brian Quinn?" she demanded very softly, angry with him now.

"Nothing you shouldn't have noticed for yourself, Khaat," he said very calmly. "You've allowed yourself to take this whole business personally, just like you blamed yourself for Rob's leaving you."

"Meaning what, exactly?" she said, feeling like he was accusing her of doing this deliberately.

"Meaning you've not eaten as well as you should have and you're doing everything you know how to burn off your anger and anxiety. You're burning off more calories than you're taking in. Yes, you're building up your strength, but you're losing wieth. Plain and simple. That' how that works, Khaat. You burn more than you take in, and you lose wieght. You tone up, build muscle, and that's all well and good, but, yes. You're losing weight. You've lost about 12 pounds from when we got here at the beginning of the summer. You keep altering your clothes but you don't change them back when you take them off at the end of the day. They just keep getting smaller every time you alter them and make them smaller than the last time you shrank them."

"You didn't tell me!"

"You should have seen it for yourself," he said softly. "Look, I'm not blaming you. Its just a fact, that's all. You blamed yourself when Rob left you, like you weren't woman enough for him and made some gross error that caused him to stop loving you. Well, that was crap and you know it. Rob was just an enormously immature idiot who didn't know what he had when he had the one woman he will ever bond to. Most men look their whole lives for that and can't find it. What an idiot. It wasn't your fault he's a 9 year old in a man's body. And you know what? I'm really sorry your dad hasn't read us in on this case he's on, but that doesn't mean it has anything to do with you. Believe it or not, Robert Lupin makes a lot of enemies. And they would love to hurt him. And, frankly, hurting you might be one sure way of not only getting his attention but also in hurting him. And yes, your father is keenly aware of how much weight you've lost. Look--stop worrying about the numbers on the size tag and buy what you like. You aren't helpless. You can alter the clothes bigger or smaller. And we can get you back in fighting form in no time. So now that you know, don't ruin the day for everyone by being snarky about it. Go back and shop. Got it?" She sighed heavily. He kissed her forehead. "Forget it. We'll handle it. Alright? I"m on top of it."

"Okay," she said, returning to the racks and starting to browse again.

Steven stood next to Ronata both un speacking but waiting he ahd his arms folded she just stood loking around the shop , she saw a nice sun top spagetti straps and embrodary up the front , she thought Khaat would like it and moved to take it down a second caught her eye and she smiled it was blue and white striped that clung around her bust she knew it would be perfect for when she got bigger and also now. her eyes though resting on a back door just behind the rack, as she looked threw the clouths again.


Steven watched out the window for any trouble , glancing at Ronata as she moved around the shop he saw her take down teo tops the blue striped one he liked and smiled but quickly turned back to watching out side for any thing that might attack.

Khaat liked the white top that Ronata found. She also liked several other pieces that she found. At this rate, she would be able to replace her wardrobe or she would have to make her closet bigger. One or the other. She got a bit discouraged at the tiny sizes she had to buy, but she said nothing. She found a silver evening dress that she liked and went back into the dressing room to try it on.

It fit like a glove. She liked it a lot. Just as she was turning to look at it in the mirror, she felt someone grab her from behind, a gloved hand over her mouth, the hand had a rag in it with some sort of noxious smelling chemical on it. In seconds, she fell limp, everything fading. The last she saw was that awful woman's face behind her in the mirror. She tried with everything she had to call for her father.


Robert, meanwhile, though miles away had heard her distress call. He always heard those, no matter how far apart they were. Since Remus's death, he had seemed to be linked to his daughter. He apparated to he, and was surprised to find himself in a bloody dress shop. He saw Steven, Brian, Ronata...no Khaat. But she was here. He stormed through the shop, a man on a mission--to save his daughter from whatever she was in danger from. Brian saw Robert apparate in, into a muggle dress shop. Hm..Breech of magic. That wouldn't be pretty, no matter how that worked out. But Robert was not the least bit concerned. Something was wrong. And Robert was heading right for the dressing rooms where Khaat had gone.

"Damnit!" Brian cursed, running full speed past Robert towards the dressing rooms now.

Ronata had been trying on an outfit she found when she heard a scuffle in the next booth , he eyes went wide as she realised it was Khaats booth, acioing her wand she ran to the booth nextr door and saw the same woman stood holding Khaat.

"let her go " she demanded her face and eyes now meaning business ass she stood "BRIAN, STEVEN !!" she called out her wand still held out at the woman. "you try one stupid move and you'll be finished , drop her " she said her heart beat fast in her ears even though she felt fear she pushed it behind her , even though she knew what she had done to Khaat in the basement she could not allow her to do that again. But nor could she fire at her for risking that she hit Khaat. She stood pondering the situation only for a split second.

It was then she saw it, the mirror now directly behind the woman , raising her wand ever so slightly, she had to judge her timing just right, so it would bounce and hit the woman and not Khaat. Then she took her one chance, under her breath she said "Petrificus Totalus" the spell hit the mirror and deflected right at the woman hitting her square in the back.

Even if it was just for a moment she would be stunned, Ronata took her opertunity, she dove forward grabbing Khaat away from her and carrying her into the shop as she moved she could fell her own legs shaking as her adrenalin subsided. She knew she had done a fool thing and could have killed herself but Khaat was her priority as such her own , but it had worked and she now stood with Khaat back in the shop.



Steven heard Ronata cry out he quickly drew his wand and moved toward the changing rooms as he did he saw Ronata with an unconshiose Khaat , quickly he scooped Khaat up and turned to Robert and Brian before laying her down cradling her head as he chscked her over "she's unconshiose " he said loking at robert " I'll get her and Ronata back to the villa on your orders " he said.

Robert didn't speak. He knelt beside Khaat and put his hand on her forehead. "Choloroform," he said. "She'll be alright once she comes to. I can't help her here. Steven, take the women home. Brian, you're with me." He rose to his feet and stormed back into the women's dressing rooms like he owned the place, his wand drawn. He knew that he was in every violation of every wizarding law there was, but he honestly didn't care. He'd explain to whomever later, if it came up.

He found her laying on the floor. The wild eyed woman didn't look so wild eyed at the moment. "Tasha, tasha, tasha," Robert sighed. "We did talk about this. Incarcerous!" He bound her with magical ropes and took her wand. "Let's get her back to the house. I need to have a word with her."

He and Brian apparated Tasha back to the house, taking her directly to the basement. He knew Steven would not bring the women to that part of the house.

Steven held Khaat in his arms as Ronata placed some coins on the counter for her and Khaats things and then stood her arm hook around his as she stood in front of him looking up into his eyes as he smiled aperating them back to the main door of the villa , Quickly Ronata opened the door as he carryed her back to the bedroom and lay her down after Ronata had straigtened out teh bed for her.

"I'll make some coffee " she said "she's going to want some when she wakes, cloraphorm is nasty stuff. " She said moving back to the kitchen her heels clicking on the marble floor as she moved around. Steven stayed with Khaat sitting where Brian had been only a few hours ago and never taking his eyes from her.

Ronata returned with two cup of coffee one she placed beside the bed the other she gave to Steven hearing soft voices she knew they had come back but she staid with Khaat and steven.

"Forgot to mention, I like the outfit." he said smirking at Ronata , she just glared at him knowing now was not the time for flirting.

"Steven, concentrate on the job at hand. " She said folding her arms across her chest "in other words keep your eyes on khaat not me" she said