Just Dinner

"No," she replied to his question about underestimations," I don't think you generally make that mistake. Quite the contrary, really. If I didn't trust your judgement to some extent and value your opinions, I don't think we would still be speaking, quite honestly. I now tend not to associate with anyone that I can't trust any farther than I can spit them. I guess that's the advantage of having been married to an idiot. I did learn my lesson about falling into that trap of trusting too quickly." And that was true. There was something life changing and mind altering in finding out that the person one was tail over teakettle in love with was about as evil a snake as it came. She was changed and had no room for empty souled, evil hearted people that seemed to snake their way into the wizarding world in one way or another.

"We do, however, have very different ideas about what makes a great leader or, for that matter, what the most important elements of life are. What I find valuable, you generally find to be laughable. And what you want out of life are things I have no use for. The only Lupin that, to my knowledge, has been to naieve or willing to trust, at least in the past, was me. Remus died fighting for those things he felt to be most valuable in his life. I won't fault him on that. I've seen you duel and put your life on the line to try to gain those things in life you want as well. Just because what Lupins believe in is, apparently, quite different from what you want doesn't make it wrong. It just makes it different.

"As far as our headquarters went, actually, I would really not have fought that asinine skirmish in the first place. It was just a silly little flat. Compared to your own headquarters, I don't know why you need it. It certainly was not a step up for you. And I daresay, we managed to make enough of a wreck of it, that I can't imagine that unless you set Narcissa on redecorating it for you that it will still be of much use to you. It hardly makes any sort of suitable annex to Malfoy Manor. If it had been me, I'd have handed you the bloody keys and just given it to you if it was that all fired important to you. It certainly was not worth risking all those lives for. But then again, that's the difference between Jess and me. We didn't agree all the time either, as you should remember from your office. Still, yes, I do think the Halloween masks your little 'club of friends' likes is utterly asinine . It doesn't make me fear you one ounce more. Frankly, its outdated and it just doesn't work. If they truly wanted to be frightening, they'd show up just as they were. You really ought to have them lose that old fashioned nonsense and get with the times."

And then he seemed to take the first volley towards his intended goal for the evening. His announcement of his desire to be the Minister. There it was. She was not surprised in the least. After all, it was such a very Vincent thing to want. She didn't see that there was much else for him to be satisfied with. Once a person had become addicted to power and control, it became insatiable for them. It was the next obvious hurdle.

"Well," she said, taking a rather uninterested tone, "I presume that several wizards have dropped their hats into the proverbial ring. I am not surprised to hear that you want to be one of them. Personally, for the most part, I don't have any need to have interest in that race. That is one office I am not seeking. So long as it isn't someone who is going to make life just a raging hell for all of us, then it doesn't much matter. So long as they let the rest of us do our jobs and live relatively peaceful lives, then, I don't really give a rat's pajamas who gets the job."

Vincent smiled slightly at that, or sneered, he never did quite smile - it always seemed to have a mocking edge to it. But now, he was dwelling on what she had said about valuing his opinion and trusting his judgement. He wasn''t quite sure whether it was smart of her to 'trust his judgement'. However she was quite right to some extent, if she did not value his opinion and if she did not hold several important ranks, well then they would be enemies, instead of 'friends'.

Vincent personally did not have friends. People could believe that they were, but in truth they were just accomplices. He had never really met someone he could actually trust and call a friend. Why? He wasn't afraid of social communication at all, in fact, it was quite the opposite. Admittedly, his personality was not the most attractive, but he could be charming when he wanted to be. Truth was, that he was just incapable of liking and, especially, trusting anyone. He wasn't afraid of being betrayed by a friend, he knew that he would be eventually. And so he didn't make any, and was settled with that. Vincent just wasn't affected by loneliness as most people were.

"So have you divorced him yet?" he asked. Last time he had met her she was still married to Dent, though hardly on speaking terms. "The tramp I mean." It didn't matter to Vincent either way, Dent was part of the Death Eaters, but he wouldn't influence Khaat to become one even if they had been on good terms. She was a Lupin - meaning stupid - and was far too noble to do any such thing. "Don't flatter yourself Khaat, you know your too naive and trusting. Thats why you surround yourself with such dangerous people who I know would, if the bounds of society were restricted, kill you if you stood between them and a meal. I did tell you about Dent, remember? When I first met him... But you trusted him anyway and well, look where that got you."

"Oh but thats what you say Khaat," Vincent said, shaking his head. He was referring to her remark: 'And what you want out of life are things I have no use for'. In his opinion she was just trying to be too humble, trying to follow in the footsteps of her uncle. But in fact she wasn't as much like him as she would have liked to be. "Why would you hold these ranks... Chief Warlock and Head of healers, if not for the power that these ranks give you?" he questioned. "Power is not always a bad thing. You are chief warlock so you can have the power over the criminals that are captured right? Just as I was the headmaster so I could have direct influence upon the students of Hogwarts. When you think about it, we, you and I, are not too different - but quite alike. I've just accepted who I am whereas you Khaat, are confused. And you call me evil, but you are quite the same. Just as the Death Eaters and the order are also similar."

" As for me fighting for things I want, I agree, I do do that. But I never risk my life in doing so. If you noticed, I only fight duels which I know I will win, thats why I avoid the larger battles," Vincent corrected. It was the truth though, the battle of the ministry, of Grimmauld Place, he had never participated in any of those large battles. A stray spell could come and hit him and that would be the end of him. Vincent believed that battles were one with the mind, and not in dueling and battles. A quite different philosophy from what Sandra believed.

"It achieved more than that," Vincent argued at her comment about the battle, his eyes narrowing. He was irritated at her acting like his victory, the victory he had brought, was so inconsequential to the order. "Order members around the world now have no means of communicating each other. Too many wizards, the order has been defeated. So it was both a moral blow and a strategic one. Its hard to accept but yes, thats the truth of it." He hadn't heard about the order after that battle, not in the newspapers or in the Death Eater meetings, they were out of the action. Vincent didn't personally feel that they had been completely destroyed, not from what Khaat had told him, but it didn't matter to him much. He wasn't taking sides in the conflict and was not associated to the Death Eaters as people would think. He was using them just like he used other people. Except that they were a big and stupid mob. "Personally I feel like they have done you a favor. The order was one big mess before who did nothing but inspire other wizards to do stupid stuff. Now it can form again and be a stronger more united organization with a better leader. Tell me, how did it feel to take orders from a nineteen year old?" he inquired, the mocking edge in his tone returning once again. Still, Vincent didn't quite understand what was the whole reason for putting young people without much experience into these important ranks. Head of the order, the minister... They were both young and young meant stupid and inexperienced.

"Don't be stupid Khaat, the Halloween masks are ridiculous, I admit. But the Death Eaters don't use them to frighten people but merely to hide their identity." Vincent made sure to use they, and not, we. He recalled that Khaat did not entirely believe he was a part of the Death Eaters, and in fact, he wasn't, though it was a topic of confusion amongst others. If she believed that though, it suited him well.

Vincent did realize that if anyone had eavesdropped then they wouldn't be quite comfortable with what they had heard. This was partly why he despised talking in public places. Then again, Vincent spoke in a quiet rasp of a voice, and he doubted that even Khaat, who was right in front of him, could hear what he was saying comfortably over the other noise around the restaurant.

Vincent raised an eyebrow at her disinterested tone. He would of thought she was more concerned about the elections, as chief Warlock. "I think you should... The Wizarding World is not in its best state right now and it needs a leader, not just another minister who eats, sleeps and does nothing else," he replied casually, referring to Matt Lestrange of course. "Neither do we need one like Dae Diggory, who's racist policies made life hell for both Werewolves and Vampires. Now I know what your opinion of me is, you think of me as an evil power-hungry maniac right?" Which was a rhetorical question, cause he knew that was only partly true, but had only exaggerated so he could go on. "But the point is, if I was minister I would use the power in different ways than you would think. There are several problems in our society that have lasted centuries - house elves, treatment of squibs and etcetera. I plan to get rid of this social bias as well as a few other things." Vincent wasn't lying either, having been a frail sick child when he was young, he was constantly bullied and abused by others for being inferior to them. Since then, Vincent had despised muggles but he had also treated inferior people, and creatures - like the houseelves - far better than he would have treated normal people. They were after all, quite like how he had been, powerless and frequently abused.


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Yayyy longest post.

"Divorce Rob? No. Not yet. He does have a child to provide for. And I am in aboslutely no mood to get into any sort of custody despute for my daughter. I have no doubt I'd win, but still, its a huge pain in the ass. So, I just have been in no hurry for that. It doesn't affect my life now either way, whether I"m married to him or not anymore, really. And you did tell me about Rob. But by the time you did, I was already married--and pregnant, incidently. I don't regret Abbey for one instant. I do regret that Rob, for whatever reason, did not see fit to consider for one moment how much danger he put his daughter and me into when he decided to reveal who he was at such a dangerous place in my pregnancy, and that is probably what angers me the most about him. If he'd have told me earlier, or after delivery, I'd have just tossed his ass to the curb and we'd have been done with it.

"Dangerous people? I do know friends on both sides of the law. But its not because I trust them so implicitly. I just don't enter many places or relationships, either one, with much fear. And you might call that stupidity. Maybe it is. But, honestly, I stopped being afraid of death a very long time ago. So, if I am not afraid of death, then what part of life do I need to walk on eggshells for?"

She listened to his thoughts on power and his attempts to put her in his league. She resisted. He just didn't get it. He either didn't want to, or wasn't able to. She wasn't sure which. "You have some odd views about power," she said. "The difference between us is that you seem to largely want it for yourself. Perhaps for whatever feeling it gives you. I couldn't care less. I accepted the Chief Warlock post because, if you recall, the first trial I was part of as a member of the Wizengamot was nothing more than a pure mockery of justice that Dae Diggory had contrived and manipulated. It was utterly ridiculous. I took the Chief Warlock post because whether an accused person is guilty or not, they deserve the consideration of a real trial--not soap opera drama. I took the job to change the filth in the system that Dae had created. Do you think I do it for some pat on the back I give myself, or something? You really don't know me very well if that's what you think. If you had really been interested in using that power correctly, you might have come to me at the ministry for help when you got into a bind. But the death eaters? I thought you, especially, knew better than that. How long did you spend fighting them, arresting them, seeing to their convictions? What happened with you to make you switch sides?

Khaat was not going to hear his political platform about how much better he was going to make the wizarding world until he began to answer some of her questions in some way that made some sort of sense. She was not about to simply toss her support behind him because that was the job he wanted. If he wanted her support, he was going to have to work for it. He was going to have to come clean. He was going to have to explain himself, and for once he was going to have to tell the complete truth. He was going to have to stop speaking in enigmas and make some sense. She did believe that there was some parts of what he was saying that was true. The problem was in detecting what was fact and what was fiction. At least with Matt, she knew exactly where he stood on an issue. With Vincent, it was almost impossible to see how he truly felt about anything. And that, for certain, was not the kind of MInister she wanted to see in power. And she, for certain, did not want a Death Eater in power. She didn't see how that would benefit anything at all.


OOC: Nice! I liked the looooong post!

Vincent sighed, more out of boredom than anything else. This all didn't interest him at all. The lives of a couple, of Khaat and Dent, did not matter to him in the slightest bit. And yet, he was forcing himself to continue the pleasantries, to fake his interest, merely to charm her and create an illusion in her mind that he was her friend. It wasn't working apparently. She knew his nature quite well and had probably worked out the plan by now too. Nevertheless, she would have to make a choice in the end, he was going to become minister one way or another.

"Ah death," he repeated, a small smile appearing on the corners of his lips. "What a wonderful topic. Your not afraid of death you say? Or, to put it in better terms, your not afraid of your own death... Why? Do you believe in the 'afterlife?,' " Vincent questioned, his tone already indicating what he thought of the afterlife.

Vincent listened calmly to her reply. She was quite right, as usual, she did not want power for herself, even he would not accuse her of that. "Yes I might not know too much about you, but neither do you about me. So I would suggest, Khaat, that you try not to make assumptions about me either. True, I want power, because thats the only real and absolute thing in the universe. But I never said, and you have no reason to believe, that I want it for myself," Vincent replied, a touch of venom in his tone now. Of course, she was perfectly right, he was totally obsessed with power and wanted it for himself. But he wouldn't give her any reason to believe that he would use the minister powers in a negative way.

"What happened to make me switch sides? Well I merely realized something. That really, all the three factions: the Death Eaters, the Order, the Ministry, they are all one and the same. Their names are different, as are their ways of achieving their goals, but their goals are the same. And all of them are controlled by witches or wizards desiring personal power," Vincent explained, knowing she shared a very different opinion on this matter. "You don't share these thoughts, you can't, because in your mind, you believe too strongly that the order is the noble organization it once was, and you don't want to see the truth of it. Once, I admit, it was divided into good and evil, the Order and the Death Eaters. But thats no more, now they are all corrupt organizations aiming for one thing." It had been the corruption, most of all, that had driven him away from allying with any of them, the ministry or order included. So, he had just decided to get rid of it all himself. What he had said though, probably wouldn't impress Khaat. She believed the Order were still the good guys and would continue believing in that. He couldn't quite care less what her opinions were. "I'm not asking you to share my opinion, I'm just telling you mine. Besides, I haven't switched sides," he continued, quite sure he had explained this before to her. "It was just more... profitable at the time to join the Death Eaters rather than the Order. To stay loyal to the ministry at that point was out of question. But I don't share their ideals, not at all." That was true enough. The Death Eaters treated their inferiors horribly, and Vincent wasn't quite like that. In fact, he was quite the opposite, and detested the Death Eaters for that.

She didn't give her opinion on the whole minister issue. Vincent would wait for sometime before deciding what was the best thing to do now. Her reaction would help him decide. As she had said, Khaat wasn't afraid of death, or at least not her own. But of others, he was quite sure she would be. If he made a threat, for example, against her friends or family, she would be more inclined to do what he said. But that wasn't what Vincent was going to do. He had a better plan in mind.

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Yeah, but I wont bother doing it again. Too time consuming.

She decided not to even dignify his sarcasm about the afterlife with an answer. Power was the only real and absolute thing in the universe? What a truly sad little man Vincent really was! She could see that he had not had a happy or an easy life, and perhaps that had made him into what he was.

But for all his abilities to be charming if he so chose to be, it meant little. She had learned that all she really wanted in her life was not anything Vincent could offer her. Well, she hadn't really thought he could anyway.

"Get specific, will you?" she asked. "You want this office and you want my support. So, what, exactly, will you do as Minister? What do you plan to do with the many problems in the wizarding world? For example, the demons that have infiltrated this world? Certainly the muggles won't have a clue about how to get rid of them. Or, perhaps you have a good plan to reform Azkaban? It used to be the most secure place in the wizarding world. Now it just has a freaking revolving door. There's no point in my sending anyone there anymore. It's a bloody joke. How about finally either standing behind St. Mungos--and providing more than about 5% of the ministry budget to us and some actual security or finally just letting us go and making us independent so I can do it myself? Tell me, Vincent, how are you going to clean up the bloody massive mess you've created in Hogwarts, and don't think for one moment I don't know what's happening behind castle walls since you walked out. Archer hasn't been doing one stinking thing to control that motley crew and they're out of control. You want to be minister so badly? Then tell me what exactly you're going to do to make the wizarding world better." She doubted that he had any real plan to correct a single thing. She figured the only real plan he had, so far, was to warm the chair Matt had left behind.

She knew then, she knew her involvement in his plan. Good, he didn't want to waste time explaining it to her. Vincent raised his eyebrows at her tone as she asked him what he was going to do. It was filled with sarcasm, with irony. She really didn't know him then, he thought - amused and surprised. He also noticed that she did not comment on the topic of Death Eaters and the Order. He assumed that it was because she did not want to talk about it. Sometimes people like to deny the truth even when it stares them in the face.

"What do you think Khaat? All my life I've worked and yearned for this position. Do you think I've done that just to serve as a puppet to Sandra as Matt was to Jess?" he questioned. Vincent was not faking now, he had no intention of handing the ministry over to the Death Eaters. Of course, they believed he did, as did the rest of the world - which Vincent was fine with. But once he became minister, the Death Eaters would have served their purpose. "I have served long enough as Law enforcer to know the troubles of Azkaban. It can never be as secure as before of course, not with the Dementors gone. The only thing that stopped prisoners from escaping was that you could not do magic there... Now with guards there, magic is possible again, so thats where the major problem lies." Vincent knew how to deal with that of course, though it wouldn't get her consent. He planned to just execute the dangerous criminals, and leave the rest at Azkaban. A simple way of doing justice. After all, it was far better than bringing Dementors back there. In the old days, people who stayed in the prison for too long were screaming for Death. "There are numerous ways to end it, though you would consider the best way to be immoral."

"The massive mess I created?!" Vincent responded indignantly. "Yes, it was I who invited them, but indirectly, it was the order! I hope you remember Kingsleys little assault on Hogwarts, his attempt to take my life. You probably do remember it, since you were part of it." He was sure she would choose to ignore this as well. Khaat seemed to be very good at closing her eyes to things she didn't wish to see. "So you see, it was necessary. Had that incident not happened then I would not have been required to get more security."

"But how I will deal with them? Well thats quite easy. See the Death Eaters trust me, so I could get rid of them easily. You still think I will hand the ministry over to them, but why would I do that? It doesn't give me or the Wizarding World any benefit." Though much of what he had said so far was true, Vincent didnt think that she was impressed at all so far. He was just beginning to realize how stubborn she was. "The thing is, you have an impression of me etched into your mind and you won't change it. Very well. But know this, I might have gotten this far through control and manipulation, but after getting the Minister position, I won't have any further to go. Instead, I will focus on the things I have wanted to change. I have gone through a lot of things in my youth, and though I know I have become rather emotionless because of that, I haven't become evil," he told her firmly. "And it is precisely because of the lessons I have learned in my past that I want to help the Wizarding World. You ask what I will do once I become Minister? First, I will get rid of the corruption, and make it more united. Thats the first step, after that the law system and the Death Eaters." And your and your fathers resignation, he added mentally.

Are my posts that bad that you cant bother reading them correctly? I said immorality, you know, something that is not moral? Not immorTality.

No, I just accidently misread it. My apologies. I have deleted my post and I will rewrite it. and, yes, I do read your posts and generally I read them several times before I reply. it is quite offensive to me when you seem to presume that I can't be bothered to read them. I would appreciate it if you did not jump to those conclusions. I am sorry that I appear to have upset you by my mistake.

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Khaat placed her order for her entree calmly and casually when the server came to the table. Veal piccata. She liked the smattering of Italian classics that Blaire put on is menu, and the piccata was one of her favorites. She listened to Vincent talk about his thoughts about the state of the political affairs in the wizarding world.

"You do appear to perhaps be a wee bit behind. Gabrielle brought the dementors back to Azkaban while she was Acting Minister, and neither Matt nor I have reversed that. In fact I was there not that awfully long ago and chased a dementor off for trying to make the discussion difficult with the inmate I was there to see. To the best of my knowledge, the inmates' magic is still bound upon their arrival. However, there do still seem to be many flaws in their security system.

"I do agree that you do your best to not be emotional over much of anything," She said. "And I understand that does not necessarily make you evil. If I had thought you were purely evil, I would not have so much as read you the time off that snarky pocketwatch in my purse. As for my opinions on immorality, those are not open to debate here. That would only serve to kick off an endless conversation in which we would both, undoubtedly, end up frustrated with the other for some reason.

"I think your logic is a bit faulty where your decision to blame the death eaters for beign involved in Hogwarts is concerned. We both know I let Shacklebolt in that night, and as it turned out, you yourself decided that you were not the right person to sit in the Headmaster's position long term. Perhaps I was not so wrong after all. It was your own insecurities that led you to let your death eaters in. It had nothing to do with me, Jess or the Order. You did that all by yourself. I won't own any of the blame for that. But I fail to see how it benefits you for them to continue there, unless your real goal is for you and you alone to control all of the wizarding world altogether.

"I'm not saying I won't help you. But I'm not saying I will yet either. Understand I'm not telling you no. I just am not convinced that I should say yes yet either."

Vincent took the menu from the waiter, and scanned through it sedately. It wasn't that he didn't find anything good in it, he was just not quite as hungry anymore. Now, he was infuriated, though it did not show in his expression. The conversation with Khaat had not been quite as smooth as he had imagined it would be. He was not quite sure why he had expected Khaat to help him. She was stubborn and narrow-minded woman, who lacked any longterm plans. Handing the menu back to the surprised waiter, Vincent turned and told him he was not hungry, and to bring the tea in a few minutes.

"As for the demons," he added hastily, he had forgotten reply about them. "They came from somewhere, and were summoned by someone. If we find its source, we can destroy it, and trace the caster from that. The demons are, for now, not a great threat, and even if they were, we can do nothing about them. We need a stronger, more efficient auror team first."

"It doesn't make you feel even a bit guilty?" Vincent asked curtly, narrowing his eyes at her. "That you allowed Shacklebolt and his accomplices in to kill me. But even that I can forgive, but to allow Emof in... Thats quite stupid even for your and Shacklebolt's standards. The fool permanently injured two of my students in the process of attempting to murder me. But of course, we can ignore this fact, like everyone else did, because you were doing it for the greater good!" He did not quite hold any grudges against Khaat for the act, Vincent expected this from people, thats why he always seemed to attentive, and paranoid too. But it was his personal belief that you could never trust anyone, and, strangely, this was a trait he shared with Shacklebolt. People could not be trusted because of, as well as the other obvious reasons, their stupidity and weakness. "It might be far too complex for your feeble mind to understand, but that was why I did it, and to me, it seemed not to be such a bad move, not at the time. The raid left me feeling that our defenses were far too weak, yes. The aurors were not trustworthy enough, and therefore I replaced them with more efficient guards. And besides, the Death Eaters have not been randomly killing the students, in fact, they have treated a large majority of them rather well." Large majority meaning the muggle-borns. While the halfbloods were not as well treated as the purebloods were, they were hardly suffering. "As I said before, they are not evil. They merely have a different ideology as the Order does. But I do not plan to keep them in control there. I told you before I would get rid of them, you thought I was lying, but I am speaking the truth. I have never been allies with Sandra, we just happened to be traveling by the same road. "

His tone had by now, of course, changed quite a bit. He was speaking in his usual critical, cynical and rude tone, now that he knew that her support was not guaranteed. And that was what he had required, 100 percent guaranteed support, a maybe, was not good enough. He would have to change tactics now, and Khaat would obviously not like it, but she still had to know that she had the choice to avoid unnecessary violence.

He chuckled first, then said in an amused tone: "You don't have a choice Khaat!" One way or another, Vincent was going to get the position, either through violence, or in a more smooth way. Apparently it was not going so well. "Either way I will become minister. If I am not elected, Sandra will invade the ministry and give me the position anyways. So you see, it is up to you. Your decision will decide whether there will be a few unneeded deaths or not." His tone was calm enough to give her the impression it was a warning instead of a threat.

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Apologies. I'm not in the greatest mood nowadays, and particularly that day. It was not intended as an insult or anything.

OOC: No problem. If there is anything I can do to help if I can, even if its just someone to vent at, you know all you need to do is ask!


"Do I feel guilty that I let Shacklebolt in? No," she said quietly. "Had I known you a bit better at the time, I might not have. However, if I had to make that choice all over again knowing only the information I knew that night, I can't say that my choices would be any different. As I said, though, I didn't know you then as I do now. As far as Emof went, I did not choose him that night, nor did I bring him. His orders were to distract only. He was told, abundantly clearly, he was not to hurt any student at any time. Do I regret that he did that? Well, I certainly don't like it, but I cannot take responsibility for behaviors that were not mine. It does sadden me, as it did then. But you weren't there to see that I deliberately put myself directly in front of him, between him and the students to try to shield them when he decided not to follow orders. And, for the record, I was not interested in or in favor of Shacklebolt killing you. I simply wanted him to put you out on your arse, that's all. You wanted my honesty? Well, there it is. I did want you out. Kingsley Shacklebolt was a friend of the Lupin family well before you were probably even born and he was my friend. I had every reason to be loyal to him. I didn't know you from Adam's housecat." She knew that even telling him the truth, it would do no good now. She could see the rage in his eyes. He had counted on her loyalty, on her support to make his dreams that much more easily obtainable.

But Khaat had learned from her last encounter with Vincent that whatever his issues were, and as he talked tonight, she learned it had come from his childhood, he had purposely blocked himself from ever being able to be any sort of friend on a genuine basis. She knew he would probably never, ever win any awards for being the most stellar companion. Still, she had seen just enough glimmers of hope from him in the past to make her attracted to him in an odd sort of platonic way. To see that he appeared to be, at least tonight, closing himself off from her again was a very sad and painful thing to her. And it didn't seem to bother him one iota. In fact, he had lowered himself enough to debase her and call her feebleminded. That had simply made her sad. She didnt' want to lose him as friend, but it was unravelling fast in front of her eyes.

"Sandra Archer clearly has no real control over them," she said, returning her remarks to the Death Eaters. "When we were in your office, she obviously didn't have a bloody clue as to what you were doing or why. She might have the title of the head of that organization, but she isn't using it. Furthermore, I cannot and will not support any organization that has its sole modus operandi wrapped around breaking the law. I do not fault anyone for wanting to go about things differently, and I don't even mind you trying to split hairs with me. But that one is a bit too much for me to let slip by. Furthermore, I don't believe for a nanosecond that if I don't agree to help you that Sandra will order the organization to mobilize and attack. Lets be honest, shall we? If I don't agree to help you, the orders to attack will come from you. Don't you try for one single moment to pin the guilt for your disregard of the law on me. If anyone dies defending the Ministry, those deaths will fall solely on your shoulders and yours alone. Perhaps you'd better think about that before you do this, Vincent. I don't know that the health care program inside Azkaban is as comprehensive as what I can offer you at St. Mungos. A man in your health would most likely not last all that long. Besides, I would hate to see me having to hear your trial in my courtroom, but believe me, when that day comes, I will do my job. Think carefully. I have no desire to be on opposite sides with you, but if you choose to go that way, then I am very sorry. For both of us."