Still Seeking...

Emmett walked down from one of the rooms in the Leaky Cauldron, having been able to scrounge up enough money to be able to spend the night there, rather than wandering in desperate search of something better. He was still saving up for his own flat or apartment or something so he could not worry himself about living conditions.

He was careful to store his guitar case in the room before grabbing some coins and his ever-growing satchel for his writings and his research. Inside, he had his other research on Barker, some pictures of the guy when he had been in the prison system before, his notes from Khaat's interview, and his own story. Not only did he need to interview Sophia, the latest victim, and Michael, who had rescued her... He also needed to address the latest rumors that a Hogwarts student had gone missing.

He made his way down to a table and pulled out the notepad he recorded his interview on, flipping to a blank page and setting it aside, resting a pen on top of it. He went and ordered a herbal tea, sprinkling some mint on top to soothe him. He handed over the money and then sipped the hot liquid tentatively before sitting down. Ready for business.

Michael arrived at the Leaky, at the request of the new young reporter who wanted information on Felix Barker. Barker was tops of Michael's list of people to stop dead in their tracks. And he wanted the chance for at least one good lick at him. Hm..would it be some sort of transfiguration? A sectumsempra? Or just a simple Avada Kedavra? Well, he wouldn't know that until the time came. Michael never planned those thigns that far ahead. But he was going to put a stop to him.

He could sniff out a reporter a mile away, and he had no trouble whatsoever recognizing Fisher. He stopped briefly at the bar to get a very large cup of Earl Grey tea to go with the large white paper sack of fresh scones that he'd bought at Sparks just a few moments ago. Some things, like tea, just should not be messed with. While the bartender was filling the teacup, he saw very clearly, the signs that the young Fisher had been living on barebones and little more. He was glad, then, that he'd stopped at Sparks. The young man was looking a bit hungry.

He went to the table and deposited the paper sack on the table between him and FIsher. "I'd prefer you not faint away from hunger, Fisher," Michael said, putting his teamug on the table and then sitting across form him. "Fresh scones. Eat. They're actually very good. They're cinnamon and brown sugar. So, what exactly is it you want to know from me?"

Emmett heard a voice join him and he looked u, prepared to stand and give his usual professional greeting, but the older man was already sitting and was offering him some scones. Emmett blinked. Obviously, this man was not exactly orthodox and was going to be interesting, to say the least, to interview. However, Emmett's stomach was grumbling...

"Hello, Mr. Tremaine. Thank you very much. That would be very appreciative." He hesitated and then gingerly reached a hand into the bag and pulled out a scone, taking a bite. His eyes blinked rapidly; they were delicious. He finished it and swallowed, wiping his mouth and saying, "Thank you, that is superb."

He asked Emmett what Emmett wanted from him. He cleared his throat. Down to business already. "I am focusing my efforts on Felix Barker. I want him brought to justice, obviously, but I also am trying to prove to the wizarding world that the war is actually going on. Few acknowledge it. My sources tell me you were the one to rescue Ms Lestrange, is that right? Yes, she will be joining us soon. I was hoping to get any information that may help stop these abductions. Already, I've heard a girl from Hogwarts has come up missing."

"Ah. Well, as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I guess that puts us on the same side in this business. Barker is at the top of my list of people to inconvenience at the moment. So Sophia is joining us, then. Good. She may well have some valuable information for you.

"I did read your piece on Khaat. It was well done, that. Its probably the biggest reason I agreed to talk to you. So you know, anything I say to you needs to be strictly anonymous. Otherwise it could compromise catching Barker and..well, other things. But, in answer to your question, yes, I did rescue Sophia. I was the one who led the efforts to get Khaat Lupin back. Robert asked me to help get her back because--and few people know this--I am one of two godfathers Khaat has. The only one surviving. Her other godfather was Remus Lupin. I promised Robert and his wife to always look out for Khaat--and I have. I don't put that out for publication because someone needs to be watching Khaat's back from the shadows. A woman as famous as she has become will always have enemies, and a lot of them. I won't be made known because of the risk that might place her in. It would strip me of the ability to help bodyguard her.

"Barker is another story altogether. I am not surprised in the least that he's taken another girl. He enjoys torture for the pleasure it gives him to see someone else suffer. Khaat has her voice back, but only because of the love of her family and friends. It was Barker's horrors that silenced her, and she's not a woman who is easily intimidated. About anything. Barker is always very well paid for his work, and he's paid by a greedy little man, who is paid by an immensely rich man. This thing operates in a chain.

"To fully stop Barker, we must get to the root of the plant as well. And, believe me, Robert intends to do just that. How long have you been living out of your suitcase, or whatever it is you carry?"

Emmett nodded, unable to keep himself from scrawling a sentence or two of Michael's monologue, writing anything he thought was of any sort of importance, anything he could use for his story. He knew this could be irritating to people, but he had mastered the art of keeping his eyes on whoever he was speaking to at the same time, which seemed to reduce the amount of offense people took to him penning their words.

He nodded, "Yes, I understand the difficulty of this situation. I can not do much, but I hope to do the little I can." He finished up his writing and realized that Michael's las question had been addressed to him- a personal question. He did sort of a double take. "Um... Only for a month or so now." But ever since he had dropped out, he had been on and off the streets, not that he would worthy Michael with that. "Now, Mr. Tremaine, while we wait for Ms Lestrange, could you tell me what you know about Barker?"

Sophia walked into the Leaky Cauldron as requested by a Daily Prohpet reporter Emmett Fisher who wanted information about her kidnapping. Swallowing hard she looked around for Emmett and Micheal and saw them at a table. "Hello you must be Emett Fisher, I'm Sophia Lestrange."said Sophia softly sticking out her hand for him to shake. "I persume you want to ask me questions about Felix Barker and my kidnapping."said Sophia swallowing hard. "Let me tell you, it was down right horrible I still have flashbacks and nightmares from that night."said Sophia softly. Sophia really didn't want to talk bout his again but the world needed to know how dangerous this man was.

"Hello, Sophia," Michael said. "Sit. Would you like some tea or something? My treat." He turned his attention back to Fisher. He motioned to the bartender.

"You were asking about Barker and what I knew. Not much, really. I am more acquainted with his employers. I do know Robert had no choice but to kill his father because his father was a selfish evil man. Robert killed him in a duel. He had no choice. Barker formed an alliance over the summer, or at least that's my understanding, with a man--Luther Burke--who also lost his father to the business end of Robert Lupin's wand. Robert killed Seth in self defense purely. I was there. That man was an evil, greedy, self centered man who never treated any human being with an ounce of decency and didn't raise his son to be any better.

"Seth Burke was at Hogwarts when Robert and Remus and I were there. We knew him for a very long time. It was a sad day when we found out he had a son. Lucas never had a chance to be a decent human being. At any rate, Seth Burke was hired by a family who specializes in the kidnapping, sale, and export of wizarding children to rich and powerhungry muggles. Seth brought Luther into the business before Seth's own death several years ago. Late this spring, it appears that Luther got a new assignment--revenge on the Lupin family for all the money that the Lupins had taken out of their otherwise healthy bank accounts by stopping kidnappings and/ or rescuing wizarding children. It was starting to significantly hurt their illegal and immoral operations. So, the choice apparently was to strike back where they knew it would hurt Robert the most--the people that he loves. Beginning with his daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter.

"Khaat's baby girl and her infant granddaughter were kidnapped this spring by these people. Robert immediately moved Khaat into hiding under strict protection to try to keep her from being next. Then he concentrated on getting the babies back before they were sold out from under him and thereby taken from the Lupin family forever.

"As I understand it, Khaat was chased by paid assassins all summer long, and her estranged husband actually put a stop to the primary assassin's actions, effectively rescuing his wife, his daughter and his granddaughter. Robert brought Khaat back out of hiding, and that was when Burke brought Barker into the picture. The rest you know, I believe."

"Hello Micheal, and tea would be lovely thankyou."said Sophia sitting down beside him and listening to the story. Sophia waited for Emmett to ask her questions about Felix Barker as she held her head in her hands but still listening. Sophia been having these pains in her head ever since Felix Barker kidnapped her she swears she's going crazy. "Maybe I need to talk to daddy about this."Sophia thought to herself as she ran her hands through her hair and sighed. Sometimes Sophia hated being a troublemaker for all it seems to do is get her hurt more then anything.

Emmett scribbled everything down and his eyebrows knit together. Everything, in one sense, made perfect sense, though it destroyed the angle of his story by making it a non feuding forces struggle. This was not over Death Eaters vs the Order, this was after a long running family feud. "So this is not a political struggle, it's a revenge spree."

He paused. But this new girl. "So, is the new girl that was recently kidnapped some sore of relative to the Lupins then?" He paused and began rifling through his notes. "From what I have gathered, her name is... Naomi... And then accounts on her last nae differ. Most say Quinn. A few claim she is a Greyback." He looked up and between Sophia and Michael. "Do you know her? Is there any reason to believe she would be on this 'hitlist' as well?"

"No clue," Michael shrugged, as the server brought tea for Sophia. Michael paid him for her tea. "I only know one Quinn, and I believe you met him. He doesnt' have any relatives named Naomi. Grayback? Well, that's an old name, now isn't it? I don't know that there is any love connection between the Graybacks and the Lupins. I have no idea why Barker would be after Naomi Quinn or Grayback or whatever her name is. My guess is that it may have been a rather random decision on Barkers' part. To the best of my knowledge, there hasn't been any connection between the Lupins and the Graybacks for, well, going into the third generation now.

"However, this girl won't be all that easy to find. Barker, if he has a brain in his head, won't use the same location a third time. I found him at his first location now twice. And unless he's is an imbecile, he won't be making that mistake again. I can always go scout that location out, but I think I'd just find it abandoned and useless. Barker will be gone from there without much of a trace.

"The muggles have a discipline they call profiling. It involves common personality types and typical behaviors to try to find a desired individual. And I'm quite sure that if Barker had anything so easy as a property deed to something that the Ministry could just walk in and arrest him, they'd have done that by now. No, I think perhaps looking at whatever we know about the character of the man might be a far more useful tool. " Michael took a drink from his tea and looked over at Sophia.

Sophia wasn't holding up well to side effects of Barker either. That much was obvious. He made a mental note to contact "Skinny" and talk to him about that. Prat. He needed to take care of his own first. "Sophia," Michael asked quietly. "Do you know anything about Barker himself? His habits or his thoughts or any personal information that might be helpful? I know that isn't an easy thing to think about, but it truly might help us catch him."