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The Trouble with Family | ||||||
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Category: Post-DH/AB Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Nymphadora Tonks, Other, Ron Weasley Genres: Action/Adventure, General, Humor, Romance Warnings: Death, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 19 Summary: It is after the Battle and the search for Hermione's parents uncovers some unexpected branches on a previously well known family tree. Canon Relationships. Some Mature/Adult Themes and Language. Hitcount: Story Total: 51970; Chapter Total: 1369 |
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In a very short amount of time Dave along with Madame Delacour, Fleur and Gabrielle had left through the door in his tent to go to Paris. The rest of us were very quickly engaged in our assigned tasks. At school potions had been far from my favourite subject. But both Goose and Cassy were magnificent with the way that they demonstrated how various poisons could affect the appearance, smell and (in the worst case) taste of different foods. They showed me along with Ginny, Hermione and Audrey many different ways to detect a whole range of poisons. They also gave us a supply of Bezoars, both to keep at home and some to carry on us at all times. As we gradually mastered those techniques Goose and Cassy also showed us how to heed the ‘warnings’ given by our Talismans when they encountered poisons. These warnings were usually a feeling of cold coming directly from the Talisman itself or a sense of danger. They were however rather subtle in nature. Both Goose and Cassy assured us that the longer you wore your Talisman the more attuned to it you will become. The same held true for the Talisman as well, for over time it would get to know us better and become better at passing along it’s warnings to us. It was now in the proceedings that Goose announced his intention to try and poison us to see if we could detect it. To do this he made several cups of tea and asked us to work out which ones were poisoned and which were safe to drink. “But don’t you need to poison one of them first?” Ginny asked him. “I already have.” Goose replied with a smile, “Several of them in fact.” “How?” she asked, “I didn’t see you do anything to them.” She said confused. “I know.” Was all that Goose would say with a mysterious smile on his face. Seeing that more questions were forth coming he expanded on that statement, “It is something that we will be showing you all later on.” He said with a little mysterious smile. He indicated that he wished us to try to detect the poisoned cup of tea so we turned our focus to that task. Even though I didn’t know what poison had been placed into the cups of tea in front of me I found it a very enjoyable task to try and work out which one it was. After we had all very carefully examined the cups in front of us we each made our choices as to what we believed was the poisoned one. Oddly enough we all agreed on our selection with the exception of one cup. I was sure it was poisoned but the others didn’t agree with me. In the end we found out that all the cups of tea had been poisoned. But the amounts of poison in them varied. The cup we all thought wasn’t poisoned had only a trace amount of poison in it. While the cup I thought was poisoned and the others didn’t had enough to make you ill, but not enough to kill you. When a non-poisoned cup of tea was placed on table alongside the others the difference could be noticed. But it was subtle very subtle. It was a great lesson we were all a little shocked at the result but we all agreed that it was an enjoyable lesson also. I was beginning to think about starting to get lunch organised when our fireplace flared up with green flame and Andromeda Tonks stepped out with little Teddy Lupin. Cassy and Goose were very quick to position themselves between Andromeda and myself. This caused a moment of unease for Andromeda until I called to both Cassy and Goose and told them that our visitor was one of my oldest and dearest friends. This caused them to relax until they found out the name of my visitor. Then they were both extremely watchful. They never showed any hostility or rudeness, but they were very vigilant and very much there. I could see very quickly that an important conversation was going to need to take place in the immediate future to explain and try to resolve this situation. In the meantime, the only thing I could do was to greet my old friend as warmly as I could while I brought her up to speed on recent happenings. “Andromeda, how wonderful to see you.” I remarked with my biggest smile as I quickly crossed to enfold her in one of my hugs. She warmly returned my hug to me but it was very clear also that she had great many questions about my house guests. “Molly, thank you for that very warm welcome.” Andromeda smiled at me, “I’m sorry for the unannounced visit but I found myself having a lonely and rather rough morning at home today. I found myself missing very much recently departed family members.” She said with some unshed tears in her eyes. “There is no need for you of all people to apologise for an unannounced visit.” I told her, “You know that you are always welcome here for any reason.” “Thank you, Molly.” She replied with genuine warmth. “You seem to have a number of rather unusual and formidable looking house guests with you.” She asked showing her trade mark curiosity. “Yes, I do indeed.” I replied with a smile, “We have had some very exciting times here recently and some even more exciting discoveries.” “It is a long story, which I will do my best to shorten for you. These two people here” I said indicating Cassy and Goose, “Are Aurors from the Australasian Auror Service.” This caused Andromeda’s eyes to widen in surprise. But the spark of curiosity only got brighter. “I would like to introduce you to Auror Ryan Colbert, commonly called Goose and Auror Cassandra Blanks, who is commonly called Cassy.” “Cassy and Goose, I would like to introduce you to Andromeda Tonks and Teddy Lupin.” I said with a small amount of trepidation I must admit. To their credit neither of them reacted to Andromeda’s family name but I did notice it register in their eyes. They both politely (but correctly) greeted Andromeda. “Could one of you please go and ask Arthur and Harry to join us? Along with Shelly and Fireball?” I asked them with my unspoken question in my eyes. “Certainly. I’ll go.” Goose replied and quickly left the room with a glance at Cassy. With his departure, Cassy repositioned herself to become less noticeable (to Andromeda) while still being able to see all that was going on. I called the other ladies from the kitchen over to greet my guest. “You remember my little Ginny?” I asked Andromeda as I introduced her. “Of course, I do. She just gets lovelier each time I see her.” Andromeda smiled as she warmly embraced Ginny. “This lovely young lady is Hermione Granger, she is a friend of Harry’s and Ron’s girlfriend.” I explained as I introduced her. “Yes, I remember her from the funeral for Dora and Remus.” Andromeda said with a small smile, “You were doing a wonderful job of keeping Ron from falling to bits.” Hermione smiled her thanks at this. “And this lovely young lady is Audrey, Percy’s Fiancée.” I said with a broad smile. Andromeda’s face lit up at this news and she very warmly embraced Audrey, “It is lovely to meet you my dear.” She said with a lovely smile. “When did this happen.” She asked Audrey. “Percy proposed to me on New Years Eve, while we were in France with Dave’s team.” She said with a radiant smile. “That sounds lovely my dear.” Andromeda said with a twinkle in her eye, “Who is this Dave?” She asked next. “My Nephew.” I replied, partly to see the reaction from Andromeda and partly to get her full attention so I could explain the full story. It worked. “Your nephew?” Andromeda asked, “I thought that I knew all of your family.” “So, did I.” I answered. “You’re carrying a story here Molly.” She chided me, “Out with it.” This was when Arthur, Harry, Shelly and Fireball all arrived. Arthur and Harry were quickly and warmly greeted by Andromeda. After being greeted by her Harry went straight to Teddy and picked him up for a cuddle leaving Andromeda’s hands free. When Andromeda laid eyes on Fireball though I could instantly see that she had registered the similarities with my little Ginny. The look she directed to me would have made me laugh under normal circumstances. “Andromeda, I would like to introduce to you Auror Michelle Webb (she prefers to be called Shelly) and Auror Jasper Webb also known as Fireball. They are my nieces.” I said with a shy little smile. Andromeda was now looking very surprised but also intrigued. “Shelly and Fireball, I would like to introduce you to Andromeda Tonks. One of my oldest friends.” I said putting a slight stress on the last word. Both Shelly and Fireball seemed to have caught my meaning. As they politely (but also correctly) greeted Andromeda. “Shelly, do you think you could call your parents and ask them to come over. As I would like to introduce them as well, and I think that they would greatly benefit from a chat with Andromeda also.” I requested her. “Of cause Aunty.” Shelly replied taking out her Mirror Phone as she stepped outside to make the call. “Which one is it?” Andromeda asked me. “I’ll let you see if you can work it out.” I said with a smirk. “This is all rather exciting.” Andromeda said cheerfully, “I think I need a cup of tea to calm my nerves.” She remarked as she headed for the cups that we were using earlier. “No!!!” I called out to her, “Not those, they are poisoned.” I said a little more forcefully than I intended. Andromeda stopped in her tracks and looked at me with a confused look and asked, “Why are they poisoned?” “Because Cassy and Goose have been teaching us how to detect poisons that may be placed into our food and drinks. We were using those cups of tea to practice with.” I explained. “Why would you need to know how to detect poisons in your food and drink?” she asked me. “Because there is a price on my head.” I told her in a small voice. “WHAT!!!” She almost exploded, “How did this happen.” She almost demanded. “Rodolphus Lestrange! He has put out a contract worth 5 Million Galleons on me. Because I killed his wife during the Battle at Hogwarts.” I explained to her. “I see.” She replied with an icy determination creeping into her voice. “Is that the reason for all these Aurors being here?” She asked. “Only partly.” I answered. Seeing the question in her eyes I launched into an explanation of what had happened over the last few days. How we had reached out to Kingsley for help in trying to locate Hermione’s parents, then meeting Chief Williams and Dave. Learning about their activities over here during the recent war and how Percy had been involved with them and how he had met Audrey. I also explained about how we had learnt about the ambush that was setup here along with how we dealt with it. I also told her about Gabrielle getting injured and how she was able to be healed. This led me to explain about what happened to Dave after that and how his collapse had led to the arrival of his parents and the revelation that one of his parents was my sibling. Andromeda took all of this in very calmly. But I could see her mind working furiously behind her eyes. It was a great deal to take in. Eventually she asked, “Who are the parents of this Dave and Shelly and Fireball?” “We are.” Came a voice from behind us. Both of us turned around to see the new arrivals. Ivan and Sandra were standing calmly in kitchen looking with curiosity at my visitor. Andromeda however looked anything but calm. She was staring wide eyed at Sandra as she drank in the features of her face. “Oh…” was all Andromeda could manage while her thoughts were rampaging like a Hippogriff in heat. After a few moments, Andromeda began to look between Sandra and Me, her face full of confusion. “Perhaps we should go into the lounge and sit down?” I suggested, trying to get Andromeda into a chair before she fell over. “That sounds like a good idea.” Sandra answered as she and Arthur helped direct Andromeda into a suitable chair in the lounge. Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Audrey made to follow but Arthur spoke up saying, “Harry, perhaps you and the girls can entertain Teddy outside for a time? Just while we discuss a few things in here privately?” he requested. Looking a little disappointed at missing out on the conversation Harry replied, “Oh… Ok.” Before Ginny looped her arm through his and they headed outside followed by Hermione and Audrey. Meanwhile Shelly, Fireball, Cassy and Goose had stationed themselves around the lounge room trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. It was a slightly unnerving experience to say the least. “I think you lot can head back to your assigned duties as well.” Ivan advised them. When no one moved he added, “That wasn’t a request.” In a sterner tone of voice. Shelly and Fireball moved off with a glance at Cassy and Goose that I’m sure wasn’t intended to be seen. “Cassy, Goose, you are free to go back to your other duties as well.” Ivan told them. “Our assigned duties were to teach Molly here all about poisons.” Cassy replied with a direct look at Ivan. “I see. Well then you can go and assist Shelly and Fireball with the rigging of the surveillance cameras.” He countered. Again, neither of them made to move. “That is an order Auror Blanks and Auror Colbert.” Ivan remarked in his official voice. Both Cassy and Goose snapped to attention and responded “Minister!” as they turned on their heels and marched out of the room. Their every move speaking louder than words that they disapproved of Ivan’s decision. “Minister?” Andromeda enquired. “Andromeda, I would like to introduce you to my older sister, Dr Sandra Mary Webb and her husband the Australian Minister of Magic Ivan Septimus Webb.” I said with a smile. “Sandra, Ivan I would like to introduce to you one of my oldest friends Andromeda Tonks.” I said with a small amount of trepidation. Just like their Aurors, neither Sandra nor Ivan reacted visibly to the name of Tonks. I could only assume that Shelly had briefed them on who they were about to meet. They did however politely greet Andromeda. While it was a warmer greeting that their Aurors had delivered it certainly didn’t have the warmth I had hoped for. I consoled myself with the thought that they were merely being cautious knowing the conversation that was to come. I think their reserved greeting was noticed by Andromeda as well. As while her curiosity was still high I could also sense a certain amount of defensiveness in her posture as well. “I’m beginning to think that there is more to this private chat than just introducing family members.” Andromeda enquired. “Yes. You are correct Andromeda there is.” I answered with a little concern showing. “Has this got anything to do with Dora not showing up to a meet that was organised by Alistair?” She asked a little sternly with a direct look at Sandra and Ivan. “It certainly revolves around a meeting organised by Alistair Moody before his death.” Ivan replied, “It specifically relates to the behaviour of Nymphadora Tonks during that meeting.” “As her conduct during the meeting lead to its location being betrayed to a group of Death Eaters.” Ivan explained, while Andromeda was giving him a disbelieving stare. “She would never.” Andromeda protested, before Ivan held up his hand asking for quiet so he could finish. “We have a recording of the meeting.” Ivan informed her, “You can hear Nymphadora knock over a collection of metal pipes. Then assure our Auror that there is no one around who could have heard the noise. She distracted him so that the Death Eaters could Apparate in behind him and attack him by surprise.” Ivan said in a calm but measured voice. “Once the Death Eaters arrive you can hear Nymphadora Apparate away as they launch their attack on our Auror. Their attack resulted in the rather brutal death of one of our finest Aurors.” Ivan explained in a voice thick with emotion. “Was this Auror known to you?” Andromeda asked. “He was my eldest son.” Sandra replied while staring into Andromeda’s eyes. Watching her intently. “I’m very sorry to hear that.” Andromeda replied, “But my Dora would never betray and abandon someone like that. There must be some mistake.” She stated somewhat defiantly. “Mad Eye ensured that Senior Auror Webb would be able to recognise both himself and his designated alternate contact. He was also not the sort to casually give away recognition codes either.” Ivan fired back. “So, I find it very difficult to believe that his information would lead my son to mistake his contact for the meeting.” He stated. The two of them locked eyes with each other and I could see that neither one of them was going to back down. I was wondering how to get them both through this impasse when Arthur spoke. “Would it be possible to hear the recording of the meeting?” He asked rather tentatively, “Only the start of the meeting, up until the Death Eaters arrive.” He added when he saw the expressions on Ivan and Sandra. Ivan quickly recovered from his momentary shock and brought out his Mirror Phone. Placing it on the coffee table he tapped a few of the squares that were on the screen. After a few moments, we heard the recording start to play. A voice introduced itself as Senior Auror James Webb and stated the date and time (5pm 31st July 1998). Along with the purpose of the recording, which was to serve as a backup to his own recollection for later reports. The voice of Senior Auror James Webb then described where the meeting was to take place (an empty warehouse in London). The voice then said that the intended contact for the meeting was one Nymphadora Tonks, who was an Auror in the employ of the British Ministry of Magic. Looking down at the Mirror Phone on the table I could see the date and time displayed on the recording. I noticed that it seemed to jump in places. When I asked Ivan about this he advised that the recording was sound activated so it would only actively record when there was sound of some sort. At 5:20pm by the time shown on the display Senior Auror James Webb mentions that the contact is late. The meeting was supposed to have been at 5:15pm. He also says that he is sending an update in as to the no show of the contact at the agreed upon time. When the time on the display showed 5:30pm footsteps could be heard getting closer. The footsteps eventually stopped and then another set of footsteps could be heard. This second set must have been Senior Auror Webb stepping out from where he had concealed himself. “That’s a rather stylish coat for a place like this.” Spoke the voice of Senior Auror Webb, “What is it?” “It’s a Driza-Bone.” A female voice replied that I could have sworn was Tonk’s. I looked to Andromeda and I could see her face go pale as she obviously recognised the voice as well. “Is it warm enough?” Senior Auror James Webb asked. “Yes, it is wool lined you see.” Was the reply from Nymphadora’s voice? Andromeda’s face was still rather pale and she seemed to have been mouthing the words of that rather odd conversation. Both Ivan and Sandra were watching her very closely so I was very sure that they would have caught this behaviour as well. It was at this point that Ivan leaned over and paused the recording, “How did you know what they were going to say?” He asked as he stared at Andromeda with an intensity that bordered on frightening. Andromeda looked at him a little startled, “Pardon?” She asked. “I asked you how you knew what they were going to be saying on the recording.” He asked again, “Before you deny it, I was watching you and I can lip read very well.” This statement caused Andromeda to go very pale, although she managed to hold Ivan’s stare, “Dora mentioned those phrases to me.” Andromeda eventually replied. “She was saying how she could never understand how Mad Eye came up with his recognition codes. As they were usually rather odd.” “She felt that these latest ones were some of his strangest yet.” She replied. “So because they were odd she felt that she could just tell anyone about them?” Ivan asked with a small amount of heat coming into his voice. “I’m not just anyone.” Andromeda retorted, “I’m her mother!” “So?” Ivan asked a little stiffly, “Does that give you the right to classified information? Or information that could potentially compromise the safety or the life of an Auror?” “Who did you tell about the codes?” He asked. “I didn’t tell anyone about them.” Andromeda replied. “So it was your daughter then on that recording who is responsible for the events that lead to the death of my son.” Ivan said with the sort of finality reserved for a judicial judgement. “Never!” Andromeda replied heatedly, “My Dora wouldn’t do such a thing.” “Really?” Ivan replied disbelievingly, “You have just admitted she was careless to the point of negligence with recognition codes.” “What else was she careless with?” He asked almost insultingly. “How dare you.” Andromeda shot back with a flush rising on her cheeks. “How dare I?” Ivan exclaimed, “How dare I, what? Follow the evidence? Some of which you have just provided.” He replied with an almost frightening icy calm. “From where I’m sitting the arrest warrant we have for her is perfectly justified.” Ivan replied, “With your new information I would be dragging her in for questioning myself if she wasn’t already dead.” He said with conviction. “Arrest warrant?” Andromeda also cried, “You want to arrest my Dora?” “We wanted to question her.” Ivan answered, “If arresting her was necessary then yes we would have done that also. Then thrown her in the deepest darkest hole we could have found if she was found guilty and convicted.” Andromeda looked into Ivan’s eyes and could read the truth of that statement in them. She could also read his conviction to find those responsible for the death of his son. It was this I think that started to make her uncomfortable. That and the fact that all the currently available evidence pointed directly at her daughter. I didn’t know what to do or say. I had hoped that getting her to talk to my sister and brother-in-law would have resolved or explained this situation somehow. Worry began to grip my heart. “Is the time on that recording accurate?” Arthur asked in an almost distracted manner. “Excuse me?” Ivan asked as he had been so focused on Andromeda he had almost forgotten about the others in the room. “The clock that is displaying on that recording.” Arthur questioned as he pointed to the mirror phone, “How accurate is it?” “Extremely.” Ivan replied, “It synchronises with those ‘atomic clocks’ that the muggles have. So it always reports the local time as accurately as possible.” He explained. “I see…” Arthur replied still with a very distracted air about him. He seemed to have caught Ivan’s attention though. As Ivan was now focused on Arthur with his own questions showing on his face. “Why do you ask Arthur?” He enquired. I don’t know if Arthur didn’t hear him or was deliberately ignoring him. Whatever the reason for it he was intent on following the train of thought in his head. “Did you take note of the date mentioned Molly?” He asked me. “Yes I did. The voice in the recording said it was the 31st of July 1997.” I said just as the significance of that date was brought to my mind, “That’s Harry’s birthday.” I exclaimed. “His 17th Birthday.” I said with a broad smile on my face, “The PARTY!!!” I almost yelled. “The party?” Ivan asked confused. “Yes Harry’s 17th Birthday Party.” I told Ivan with a large smile on my face. I could see that it was confusing and slightly angering both him and Sandra but the full implications had just dawned on me. “We had a Party for Harry on his 17th Birthday here at the Burrow.” I told them both happily, “Remus and Tonks were invited guests. They were here at the Party.” I explained. “Here?” Ivan said with a degree of scepticism in his voice. “Yes.” Arthur answered, “There were some of the earliest guests to arrive.” He said happily. Then his face darkened somewhat, “But they had to leave when Minister Rufus Scrimgeour arrived.” He said a little sadly. “Why did they have to leave?” Ivan asked, “What time did they leave?” “They had to leave as Remus Lupin was a werewolf.” I explained, “And the ministry had recently drafted some very nasty anti werewolf legislation.” “Tonks and Remus didn’t want to give the minister any reason to arrest him. So they left shortly before he arrived, just before dinner.” “What time was dinner?” Sandra asked. “I can’t remember, but it was written on the invitations we gave out.” I said distractedly, “But I know who kept a copy of the invitation.” I said very happily as I headed for the door. “GINNY!!!” I yelled into the yard. “Yes mum?” Came the reply a little quicker than it normally did. As Ginny stepped into the kitchen doorway. “You were listening weren’t you?” I chided her. The unnatural blankness of her face was enough to give her away. I kept my eyes locked on her until a blush began to rise in her cheeks. “Who else was listening with you?” Sandra asked with the faintest ghost of a knowing smirk on her face. Guiltily Fireball and Cassy also came into view as well. “We will talk about this later ladies.” Sandra said reprovingly. “If you were listening, I’m sure you will know what we are looking for?” I asked Ginny. “Yes mum.” She replied without a trace of guilt, “And yes I did keep a copy of the invitation and I know where it is.” She answered. “Go and fetch it down for us will you.” I asked her. “Yes mum” she answered as she headed for the stairs. “Jasper, can you go with her please.” Sandra asked. “Whatever for?” I asked. “That invitation is potentially a vital piece of evidence that could either further implicate Nymphadora or potentially form the basis of a very solid alibi.” Sandra explained, “Therefore it needs to be collected correctly for it to be of any legal use.” “I see.” I answered surprised, “Then by all means please follow Ginny my dear.” I instructed Fireball who quickly took off after Ginny. The two girls took off up the stairs together. They were back in the lounge shortly after with the invitation. Jasper had a strange little smile about her face while Ginny had a slight blush on her cheeks. Jasper quickly crossed the lounge and presented the invitation to Ivan and Sandra. They both glanced at the invitation and read the time listed on it for dinner. It said Dinner 6pm, 31st July 1997 at the Burrow. “It would seem that Nymphadora’s alibi checks out.” He said with a note of frustration in his voice, as he handed the invitation to Sandra. “So it does.” She answered a little disappointedly as well. “Does this mean she is no longer ‘wanted for questioning’?” Andromeda asked almost hopefully. “If she was still alive we would most definitely still want to talk to her.” Ivan replied, “Especially about disclosing recognition codes.” “But Nymphadora Tonks is no longer one of the prime suspects.” Ivan answered. “Why do you insist on calling her Nymphadora?” Ginny asked. “That’s her name isn’t it?” Ivan asked with a note of confusion. “It’s her birth name yes. But she always hated it.” Ginny explained with a slightly guilty look at Andromeda, “She much preferred Tonks, or at the very least Dora.” “Are you sure?” Ivan asked with the look of one back on the hunt. I got the impression that the answer was very important to him. “Very sure.” Ginny replied, “About the only person I ever remember calling her Nymphadora was Mad Eye.” She explained. Ivan and Sandra shared a look between them that seemed to be very significant. “What is it?” I asked the two of them. Instead of answering Ivan reached forward and touch his mirror phone again. The recording began to play again. “Auror Tonks?” We heard the voice of Senior Auror Webb ask. “Yes.” The female voice replied, “But YOU can call me Nymphadora.” It said in a tone that was meant to be suggestive but just came across as wrong. “Nymphadora.” Senior Auror Webb replied politely. “It’s NYMPH-A-DORA.” The female voice replied stressing the pronunciation of her hated name. Ivan again paused the recording here, and looked up at the group of people gathered in the longe. “There is no way that is Tonks.” Ginny said in a very firm voice, “She would never ask someone to call her by her first name like that. Not even Remus.” “Are you sure of that?” Ivan asked. “Yes. Very sure.” Ginny replied. “I would agree with Ginny on that also.” Andromeda replied as well. “Me too” Arthur said firmly. “So would I.” I answered. “Damit.” Ivan exclaimed a little too loudly as he caused everyone to jump, “We are back to square one on this.” “As one of our main suspects now has a very solid alibi and there are now linguistic discrepancies as well.” He said showing his frustrations. “Pardon me” Andromeda said almost tentatively, “Can you replay the part where she says her name again?” “Certainly I can.” Ivan replied as he quickly got the recording back to that part and played it again. This time he was watching Andromeda’s face very closely. “There is something about the way that she pronounced Nymphadora that is familiar to me.” Andromeda remarked, “But it escapes me just now.” “Could you play it again please?” She asked. Ivan quickly replayed it for her. “It is on the tip of my tongue but I can’t place it.” She said eventually, “I’ll need to have a think on it.” She sad as the recording continued to play in the background forgotten. Suddenly she sat upright and said, “Can you play that last part again?” with something close to recognition in her eyes. His own eyes full of curiosity Ivan quickly replayed the last part of the recording. “So you’re the ‘Skippy’, then are you?” The female voice could be heard to say. “I’m Australian yes. Senior Auror James Webb.” The male voice replied. Ivan again paused the recording here as Andromeda had gone pale and sat back in her seat. “You recognised something didn’t you?” He asked her. “Yes. Yes I did.” She answered. “What was it?” He asked full of curiosity. “That term she used.” Andromeda said thoughtfully, “I have heard it before. With almost the same level of contempt in it as well.” She said as she looked up at Ivan and Sandra with sad eyes. “I heard it on the night Dora was talking about that particular recognition code that Mad Eye had taught her.” She said in a small voice. “Who else was there that night?” Ivan asked with his intense expression returning. “Muriel Prewett.” She answered. At the mention of that name Sandra was on her feet and her eyes were full of anger. You could feel it radiating off her as she reached for her magical energies. It was a rather frightening experience. As fast as she was though, Ivan was faster. He was also able to quickly restrain her and bring her back to him. He put his arms around her and looked directly in her eyes. “That is not the way.” He said giving her a direct look that seemed to be conveying more meaning that his words could. “I’m going to go and kill that sodden old cow if it is the last thing I do.” Sandra hissed full of fury, “She caused me to be thrown out of my family. She betrayed me along with my brothers to the Death Eaters.” “And now she is the one responsible for Jimmy’s betrayal and ultimately his death.” “She may be responsible for all of that.” Ivan said in a calm voice, “But there is one thing she isn’t and hopefully never will be responsible for.” He told her. “What would that be?” Sandra snapped at him while still struggling to free herself. “The woman I love, committing murder.” Ivan replied in a very tender voice. This seemed to take a lot of the heat and anger out of Sandra. She appeared to calm down, and stopped struggling against her husband. “What have we always taught our children?” Ivan asked her. “Embrace your emotions, but don’t let them rule you.” She responded looking at her shoes. With a very tender expression on his face Ivan reached out and lifted Sandra’s chin until she was looking in his eyes. He then smiled at her, “I seem to recall you teaching that lesson to all of our children. Especially the ones who became Aurors.” He said with a smile. She smiled back at him and then drew him to her and they both embraced one another for a few moments. “I promise you my love. If Muriel is involved in Jimmy’s death in ANY way. We will get her for it.” Ivan said with his Iron clad conviction once more on display, “But it WILL be done correctly and fully within the law.” He said very firmly. “Do I make myself clear?” He said in a firm voice, but with a smile playing about his face. “Yes dear.” Sandra said once more embracing her husband, “Thank you.” She said as she reached up and kissed him. After a few moments they finished their kiss and Ivan relaxed his arms from around Sandra. “I’m sorry about that.” Sandra replied clearly embarrassed with herself. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” I told her, “I felt like doing that myself to her just now.” I remarked with a shy smile, as I gave her an embrace of my own. “I would also like to apologise to you as well Andromeda for suspecting your daughter of being involved in Jimmy’s death.” Sandra said sincerely to Andromeda. “We both would.” Ivan added. “I must admit, it was a bit of a shock to me. But given the evidence you had access to I could understand your conclusions.” She replied. “But witnessing what I just saw, I’m also very sure that if you had managed to capture her you would have done right by her.” “For that I am grateful.” She said with genuine warmth, “I’m even more grateful that you do indeed follow the evidence. Especially when it clears my Dora.” She said with a smile. “Indeed.” Ivan said with a small smile about his face. “I should also apologise for the rather cool greeting we gave you earlier as well.” Ivan offered, “I was finding it difficult to keep my own emotions under control at the time.” He explained. “I can well imagine.” Andromeda answered just as Sandra stepped forward and engulfed her in a hug that Andromeda seemed to enjoy. Ivan also quickly joined in as well. “Who would be interested in a cup of tea and some lunch?” I asked. “Me.” Ivan replied with a smile, “Just as long as you are not planning on serving any of those poisoned cups of tea over there.” He said giving me a cheeky smile. “It depends on how well you are behaving dear.” Sandra replied with a wink as she followed me into the kitchen as we got things organised for lunch. After getting rid of the poisoned cups of tea that is. Lunch itself started out a little awkward as Dave’s team had by now learnt who Andromeda was. It became more enjoyable though once we explained to Dave’s team and Shelly the discovery we made about Tonks. We showed them all the birthday invitation for Harry and told them how Remus and Tonks left just before dinner. They were also told about how Tonks hated her first name and protested each time someone used it. When added together they all seemed to agree that it removed Tonks from the group of prime suspects. They were however extremely disappointed in Tonks for being careless with the recognition codes that were to be used for the meeting. Likewise they were very keen to try and confirm the recent suspicions around the potential involvement of my Great Aunt Muriel. You could almost see their minds working on the problem. Kingsley joined us part way through lunch, he was keen to start work on getting all of his ‘concerns’ listed on the law scroll. Thus he didn’t stay with us for long, for as soon as he had quickly eaten a sandwich or two he disappeared with Izzy into her tent to begin working on the scroll. Andromeda, Sandra and I stayed at the table and enjoyed a good chat about our families while we watched the goings on around us. We were still talking when Dave and the Delacour girls returned with their own stories and a discovery from their trip to Paris. |
| Reviews 19 |
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