A/N: I have planned a Christmas present for you guys, so be sure to look for it.
And as always,
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: If you have nothing better to do, feel free to sit around trying to figure out an angle to sue me because of this. But let me tell you now; the plot - is mine, the OC's - are mine, the story concept - is mine, anything and everything related to the Harry Potter series - not mine.
CHAPTER SEVEN: MAKING PLANS
Thomas sat in the room he shared with his younger brothers, speculating over his next move.
Justin and Vincent didn't seem any the worse for wear after eating what the woman had given them. Nor did Lucy, who was still downstairs with the woman, helping her get Katy fed.
So poisoning did not seem to be the immediate plan.
Or maybe that wasn't the plan at all. Maybe the woman and her accomplice wanted something from them? Something they needed them alive for.
But what? They didn't know anything.
Witnesses. The word kept creeping around his thoughts. Maybe what they needed was to know if the children saw anything or remembered anything. Or if they knew it was Deatheaters that attacked the house.
But they couldn't be sure of that, or know that Thomas had heard the two Aurors talking at the Ministry.
The best thing for now, he figured, would be to stay quiet about what they may or may not know. Keep their enemies guessing about where they stood.
Turning to see what Justin and Vincent were up to, he watched in silence for a few minutes as the two quietly discussed what they would do tomorrow. The main thing was to make sure everybody followed his plans.
"You guys have to be quiet about the attack." He stated suddenly, breaking into their conversation.
The two looked up immediately. "What?" They ask together.
"The attack on the house." Thomas repeated. "If anyone asks you about it anymore, don't answer them."
"But what if Katlin or Orion ask?" Vincent replied. "Lucy already said Katlin mentioned it to her."
Thomas' eyes narrowed. "She didn't say anything about that to me."
Vincent shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal, Thomas. Lucy said all Katlin said to her was that if she wanted to talk about it, she could, and Katlin was someone she could talk to."
Well, if that wasn't proof he was on the right track, Thomas didn't know what was. The Deatheater wanted his sister to talk about the attack. Tell her what she knew. What she remembered and what they all saw.
Thomas hopped off the bed and headed for the connecting door to see if Lucy was back yet. He had to have a serious talk with his sister about this.
"Thomas." Justin piped up.
Thomas turned to the younger boy.
"Why can't we talk about it with them?"
Thomas frowned at the question. "Because you can't." He replied simply.
"Well, what do we say if they do ask? We have to say something."
"Just tell them you don't remember anything." Thomas replied. "And then see that you don't." He added before opening the door.
Poking his head in, Thomas found the room still empty. That meant she was still downstairs with the Deatheater.
So where was her accomplice? Thomas felt that was a good thing to know and went to look for the man. If he found him, he'd just explain he was only exploring the house. And if he came across him in his animagus form, he'd just ignore him.
As he headed down the stairs, Thomas began to think on his next move. So he knew the woman at least was a Deatheater. And he wasn't sure if her accomplice was around all the time or not, or if he left the house from time to time. But what about the husband? Was Orion a Deatheater as well?
Thomas shook his head. How could he be? The man was an Auror. An Unspeakable. Surely if he were a Deatheater, his department would know.
No. He must be just as fooled as everyone else.
Thomas had heard stories about those who were found out after the dark lord's fall. Lots of husbands and wives were shocked and dismayed to find their spouses were actually Deatheaters, although they claimed to have no knowledge of it. Maybe that's what was going on here.
Thomas' thoughts took another turn. What if she was a spy?! That would explain a lot! Why her husband didn't seem aware of anything being amiss. She made sure he didn't. Kept everything normal, while her real goal was to spy on him. Probably get secrets about the Unspeakables activities. Husbands talked to their wives. Told them things without thinking twice about it.
What a perfect cover this was for her! The wife of an Unspeakable. No one would dare question her integrity when they went looking for how department secrets were leaking out. And Orion was a high ranking agent, he had heard. So she had that much more protection from discovery.
Thomas shook his head again. Man, she had everything set up pretty good. Her cover, her contacts, her manner of getting information. She must be a favorite of the dark lord for all the information she must pass along to him.
Well, now he knew what was going on, what was he going to do about it?
He couldn't tell her husband. He would never believe him. Think he was just a disgruntled foster kid, trying to make trouble.
No. He needed to take his information somewhere else. Talk to someone who would take him seriously. Someone who would listen.
The Ministry.
He had to get word to the Ministry. But how?
He could send an owl. Orion surely had an owl. Important man in the ministry, he must send owls all the time.
Thomas shook his head again as he reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around for where to start his search.
No. An owl might be intercepted. Or some junior clerk at the Ministry may get the letter instead, think it was some sort of joke, and discard it.
No. He had to go himself. He had to find a top ranking Auror and tell them. Maybe he would get lucky and find one of the ones who had interviewed them before and...that was it!
Thomas stopped dead in his tracks.
That was how he would get to someone who would believe him! He would go to the Ministry and tell them he had to talk to one of the Aurors that interviewed them because he remembered something important. From the way they had grilled him and his siblings for details before, they would gladly let him talk to the minister himself if they thought he had important information about that night.
Now the problem was how to get there.
But just as he was starting to try and formulate a plan to get out of the house, a large, shaggy black object imposed itself in his path.
Thomas looked down to find himself staring into the clear brown eyes of Orion's dog, Bo.
And he did not look the least bit happy.
Q&A
CelticHeiressFiona:
Thank you, Dear. And the same to you.
MasterLupin:
Well I don't know about your cat, but mine is only friendly
to me when he wants something. Usually he just wants a bowl of food
water and a warm monitor to lounge on for the day. He is only
friendly if the previous conditions have been meet otherwise he
completely ignores you, quite the drama queen considering he is a
cat.
Anyway back to the story at large. Thomas is one paranoid
kid, I like that. You can never write in enough paranoia for a
teenager to seem realistic, as they are infinitely paranoid. Although
Thomas more so considering that he is trying to desperately keep the
only family he has left alive after witnessing his own parents'
demise. I think the poisoned food line of thought for Thomas was a
good one; I can't wait to see him stalking about the house of an
unspeakable in search of food in the middle of the night. Probably
get into a fight with Bo who will be curious about him and what he is
doing in the middle of the night.
I can see it now he will creep
into the kitchen Bo will pop up as the cloak covered man thinking he
is an intruder since he seems to have not been ready for kids in the
house and Thomas will grab the knifes from the knife block and
proceed to trash the kitchen, won't Katlin love that.
Incase you
can't post before the holiday, have a merry Christmas.
Hmmmm..., snotty attitude, overbearing, demanding..., yup! Sounds like my cats. Actually, it sounds like the 19 year old. The 13 year old just can't be buggered enough to bother with an attitude. She just expects her needs to be met and if they aren't...well..., then we have 'issues'.
Yes indeed. Look up 'Paranoid' in the dictionary and there will be the kid's picture. The worst part about it is, as this chapter showed, he's paranoid, but pretty smart too. He doesn't just dive into anything head-first. He thinks it through.
Trust me, Bo is the least of the boy's worries by the next chapter.
A little explanation here concerning Bo's reaction to the kids at the house. It isn't that he was unprepared for them. I mean, do you honestly think this is the sort of thing Orion would seriously want to surprise his boggart with? The reaction was more due to a bit too much too soon. Bo simply wasn't use to so many new things at once. And these new things were noisy and moved around and invaded his space and were just...new. It was all just a bit much for him.
Hopefully, Thomas will not end up trashing the kitchen. And yes, Katlin would be minorly upset in a major way.
Silverfox:
Ah yes, signing in is much better now. :)
And oh no, that
was exactly the wrong child to accidentally see Bo transform.
Interesting how Thomas can get lots of completely wrong information
and add it up to one technically correct conclusion: Katlin is a
deatheater!
I fear he'll cause some serious worries, if he's never
seen eating anything, though. No Thomas, that's not quite a perfect
plan.
I still wouldn't call this the children meeting the
bogart, though. Thomas has seen him, but not been introduced, nor was
there any interaction yet.
Er ... Sorry, I thought I'd mentioned
it before. I'm Austrian. We speak German here, though with some words
being different from Germany. I just spend a lo of time reading and
writing in English. You can catch me out when asking for very a
specific words I'd have heard, if I'd gone to an English speaking
school, but that aren't used all that frequently otherwise. Name that
plant/bird is always a tough one and Slang terms are good for
guessing games as well. ;)
Ah yes, when accidentally there and
pressed the boss did sometimes make a 'definite decision'. This
usually resulted in much urgent work that I'd sacrifice my lunch
break to get done in time for him not to be around to
sign/approve/discuss it. The next time I'd see him he'd then inform
me that he'd changed his mind and was giving in to the wishes of
another department. Chuck out that overdue work and please re-do it
differently by yesterday. And by the way why am I never joining the
rest of the department in the (smoke filled) meeting room for lunch
break?
I actually did get that it's only a foster parent
situation, but from what little I know at least in this country most
foster children stay with their foster parents permanently even if
their real parents are still alive.
Consider yourself showered in
fox-kisses for uploading early by the way. I really hadn't expected
you to find the time. :)
You know, I never looked at it that way, but your right. He basically took all the wrong numbers, added them up, and still got the right answer.
Thomas has the potential to cause some majorly serious worries. And his not eating are the least of them. But honestly, how long so you think a fifteen year old boy can hold out? (OK, technically, he's 14 3/4.)
Well, that's more on Bo's part than anything. He's still settling into the idea of having the kids around. As I pointed out to MasterLupin, Bo's reaction and subsequent conversation with Katlin was based on too many new things to soon. It's all very interesting, but also all very confusing to him. But yes, you are right, they haven't met 'him' yet. But that is coming.
Hmmmmmmm..., I do seem to recall something being mentioned a while back about your being Austrian. You'll have to forgive an old lady and her poor memory.
Don't even get me started on my work, what goes on there, and how crazy it makes me.
Over here, foster temporary. If the real parents show up, you don't stand a chance. You are basically a glorified babysitter. Orion and Katlin are trying to adopt the kids, but that's going to take some time. In the meantime, due to Orion's position and reputation, and by virtue of a seriously overburdened child care system, they were allowed status as foster parents until things can get settled.
And look for my Christmas present tomorrow night. I think you especially will like it.
All reviews are as of 12/23/2007.
And remember;
How ever you celebrate them, Happy Holidays to you and yours.
