Chapter Twenty-Five

Outcasts

Severus waited at the top of the stairs of the study for a few moments to discourage any eavesdroppers before finally joining Harry and Thomas, standing by the fire.

"Harry, I'm sure that you're hardly here to exchange holiday trivialities," Thomas said, glancing at Severus. "Now that we're not distracted, do you mind telling us what this is all about?"

"I want to know how much you know about the death of Kanak Naresh," Harry said. Thomas looked at Harry for a long time, his expression unchanging.

"What makes you think I know anything about it or that I even care?" Thomas asked.

"You were willing to risk going back to prison for it," Harry pointed out.

"Is there anyone that doesn't know about that?" Thomas snapped, leaning against the mantle.

"You of all people know that what information comes in an excavation license office never stays in there," Severus said, Thomas grunting in reply. "You're lucky that no one bothered to take your signature; written, magic, or otherwise. I'm sure the real Thurspire would be dying to get his hands on some evidence."

"What I want to know is why you didn't ask one of the others already down there to get information for you? Was it a personal matter, or was it that you felt you can't trust them?" Harry asked.

"Does it matter?" Thomas said, looking in the fire.

"Considering I think it's more than obvious to everyone that Naresh was murdered, yes," Harry said. "In fact, I think it's more than likely all of this started with his death rather than with Brad's." Thomas sighed softly, and Harry glanced at Severus and back again. "Look, we want to know who is behind this just as much as you do, but we can't possibly do it if we don't cooperate."

"I will tell you a story about him," Thomas said at last, gazing distantly into the fire. "Although I don't know if it'll really do your investigation any good, but it'll explain why I will not answer you directly to any questions about him. You see, Kanak Naresh was a friend." Severus raised an eyebrow at that.

"I don't think I've heard you call anyone in this current crew of yours that," he mused.

"No, I don't ever use that term lightly, Severus, as you well know. Even Audi I see as Alice's friend not mine. A friend to me is someone so trustworthy they would not turn you in even if they thought what you did was wrong. Naresh was that sort of friend and more. You might as well get comfortable," he added. "This is a rather long story."

"Kanak was in so many ways an outsider. Our old expert…damned if I even remember his name now…got a better deal with someone else when we were just starting out, unimpressed by our progress with the governments and such. The List brothers, however, had dealt with the man on previous digs, and took the opportunity to invite him. I took immediate offense at them hiring him without consulting me; I had been home at the time. His grandfather, as it turned out, had been an illegitimate son of the Cromwell family… wizard branch of it, of course… who had an affair while abroad in the Empire. He was reluctantly given a part of the estate when they proved to the consulate that they were related, but as you can imagine they were not at all accepted by the dark families of my time. To add injury to insult, the man's offspring was squib. When the man accused his 'legitimate' family of cursing him, he mysteriously disappeared, leaving his teenage boy to fend for himself in India. From this boy and a Muggle girl came Kanak, and he too had no magic…something none of his ill-gotten blood money could buy him. He was as unlike me and as dislikable a man as anyone I could have ever met despite a Malfoy.

"But I was hardly alone in my disdain. Scur, Brad, Branson… all of us of respectable dark families kept well away from him unless direct contact was needed for business. I would have sooner not eaten at all than share a table with him. It seemed bad enough breathing the same air. We even emptied out a corner of the supply tent so he didn't have to sleep with the rest of us. Weylin, who we honestly treated little better in or out of the cage we kept for his monthly lunacies, made a quick friend of him. And of course the List twins ate with him, but I'm not sure it wasn't out of defiance rather than a true liking for the man. He was hardly their type; the two of them being loud and rowdy and he quiet and extremely taciturn. He barely spoke of anything but work while he was on site, although he was always rushing off to meet his wife in between claims. A private man; but considering our opinion of him, that suited us just fine.

"The season before we found the tomb with the map in Egypt, the company was working on a claim on the lower Nile in intolerable conditions, really, even with all of the magic we used to make it bearable. And just our luck, the rainy season came very early that year, and us with an open dig. I was called down at once as was Kanak, and the weather was positively miserable. We had no choice but to try to work around it, however, because our claim expired at the end of the month, and although we had quickly secured the last of the magic items, we had not even begun to put the Muggle artifacts back in place… a job which dreadfully must be done by hand to keep it from looking 'too' perfect, or clean, forcing us to work between lulls of heavy storms. Having so many artifacts removed, the supply tent had to be used for just that, leaving us all to huddle up in the main tent, and tempers were nothing but short.

"One particularly wet day when the entire dig site was filled with water and there was little hope of drying it even with magic, we all found ourselves imprisoned in our own tent. Most of the crew were playing cards. I was neither in the mood to play nor was I any good at it, so I went to the desk to research our items and get some estimate of the value. Kanak did not play cards, nor any game associated with gambling. He instead spent a the time looking out the door of the tent at the site, since it was going to be his job to make sure it was all put back together right. But then I noticed him turn and look at the group at the table with almost the same calculating look he had given the site. And then he looked at me. I pretended to ignore the scrutiny despite the fact it was irritating me to the point of distracting me from my work. That was when he stepped over to the desk and I sat up and watched him, expecting him to say something about how to progress under the current conditions. But apparently that was the farthest thing from his mind.

"'Have you ever heard of the Harijans?' he asked me.

"'No, are they a native village?' I said with a shrug. He smiled thinly at me, as if he were enjoying the conversation no more than I was.

"'You probably know them more readily as the Untouchables, the true meaning of the word "outcasts," those without station in the Hindu communities of India. They were allowed only the most menial of work, spat upon and cursed. To associate with one at one time might mean not only humiliation but also a loss in station or worse in the eyes of your fellow jati. For thousands of years they were treated that way, until it became so common that many fail to see them as making any contribution to humanity, or even truly human at all.'

"'Yes, yes, yes, I've heard of all that,' I said in annoyance, seriously contemplating firing the bastard if this turned out to be a sermon or protest of how he was being treated. 'I thought that bald Muggle in the loincloth cleared all that up years ago during the separation from Britain,' I said, waving it off.

"'His name was Gandhi,' Kanak told me coolly. 'But a law that changes a name can only do so much when a society has been conditioned to look down upon one for generations. Rather like the American hero Abe Lincoln, who freed the slaves and declared them equal, and yet for a hundred and forty years after the fact they are still fighting for it.'

"'Kanak, what the devil does all of that have to do with anything? We're not planning any expeditions to India nor do I intend to in the near future.'

"'That's too bad, Thomas, perhaps it would help you see how bad things are getting in Britain,' Kanak said. 'But it is my calling to study society, and my curse to have to live the reality of it. Things are not well at home. The lines between the pure bloods, mixed, Muggleborn and Magicless-born have grown into walls…some barriers made for power and control; others for defense. You may not see them so well being at the top of that tier, Thomas, but I who have straddled many of those in my lifetime do not miss them forming. Soon there will be a call to sides, when those of us in the middle will have to choose which to stand on.'

"'Craws side only with themselves,' I said unconcernedly, turning back to my work.

"'Yes, but from the Craw side you too have alienated yourself,' he rudely pointed out. 'I come to you because in many ways you are just as much of an outcast as Weylin or I am. Perhaps someday you will be ready to face that truth.'

"It wasn't long after he walked outside that I found myself throwing down my quill, glaring ferociously at the others when they curiously looked my way to keep them from asking why I was irritated. His reference to the hatred growing between myself and my father for me marrying a mixed blood had come to a head at that point, and it was honestly one of the reasons I took any excuse to get out of the country, despite having to leave Alice behind with our toddler daughter. And, in a way, I was just as angry at myself for alienating my family by marrying her. But guilt and my sheer Craw stubbornness kept that anger at bay until the fateful night that Voldemort brought it out in me. I had did not see then, of course, how right Kanak was, and I absolutely refused to see any similarities whatsoever to how we were treating those outside our circle and what he was talking about.

"But then the inevitable did happen. My family like many others were on the run, and unfortunately, Voldemort's 'temporary setback' did nothing to dissuade old Death Eater's from attempting to get even with me for getting out. So, as you all know, I faked my death to protect my family, and yes, I spent most of that time up north with the giants. But not all of it. No, the first few months I had spent with the man who helped me with the arrangements to fake my death. And that man, surprise, surprise, was none other than Kanak himself.

"He had managed to get himself 'lost' by living among Muggles, although within his house a Muggle lifestyle he didn't keep. Some of that was for the sake of his wife, who had grown quite frail after some nasty new strain of Malaria there wasn't a potion for, and much to my surprise, an adopted son…but no ordinary son was he. Not Wizard. Not Muggle. Not even human. He was a goblin. Of course when we were introduced I couldn't help but stare at Kanak for the insanity of taking in what I deemed as a filthy creature not worth anything other than a house servant, but Kanak as always seemed tolerant of my opinion.

"'We found him as a baby, wandering alone at an abandoned claim,' Kanak said when the 'boy' was out of the room. 'The government couldn't find anyone connected to him other than he must have belonged to a family there, but the bank denied any claim to him nor did they want to take on the responsibility of transporting him back or finding him a home. He is an outcast, just like us, Thomas,' he told me.

"I flinched at the word, but how could I deny it? Pride was not something I was prepared to let go of. Kanak both understood and respected it, despite the fact that I think he would have persuaded me differently if he thought he could. Anyhow, after a few months there, the reports of Malfoy's increase of 'legitimacy' in Britain and his growth in industry disturbed me. His enterprises were growing in both Europe and in America, and would soon reach over the Mediterranean. Not wanting to put either Kanak's family or my own in greater danger I left. I would have liked it if I could say I never saw the man again. But I saw him one other time, and that was the day he told me my wife was missing. I admit that I was anything but a good friend that day, and although I have few regrets in my life, had I known that his own wife had been taken from him the year before I never would have lashed out as I had."

"What happened to the goblin?" Severus asked.

"Who knows? I've been a bit out of touch," Thomas said dryly. "To be honest, I was hoping to find a clue of that during that short trip to Europe, although I suspect the boy long changed his name. A goblin raised by Humans would definitely not be taken seriously by his society."

"So this explains everything then," Harry said. "The goblin connection, a possible motive in revenge for his adopted father's death…"

"It doesn't explain everything. Naresh was a peaceful man with very strict ideals. He wouldn't bring up any child, human or otherwise, without instilling those ideals," Thomas said.

"You also said that Scur wasn't capable of killing. Obviously everyone can't be innocent," Harry pointed out. "What about the Red Fist? Naresh had his bit of the map, and if he had taken it from him…"

"Fyren said he lost it in a poker game. Naresh doesn't play poker," Thomas said impatiently. "I don't know how he got it."

"But Fyren did have the opportunity."

"The killer also had the opportunity to take the key to the vault, but he didn't," Thomas said. "And what reason would the goblin boy have had for killing Brad?"

"Brad was a known goblin hater," Harry pointed out.

"So is Scur, but no one has tried to attack him," Thomas retorted.

"Yes, isn't that interesting," Severus mused. He had been so quiet that the other two had forgotten he was there for a moment. "And it's also interesting considering the dagger intentionally planted in Brad's back."

"So that might have been intended to set Naresh's son up for the murder." Harry said thoughtfully.

"Tell, me, Thomas, how many of your crew knew about Naresh's adopted son?"

"I don't know. It happened years after the company went bankrupt," Thomas admitted, shaking his head.

"Then perhaps it's time we found out?" Severus suggested.

"So much for being done in Africa," Harry said dourly, then remembered he had to get going. "Happy Christmas."

"Jen-girl!"

The bellowing started early. Reluctantly Jennifer came out of her room, shuffling in her slippers as she walked down the hallway to stare up the stairs.

"Those damned House Elves of yours aren't working again! There's no breakfast! There's no…"

"Dad, it's their day off." Jennifer's yawn hid her exasperation. "It's Boxing Day. We always give them Boxing Day off."

"Days off for House Elves? You have to be joking!"

"It's a family tradition."

"It's not my family tradition," Thomas said, making a sign as if trying to ward off an enemy. "Who's going to polish my shoes? Clean the hearth? Set out my morning paper? And what about breakfast?"

"Fine, I will start breakfast," Jennifer said in annoyance. "But you can go up to the attic and fetch your own paper."

"Fetch my own paper?" Thomas repeated incredulously, turning back towards his room. "Next she'll be asking me to clean! I didn't have to do that even in prison!"

In spite of Thomas' rocky start, all four children woke up in a cheerful mood to the smell of food, nearly all of them thinking about what Christmas present they were going to pull out first. Alex glanced at the clock anxiously, already fully dressed when she came down to breakfast.

"I can't wait to see Rose today! I really hope she liked her present! And I can tell her about my wand!" she said excitedly as she sat down.

"Well don't forget to thank her for the bracelet she gave you, and don't forget you have a couple of extra chores today! Alex, your room was a mess last night, I hope you picked it up," Jennifer scolded her.

"Oh, no I forgot all about it. Maybe we'll just hang out in the attic," Alex said.

"It'll only take you a second to tidy up. Andrew, you're on familiar cage duty, Alicia is on making beds and changing out the towels, and Aurelius…" Jennifer paused and leaned over slightly, hearing footsteps on the stairs. "See what you can do to keep your grandfather bearable."

"I hope you're not overcooking my eggs again," Thomas said with a frown when he came in and saw her hovering by the table instead of the stove. "What's the point in having so many House Elves if you can't take advantage of them?"

"Perhaps a day off now and then will prove just how much we take advantage of them," Alex suggested, but quieted down when her grandfather gave her a dirty look. Jennifer, however, smiled at her almost approvingly.

"It's a good thing today is check-in day at the parole office. Boltin always takes the afternoon off so we can meet at the Leaky Cauldron afterwards and he can tell me how inadvisable it is for me to say half the things to my parole officer that I do," Thomas said casually, pulling his plate over when Jennifer sat it down. "Where's Severus?"

"Sleeping in. He didn't get to bed until early this morning," Jennifer sighed. "He was up all night practicing his violin in the study."

"Really? That sounds serious. What exactly did Harry say last night?" Alex asked with interest glancing at her grandfather.

"Alexandria, please, just finish your breakfast," Jennifer sighed. "Don't forget you have a lot of chores to do before Rose gets here."

"Making them do the dirty work with Mercy gone, are you?" Thomas said.

"Everyone does his or her fair share, just like I made you breakfast," Jennifer pointed out to him.

"Well I am not participating in this silly little experiment of yours, especially without having the luxury of magic to aid me as all of you have," Thomas said, getting up. "I have an appointment to keep. Jennifer, I need you to press my robes."

"Press them yourself! I'll transfigure you a hot iron," Jennifer said irritably.

"It's okay, grandfather, I'll help you," Aurelius said quickly, shoveling the rest of his breakfast in his mouth and grabbing a piece of toast to take with him.

"Thank you, boy, I'm glad there's at least one person in this family that actually shows some respect," Thomas said, waiting for him to get up. "Pity that your siblings aren't more like you." The other three stared at him speechlessly as the two of them headed upstairs.

"Alicia, if I ever start acting like him, put me out of my misery," Alex declared.

"She'll have to beat me to it," Andrew joked before going for seconds.

Rose immediately parried all the questions Alex had about Christmas Eve, throwing her hands in front of her like someone trying to ward off nosy reporters.

"Please, I'm really embarrassed to even think about it!" Rose protested, closing the door of Alex's room, suspicious that the others were listening in.

"Why? Did it go all that badly?" Alex asked anxiously.

"Well, no not exactly… I found out he wasn't married… but I can't believe you did that to me! And what an inconvenience that must have been for him! And what an idiot I was!"

"Oh, come on! You have to tell me now…you've told me too much already! Why do you think you were an idiot? I'm sure he didn't think you were."

"I'm sure he did, because I went and kissed him at the end," Rose said with a sigh.

"You what?" Alex said in surprise. "Wow, Rose, I didn't think you had that in you!"

"Neither did I," Rose admitted. The two of them looked at each other before breaking into giggles. "Oh, Alex. I think I've probably ruined everything, now. He hasn't written to me at all since Christmas Eve."

"He's probably in shock," Alex smirked. "Have you written to him?"

"I wouldn't know what to say," Rose admitted. "I mean, at the time it was almost… well, it was almost as if he were shyer than I was. It emboldened me, but now I really do feel like a fool."

"Yes, but did you enjoy it?"

"Alexandria!"

"It's a simple enough question," Alex laughed at her.

"No it isn't! It's… it's much more complicated than that," Rose said. The two of them fell into silence then, gazing into the vanity mirror from where they sat on the bed.

"Do you know…I'm not sure I was really in love with Xavier after all," Alex said at last.

"Why do you say that?" Rose asked thoughtfully.

"It was too simple. Too easy. Too convenient. I once heard my father tell Corey that he would know when he found the right girl just by 'how damned inconvenient' it is at the time," Alex said in a mimicking voice, Rose chuckling. "He makes love sound like a train wreck into a brick wall."

"I hate to say it, but I think he's got a point," Rose grinned. "Because that's exactly how it felt, except maybe that I actually enjoyed getting train wrecked."

"I'm sure nearly everyone does," Alex said. "So just what are you going to do now?" Rose looked thoughtful.

"Well, I don't think I really have the right to do anything until I know for sure how he felt about what I did," Rose decided. "I guess I'll just have to sit and wait for him to make the next move." Alex looked thoughtful a moment then nodded.

"You're right, he should. I just hope he's got more nerve than you do," Alex chuckled.

"Anyone who can stand up to Ciardoth in dragon form has to have a lot of nerve," Rose insisted.

"I don't know," Alex grinned at her. "Love can be a pretty tricky adversary."

When Jennifer went to check on Severus, she couldn't help but be alarmed when she realized that not only was he awake, but he was quite busily packing both his Cloak Chest and his Hogwarts trunk at an almost dizzying pace.

"Don't tell me you're leaving again already!" Jennifer protested.

"There's something I must know, Jennifer," Severus said, picking his Pensieve off the shelf and sealing it before carefully placing it in the chest. "And all the pacing in the world isn't going to help me discover it if I'm here."

"You think Naresh's son might have something to do with Heckletown being down there, don't you?" Jennifer said, watching him go back and forth.

"It would seem to fit. His son would be an outcast in goblin society, and considering how many wizards feel about his race it would be safer for him to seek help among his own kind. That would mean asking help from other outcasts. That would explain why Lost Empire Excavation is down there, and also why he might want the map."

"But I thought you told me last night that you believed that someone only tried to make it look like he murdered him? If he's innocent, why go after him?"

"Because I think it is highly likely that if he isn't the murderer, he very well knows who it is that would attempt to set him up," Severus said. "Your father doesn't believe many in his excavation company even knew of the goblin, let alone met him. But at least one of them knows. Hand me my spectacles case, would you please?"

"And so you just expect me to stay here while you go off chasing goblins and criminals again?" Jennifer said irritably, handing them the spectacles case anyhow.

"Well if you don't mind leaving those four with your father you're more than welcome, although I'm not sure how much you're going to see me, because I intend to…" He paused as someone knocked on the door and Jennifer went over to open it, Andrew standing behind it.

"There's a whole bunch of people at the door," Andrew said, sounding a bit nervous. "Minister Thurspire and Mr. Boltin and several other wizards."

"What? I thought Dad was having lunch with Boltin today," Jennifer said, fear gripping her as she hurried out, Severus not far behind. "What's going on? Where's my father?"

"You don't know?" Thurspire asked grimly.

"He didn't show up for his appointment?" Jennifer said, glancing at Boltin, who nodded.

"Or at the Cauldron either. He's not here?"

"No, he left over an hour and a half ago," Jennifer said.

"Mind if we check his room? See what he took with him?" Thurspire asked. Jennifer stared at him.

"He wouldn't have run, if that's what you're implying," Jennifer said icily.

"Then you won't object us checking," Thurspire said evenly. "And even if you didn't, I'm afraid you'd have to let us. It's part of the conditions that in the event we suspect there's a parole violation that we have immediate access to any evidence."

"I'm afraid it does say that," Boltin confirmed when Severus glanced in his direction.

"Boltin, you've known Thomas for quite some time. Does he seem like the man who would decide to disappear right before a meeting with his parole officer?" Severus asked.

"No, he would wait until right after," Boltin agreed. "As I've been telling Thurspire for the past ten minutes. I think something is wrong."

"Fine, but can we see his room now? Just to be sure," Thurspire insisted.

"Andrew, would you take them upstairs? We'll be right up," Severus said, glancing at his wife. Jennifer couldn't help but feel a queasy and numbly allowed Severus to steady her. "Are you all right?" he asked in a low voice as Jennifer futilely attempted to shrug her worry off. "I suppose I should have added him to the watch as well."

"I just hope he doesn't turn up dead," Jennifer murmured.

"Well it wouldn't be the first time," Severus said wryly. Jennifer glared at him. "Don't worry. Your father can take care of himself, magic or not. Considering everything he's survived, I don't expect he would go down quietly. Come on."

Despite Severus' words, it was hard to really relax. But Jennifer found her mind clear to deal with it as they headed upstairs. Alex and Rose stood in the door of her room watching the whole proceeding worriedly, while Aurelius and Andrew were the suite, talking to Thurspire and the other enforcers.

"I told you already, he wasn't acting any different than he normally does," Aurelius sighed.

"But you did say he was irritable," Thurspire pointed out.

"Exactly," Aurelius said.

"He was only irritable because of the House Elves having the day off. It was hardly anything to disappear over," Andrew said.

"Thurspire, isn't there supposed to be a guardian present when you interview a minor?" Severus asked as they walked in. Many of the officers stepping out of the way as Jennifer walked around to inspect the room and closet. She searched the wardrobe as if looking for something specific before nodding to herself.

"Nothing's missing. There are things in here I know he would have taken if he had meant to leave," Jennifer said.

"You see? I knew he wouldn't have bolted, he's much too proud to do anything of the sort," Boltin said. Thurspire gave him a hard look then turned to his men.

"We'd better go find out where Lucius Malfoy is. Dunhurst, you go back to the Ministry and let Minister Malfoy know the situation?"

"What? Not me! Last time I tried to talk to him he about blasted my head off. If you want to search the Malfoy's, you do it!" Dunhurst retorted.

"Fine, you just volunteered to be the one to tell Lucius we have to search his house again," Thurspire said with a grim smile, then nodded to Severus and Jennifer. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find him and have him back soon. Just leave it in our hands," Thurspire said, following his team out. Boltin looked at him dubiously, smiling sympathetically as he reluctantly he followed them out.

"Leave it in Ministry hands," Severus muttered in annoyance. "Fine, I'll let them search all they like in their jurisdiction."

"You don't think he's in the country, do you?" Jennifer said quietly, conscious of the two boys watching them steadily.

"No more than you do," Severus said in a low voice. "I'll be on my way within the hour."

"And I, apparently, will stay here," Jennifer said without much enthusiasm, glancing at her watch. "Boys, go to North Broom and ask Alicia to come home, please. I'd prefer we all be here if we hear anything new." Aurelius and Andrew looked at each other and headed out of the room. "Don't tell me, you'll be back before school starts."

"And post every day if possible," Severus promised her before heading down the stairs. Jennifer sighed and shook her head.

"Oh, Dad, just what have you gotten yourself into this time?" Jennifer murmured before finally turning and leaving the empty room.