Note: Characters and world originally based J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. This story is set in the indeterminate future.

Note: Bellamy's employees include: Michael, Dot and Melanie, all currently living at Loch Lomand. Terms used: The technical term for Wizardkind is Anirage, and muggles are Medjkind. A 'pendreiya' is a command, part hypnosis, part magic. The freed slaves: Carol, leader. Inge, Brigitta, Evita, the young girls. Tasha & Vince, (Valencio) Clarence & Bernice, Jimmy Rawlings. Unvoiced communication is that in italics.

Chapter 25:

There was always a little competition to sit near Bellamy, who was more and more 'Good luck' for the medj. This time it was Clarence and Jimmy, though Vince was at a different table with a few of the younger women. He asked Clarence, "You want me to help with the roof tomorrow?"

"We certainly do. We asked Michael, but he said a team of well trained wizards working in tandem, was needed for something like that."

Bellamy nodded, taking for granted that he could do things, perfectly easily, that others could not do.

"What about Cam? Does he come every day?"

"Most days, but Tiffany's primed to take him out for the day, and he's the only medj visitor allowed without prior warning."

Jimmy added, "You have to vanish a conjured generator, too, as Dot said it could be replaced with a real one now, even if we still use magic in order to save money."

Emma asked, "Why couldn't one of the others vanish it?"

Bellamy said, "No-one can undo my spells, but I seem to be the only one who can conjure unusual items, as well, so it had to be me." He grinned. "I try not to do that too much, because if I die, the item will last about eighty years, and then suddenly vanish, possibly in front of someone."

"Dot said that conjured items are usually vanished as soon as possible."

Bellamy nodded. "I had a chair vanish under me once, and had as nasty a bruise on my bottom as anything Revenge can manage."

There was no point displaying his continuing melancholy. He should have done something.

A force of medj had been readying the ballroom for the party for most of the afternoon. The dance floor was cleared and music waited, ready to play. Decorations proclaimed, 'A full year of freedom!' Balloons, streamers, flowers, nothing magical. A severe strain had been put on the budget to provide generous quantities of party foods, and drinks, alcoholic, and non alcoholic. No-one lit the fire, but a few cats lay in front of it anyway, soon joined by assorted dogs as their owners entered the room. The castle was well heated, by magic pretending to be electrical heating.

Dot and Michael were not neglected, and Robin had too many nursemaids, as usual, until they put him to sleep in an alcove as the adults partied on. It began to be late, and the party became hilarious. Jimmy had too much to drink, and was coaxed into telling John Doe stories again. He was one of the group that surrounded Bellamy. Bellamy protested and was ignored, even held very firmly by a laughing Marietta as he tried to retreat.

Jimmy said, "They set him up with a girlfriend, you see. She was a secret agent to find out what he was, except that she wasn't very secret, as everyone knew she was an agent. But when she asked, he didn't say no."

"That right, John?"

Bellamy laughed and nodded. "Clare. What was I supposed to do? Couldn't have sex with Jimmy. Of course I said yes!"

Jimmy continued, grinning, "One time, he'd been sick for weeks, skin and bone again, barely able to walk, but the moment they let him out of Ward 3, he visited Clare, and we heard later that he definitely wasn't too sick for that."

Bellamy tried to retreat again, beginning to go very red. He'd expected that there would be a camera there. There had been cameras everywhere. It was why he'd always darkened the room as much as possible, though time and again, Clare had assured him that her bedroom was totally private. But that rumours of his performance would filter to the soldiers?

Jimmy suddenly looked down at his glass, and said, "I forgot."

"What? What did you forget?"

"We weren't supposed to tell him, because he was already distressed, they said."

Jimmy suddenly stood, swaying, and slurring his words. "I'm stupid and I'm drunk, and I forgot. I'm sorry, John."

Bellamy said softly, "She did not commit suicide, Jimmy. She made it appear like that only because she was pregnant, and didn't want anyone to know."

"They said she killed herself because it was too hard, conflict of interest, what we all had."

"The child is called John Douglas, he's five next month, and has black hair, and looks like being tall."

Jimmy beamed, "Really?"

"Clare is happily married, and has a son, and a tiny baby daughter to her husband, who's a wizard. She knows what I am now."

Marietta still had a firm hold of his arm. "Wasn't there a scandal about a daughter no-one knew about? Suddenly appeared at a formal function, and proclaimed it to the world."

Bellamy was red again. "Yvette. She was angry with me."

Dot and Michael were watching him, grinning. Alison and Dot knew about John Douglas, as the secretaries organised the payment of maintenance, but Michael hadn't known.

"Any others?" asked Tiffany, teasingly.

Bellamy said very quietly to Marietta, "Please let me go," and she let him go. "Excuse me, Tiffany," he said, "Definitely need another drink."

Tiffany looked questioningly at Dot and Michael, who decided that they definitely needed another drink, as well.

An hour later, he sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, and thinking that these medj knew far too many of his secrets. Just how much had Jimmy told them? Bernice and Clarence were dancing, and so were Michael and Dot, but no-one else was. Trey sat beside Bellamy, although Shaz was prowling, hoping for an unattended packet of chips. Emma sat quietly on his other side. She hardly ever spoke to him, but her side was in contact. She was like several of them. She thought he was good luck. He was used to it now. Sometimes there was just a quiet touch on his side or back, but when he looked around, whoever it was, was already retreating. Most of them were more bold now, but some, like Emma, always seemed so timid. This time, she spoke. "Sorry we embarrassed you."

He smiled gently at her. "I can never understand it happening, you see. Medj contraception is so good these days, and I don't think I've ever been irresponsible." He was ashamed of those accidents, and said, "I suppose I just shouldn't have sex except when I'm married."

Tiffany pushed away his dog, and plumped herself down in his place. She announced, with satisfaction. "We're free!" She looked at Bellamy, who seemed too serious, and added, "We're even free of the risk of accidental children. We can go to bed with anyone, anywhere, we want, and never, ever, bother to please them unless we, too, please."

"Free," repeated Emma, softly.

Others had drifted close, and Tiffany started a loud chant, "Free, free, free," and she laughed and took another drink.

But another voice sounded, angry. "We're not free. We won't ever be truly free because John Bellamy interfered in our minds, and we have no choice whether we tell anyone what happened or not." Gloria faced him, almost spitting in her sudden anger. The Thai woman, Maliwan, came and stood next to her, confronting him. Gloria said bitterly that he was just like all wizards, using his power over ordinary people, just because he could. More women stood with her now, backing her up, even Tiffany, though Emma backed off, distressed.

Carol said reasonably, "We can be trusted, you know, John. Maybe you should allow us to be free."

Bellamy stood up, facing them. He guessed he should have expected this at some stage.

Helene said, "We know it was just the Khatabis, and we promise we won't tell anyone about wizards and magic."

Gloria, demanding, "Take away the orders in our minds. We cannot be free while there's magic on us."

Jimmy said, "You haven't put magic on me."

Melanie backed away from the confrontation, but she had her wand out, hidden in the folds of her dress. There were too many, but she'd try to defend the boss if needed. Trey and Shaz were both beside him now, very alert, and Trey started to growl, barely audible, and ignored by them all. Bellamy felt Michael's tension. He hoped that he would not act. A foolish act now could provoke violence. And like the Khatabi guards had been, the experienced auror was very aware of Vince, though he wasn't even close.

Bellamy said in as calm a voice as he could manage, "I cannot allow so many people who know the worst of wizardry, to be free to spread the story. There is too much possibility of serious repercussions."

Jimmy said, "What about me?"

"One person would just be labelled lunatic. Eighty would be believed."

Carol said slowly, "Don't you trust us?"

"Maybe I don't. It's too much risk."

Carol said again, "We know it was only the Khatabis. We know all wizards are not like that."

Bellamy refused to lie to the medj, who'd had to survive too much. It hurt him to say it. "It is not just the Khatabis, though that was the most systematic abuse I've ever come across. It is an ongoing problem, especially with young men. They think they're so powerful compared to medj, and they become arrogant and bullying. They refer to it as medj-baiting, often fairly harmless, sometimes very cruel. It's why there are so many aurors. We have a far bigger governing body, in relation to our population, than medj do. And it's needed, mostly for the purpose of policing young wizards. Occasionally witches, usually wizards. It's even why our children all go away to school, where they learn self control as well as magic, and are away from ordinary children who are too easy to dominate."

A clear thought from Michael, For God's sake, Boss, be careful!

Shirley demanded, "Have you ever killed medj, John?"

Michael intervened smoothly, "It is illegal to kill anyone, medj or wizard. Bellamy was once convicted of the unlawful killings of two wizards even though they had kidnapped him, tortured him, and starved him. He was still sentenced to three years imprisonment."

Bellamy was doing his best not to pry into the tense, accusing minds around him, but he was very alert. What would he do if they attacked? He certainly wouldn't hurt them. They wouldn't hurt anyone else, he was sure. But this anger was feeding on itself, and they could certainly decide to attack him. And Vince was angry too, now. He could feel him, a deep, boiling rage - his fury at wizards for turning him into something he felt as a bitter shame.

Gloria accused, "You're not going to free us, are you?"

Bellamy shook his head. "I told you that you could not talk to other medj about magic or wizardry. The command stays."

Gloria stared at him angrily, and then turned and flounced away.

Bellamy still had a glass in his hand. He drained it, set it down on a nearby table, and left the room followed by his dogs. They were all acutely aware of him, and not a one spoke to him. Dot and Michael picked up their sleeping child, and Melanie followed them out. There were no good-byes for them, either. They stood together, his medj, even Jimmy, and Bellamy felt an odd pride in them. If Gloria or Vince had attacked, they would probably all have attacked, and there were a lot of them, and only four Anirage, plus little Robin.

They conferred. Michael said firmly, "Melanie, I want you to pack now, and go home. Can you apparate?"

Melanie shook her head. "I'm only sixteen. I don't have my license."

"Then I'll take you."

Dot asked, "What about Robin?"

Bellamy protested, "There's no way they'd hurt Robin."

Michael said grimly, "I thought there was no way they'd hurt you, but Gloria and Maliwan were looking like they wanted to, and they were not the only ones. Robin can go to Alison for a while."

Bellamy made no objection. He'd never forgive himself if Robin was hurt because of him, and the medj were unexpected, sometimes.

He went to breakfast, just as usual in the morning, leaving Trey and Shaz with the other dogs waiting close to the door of the dining room. It had been Dot's decree right at the start that there were to be no dogs or cats in the dining room or the kitchen, unlike his own home, where the pets wandered wherever they chose. Not one of the medj greeted him, and there was certainly none of the usual polite manoeuvring to sit next to him.

Bellamy wasn't surprised. He'd interfered in their minds, and they had a genuine grievance. It was only surprising that they hadn't worried about it long ago. He ignored the baleful looks of Shirley and Didi as he helped himself from the servery, and sat with Michael and Dot, who were also being shunned. He was acutely aware of their hostility. Oddly, he also felt a ray of sympathy. Vince, whom he would have thought might have condemned him most, but no longer seemed even angry. He smiled to himself. Vince never seemed to react the same way as the others. He'd been the only one to feel it too, when he'd laid the pendreiya on them.

He hadn't been planning on it, but suddenly decided that today was the day to hop on Kennedy. It would be the first time, and it might be an interesting ride. He greeted Madigan, and wisely took no notice of Gloria, who was fussing over Revenge and the foal. She was watching him, pretending not to be.

He went to the brown thoroughbred, and brushed him a little, before attaching conjured reins to the halter. He led the horse through the gateway, and then simply leapt onto his back. It wasn't only Gloria who turned to watch.

Kennedy stood still, ears flicking. Bellamy grinned and prepared himself for the ferocious buck that followed. And then the horse leapt and twisted, reared and bucked, as Bellamy laughed. There was no real revolt in the horse, in spite of the violence of the protest. Kennedy stopped dead, turned his head about, sniffed at the man still on his back, and Bellamy patted him. "Want to go for a gallop?" Kennedy snorted and pawed the ground. Bellamy gave him his cue, and the pair went streaking down the driveway, narrowly avoiding being hit by a car driven by Cramsie McGonnigal.

It was a warm day, and both Kennedy and Bellamy were sweating by the time they returned. Bellamy hugged the horse and Kennedy stamped, but had his ears forward, and neither bit nor kicked.

Gloria said casually, "Would you like me to rub him down for you? Then you could go for a swim to cool down."

Bellamy smiled at the beautiful woman and thanked her.

Gloria bristled. "Don't go smiling at me! I'm still very angry at you."

Bellamy took the smile off his face, and Gloria snorted and led away the horse. Bellamy frowned, and thought that he, himself, would loathe the idea of someone interfering in his mind. This was the first time he'd done it to an innocent person, except for a very gentle command to Najia to keep her money belt secret from her family. Mostly, he'd used it as an alternative to killing those who tried to kill him.

Bellamy went for a swim, as suggested, doing laps, tirelessly up and down the pool. He was engrossed in his thoughts. His conclusion didn't change. He had done the minimum he could do, in good conscience. It was the merest trace of magic that he'd put on his medj, and they could even break it if they tried hard enough. But they were not to know that it was more hypnosis than magic. An ear-splitting whistle interrupted his thoughts. Without thinking, Bellamy dived, coming up in a different spot, looking around for the threat. Vince, Jimmy and Clarence watched him, Vince and Jimmy grinning, Clarence a little remorseful.

He grinned himself, sheepishly, and pulled himself out.

"The roof?" asked Clarence.

"Sure," and Bellamy dried himself with a conjured towel and dressed, as they waited and talked about their next project - a hay shed. Bellamy frowned. "Can we afford the machinery to cut hay?"

"We can hire, and Carol says it winds up cheaper than buying feed, when we have so much growing."

"I guess if I'm still wanted, I can do it for free," said Bellamy, diffidently.

They were silent. They wanted him, but they were not at all sure about many of the women. Bellamy thought that at least the men didn't seem to be thinking of murdering him.

Cramsie McGonnigal was well out of the way when a large, fully made roof rose from the ground, and moved slowly over the barn. Four solid ladders stood at each corner, but at a respectful distance, three with one of the men on top, the fourth with Eva.

Eva called, "Lower now, slowly." Bellamy watched carefully, as he lowered the roof.

"Toward me a little," called Vince, and the roof obeyed instructions.

There was no wand raised, and an audience watched, though not including Dot and Michael, who were out with Carol and Helene, organising some banking business before the final takeover. There were more fine adjustments, until the steeply pitched roof slid gently into place. It had yet to be made firm, as otherwise a strong wind might have it sailing off. The ladders were readjusted, now leaning against the roof, rather than freestanding, and the men, including Bellamy, climbed up on the roof.

"It makes me nervous watching them," said Emma to Connie. It was almost noon, hot, and all the men worked shirtless. Jimmy was casual, although the others were more cautious as they moved about the roof, securing it very firmly.

"Nearly finished," remarked Clarence to Bellamy, as he paused in his work.

"We'll be a bit late for lunch, though," replied Bellamy, holding more tightly to the central ridge as the trembling attack intensified. He began swearing silently, to himself, and held on tighter. It was hardly ever this bad, only maybe after a nightmare, or if he'd made himself too tired or something. His whole body was shuddering violently and it became harder to grip.

Quite suddenly, he was sliding, and Clarence looked up with a yell and scrambled over toward him. Bellamy tried to get a new grip, fingers scrabbling, but only slid, scratching his wrist slightly and neatly pulling off his watch on a projection. Clarence was daredevil, running across and grabbing at him as he fell, but missing.

Bellamy thumped to the ground, flat on his back, and the world went black.

He was still in the same position when he blinked open his eyes. Emma was staring at him, almost as if hypnotised. He didn't move, waiting. She held one of his watches in her hand, and he knew what had triggered her emotion - the old scars that encircled each wrist.

Connie came to Emma and put an arm around her. "He's fine. He's awake, and not badly hurt."

Emma said in a high pitched voice, "She died, you see. I held her hand all night, and she held mine, but in the morning, she was looking at me, but she was dead." And in her eyes that still held his, Bellamy saw her image, a little girl, straps around wrists and ankles, frilly white dress covering her body, and dead, while her twin sister lay on the bed next to her, in an identical dress, hands tightly linked.

Vince went to her, and Emma turned to him, sobbing in his arms, as Bellamy rather slowly sat up. Eva said to him, "Valencio will look after Emma. You'd best just lie down for a while."

Bellamy said, "I'm not hurt. Just had a stupid trembling attack at a bad moment." He stood and tried to hide the inevitable stagger. Clarence and Jimmy went to his side and Eva said he should lie down.

Vince kissed Emma, "Come and sit down for a while?" Emma nodded, her sobs beginning to die down.

Bellamy looked after her. Ahjmed? But maybe Ahjmed wasn't the only child rapist among the Khatabis.

Jimmy said, "Come on, John. You should lie down." Obediently, Bellamy allowed them to help him to his bedroom, although he was already beginning to feel better.

He lay down for a while, but his mind was running on Emma. What had happened to Emma and the other, the twin sister? After a while, he rose and went back outside, leaning against a tree, and watching Jimmy and Clarence still working. Gloria arrived at his side, looked at him with hostility, and suggested that he was obviously fine and should make himself useful. Bellamy answered that he would in a little while. Gloria's glare intensified and she stalked off. Bellamy went to talk to the horses in Bluey's paddock. He was still a little dizzy. It would be silly to climb onto a roof now.

For the next couple of days, Bellamy was treated to turned backs, rude remarks, and from Gloria and a few others, some frank abuse. Each time he listened courteously, but had not the slightest intention of changing his mind. Yet Carol said he was definitely to stay around, as he was needed, but not because of Kennedy. He didn't ask questions, just nodded.

The abuse ceased, but the medj were very subdued. When he saw Emma riding with Clarence, Connie and Hilde towards where he knew was the almost hidden start of the Pamela Track, he wondered if Emma had told her story. It was the first time he'd seen Hilde ride, but she looked comfortable, slumping a bit in the saddle, as he did himself. She was on the biggest of the ponies, Dragon Breath. Maybe Hilde had been in Enclosure 1 when Emma had been a child.

Cam was there again, coaching Ingrid, Eva and Lucy over jumps. Tiffany was in an adjacent paddock, taking Patrick over much higher jumps. Things seemed to be much as usual, except for the atmosphere of solemnity.

Mary was sitting on a garden seat, sketching. He suddenly remembered all of old Clare's painting things, put away in the store room after she died, as no-one had a use for them. He'd send them Friday, and he'd bring the pup he'd promised Vince.

**x**

That evening, Dot said, "They're working again. I think they stopped for a while, but they share chocolates when it's been too hard, and there's hardly any left."

Bellamy said, "Emma, I think."

He didn't say anything more. If Emma wanted to provide the additional information that there had been a twin, then no doubt she would. He was sure now. He tried not to accidentally overhear, but sometimes it happened anyway. Vince, as he worked with him. Working mechanically, and thinking about his friend, his 'sister.' Raped by man after man, and in the morning, Laura was dead. There was a surge of fury within him, an image of mowing the whole lot down with a machine gun. And as Bellamy looked at him, Vince looked back and thought viciously, Zhor and Najia as well! But then there was an abrupt cessation of all feeling from him.

Bellamy had a sense of people when they were close, and it was if Vince was no longer close. Vince was blocking, as a Telepath learns to block, and Bellamy felt a considerable respect for the man. He may not have learned to know minds, or not reliably, but whether he knew what he was doing or not, Bellamy could no longer feel him, or at least, not without deliberately prying. Vince could be the strong man who could initiate another Holocaust. He had the intelligence and there was a hatred within him. Yet he'd calmed down more quickly than most, and Bellamy thought he understood that he deemed it necessary and would not change his mind.

Bellamy went out that evening, needing relief from the atmosphere of strain. Rhoda, a woman in her early thirties, eyes roving, as he sat quietly at a table in a pub. Bellamy smiled at her. It was a gift. With a slight change of expression, sometimes of tone of voice, or body language, he could show a feeling of yearning desire that had a woman wanting him. He spent the night with Rhoda, and relaxed afterwards, feeling a sense of well-being. Rhoda stroked him, and said, "I'm busy tomorrow, but I'd like to see you again."

Bellamy asked, "Day after tomorrow?" And there were plans made.

Kennedy was already improving. The horse was not destined to be Bellamy's special horse, and he made sure that he did not encourage the sort of bucking play that he loved with Madigan.

In the evening, Bellamy, Michael and Dot were together in a small sitting room, relaxing after completing the after dinner tidy up. "Melanie wants to come back," said Dot. "She says some of the horses still need experienced riders, and not the way the boss rides."

Michael shook his head, decisively, "She's just a kid, and the medj are unpredictable."

There was a knock at the open door - Carol. She'd heard that last comment, but all she said was that it would be appreciated if John joined them for a little while that evening. Michael and Dot exchanged glances as Bellamy unhesitatingly rose and went with her, followed by his dogs, Shaz with a groan, as if she resented getting up when she thought she was settled for the evening.

Carol showed Bellamy to a chair, but then hesitated, not knowing what to say. John waited. There was an intensity in the atmosphere. Were they going to ask him again to remove the commands from their minds?

"Wouldn't mind a beer," he suggested. The tension relaxed in laughter, and Helene and a couple of others rose and went to fetch a supply of beer, making Michael hurry out of sight as he heard the approach. Bellamy was amused. So Michael had every intention of eavesdropping. An ex-auror, of course, and aurors were always curious. He sipped his beer, and offered, "Mildred's garden's looking good."

Emma said softly, "Some of us need you to tell us how you wound up with scars on your wrists."

Bellamy reddened, but so many were looking at him anxiously, hopefully, including the young girls. Slowly, he took his watches off. The skin underneath was much paler than that of his arms, as he never normally took those watches off, not when he was sleeping, not when he was swimming. Bracelet scars like that were such a betrayal.

Connie came softly closer, and reached to touch. Bernice, Evita, Thierry. Vince's look was so intense that it drew his gaze. Vince looked down. Bellamy looked at Carol, and she, too, watched him intently. She said, "I'm sorry, but some of us need it." The specific instance of scarring himself was so embarrassing, but maybe he could avoid that.

He looked down and played with a watch, twirling it around in his fingers. Brigitta said, "Don't be embarrassed. I'm sure we've suffered worse, and we were younger, too." She touched him, "Please?"

He gave a resentful glance at the door, but if he put a silencing shield around the room, Michael might come in. The aurors probably knew about those scars, but he'd never told what had led to the wounds on his wrists.

"Another beer?" Jimmy asked, with a touch of sympathy.

Bellamy looked at his scarcely touched glass, and put it down beside him. Trey rose from his place on the floor and stalked over to the fireplace. As the boss's dog, he should have pride of place. Shaz followed. What would he tell them, and what could he get away with not telling them?

"You're trembling," Evita said.

Bellamy said impatiently. "It means nothing, you know that. I've told you before!" He hated it when he betrayed himself.

Evita said, "Please tell us." They were looking at him, needing him to tell them. And they'd been restrained, many of them, no doubt. There had been restraining straps on the beds in the working bedrooms, and Vince had worn wrist and ankle cuffs. Jimmy, as well. He sighed. He guessed they needed it.

He wished he didn't blush so easily. He could feel his face still hot, as he began. "It comes from a fear of being made helpless, and confined. They tried to do it to me when I was seventeen, determined efforts to keep me helpless, for all my life. Then again, when I was in my early twenties. They had committal papers, waited until I was very ill, and four aurors turned up with an ambulance trolley to cart me off to a secure prison. They thought I had the potential to be too powerful, you see - a threat to the DMT, though they just called it the Ministry of Magic in those days. So I have nightmares, always have, since I was seventeen. People tried to kill me, too, but I never have nightmares about that.

"That was a general fear of imprisonment. The specific fear of ropes round my wrists came later, after a time when I was kidnapped. I was becoming too influential for the liking of certain people, a very respected member of society, a member of the Wizard High Court - sixty of the most respected witches and wizards of the country."

He smiled to himself. "I liked being respectable, and I was never really regarded as respectable afterwards. I was very thoroughly discredited after certain experiences were made public."

"Michael said you were kidnapped, tortured, and starved."

"I was starved because they were too frightened of me to let me wake enough to eat. Understandable, as I would either have killed them or disapparated."

"So how did you get the scars?"

"They kept me drugged, but there was torture and rape, and ropes around my wrists, except that my memories are very blurred of that time, of course. Hardly any at all, really. But the intention was to discredit me, and film was released afterward, showing me being raped." His colour heightened further. Silly. He thought he was tougher now, after so much humiliation at the time.

Evita touched him and said, "Please, continue."

He nodded. He supposed he might as well get it over with. "I escaped, disapparated, and found myself lost, starving, and filthy. It had only been three weeks."

He looked down, and touched his right wrist, suddenly trembling again. "There were ropes, and I didn't even remember how they were used, but they made me feel sick to the stomach and I vanished them. But ever afterwards, the idea of being tied, frightens the hell out of me."

He looked up at them, and said, almost snappishly to his own surprise, "So now I've bared my soul. Are you satisfied?"

Carol was looking at him closely. "You haven't told it all, have you?"

"Surely that's enough!"

Clarence asked, "Were you really convicted of murder?"

"The lesser charge, wrongful killing, and they were extremely generous, and gave me a suspended sentence."

"You killed them."

"I killed the one who raped me, and the other who tried to rape me. I didn't kill the man who organised it in order to destroy my influence, and I didn't kill the ones who were just helpers."

"Did he destroy your influence?"

Bellamy suddenly laughed, but he felt a little bitter, all the same. "What do you think? There was film of my time in captivity, complete with every humiliating incident, there was actually a pornographic film made up of partly what they did to me, and partly using an actor. That was very widely distributed, even in the medj world. I reckon every wizard in Britain saw that, and most of the witches, and it was totally explicit. I had a cousin who was medj, and when I went to see him, he shoved the film in my face and said I was a disgrace to the family! There was also film of when I killed the ones who did it. It was the day after I got away, and hidden cameras were recording the whole thing. They pardoned me, years later, but I was never invited to be on the Wizemgamot again, and never thought of as terribly respectable again."

He shrugged. "Maybe I'm not respectable. Respectable people don't kill. And I killed."

He glanced at the door, and said, "I suspect the aurors are still shown that bit of film of the killings, and it's partly why they watch me so closely. They pretend to be bodyguards, but they're far too curious and like to spy."

Michael took the eavesdropping device from the door, and wondered whether he should go away. Bellamy was right about the film of the killings. It was shown in training, so that they didn't underestimate him.

Gloria was frowning, and finally said, "That can't be how you got those scars on the wrists, though, because if you were drugged, you wouldn't have been struggling against the ropes, or not hard enough to do that."

He tried to evade. "The reason I have scars is because I tend to panic when I'm tied up, and that's because of the ropes when I was kidnapped."

Michael couldn't help himself. He started listening again. The boss could be in danger, and he was an ex-auror, currently employed still as a security guard. That was what he told himself anyway.

Bellamy hadn't even noticed quiet Thierry close, until she put her hand over his wrist, and said, "We need to know, because you've suffered, and yet you're not frightened and not oversensitive, and you can do things."

He looked at Thierry. He wasn't sure if she'd even spoken to him before. He spoke quietly, just to her. "I am scarred, though. I think everyone gets scars as they go through life."

She looked at him, needing more. Bernice said, "Please, John. Tell us when you were scarred."

Bellamy looked away. "It's not all that traumatic, just a story of stupidity and panic."

There were too many of them, looking at him, needing him to tell them. He didn't understand why it should be so important to them, but it seemed it was. Maybe akin to the way they wanted to touch him, for good luck. He took a deep breath, and said, "You'll probably only laugh at me, as it was very silly." He imposed a silencing shield, and even felt a silent Damn, from Michael outside the door.

He wondered exactly where to start, what they needed to know. He grinned wryly to himself. A story of humiliation and panic, but there was more to it than that. Jimmy handed him a fresh glass of beer. He said, shaking his head, "You'll never look at me again without laughing. I've kept it secret for so many years." He glanced at the door. "I don't know how many times the aurors have tried to trick me into telling them, so don't go telling Michael or Dot."

"We won't tell them," promised Carol.

Bellamy said slowly, "My wife of the time was Julie." He smiled, remembering her with fondness. "I loved her very deeply, and every time she did something a little foolish, I only loved her more. It was a part of her." He laughed. "She adored shopping and cost me a fortune. And she was an arrant snob, and loved to dress me up and show me off. She liked being married to someone famous, but she didn't like it when I did things that others couldn't, or showed that I was not ordinary. When I had a trembling attack, she'd turn her eyes away because it was an abnormality, and she didn't like abnormalities."

"Did she love you too?"

"She loved me very much, but sometimes, because of who I am, it was difficult for her."

He drank some of his beer, and thought about Julie who'd been so very dear to him. He was remembering a particular morning, in bed with her. He was late for work, but he hadn't wanted to disturb her. He loved her so much, and she was pregnant, and slept so sweetly after the lovemaking, her head on his shoulder. He smiled very gently, for a moment back in the past. It had started not long after.

"Julie was shopping with friends while I worked. She was pregnant, but feeling well and very happy. We were in Turkey, and there was a terrorist attack. Julie was injured by shrapnel. She lost her baby, and they took away her womb, so there would never be another. She was very deeply hurt, and she blamed me because I should have stopped it happening. She knew that was not logical, of course, but it didn't stop that feeling of anger. It meant that she was easier to influence than she should have been. Magical influence, I mean, instructions instilled."

"Like what you did to us?"

"Probably not as skilled," he answered, without apology. If they became angry and threw him out, he wouldn't have to continue with the story. But no-one said anything.

He took another sip of his beer and continued. "There was a young woman called Nerrissa Malfoy."

"A relation to Bessamy?"

"Same family. Anyway, Nerrissa was beautiful, perverted, wicked, and obsessed with me. You know how some foolish people get obsessed with someone famous? Like that.

"Julie thought she was a friend, and they did a lot together, though I seldom saw her, and only vaguely knew her by sight. There was another player in the farce, Cissy, a young relative of mine, who had sufficient power that I could not break her spells, except by calling up something I refer to as 'the strong magic.' But at that time, I no longer dared use it. There had been an illness, and afterwards, when I tried to cure a patient with it, I collapsed with severe head pain and nearly died."

"The same sort of head pain Jimmy said you suffered when you were a prisoner?"

"Exactly the same. It has something to do with trying to use magic when there's some sort of block, I think.

"Anyway, Nerrissa and Julie planned a special treat for me, a wedding anniversary present. And I told you she was influenced by someone. She was convinced she was going to give me a high treat."

He grinned at them, shamefaced. "It was truly a farce, so prepare to laugh, or preferably, just let me go."

"This is the story where you hurt your wrists?"

"This is the story - I was tied up probably for less than an hour." They waited, silent, expectant.

He was getting to it now, and he felt his face red again. He asked, "You know about mistresses and dungeons, whips and leather and chains?" But they looked confused, and only Jimmy started laughing, helplessly. He grinned at Jimmy. What the heck? It was a long time ago. "Ask Jimmy about what a woman might do who calls herself Mistress Annie." They turned to Jimmy, and he gave quite a fair explanation of Sadomasochism. Most were confused, some laughing.

Carol asked, surprised, "Is this when you got whipped?"

"It never went that far. Even without the strong magic, I could still do magic without a wand, and I was still far more powerful than any ordinary wizard. But Julie took me in blindfolded, and I didn't want to hurt her feelings. She was my wife, and I loved her." He frowned and said, "I should have sensed the magic on her, but I guess it was subtle and I missed it. Anyway, she pressed me against the wall, extended my arms, and then Cissy made ropes appear, and tied my wrists to the wall. Cissy is the one whose spells I couldn't break, and Cissy was acting under the Compulsion Curse. There was a barrier she stayed behind, so I couldn't break the spell, a type of barrier we'd worked on together, that neither magic nor telepathy would penetrate.

"So then I was held against the wall, and still trying not to hurt Julie's feelings, but I quite definitely didn't think this was a wonderful sexual experience."

"Wearing a leather hood?"

Bellamy made a face. "I don't know whether to laugh or cringe. I was wearing a leather hood and someone made my clothes vanish, and Julie was still taking not the slightest notice when I said that she was to free me, that this was not working. So another voice said something about the little man not liking to be tied up." He shook his head. "The little man hated being tied up, but that one wasn't my wife, and when she touched me, I blasted her off with magic, and I presume that she scuttled away, as I didn't see or hear her again.

"I finally tried to vanish the bonds with magic, and it was only then that I discovered that I couldn't. I could scarcely believe it at first, and tried harder, and then against the wall, before I realised that it was Cissy's spell. I panicked then, struggling against the ropes, and I think maybe the ropes were sharpened, as I did a lot of damage very quickly, not that I was noticing at the time. I managed to get a bit of sense back, and tried to tell Cissy she had to break out of it. I couldn't do anything except beg, because she was behind the barrier.

"Nerrissa, and probably her brother, Kryall, must have been watching and enjoying it from another room. But when they brought in a couple of men to rape the girls in front of me, I really lost control. I made the ceiling crack, and hit as hard as I could against the barrier, but it was Cissy's spell. I was stupid. There were other ways I could have stopped them, but all I could think of at the time, was the strong magic, and the last time I'd used that, it nearly killed me, not to mention causing agony like I'd never known. Anyway, it worked, and I broke the barrier, vanished the bonds and took my girls home, but we were all upset, and I didn't really notice how badly I'd damaged my wrists. They were not properly treated for a couple of days - too late to prevent embarrassing scarring."

He concluded, "So you see. Just a fairly minor and laughable incident."

"What was the purpose of it all?"

"Nerrissa's enjoyment. We never told anyone. We all thought we'd made awful fools of ourselves. When I went to work the following week, and someone noticed both wrists were bandaged, they were consumed with curiosity. Aurors can't bear something like that - obviously some sort of crime had been involved, and they were supposed to keep me safe, and I said nothing. It's why I wear two watches. Bracelet scars like that tell a story."

He added, "There was a happy ending to the story of Nerrissa's obsession, if you want to hear it."

Jimmy grinned. "Another beer?"

Bellamy dropped the silencing shield. If Michael became too worried, he might come in, and he wanted to tell his medj that upsets, and even trauma, can end in happiness.

"Julie was a lot more profoundly upset than I was afterwards. I just had a few extra nightmares for a week or two, but Julie had made the discovery that I could be just as stupid and helpless as anybody else. She left me for a while, and refused to come back. Said it was too hard, that she still loved me, but it was too hard to live with me." He shook his head. "That was not the happy ending."

"Please go on," said Evita. He took a sip of beer. Michael checked, smiled, and started listening again.

"Nerrissa hadn't finished with me. I was off spell-breaking, and like always, there was a team of bodyguards. They must have thought I was too hard to get on with, maybe not enough sex, because one night they let a girl into my room, and she slipped naked into bed while I was asleep."

"So you had sex?"

"Of course. She offered and she caught me at a weak moment, though I would never, normally, have chosen to go to bed with a girl so young."

"How young?"

"Eighteen, I think."

They glanced at each other. When he referred to 'a girl so young,' they'd straightaway thought of ten or twelve - fourteen at the most.

"Just a few days later, she was hit by a Death Curse. I killed the man who did it, but didn't know at the time Nerrissa was behind it."

"Did you get into trouble for killing that man?"

"I'd learned a bit by then. I let him draw his wand first, in front of witnesses, before killing him. So that made it a duelling death, and that was not punishable. It was as much an execution as the others, but I didn't get into trouble for it."

"You're right, you're not very respectable."

"Little Tessa was just an innocent girl with a poor choice in men. She should not have paid for it with her life!

"Anyway, Julie came back. She never held Tessa against me, and seemed calmer again.

"I didn't quite know what was happening. It didn't seem I was directly threatened, but in South America, one of my patients, the moment I cured him, was supposed to put a spell on me." He laughed, and drank his beer.

"What spell?"

"A spell to make me a laughing stock. Called the Stallion Spell."

They stared at him, and then suddenly Eva laughed, and he nodded at her, "Exactly so."

There was general hilarity then, as they pictured it. "Ever practised on you, Clarence?" he asked, as Clarence shook with laughter. Clarence shook his head. The Stallion Spell!

Bellamy slipped his watches back on. "There were about three attempts to get to me in the next day or two, and it was getting too dangerous. What if they hurt someone else like they hurt Tessa? So I said no more spell-breaking work for a bit. But then I was called urgently to Germany. Two dozen victims of the Rindi Curse, and medj victims, too. Mostly wizards leave medj strictly alone. It's one of those basic rules - Don't interfere with medj. Don't get Wizardkind noticed. Far too dangerous.

"Anyway, medj are far harder to rescue from the Rindi Curse, as they start to die straightaway. On the other hand, they don't go mad with rage, and try to kill the one that pulls them out. After so many, I was exhausted, no longer alert. But there were bodyguards all around, and I was in a private home. Went to bed early, and woke up late the following day feeling as tired or more so, than I was the previous night. It seemed there was a disturbance overnight, I was away for a few hours, with Simon, one of the aurors, and brought back unconscious in his arms. Nerrissa had finally decided what she wanted, and had it."

He grinned sheepishly. "Did you know an unconscious man can be used to get someone pregnant?"

They looked at him, incredulous.

"Simon told me. They had him under the Compulsion Spell, but he managed to break out of it and take me back. But she had her wicked way with me first."

"She managed to have sex with an unconscious man?"

"According to Simon, and there was positive proof about seven months later, when she was killed and her baby delivered. And as she'd declared to the world that I was the father, Julie and I were given the baby."

He smiled. "We called him Adrian, and Julie was just as proud of him as if she was his own mother."

Bernice said, "That's your happy ending?"

"Adrian was a joy to us both. It was not, of course, a happy ending for Nerrissa."

"Was he really yours?"

"He looked very like me. A touch smaller, maybe because he was premature. The Malfoys were always fair, but Adrian had black hair and wore glasses. He was my son, and Julie was ecstatic to be a mother, after all."

Gloria said, "True confessions over for the night?"

Bellamy said, "No more from me, that's for sure."

Thierry said, "Thanks for telling us."

Bellamy said very gently, and just for her, "Just sometimes, things work out all right."

Gloria asked, "What happened to Cissy? It sounds like she was nearly as powerful as you."

"She may have had the potential to become so, but I grew in power with years, and Cissy died suddenly when she was just thirty-nine. Raised an increased intensity of magic to break a spell, collapsed with severe head pain and died."

"Adrian?"

"Grew up to become headmaster of an American wizarding school, married a medj girl, and had a daughter called Candice, but Candice had no magic, and is now dead, too." He was beginning to veer onto the dangerous ground of just how old he was, and they shied off from that knowledge, as he shied off from talking about it.

He wanted to change the subject, and his eyes suddenly rested on Jimmy. "Jimmy, always wanted to know what the soldiers were told about me?"

Jimmy said, "You asked me that once before, others too, I heard, but it was not something we were allowed to discuss."

"You're telling everyone else John Doe stories. Maybe you could tell me."

Jimmy laughed. "Fair enough. We were told that you'd shown a power, and that no-one knew what you were. We had to be very careful, not provoke you into rash acts in case you could be dangerous, and on no account to allow you out of the Compound. I'm pretty sure it was the reason that there was never any alcohol either, though I think the officers might have had some in their dining room."

Bellamy thanked him, and seeing that the medj were beginning to talk among themselves, he relaxed into his chair and finished his glass of beer. It had never occurred to him to want a beer at the time. He hadn't missed it. It was like TV, or news of current affairs that he hadn't been allowed, he presumed, in case it upset him.

Eyes were still on him, and he felt a thought. Sometimes, whether he tried to probe or not, thoughts would come to him. Thierry. He took the watches off his wrists and put them in his pocket. If that's what they needed... It wasn't only Thierry, and his eyes met those of Vince. He wondered for how long Vince had worn those cuffs. And why. Surely it wasn't that hard to control a boy or young man who had no magic.

Vince turned away from him, and asked Tasha whether she'd like a drink.

Tiffany came and sat beside him. "Did you know Force B and Force A had an enormous brawl because of you?"

"No."

"Tell him, Jimmy?" Jimmy hadn't been listening, and Tiffany enlarged, "About the brawl over John. After the time they handcuffed him to a chair."

Bellamy reddened yet again. Was there anything they didn't know about him? He was very much ashamed of his panic that day.

Jimmy glanced at him, and said, "We set out to punish Force B, you see. Reckoned they had no right interfering. So we went after them, at the pub in the closest town. That was Hallsville." He interrupted himself, "Did you know the name of the closest town, John?"

Bellamy nodded, and said, "I think it was Hank let it slip one day."

Jimmy explained to the others, "We weren't allowed to let him know where we were, you see, even the state."

He'd known the state, as well, quite early on. It had come up in relation to a football match, though Kyle had been alarmed when he realised he'd said it, and had quickly gone onto something else, hoping that he hadn't noticed.

Jimmy said, "The fight developed, more and more came, until there were about sixty on our side, maybe a few more on theirs. And the local policemen just stayed back, scratching their heads, not knowing what to do." He grinned at Bellamy. "Your personal guard, Zack. Like all of them, he used to be an MP. He laid out about ten before they nearly smothered him. Rudy was great, too, and Hank. I knocked out one myself, and chased away three others."

Bellamy asked, "So who won?"

"Oh, us, undoubtedly. They sort of limped off with their tails between their legs, those who could still walk."

Bellamy felt soothed. He'd treated the guards as friends, but had known they would shoot him if they were ordered. Not really friends. Yet they'd fought for him. He smiled at Jimmy, his friend, who'd fought for him. His remark was casual, "I'm glad you won!" If they did win. In the sort of brawl described, there was seldom a clear winner.

Jimmy asked curiously, "So how did you eventually escape, anyway?"

"I woke up in Ward 3, knew they were doing something to me again, made a few in the room faint, and disapparated. Wound up in my tree. The Colonel back in the building told someone, 'Disable him,' and I suddenly had a disabling pain in my head. But it wasn't as bad as when my head hurt by itself, and I destroyed the camera that watched next to me, and then made the pain stop, and then the RAB."

He imposed a silencing shield again, to the considerable annoyance of Michael.

"I tried to disapparate again, to finally escape, but I didn't know how I'd done it and couldn't do it again." There was a hush again, as people listened. He grinned at Jimmy. "So then I turned myself into a hawk and flew away." He glanced at the door, and said, "And don't tell anyone that, either, as no-one knows I can do it."

There was incredulity, loud comment, and finally, Brigitta came close to him, and said, "Please show me. I want to see."

He shook his head and said, "You're the medj who don't like magic, remember. You might like to see, I bet not everyone does."

Carol grinned. "Anyone not want to see?"

"I want to see," said Emma.

"And I," said Gloria. There was a clamour of demanding voices, and Carol raised a hand for hush, and asked again, "Anyone not want to see?"

No-one spoke, and then Carol turned to Bellamy, smiling, and said, "Please?"

Brigitta said "Please," and put on her best beseeching expression.

He laughed, and said, "No wonder you had Abensur twisted around your little finger!"

Still laughing, he stood, and swiftly, his form changed and a hawk stretched its wings, and gave a hoarse cry. Before the medj could close their mouths, a dog streaked towards him followed by several more. Untidily, he took off, wings beating urgently as Trey leapt up to grab the unnatural beast. He settled on the top of a cupboard, as dogs stood up against it, still urgent in their desire to tear the thing to pieces. He reached up a claw, and scratched his head, as medj tried to pull off the dogs. Cautiously, the hawk looked down over the edge of the cupboard, and swiftly pulled his head back, as Trey leapt up, sharp teeth bared. Carol suddenly felt his laughing voice in her head. Get Michael?

Michael was close to the door, so was quickly in the room, followed by Dot, who was also close. They both stared, very confused, at a hawk on the top of a cupboard.

"That's not the boss!" Michael said in disbelief.

The hawk carefully looked over the edge of the cupboard again, and again beat a swift retreat. He'd never realised what sharp teeth his dog looked to have.

Michael jumped as he felt his laughing voice in his head. What an end for the great wizard. Mauled to death by his own dog!

Michael said, "Maybe I should stun him?"

Gently.

With Trey stunned, the other dogs were pacified and held firmly by their owners, Shaz by Dot. The hawk stretched his wings, and gently glided back to Bellamy's chair. Gloria's cat swiped at him, claws bared, and when he reverted to his normal form, there was a scratch across his cheek.

"Your glasses came back - and your clothes. It's not logical," protested Jimmy.

"Of course, it's not logical, it's magic. Some witches and wizards spend a lifetime in research, trying to explain things like that. But some things are not explicable."

He went to his dog, and stroked him. Trey got to his feet, looked to the top of the cupboard and growled. Bellamy glanced at Vince, who looked stony. He thought, Sorry, and felt his response. A bloody wizard with telepathy. They're the worst.

Michael said, very sternly, "All animagi are supposed to be registered with the Ministry."

"The last registered animagus was over a hundred years ago, and anyway, Dieter knows."

Dot gave Michael a gentle thump on the arm, and said, "You're not an auror now, you're not going to turn in your own boss, are you?"

Clarence offered them beers each, said that serious business was finished, and they were welcome to stay. Dot looked questioningly at Carol, who nodded. The evening became a party then, the unpredictable medj laughing and joking.

Bellamy was still conscious of Vince, who kept right away from him, and was wishing he could leave, somehow without Tasha noticing. It hadn't been his transformation into a hawk, it was Michael stunning the dog that had upset him. It made Bellamy wonder just how many times Vince had been hit by one of the control spells. And he wondered again just why they had kept him. Vince, Valencio as he'd been, was still a mystery.

***chapter end***