Chapter 9

Albus walked down the dark closing alley that lead to Gary's house. He knew the man in question probably wouldn't be there but he didn't want to miss him; he would wait for a few hours if he had too. The streets were deadly silent and the sky pitch black, it was as if the world was being smothered by a blanket. Gary's house was of a normal size, large stone gargoyles guarded the door way. Albus sat silently on the marble steps that lead up to the oak front door. It was cold; the wind was icy and chilled him right to the bone. He started to shiver and questioned if what he was doing was the right way to go about it.

"Are you Vincent?" An elderly woman asked softly, her eyes glancing over his appearance. She didn't recognise him… he could tell by the way she eyed his clothes that this woman was muggle. What was a muggle doing in the magical part of London?

"Gary told me you'd be coming today. You are Vincent right?" The woman asked her voice full of suspicion.

"Umm… Yes." What else could he say?

"My son won't be home for at least four hours you're very early." She muttered as she walked up the stairs and opened the front door. "Please come in… you'll catch your death out there!" Albus obliged and followed her into the warm inviting house. The woman offered him tea and cake to which he both accepted. She was charming and polite the exact opposite to what her son happened to be. What on earth had gone wrong?

"I must say Vincent… you don't mind calling me calling you Vincent do you?" Albus just shook his head in response he already felt guilty about lying to this woman.

"Gary brings home many business partners and I must say they are all quite rude and obnoxious. Thank you for being so polite." Albus couldn't help the feeling of pity that washed over his stomach so he treated his mother like dirt as well.

"I'm sorry you must be so bored of listening to me, are you here for a particular reason perhaps I can help?"

"Oh… well… I…" Albus started softly. "Paperwork! I'm here to collect some paper work." He sighed inwardly when she believed it.

"Well I haven't seen any in the house, but he could have some in his bedroom I haven't been in there for a very long time. You go look it's the second door on the right while I put some more tea on!" She smiled softly and bustled around the kitchen making some tea.

Albus followed her instructions the house was vibrant, colourful and nicely decorated. It held the feeling of home and Albus couldn't help but feel extremely comfortable while walking down the hallway. He opened the second door on the right cautiously he wasn't quite sure what he was going to do when he entered the room but he was sure he would think of something. The door slammed shut behind him as he entered the room, leaving him in pitch black. Why in the name of Merlin did this room not have a window? He fumbled around the walls looking for what muggle's called a light switch. He found and switched it quite easily after all he had received a high level NEWT in muggle studies. What ever he had been expecting to see in this room it was not what he saw now. The room was quite empty; a bed sat in the middle of the room a wardrobe in the left hand corner and a desk in the right. But what attracted his attention the most was the walls. He couldn't even make out the colour of the walls as every inch of it was covered with photographs and drawings, and every photograph and drawing was of Minerva McGonagall. He could tell most of the pictures had been sneakily taken while she was asleep or when she wasn't looking. There was quite a few of her in shower… she had a amazing body Albus found himself thinking as became lost in his own haze of thoughts. Quickly shaking his head and looking away he noticed that the desk held a rack of test tubes. Each test tube was filled with long black human hair that he instantly recognised as Minerva's. This man was totally and utterly obsessed.

Before he could even comprehend what he was doing he found himself backing out of the room and almost running straight back to the kitchen. He knew Gary was strange but this? This was just weird!

"I wondered how long it would take you to finish!" Agatha, Gary's mother muttered softly.

"You're not Vincent are you? You're the man Gary's been talking about; you're the wizard his fiancé slept with?" Albus just stared at her, he could think of nothing else to say.

"You've come here to try and sort him out haven't you? I knew the minute you went to go to his room, Gary's partners never go into his room." She stared fixedly at Albus but he saw no hate or fear in those eyes.

"He loves her you know… he's totally obsessed, so obsessed he can't stand the thought of her being with someone else. He stops her from having friends and uses blackmail just to keep her with him. But she doesn't love him does she, she loves you… and you love her." She walked over to Albus and took his hand in hers.

"Gary is a muggle-born but I have some powers… I'm what you call a seer I guess. I've seen the way he treats Minerva, I've seen the love she holds for you. If you leave her with Gary he will twist and turn her until she is so unsure of whom she is, she will kill herself and him. You should take her and leave this place!" Agatha whispered as she traced the lines of his palm with her index finger.

"I can't… I can't risk Gary finding us!" Albus whispered he didn't really understand everything she said but he had the feeling that in the long run it would help.

"Do you intend on killing him?" Agatha asked lifting his palm higher for a closer inspection.

"NO! I just… he should be locked away, he needs help!" Albus muttered he was so confused.

"There is such a short way left my dear… Minerva is losing faith in herself as we speak. Go to her tell her how you feel then go the ministry and tell a friend the story have him arrested for the charges of abuse, harassment and blackmail." She whispered dropping his hand and walking away from him.

"That is what will be best for my son… go now before he returns!" Albus couldn't believe he was following orders from a complete stranger yet he did what she asked. Turning to the door the last thing he heard from her was 'Come back and tell me won't you?' to which he nodded his head and quickly left.