Somebody YAY FOR THE BRILLIANT GUESSER!

Anyway…is it true that a writer can no longer respond to reviewers in stories…?

That's an odd decision on FFN's part. That's all I'm saying.

Chapter 2

The first thing Arthur noticed about the house, or, more specifically, the property was how very…colorful it was. The flower gardens that flanked the front steps were literally overflowing with growth. Flowers of all colors and all sizes poured onto the nicely paved walkway, bombarding his nose with a very interesting variety of scents. He regarded the plants briefly as he passed.

Reminds me of the Hogwarts Greenhouses…

But, of course, he was not here to admire his late brother's wife exceptionally green thumb.

It was her son that concerned him.

He recalled vividly those inhuman green eyes that had stared up at him with remarkable intensity merely ten minutes after child birth. Those eyes had been what had scared him the most, what had made him voice to his brother the feeling he got from this very small, yet very powerful baby.

He just knew that child was evil.

But, as his brother suffered from what he called 'blind-kindness', Arnie had over looked his son's…abnormality and looked straight ahead to the future. A future with a brilliant, smart, and most importantly good son. But Arthur refused to stand behind his brother. Not with that thing he called his son, oh no. He was blind. Arnie, one of the best Aurors the wizarding world had ever seen, refused to see the truth. He had overlooked the evil that was right in front of him.

And Arthur could not stand it.

And now, as he stood in front of that demonic child's house, he felt all the anger he harbored for the boy rising in his chest.

It was all his fault…

His fist pounded on the door before he even realized what he was doing. He jumped at his own violence and nearly panicked when the footsteps on the other side of the thick wood began to grow louder.

The door opened and Arthur found himself staring down a middle aged man with the darkest brown hair he had ever seen. He raised an eyebrow.

Definitely not him…

His disappointment must have shown on his face because the man's own eyebrow lifted and he spoke in a questioning tone.

"Can I help you, sir?"

He could feel his forehead begin to sweat. Trying to hide his worry, Arthur managed to find his voice.

"Ah…yes. Does a…" he had to grope through out his memory to find his sister-in-law's name, "Shiori Minamino live here?"

The man's eyebrow rose even more as he responded.

"It's Shiori Hatakana now, sir; may I ask who you are?"

Arthur couldn't hide a flinch, "I'm her late husband's brother, sir. You must be Mr. Hatakana." He unconsciously fiddled with his pocketed wand. That last sentence had been strained. The translation spell was wearing off. He managed to turn the wand towards his leg and muttered the spell for the second time that day, feeling slightly relieved he hadn't been exposed by the short term affect. He flashed the man a nervous smile.

To his relief, the man smiled back, "Yes, I am. Let me go get her."

He turned into the house and called his wife's name. He heard her familiar voice respond and couldn't help but smile.

Such a sweet woman…

"Arthur!" The woman looked shocked when she saw her visitor. She pushed passed her husband and stepped out onto the front walk, surprisingly happy, "It's been such a long time, how are you?"

Arthur found himself smiling down at her, remembering how happy she made his only brother, "I'm as well as can be expected. I'm sorry, Shiori, but I'm afraid this isn't a social visit. May I speak to your son?"

A look of worry crossed her face. She turned to look at her peeved husband, who obviously did not approve of being ignored in favor of his wife's old brother-in-law.

"Can you find-…" she cut herself off, looking over Hatakana's shoulder. A mass of red pushed passed the man blocking the doorway and into the sunlight.

"I'm here, Mother," the teen stepped out onto the steps, making Arthur's mouth drop open and hit the pavement beneath his feet.

This boy looked exactly like his father.

The thick red hair, though Arnie's hadn't been quite as long, was the first thing he noticed. That, coupled with the slightly feminine face made Arthur feel like he was looking at his brother's ghost. The slight smile that appeared on the teen's face, however, dragged Arthur out of his shock. Of course he looked like Arnie; he had seen that the moment the child was born. Why he hadn't prepared himself for something like this was beyond him.

"Can I help you?"

Arthur twitched. How could a kid with energy as dark…as evil as what was coming off of his nephew be so…

Innocent?

"Ah…yes. Yes. I'm Arthur Weasly. Your father was my brother."

The kid gave a slight nod, regarding him with only mild interest. Suddenly feeling insulted, Arthur stood up straighter, not about to be out done by a teenage boy.

"I need to speak with you about your father…" Arthur shot a quick look at Shiori, "Alone."

Those unnerving green eyes hardened suddenly. Arthur almost felt triumphant. True evil cannot hide its true nature.

"Mother," the boy turned his head slightly in her direction, "Can you excuse us for a moment, please?"

Shiori gazed uncertainly at the back of her son's head, "Yes, Shuuichi, but…?"

"It's alright," Shuuichi's eyes burned into Arthur's, "We'll be done in a moment."

Shiori gave in surprisingly quickly. Taking her husband's arm, she tugged him gently into the house, shutting the door behind her. After waiting a couple seconds as the footsteps inside retreated, Shuuichi spoke in a low tone, "So, Mr. Weasly, come to admit what I already know?"

Arthur was caught off guard by this. He sputtered at the teen, receiving a raised eyebrow in return.

"Am I wrong?"

Again Arthur had no response for that. How much did this kid know about him…his family! He could be in league with Voldemort, for Merlin's sake!

Anger began to rise with in him once again.

"How much," he demanded of the boy, "do you know?"

The redhead shrugged, "Enough to know you lied to my mother, that's all. He didn't die of a heart attack, I'll say that much."

Arthur's hand twitched to his pocket. He watched as the green eyes lowered themselves to his pants, eyeing the pocket with disdain.

"Is that really necessary?"

Again, Arthur had no response for the boy's unnatural knowledge. He gazed at Shuuichi, still indecisive. Part of him wanted to believe he was evil, part of him wanted to turn his wand on his nephew and be done with it. But something was nagging at him…

Something was telling him it was wrong.

Arthur took his hand away from his pocket and lifted his hands as if to say 'truce'. Shuuichi nodded, almost in thanks.

"Now, Arthur, why don't you tell me what the point of this visit is."

The boy's voice sounded almost …comforting. It was almost like he already knew every word of the planned and rehearsed conversation that Arthur had planned and felt bad about it. Arthur glared at the boy. If there was one thing he hated, it was being treated like he was lower than everyone else. He got enough of that at work and before that at school. He didn't need it from an evil little boy who had no idea what life was like for him. Something inside Arthur snapped, and that something had been holding back every word he had wanted to say to his nephew since his brother had died. The dam was broken. Nothing could stop him now.

"You're a demon."

The first sentence was a simple statement of fact. Shuuichi didn't look surprised that he knew, so Arthur continued, unwilling to lose his nerve before he could say everything on his mind.

"You're a dangerous, evil demon with a human body. I don't understand how something that unnatural can occur, but I don't care. All I know is that, despite your abnormalities, you are my brother's only child and he asked me to do this. All I can do is respect his wishes. But I'm warning you right now, do anything to convince me that what my brother said was false judgment, I will kill you."

His chest was heaving at the end of it. He glared up at the boy, daring him to continue feeling sorry for him. He was not lower than everybody else. Finally he felt he had shown that to someone.

Shuuichi stared at him for a long thirty seconds after he was finished, making Arthur believe that he was dumbfounded by his rant. Unfortunately for his ego, he was mistaken. Shuuichi spoke in a surprisingly civil tone.

"I'm not sure, Arthur, but I'm thinking that was a plea for help."

Arthur's eyebrow twitched.

"It wasn't a plea."

The corners of Shuuichi's mouth turned up.

"But it was a request for help."

For some reason Arthur just could not bring himself to hate this boy.

"Yes."

…Not my best work, I'll say that right now. In fact, it was pretty crappy. Of course everything I do is crappy, but this was extra crappy. Please don't be too mean. For some reason the words for this chapter just didn't come easy.

I have several things to discuss about this chapter.

-In this story, Arnie had created a Japanese alias with the surname Minamino. That is why Arthur referred to Shiori with that name. The reason for this will be revealed later on.

-I have decided to explore Arthur Weasely's personality more, given his role in the story. I've always seen him as insecure and slightly unsure of himself, given his situation in the books and especially in this particular fan fiction. If you have a different opinion on this, feel free to comment.