Butters told me to meet him at his place at three. We arrived around three thirty, but I hoped he was patient. Murph stopped in a park and decided that that's where I was telling her everything, and… you know. I didn't argue. The plus is, I won't have to do it later.

I ringed while Murphy parked the Harley, and Butters' voice answered.

"Is that you, Harry?"

He only sounded a bit annoyed. That's a good thing.

"Yeah, it's me" I said. "Hey, sorry we're late, Murphy decided to tag along and we had to do something."

"Something, eh?" he said. "Come on in, I have to leave in half an hour."

I opened the door to let Murphy in, who in turn glared at me. I would have played our game but Butters said he was on limited time, so I gave up first and went in. And maybe I could play it in Murph's way for a bit.

The thing about Butters is, he' hurt more since he became a Knight if we (I) shut him out. I'd have to play this conversation carefully, because I didn't want to offend him, but on the other hand, what I told Murph about playing it close to my chest was true. So I'd be treading a rather fine line, but there was no other choice.

Butters waited for us at his door and let us in, then led us to the dining table where two cups of (now cold) tea sat waiting.

"Sit down" he gestured. "I'll bring another cup."

We did as we were told, and I looked around, noticing that to Murph, the place was familiar. I've only been here once and even then I was breaking in, so I didn't pay that much attention to the décor. I guess Murph's been here a lot when I was "dead". Anyways, the place was nice and clean, if not huge. There were a few pictures on the walls but mostly it was kept solid. I smiled a little when I saw the polka set in a corner. It's been a while since I last saw Butters practice on it; I hoped he hadn't forgotten it even if he now had other obligations.

Butters returned with a cup and a steaming pot of tea.

"You should empty those" he said, pointing to the cups of cold tea, while he poured some into the empty cup. I nodded and took the cups into the kitchen and got rid of the tea. The kitchen was tidy too. Probably comes with job. You wouldn't want to lose an arm or a head. It would make autopsy awkward.

I returned to the dining room to find Murphy and Butters talking, but they stopped as soon as I came in. I set the cups down as Butters asked, "So what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"I wanted to tell you beforehand" I said as I sat down. "It's a kinda new concept for me, but I decided not to just disappear. I got a job which I can't refuse, Ebenezar asked me…"

"Who?" Butters cut in.

"Oh" I stopped my rambling. "My old mentor. He asked it as a favor and I can't really say no."

"So where's this job? I take it it's not close?" he asked while he gave me a steaming cup of tea.

"Yeah" I nodded, taking a sip. "It's over in Scotland, in a school. I'm going as a teacher, it's for a year."

To give the guy some credit, Butters didn't even blink.

"All right" he nodded. "What can you tell me?"

"Not much more" I grimaced. "I'll be gone for the school year, but I'll at least visit in the breaks. Other than that, I don't even know much more."

Butters raised a brow.

"So there's more to it?" It must have shown on my face that I hadn't planned on telling him that because he quickly added, "I don't want to intrude into business that's not mine, Harry. You don't have to tell me anything."

I closed my eyes for a moment and thought. How much does it hurt Butters if I shut him out? It's true he probably won't be involved in this, at least I don't want him to, but if I have to call in the heavy artillery, he's a part of it. And in that case, he definitely would be cross that I hadn't told him. On the other hand, there was a fair chance that I wouldn't need that much help, and the less people know about it, the better. According to Ebenezar, the Council wouldn't be that happy to hear about this business, and I don't want to announce my true mission to the warlock either. And truth be told, as much as I like and trust Butters, sometimes he has a hard time keeping a secret. Not because he doesn't want to, it's just that if a friend asks him, he'll answer. And you can see where this could lead. Eh.

"I'm sorry" I twisted my mouth. "Don't take it personally. Yeah, it's something more, but I don't wanna announce it, so I'm not talking about it. Fewer people know, the better."

"I understand" he nodded. Was it my imagination or did he look a bit relieved? "Do you want me to pass around the news?"

"Yeah, thanks" I nodded. "I was planning to ask you just that."

He smiled and then said, "All right, then. Why don't you tell us about the school, then?"

"Actually, that's the other thing..."

So... my hand is only getting worse and I'm actually trying to let it rest. I originally planned this chapter to include more but I still can't (shouldn't) write and I didn't want to leave you hanging. So here's this super-short chapter and I've no idea when will more come. The only thing I can promise is that I'm trying :(