As the Wizengamot broke up, Staros made his way quickly over to Dumbledore so as not to be involved in anyone trying to 'persuade' him one way or another. That, and Dumbledore was Staros' ride back to the school.
As he reached Dumbledore, Staros saw Mr. Patil standing with him.
"I wanted to thank you, young man, for sponsoring my family. If there is anything I can do to replay you, please do not hesitate to ask," said Mr. Patil.
Staros smiled slightly.
"Sir, while I am only eleven, even I know how far that statement could be taken. I am in school with your daughters after all."
Mr. Patil paled slightly as several meanings to his own words came to mind. Seeing him starting to panic, Staros laughed lightly.
"Don't worry about it, sir. I'm only eleven and have no designs on your girls. It'll be a while before I have any interest in those matters. Anyway, I only gave you the opening. No risk on my part really. Now you have to convince a bunch of the others to vote for you."
Mr. Patil saw he was being joked with, maybe, and calmed down. He looked down at this boy who had just managed to scare a fully grown man with perfect timing and realized that those eyes were far older than the body they were in. He had seen this before, in some of the children in India who could remember their past lives. It often faded as their memories became clouded by their current lives. Thanking the boy again, he left the two to try and bolster some support for his case before the next meeting.
"Are you finished frightening us old men, young Staros?" asked Dumbledore, peering over his glasses. "Or do you have anyone else you'd like to give a minor heart attack to?"
"Actually, professor, I do have a couple more stops to make before we leave. Do you see Lucius Malfoy or Nathaniel Greengrass around? I can't see so well with all you tall people."
Chuckling outwardly, Dumbledore had a spike of fear shoot through him that the boy wanted to speak with Malfoy. Looking around, he saw Lucius standing near the Minister, as always, and pointed to him before leading his young charge through the crowd.
Staros followed along-side Dumbledore and tried to listen to everything around him. Disappointingly, very little was being said about the proposals made today and more was gossip about what others were wearing, who was rising or falling in status, and juicier tidbits that would have made him blush to overhear were it not for his being 'vaccinated' by his two older brothers.
As they neared the Minister and Lucius, Staros squared himself as he caught sight of the, oh, so friendly, Ms. Umbridge. Walking a little faster, he changed his following to a stride that was almost more like he led Dumbledore instead of the other way around. Setting himself for what promised to be a rather lukewarm greeting, he walked right up to Lucius Malfoy.
"Good day, Mr. Malfoy. Splendid meeting today, wouldn't you say? And Minister Fudge, how nice to meet you. The Prime Minister had several nice things to say about you when I spoke with him this last summer."
"Ah, yes, um, Lord Marcus. Yes, nice to meet you as well, my boy," stammered Fudge.
It looked like Ms. Umbridge was going to say something, but the icy look Staros directed towards her caused her to remain silent for now.
"What can we do for you, Mr. Marcus," asked Lucius in his silky smooth voice.
'Oh, this guy is good,' thought Staros.
"Oh? Do for me, Lucius? I can call you Lucius, right? Since you're being so familiar with me and all. But no, I don't need anything from you, I'm just passing on a message as a favor to a classmate. Your son, Draco, said he'd explain things come Christmas break. Said you'd know what he meant. All very cloak and dagger if you ask me, but Draco's not the sharpest tack in the desk. Sad really. Anyway, I was just doing a small favor, nice to see you both, ta-ta for now!" Staros rattled off, leaving both men staring into space as he walked away with Dumbledore trying to look like he wasn't running to catch up, having also been caught unawares by Staros' little act.
Dumbledore was quickly running things through his head. This young boy had just managed to insult both the Minister of Magic and Lucius Malfoy in what was nearly a single run-on sentence and leave them speechless with the speed of it and walk away unscathed. A large part of Dumbledore was trying very hard not to laugh at his less than desirable colleagues, while another part was trying to figure out what this boy's agenda could be. So far, his biggest clue was the Queen.
As they made their way towards the floos, Dumbledore saw Lord Greengrass off to one side and pointed him out to Staros. Changing directions, the two walked up to Lord Greengrass talking with a couple of other men, and not enjoying the matter from the looks of things.
"…Look Nott, I don't care what the outcome of your…" Lord Greengrass was saying as they walked up.
"Excuse me, sirs," interrupted Staros, "You would be Lord Nathaniel Greengrass, correct?"
The man addressed as Nott and his companion looked very unhappy to have this conversation interrupted, by a boy and Dumbledore no less, but said nothing about it.
"Yes, I am. Ah, you are our newest member, Lord Marcus, wasn't it?" Greengrass looked like a man in the sea grabbing at anything to stay afloat.
"Quite right, sir," said Staros. "Please gentlemen, I need to borrow Lord Greengrass for a moment. Family business and whatnot. I'm sure you understand."
Staros, for all of being eleven in a room of adults, gestured Lord Greengrass to a private corner away from Nott and company as if he belonged there more than they did. Greengrass, without really trying to hide it, latched onto the excuse to leave his conversation with Nott far behind as he walked away with Staros and Dumbledore.
Reaching a small alcove, Greengrass turned to Staros and said, "My boy, while I appreciate you saving me from what was turning into a nasty argument, you'd better have a damned good reason for accosting me like that."
Dumbledore stood off to one side, both appearing to give the two their privacy while obviously still keeping an ear in on them. Staros appreciated the gesture, but also wished he had more time with Lord Greengrass.
"Nothing much, sir. Just a letter from your daughter," Staros said, pulling the scroll he'd been given from a pocket. "She threatened me with bodily harm if I did not deliver it safely into your hands alone."
Greengrass, knowing too well his daughter's cold temper, believed the young boy before him about her threats, but still looked at the seal for any signs of tampering and assuring himself that it was indeed from Daphne. Seeing the coded marks on the seal and that it was intact, he nodded and put it into an inner pocket of his own robes.
"Thank you. I shall read it at home and owl her a reply."
"My duty is complete then, sir," Staros said rather dramatically, bowing to Greengrass. "I look forward to another chat sometime, miLord, but for now, I really should be going. I'll inform Daphne about your response."
Lord Greengrass chuckled at the boy's antics, resolving to learn a bit more about the lad in the future before walking off to a floo point to leave before Nott found him again.
Dumbledore and Staros floo'd back to Hogwarts without any further incident, said their goodnights, and Staros left for the Slytherin common room, after asking if an elf could bring him a light supper to eat in the common room as he had missed the normal feast in the Great hall. As soon as he walked through the archway, Draco was 'right there.'
"Well?" asked the less than patient boy.
"Yes, yes, I passed your little message on to your father, right after the Wizengamot meeting was over. Now can I eat my dinner in peace?" said Staros rather abruptly. He nudged past Draco and stalked over to a desk to plop down. An elf appeared a few moments later with a plate of grilled fish, a small salad, and a bottle of grape juice, one of Staros' favorite drinks. Settling himself down while Draco walked away, Staros noticed Daphne with Tracey stalking towards him. Sighing, he realized his dinner was likely to be anything but peaceful.
"Before you start grilling me, ladies, could we wait for Blaise? Then I only have to go over it once. Oh, and your father said he'd owl you, by the way."
Daphne stopped short, and then nodded once before sitting down in a chair she pulled over towards Staros' desk. Tracey instead walked over to the boy's dorm hallway and shouted for Blaise in a very, very loud and non-Slytherin manner, causing many people to jump in fright. Smirking, she turned around and walked back to the others, pulled over another chair, and sat across it, legs dangling over one arm. Blaise came nearly running out of the hall a moment later, saw them, and pulled his own chair over and sat down, wondering what all the fuss was about.
Staros deliberately ignored them all while he tried, only somewhat successfully, to enjoy his meal. When Daphne's usually calm and composed face started to develop a slight twitch, he decided that pushing her too much further may risk life, limb, and certainly fatherhood if he kept it up.
"Have any of you watched grass grow? I don't mean magically, but normally?" asked Staros. Seeing the look of confusion on their faces, he continued. "That's pretty much what a Wizengamot meeting is like. Insanely boring and making you wonder why you haven't killed anyone, including yourself, just to relive the monotony."
With that opening, Staros briefly described both meetings with Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore. He then proceeded to detail the long, dull session of the Wizengamot and his choice to sponsor Patil. Several times he had to stop and go back over some of the werewolf issues, and the others were not convinced about his concerns over the stalls. Tracey seemed more concerned with the tariffs, which in turn led her to tell the others about her family's business in ingredients imports. Blaise mentioned that nobody ever thought much about the cost of owl post, but that the insignificant raise would net millions for the Ministry during the course of the year, surprising the others with some quick math and showing how much a couple of knuts per person, per day, week, or month for EACH letter sent would add up. They all wondered where that money would go.
"Why did you support Patil?" Daphne asked.
"Hmm? Oh, well, it's simple really. For virtually no risk to myself, I gain a possible solid ally in the future. If his seat is voted favorably, he owes me. If he is turned down, he still owes me for the attempt. If he gets in, his business prospects go up drastically and I stand to make some money. If he doesn't get in, I can still make money, just not as much."
"So, it's about money and has nothing to do with the twins?"
Casting Daphne a sly smirk that the other two didn't catch, Staros said, "No, like I told him, I'm only eleven. Not really thinking like that yet. Besides, how could I want the twins when I have a lovely beauty like you at my side?"
"What? You! I mean!" spluttered Daphne, her cold façade shattered for the moment. A few seconds of this and then she regained control. Giving the laughing Tracey a look of death, she stood up and walked away and towards the girls' dorms.
"Got her good that time, mate," said Blaise, slightly in awe, "but you know she's going to make you regret it."
Tracey shook her head, got up and followed Daphne's exit, casting back over her shoulder, "I think he's looking forward to it."
Finishing his dinner and chatting some more with Blaise, Staros then decided that his weekend homework could wait until tomorrow and bid Blaise goodnight before leaving for bed.