Cold Case Set On Fire

"Showoff," Brian teased, picking up his wand. "Are we doing just normal sparring or are you going to show off some more?"

"You're just jealous," Robert teased him right back. "You know you're going to lose--again."

"Pfft," Brian rolled his eyes. He looked at Anabelle. "He gets like this if he doesn't get to play every so often. And he can get worse."

"Only at you," Robert returned. "Wands at the ready! Let's quit talking about it."

"Stupify!" Brian fired right at Robert. Robert took a slashing motion just as Brian cast his spell, casting a nonverbal expelliarmus. Brian's wand went flying a second time. "Accio!" Brian called to retrieve his wand.

"Your turn," Robert told Arabella. "Let's see what he's made of, shall we?"

It had been a while since she had been able to participate in a duel where she didn't have to worry about her life being in danger. Sure, right now she could get hurt but it wouldn't be anything serious since it was only a sparring match. She was glad it wasn't with other students this time too, because she knew some of them couldn't control how much power they put into a spell.

She sometimes couldn't, so she knew how it felt.

The Gryffindor watched the two men bait and tease each other with a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. This was something important, but they made it seem so casual that any nervousness she might have still had from before seemed to melt away. Her body became more relaxed(though she hadn't noticed she was even tensed) and she blinked at Robert when he cast a spell without speaking.

Nonverbal magic.. she told herself in awe. That was a skill she didn't have yet but would definitely learn about this year, and one that she definitely wanted to have.

Brian'/s wand was back in his hand after being blasted away a second time and Hit nodded at Robert. "Right." She placed herself in the stance she'd just been shown, raising her wand to shoulder level, and she looked down her arm and wand toward Brian. "Expelliarmus!" She fired at the man opposite her, finally getting a feel for the stance she was in.

Robert watched her cast the spell and watched Brian's wand snap out of his hand again. Brian laughed, pleased. Her aim had been solid.

"Oh, well done, my dear," Robert said. "Now, cast your shield. He'll return fire. Once your shield is in place, you can cast a spell or two without having to re-cast it, but, don't let it go too long without re-casting in a real duel because someone can always outmatch you and blast through it before you even realize they're through. Watch. I'll lower my shield."

"Avis!" Brian fired a spell at Robert, and a flock of paper birds filled the air diving at Robert.

"Oh, now, that's just annoying," Robert frowned.

"Don't set the whole place on fire, you twit," Brian scowled. "Aquamenti!" He fired water towards the burning paper birds.

"You didn't think I wouldn't put a ward in place to keep the building from catching fire, did you?" Robert laughed. "You worry too much."

"You ready?" Brian asked Anabelle. "Expelliarmus!" He fired at her, hoping she had her shield in place.

She wanted to laugh at the scene before her, but she didn't think it would be too appropriate to do so. It was entertaining, though, to see the burning paper birds flying around and Brian frantically trying to put them out. Their words to each other made it all the more entertaining, and they'd actually managed to get a chuckle out of the sixteen year old.

She had been about to cast her shield when the two men started going back and forth but she'd ended up getting distracted by the two of them. That was something she would have to work on as it would be dangerous if she were to get distracted for whatever reason during a real duel.

Luckily, at least Brian had called out to her shortly before casting his spell and it had given her enough time to get back into the motion of things. "Protego!" she said quickly, her shield being put up just in time. She let out a soft sigh, knowing she had just barely been able to get her shield up to block the spell. I need to stay focused.

But maybe she was being too serious about the entire thing. She knew it was possible to have during a duel, especially one like this one since they were only sparring. Maybe, right now, she was just being too serious and if she were to be a little more loose about it, she wouldn't get caught up in things she shouldn't.

"Excellent," Robert smiled. "Well done. Let's try something new. Don't forget that everything around you is potentially a weapon. You can use it to defend yourself or to go on the offensive and wage an attack. For example..." He pointed his wand at the floor and blew out the section of floor that Brian was standing on. Brian fell through to the other shoulder with a crash.

"Probably shouldn't do that to someone you love," Robert said. "And he actually does fall into that category for me. He is one of my family that I truly do love." He walked over to the hole in the floor to see Brian lying unmoving on the floor in the office below. "Come with me. Let's make sure he's alright." He reached for her hand to apparate to the floor below.

When he reached the lower level, he went to Brian and knelt beside him. He laid his hand on Brian's forehead, checking for injury. It took him a long moment to make a thorough check.

"He's alright," Robert said. "He hit his head, but it doesn't look like a concussion. It just knocked him out, I think." He laid his hand back on Brian's forehead and said quietly, "Rennervate."
It brought Brian back to consciousness. "You okay, Mate?"

"Yeah," Brian said groggily. He sat up, laying his hand on the back of his head. It felt wet. He brought his hand forward and saw it was covered in blood. "Oh lovely. And I liked this jacket too."

"Hold on," Robert said.

"You wanna see how he heals? Go watch, if the sight of blood doesn't gross you out," Brian told Anabelle. Robert went behind Brian and looked through his sandy blond hair. "Well, you never do anything less than 100%, do you?" He sighed. "Be glad you're not a muggle. You'd need at least ten stitches back there." He laid his hand over the spot and left it there for a long moment, causing the blood to disappear and the wound to close and heal, and he reduced the swelling. He cast a pain relief spell.

"I am what's referred to as an energy worker," Robert said to Anabelle. "So is Brian and so is my daughter. We heal by touch. It works well--except that we can never heal ourselves. Energy work doesn't work like that, but it can be taught and its a useful skill. You might consider seeing whether you can learn a few rudimentary healing spells just in case you ever need them." He looked back at Brian. "You feel alright to stand?"

"Yeah," Brian said. He started to his feet and Robert got up and helped him up.

"Nothing spinning?" Robert asked.

"No, just overall aching," Brian replied.

"Brian, why don't you consider taking Anabelle to the estate and introducing her to Angus and Belby? It might do well for you to rest a bit this afternoon, and they're top notch fighters as well."

"That's a good thought," Brian said. "Edward's arriving for a few days too." He looked at Anabelle. "We might find Edward to be a good resource. He's most famous for his work to bring out of control, rogue werewolves under control. His book on werewolves was a textbook we read in Defense Against the Dark Arts when I was a seventh year. If you want to learn about werewolves, there are few who know rogue werewolves better than Edward. You up to a trip to my house?"

"There's a huge autumn storm coming. If it gets too severe, Anabelle, Apparating or porting will be dangerous. If that happens, we'll send word to your headmaster and notify him that you're safer with us til morning. In the past, Hogwarts was good with this. I don't know how your new headmaster would react, but I trust I can work it out with him if it becomes necessary. Do you know how to use a portkey, Anabelle?"

Blood had never really been something that scared or grossed Hit out, for more reasons than one.

She sure had been taken by surprise by Brian's fall, though. A surprised gasp had escaped her lips when he disappeared through the floor and she had rushed over to the hole with Robert. She looked through it at Brian down below and cringed when she noticed that he wasn't moving.

Brian was indeed alright. She watched Robert, somewhat worried but was quickly relieved when he said that Brian was alright, that he'd just been knocked out by the fall. She sighed softly and when Brian came to and followed Robert to watch how he healed the injury on Brian's head.

"Energy.. worker..?" she echoed softly, not having heard the term before. "It seems like a hard thing to learn to do." she said softly, blinking as she looked between the two men. "Seems like it'd be fun to learn." she said, thinking what she said probably sounded odd but it was the only way she could find to describe it. "I'd like to learn to be one." she laughed softly.

"Wait, t-taking me where?" she asked, the surprise completely evident in her expression. Going to their home was the last thing she would have ever expected to happen. She thought her day at the Ministry would just end sooner with Brian getting hurt which made her just a bit upset but having it continue at his home was just.. well, she didn't really know what to say about it.

"Um, okay then.. I guess." she answered, unsure of how she felt about possibly staying there for the night because of the storm headed their way. She looked up and nodded, "Yes, I actually do." she told him.

"Consider it a different type of training," he said to her. "I'll loan you a portkey to Brian's estate. Just leave it with Brian or Marcus or Angus. Any of them. Brian--have Marcus brief her on what he knows of Fenrir's lair. She needs to know what he knows if she's considering going along."

"Agreed," Brian said. Robert rooted in his pocket and pulled out a tattered looking shoelace. "Put your arms around each other's waists and then each grab hold. It'll get you home."

"A shoelace. And a natty looking one at that."

"It's stronger than it looks," Robert assured them. "I'll see you both there later. You both have work to do, and so do I. And a little ice on the back of your head, Brian, will take some of the ache away."

"I'm fine," Brian said. "Ready?" he asked Anabelle, reaching out to grab the shoelace.

She knew that portkeys could really be anything one wanted them to be, but some things were just.. odd to use. Like the shoelace Robert showed them. "Hey, if it works, it works." she shrugged as she spoke softly.

She was skeptical about it herself, but she knew that there was anyone she should trust about these things it would probably have to be the Minister of Magic. Not only because he was the Minister, though, but because he was older and more experienced, which meant that he was less likely to make a mistake about those things than a student probably would be..

She had used portkeys a few times before though never alone, not that she was doing it this time. Hit nodded at Brian, she seemed to be doing a lot of that, rather than actually speaking, though it wasn't much different from what she normally did as she wasn't much of a fan of it. That's what happens when someone's shy, she supposed.

"I'm ready." she said softly, taking one end of the shoelace in her hand.

The portkey whisked them to the living room in the enormous Lupin log mansion, all done in its American southwest decor. "I'll put that weird portkey on the mantel. At least its high enough the kids can't get it there," he said. "Make yourself at home. "Um...we're facing the backyard and the grounds--that way," he pointed at the large glass windows and the glass door overlooking the enormous estate. "This place is unplottable, so we're relatively safe here. That doesn't mean James hasn't been here before--but always outside. He's never been in the house.  The kitchen and the dining room are behind you and off to your left a little." He turned around to point her towards the kitchen and the dining room. "Angus is an ex-auror and the head of the estate here, and he's also the chef for our crew. It's a very large household. It's also where our four house elves tend to hang out."  

"Um--off to the right is my office, down the hall, the first room to your left. The kids' playrooms are the first and second door on the right. The third door on the right is a small potions lab that Robert uses when he stays here. And at the end of the hall is a meditation/yoga room for people that like quieter forms of relaxation.

"Upstairs are bedrooms, nurseries for the kids, storage rooms, and my wife's seer's room. Well, actually, she's more of a medium and an energy worker and clairvoyant, all those things. When her mother stays here, they both use it. It's a very quiet, peaceful place. There are some locked doors in the house, but that's more to keep the kids out of potions, weapons, and all sorts of other things we don't want toddlers into, but you're free to go where you like.

"The basement has a training room, a family rec room, a wine cellar and an indoor pool. The outdoor pool is too cold to use this time of year. When Angus gets a chance, I'll have him show you the grounds. There's a barn, a riding stable, a number of storage buildings, barracks for the outdoor security team, and a number of guest cabins. Just don't go too far outside by yourself. The woods can get dangerous, especially after dark, and there are a lot of rocky places that just sort of drop off. However, there are always, always security people on duty here, inside and out, so its one of the safer places to be."  He smelled fresh cookies.

"Angus is baking, I see. Probably sugar cookies. That's the kid's favorite. And there's always tea and coffee on in the kitchen. Feel free to go help yourself whenever you like. I'll go see if I can't find Marcus. If there's anyone who knows how to get to the werewolf lair, it'll be him. Give me a few minutes and I'll be right back."

If her head could spin, it probably would be.

It had nothing to do with the portkey, nor was it aftermath from apparating(she didn't think), but from everything she was being told. By looking at Brian, she had expected his home to be nice that was for sure. But what she saw, well, it was more than she imagined. Definitely more.

It had taken her by surprise, of course. But when she thought about it, with his job and being the Minister's son-in-law, no she hadn't missed that, it didn't really surprise her that he lived in a place like the one they were now in. As he spoke, Hit would point to whatever he had pointed at afterwards to mark where things were in her mind. The last thing she wanted to do was get lost.

And stumble into something she wasn't supposed to.

As she looked around though, she thought it would be hard to not get lost in a place as massive as this, so she was glad when Brian said there were always people on the look out there. What she didn't feel comfortable about, though, was the idea that James Blood could show up. Just because he'd never been inside, didn't mean he couldn't eventually find a way, and it didn't mean that one of them might not be outside if he appeared.

She remembered his obsession with certain women, she didn't think she really knew what exactly his victims looked like, what caused him to attack them. She wondered what he searched for. Maybe it had been mentioned and she just missed it.

Looking at Brian, she nodded once again. "Okay." She told him. "Um, I guess I'll try not to get lost in the meantime."