Confessions

"Minister for Magic's Office", Thaor said as he stepped into his fireplace, throwing down a handfull of floo powder. After a bright flash, Thaor was stepping out of the fireplace in Robert's office, and let out a sigh of relief. He hasn't taken away my access, at least not through the floo network. Thaor thought to himself.

He slowly walked across the room and took a seat in one of the arm chairs opposite Robert's. Expecto Patronum Thaor said, holding his wand in his left hand. He sent his patronus to find Robert and deliver a message "Rule 45".

Thaor sat back, and waited for Robert.

Robert had stepped out that morning to get a bit of fresh air, making an excuse to Millie that he wanted a decent cup. He had gone down the block to a muggle tea shop, bought what turned out to be deplorable tea by any decent Englishman's standards, bought a London Times along with a Daily Prophet, and decided he needed to get back to work.

He had glanced up at the beautiful summer sky and then saw the patronus. There was no other--not like that. Thaor. And it was coming from the ministry--from his own office. Then came the message. "Rule 45." Clean up his mess? Well, that was about bloody time, wasn't it?

Robert wasn't sure how Thaor was going to do that, though. Thaor had killed more people in Diagon Alley for no damned good reason than Robert could simply overlook. Not to mention attempting to kill Khaat, successfully kidnapping her, destroying Sparks,...and that was even if he excused Thaor for attempting to kill him too. Robert wasn't sure how much more mercy he had left to give.

He made his way back to the ministry, calmly, confidently, and went upstairs. He went to Millie's desk and looked at her and passed her a small note.

"Go to the aurors and wait with them until I come for you." Then he went silently and unannounced into Eli's office where Eli was...well,..being Eli. He ignored Elis' vices largely, no matter how difficult sometimes that was.

"Get your wits about you, Lad," Robert said quietly and calmly. "Stay alert. I am about to go meet with a dead man in my office. And its very likely he is a mass murderer. Do try to not let him run loose in the building if he gets past me, would you? I don't know how ill he is or isn't."

He left Eli's office and closed the door. He paused a moment in the outer office to give Millie time to leave and to give Eli a chance to compose himself. He made no effort to draw his wand and left the newspapers on Millie's desk, taking only the crappy tea with him.

He went into the office and closed the door behind him.

"You may have a long way to go this time, Thaor, if you intend to clean up your mess," Robert said, crossing the room and putting the tea on the desk before he sat down. "So, where shall this meeting begin? With your plan? Or with some sort of explanation?"

The Dolohov girl was back. If Elijah Krum was to be honest, he certainly preferred her naked and silent than he did dressed and badgering. Yet he humoured her, content to listen to her gripes and testy complaints over a few fingers of Firewhisky and a few pastries that he’d had Millie order from a renowned baker’s somewhere in London though he didn’t recall the name. The sweets were pleasant enough and so too was the company if he fixed his eyes on her breasts and not her face and her ugly mouth spewing all its vitriol. If he’d cared to, he would’ve painted her. It was a pity, then, that he didn’t.

The Krum man’s saviour from the dry, bore of a woman came in the form of the Minister who cocked his head around the door and said something that, once it was closed again, left said woman giggly and professing to be utterly confused. While indeed, Elijah found himself sharing the sentiment, he did not let her into that small fact and merely stared at her with a satirical sneer before glibly retorting that: “No, I doubt you would.”

With that said, he left her to stew on his words and pick through what it was he said as she fought to ascertain the true meaning of his hardly forgiving tone.

Elijah swept out of his chair and reached to right the royal blue, filigree embroidered robes though more out of habit than true necessity. He caught sight of his reflection in the mirror mounted on the wall opposite his desk above the chaise lounge and swept his hand over the top of his hair, smoothing down any jutting locks that flicked this way and that. He sighed heavily before dropping his hand and placing it absently on the shoulder of the Dolohov beside him.

“I suggest you run home to Tobias, Jacquetta.” He soothed, tucking a lock of her dark hair streaked with honey behind her ear. His smile was oddly soothing to her but his eyes betrayed him.

Jacquetta Dolohov rose from her chair, and curled her fingers around the robes of the man before her, her fierce eyes boring into her own. She rolled her lips against each other for a moment before releasing him and stalking past, out through the door without another word said. Truly, it satisfied Elijah to have it her way. At least it would be a few days before she’d return, bemoaning her husband’s Death Eater spiel and his incessant demands upon her to hurry up and give him a son.

Perversely amusing though it was to him, Elijah had a feeling he’d have more luck giving her a son than Tobias ever would and would be content to amuse her with one if that was what it took. Still, life went on as it always did and as ever there was always something else.

There was always something Elijah stood to profit from and Thaor was it. He just wasn’t sure how yet.

Elijah entered a moment or two after Robert, letting the door close with a click behind him. He pursed his lips together and eyed Thaor with the customary air of suspicion that was poorly feigned. There was a slightly more predatory look in Elijah’s eye that was quite a bit more cleverly masked, almost indistinguishable amongst the myriad of other emotions swilling around in his eyes. No, he was sure there was something he stood to gain when it came to Thaor - as in all things he seemed to deal in now.

The question that remained was a simple one: what, exactly?

(OOC(Sorry for the mediocre posts, just getting my muse back and it's been a while since I've written anything but reviews for paintball guns. Also sorry for the late reply, the forum ate my first post)/OOC)

Thaor focused his eyes on the painting above Robert's desk as Robert entered the room. He quickly noticed Robert didn't have his wand in hand, that was a good sign, or so Thaor thought. Robert, how are your grandchildren? Thaor asked, ignoring Roberts statement, hoping to avoid the subject for as long as possible.

Thaor raised an eyebrow as Eli walked into the room, this was the first time Robert had invited company to one of their meetings about Thaors various crimes. The only other time someone else sat in on one of their meeting was when Jess Potter sat in because Thaor needed his help to get out of a unbreakable vow.

Eli, how nice of you to join us Thaor said with a dry smile. This did not bode well for his exit plan. Good thing I have a contingency plan Thaor thought to himself, pulling his freshly made wand from his inner pocket.

Not to worry Robert, I have no plans on dueling my way out of this office, I think it's time our grand game of chess came to an end. Thaor said, setting the tri-core wand on Robert's desk. Thaor had not used this wand to cast even one spell, he knew it had a very high chance of exploding if used, and that was his plan, he knew Robert wouldn't be able to resist using priori incantatum to see what Thaor had been up to, and what happened in Diagon Alley.

I would like to give a full confession infront of the Wizengamot, in a closed session. I'm assuming you can make that happen. And before you ask, I know what that means, and I'm prepared to go to Azkaban. Thaor said, standing and walking to the window.[/b][/b]

"Where have you been, Thaor?" Robert asked calmly. He didn't trust Thaor any further than he could spit him. He had a great many questions he had for Thaor, but he didn't honestly believe he'd get any legitimate answers.

"My apologies about your accounts and your assets, but I did need to clear up the affairs of a dead man, after all," Robert said.

What bothered Robert, in part, was knowing Khaat was in her office as Chief Warlock, and he had no way to warn her guards or to otherwise try to protect her. He had to hope that they could either arrest Thaor. Robert didn't believe for one blessed breath that Thaor was any more stable than he had been at their last meeting.

"You have more blood on your hands than I can ignore," Robert said. "More than our laws will ever tolerate. So, why throw so much away? What was the point? This was the sort of thing that the Thaor I knew would have gladly died for."

As ever, Thaor Elldir provided a diversion which they all could enjoy in some form or another. For Elijah, it was dramatic entertainment and the wholly inappropriate nature of his arrival at the Ministry.

It was beginning to become something of a trend in the young man’s life for him to converse and deal with people who were supposed to be, should have been, deceased. Athena was the first, Thaor the second. He was sure in some small way, Charlotte would come back to haunt him in the third.

Still, there was nothing normal about his world and he was sure that for as long as he knew the Lupins, it never would be. He was naive to think otherwise.

“Good day, Mr Elldir,” Elijah returned pleasantly, too pleasantly perhaps, but he smiled a tight upwards quirk of the lips nonetheless. “I trust you’re well?”

Perhaps that was slightly too droll, even for the satirical Bulgarian, but Elijah revelled in it mentally nonetheless, priding himself on the useless wit he seemed to harbour deep within the tinier crevices of the whirling cogs in his mind.

Lingering by the door would be the best policy, Elijah decided quickly, watching Thaor with careful eyes. He was not part of the meeting but rather instead a fly on the wall if you will and he was determined that if he was to draw a wand or enter into the game at hand, it would be the last move made on the board.

Thaor reached into his pocket, took out a cigarette and lit it, all the while looking out the window. Where have I been. Now that is a good question. Would you believe me if I said I was hiding in plain sight? Thaor asked rhetorically. Do you remember a certain stray dog hanging around Sparks lately? That was me, I went to Andorra for a while after that night in Diagon Alley. Then I came back and stayed close to you. Thaor said, taking a long drag off of his cigarette.

The truth was, he went to Andorra to visit his family's graves, only to find the cemetery had been removed to build a shopping center. A single tear rolled down Thaor's cheek, he took a drag off his cigarette and wiped it away.

Don't worry about my assets, I won't need them, and it appears Ian put them to good use. Thaor said, taking another drag off his cigarette. He tried to avoid the subject of his son with Robert. He never got around to telling Robert about his son, Thaorson Ian Elldir.

I don't expect you to ignore my sins Robert, nor do I expect our laws to tolerate them. But have you ever stopped to think that I'm just not a good person. That deep down, there is so much hatred, so much pain, that I'll never be as 'good' as a person as you? Thaor said, walking to the fireplace. Do you know what it was like growing up with a father in Azkaban, sent there for being a mass murderer, and murdering his family, MY family Robert. Growing up in the shadow of my father wasn't exactly the dream childhood. The things people said, the hatred they showed towards me, for things I had no control over. After so long of people saying things about you, you start to believe them yourself. Everything they said, became true. Now I'm no better than my father, and I need to be put away, just as he was. Thaor said, finishing his cigarette, and tossing it in the fireplace.

He lit another cigarette and turned to face Robert. I can't do it anymore. I need you to get me before the wizengamot so I can make a full confession and get put where I belong. He said with a sigh.

"And do tell. Why would you need to stay close to me?" Robert repressed the urge to cat a slight smile of amusement at that mention. "You surely figured out soon enough I wasn't spending any effort chasing you. Not that I shouldn't have."

He listened to Thaor's reasoning for mentally going so sideways. Robert didn't buy it. Despite the fact that Thaor's childhood had been lousy, the wizard Robert had known had worked hard to not allow it to continue to affect his present, or at least not to this extent. Thaor had not typically been one to soak in his own self pity, but evidently it was the only thing Thaor had left. Therefore, it was what he had become, and Robert figured it was part and parcel of the madness that lay within.

"If its Azkaban you want," Robert said, "I have no problem accommodating that for you. But if you're in the mood for confessions, then tell me this. Why else have you come? You never have just one motive for anything. What's the other plan? Killing me, perhaps? Or my family? What else is on your mind?"

He glanced down at the wand on the desk. He knew Thaor's own wand. He hadn't known him all these years not to recognize his wand, and this one wasn't it. Robert didn't know what the deal was with this one, but even as wands went, this one did appear to be incredibly meticulous. Any time a madman put that much detail into anything, it raised huge red flags in Robert's head.

He was glad, at the moment, that at least Eli was armed. He did still believe that laying his own wand on Millie's desk had been the right move, but he also figured that at some point he might be needing it.

He heard the clock in the outer office strike half past ten. He was due to meet with Khaat, in this office, at eleven. He did not want her coming into this. Thaor had used her as a pawn too many times, and he didn't want her anywhere near this debacle.

Thaor Elldir would never be an honest man. Even as he spoke so candidly, so openly and what could be perceived as honestly, Elijah felt he knew better than to trust. He’d done enough trusting he’d been punished for. He wouldn’t forget that. His body and his mind carried the scars to remind him well enough. He wasn’t about to undo that on a whim. He wasn’t going to be carried downriver on a song. No, Robert could by all means but if it came to fight or flight, Elijah was leaving - in some semblance of doing so, of course - he couldn’t be seen to be flying.

“I feel an immense amount of sympathy for you,” Elijah spoke dryly, leaning more heavily against the beam by the door. “However, I don’t truly believe you are interested in repenting. Surely, hiding in plain sight would be a test on the part of Robert and Khaat? To see if you could get caught. If they’d noticed. If you could be caught. I should imagine this is rather much the same, don’t you?”

Trust, certainly didn’t come easily to the Bulgarian anymore. A cell for Thaor he could most definitely prepare - in the isolation holes inside the high security wing. Of course there, the Dementors were still allowed to roam. There, he wouldn’t have any choice but to repent for his sins - regardless of whether he was genuine in his words as he sat before them. It would unfold in due time.

“So, narrate this picture.” Elijah continued. “Say we arrest you. Say the Wizengamot incarcerate you. Say we leave you to rot. Then what? A chance to break out once more and to wreak havoc anew? Do tell, I really am most curious.”