Talking to Wesley

[Athena "V" Smith-Calloway]

V unlocked the door to her small room and led Alastor and the invisible Wesley into the room. "Are you in, Wes?" she asked before she closed the door.

[Wesley St. Clare]

"I'm in," Wesley said, walking over and sitting on one of the chairs. "I hope you don't mind if I put some protective charms on the room before I remove the Disillusionment charm?"

[Athena "V" Smith-Calloway]

V closed the door and locked it. "No, go ahead," she replied. "I don't think any of us wants to be seen or heard in the conversation we're about to have..."

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley quickly put a charm on the room to prevent anyone from seeing in by any method, then another to make the room completely sound proof. He also ran a quick scan to make sure that there were no Animagi or other monitoring devices in the room. Finally he added a charm to prevent anyone from entering the room. Once he was satisfied, he removed the charm on himself. "Now, then," he said, looking from V to Alastor. "I suppose we have much to discuss."

[Athena "V" Smith-Calloway]

"Yes, we do," V said tensely. "Why didn't you tell me you were still alive? You knew I was already hiding from Craven. We could have hidden together. Or at the very least, I could have found out the rest of what you know. We should have been working together on this--all three of us!"

[Wesley St. Clare]

"Everything I knew was right there in that box," Wesley said. "It was better for you to read what I'd found out and try to investigate on your own, while I hid in the Ministry, watching what was going on. The trouble is, I think Greta Weiss might have figured out that I'm not really dead. So I can no longer hide in the Ministry. We've got to prove once and for all that Craven killed Olivia, so we can finally put him in Azkaban where he belongs."

[Athena "V" Smith-Calloway]

"I think we're close," V said. "Alastor and I wanted to talk to a couple of people we think might have more information. Particularly... well... your daughter, Natalie. Also Isabella Rothschild and Voltaire SkipIt... have you heard of them?"

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley nodded. "I've heard of them, yes. They were once Voldemort's followers, then they switched sides. I've overheard conversations about them while I was in the Ministry hiding. Craven would like to kill Voltaire and try to seduce Isabella back to the dark side, but Greta wants to kill them both."

[Alastor Domino]

"We won't be able to convince the ministry of this because they'll probably be to scared to do anything." Alastor thought aloud.

Then the answer dawned on him. "But,.... we can talk to Albus." Alastor said.

[Athena "V" Smith-Calloway]

"He's right," V said. "Most of the people in the Ministry are too afraid of Craven to do anything about him. Albus is probably our best hope. Although... I've also heard good things about Vincent Corrigan. Since he works primarily outside of the Ministry, he's less under the control of Craven."

[Wesley St. Clare]

"Yes, that was my thinking as well," Wesley said. "That was why as soon as I realized I could no longer hide in the Ministry, I contacted Albus for help. He gave me instructions to get to the Order Headquarters, and I'd been staying there for about a week. I think we should definitely work with Albus. Corrigan is a good man, Olivia always said so, but at times he can be a bit dim." He stopped and ran his hand through his hair. "All I know is, we've got to figure out a way to end this thing with Craven, so I can go back to my daughters. How are they, Alastor? Are they well?"

[Alastor Domino]

"Yes, they are. Natalie is doing pretty well there, but Sabrina has just broken up with her boyfriend, a Remus Lupin." Alastor explained. "But, Natalie had a vision that showed her, that Sabrina is going to die soon."

[Wesley St. Clare]

"No..." Wesley whispered in a shaky voice. "Sabrina must be filled with such anger by now... losing her mother was so hard on her, and then thinking that I died... And poor Natalie... seeing a vision like that... I've got to stop this, and soon. I can't let Sabrina die..."

[Athena "V" Smith-Calloway]

"Maybe you should let the girls know that you're alive," suggested V, looking at Wesley worriedly. She knew that his daughters were everything to him, and she felt strangely guilty that he'd been put in this position.

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley sighed. "I wish I could... but it's too dangerous just now. If I'm correct in thinking that Greta knows or even suspects that I'm alive, they could go after the girls. It's better that they not know anything... and they must be very well protected."

[Alastor Domino]

"I can do that along with Voltaire SkipIt. But how does Greta Weiss know that you have kids?" He asked. That part was still a bit fuzzy.

[Wesley St. Clare]

"Well, I've worked at the Ministry a long time," Wesley said. "When I first started there, I had no need to keep secrets from anyone. It's only since Craven and Weiss came into power that the Ministry hasn't been safe. I'm afraid my children are common knowledge." He sighed heavily. "I'm just glad that you were there for them, Alastor. When Natalie mentioned that you were teaching at Hogwarts, I knew I could count on you to take care of the girls until I could come back to them."

[Alastor Domino]

"DO they know about me?" He asked worriedly. "Because if they do, I might be the next one they want gone after you.

[Wesley St. Clare]

"I don't know," Wesley admitted. "Olivia was more secretive about her family than I was, because of her line of work. Aurors generally live more dangerous lives than Unspeakables do, so it's necessary to keep more hidden. I think it's possible they don't know about you."

[Athena "V" Smith-Calloway]

V shook her head. "They have ways of finding out things. I never told anyone about my children, but they know about them anyway. That's why I had to send them away for a while. Even living with my parents, they're in danger. I also can't even look for my brother, in case they trace him to me. Alastor, there's a good chance they do know about you."