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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jul 16, 2009 1:33:36 GMT -5
Angelique shook her head. "You know what? I don't want to talk blame. I've only got ten minutes before your doctor kicks me out, and I want to know exactly what happened. The rest can come later, and I'll decide where things stand with your jobs later, when I'm not so angry."
She crossed her arms over her chest expectantly. "So spill. From the beginning."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Jul 16, 2009 1:42:22 GMT -5
Roland sighed. "Well, as you know, the day after Christmas, I told you that my uncle, Blake Malfoy, was one of the death eaters from my last mission. It turns out he was the one sending the threatening letters. He was trying to scare me into keeping silent about his involvement. I didn't know the names of the other two men involved, and that was my problem. I didn't know what they would do if I tried to bring my uncle in. But I tried to go by the book. I told you his identity. And then he went into hiding. But insterad of lying low, he made a move... he sent someone to attack my brother's fiancee, Lina and their baby. I got there in time to save her, but just barely. And I knew I couldn't allow them to try anything else. I had to act fast, and I didn't have the time to come up with something better, so I faked my death. I've been staying at a Ministry approved safe house for the last month and a half or so. Riley's been visiting me nearly every night."
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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jul 16, 2009 2:21:12 GMT -5
Angelique wasn't sure what to say. She remembered vividly how utterly devastated Riley had been that night. She would have bet money that Riley was telling the truth that night. But it had all been a lie? How could she looked Mathieu and Cara in the face and lie to them like that?
"I wish you had come to me, instead of... this," she said, sighing. "Well, you may as well finish the story."
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Post by Riley Neves on Jul 16, 2009 2:28:16 GMT -5
Riley sighed. She hated being in trouble, breaking the rules... but she'd done it all for Roland, knowing there was a chance she would lose her job because of it. And if she did... she still wouldn't change a thing.
Besides, the poition was blocking any guilt she should have felt.
"Roland gave me a memory of his, when he saw the Death Eaters. I pieced it together from there who was who. Blake was easy, because Roland already knew him. Jordan died in the Hogsmeade attack, and I killed Alec Mapplethorne on New Years. That left Lyle Inophen, and it took me a while to get his name. When I did, I sent an owl to Blake and told him that Lyle had given me something to bring them both in on. I was bluffing, and the goal was to get them to turn on each other. A couple of days later, Geoffrey..."
She trailed off, still unable to say it, and she ran a hand through her hair. "But when Geoffrey failed, Blake killed Lyle. And from there... we drew Blake out tonight. And it's finished. The threat's over."
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Post by Hayden Ferrera on Jul 16, 2009 9:02:57 GMT -5
Cara stood up, still showing no emotion. She should have begging him to take them to the hospital already, but she was just numb. Leaving Hayden and her husband, she picked up her cloak, and then reached for the spare she kept for Roland. It would fit Mathieu. Coming back to the living room, she handed it to Mathieu and clasped her own, quiet. It was almost unnerving. "Angelique is probably already there," he said. "Ted notified her about it while I came here. If you want, I could wait until after you see him and everything to gather up all the children and tell them but before I go tell the ones at school, I have to tell Cyrus about it or just have him meet us there." Hayden was more than nervous to tell his siblings and cousins about it. Ama was probably the one he was more than likely scared to tell. He wasn't sure of her actions but he knew that Sheena would be there for her. As for the boys, he wasn't sure. "Come on Uncle Mathieu." He put an arm around Cara and waited for his uncle before apparating to St. Mungo's. |
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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jul 16, 2009 11:51:01 GMT -5
Angelique listened to the rest of Riley's story, a deep frown on her face. Unofficially, she was somewhat impressed that they had mostly pulled this off. But she also knew that the whole thing had a lot of far-reaching consequences that she was sure Roland had never bothered to consider.
"I don't have to tell you how many rules you've both broken," she said briskly. "And Roland, you will learn soon enough how many people you've hurt--no matter how honorable your intentions. I won't even get into all that--that will be your problem to deal with. My concern is for the Ministry and how I am going to clean up the damage this will cause to the department. Did you even think about how this if going to be received by the public?"
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Jul 16, 2009 11:57:33 GMT -5
Roland nodded. "Yeah, actually... about that. I don't think it's a good idea to come out and admit that I faked my death to just everyone. You're right; the press would have a field day with it, and not only would it make the Ministry look bad, but it would also probably make the death eaters pretty angry. I'd wind up with new enemies, new threats against me and my family, and all this will have been for nothing. We were thinking I'd have to release a false story for the public.... something like I was severely injured and wound up in a muggle hospital for weeks, floating in and out of consciousness. Of course, I also wasn't planning to make my return immediately after we finished with Blake. I was supposed to wait a week, so that it wouldn't be so obvious that I was the one who killed him."
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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jul 16, 2009 12:51:05 GMT -5
Angelique rubbed her head again. "You know the department's official position on death eaters; it's capture, not kill. And yet, between the two of you, you've killed three of them, and caused the death of a fourth. I allowed as how the first two were done in the heat of the moment, and qualified as self-defense, but Blake Malfoy's death is a problem. It's very clear to me that you went into this fully intending to kill him, and that is murder. I really should bring you up on charges for that."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Jul 16, 2009 12:59:14 GMT -5
"He killed me first," Roland protested, though of course, he knew that argument only went so far. After all, he wasn't actually dead, and Blake was.
Sighing, he sat up a little straighter and ran his hand through his hair. "OK, look. I had no choice. The guy had already tried to kill me once and was threatening my family. He was a Malfoy, I couldn't be sure that he wouldn't find some way to get out of it if we tried to bring him in, or that he wouldn't use his influences to go after me or my family again. But if you want to know the truth, we I came to actually fight him that second time, I resolved to stop him in whatever way possible. If I was able to get him Stunned or something, I would have brought him in. I fired the killing curse at him in desperation, because he was torturing Riley. In that moment, I was not thinking of anything except protecting her and our baby."
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Post by Riley Neves on Jul 16, 2009 13:11:01 GMT -5
Riley nodded. "It was defense. The three of them were all in defense, self and saving others. And the only reason I'm here is because of Blake Malfoy," she said.
The truth was, she agreed wit Angelique, and she still felt terrible about killing Alec. But she was in this with Roland 100%, and she wasn't going to let him take the fall for this. At least not alone.
"It was a long fight, Angelique, and he fired the killing curse several times. Roland only did once."
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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jul 16, 2009 13:23:07 GMT -5
Angelique still didn't like it, but it was tough to fault him for it. The killing curse was allowed in extreme circumstances, and it sounded like that was the case here.
"All right, look," she said, her tone still stern. "I'm still not happy, but I'll take the matter under study. I'll do some damage control--again. And when I'm done with that and I'm not quite so furious, I'll make a decision on your jobs. I probably won't fire either of you... Merlin knows I really don't have any aurors to spare. But I may suspend you for a while, if for no other reason than to force Riley to take a break. She's been working herself to the bone, and with the pregnancy..." She shook her head. "It's not a good idea to over-work yourself."
Then, finally, her expression softened. "But I will say one thing... I'm glad to see you two together. I always suspected it would come to this... you two together. I thought it the first time you both came into my office bickering like children."
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Post by Riley Neves on Jul 16, 2009 13:36:21 GMT -5
Riley rather suspected that they would at least get a suspension, but when she heard the reason behind it, her eyes shot up. "I don't need a break. Please, don't make that the reason," she asked. "Roland's back... I don't need to be working as hard anymore." She sighed. "And to be fair, I didn't know about the pregnancy until recently." She wanted this baby to fine just as much as Roland did, and Angelique apparently. But she could still work. "Besides, we're so close to closing Katie's case."
She shut herself up, realizing too late that she shouldn't argue with Angelique while she was angry. Roland apparently had had an effect on her after all. Though the woman's next words made her smile. She just took Roland's hand, not commenting.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Jul 16, 2009 13:46:35 GMT -5
Roland, however, strongly disagreed with Riley on this one point. She did need a break. However, he also knew better than to say as much. And he certainly didn't want Angelique to suspend Riley just to force her to get some rest.
"We'll understand if you decide to give either of us a suspension. We did break the rules, and we deserve it. But Riley's right... don't do it on account of the baby or because Riley's been under a lot of stress lately. Either way, she'll be fine, because I'll be here for her."
He also smiled at Angelique's comment. Squeezing Riley's hand, he replied, "You and everyone else except for us, apparently," he replied. "We were the last ones to figure it out. I'm just glad we finally did."
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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jul 16, 2009 13:59:26 GMT -5
Angelique smiled and rolled her eyes. "Ugh, you two are absolutely adorable," she said. "You make it hard to stay mad at you. But make no mistake, I am mad," she added as if trying to convince herself.
She stood up. "Well, I should go before Riley's doctor kicks me out. And I'll go off and see if I can clean up the mess you made. I'll have to head over to those wretched warehouses with the MLE and recover Blake Malfoy's body, then I'll see what I can do as far as damage control. You two get some rest, and I'll see you tomorrow."
She started for the door, then turned around. "And Roland? I'm glad you're alive."
Then she was gone.
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Post by Riley Neves on Jul 16, 2009 14:08:30 GMT -5
Riley nodded at Angelique, and she couldn't help but smile. She was just glad they both survived the night to be so absolutely adorable.
When the woman left, she pulled herself to sit up again, and kissed Roland. She could see the light at the end of the tunnel now, and she was just so glad this was all over.
"That went a little better than I expected," she told him when they broke their kiss. "I thought there'd be more yelling involved. Maybe there would have been if it weren't for Dr. Kenyon. I think I'm finally starting to believe you... we'll be okay."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Jul 16, 2009 14:33:37 GMT -5
Roland couldn't help but put both arms around her, ignoring the little shot of pain that went through his injured arm, and kissed her deeply.
"See, I told you," he said, smiling at her. "The worst is over now. It's all downhill from here. Pretty soon, I'm sure our lives will be positively dull. Not that I could ever be bored with you."
Of course, despite his words, he was not quite naive enough to believe that everything was going to be perfect from now on. But whatever else hit them, he was positive they could handle, as long as they did it together. He genuinely believed that they could do anything together.
"Be careful sitting up like that, you don't want to start the cramping again. How are you feeling?"
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Post by Mathieu Ferrera on Jul 16, 2009 14:45:22 GMT -5
Cara stood up, still showing no emotion. She should have begging him to take them to the hospital already, but she was just numb. Leaving Hayden and her husband, she picked up her cloak, and then reached for the spare she kept for Roland. It would fit Mathieu. Coming back to the living room, she handed it to Mathieu and clasped her own, quiet. It was almost unnerving. "Angelique is probably already there," he said. "Ted notified her about it while I came here. If you want, I could wait until after you see him and everything to gather up all the children and tell them but before I go tell the ones at school, I have to tell Cyrus about it or just have him meet us there." Hayden was more than nervous to tell his siblings and cousins about it. Ama was probably the one he was more than likely scared to tell. He wasn't sure of her actions but he knew that Sheena would be there for her. As for the boys, he wasn't sure. "Come on Uncle Mathieu." He put an arm around Cara and waited for his uncle before apparating to St. Mungo's. If Cara was numb, Mathieu was just completely gone. He stood up slowly, his eyes blank, as if being compelled to do so by some kind of outside force wholly unconnected to himself. He was still confused and addled, partially by the alcohol that was passing for sustenance in his system, and partially by the unreality of the news he had just recieved. He really just didn't believe it. In fact, he really thought he must have passed out hours ago and was currently in the middle of a alcohol-fueled dream. Everything seemed fuzzy and unfocused, just as if it were a dream. And there was just no other way that Hayden would be standing here in front of him telling such a cruel lie. Still, at Hayden's urging, he moved forward and let Hayden put an arm around his shoulder. It was a good thing Hayden was in control of his faculties, because Mathieu was in no condition to apparate alone. |
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Post by Riley Neves on Jul 16, 2009 14:47:37 GMT -5
"I'm actually feeling really good," Riley replied, shrugging. "I kind of like whatever potion Lydia gave me. I haven't felt this relaxed since... since before you died," she admitted, and it was a revelation to her. It had been such a long time.
She sighed and lay back down, but gave him a look. "I'm not staying laying down for the rest of this pregnancy. Just so you know. If that's the case, they're going to have to figure out how to fix it. I'd go insane." She was completely serious telling Roland this. She was not the kind of girl that could stay still for too long. But there was also a part of her that was terrified about these contractions. She didn't tell Roland, but she'd been doing some reading, and it wasn't unheard of for a woman's body to try and force delivery from very early stages. The only thing that really stopped it was strict bed rest.
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Post by Hayden Ferrera on Jul 16, 2009 15:42:55 GMT -5
Once Hayden put an arm around Mathieu's shoulders, they were gone. Arriving at St. Mungo's, he led them in slowly. He could see that they were both empty and he hoped that just seeing that their oldest was alive and alright. Maybe Mathieu would finally be his old self again, Hayden was more than ready to see his aunt and uncle back the way they were.
He wanted to talk to Roland himself but he would hold off for awhile. He had gone for this long without him to talk to, a little longer wouldn't hurt. Hayden led them in the direction of Roland's room and then looked for the doctor to see if it was alright for Cara and Mathieu to go in.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Jul 16, 2009 15:57:49 GMT -5
Ted laid eyes on the three Ferreras instantly and glanced over his shoulder. He didn't see Angelique yet, so he stood up, coming face to face with Roland's parents.
Glancing at Hayden, and seeing the way they looked, he figured out pretty quickly that Hayden already told them. "He's being looked at by a doctor right now," Ted said quickly. "They'll give him the all clear in a moment, and then you can see him. They're expecting you, of course, and if you wouldn't mind waiting with me for just a moment..."
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