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The Birthright

Chapter 11: Chapter Ten: Strange Bedfellows

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Mirren

               After they parted ways from Marcel, she and Aesop decided to go and interrogate the two Wizards who attacked them. Fortunately for them, there was no documentation requirement to see the men, and they only needed to sign a visitors log and secure their wands when they arrived at the detention center. They waited only briefly before the first of the two was brought to the interrogation room. Aesop sat back in his chair with his hands clasped in his lap, an air of ease about him. Mirren already knew what his tactic was going to be, and she mirrored his casual posture, crossing her ankles in a ladylike manner.

As the Wizard took a seat in front of them, the guard stated his name, Claude, and said to knock on the door when they wanted the next one. Claude looked disinterested as he swept his gaze over them, and soon turned his attention to his cuffed hands in his lap where he inspected his dirty nails. Mirren waited impatiently for Aesop to begin questioning the man, but he simply remained silent. For the next few minutes, they watched as he picked at the dirt under his nails and waited. Though she was itching to ask questions of her own, she knew it was best to follow Aesop’s lead. He had a reputation as one of the best interrogators in the Auror office.

               Soon, Claude began to show signs of anxiety. He shifted a few times in his seat shooting glances up from the greasy fringe that hung just over his eyes. His leg began to bounce up and down, faster, and faster. Finally, he spoke. “Well?” he snapped in a heavily accented voice. Aesop didn’t respond, he merely arched one dark brow at the man. Mirren kept her face carefully devoid of expression, but she wanted to smirk at how easy it was for Aesop to play the man. In response, he sneered at Aesop before launching into a tirade in his mother tongue. They both knew enough French to make out the gist of what he was saying, even though it was hard to follow at times. He chided the incompetence of the British, made a rude comment about Aesop being a cripple and finally began to curse the stupid haughty man who tempted him with the job in the first place. As he concluded his rant with a scoff, Aesop finally asked a question in perfect French. “What was the haughty man’s name?”

               Claude froze, and his mouth opened and closed in the realization that he had been caught out. He stuttered a few times, lifting his shoulders in a few helpless shrugs as he tried to deny he knew the man’s name. Mirren watched from the corner of her eye as Aesop’s bored expression turned flinty and he leaned forward, posture no longer casual. The Frenchman began to rapidly babble all he knew then. “I was never told you were also Aurors!” he all but shouted, his hands held out in front of him, palms up in contrition. “Donnelly told me that it was a simple job, to remove the two of you from the equation so his associate could speak with the younger woman alone!”  Aesop’s gaze narrowed. “Evan Donnelly?” he asked. Claude nodded emphatically, and as more excuses began to fall from his lips, Aesop nodded his head at the door. Mirren went to it, knocking twice. The guard from earlier came and removed Claude from the room before shutting the door behind him.

As they sat waiting for the next man to be brought in, Mirren caught Aesop’s concerned gaze. “I’m familiar with the name Evan Donnelly,” he said in response to her questioning look. “Who is he? I’ve not met him,” she replied, and a troubled look came over Aesop’s face. As he was about to reply, the guard returned. Once again, he gave the Wizard’s name and the same instruction to knock on the door when they were finished.

               Louis was far more nervous than his brother was, and it only took a disapproving look from Mirren for him to crack. He quickly placed the blame squarely on his older brother and stated that he was not present for the job negotiation. “I was simply told to incapacitate a beautiful Witch matching your description, mademoiselle,” he said to Mirren as he gave her a smile that she assumed was meant to be charming. The effect was quite diminished by his tobacco-stained teeth and the leering look he gave her.

It was Aesop who rose this time and knocked swiftly on the door, and Mirren didn’t try to hide the amused smile on her face at his irritation with the man. “What?” he asked her gruffly, brows furrowed. Her smile widened. “Nothing, nothing,” she replied, but she noticed the slight blush along his cheekbones as he turned. After the guard returned, they went and collected their wands and signed the logbook on their exit. They walked in the direction of the tea shop, avoiding the muggles of Calais as they carried on with their day. As they passed a quiet side street, Aesop pulled her into its shade.

“Donnelly is Cecil’s nephew through his younger sister. He’s in the last year of his appraisal period,” he said, and Mirren felt her eyebrows shoot to her hairline. “Do you think Cecil….” She trailed off as Aesop sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “I don’t want to think so, but I can’t say with certainty that he isn’t.” She frowned. “It explains why we didn’t get too much from the investigations in Wales. Salvatore has been directing us like puppets this entire time, and Donnelly has been playing his part well.”

She watched as Aesop’s jaw clenched and could almost hear the grinding of his teeth. Sensing that he needed her to rally them both, she squared her shoulders. “Right. We go to the shop and the surveillance house and see if we missed anything. From there we head to London and see if we can’t get a hold of our little traitor.” Aesop gave her a grim look and nodded.

 

Aesop

               They made their way back to the last place either of them had seen Leana, and though they searched thoroughly, they found nothing. “They couldn’t have apparated all the way to the UK together,” Mirren said. “Portkey?” she asked at his hummed response. “Most likely. It wouldn’t have been a legal one at any rate, so no chance tracking them that way,” he replied as he pulled Leana’s note from his pocket. He began to reread it for what felt like the hundredth time, trying to glean some new information from the words he already had memorized by the third read through. He didn’t realize he was gripping the paper so tightly in his hands that the paper was beginning to crumple until one of Mirren’s soft hands closed over one of his.

“We’ll find her. I know we will.” Her calm voice soothed his frayed nerves, and he turned his head to look at her with a soft gaze when he noticed movement behind her; they were no longer alone in the tea shop. He pulled her closer to him, using her body to shield his intention to draw his wand. He saw the realization dawn on her face at what he intended to do, and on an unspoken signal, she whirled to face the interloper, her own wand drawn in time with his. Stunning spells ricocheted off of each other, none managing to hit their mark, and Aesop saw through the sparks of red that their opponent was Sebastian Sallow.

Fury welled up in him, and he snarled before renewing his attacks with vigor. Then, defying all logical explanation, Sebastian raised his hands above his head. “I’m not here to fight! Professor Sharp, Leana is in danger!” Ceasing his attack for the moment but not lowering his wand, Aesop scoffed. “I’m not your professor anymore, boy. And after all you’ve done, I find I’m not inclined to believe you.” Sebastian swallowed hard before spoke again, his voice cracking a little as he did so. “I swear on my wand, I’m not here to cause trouble. I came to ask for your help.” At that Aesop barked a laugh. “You think any oath coming from you has meaning?” Sebastian’s eyes hardened and he started to snarl a response.

He was cut off by Mirren, who sensed that neither man was going to back down in the face of the escalating tension. “You have to understand our perspective, Sebastian. You yourself caused harm to Leana, so why do you care she is in danger now?” Sebastian reluctantly tore his gaze from Aesop to address her. “Salvatore has her. And I know I’ve made a lot of bad decisions, that I have done unforgivable things, but I can’t…” he choked a little on his words before continuing, “I can’t be the reason she dies.” Aesop shared a look with Mirren, and after a moment of quiet motioned for Sebastian to continue. “As soon as I realized Salvatore had Leana, I sought help.” Mirren’s brows furrowed. “From whom?” she asked, and Aesop knew she feared Sebastian had unwittingly tipped off Donnelly. “One of the only people I can trust, and the only other person I know cares for her as I do. Ominis Gaunt.”

 

Ominis

               It took all of his willpower not to give in to the desire to hex, or if he was being honest with himself, to punch Sebastian. That he would turn up asking for help with a problem he created after what he said and did to Leana was so typical of him that Ominis wasn’t really all that surprised. After Sebastian left to find Sharp, Ominis allowed himself only a short moment to worry for Leana. If he was to help her, he’d need to remain calm and focused. He quickly sent a letter off to his boss to explain his absence in the coming days. Though the excuse of a family emergency wasn’t entirely true, it also wasn’t entirely false. There was a time Ominis considered Sebastian a brother. He grabbed his cloak from the hook by the door and left to find the two women he knew were both formidable and loyal friends to Leana.

               He decided to try Natty’s place first. She had a small flat near the Ministry that she had to herself, and he knew that Poppy would most likely be with her – the two of them were a package deal these days. He took the risk disapparating, hoping that the time of night would conceal him from any muggles that might still be out in the late evening. As soon as he arrived at his destination, he listened for anything that would indicate he’d been seen. Relying on his hearing to discern his surroundings was second nature to him, having been the way he got around in the world before he got his wand. There were no audible gasps, no shouts, no footsteps on the cobbled ground. Nodding to himself, he made his way to Natty’s door.

He hoped the two women were not too deeply asleep, though he found himself blushing at the thought of what they might be doing that would keep them up so late in the evening. He knocked, rather loudly, and waited. He was about to knock once more when the door opened with a swoosh. “Ominis? My friend, what are you doing here at such a late hour?” Natty’s voice was alert. Clearly, she was expecting someone else. “Natty, I told you that they wouldn’t come knocking on the door if they found me.” Poppy’s voice sounded exasperated, but there was a tinge of fondness to it. “I’m sorry for the timing of my visit, but Leana is in danger. I need your help.” Though he could not see her, he pictured the way Natty’s face must have set into a stern look, for her voice was grave. “Tell us everything,” she said as she ushered him in. He barely waited to take a seat before he caught them up on all that had happened, beginning his tale with Sebastian’s foul deeds.

               “Merlin! I knew Leana was busy, but I didn’t realize all of that happened!” Poppy exclaimed as he finished speaking. Natty’s voice was full of concern. “Ominis, I know you used to be good friends with Sebastian, but are you sure trusting him is the wisest course of action? He could have killed Leana before Sharp stepped in.” Poppy hummed, concerned before asking, “How can we be certain he isn’t still working with Salvatore?” Ominis sighed. “We can’t be certain of much when it comes to Sebastian. But if there is any part of the Sebastian we knew still somewhere inside him that hasn’t become corrupted by his use of dark magic, there is hope.” It was quiet for a moment before Poppy spoke, firm conviction in her voice. “We have to help.” Natty thought for a moment longer before speaking. “What now, Ominis?” He knew his face must have looked grim as he spoke. “We wait.”

 

Sebastian

               The female witch with Sharp huffed and rolled her eyes. “The Gaunt again.” Sharp gave her an irritated look. “I already told you Mirren, Ominis is nothing like his family. He must have good reason to be willing to work with Sebastian, despite all that he’s done.” The last part he said looking at Sebastian with a look of sheer disappointment and revulsion. Sebastian felt hot shame run through him as he pleaded with the other two, “Look, I know what I’ve done and what I am. It doesn’t change the fact that Leana is in danger. Please. Let me help.” Sharp eyed him calculatingly. “All right. Do you know where in Ireland Salvatore has taken her too?”

               “No. His house elf mentioned that they had business together when I was at his manor but would say nothing further.” The witch, Mirren, arched a brow. “I’m surprised you didn’t torture the answer out of it.” He glared at her. “It got away before I could,” he replied blithely. “Who else knows that Leana is in danger?” Sharp asked, cutting Mirren off from her retort. “He went to get help from two close friends of ours…I mean his and Leana’s. Natty and Poppy.” Sharp nodded absentmindedly like he already knew the answer. “Miss Onai and Miss Sweeting are competent witches, but they’re no Aurors,” he said frowning. “Well, it’s not like we can trust anyone else at present, Aesop,” Mirren said placatingly.

               Sebastian watched the two interact through narrowed eyes. It wasn’t hard to infer that their relationship was closer than that of colleagues. Finally, Sharp seemed to have made his mind up about their next step. “Mirren, we can’t trust Sebastian without supervision. I’ll go with him and link up with my former students. From there, we will make our way to Salvatore’s manor and search for clues to where in Ireland they may be. I need you to go to the Ministry and see what you can find out about Donnelly and Cecil’s possible involvement.”

For a moment, it looked like Mirren wanted to argue before she nodded stiffly. That she didn’t like the plan went unspoken. Watching the two of them, Sebastian felt a spark of jealousy at the obvious trust and affection they shared. “Ominis is probably at Natty or Poppy’s. We should go,” he said, breaking the moment the two were sharing. Aesop turned and regarded him with an unreadable gaze, before offering his arm to the younger man. “Let’s go then.” Mirren disappeared with the telltale pop of disapparation moments before they too left for their destination.

Notes:

...Hi. It is has been awhile since I've last posted, but in that time I have been very busy with life things, so please be kind. My whole family caught Norovirus, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It was the worst I've felt in a long time. Then my husband had to deploy, and I moved back in with my parents while he's gone. So there was a lot of stress trying to get our stuff in storage and driving, etc. Anyway, this chapter, while short, at least pushes the story on. I hope that you enjoy, and I will endeavor to update sooner rather than later!