Dramatis Personae

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Chapter 3

By Diocletian

* * * * *

When Ron and Hermione arrived at the Burrow that afternoon to help set up for Harry's Welcome Home/Birthday party (which was really just an excuse on Molly's behalf to get as many of her brood together again as she could), she could tell there was something going on. The both of them seemed different. As though they were...glowing. Sort of. That was probably the wrong word to use in the early afternoon of yet another sweltering, blindingly sunny day. But they just seemed so enthusiastically *happy* about something. It wasn't until Molly asked Hermione to pass her the icing sugar for the birthday cake that she noticed it.

"What's that on your finger, dear?"

Hermione froze. "Finger?"

Realization began to dawn on Molly as she caught another glimpse of the sparkling diamond on the brunette's ring finger and an ecstatic grin began to spread over her face. "Heavens above! Hermione, did Ron ask you to--?"

"Shh!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes widening and a horrified look passing across her features. "Shh, sshhh! We're going to wait until everyone gets here! Not another word or you might spoil the surprise!"

Molly nodded quickly, but the smile remained in place. "Oh, yes, of course, dear! I wouldn't want to ruin it! Anything to have another couple of grandchildren toddling about in a few years!"

A nervous smile fell onto Hermione's lips. "Er...yeah! Right! Who doesn't love kids?" She managed to choke out a shrill chuckle before quickly adding, "Let me take that potato salad into the dining room for you!" As soon as Molly's back was turned Hermione calm face fell faster than a melting snowball in hell. She literally fled into the next room. Molly continued to prepare the cake, ignoring Hermione's weird behavior.

In the living room, still as cluttered and homey as it had ever been, assorted Weasleys of almost all shapes and sizes were present. Hermione struggled past several of them to set the glass bowl full of Molly's delicious potato salad down on the table, having to lift it up over her head twice to keep several of the youngest members if the Weasley clan from knocking it out of her hands before she could even put it down. She set it safely down on the table, breathing a sigh of relief, and walked over to where Ron was lounging lazily on the sofa, kissed him lightly on the lips.

"You okay?" he asked, taking note of her anxious fidgeting.

Glancing surreptitiously around the room to make sure no one was listening, Hermione leaned in towards him to whisper. "She knows."

Ron wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down to sit in his lap. "Who knows what, love?"

"Your mother!" she hissed. "She knows about... well, you know..." The brunette gestured vaguely at her new engagement ring. Ron only smiled.

"Well, you didn't REALLY expect to be able to keep it a secret from her, did you?" he asked pleasantly. "The woman's had sev--six adult children." He coughed, but made no other sign acknowledging his slip. "She probably knew something was up with us the second we knocked on the door," he added. "The ever-infamous Woman's Intuition, right?" Hermione sighed, nodding, and pouted.

"I was rather looking forward to surprising everyone, though."

Ron grinned and planted a kiss in Hermione's hair. "Don't worry about that. I'm pretty sure that if the whole engaged thing doesn't do it, the pregnant thing will."

Hermione frowned slightly, but didn't have time to respond before Bill and Fleur's twin daughters ran into the room yelling that 'Uncle Harry' had arrived. Hermione removed herself reluctantly from Ron's lap and went to the window. Sure enough, a shiny red BMW convertible was making its way down the drive. She turned back to face the assorted Weasleys and helped usher everyone around to get ready as Ginny parked her car and she and Harry came into the house.

---------- ----------

Ginny had warned Harry ahead of time that they were on their way to his "surprise" party. He hadn't been surprised at all when she told him. Molly was far too predictable. But he was excited to be able to see most, if not all of the Weasleys again and thanked Molly and Arthur vehemently for throwing him a party. Though he didn't regret going away for the summer, it was always nice to be surrounded by familiar faces once more, especially when they were the faces of his "adopted" family.

George's daughter and oldest son, along with the Delacour-Weasley twins, hung off of him as Harry made his way around the Burrow, hugging and talking and shaking hands. Harry couldn't stop the grin on his face when he tried to sit down on the sofa to talk to Ron. The kids all let go, allowing him to sit without worrying whether he was going to squish one of them, before all four of them promptly climbed onto the sofa with him and all tried to fit in his lap.

Across the room, Ginny saw their antics and chuckled to herself, bouncing George's younger son, ten-month-old Matthew, on her knee. She turned back to her conversation with Mattie's mother, Cora, but her mind strayed back to Harry. The kids all loved him and he really was great with them. "Uncle Harry" was always there for birthday parties and Christmas and he always brought the best gifts. He'd listen patiently when they were upset and play with them when they weren't. Harry loved each of them as if they really were his nieces and nephews. To them, he wasn't the "Boy-Who-Lived", or even the famous Auror. He was just Uncle Harry and he loved it.

Focusing her attention back to her conversation with Cora, Ginny heard her ask about what she was up to at work these days. Smiling, Ginny shook her head. "Nuh uh. You know better than that, dearest sister-in-law. Unspeakable business is just that--unspeakable. Sorry. Good try, though."

Cora snapped her fingers in mock disappointment. "Drat! Foiled again! And I really thought it would work this time."

Ginny chuckled and handed Mattie back to her before heading towards the kitchen to see if there was anything else she could do to help her mum. Before she got there, however, she felt a hand grab her elbow. She spun around and came face to face with Harry, who had left the children to swarm around Ron instead so that he could come and talk to her. He grinned and gave her a hug.

"This is a great party, Gin," he said. "Thanks for bringing me."

Ginny shrugged nonchalantly. "It was nothing," she replied, completely pushing aside the memory of just how pissed off she had been just an hour or so before when she had been waiting in the suffocating heat outside of the airport. "If it hadn't been me, someone else would have brought you."

Harry nodded sagely. "I know. But nobody else here has as cool a car as you do."

Ginny laughed and Harry smiled. Even back when they were still attending Hogwarts, he had always loved the sound of Ginny's laughter. Like ringing bells. She shook her head in amusement. "It's not really my car," she admitted. "The registration's under Colin's name. He drives a lot more than I do, so he paid more of the payments than I did. Therefore, it's legally his car."

"Oh, well. It's still nice." Harry shrugged. Then he paused for a second, looking around. "Where is everyone's favourite raging Madonna fan, anyway?"

"He's out with his boyfriend," Ginny answered easily. "Douglas Kibble. You remember Dougie, don't you? Well, today's his ten-year Hogwarts reunion and he dragged Colin along as his guest."

Harry thought for a moment before he could recall the skinny 28-year-old blonde who was dating Colin. "Dougie? Yeah, I remember Dougie. How long have he and Colin been going out? Must be going on 8 months now, at least. It sounds pretty serious."

"9 and a half months, actually. And it's very serious." Ginny pouted. "I'm starting to fear for my roommate. If he moves out, I need to go through the trouble of finding a new one and I don't want to."

Harry patted her back in a comforting manner. "I'm sure it'll be fine. If worse comes to worst, you can always move in with me! I'm only there half the time anyway, so it would be nice and peaceful most of the time."

Glancing at him skeptically for a moment, Ginny gave in and shrugged. "If worse comes to worst, I'll think about it." Harry gave her a grin and a pat on the back and was about to reply when the sound of a fork hitting the side of a glass rang through the room. Ginny and Harry both turned their heads to face Ron, who was holding the aforementioned glass in his left hand.

Seeing Molly come out of the kitchen at the sound of the ringing glass, Ron grinned nervously at his family. "Well, seeing as I now have all of your attention," he started, glancing at his fiancée, "Hermione and I have a couple of announcements to make." He took a deep breath as his ears started turning pink, and he bit his lip slightly before continuing. "The two of us have FINALLY decided to get married."

Through the catcalls and echoes of congratulations and a couple of "about time's" that sounded around the room, Ron banged on the glass with his fork again. It took a few moments, but he managed to get everyone's attention once more. "If you can all control your wild selves for just a second, there is one more thing." Trying to ignore the expectant looks on everyone's faces, Ron cleared his throat noisily. Ginny and Harry, who were the only ones who already knew what his next announcement was going to be, grinned at each other and watched as his ears grew steadily redder and Hermione's eyes drifted down to intently study her shoes.

"While, uh, Hermione and I are very excited about becoming a family, we, uh...I mean, we're very excited to...Well--uh--we're planning on..." Ron coughed nervously and ran a hand through his hair, muttering. "Oh, screw it," he said at last. "We're pregnant and we're going to have a baby."

There was a shocked silence for about five seconds when nobody could speak. Indeed, Molly looked as though she would never speak again. Ginny had to bite her lip to stifle an onslaught of giggles. After a moment, Arthur cleared his throat. "Well, uh, congratulations, son." Sensing the parental approval of the situation, all of a sudden everyone burst into the same congratulations and good wishes that they had before. The noise seemed to jerk Molly out of her surprised stupor and she got up slowly and walked over to Ron.

Her youngest son froze and looked at her warily as she stood before him. She looked straight back. Then she proceeded to cuff him across the head, dissolving into his arms in tears a second later. She wrapped her arms around him and he patted her back awkwardly with one hand while rubbing the back of his sore head with the other as she sobbed about her baby boy getting ready to have a baby of his own. After a while, Arthur came over and pried her away from Ron, speaking to her soothingly.

Ron sank down into his seat, feeling very uncomfortable while his brothers all smothered grins. Ginny and Harry's oh-so-subtle giggling wasn't helping matters either.

Hermione put her arm around his back in a comforting manner while the others started to chat again, glancing discreetly between Ron and Molly, whom Arthur was trying to talk to and who was still dabbing her eyes. Ron sighed. "What I wouldn't do for some sort of a distraction right now..."

And it was at that moment that Zacharias Smith appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the living room floor.

---------- ----------

Zacharias had been at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement headquarters just moments before, and had been ordered quite harshly to fetch Ron. And so, reluctantly, he apparated into the middle of what appeared to be a Weasley family reunion. He glanced around at the staring eyes and red hair for a moment, feeling just a bit awkward at the strange silence that had greeted his entrance, but quickly got over it. He turned to face Ron and stood at attention, as much as he hated having to perform the respectful gesture in front of that flock of Weasleys, most of whom he knew and did not like.

"Sir," he greeted, practically feeling the bat strike at his pride as he did. "Mr. Richards sent me to come and get you. He needs you in at the Department immediately."

Brow furrowed, Ron gave an impatient sigh. "What do they need me for now? I just left!"

Zacharias just shrugged. "Hell if I know. I'm just doing what Hank told me to." He paused for a moment before quietly adding, "Don't tell him I called him by his first name."

"Whatever." In a bit of a huff, Ron went to the door to get his work robes, which he had shed on the way in, muttering under his breath all the way. While he was gone, Zacharias turned again to casually study the other people present. Most of them had decided by now that the best way to handle his presence in their midst was to ignore it and were once again speaking amongst themselves.

But two faces stuck out from the others and he grimaced to himself in recognition. Ginny the littlest Weasley, looking at him occasionally from the corner of her eye, a look of intense dislike written all over her face, was talking to the ever-infamous Harry Potter. Studying the other man from head to toe, Zacharias snorted.

"Honestly, Harry," he threw out suddenly. "You'd think with all that hazard pay you're earning, you could afford a shave and a decent haircut. I mean, you look like something the cat dragged in."

Harry rubbed his week-old beard ruefully and gave Ginny a wink. "Really?" he answered playfully. "Well, what can I say? I aim to please and the ladies love it. It's all good."

Zacharias snorted again and rolled his eyes, but he didn't reply. Instead he turned to the young woman standing next to Harry and smirked. "And if it isn't Ginevra the Unspeakable, enjoying a day off. How's your neck, Miss Weasley?"

Zacharias saw Ginny's nose give the same twinge of irritation that Ron's did whenever he spoke to him. Harry looked at her curiously and Zacharias could see Ginny's twin brothers glance up at her after hearing his question. "Fine," she replied shortly. "Your concern is duly noted, MISTER Smith."

From the looks on her brothers' faces, Zacharias could see that Ginny hadn't told them about her little..."incident" at the Genesis Café. He only knew because, as an official at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the criminals the Unspeakables had apprehended six days ago had been placed into he and his fellow Aurors' custody. They had been warned that Theodore Nott and the other one, the supposed muggle with the Dark Mark, who, according to his driver's license, was a man by the name of Scott Spiegel, had caused a number of injuries to their arresting officers and were to be carefully guarded. It hadn't taken many questions to find out who had caught them and, coincidentally, who had been hurt.

Zacharias had sneered at the time. He had wondered what kind of incompetent would mistake a dark wizard for muggle and how it could possibly take three fully-qualified Unspeakables to take down Nott. 'The Department of Mysteries must have even lower standards for their Field Officers than we thought,' the Aurors had joked. But that had been before Nott had stolen a wand from one of his guards, taken him out, along with three others, and run wild halfway around the world before Harry (who, by pure dumb luck, had just finished a mission in Japan when Nott arrived there) had managed to catch him. The son of a bitch was persistent, though. Zacharias had to give him that. But there hadn't been any Unspeakable jokes at the DMLE since.

"What's he talking about, Gin?" Fred finally asked. "What's wrong with your neck?"

She could only roll her eyes scathingly as Fred, George and Harry all stared at her expectantly. It reminded her of the time Ron had ratted that Draco Malfoy had asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him in her fifth year. The Dream Team had all stared at her the exact same way these guys were now, wanting to know if she'd said no or not. In reality, feeling that she could use the time alone with him to subtly pry Dark Side information out of him, she had told Draco she'd be glad to go to Hogsmeade with him as long as he watched where he put his hands. But she hadn't been about to tell any of her brothers (not to mention Harry) that, so she'd bull-shitted her way through it. It had worked exceedingly well then, so she decided to try again.

"Come on, guys," she said. "It was nothing. Just a bump-and-scratch thing a couple of days ago. I mean," she chuckled forcefully, "if it were serious, I would have mentioned it by now, right?"

Harry nodded thoughtfully, but Fred and George looked at her suspiciously. They knew her really well, after all. "Well, if it was so little," George spoke up, "how come THAT wart knows so much about it?" He pointed over at Zacharias, who had the decency to look mildly insulted at being referred to as a wart. Ginny just shrugged nonchalantly.

"You know how it is. We both work at the Ministry. Everybody knows about everybody there. So, guys," she smiled at her brothers and Harry gently, serenely. "Don't worry about me, okay? I'm fine." She then turned to face Zacharias. "And Smith," she muttered through clenched teeth. "Learn to keep your effing trap shut!"

Before anyone had the opportunity to respond to Ginny's last remark, Ron came back into the room, shrugging his work robes on and tightening his tie. He stooped in front of a small mirror on the wall, one that had actually been placed there as more of a decoration than anything else, and briefly combed through his red hair with his fingers. After a final glance, Ron deemed himself ready for a public appearance and went to grab his wand off of the coffee table while Fred and George sniggered at him.

"You better be careful with all that primping, Ronnie," George cackled.

"Yeah," Fred continued. "People will start thinking you're a politician or something."

Ron just shook his head. "Remember what my title is, guys?" he asked. "It's 'Junior Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.' Notice the word 'Head' is included in that. Everybody in the Ministry with that word in their title, no matter who they are or what Department they work for, is a politician."

This only served to make the twins laugh harder and a couple of others who had been listening joined in. Ron looked affronted. "Hey, laugh now," he said. "But Minister for Magic Wagman Shoal had my job years and years ago. And former-Minister Amelia Bones had it before him. So, hey, I'd like see you laughing when I'm running for office!"

Fred and George were now cackling so hard that they were almost falling out of their seats. "Yeah," George spoke up. "Ronald Bilius Weasley, Minister for Magic! We'd better be careful." He nudged Fred with his elbow. "Next thing you know, we'll have another Percy on our--"

George froze as he realized what he was saying. Nobody was laughing now. Harry stared intently at his toes, Ginny anxiously twisted her watch around her wrist, and Ron's ears began turning red in quiet, controlled anger. The tension was an almost palpable force. Ron gritted his teeth and forced out a single sentence. "I am not like Percy."

The red-hot fury in his voice was obvious and a regretful George nodded apologetically. "I know, mate. I'm sorry." He glanced over at Molly and Arthur to make they hadn't heard the mention of their third son. "I wouldn't believe for an instant you could be like that back-stabbing, Death-Eating traitor."

Ron just stood there watching George impassively for a few moments, but then he nodded stiffly and turned to go kiss Hermione good-bye and thank his parents for a lovely afternoon. Gripping his wand a little more forcefully than he had to, he disapparated. Zacharias bowed to Harry, his fellow Auror, and kissed Ginny's hand gallantly before disapparating himself, winking at her spitefully.

Ginny scowled. "Well, that little bastard's just put a damper on my entire day," she said irritably to Harry. "I'm going home before something else happens."

---------- ----------

Ron and Zacharias apparated to the Atrium and quickly proceeded to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and then straight to Mr. Hank Richards' office. Richards was the Head of the DMLE and what he lacked in height (being only just taller than Colin Creevey, who in turn was only a bit above the pixie-like Ginny), he more than made up for in volume. He was a good Head of Department, but he enjoyed yelling at people, especially Aurors, and Ron in particular. In all honesty, Ron had never actually worked as an Auror, having quit training in the middle of the second year in preference of taking an office job that had been offered to him and which paid REAL money. But the very fact that he had risen through the ranks so quickly to reach the level he was on today seemed to annoy Richards even more.

But as they entered his office that day, Richards just didn't look like he was in the mood to yell. He was pacing back and forth across the expensive wine-colored carpet, chewing on the end of an unlit cigar that was sticking out of his mouth at a slightly precarious angle. Seeing Ron and Zacharias standing at the door, he waved at them to come in and walked over to his desk. He pulled two file folders out of his desk and handed one to each of them.

"Smith, as long as you're here, make yourself useful," he ordered. "Take that file over to Darcie Bethel right away. It's urgent. Tell her that her presence is requested as soon as it is humanly possibly. Then get back to work." Zacharias scowled fiercely, but stood up and left, muttering non-too-subtly about how 'I'm an Auror, for Merlin's sake, not a bloody delivery boy,' as he went.

Richards turned to face Ron. "Weasley," he continued, "follow me." Ron nodded without saying anything and the older man proceeded out the office door and down the corridor. "It would probably be helpful," Richards added as Ron walked obediently behind him, "if you read at least part of that file I gave you. Glance through it as much as you can, I have to talk to Dr. Stein before we can go in."

Slightly confused, but still remaining silent, Ron flicked through the file as he wondered what was going on. Dr. Stein was the Department's forensic evidence consultant, but Ron didn't know why he'd be there for this. According to the file he was reading, they were going to see a prisoner named Scott Spiegel, a 39-year-old man who worked as a muggle stock broker. He had apparently attacked some Unspeakables who were working on a field research-and-retrieve mission six days ago. Skimming through the stats, a few things caught his eye.

'Crime(s): Attempted murder, Association with a Dark Wizard.

Date of Arrest: Sunday, August 14, 2005.

Location of Arrest: Genesis Café, Wimbledon.

Arresting Officers: (Department of Mysteries)

Creevey, Colin (SFR);

Delfink, Devlin (FR);

McGrew, Timothy (FR);

O'Day, Cary (FR);

Weasley, Ginevra (SFR).'

'Ginny,' he thought to himself, frowning. 'Huh. Wonder what she and her lot were researching that had to do with this guy. Unspeakable field workers are only supposed to be sent out for research and observation purposes.'

By now he and Richards had arrived outside one of the department's examination rooms and Ron took a seat to read some more of the file and to wait for Darcie Bethel, who was the Senior Deputy Head of the DMLE, while Richards went in the room to talk to Dr. Stein. Skimming through the rest, Ron plucked out a picture from the back of the folder and studied it briefly, frowning. It was of Spiegel's left forearm and there, marring the rather pale skin, was the same ugly tattoo the Unspeakables had noticed six days ago after the man had tried to strangle Ginny. The same skull and snake tattoo Voldemort had claimed as his own in years past.

Or so it appeared. Squinting slightly, Ron examined it more closely. There was something...off. Something different. It took a minute for him to realize that the snake, protruding from the mouth like some horrible travesty of a tongue, was pointing the wrong way. Most people probably wouldn't catch this fact because the only place most people had ever seen the Dark Mark had been when it was hanging in the air above the location of a fresh victim. And the direction the snake was pointing would then depend on your location in regards to the "danger zone". But Ron, who had, after all, been an Auror-in-Training for a year and a half, had seen the Mark burned into the forearms of several Death Eaters, so after careful inspection, he recognized Spiegel's for what it was. A fake.

"But why would anyone in their right mind want a fake Dark Mark?" Ron muttered to himself, rubbing his chin.

"Well, it would certainly give him something to talk about at parties," a deep female voice suggested from beside him. Ron looked up into the slightly smiling, mildly questioning face of Darcie Bethel. Her sharp hazel eyes were looking down through a pair of wire-framed spectacles at the picture in his hands. She pushed several strands of rapidly graying, shoulder-length black hair behind her ears and asked, "How do you know it's a fake?"

That was the reason Ron liked Darcie so much more than Richards. There was no denial, no accusations, no interrogation and no argument over whether it actually was a fake or not. She believed him right off and asked only for a shred of proof so she could be sure he was right. Ron pointed out the snake in the picture for her. "The tongue's pointing down and to the right," he said. "On all the other Dark Mark tattoos I've seen, and I've seen my fair share of them, the tongue always points down and to the left. This is like someone drew a Dark Mark and pressed it against Spiegel's skin while the ink was still wet." He looked back up and continued, abruptly changing his tone to sound more businesslike. "It's much neater than that, of course. I'm just saying that it's backwards."

Darcie nodded in understanding. "I see. Good of you to notice that, Weasley." Ron smiled faintly in thanks, but before he could say anything, Richards was back.

Seeing that Darcie had arrived, he gestured impatiently. "Well?" he asked irritably. "What's keeping the two of you? Get in here!" Richards stalked back into the examination room and Darcie rolled her eyes at Ron as the two of them went in after him.

As they entered the room, the sight of a man stretched out on the examination table, obviously unconscious, and wearing a pair of standard hospital-white pants and nothing else, greeted them. Darcie raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. Ron, letting his curiosity get the better of him, asked, "So, what exactly are we looking at here?"

Richards pursed his lips the way he usually did whenever he heard Ron talk, like a naughty child, without having been spoken to, but he allowed Dr. Stein to answer the question. "This," the elderly gentlemen replied, "is Mr. Scott Spiegel. 39 years old, 5' 11", 193 lbs. He's a muggle stock broker who lives on the outskirts of Wimbledon. He's been divorced once, no children, but he does have a rather large Doberman Pinscher named Shelby." Stein cleared his throat. "All this, however, I could have sent to you by owl. No, the reason I've asked for your presence here was to ask you about the man's tattoo."

"Well, we know about his tattoo!" Richards broke in. "It's the Dark Mark! We can see it right there, plain as day." He pointed to Spiegel's motion-less left arm. Stein shook his head.

"That's where you are mistaken, I'm afraid, Mr. Richards." He turned around and walked to the cupboard on the wall behind him, pulling a bottle and a clean cotton-ball down and coming back to the examination table. He lifted Spiegel's arm so that the "Dark Mark" was facing upwards and unscrewed the top off of the bottle. "As I'm sure Mr. Weasley has noticed by now," he continued, dabbing the cotton-ball in the liquid from the bottle, "This isn't an ordinary Dark Mark. As a matter of fact," he rubbed the cotton-ball against the tattoo, "it's not a Dark Mark at all."

He rubbed the cotton-ball on the pale skin for another few moments and Ron caught sight of the label on the bottle he was using. Magical Mess Remover. Glancing back to what Dr. Stein was doing, Ron had his suspicions confirmed as the ink on Spiegel's arm faded easily away.

"Nothing but a shabby imitation," Dr. Stein concluded, popping the stained cotton-ball into a plastic baggy he pulled out of his pocket. "Spiegel's, or somebody's, attempt to make us immediately jump to conclusions if he was caught. Not a bad idea, in all honesty, and most people would never have noticed it, but with people who are extremely familiar with the tattoo working on the case...well, as you can obviously see, it did not work."

Richards was looking ready to yell again. "You said you wanted us here so you could tell us something about this tattoo that you couldn't send us by owl! So far, I have yet to--"

"I'm getting there," Dr. Stein interrupted. "But you are right. I asked you here to talk about Mr. Spiegel's tattoo. But the thing you must understand is that THAT," he indicated the unconscious man's now-bare forearm, "was not the tattoo to which I was referring."

As Ron glanced over at Darcie, who merely shrugged, Dr. Stein reached across the examination table and took hold of Spiegel's right hand. Holding it palm down, he pointed to what looked like a tiny blemish along the side of the man's thumb. It was a small black mark on the far side of his thumb joint, which, upon very close inspection, looked almost like--

"A two?" Ron asked, clearly bewildered. "Is that a two?"

Dr. Stein shook his head slowly. "I believe," he responded, "that it is a cursive 'Q'. I am not positive, by any means, but I've done a bit of research since I first noticed it and, though I have found several references to 'Q' tattoos and markings, I have yet to discover what exactly they mean. Many of the references are from Muggle sources. So I am far from certain whether or not that is what this man's tattoo is. That is why I asked the three of you to come here. I was wondering if any of you knew anything whatsoever about this mark."

Ron, still looking flabbergasted, just shook his head. Richards jerked his head irritably in a gesture that Ron could only assume also meant no. Darcie, however, was squinting thoughtfully at the tiny black letter. Dr. Stein watched her closely as she chewed her lip absently. After a few moments of silent contemplation, she straightened and looked up from Spiegel's hand. "Questor," she muttered to herself at last.

Dr. Stein studied her questioningly while Ron and Richards just stared at her blankly. "The Questor Society," she explained hastily, glancing around the room, a nervous expression suddenly on her face. Ron had never seen Darcie quite so anxious. She looked almost like she was expecting to see somebody standing outside the window, listening to every word she was saying. "My father," she continued, hesitating now. "He was a member. They... It was..." She coughed harshly for a second and then her eyes widened in panic as though she had just realized that she was speaking out loud. She quickly turned away. "I've got to go."

Before they could say another word, Darcie left the room and disappeared down the hall. Ron almost went after her, but Richards, who probably guessed that women need space once in a while, sent him a warning glance and he stayed put. Wondering what on Earth that was all about, he decided that, while he wasn't going to go looking for her, he was going to ask Darcie the next time he saw her if she was okay.

Dr. Stein, though slightly disappointed that his only source of information had fled, was nonetheless happily writing down the things Darcie had said. "Questor..." he muttered to himself. "Father, father... Do either of you know what Mrs. Bethel's father's name was?"

Richards thought for a moment. "Daystrum. Something Daystrum."

"Marvin," Ron said quietly. Richards nodded in agreement.

"He's right," he announced. "It was Marvin Daystrum."

"Thanks," Dr. Stein replied absently, scribbling on a clipboard. "Alright. Now," he looked back up at Ron and Richards. "Unless there's anything else you gentlemen can think to add, I see no reason why I should keep you here any longer." He got up and went to the door, seeing them out. "Have a good day, boys."

Richards looked about ready to explode at being referred to as a "boy", but Dr. Stein had already closed the door behind them. Fuming, he turned to face Ron. "What are you smirking at, Weasley? Get back to work!" Ron, who hadn't been smirking in the slightest, felt no need to tell Richards that he had not only the rest of the day, but most of the rest of the week off. He just nodded and strolled off in the direction of his office. Calling after him, Richards shouted, "And don't forget to read that file! It's important, Weasley! I want you to be fully aware of what's going on here!"

Ron waved to him. "Yessir! Will do!"

As the younger man disappeared around a corner, Hank Richards shook his head exasperatedly. "Lazy bum."

Around the corner, Ron's mouth had twisted in irritation. "Bloody wanker."

* * * * *