Fluid Reality

Damage Control

Lucius Malfoy refrained from killing his wife's cousin, though barely. He'd never understand how a fawning fool like Black could have spied for even the brief period of time he did without being caught. The blond-haired aristocrat stalked out of the Manor, his head threatening to explode if he couldn't find someplace quiet. "It is as if I have two small boys in my house!"

"Certainly not something you are accustomed to, I suspect." The quiet voice of Joan St. Martin surprised him, and he gripped the head of his cane tighter, nearly triggering the release that would allow him to draw his wand before he recognized the younger witch. He relaxed only infinitesimally, his eyes rapidly flickering to the broad windows that overlooked this portion of the gardens.

"Do you realize how dangerous coming here is?" he hissed, anger suffusing his features as she made a soothing gesture. "Are you trying to blow my cover?"

Joan shook her head, gesturing again for him to be silent. "No, Lucius. Not that I am here by choice, but if I did not come, one of those idiot Gryffindors would have, and your cover truly would be blown." A shared smile flickered between them. Lucius knew her passion for older forms of magic, and her knowledge of some forgotten ones - spells that had saved her hide on more than one occassion. "It is, of course, because of Black that I am here."

Lucius growled, his grey eyes narrowing as they continued between the hedgerows, headed away from the house. "Black is a fool, with less intelligence than my two year old son..."

"Not difficult with a former Gryffindor, you have to admit," Joan inserted dryly, and he glared at her briefly for the interruption before continuing.

"I am still wondering how he could have spent even the brief period of time he did as a spy. He is completely incompetant!" Lucius narrowed his eyes, shooting a glare over his shoulder at the now hidden manor. His headache was threatening to reach epic proportions. So much for the peace and quiet of a walk through the gardens.

"He fooled us all, Lucius. That is why he is so dangerous." Joan paused, stopping on the path. She reached into her pocket, drawing out a small vial with a dark blue liquid in it. "He will never taste it in his food, and no one will suspect poison - not with the symptoms he will display." She smiled softly, and Lucius wondered if the potion was not one of her own creations.

"What will it do?"

"It is a particularly interesting potion, developed in the late twelveth century, during the time of the plague. Mimics the symptoms very well, but isn't contagious, as plague is." She pressed the vial into his hand. "I did my research, Lucius, trust me. There was an outbreak of the plague near where he was a week ago. When he was helping to gather herbs in Asia." Her smile sent chills down his spine as he took the poison.

"How long will it take for the symptoms to take effect?" Lucius glanced over his shoulder again, this time nervously. Not that he hadn't killed before, he had. But never like this. Never using, well... a coward's weapon.

"Less than four hours." Joan's voice was quiet. "No one would be surprised if you and your family do not catch plague - unless Black has fleas, of course." Her dry chuckle held no humour in it. "Until later, Lucius." She raised her hand briefly before a whispered word made her vanish into wisps of mist.

Lucius turned back towards the Manor, his headache still pounding like the anvils of hell. He suspected he wouldn't be rid of it for quite some time.

~~~ ~~~

~You got the vial to him?~ Joshua looked over at his sister as she slipped into the library of their castle, taking his attention from the chess game he was playing with Peter. Remus was curled in a chair near the fireplace, and looked up as she came in, a question in her eyes.

~Yes.~ She slumped into the unoccupied chair, summoning her book to her. "The grounds are secure." The other two had thought she was going out to patrol the grounds of St. Martin castle, unaware of the plans the twins had for Sirius Black. They had never figured out she didn't need to leave the safety and comfort of her library to know the lands were safe, and there had been no breaches of the security. "Who's winning?"

~I am.~

"I think I'm winning at the moment." Peter spoke at the same time Joshua gave her an overview of the whole game so far. She smiled, hiding it behind the book.

~Checkmate in five moves?~ She fixed her eyes on the dense Latin text, letting a small portion of her mind follow the chess game as she bent a majority of her intellect to following the descriptions of some rather crude, and possibly dangerous curses. Though there could be some uses to them, she didn't fancy some of the possible side effects.

~No.~ Joshua gave the mental impression of a smile. "Check and mate, Peter." He made a move, and Joan suppressed a smile. She'd wondered if Joshua would see that move - he'd passed it up before, when the two of them had been playing chess. ~You'd expect it. Peter wasn't.~

Joan rolled her eyes, a grin on her face. "I should have warned you Peter, Joshua has been taking lessons from me on how to play chess." She chuckled at the groan from the small man, setting the book in her lap as she looked over her shoulder. "I didn't think he'd actually learned anything, of course. But I have been known to be wrong." She paused, a mischevious smile on her face. "From time to time."

That made Joshua groan, and the other two laugh, Remus shaking his head at her. Joan returned her attention to the book, hoping that Joshua would not invite the other two to stay more than overnight, as he had in the past. ~Why did you invite them over tonight, Joshua?~ She was curious. It was two weeks until the full moon, when he normally invited Remus and Peter over. And James and Sirius in the past. A shadow of sorrow pasted across her eyes at the thought. The former was now dead, and the latter... would be dead soon enough.

~I thought they might like the company of some friends, after the news...~ He trailed off, an echo of her own grief coming down the bond. ~I thought it'd be good for them to be here, instead of home alone.~

Joan let her approval of his reasons bounce back down the bond, before giving up on reading for the evening, and joining the three men in an impromptu contest to see who would take the least amount of time to get drunk. She won, by virtue of being the smallest person there. Not that she was conscious to celebrate her victory.