Of Links and Laws

Of Links and Laws

The group of students known as Chimera were sitting around their table in Manticore Hall. James and Tiffany were sharing the loveseat, reading a book, while Rose was sprawled in her window, and the others were spread out around the table in their favorite chairs.

Being a Saturday, they were relaxing, finishing their class assignments or just staying dry. It was cold outside, with a hard rain falling, keeping even the most avid Quidditch players indoors.

Emma and Hangeld were finishing their Potions essay, and Lisa was reading over the data that Jerrick's spy network brought in each week. Melissa was writing something, and the most active one of the bunch was Adam, who was sketching the group, trying to capture the distinct personalities of the group on his canvas.

Adam watched as Melissa looked up from her notes, and spoke to James over the link. They used a private link, so Adam didn't hear what Melissa asked, but the response she got was obvious. James, Tiffany and Rose jerked, and looked at each other. They spent a few minutes talking on their own link, and then James turned back to Melissa, shaking his head.

The negative answer surprised Melissa and set her to watching the twins with a slight frown on her face. Adam watched the three of them for a few more minutes, and then his curiosity got the better of him. "Melissa," he sent, over a private link, "what did you ask them?"

Melissa looked at him and went back to her research. "I'm working on the links right now, and part of that is explaining why we did it in the first place. Since James and Rose modified their Twinbond before they even knew about the Prophecy, I simply asked them why they did it."

Adam frowned. It seemed like a simple enough question. "They wouldn't tell you?"

"No, all James would say was that they had reasons."

Adam thought about that as he continued to sketch. He was trying to figure out why the twins wouldn't tell them why they changed the link. Chimera already knew about the Codex, so either the Evans Clan had more secrets to hide, or James and Rose did.

Adam opened a private link to Lisa, and told her about it, hoping she could figure out what they were hiding. Lisa considered it, but couldn't make any concrete statements about what they were hiding. While he was talking to Lisa, Adam noticed that Emma and Hangeld were talking to Melissa while watching the twins.

James was watching the various conversations, and using the Twinbond to talk to Rose. Tiffany was the only person that was not in one conversation or another, and while all of Chimera knew that she knew whatever it was that the twins were hiding, they also knew that she would not tell them anything she learned from the Soulbond unless James said it was OK.

James opened a link to all of Chimera. "I don't suppose y'all would just accept that we had our reasons, and leave it at that?"

"James, the why of a thing can be just as important as the how," sent Melissa.

Lisa nodded, and added her viewpoint. "Not to mention, the secrets you two tend to keep tend to be rather extreme." Most of Chimera looked toward Gryffindor Tower as Lisa reminded them about the Codex.

James and Rose stared at each other for a few minutes, talking over the Twinbond that was the very thing under discussion. James finally turned back to the waiting group. "Rose has convinced me that we should tell you, but before either of us say a word, I will hear each of you swear on our link that you will never tell anyone what you're about to hear."

Chimera looked at each other. Melissa was frowning. "How can I properly document the links if I cannot explain why you did it?"

"Melissa, get with me," said Rose, "and we'll write something that is true without opening this can of worms."

Lisa was looking at the two of them. "Is hearing this story going to make us accessories?"

"Yes, it is."

Chimera looked at each other as James calmly admitted they had done something illegal.

Emma cocked her head. "Just how many rules did you two break anyway?"

James smiled thinly and ticked them off on his fingers. "Using magic on a Muggle. Using magic to commit bodily harm. Underage use of magic. Using magic to impersonate a Deity to a Muggle. Using magic to create supernatural fear in a Muggle. Using magic to avoid capture or prosecution."

"James you forgot the Muggle laws. Violation of the Mann Act, Kidnapping, Hindering prosecution and the rest."

James shrugged. "Like they matter? No Muggle will ever be able to prove we had anything to do with it, and so long as that is true, I'm not going to worry about it. I don't think we can be charged under the Mann Act anyway, since we were underage as well."

By the time the two of them stopped talking, the rest of Chimera had so many questions that nobody could make himself or herself heard over the link. James waited until the babble stopped and looked at them. "If you really want the answers to all those questions, I will hear your oath first, or wee don't say another word."

The five members of Chimera that didn't know what was going on looked at each other. James and Rose had just admitted to breaking some of the highest laws of the Wizard world, and from the sounds of it, a bunch of Muggle laws as well. If anyone ever found out, the two of them would be in more trouble than anyone the British Wizards had ever heard of, with the exception of Voldemort.

Lisa turned to Tiffany, who was watching them all. "You know what they did, and why. Do you have anything to say about it?"

"What they did was wrong by the laws of both Wizards and Muggles," she said, and then looked at each Chimera in turn, "and if I had been there, I would have helped them every step of the way. What they were trying to stop was infinitely worse."

The members of Chimera that didn't know the story looked at each other. Emma was the first to give her word, and the others followed.

James listened to their oaths, and sat back on the loveseat, cuddling into Tiffany in a motion that was purely reflex after three years of being bonded.

"This is a long story, and it starts a couple of weeks after we turned nine."