and they sure as hell wouldn't have broken that sort of thing in a news story before it's even happened. not to mention Malfoy and Lestrange would've been crowing about it first.
No, oh, no. But oh, Frank, it's perfectly dreadful!
They found the birth announcement, the one you and Alice sent us all for Kevin, amongst Sirius' things! It's the page one story in the Daily Prophet--proof positive that you're alive and in contact with Sirius Black!
Of course I would have told you if I'd known! But I didn't, Mum.
Bleeding hell. Merlin, I'm sorry, Frank and Alice.
It must have come from Bellatrix Lestrange, or from her office. She doesn't need anyone's permission first to send anything to the press that she likes.
I suppose you can't send them an owl now. The Ministry will be watching, and it'll be too dangerous. Do you....do you want to write something here, for me to transcribe and take to Augusta to give to them?
Well, I do know Augusta, Frank. And after all, Neville and my boy are dorm mates. I could, I don't know, say I've come to support her during a stressful time, perhaps?
I'm willing to do it, Frank. I'll tell you what: I can speak with your Uncle Algie by Floo, and ask him to have Augusta send the children over there, so they won't be there when I arrive. And Augusta can even wait a day or two before giving the message to them, if need be.
Mum do what you’ve got to. we’re fine, laying low, summer camping plans off for now, we’ll sort out later. hold off giving nev and evelyn this for a few hours, you know not to say how you got it. evelyn's bound to be confused, might be time to lay the cards on the table so she knows the difference between what you say and what you mean, but that part’s up to you. love, f
Frank. The Players have been talking. We want to help.
The Ministry will be watching Augusta and your kids probably pretty closely now, yeah, but maybe with our help, you can still take that camping trip. Maybe you might even want to include Evelyn, too, since she knows and needs to meet you, too?
Anyway, this is what we came up with: have Augusta put it out that Algie's going to be taking a camping trip with the kids. Then two of us can polyjuice as Evelyn and Neville and spend a few days with him. Maybe we can pitch a tent at one of the more public camping grounds where we can be seen by a fair number of people.
You and Alice then can disappear with Neville and Evelyn and talk through whatever you need to with them.
I mean, it's all a bit sudden like, al and me will need to do some serious talking over.
hell, this probably throws a wrench in our idea to open moddey dhoo up a bit more, too, so there's a lot that needs to be sorted out.
we need to see our kids, work this through, no mistake. but we need to really figure out what's safest for them too. and it sounds like a good enough plan, and we might just take you up on it, but for now we've got to be careful and that's a risky move to make.
Nev I’m sorry too kid. didn’t mean for it to happen like this. you’ve got to be brave for you and your sis. keep your head down, do what you have to do, know that I love you and so does your mum no matter what. we’ll write later once things settle down. we’re all safe as houses here, so don’t worry. do me a favour, kid, and share your letters from us with your sis, so she can catch up. she needs to hear this from her brother instead of the papers. -mr c
hey there, sweetie. it’s your dad. I’m sorry it had to happen like this, but I want you to know that me and your mum love you very much. we left you with your gran when you were a baby because we wanted you and your brother to be safe.
we’ve kept quiet because we wanted you and your brother to live a normal life. you might read a lot in the papers about what we may or may not have done, but the plainest way to say it is that we fought hard to stop the people that are in charge right now, because we thought what they were doing was wrong. and when they took over, we couldn’t stick around.
you will always be my little girl, sweetie. and the fact that I haven’t talked to you all this time doesn’t mean I don’t think of you and miss you every day.
we get a letter from your gran every month telling us all about what you’ve been up to. last year, on his twelfth birthday, we wrote your brother a letter. we waited until he was twelve because we wanted to make certain that he was grown-up enough to understand how important it was not to tell anyone that we were still alive, and that we were in contact with him and with your gran. so don’t be mad at him for not telling you – we told him not to. we were going to write your letter when you turned twelve, too, and tell you about kevin, and about the fact that we’d been writing neville too. so turns out you get your letter a bit early.
so, sweetie, here’s the deal – I can’t tell you what me and your mum have been up to all these years. because that would put you right back into danger again, and we can’t have that. we haven’t told neville either. I know it’s got to be hard on you right now. you probably have a ton of questions that we just can’t answer, and you might even be angry at both of us for not telling you about kevin sooner. just remember that we’re a family no matter what, and families tough it out through the rough patches. and this is a rough patch, no mistake. but we’ll get through this together, I promise.
and just like we trusted neville, we’re trusting you right now. you can’t tell anyone you’ve gotten this letter from us. not your closest friends, not your professors at school, not anyone. the only people that know are your brother, your gran, and your uncle algie. I know it’s all a bit much to handle right now, but you can talk it over with them and your mum and me will write you a proper letter later.
kevin was born last summer, so he’s nearly a year old now. he's got brown hair, and laughs all the time. I wish you could meet him.
I've talked with Algie by Floo, and Augusta is having the children go over there. I'm leaving now to speak with her. I'll be sure to post when I get back, to tell you and Alice everything she said, and how the children are doing.
I'm sure that she won't, Frank. Augusta won't let her think any such thing. I've no doubt she'll make it perfectly clear that you and Alice left her and Neville with your mum because you thought it was the very best and safest thing that you could do. And as for Kevin, well, Neville's been writing to you, and he'll help her understand, I'm sure.
Frank, I'm so dreadfully sorry. I suppose this was always a risk, but...
I'm sure that Molly and I would be happy to host Neville for a night or two, if he needs to get away. Although he might not want to be around our noisy brood for the time being, come to think of it
and you're right. this was always a risk. but moddey dhoo is still safe, and the only person they've connected us to is Sirius, so no-one else gets hurt this way.
I'd give just about anything to spare my kids from all this though.
bill, mate, could you make doubly sure the announcement you have can't be used to narrow down a location at all? we didn't include any information about moddey, we're not that thick, but there may be trace elements of saltwater or the paper we used or something. it'd help if it couldn't be pinned down to the coast, or even narrowed down to england -- if there's a chance they think we're in france too things'll be less hot here.
shit.
mum will know what to do.
shit.
Evelyn -- we haven't written her yet. we were going to start next summer. and she has to find out from the mother fucking paper that her parents have a new kid and haven't told her about it.
Bugger, bugger, bugger. I hadn't even seen the paper yet this morning myself--had a bit of a lie in--but I just went down the hall and got a copy myself.
Let me think.
The announcement itself, I imagine, must still be in Bellatrix Lestrange's hands. They would have had to have shown it to the press in order to have them print it--and they printed it. I mean, the picture and everything, Frank. But no way would she have let the press keep it.
Frank, do you remember where you got the parchment that you used for the birth announcement on?
Frank! Did Alice keep one for herself as a keepsake? Mums do that sort of thing...maybe for a scrapbook for Kevin or something? I realise she won't be back till tonight, but perhaps one of the girls working in the nursery might know, if you don't. Can you run some tests on the parchment?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 01:47 pm (UTC)did they find sirius? is it about the wards?
al left last night, hasn't checked back in
but they wouldn't have known about that. couldn't have.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 01:51 pm (UTC)okay.
not thinking.
sorry.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:05 pm (UTC)They found the birth announcement, the one you and Alice sent us all for Kevin, amongst Sirius' things! It's the page one story in the Daily Prophet--proof positive that you're alive and in contact with Sirius Black!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:07 pm (UTC)What?
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:13 pm (UTC)Bleeding hell. Merlin, I'm sorry, Frank and Alice.
It must have come from Bellatrix Lestrange, or from her office. She doesn't need anyone's permission first to send anything to the press that she likes.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:16 pm (UTC)That's...that's really bad news.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:18 pm (UTC)goddammit
eleven fucking years
we've managed to stay out of sight for eleven fucking years
and now the year my baby goes to hogwarts this happens
and neville. fuck.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:22 pm (UTC)they don't deserve this.
we ran away to begin with so they could have a chance to be normal.
fuck, I wish al was here right now.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:26 pm (UTC)I suppose you can't send them an owl now. The Ministry will be watching, and it'll be too dangerous. Do you....do you want to write something here, for me to transcribe and take to Augusta to give to them?
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:32 pm (UTC)unless you have a damn good reason for going over there I don't want you to suffer collateral damage here.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:51 pm (UTC)if al were here right now she'd want to send word.
and it's not right, our baby finding out through the paper like that. I can't imagine what she's thinking right now.
but if neville and evelyn see you come over, and then get a letter right after, they'll sort out where it came from. can't have that.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 03:30 pm (UTC)don't want to put you on the spot or anything, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 04:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 04:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 04:50 pm (UTC)poor kid.
damn. okay, here's what I got, it'll have to do. damn. okay, there's three bits. one for mum, one for neville, one for evelyn.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 04:51 pm (UTC)do what you’ve got to. we’re fine, laying low, summer camping plans off for now, we’ll sort out later. hold off giving nev and evelyn this for a few hours, you know not to say how you got it. evelyn's bound to be confused, might be time to lay the cards on the table so she knows the difference between what you say and what you mean, but that part’s up to you. love, f
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 05:23 pm (UTC)The Ministry will be watching Augusta and your kids probably pretty closely now, yeah, but maybe with our help, you can still take that camping trip. Maybe you might even want to include Evelyn, too, since she knows and needs to meet you, too?
Anyway, this is what we came up with: have Augusta put it out that Algie's going to be taking a camping trip with the kids. Then two of us can polyjuice as Evelyn and Neville and spend a few days with him. Maybe we can pitch a tent at one of the more public camping grounds where we can be seen by a fair number of people.
You and Alice then can disappear with Neville and Evelyn and talk through whatever you need to with them.
Let us know if you think this is a good idea.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 06:47 pm (UTC)I mean, it's all a bit sudden like, al and me will need to do some serious talking over.
hell, this probably throws a wrench in our idea to open moddey dhoo up a bit more, too, so there's a lot that needs to be sorted out.
we need to see our kids, work this through, no mistake. but we need to really figure out what's safest for them too. and it sounds like a good enough plan, and we might just take you up on it, but for now we've got to be careful and that's a risky move to make.
I'll let you know. one way or the other.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 04:52 pm (UTC)I’m sorry too kid. didn’t mean for it to happen like this. you’ve got to be brave for you and your sis. keep your head down, do what you have to do, know that I love you and so does your mum no matter what. we’ll write later once things settle down. we’re all safe as houses here, so don’t worry. do me a favour, kid, and share your letters from us with your sis, so she can catch up. she needs to hear this from her brother instead of the papers.
-mr c
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 04:53 pm (UTC)hey there, sweetie. it’s your dad.
I’m sorry it had to happen like this, but I want you to know that me and your mum love you very much. we left you with your gran when you were a baby because we wanted you and your brother to be safe.
we’ve kept quiet because we wanted you and your brother to live a normal life. you might read a lot in the papers about what we may or may not have done, but the plainest way to say it is that we fought hard to stop the people that are in charge right now, because we thought what they were doing was wrong. and when they took over, we couldn’t stick around.
you will always be my little girl, sweetie. and the fact that I haven’t talked to you all this time doesn’t mean I don’t think of you and miss you every day.
we get a letter from your gran every month telling us all about what you’ve been up to. last year, on his twelfth birthday, we wrote your brother a letter. we waited until he was twelve because we wanted to make certain that he was grown-up enough to understand how important it was not to tell anyone that we were still alive, and that we were in contact with him and with your gran. so don’t be mad at him for not telling you – we told him not to. we were going to write your letter when you turned twelve, too, and tell you about kevin, and about the fact that we’d been writing neville too. so turns out you get your letter a bit early.
so, sweetie, here’s the deal – I can’t tell you what me and your mum have been up to all these years. because that would put you right back into danger again, and we can’t have that. we haven’t told neville either. I know it’s got to be hard on you right now. you probably have a ton of questions that we just can’t answer, and you might even be angry at both of us for not telling you about kevin sooner. just remember that we’re a family no matter what, and families tough it out through the rough patches. and this is a rough patch, no mistake. but we’ll get through this together, I promise.
and just like we trusted neville, we’re trusting you right now. you can’t tell anyone you’ve gotten this letter from us. not your closest friends, not your professors at school, not anyone. the only people that know are your brother, your gran, and your uncle algie. I know it’s all a bit much to handle right now, but you can talk it over with them and your mum and me will write you a proper letter later.
kevin was born last summer, so he’s nearly a year old now. he's got brown hair, and laughs all the time. I wish you could meet him.
love, your dad.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 04:53 pm (UTC)best I could do.
load of crap.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 05:14 pm (UTC)It will be all right.
I've talked with Algie by Floo, and Augusta is having the children go over there. I'm leaving now to speak with her. I'll be sure to post when I get back, to tell you and Alice everything she said, and how the children are doing.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 06:49 pm (UTC)she must think we're monsters, molly.
monsters who don't care about her and have started a new family without her.
goddamn.
al is the letter writer, not me.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 10:40 pm (UTC)It will be all right.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 07:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-22 12:46 am (UTC)He was trying to send you a message, don't you think?
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-22 12:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-22 12:47 am (UTC)Look at the two words he underlined.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-22 12:48 am (UTC)If you're right, well, that's pretty good for a Gryffindor.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-22 12:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-22 01:31 am (UTC)if you saw his letters you'd know
he didnt mean a word of it
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 04:17 pm (UTC)I'm sure that Molly and I would be happy to host Neville for a night or two, if he needs to get away. Although he might not want to be around our noisy brood for the time being, come to think of it
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 04:20 pm (UTC)thanks, though, mate.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 06:53 pm (UTC)I'd give just about anything to spare my kids from all this though.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:59 pm (UTC)sorry.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:15 pm (UTC)right.
okay.
al won't be back until tonight.
let me think.
bill, mate, could you make doubly sure the announcement you have can't be used to narrow down a location at all? we didn't include any information about moddey, we're not that thick, but there may be trace elements of saltwater or the paper we used or something. it'd help if it couldn't be pinned down to the coast, or even narrowed down to england -- if there's a chance they think we're in france too things'll be less hot here.
shit.
mum will know what to do.
shit.
Evelyn -- we haven't written her yet. we were going to start next summer. and she has to find out from the mother fucking paper that her parents have a new kid and haven't told her about it.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:22 pm (UTC)Let me think.
The announcement itself, I imagine, must still be in Bellatrix Lestrange's hands. They would have had to have shown it to the press in order to have them print it--and they printed it. I mean, the picture and everything, Frank. But no way would she have let the press keep it.
Frank, do you remember where you got the parchment that you used for the birth announcement on?
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:30 pm (UTC)Bill, could I meet you for lunch? I'll bring it with me, and you can run any tests on it then.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 02:42 pm (UTC)And for goodness sake, you'd better charm it so it looks blank when you bring it with you.
Bloody hell.