Some interesting news...

[Sarah Hildebrandt]

Sarah was spending a lazy Saturday, relaxing in the tub with a glass of red wine and a good book. She loved soaking in the hot water, kept at the right temperature magically. The water swirled and swished around her, similar to a muggle jacuzzi. Upon finishing her book she muttered an incantation that stopped the water from moving, and set her book to the side on the little table the house elves had set up for her. Her empty glass rested there as well. Rising from the water, Sarah wrapped a fluffy, warm, white towel around her body and moved to the dressing table across the bathroom. She picked up her hairbrush and smoothed her hair before rising again and moving to her closet to choose a new outfit. Soon she was dressed in a pale, pink sweater and a pair of muggle jeans. Slipping her feet into a pair of muggle boots called Uggs, she walked out of the bathroom, and through the bedroom she spent with Valcan to the hallway, and began her search of the castle for him.

After checking the library and dining hall, Sarah was successful in entering his private offices. She loved the dark, glossy woods of the room and most of all the massive man behind the desk. Slipping in the door silently, she crossed the room to where he was writing at his desk. Not wanting to totally disturb him as he worked, she walked over to the wall and looked at the family tree that was hanging there. She liked to keep tabs on her daughter and Valcan's son and their grandchildren. As she looked at the parchment that was charmed to hover on the wall, she gasped. There was writing that was appearing on the paper as she watched. She was shocked that it showed Tristan had just married a woman named Julie. "Um, honey. I really think you need to come and see this. I think Tristan has gone and done something." Sarah didn't say if it was good or bad, because she figured it was good that he was finally settling down, but the name of his wife was in blue, which meant she was a muggle.

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan could not suppress a smile as he looked up from his desk to see Sarah. The man was rather immersed in writing a proposal for the office of law, a department of the ministry that he had worked in in his younger years, and thus only gave her a nod of greeting. He watched her move about the room out of the corner of his eye, ever watchful. Raising an eyebrow he peered through his glasses, leaning over the desk. "What has he done now?" he asked, his expression darkening. "Sired another bastard? I cannot say that I am surprised." He shook his head, not bothering to get up as he scratched out a few words with his quill. Dabbing at his ink well, he waited for Sarah to say something. At this point Valcan did not care if he had more grandchildren, at least, the ones coming from Tristan's end. Part of this attributed to his anger at the boy-for more boy than man he acted- which existed for a multitude of reasons.

 

[Sarah Hildebrandt]

As the writing continued on in blue, indicating the person was a muggle, she was stunned. It appeared that he did indeed get married and to a woman with a child. She was shocked. A part of her smiled, she was happy to see that he was finally growing up and that he found someone to make him as happy as she and Valcan were. The other part of her realized that this woman was now in danger and lacked any magic to defend herself. She knew the family's inner secrets, and knew that Tristan was a wanted man. Wanted by his family, wanted by the Ministry and wanted by the Death Eaters that he chose to walk away from. This woman either means a whole heck of a lot to him to put her in that kind of danger, or he was just plain stupid and had a death wish for her and himself.

"Actually, yes, there is another child involved, but this one is not his for a change. I do believe that your eldest has gone off and gotten married to one Julie Bennett, who has a child of her own named Eliza. Tristan is now a stepfather," Sarah couldn't help but smile, making sure not to turn around and show her emotions until she knew how Valcan would react. She would let him work things through before she voiced an opinion of her own. Sarah knew just how to handle things with her love, and jumping in right away was not the way to do this at all. "Oh, and brace yourself," she said turning around to face him, "their names are in blue. He married a muggle." She watched Valcan carefully, wondering just how he would react to the information.

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan tried with all his might to respect Sarah's advice and brace himself, but what had come out of her mouth, he had not been expecting at all. His face slowly reddening, looking as if steam were going to shoot out of his ears, he hissed, "A muggle?" The big man was never one to keep his rage entirely in check, as many knew. He was so infuriated by this bit of news that he stood up, unable to help spittle flying out of his mouth as he cursed in fluent Norwegian, English all but forgotten to him. Anything that had been on his desk was knocked to the floor. One might think that seeing such a tantrum out of a sixty four year old would be quite entertaining, but it was quite the opposite. He did not think he had ever been so angry in years.

A vein pulsing in his temple and seeming fit to explode beneath his skin, he was baffled by the impossibility of the situation. Sure, it was like his stupid oaf of a son to be with a muggle on a bet by his brother, but this? This was almost as horrendous as Tristan being with his adoptive brother's wife. And to think, he had a muggle stepdaughter! If anyone found out about this, he would be the laughingstock of the Death Eaters, and probably not for any short period of time. He was not sure what he was more infuriated about- the very fact that a muggle was in the family or that his pride had taken such a heavy blow. He threw a vase at the bookcase beside him, totally forgetting that the object was ages old and that the piece had been a favorite of his mothers. It exploded at his side into a million pieces. Oh, the shame! The old man knew know more than ever that he wanted to slaughter his son. His meaty fingers were itching to latch themselves around his son's neck and constrict with no form of leeway.

 

[Sarah Hildebrandt]

Sarah saw the fury building in her love's face and knew what was coming would not be pretty. She shrank back against the wall as much as she could, grasping her wand in it's holster on her leg. She was advanced enough in her magic that she no longer needed to move the wand to perform any spells, just touch it. She quickly muttered "Protego" and shielded herself from whatever may go flying.

Once Valcan settled down, well, as much as he was able to, Sarah released the spell and quickly spoke another one. "Reparo" was aimed at the vase, one that she knew he would regret smashing later on when he was in his right mind again. She quickly moved about the room muttering a few other spells as she went. His desk soon showed no sign of his tantrum. Sarah strode over to the man and quietly encouraged him to sit back down. Stroking his temples, she worked to relax the vein that continued to pulse. "Baby, we cannot do anything about it right at this moment. I agree that it is unbelievable that he would marry a muggle. Or that he would marry at all for that matter. We should do a bit more digging on what reason he has for marrying her. If it is a ploy, or if he really is in love with the girl."

Sarah was not sure if Tristan was up to something, or if he really was in love. She wanted to get the chance to figure out what he was up to before he was eliminated the way that she could tell Valcan was thinking about.

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan stood behind his desk, his shoulders tensing up as he tried to catch his breath. His forehead was creased in contemplation and anger. How could Tristan go off and do something like this? He had already stricken the family name enough. This was insufferable. His teeth gritted, he noticed how cautious Sarah seemed to be around him. He was inwardly glad that she had repaired the vase but he was too infuriated with his son to care about that right now. The man had sired three bastards by three different women, and now he had a muggle stepdaughter. He had never considered obliterating anyone off the family tree as much as he did right now. At Sarah's suggestion he took a seat in his chair.

"There is no reason he should be marrying a muggle," he muttered angrily, his teeth clenched as he spoke to the woman before him. "It doesn't matter if he is in love or not. If I see him, he is dead." He said it bluntly, without any jest in his voice. In fact, he did not believe he had ever been so sure about anything. There was not much room for rationality when it came to his eldest son.

 

[Sarah Hildebrandt]

Sarah heard the tension in Valcan's voice, a definite anger still lingering there. She had never seen him this angry before. After he spoke, she moved to sit down on his lap, and try to divert his attention. "I understand. Tristan is a dead man." She stroked his scruffy cheek, and then moved to remove the glasses from his face. "However, right now I don't want you to have a stroke from all of this anger. This is not good for you at all." She stroked his cheek, then kissed him gently on it. "You have a name to help locate him with now. How many Julie Bennett's could there be in the world? I would say she is from outside the UK, so we can have some research done on her. She should be easy to track down." Sarah kissed his cheek again, then whispered to him, "Let's go for a walk." She had a good idea in mind on how to calm down her love, but she wanted to get him some fresh air first.

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan seethed as he sat, his face scrunched up in anger. He allowed Sarah to sit on his lap, his breathing coming in harsh draws as he attempted to get a hold of the situation. His eyes narrowed as he looked back to Sarah. Expression calculating, he replied firmly, "Yes. He needs to be found. And taught a lesson." He knew that sounded foolish, as his son was a full grown forty-three year old man, but he meant it with the utmost sincerity. When he found out where they were living, he would pay a visit. What he would do then- he was not yet sure. Looking back to his love, he murmured, "A walk would probably be a good idea." A stroke was not an impossibility at his age, although he laughed at how ridiculous it sounded. He did not feel or carry himself as an old man.