The Yule Ball, just two days before, had ended on a relatively high note. Tapendra had assumed it would either end terribly or be dull at best, but it had actually turned out rather pleasantly - snobby purebloods and all. Aileen had certainly seemed happier than she had earlier, which he also assumed was good.

Thus the odd moment right at the end, where Abby had pulled him aside and whispered that she needed to talk to him at the Reid home and that it was serious, had been one he'd sort of laughed off, although he'd agreed to stop by. In the next day, he'd gotten a little worried. This was Abby; her measure of serious was foreign to him.

With the crowd that had filled his house, though, he'd been rather occupied. Already he'd been up at 5am to cook breakfast for the lot (which had been devoured already) and he'd had to lecture them on the rules of his house (again) before he'd made up an excuse to head out on his own - University business. He almost wished it was that, though he fully intended to stop by at some point. The excuse had gotten some strange looks, though - he'd made some effort to try and dress nicely without...dressing too nicely, and had only then thought up the University excuse. He certainly didn't make a habit of showing up at the lab with a leather jacket and jeans on.

With only the street address, he'd been very surprised to find Aileen lived in muggle London. But with the revelations of the Yule Ball, that made more sense than it used to. He wasn't at all familiar with the area, so in the end he took his car, rather liking having an excuse to do so.

The house turned out to be smaller than he'd expected. It was a rather charming row house, and to his pleasant surprise it even had a driveway. Any hesitation he'd have had that it was a wizarding house were quickly dashed when the GPS unit on the dashboard began to act strangely; he quickly turned it and the stereo off as he pulled the car into the driveway.

The air was frosty and his breath puffed out in front of him as he hopped out of the car, locking the door behind him manually. Behind the barrier of magic, the house did look a bit nicer, and he carefully wove his way towards the front door - becoming increasingly aware of how strange his reason for being here might sound. Trying to ignore that, he knocked on the door.

Aileen stretched out on the couch with her book, resting one hand over her ear in an attempt to block the atrocious music Abby blasted upstairs. She had been playing a record softly in the living room earlier, then shut it off due to the competing noise. At a particularly loud 'weeeee-ooooo' she narrowed her eyes in the direction of the stairway, tempted to stand and holler a warning at her sister. Instead, she brought her feet up on the couch and crossed her legs at the ankles, deciding it would take too much effort. Yesterday, she'd finally gotten her holiday shopping done. Today was a day for doing absolutely nothing.

The cat agreed. Crabapple opened an eye to look at her lazily, then yawned, curling her paws around one of the slip-on shoes Aileen had left on the rug.

Though it felt strange to be home on a Monday, Aileen expected the holiday break to fly by. She and Abby had both enjoyed the Yule Ball despite the drama from Liadan, and though Aileen refused to attend the New Year's gala, they had plenty of other plans and holiday events to occupy their time.

As Aileen lifted the teacup to her lips, she heard a car on the road. She thought nothing of it until the odd rumble of the automobile slowed, sounding rather close by. Setting her book down, she was about to peek out the window when the noise stopped.

Slam!

That must be the car-creature flapping its jaws. Which meant that the charms she'd cast to distract the muggles from her residence had begun to fade. Aileen set her teacup on the end table and jumped at the knocking. The cat made a sound in the back of her throat and bolted, while the crup began to bark, skittering down the steps to jump at the door.

No, no, no. She did not want to make friends with the neighbors! It was the holiday season, and the silly muggle could be at the wrong house, but did they really have to use her driveway?

Aileen strode into the foyer, looked into the peephole, and drew back, startled. What in the world? She took a moment to glance down at her outfit, then smoothed back her loose, wavy hair. Opening the door, she held the crup back.

"Tapendra-" She tried to speak over the crup's barking. Aileen gestured the professor inside, then let go of the crup, who began hopping up on his jeans until she scolded it.

"This is a surprise," Aileen tilted her head and gave him a bemused look, certain they had not made plans and fairly certain he was not the sort to just drop by.

"I was not aware you had my address?"

The music upstairs went suddenly and mysteriously quiet. She shifted to give Tapendra more room, and nearly ran into the Sha, who had crept silently into the foyer during the crup's reign of mayhem.

Aileen shot a suspicious glance up the stairs. That teenager always wanted to know who was here and why... yet not a peep from the peanut gallery!

The garden felt strangely quiet when the sounds of his knocking died down, and he couldn't help but notice a curious neighbor or two looking at him from across the garden row. Aileen didn't get many visitors, perhaps? He wondered how well they could actually see him -

And then barking came from behind the door, followed by soft footsteps. Well, someone was home at least. The barking was almost nonstop as Aileen opened the door, and Tapendra smiled...not really sure what to say. She was wearing an animal print shawl - no, no, it had baroque patterns. That was better than animal print...but it was still a terribly Aileen kind of dress, cinched in waist and all. He stepped in as she gestured for him to do so.

He looked down at the crup as it yipped and yipped, reaching down to pet the Sha as it silently came up. The black dog seemed to have a shroud of silence about it.

"Sorry. I'd have written ahead but-" He started, having to raise his voice over the yipping. She silenced the crup, and he squatted down, sticking out his hand so the pup could sniff it and hopefully stay quiet. When he smiled up at Aileen, the bashfulness was definitely in full view.

"S-sorry. I don't have an owl, currently," he explained, with a bow of his head. He followed her gaze upstairs, wondering more or less the same thing she was. A proper explanation was required, he knew, but he wasn't really sure why he was here either.

"Abby pulled me aside the other night and said she needed to talk to me in person," he said, reaching over to pet the Sha, too. "And that it was serious. I'm sorry - I assumed she'd tell you she'd invited me over." That was a damning sentence if he'd ever said one, he realized. He couldn't help but attach the words hair brained scheme to whatever Abby was up to, though - she'd seemed upbeat enough when she'd asked him.

He couldn't help but look around, the residence a bit bigger and fancier than he'd been expecting, but quite nice nonetheless. Larger than his own home, but that came as no surprise...

Aileen raised an eyebrow, wondering what was going on as Tapendra apologized and smiled with his usual warm, but awkward demeanor. He bent to give the dogs attention, the crup licking at his fingers while the Sha stood more stoically.

Ah, Abby. Abby was up to her shenanigans again. She should have known. It was serious? Serious, her bum!

"No, her memory for these things is quite selective," Aileen remarked dryly, shaking her head.

She glanced at his coat (which fit him well), and thought about offering to take it and getting him something to drink, but first, she wanted to know what was going on in her sister's head. Just how much did Abby plan on embarrassing her today?

Aileen went to the stairs. "Ab-"

"-Yup, here!" Abby bounded down the steps, all smiles, her over-sized sweater flopping. As her feet touched the floor in her thick wool socks, she skidded slightly, grabbing Aileen's arm for support.

Her sister peered down at her, none too pleased. "Professor Trishna has arrived. I hear that you were expecting him to discuss some important matter? Shall I leave you to it, Abby?"

This was a test, Abby knew, but she shrugged and tried to act normal. "Actually, sure! That'd be great."

Aileen blinked at her.

"Just for a few minutes! I really do have something to talk to him about."

Though the emotions were few and mild, flitting across Aileen's face very quickly, Abby thought she caught offense and confusion. Her sister paused, then glanced at Tapendra, as if hoping for answers.

"Just a minute or two," Abby said again, nearly apologetic.

"I suppose I will make a pot of tea," Aileen began to move out of the room, then paused to look at Abby pointedly. "Though Professor Trishna is certainly welcome, next time, I would appreciate a head's up."

As soon as Aileen disappeared into the kitchen, some of the good cheer went out of Abby's expression.

"Sorry," she told Professor Tappy in a hushed tone. Then, she launched into a rambling explanation.

"I wanted to talk to you, but the dance wasn't the right place, and I couldn't tell her I was inviting you over, because then she'd want to know why, and she doesn't know anything yet. About-"

She glanced in the direction of the kitchen, then back at him.

"About Sasha." Worry flickered over her face.

"He told me all of it. And he said that you knew, too."

Abby glanced up at him, looking rather serious, indeed.

Tapendra's smile was understanding. His own children tended to have selective memories at times, too - he'd learned to weave around that much of the time. He imagined Abby's wasn't much better...and probably equally easy to get to grips with.

"Hallo, Abby," he said, standing back at bit as the two women exchanged looks. Aileen's expression wasn't lost on him - it was basically the same one he'd had, minus the offense. He glanced at Aileen apologetically, standing back up and scooting back to give her some space. He undid the laces on his boots quickly, setting them by the doorstep.

"Tea would be lovely," he admitted innocently, voice small in the odd tension. He turned, looking at Abby curiously as Aileen left to the kitchen. Abby was very quickly serious, and he had a moment to consider that maybe this was really serious -

Oh. Apparently it was. He looked at her blankly for a long moment, the silence that would have been broken by the sound of the crup as the little dog scooted on the wooden floor between them.

"I see," he said, finally, his shoulders slumping. He could feel the need to be grim, but - he looked at the kitchen again, the glance rather clearly demonstrating what he was worried about - should Aileen know this, too? He frowned and looked at Abby, trying to decide. He knew if he was Aileen, he'd want to know - even if it made things messy.

"Then you're aware how dangerous this is?" He asked, wanting to make sure. Sasha did seem to be telling a lot of students; he'd have to talk to him about that. He needed to know who was in the loop. "I'm sorry, Abby. It's - this is a huge mess." It was an understatement on a colossal scale. He straightened up a bit, giving her a slightly but rather bleak smile. "Are you alright?"

Abby hadn't been sure what to expect, but at least the professor didn't seem mad - just a bit defeated. She followed his glance toward the kitchen, knowing she wanted to tell Aileen, and half-hoping he would suggest it, but unsure about the best course of action.

It had been weighing on her since Sasha had told her. Not all the time, and not always in a heart-wrenching way, but the worry crept on her as she brushed her teeth in the morning, or made lunch, or caught a glimpse of headlines in the paper. At the ball, Sasha had seemed fine, just like he usually was, which concerned Abby more than if he'd been visibly distracted or especially quiet. Had anything she said earlier in the month made an impact on him? If it had, did he know what to do? Because she didn't. Which was why she'd needed to talk to someone.

Abby nodded, her eyes sad. Dangerous. Yes it was. Hearing it out loud startled her slightly, but it was the truth.

 "I'm fine, professor," her mouth lifted in mockery of her usual smile. "I'm not the one who's penpals with a criminal," she glanced at the kitchen again.

"But he doesn't seem to get it. Or if he does-" Abby cut herself off, shook her head. "What do we do? I can't keep knowing and not doing anything. Because what if something happens to him?"

Tapendra smirked slightly in response to her smile and comment. He'd hope she wasn't, though with Abby one never quite knew, did they? He followed her in glancing at the kitchen again, then inclined his head towards what he assumed was the sitting room. It'd get them out of the hallway...and not quite so close to the kitchen.

"He and I spoke on the 13th," he said, as he quietly walked towards the couch-filled room, socked feet almost silent on the floorboards despite his size. "He seems to - to get it, to some extent. But it took a lot to chip away the denial he's got built up. I can't help but think if we don't keep chipping at that he'll find a way to repair it." Stretched metaphors, much? He shook his head, sitting on the white couch with a creak of leather. There was a cat on the floor nearby, which opened one eye and gave him a rather dark look. He kept his feet away from it.

He looked up at Abby after one more cautious look at the cat, which seemed to have claimed a slipper for its own. "He seems to have acknowledges that something needs to be done, but he's not - he'd not at the point of actually working directly against the man. Not yet."

Tapendra took his glasses off, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he flicked his wrist, his glasses folding up with a click click as he did so. "I'm looking into things as best I can. He's all but begged me to keep the Aurors out of it, but -" He looked up at Abby over his fingers. He didn't finish his sentence, but the look he shot her indicated his indecision well enough.

"Almasy knows too," he added. "If you need someone - someone your own age to talk to. But Abby - this has to stay quiet. Very, very quiet. Malvivicus is the sort who'd be willing to, and is capable of, killing all of us if he so much as suspects that others know."

And after the Yule Ball...it had taken him until now to click on that. Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Malvivicus had enough eyes in the school - he'd certainly have looked into who Sasha had on his arm, and how hard would it really be fore them to track her down? Oh, bugger -

His expression changed swiftly, looking around the house. It was only a few days after. She was probably safe for now, but - her connection to Sasha was going to come to light. And unlike the other students whom Malvivicus knew about, Abby couldn't really defend herself easily...and she was home alone much of the day. Vulnerable.

He leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes. "Do you want to tell your sister?" It was a request as much as a question, but...Aileen did need to know if Abby was going to be in danger. Malvivicus wouldn't hesitate to kill if it suited him.

Abby followed him and sat next to him on the couch, unused to adults treating her maturely like he was, but grateful for it. At least he was getting through to Sasha, though the stress on his shoulders was clear, and she nodded at his comment about the Aurors.

Raine knew? Abby paused, pushing back a strange rush of conflicting emotions. Surprise, relief - jealousy? No, no. That didn't make sense. That was dumb. She'd wanted all of them to become friends. But she hadn't expected Sasha to tell another student after confiding in her.

"I know," she said automatically when he told her it was important to keep quiet.

Then her face clouded over at the rest of what he'd said.

The thought of Malvivicus killing people that Sasha had told... had not sunk in yet for Abby. At all, really. She leaned forward in her seat a bit, feeling suddenly sick, and unaware that the same fear and realization was running through the professor next to her.

"Yes," Abby looked at him. This had just gotten ten times more complicated. "That's part of the reason why I asked you over. So we could tell her if it was the right thing. But-" She put her hands up to her face.

"What if I tell her and Malvivicus finds out and knows like you said and does something to her?" Her words came out in a rush as she lifted her head. "She can defend herself, but - and what about Raine?"

What about all of them? Resting her elbows on her knees, Abby hid her face from view, struggling not to cry.

Tapendra looked at her as her words changed from her calmer tones to the rush of worry that he felt far too keenly himself. He automatically reached over, arm going around her shoulders, and gave her a gentle squeeze - reassuring but not necessarily helpful, he knew.

The truth was - it almost didn't matter if she told Aileen or not. Knowledge clearly hadn't saved Sasha's parents, had it? But he wasn't ready to broach that theory to anyone other than Landis. Not yet, anyway - they needed evidence to back it up, first. And saying that wouldn't help Abby much, he knew.

"In that case, better she's aware it might happen and is prepared," he said, trying to keep his tone rational. Raine...Raine, he suspected, could look after herself to some extent. Was it well enough?  "That way she can defend herself properly."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't think he knows about Almasy," he said, carefully. "And Almasy knows not to talk - she should be safe, more or less. And...Sasha's trying to maintain the illusion that everything's fine, to Malvivicus. So he shouldn't be sniffing around too much." Not yet, anyway. When the end came, Tapendra knew it needed to come fast and sudden - and be complete.

He squeezed her shoulders again, turning his head as the faint clinking of dishes from the kitchen seemed to shift. "It'll be alright," he said, as reassuringly as he could. "I promise."

How good he could make on that promise, he didn't know - but he wasn't able to give up any time soon.

Abby nodded at the reassurance, appreciating it even as she understood in the back of her mind that he couldn’t possibly make that promise. But it helped her hold back the tears.

When the tray clinked in the kitchen, she rubbed at her eyes, trying to compose herself. Roxy the crup scooted forward, rested her paws on Abby’s knees, and looked up at her with the empathetic sorrow that only dogs could express.

Aileen made no effort to be quiet in the kitchen, arranging the teacups with the controlled precision of annoyance, and setting the steaming teapot down with a clatter.

Lifting the tray, Aileen moved through the doors and toward the sitting room. If Abby was sticking her nose in her business, especially after the Yule Ball, then she and her sister were going to have words. Words! Why else would she ask Tapendra-

She froze in the entryway. As she stared at them, the tray began tilting slightly and she righted it when the cups clinked together. Abby wouldn’t go so far as to pretend to be upset, and Tapendra’s concern looked familiar. Something serious was going on.

Wordlessly, Aileen set the tray down, then took the seat on the other side of her sister. Crossing her legs, she tilted her knees toward them.

"Abby," she rested a hand lightly on the middle of her back. Her sister straightened and looked at her, on the verge of tears or speaking, Aileen couldn’t tell.

"What is it? Tell me."

"It's about Sasha," Abby paused, taking a deep breath.

“What about Sasha.” Aileen waited a moment. She searched her sister’s face, then glanced at Tapendra, eyebrows drawing together in worry.

Aileen came in and sat down, and the gentle touch to Abby's back seemed to calm the girl considerably. Tapendra locked gazes with Aileen, unsure what to say. How did one even start this sort of conversation? So your sister's friend is sort of the stalking victim of - no, that didn't work.

It didn't help Aileen was obviously worried. Had she been impassive, this might have been easier. Tapendra sighed and sat back.

"You might recall Schlagenweit was kidnapped almost a year ago?" He said, the sentence half question and half statement. "After Skeeter published articles about him." He closed his eyes a moment, and decided that - well, so be it.

"The man who took him - or ordered him kidnapped, more accurately - was Kronos Malvivicus." He had to wonder if the name had the same impact on Aileen it had had on him; the man's reputation as a sort of criminal boogeyman was one he was familiar with, certainly.

He glanced at Abby for a moment before looking back to Aileen. "They maintained a correspondence. Malvivicus has apparently decided Sasha is his...protege. His son, really. He showers Sasha with affection, and...Sasha's fallen for it. Or deluded himself into believing it, at any rate. But Sasha hasn't mentioned any of his friends, only...Malvivicus only knows about roles, not people."

He rubbed his face with his hand, pitching the bridge of his nose again. "It's a mess, Aileen. And now, thanks to the Yule Ball, he'll know Abby exists."

Aileen nodded. Kidnapped - yes, she remembered. The criminal's name most certainly rang a bell, bringing to mind several notorious headlines in the paper, year after year.

But when Tapendra mentioned proteges, sons, Aileen had to fight the urge to put up a hand. Stop so she could think. She blinked at him, then at Abby, who petted the crup that had half-crawled onto her lap. As she processed this, she wanted to believe that there was no way Abby could have gotten wrapped up in it, but then he explained more.

Concern and confusion settled on her face, an expression she rarely allowed.

"No," Aileen stated, as if he were joking with her.

"You're telling me," she spoke slowly, "that Sasha has kept in touch with Kronos Malvivicus all this time. That Sasha believes Malvivicus has his best interests at heart."

She paused, glancing at Abby. "And now my sister is... involved, could be in danger, because of her connection to Sasha." Connection was a rather mild way of putting it, but she needed the distance that word provided.

Abby met her eyes, apologetic. "It's true though. Really. Sasha told me about it earlier in the month."

Despite her denial, Aileen thought back. That must have been Hogsmeade - around the time when she'd started acting strangely.

She locked gazes with Tapendra again, some part of her hoping he would smile and tell her what a terrible joke this was. No. Nothing.

"Tapendra," she said numbly, gesturing at him. "I don't understand. How could this happen? Do the Aurors know? How is he still in school?"

Urgency colored her voice at the end. Who, exactly, had this situation under control?

It hadn't really been a question, per say, but Tapendra nodded in response to Aileen's statements nonetheless, his face falling to a kind of impassive non-emotion. He wasn't sure what to feel, and so focused on not letting himself feel much of anything.

"I don't know how it happened, exactly. Sasha handed their correspondence to me, and...it seems Malvivicus selected him. He called him son when they first met - when he had Sasha kidnapped, that is."

He sighed, crossing his legs. His tone was level and rational, even though his thoughts wanted him to be otherwise. "The Aurors do not know. Malvivicus is the sort of man that has eyes everywhere, especially in that office. As for why he's still in school..."

He thought to Sasha's school history - suspension, murdered students, necromancy? Pure luck, he decided. And the choice to practice necromancy with the school in a state where publicly expelling such a student would be an embarrassment.

"He needs to be. The boy's...lost, confused, and overly reliant on adult guidance. Outside of school, he'd just become Malvivicus's puppet. I've talked to him," he looked at Abby, "I talked to him on the 13th. He seems to have agreed that things need to change."

He looked at Aileen. "He knows a few of Sasha's friends by name. He apparently met Amherst. And he knows that I know, though not who I am. And he'll know Abby, now. As long as Malvivicus thinks things are stable and are the same as he left them, he's no reason to...do anything. But..."

The trailed off sentence hung in the air, and he let his gaze turn to the windows.