Though it pained her to admit it, Charlene couldn't deny that the coffee on Level Two had improved drastically in Tamis Raynor's absence.  She was still furious with Pratt over his conscription and reassignment of the trainees, but it was hard to maintain her boycott of her partner's reform when the refreshing aroma of rich, dark, never-burned coffee was wafting through the office on a now-daily basis.  Even if she couldn't help looking on jealously as the other Aurors refilled their cups throughout the morning, she was determined to hold strong.  Charlene would subsist solely on hot tea until Raynor returned or die trying.

Luckily, the mood throughout Level Two had lightened over the past week.  The Head Auror was apparently feeling well enough to take up some of her duties from the hospital bed, and paperwork with Tamis Raynor's signature had begun to drift into the office once more.  Charlene still felt as though she were working double trying to keep up with all the filing and note taking, but at least when the position for Head of the Auror Corps finally opened up for application, she'd be able to cite plenty of experience maintaining the paperwork.

The usual Coffee Monkey had already arrived by the time Charlene made it into the office; apparently the Head Auror Pro Tem's ongoing diatribe about the importance of caffeine had been enough to convince the trainees that having a pot going before most of the Aurors arrived was essential to national security.  The trainee was bustling about importantly, trying to get the coffee pot to whistle in the right key.  All of the desks were still unanimously empty, save for one - Archer Radley's, where the recognizable figure of another young trainee was bent studiously, presumably going over some papers in preparation for his meeting with Charlene.

Early as always.  The Auror allowed herself a slight smile, stopping by her desk just long enough to grab a quill and parchment before striding over to Christian Colburn's adopted workspace.

Alone out of all the trainees, Colburn had been spared from Pratt's evaluation for coffee detail.  He was still on duty infiltrating Tawse's group, acting as Level Two's undercover eyes and ears with the allies of the dangerous ex-Azkaban prisoner.  As such, his returns to the Auror office had become few and far between; no one wanted to risk him getting exposed if he happened across the wrong visitor.

"Colburn," Charlene said evenly, glancing the younger man over surreptitiously as she stopped alongside the desk.  Working undercover had to be a strain, especially when the assignment took place amongst individuals as distasteful as Cinaed Tawse's allies.  Though he'd already proven capable, Colburn was still just a trainee.  She'd hate to see him get in over his head.  "We likely still have a bit before the others start arriving.  Shall we take one of the meeting rooms?  You can fill me in on the latest."

Late nights in Knockturn and early mornings at the Ministry were an unpleasant combination.  When only a few short hours separated the early morning strolling of the shadowed alley and the Auror to whom one reported, it was usually easiest to avoid sleep altogether.  The forsaken night of sleep would likely show in the trainee's features but those that were likely to look closely enough to recognize it were those that already knew the cause.  Since sleep was the only practical activity his body was likely to participate in if he returned home, Chris had been squatting at Radley's desk for almost an hour by the time Malone arrived at Level Two. 

While the office's Coffee Monkey had taken on the role of office caffeine supplier with a very noble sense of duty, that didn't mean the man's dedication was blind to ranking.  Back, almost a year ago, when Pinkerton had first joined the glorious ranks of the Auror Corp, Chris had still been playing lowly courier around the bowels of the Ministry.  By the official record, the man held six months seniority over Christian and, as Pinkerton held onto the cup of coffee for almost a minute longer than necessary, it almost seemed the man would actually scrounge up the courage to point that out.  But, finally, the man relented and continued on his way leaving Christian hunkered over his report with a cup of coffee and a smug grin. 

Overheard rumors of a social gathering from an unidentified hag near 17 Knockturn Alley.  Hag appeared to be intoxicated and to be speaking to a stone gargoyle stolen last week from an undetermined source.  Unable to- 

One thing could be said for Knockturn: it gave one ample opportunities for finding a way to describe a complete nutter in official sounding garble. 

"Mal-ahhn," Chris began to offer in returned greeting before a yawn caught him off guard.  He rolled his eyes, squinting one shut in an attempt to deliver a non-verbal apology as he covered his mouth with a quill-filled hand.  "Bloody- sorry about that," he offered after the yawn passed, leaning over to quickly finish his current sentence.  -verify if rumors held any validity.  This was there first briefing since Cinaed's standoff with the Aurors. 

He shuffled the small selection of papers back towards him and double checked that Radley's ink pot and quill were where they'd been when Chris had taken the seat.  "The sooner your day starts, the sooner mine can end," Chris offered in agreement.  There was no denying Knockturn residents were a motley and diverse crew but a tendency towards a nocturnal existence was one of the predominant traits.  There were businesses open before noon, of course, but usually only to cater to the shopping habits of those that dwelled outside the alley and entered only in search of shady dealings. 

"On the official end of things," Chris offered, once the meeting room door had clicked securely shut behind them.  He slid his small collection of notes and observations towards Malone as he settled into his seat.  "-there's not much to pass on.  Just the usual assortment of suspicious behavior.  Illegal trading, a few unsavory hexes tossed around in threat."  In the vast majority of cases, those reports were submitted without names attached.  Chris wasn't undercover to tattle on every single exchange of illegal artifacts.  There were plenty who were still suspicious of Chris' sudden change of heart and return from the Ministry to the Alley - Chris owed what little credibility he did have to Cinaed's 'acceptance of his apology' in the weeks following Chris' assignment.  It wouldn't take long for Chris to be labeled a rat if everyone started getting dragged into the interrogation rooms for the everyday misdemeanor. 

"Until the night before last, there really wasn't much to report on Tawse, either.  He'd disappeared North after leaving the Chimaera.  He might as well have completely disappeared for all anyone had heard."

Charlene gave the younger man another sidelong look as she closed the door behind them, letting it click shut.  Up close, Colburn still looked exhausted; the hours of the criminal complement in Knockturn was nearly the opposite of the Ministry, and it was clearly wearing on the trainee.  Unless it seemed to be affecting Colburn's judgement, though, or made him more likely to slip up, it wasn't her place to comment on it.  His assignment was obviously challenging, especially for an Auror with so little field experience, but they all knew what the stakes were.  Level Two needed someone on the inside with Tawse and Knockturn Alley.  Unless their fortunes suddenly and drastically changed, Colburn was their best bet.

She followed the man over to the table and took a seat, accepting the collection of notes.  Charlene gave them a quick glance - thorough as always, though Colburn, per his usual procedure, had left out names.  It was a necessary sacrifice, one of the great troubles of law enforcement.  If they were going to get him in deep enough to ferret out this Blood Alliance, they couldn't go shutting down every minor dark artist or thief that he came into contact with.

Charlene kept her eyes on Colburn for a moment as he made his initial report, watching the trainee's posture, his facial expression, and then looked down to glance through his notes more thoroughly.  Yes.  More or less the usual assortment.  She barely stopped herself from letting out a sigh, scanning over the first page before moving on to the second.  That wasn't what they needed, not with the tensions rising and not with Tawse on the loose.  They needed names.  They needed locations and meeting times and specific crimes for charges.  But none of that was anything that they could expect Colburn to discover overnight.

Colburn moved on in his report, from the general on to the specifically Tawse.  The first sentence caught her attention.  Charlene glanced up at him, keeping her expression impassive, as she took in the younger man's words.  Tawse had more or less disappeared.  Until the night before last.

"Yes, we haven't heard anything in the way of him either," she said evenly, her eyes locked on those of Colburn.  Tawse was lying low.  Smart, really, after his duel with Raynor.  She didn't expect anything else.  "What changed the night before last?"

"He's kept his distance from everyone, as best as I can tell," Christian elaborated.  His muggle mother had always been a fan of espionage fiction.  Le Carré, Greene, Follett - she'd eaten them like they were candy.  It had become clear, early on, that espionage in the wizarding world was infinitely more difficult than in the muggle world for one distinct reason.  They didn't have to hook you up to a big, bulky machine to tell if you were lying.  Or to suck the real facts straight from your head.  It had been obvious from the get go that the only way to really keep secrets from the people that shouldn't know them was to not know the information in the first place.  It was a fine, challenging balance: gathering enough information to keep the Ministry happy but to keep pertinent information secret. 

"No one's heard from him and there are a few speculating that he's dead.  Which, until recently we'd only been presuming he wasn't/"  No one in the alley had heard from him or seen him since that morning he went up to Montrose.  Only Liadán and Chris had seen  Cináed when he apparated back to London to gather his son before going off into hiding. 

"Got an owl from him," Chris offered then paused to take a sip of his coffee.  "Everything was completely non-descript.  The parchment was standard Hogwarts-grade available to anyone, really.  Ink seems wholly unremarkable but you might be able to garner something useful from it with investigative potions."  He pulled the folded bit of parchment from his pocket and set it on the table. 

C. Colburn
Black Chimaera
London, England

January 24th, 2009

I'll be returning to London to meet with members.  Will need a secure meeting place.  I'll contact a member with date, time and place.

"The bird was an entirely unremarkable barn owl.  I put a tracking charm on the owl and the reply and sent them back to where it came from.  If we're lucky,  Cináed would have sent the bird from where he's staying.  Wouldn't count on it, though." 

Charlene read the note once, twice, three times over again, taking in each word as if the secret of the now-fugitive's location were hidden somewhere within the script.  Short, concise, and efficient.  It was impossible to expect anything else from Tawse.  And the symbol, again, making its reappearance - anyone who had lived through the last major wizarding conflict knew how powerful a symbol could be.  Cinaed Tawse, obviously, understood completely.  She wondered how long they had before it appeared above someone's house.

She slid the letter to her with two fingers, examining the ink more closely, but as Colburn had said, it looked to be standard-grade.  It would have been too convenient if Tawse had taken to using something easily traceable.  She picked up the piece of parchment, held it up towards the lantern that gave the room its steady light, but there didn't look to be anything useful there as well.  Even as a recent recruit, Colburn knew his stuff.  It was unfortunate that their target apparently did as well.

Charlene set the parchment down again, her gaze shifting back to the trainee.  "Nicely done," she told him quietly, an approving note in her voice.  "And yes, I'd be surprised if we get that lucky.  But Tawse is still young."  He had already made mistakes - the patterns in his crimes, the constant use of polyjuice potions.  It was what had allowed the Aurors to catch on to begin with.  "He may slip up yet.  Or someone who's aiding him may do the same."

The letter still sat in front of her, and she returned her attention to it once more.  Tawse had spent two weeks laying low after the fight with Tamis, but evidently he was ready to begin his campaign of terror once more.  It was hard to decide whether to be frustrated that they hadn't managed to scare him underground for longer or quietly enthusiastic that perhaps this would give them the chance to catch him.

"So he'll be in London," she mused thoughtfully.  It was a big city, and Knockturn Alley remained under close watch.  "I suppose it would be too much to hope for that he'd just hand us a location.  He's bringing in his inner circle all at once, do you think?"

Chris wrapped his fingers around his coffee mug and indulged himself in several long sips of coffee while Malone meticulously read the letter.  She could read it as many times as she liked; there was nothing there to be found.  Just verification the man was alive.  And, returning to London. 

Except, of course, there was always the mark. The inclusion of the mark probably held more meaning than the words in the note.  Cinaed was no longer making any pretenses about whether or not he was connected to the symbol.  Or, that he was connected to the crimes it had been found at.  The abduction of that mudblood or the assassination of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.  Chris had no more information on the man's current plans than the auror across from him.  But, for years that insignia had lurked in the background with really only the original Alliance members even being aware of its existence. 

"He's probably going to be bringing the Alliance public," Chris hypothesized aloud.  "If I'm to guess what this meeting's about.  How far it'll get, though, has always been the question.  But, one of their own was murdered and and that has got value as a rallying point." 

Chris grinned, allowing a little eagerness to show.  "We might get lucky.  Cin's biggest weakness is he can be quick to trust.  He bought my return to the Knockturn crowd pretty quickly; whether I've gotten far enough back in his graces to be invited to his first meeting has yet to be seen.  We might get lucky and he'll hand himself over in the very beginning." 

"His inner circle?"  Chris arched an eyebrow and relaxed back in his chair.  He considered Malone a moment before shaking his head.  It was an interesting choice of words; correcting - or rather elaborating - on the woman's point of view would likely mostly work in Chris' favor.  He doubted it would raise suspicion; Chris' past interactions with WBA in general and Cinaed were known to those who needed to know.  Malone was amongst the 'needs to know.'  But, of course, when Chris came to understand what the WBA was really about and what that would mean for his muggle mother if they ever got there way, he knew he had to help the Ministry protect her. 

Or, such was the story they'd believed. 

"You're misguaging him.  He isn't ... he doesn't view himself as the next Dark Lord."  He shook his head emphatically.  "If you approach him with the perception that he's trying to follow in those footsteps, you're underestimating this."

'Alliance' had always struck Charlene as an interesting choice in vocabulary on Cinaed Tawse's part.  It wasn't the normal sort of word that one associated with dark wizards, who usually made no pretense of their shadowy tendencies.  After all, an organization called the Knights of Walpurgis were quite upfront about their warlike attributes; similarly, no one was going to suspect a Death Eater of having any but malicious intent.  It was as if their souls had been so corrupted by the use of black magic that they saw nothing wrong with it, no reason to hide their preference for mayhem and outright murder.

'Wizarding Blood' certainly fit into the same pattern, especially with the recent legacy of purists during the last war.  Charlene's own mother had been one of their victims, left to die in Azkaban for being Muggle-born.  Any sort of reference to magical birthright was more or less unwelcome nowadays, especially under the liberal administrations of Shacklebolt and Annwyl.  The Auror had no doubts about what sort of witches and wizards would be attracted to an organization that trumpeted such views.

But 'Alliance'...that was somehow different.  Rather than death and destruction, it suggested some sort of union, the coming together of different groups with different aims.  It seemed like the sort of thing that Cinaed Tawse would style himself the head of.  The man certainly seemed to have a martyr complex; no doubt he saw himself as the saviour of magical kind, just as Riddle had before him.

"You mean when Ashford died attacking that Muggle family?"  She pursed her lips thoughtfully.  The Black Chimaera's bartender had been killed in self defense when he'd attempted to murder the entire family of a Muggle-born student back on Christmas.  That should have been a hint that there was an Erumpent horn in the closet; the attack had made little sense at the time.  "That's probably more value than that man had in life.  Do you think Tawse is so heartless that he'd send one of his own seeming friends in to be killed?"

She nodded as Colburn expressed his hopes that the investigation would be ended quickly.  "If only we could be so lucky," she replied, allowing a smile at the Auror-in-Training.  "If he does send word about where the meeting is to take place, then we can move on it.  Raynor is supposed to be out of the hospital soon.  I've no doubt that she'd love the opportunity to end this once and for all."

Charlene was under the impression that she and Colburn were usually on the same page, even more so than she was with many of her other colleagues, but the wizard's next words made her pause.  Tawse was nowhere near as intimidating as Voldemort had been, though it was clear that the Scottish wizard was trying to adopt some of the latter's terrifying mystique.  To say that he didn't see himself as the next Dark Lord seemed dreadfully naive, especially when all of the man's imagery appeared to have been pulled directly from the Death Eaters' book of tricks.

"How are we underestimating it?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.  "They've already managed to assassinate three members of this department and Imperious an Auror, not to mention slaughtering an entire Muggle family and kidnapping at least two innocents, one of them a toddler.  I think we're taking him very seriously."

Chris had never been a very expressive man to begin with; it was a character trait Chris was routinely grateful for.  In his current line of 'work' it was, literally, a life savor.  Especially when a dark scowl and an urge to toss an Unforgivable across the table at the women surged with each small insult and dismissal shot at Ashford.  In many ways, Chris believed the Ministry was underestimating Cinaed; it was clear, by those few words, they'd definitely been underestimating Mannie.  And, just as much - if not more.  Mannie had been bitter, ill-mannered and about as slothenly as a wizard could get.  He hadn't aged gracefully but there'd been something to pity in the man.  Despite his utter lack of social skills, there were few down Knockturn that disliked the man. 

But, Chris carefully kept all of that reaction hidden.  "Yes," he confirmed with a nod, drumming his fingers against the warm, ceramic mug.  "They see it as murder and they see the Ministry not doing anything about it.  They're twisting those facts to their own ends - claiming it's because the man was an ex-Azzie and a former Death Eater that the Ministry's not bothering.  If the Ministry won't seek justice, they intend to seek it themselves.  That's a rallying point I'm sure Cinaed will take full advantage of when he returns.  I wouldn't be surprised if plans for revenge are high on the list of meeting topics, too."  If doing so wouldn't spoil the advantage he'd secured here, Chris wouldn't hesitate to volunteer for the task.  There were many chomping at the bit to avenge Mannie's death; his position as an Auror certainly gave him easy access. 

"His own seeming friend?"  The Ministry really had misguaged Cinaed.  "I'm willing to bet with full certainty Cinaed had nothing to do with that.  I've heard no rumors of such in the Alley and everyone's just as baffled as we are as to how Ashford found himself in that house.  As far as I'm aware, Ashford never violated his wand restrictions - everyone's still trying to figure out where he got that wand.  Cinaed's cell was next to Ashford's in Azkaban; he credits the older man for helping him get through that place alive.   Cinaed saw the man as a mentor as well as a friend; he would never have sent Ashford in to be killed by a muggleborn fifteen-year-old."

Chris nodded and offered an appropriately eager grin though, internally, he sent out a small thought tendril of hope that Cinaed would be smart enough to not invite him.  If he did, there'd have to be some careful planning.  The Ministry, of course, couldn't crash the party.  But, Chris would find himself in some uncomfortably hot water if he was ever caught withholding that information.  At this point, even passing on the information but changing the venue to create a 'false lead' would raise more suspicions than Chris would be comfortable with. 

"I'm not saying you are."  Chris corrected.  "I'm saying if you are viewing him as a simple copycat, you will be.  I don't think you can focus on him as the leader and hope the rest will dissolve when you catch him.  You should catch him and lock him up; he's a murderous bastard."  Cinaed would, certainly, get a kick out of that one.  "But, that won't solve the problem.  The Alliance won't just whither away.  At least, that's what he's hoping to achieve.  The Alliance was around before he joined - I don't think it'll simply disappear when he's gone."