Johann dispensed with the instructions towards Sasha with less care than he had originally intended. The previously rolled parchment fluttered towards the intern who was becoming rather used to his supervisor's whims. Whereas it appeared that Johann had taken only a glance at the detailed procedure for using the potion in the bottle before them, he had taken in the matters very carefully another time.

"Oh well, at least you get paid for me stabbing your fingers." Johann mused and gave a shrug, hooking his heels up on his chair legs.
"You do get paid... don't you?" Johann asked, suddenly realising that was a point he'd overlooked.

They were sat at his desk in the middle of the Department of International Co-operation. The Tetra-wizard tournament details were dominating much of the department's attention, though the mundane issues of trade, politics and more went on. Johann had begun to tire of the tournament already, especially as Wolfgang's involvement had made it all sour. Unfortunately Johann had to do something with the light scarf Wolfgang had left behind. It was currently poking out of Johann's jacket pocket, which was draped over the back of his chair.

Still, he had Sasha's regular presence to entertain which was amusing. Unfortunately the two of them had been forced to do some translations the last time, both sandwiched at Johann's desk with a looming legal deadline. Hamilton, once again, the arse, had neglected to hand it over. It annoyed Johann more that Hamilton was now stooping to risking the British government issues to try and get Johann into trouble. Thankfully Sasha had been an admirable assistant in the matter and Hamilton had received an ear bashing from Ms Murray-Harker over it later when Sasha was away from the office (but Johann had ensured he was in earshot to gloat.)

Johann trickled a little of the slightly white, cloudy potion into a shallow glass bowl from the brown bottle. It smelled of lakewater and a hint of aniseed. Either way, not something one would want to drink, especially as the air rippled above it ever so slightly as vapour rose.[1]

"So yes, we stab your finger, and compare a drop of Schlagenweit to a drop of this." Johann gestured to a modest test-tube like glass container of blood extracted from the other party. "Then refer to the paperwork regarding the results. Best to test several times, consistent results...." Johann looked up at Sasha and grinned. "You probably know more about how this should work than I, from what you have explained on the comparisons of chemistry to potions. Anyhow, you have the instructions, do direct." He gestured positively for Sasha to read the instructions from the pack. 

1.	Relation Elixir

When Sasha picked up the parchment, his attempt at being non-chalant and casual was probably too forced to be entirely believable.  He quickly read the instructions before folding the parchment and setting it under the potion flask.  The process was pretty straightforward; there wasn't any information there that would address the big questions that had settled into Sasha's head.   

"No."  Sasha grinned quite broadly, shaking his head.  "I'm not paid yet.  Or now.  Or - whatever.  Which - I'm fine without it."  Unless the test proved positive.  Despite all the assertions from various sources that the likelihood of such a thing lay somewhere between 'unlikely' and 'near impossible,' Sasha wasn't quite sure what he was really hoping for. 

As far as Sasha could remember, he'd never heard the name Ewald Mitten until several months ago when the German international magical office first contacted the DoIMC in London.  The man claimed to be related to Gabriela Mitten - Gerhard Schlagenweit's mother and (therefore, as the muggle authorities understood) Sasha's paternal grandmother.  Given Sasha's experiences with Gerhard's reaction towards magic, Sasha had initially dismissed the notion that there might be a hidden wizard in the man's family.  But, he'd come to realize, if such a person had existed, chances were good the family would have tried to erase his presence as thoroughly as possible. 

From a legal standpoint, this whole thing threatened to be a thorough mess.  As Sasha's family had been muggle, the Schlagenweit estate, wills, insurance policies and trust funds had all been handled (and was still being handled) by the family's muggle lawyers.  As the last legally recognized family member, Sasha had inherited the estate.  Gerhard had been careful about keeping his wife's infidelity a close family secret; no muggles outside the immediate family was aware Sasha wasn't Gerhard's legitimate son few in the wizarding world were any wiser.  With Sasha's maternal grandmother's health failing and the question of the logistics of that estate in the air, the whole matter was complicated enough even with everything being handled exclusively in the muggle world. 

This Ewald had contacted the British Ministry of Magic requesting that his relation to Sasha be verified.  Somewhere, the Ministry had some information or samples from Gerhard saved from the murder investigation.  If Ewald could prove paternal blood relation to Sasha then that'd give him purchase to argue that he is, in fact, entitled to the inheritance. 

From a personal standpoint, Sasha wasn't sure what to think about this potential new related wizard.  On one hand, it was the chance for - well - to have a real, legitimate family again.  And, a wizarding one at that.  But, if this Ewald fellow discovered he was related to Gerhard and Sasha was not, Sasha could just as easily lose everything. 

"So, you get to stab me for free."  He was still grinning a bit too widely than was normal for the reserved young man.  He held his hand out towards Johann.  "You know, in the muggle world, they just rub your cheek with a bit of cotton.  No bloodshed required - not that it'll be anywhere near as bad as being crucioed.  You know, if he's right, I may have to leave you for someone that pays."  Or, better yet, Ms Murray-Harker could give up on Hamilton and Sasha could pull a Knight.  Of course, he'd still have to find a way to prepare for NEWTs on the side.

No, no.  He didn't need to be thinking that pessimistically, yet. 

Sasha glanced up and across the table at Johann, for a moment unsure as to whether or not the other man knew the blood he was extracting wasn't really legitimate Schlagenweit blood.  Which made the first step in this process all but a matter of procedure.  If Ewald did turn out to be related to Sasha, as far as Sasha knew, it wouldn't be through the Schlagenweits.  It was going to take those additional follow up tests to determine if either of them sprang from Schlagenweit stock.  As long as Ewald wasn't a blood relative of Gerhard, Sasha would still lay claim to the inheritance through his mother.  If Ewald was related, ... well ...

Having been delegated the (mildly) distracting task of reading the directions, the broad grin finally fell from the boy's features as he turned back to the parchment.  "Alright - yes - start with 20 drops of the potion in the petri- small, flat dish.  Add ... this may take more than a couple drops of blood.  Add one drop from the younger person first - that's me and one drop from the older person second - that's...that guy.  Don't stir.  Gently warm it with your wand for twenty seconds then put a slip of the included parchment into the dish.  If the parchment turns black, there's no relation between the blood samples.  A second test should be done with someone known not to be related to ensure there's no ... well, as a control.  If the parchment changes to any color, there's some blood relation between the samples.  Move on to Step 2 to determine the nature of the relationship.  If the parchment doesn't change color at all then ... basically we messed up or used fake blood." 

"So, you get to stab me for free. You know, in the muggle world, they just rub your cheek with a bit of cotton.  No bloodshed required - not that it'll be anywhere near as bad as being crucioed.  You know, if he's right, I may have to leave you for someone that pays."

Johann's expression changed to one of disappointment. He was rather enjoying the time he spent with Sasha.
"Don't, we'd find you something to do. Its not like we're overstaffed these days, even my definition as 'part-time' is looking less 'part' and more 'time'." Johann slid a fine, very sharp tipped knife from its sheath and inspected it, his dark blue eyes reflecting in the goblin steel. Beautiful instrument it was.   

Meanwhile Sasha reviewed the instructions. It saved Johann the irritation of having to verbally explain to Sasha at a hundred and two miles an hour, and for Sasha not to follow. Not that the intern was particularly guilty of the particularly infuriating habit of asking questions about a fixed set of information, assuming the repeater of the information was magically party to additional information. Providing the original information to someone cut out half of the issue, and gave Johann time to eavesdrop on his colleagues in the room around him. Two of them had gone home together last night, and thought they'd got away with it...

"Alright - yes - start with 20 drops of the potion in the petri- small, flat dish.  Add ... this may take more than a couple drops of blood.  Add one drop from the younger person first - that's me and one drop from the older person second - that's...that guy."
"Mitten." Johann dropped in, looking from the knife to Sasha.
"Don't stir.  Gently warm it with your wand for twenty seconds then put a slip of the included parchment into the dish.  If the parchment turns black, there's no relation between the blood samples.  A second test should be done with someone known not to be related to ensure there's no ... well, as a control.  If the parchment changes to any color, there's some blood relation between the samples.  Move on to Step 2 to determine the nature of the relationship.  If the parchment doesn't change color at all then ... basically we messed up or used fake blood."

"We'll save some time here..." Johann poured two more measures into dishes, so three sat in a row giving off the slight vapour.

"Ready?" Johann asked, raising the knife in the most professional manner a curly haired, insomniac linguist, verging on displaying regular manic passages could. "Oh, I'm very neat, look, I practised the other day." He raised his left hand where only his littlest fingertip still bore a scratch. "Had to prove my own relation for internal matters." Indeed, he could no longer lie and say he wasn't related to his father when he caused trouble, though Johann was convinced it was just a test of loyalty to the department over the tournament. There had been some very odd things going on lately meant to throw people off the scent.

A few moments later, the tip of the blade pressed gently to Sasha's fingertip, a drop of the blood descended into each measure of the potion. Johann swiftly followed with the claimants blood, and raised his wand with focus while Sasha looked on.
"...twenty." In went the sample of paper to each dish.

Then they waited, peering at the colour, as Sasha turned over to the second sheet of instructions which displayed a palette of colours to  blood relation. Black for no relation, purple for most distant of families, through royal blue for cousins of first and second generation, green for grandparents and grandchildren, yellow for uncles and aunts, or nieces and nephews, finally direct parents were orange. Or there abouts... it varied depending on which side of the family you took after.

Johann and Wolfgang had produced a lurid orange, whereas if Ignan had given his blood to test the other day, it would have shown a blue between them, as first cousins. He and Gabrielle would show no relation given they shared no common blood - she being on Ignan's mother's side of the family.

"Hmm..." Johann mused, peering down at the three pieces of parchment, which were slowly changing colour, not orange, but getting darker.

A momentary flicker of surprise and then a slight grin escaped Sasha before he turned his attention to the directions outlined in step 2.  He had enough self-awareness to know he probably gave other's approval a bit too much weight but it was an unfortunate (and unavoidable) side effect from having chased that same approval from Gerhard for so long.  Either way, he couldn't deny he appreciated Johann's approval.

"It's like a litmus test," Sasha mused aloud as he shifted forward in his seat and rested his elbows on the desk and his chin in his hand.  He watched as the parchment soak up the mixture in the dishes.  That nerdy, ever-calculating part of him couldn't help but be fascinated by the whole procedure.  "Wonder what it's testing in the blood.  It's kind of strange - I mean, I doubt it's -"

Before he could finish articulating the inner musings which were probably thoroughly boring Johann, all three strips of paper had darkened to an inky black.  Sasha Schlagenweit and Ewald Mitten bared no blood relation.  It was the expected outcome but, all the same, Sasha couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. 

"Not really a surprise."  Sasha slid the three dishes quickly to the side before setting out several more and pouring the correct measure of potion in each.  "So, we make sure my blood's actually working right and then move on to proving this guy's just a random nutter, right?"  Now that they'd determined Sasha and Ewald were not related, the sooner they got to making sure the man wasn't related to Gerhard, the better.  It wasn't nearly as easy to dismiss the idea of familial relation between Gerhard and Ewald as it had been to dismiss Sasha's own relation to the man.  The sooner they got to the answer, the better it'd be on his nerves. 

Sasha extended his hand towards Johann once more, grinning slightly as the man pricked a second finger and let the blood drip into the next sample.  "Guess I should be glad there aren't fifteen random strangers claiming some sort of relation."

"Not really a surprise."  Johann made a note on the appropriate paperwork, his quill twitching, and his ears listening behind him again, oblivious to the fact his intern and test subject was already repeating the actions with the little dishes and the measure of potion.
"So, we make sure my blood's actually working right and then move on to proving this guy's just a random nutter, right?"

"Bit harder to prove that, but we can prove your blood actually works." Johann replied, though admittedly it would have helped to have some blood from a confirmed relative to ensure the impending negative result from his own blood compared to Sasha's wasn't just showing the same result. After all, a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day.

Sasha extended his hand and Johann put aside the paperwork and picked up the knife again,
"Guess I should be glad there aren't fifteen random strangers claiming some sort of relation."
"I knew it." Johann suddenly grinned, while pricking Sasha's finger. He swung round and pointed the knife at the two colleagues a couple of desks away.
"Oh don't think we all didn't see..." He told them both and shook his head, tutting, still gesticulating with the knife. Then, as if nothing had interrupted, Johann wiped the knife and pricked his own fingertip dropping the blood alongside Sasha's.

"There we go, though, pity it will also show negatively. Had your sister been readily available we should have also tested hers." He shrugged. "Though we could always test..." He picked up another bottle and unstoppered it. "Mine against my father's like earlier. You'd at least be able to see some other colour than-." Johann stared down at the result and shut up, his expression changed from mundane to somewhere between offended and curious.

Below in the dish, the test with Sasha and Johann's blood had not turned black but had instead turned a midnight blue and was brightening still.
"What by Merlin?" He uttered, "Don't say the blasted stuff has gone wrong...!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Johann poured yet further potion, and nicked his own finger once more, and then picked up the tiny bottle he had unstoppered while thinking aloud, and dropped a single drop of blood from it into the dish with his own, and added the paper.

Beside the now royal blue sample, Johann and Wolfgang's turned orange swiftly, proving their father and son blood tie. Johann looked up to Sasha with narrowed eyes.
"The test indicates I have more claim to your inheritance that Mitten ever will." He tapped the bottle containing the last few drops of Wolfgang's blood which he had provided. "I wonder...?" Johann's eyes met Sasha's with renewed curiosity.

"So, if we prove my blood works and the test is valid, than that invalidates his claim?"  Sasha was trying to be patient.  But, this whole testing the test seemed extraneous and unnecessary and designed to do nothing more than prolong his current case of anxiety.  He knew his blood was bound to ... work.  In whatever way blood was expected to work with this.  It wasn't like his blood was defective, right?  This was all just a matter of protocol. 

"I knew it.  Oh don't think we all didn't see..."

Sasha glanced up and cast an apologetic, don't-blame-the-crazy-knife-wielding-coworker-on-me grin at the onlookers from neighboring cubicles (some of whom's interest was probably only piqued when the knife was pointed in their direction).  "Not that a few roommates wouldn't be welcome."  Maybe the house wouldn't feel quite as cavernous if one or two of the six currently unfilled rooms were occupied. 

"There's always my grandmother," Sasha offered.  The real only other family alternative Sasha had now.  "My mother's side - so it should show relation.  Her mind doesn't work anymore but her blood still should.  For now."  Getting a blood sample from her would, of course, be harder than it would have been from Jacoba.  Thanks to magic, the distance was really the least of their concerns. 

"Though we could always test mine against my father's like earlier. You'd at least be able to see some other colour than-."

Assuming the results would be an unexciting repeat of the previous slip of black, Sasha's attentions had been wandering between the dish, Johann himself and the handful of coworkers who had sidled up closer to their desk - curiosity having gotten the better of them.  But, the intensity of Johann's stare snapped Sasha's attention back to the dish and he joined in the staring. 

"It's not working."  Sasha didn't bother hiding his disappointment and annoyance as he gestured towards the dish, too focused on the frustration of being back where they started and no closer to answers to really notice what Johann was doing.  "That's such ... quatsch[1].  Now what do we do?  Do they have any sort of ..." 

"The test indicates I have more claim to your inheritance that Mitten ever will.  I wonder...?"

Sasha grew quiet, staring down at the strips of black, blue and orange parchment.  "It's not possible," he finally said, dismissing the obvious conclusion.  "So, there must be something wrong with my blood.  Yours works," he gestured towards the orange slip.  "But, mine doesn't," he gestured towards the black and blue ones.  "Maybe it's the ..."  He fished around for some logical explanation for why his blood would be acting strangely.  "Werewolf attack.  I got scratched enough it ... does something.  Or, maybe Kro-"  A momentary slip, a brief instance of panic before Sasha quickly redirected.  "-chromosomes.  It must have to do with chromosomes, somehow." 

1.	Quatsch - colloquial; roughly translates to nonsense, rubbish

The two of them stared at the dishes with great confusion.

"It's not possible," Sasha dismissed quickly, despite Johann peering at him curiously.  "So, there must be something wrong with my blood.  Yours works," Sasha gestured towards the orange slip.  "But, mine doesn't,"

Johann fished the instructions up as Sasha tried to think of possible explanations.
"Maybe it's the ... Werewolf attack.  I got scratched enough it ... does something.  Or, maybe Kro- -chromosomes.  It must have to do with chromosomes, somehow."

"Chromosomes?" Johann asked Sasha, puzzled. "Are you reading The Quibbler?" He asked, assuming such a queer word had to have come from there, not realising it was a Muggle scientific term instead.
"It shouldn't affect your blood to such an extent." Johann shook his head, and recalled what he'd quizzed his colleagues over. "Weres can still use this, it just make take longer to produce results or require a doubling of quantities to test." Johann explained with a dead serious expression.

"Let me try one more thing." Johann asked, pouring yet another, and he reached for Sasha's hand to add a drop of blood, before adding one of Wolfgang's and warming it.
"This is my father's blood, so if you also get a result with him, then we must have a common ancestor. Don't worry, not claiming any inheritance, Sasha, just have to do something to prove your blood does work even if its unexpectedly."

Johann added the parchment, ruffled his black curls and shrugged, "Look I'm willing to confirm before the wizengamot this test is accurate and Mitten has no claim. These sorts always come out of the woodwork." He clapped Sasha on the shoulder, and peered down.

"Aha!" The parchment  had changed colour, royal blue again but brighter than Johann's. "Now, that would make sense, my father's side is the German lot. To be my father's cousin, you'll be related from at least my grandfather's generation, which are Storms and Dietrichs." Johann stopped, realised for one horrible moment he could be compounding confusion and sighed.

"Well, in theory." He added to make Sasha feel better, though undoubtedly it didn't. "If it makes you feel any more secure we'll ask your sister to give a sample."

"Are you reading The Quibbler?"

"No!  Of course not!"  Sasha glanced up from the tests just long enough to contest his choice of reading material (before any onlookers could get any ideas) before looking back down at the results. 

The Ravenclaw leaned forward, watching as his blood mixed with Johann's father's blood in the dish.  "I'm not worried about that."  Sasha shook his head.  Given the drama that was unfolding in the little tester dishes (and now the stranger's claim was invalidated), the inheritance was a much smaller concern.  "You're not likely to dump me out on the street, even if you were." 

"We're related?"  Sasha leaned back in his chair, gazing across the desk at his supervisor.  Or, cousin.  If his blood wasn't defective, that was really the only confusion.  "But - how?  I mean, not how.  I know how - but..." 

Sasha shook his head.  "I know my lineage from that generation.  Waldgraf and ... and Keitel."  Johann was pureblood.  Hopefully, neither of the names would strike any bells.  "I'd have noticed if there was a Storm in-"  Sasha grew quiet as realization dawned.  There were no Storms or Dietrichs in his mother's genetic heritage which meant they were, in fact, discussing his father's - his birth father's heritage. 

"So - wait."  Sasha leaned forward, disregarding the idea of testing his sister's blood.  Even if he could find her, testing her blood wouldn't offer anymore information about his birth father.  He picked up the instructions and reread the key.  "How do we find out which?  Is there someone else we can test?  I mean - if I ... we're cousins of some sort than ... we should test an aunt or uncle.  Or great aunt or uncle, right?" 

"So - wait. How do we find out which?  Is there someone else we can test?  I mean - if I ... we're cousins of some sort than ... we should test an aunt or uncle.  Or great aunt or uncle, right?"

Sasha displayed obvious confusion, though Johann did note he easily dismissed any other relative on Sasha's side to be tested. The thought of having someone claim his fortune unknown was completely forgotten it seemed, as the mystery of a seemingly true unknown link was developing. Johann's curiousity was equally fuelled as Sasha's, but as usual, Johann rarely knew when to shut up or stop following his quarry once pursued.

The older wizard pondered a moment before drawing out a fresh piece of parchment to illustrate to Sasha. His self-inking quill scratched across the page, neatly illustrating the Storm family from Johann's perspective for Sasha's better understanding.
"Its clear you've got a relation on my father's side," He explained, finishing Wolfgang's name, "so going up a generation, we have my grandparents, Medgar and Erika." He elaborated with their surnames this time.

	Johann
	|
	Wolfgang (father)
	|
Medgar Storm (grandfather)	-	Erika Dietrich (grandmother)

Johann glanced up, in a rather patient way to check if Sasha was following. He could, if he felt inclined, teach and explain adequately, it was just most of the time he didn't feel the need. Matters of family importance were rather interesting, the Storm family was very proud of its heritage and extent.

"So if we were to have my grandparents here, we could in theory work out if it was a Storm or a Dietrich who has wandered into the Schlagenweit family." Johann explained, a palm turning over as he expressed balance, "However, neither of them would be so forthcoming for their grandson, it was like getting it out of a stone from my father. Not to mention they live overseas."

Johann placed his quill back on the parchment and drew out from his grandparents, sketching the branch of his family down.

			Johann
			|
Ignan & Imelda Storm (cousins)			Wolfgang (father)
|			|
Merik Storm (great uncle)	----	Medgar Storm (grandfather)	-	Erika Dietrich (grandmother)

Lifting his quill, Johann turned the parchment to Sasha for examination.
"Though we may have an unwilling volunteer in the country." He suggested, giving Sasha a grin. "If I'm your cousin, its either through my grandmother, admittedly her extended family I haven't memorised or its through my grandfather... which would mean you're probably related to Ignan's sister, she married into the Kollontai and they are tied with the Volkovs." Johann rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.
"Still, doesn't quite tie in with your understanding of your family history." 

"There's only so much I know," Sasha admitted with an apologetic shrug when Johann finished mapping out their potential genetic connections in his family tree.  A tree that, apparently, somehow branched to him.  With a finger, he drew the bit of parchment closer to him and peered down at Johann's sketch.  "Jacoba knows more.  I was never that interested," Sasha admitted.  "And it just wasn't something my mother and father talked about.  Jacoba got really into studying it - mostly to annoy our parents.  I just know the people I met."  He'd always gotten the impression that was the extent of their family.   

Sasha picked up the quill, dipped it in the ink and bought himself some time to think as he blotted the nib.  He glanced across the desk towards Johann, double checking he had the all clear to proceed before carefully adding his own notes alongside Johann's.  "Blue's only for first and second cousins, right?"  Sasha asked.  If he'd read the instructions right, the parchment would have turned purple if they were more distantly related than that.  He glanced between the lighter blue slip in the mixture with Wolfgang's blood and the darker one with Johann's.  "Do they say which blue is which?  Is darker more distant?"  If magic followed logic, that would make sense.  But, magic so seldom followed logic.

Johann | Ignan & Imelda Storm (cousins) Wolfgang (father) | | Merik Storm (great uncle) ---- Medgar Storm (grandfather) - Erika Dietrich (grandmother)

.......................

S.R.W.S | Father (?) Marie Waldgraf (mother) | Rudolf Waldgraf (grandfather) --Kat Keitel (grandmother)

"It doesn't help a lot, I know."  Sasha ran his fingers through his hair.  Unfortunately, his grandmother might be able to offer blood but her memories were far too gone to offer any useful answers.  "But, I don't even have any cousins.  Well ... other than ... you.  And him."  This was going to take some getting used to. 

"As far as I know, my mother was an only child.  I don't even remember my Oma talking about siblings or in laws.  Other than my Oma, everyone's passed on except ... my sister.  She'd be helpful, wouldn't she?"  It seemed the obvious conclusion by now.  Unfortunately, he could only guess as to where she'd gone.  He doubted she was still in the UK.  Beyond that, it was anyone's guess.  "Is there any way to - you know - magically find people?  Maybe Erwin knows." 

Sasha was familiar with the grin that settled on Johann's face by now.  It usually meant that whatever he was pondering was, in some way, dubious in nature.  "Who's the volunteer?"  He asked.  "Is there, you know, a way we could convince them?" 

"Yes, its indicating my father is more closely related than I am - a bit like watercolour paints?" Johann explained, and when Sasha returned to query the volunteer, Johann used the air quotes.

"Volunteer might be more generous than reality." Johann grinned, poking at Ignan's name on the family tree. "And if we're looking for a closer tie - ha, no the thought it just a bit..." Johann chuckled. "I hardly think its likely that your Professor Storm is actually your missing father."

Picking up the forms, he added the last detail and signed them with a flourish before offering them to Sasha to countersign.
"No, there's probably some other weird explanation for it in my grandmother or something, so you'd get nothing out of testing Ignan." Johann explained nonchalantly, pushing aside the thoughts of Ignan and his many years of travelling away from the family, which weren't spoken about, and took him away.

“...It’s ridiculous. You haven’t got married or come home with a woman, and you’re twice my age.”
“Ha! You don’t know the half of it. I very much like women, and have quite happily shared a bed with many.”
“I never… is that why you never talk about when you were away, because you spent…?”[1]

"Let's just celebrate the fact you're not losing your inheritance to a stranger, eh?" Johann grinned, and with a wave of his wand, cleared the test dishes, before he packed the items back into a small wood chest, and clipped the lid back down.

"I'll get this back where it should be. Could you get a head start on these?" He landed a pile of German patents for self-stirring potions spoons onto the space on his desk, which had previously been consumed by the experiment.

He stopped, and tapped his hands on the lid of the box.
"Look, if you did want to rule him out, then we can, but it won't be easy. But, I wouldn't want that question hung over my head either." Johann sympathised. "But should it be the case, it would affect Ignan as much as it would you. He might not have any idea."

1.	From Glass Onion

"So.  We're second cousins."  Which meant that he and this Wolfgang were first cousins.  Which, consequentially, meant (luckily, genetics followed the laws of logic much more closely than magic), someone in Sasha's parent's generation was siblings from someone in Wolfgang Storm's parent's generation. 

And, as far as Sasha knew, his mother had no siblings.  With Jacoba's determination to find some part of the family to fit into, Sasha had to believe if there were disenfranchised siblings out there somewhere, Jacoba would have found them and connected with them. 

"Testing my sister would ... it would prove if my birth father's the connection," Sasha reiterated.  "Is there a way to find someone?" he asked more quietly. 

Sasha snorted a laugh, shaking his head as Johann pointed at Professor Storm's name.  "No."  Again, he shook his head.  "I mean - that would mean my mother ..."  Sasha's face grew scarlet and he quickly shook his head, again, casting off the notion without a second thought - if for no other reason than his mind really couldn't wrap itself around that thought for any longer. 

He quickly countersigned the form.  This wasn't the first time someone had tried to stake a claim to the inheritance and Sasha was certain there'd be a couple others.  Most, for better or worse, approached it from the muggle world. 

"Let's just celebrate the fact you're not losing your inheritance to a stranger, eh?"

"Ja."  As Johann started gathering the testing equipment, Sasha carefully took the parchment with the sketched family trees and slipped it into his pocket.  He turned his attentions to the stack of patents, the mental image of ... whatever ... between his mother and Professor Storm firmly shackled in the recesses of his mind until Johann broached the topic, again. 

"Rule him out," Sasha repeated, taking a moment to try to force his mind to move beyond the big, white, literal elephant of a thought and towards the actual significant meaning behind it all.  He pulled the family tree back out and looked at it.  He knew, at some point, not knowing would start to eat at him.  He nodded, though with obvious trepidation.

"Are there any other siblings?"  Sasha asked.  "I mean, it could be ... the connection could be Imelda but ..."  She was a woman.  Which meant, she could either be the sister of Sasha's mother or ... the sister of Sasha's father.  Which, brought them back to Professor Storm.  "She can't be my mother's sister, right?  I mean ... my mother would have to have been adopted.  And, a squib.  Or something.  Which you'd know about.  Is there ... could there be any other siblings?"  Sasha pointed to Ignan, Imelda and Wolfgang's generation. 

"Any other siblings?" Johann let out a snigger, which would appear rude to any onlookers. "Trust me, Ignan and Imelda were enough... not exactly a-." Johann stopped himself, Ignan would probably crucify him from the balls upside down for speaking further about the family, especially his parents. Although Sasha was an intern, and almost a colleague for that reason, he was still a Hogwarts student, and Ignan's student.

"No." Johann said simply, the opposite side of the desk to Sasha by this point. He placed his palms down on the desk, arms either side of the little chest with the potion in.
"Not that I've ever heard of, met or overheard. Its... doubtful, if not... impossible." Johann drummed the fingers of his left hand thoughtfully.
"All you can do is ask Ignan, and I think both you and I know that's a fruitless and possibly dangerous avenue to pursue."

With a sudden movement, Johann stood straight, lifted the chest into his hands and stalked off across level five with it, his brow furrowed, and his back to Sasha. Ignan had mentioned he'd had a lot of lovers. It wouldn't be too absurd to have made a mistake somewhere along the line wouldn't it? Johann's mind was already theoretically calculating how many years Ignan had been away, and nothing accounted for his location or activities according to family news. Then where the time would fall for Sasha's mother to have crossed paths.

Oh Merlin, this was not the sort of conversation he had ever imagined being faced with.

Having deposited the items, he returned to his desk in silence, and sat back down, brow still furrowed, and sat in silence a moment.
"You're not going to ask him are you?" Johann asked Sasha, and looked at the younger man suddenly. "You don't want me to ask him do you?"

Sasha didn't want the gossipy details.  He didn't like gossip under usual circumstances and he was well aware that the potential, unsubstantiated familial connection to his professor didn't supersede the clearly defined professor-student dynamics.  All of this ... this mystery was enough awkward gossip to carry around; Sasha didn't need anything else added to it. 

So, Sasha carefully ignored the delivery and focused solely on the content of Johann's answer.  If there was really no chance of some secret, long lost brother, then the options were limited.  Though, still, both possibilities seemed equally limited.  Sasha's mother ... well ... she was so particular.  So focused on status and image and perfectionism.  Sasha had always had a difficult time wrapping his head around the notion that his mother would risk everything for an affair in the first place. 

"Dangerous?" Sasha repeated.  Fruitless, Sasha could buy.  Uncomfortable, awkward, wrought with the potential for vicious scorn and oppressive scowls, certainly.  But, dangerous?  "He ... wouldn't ... I mean, I know it'll probably be disappointing but - he wouldn't do anything.  Would he?"  If one were to believe some of the rumors that flittered around the Hogwarts corridors, it could be bad. 

It was easy to be indecisive and stall.  Sasha watched Johann leave with the testing kit and return to his seat, entirely unsure how one was supposed to proceed in these circumstances.  But, he was fairly certain he knew the answer to the second option. 

"No." Sasha shook his head.  "This isn't your issue.  I'm not going to expect you to get caught in the crossfire.  Shouldn't I ask him, though?  I mean, shouldn't he - doesn't he have a right to know?  And, would it be possible to borrow that kit?" 

"Borrow?" Johann asked, quill in hand, he tilted his head. "Its not really meant to go away for some time. However we do have a few..." His eyes had slid across the room to where his favourite scapegoat was having a noisy conversation with a female colleague who was not participating half as much.
"I'm sure there's a colleague only too happy to help us out." Johann smirked, "Even if he has no idea how or when it happens."

With a tap of his nose, Johann hopped up and feigned rifling in the cupboard again for something else, but instead lifted the box out under his elbow and signed the sheet neatly Kaydn Hamilton and signed. One of the first things he'd done after marking Hamilton as his enemy was to perfect forging the man's signature. So if Sasha damaged or didn't return the kit, it would be put down to his irritating colleague from the trading standards office.

"Here we are. Just use discretion. It does have the Ministry seal, and even though you're an intern its probably not a standard requirement for Hogwarts potions classes." He grinned, "Of course, I know I can trust you... Mr Bergen[1] sends his regards."

1.	NPC Registry: Martin Bergen, Architect