WHO: Theo Nott and Tim Greengrass
WHAT: Cousins reuniting for some serious business
WHERE: The Notts' new home
WHEN: Thiiiis afternoon?



Theo hummed as he unpacked another box of books into his new office while Theodore babbled on with his toys. Ever since moving in with Holly, Theo started sending the nanny off once he got home. At first he was a little concerned but it turned out Theodore was surprisingly well behaved and all he needed to make sure that he didn’t eat something that he could choke on.

“Dragon!” Theodore said holding up the stuffed dragon that Theo honestly had no idea where it came from. He turned and raised a brow at the boy smiling slightly.

“That’s right, dragon. It’s a Welsh Greenback.” He moved over to kneel down to pick up the other dragon sitting in front of Theodore when there was a knock at the door. Theo sighed. He wasn’t expecting anyone. “Come on buddy, let’s move this party to the front room.”

Theo herded his son to where he could still keep an eye him while he answered the door. He’d never hear the end of it if something happened to the kid the first week of him watching Theodore on his own.

He wasn’t sure who he expected when he pulled open the door, but of all them, Timothy Greengrass didn’t even cross his mind. He couldn’t remember the last time he had spoken to his cousin let alone the last time he visited. He opened the door further but continued to block the doorway. He had every reason to be wary of unexpected visitors, even---especially estranged family members he didn’t remember informing that he moved.

“Timothy. This is a surprise.” He greeted pleasantly one hand still on the door knob, stuffed dragon forgotten in the other..

Tim nodded, keeping his hands in fists by his side. He hadn’t thought about his cousin, or this side of his family in years, but the past few weeks had formed a very dark cloud over Timothy Greengrass and he was finding it unbearable. His wife had been kidnapped and tortured, their unborn son almost killed, and now life was supposedly meant to go back to ‘normal.’ Tim didn’t know how to accomplish that, not when he could see in Adamina’s eyes that she was still haunted by the traumatic events. Not when her attackers were still running loose, and it seemed like the ministry had forgotten about them.

Not when he was completely helpless at fixing a bloody thing about the entire situation.

He could be there for Adamina, for his girls, for his son, but it wasn’t enough. Throughout her disappearance Tim had been simmering a silent anger. Her brother tore things apart, the girls cried for their mummy, but Tim had crushed his rage into silence, unwilling to let himself appear weak. He was the one that needed to hold the family together, but now? The simmer was beginning to boil over, and he needed help containing it.

“Your house elf told me of the move,” he explained. Tim looked away for a moment, across the expanse of the manor. He had a chance to leave before he took this too far. Tim was a person of great pride, he sacrificed a lot for his life to live it the way he wanted to live it. He’d made the choices he believed were right. He looked back at Theo, letting out a breath, “I need to ask something of you.”

Theo frowned, stupid elf should know better than to just tell anyone information about his life. Probably shouldn’t blame her though, she most likely just missed him and thought she was helping. No matter, worse people could show up at his doorstep.

And he was certainly intrigued at this turn of events. He stood aside, gesturing for him to come inside.

“I have to admit, normally I would be offended by someone I haven’t spoken to in years showing up on my doorstep asking for favors,” he said walking inside leaving Tim to shut the door. “But the fact that you turned up here, has me curious. And you can’t say its because I’m family because I know you would much rather deal with Rhys if you had to pick a Nott.”

He turned to Theodore who had gotten up and started walking over towards them. He always did enjoy the attention of new company.

“Here, Teddy,” he said handing him the dragon. “If you can let me have what is bound to be a boring conversation, we’ll go to the park afterwards.” Theodore chanted about the park as he ran back off to his toys. It really did surprise him how well behaved his son was.

Once Theodore was preoccupied again, he turned his attention back to Tim. “Anyway, I’ll hear you out. So, what can I do for you?”

Daphne was only a few months younger than Theodore. Tim watched the boy bound off and he wondered what his daughter’s life would be like now if different choices had been made. Tim could have easily been in Azkaban if he’d listened to the whisperings in his ear, if he’d followed the path that had been meant for his father. Theodore looked happy enough, and while Tim couldn’t be sure that his cousin was a former death eater, there had been enough sly looks and hushed voices at family functions throughout the years.

Tim entered the home, shutting the door behind him and approaching Theo. He felt nervous, but made a good effort at not showing it. In recent years Tim had allowed his emotions to get the better of him, but he had found himself reverting back to his quiet, stoic days of Hogwarts.

“My wife was kidnapped and tortured a few months ago,” Tim started, not seeing a reason to wait, “I need to find out who did it.”

He stared, hard, at his cousin. Tim didn’t think he would have to explain why finally catching the culprits was absolutely necessary. “I think you can help me.”

Straight to the point then, Theo could appreciate that. He listened keeping his face passive, kidnappings and torture. Well he hadn’t done that in years and as far as he was aware, at least the other former Death Eaters he knew had been laying low for quite some time as well. It bothered him slightly that Tim was showing up at his doorstep with this sort of situation. For all he knew this could be some elaborate trap to smoke out those they failed to catch with the fall of the Dark Lord. The Aurors were bound to be bored.

“Isn’t this something you should be taking to the Hit Wizards or Aurors? I only have sway once they get caught, or with the passing of new laws.” He offered neutrally but his cousin continued to stare at him.

“Ah, I see.” Theo’s lips twitched slightly into a smirk. It was bold of him to come here and ask such things merely based on rumor and speculation. “That is a awfully big assumption you are making of me.” A correct one, but he wasn’t ready to show his hand just yet. Sure he could help. He certainly had the ability, having tracked down numerous people in the past but things were different now. Cordelia might have been dense enough to not notice when he was up to something, but Holly certainly wasn’t. And well, he stole a glance over to Theodore, as it turned out having a kid wasn’t completely terrible.

“Even if it were true at one time, it’s not now. I’m sorry about your wife, Timothy, but I don’t think I can help. It’s really not my area of expertise. I can direct you to a very decent hit wizard who would be more than happy to look over the case if you’d like,” he said finally after debating it over. It wasn’t worth the risk. Even if he was a little twitchy to get back into it just once more, and for apparently good reasons, but Theo wasn’t quite sure he could trust Tim and his cousin hadn’t given him anything to prove him otherwise.

“The hitwizards are incompetent,” Tim snapped, growing angry at the lack of answers he’d received from the squad. He had good friends working on the case for him, Tim knew deep down that Derek and Sturgis were doing all they could, that Bianca was literally losing her mind over the events, but until they were able to produce the perpetrators, it simply wasn’t enough.

“I’m not asking you to take care of the situation,” he said slowly, keeping an eye on Theodore because he knew how absorbent the minds of young children were. He couldn’t get anything past Daphne, and Astoria was learning her sister’s ways. His voice lowered as he stepped closer to Theo, “but these men, they almost killed my wife. They almost killed my son.”

Tim shook his head, the heat of his anger rising again. The thought of losing Adamina was too much to bear, and it took a lot of his energy to keep himself at bay. He took a deep breaths, “I just need to find out who they are. That’s all I need.”

He didn’t know what he would do when he found them, but Tim was certain it would alleviate his rage.

Theo's brows rose slightly as Tim spoke. He agreed, hitwizards were incompetent, but to hear that from his cousin. Well then. This was the least expected direction this conversation could have taken. And it was certainly not boring.

"Alright." Theo agreed not really needing to think it over much more. He could understand where his cousin was coming from. Had it been Holly...well there was no need to think about that because it wouldn't ever be her, but the point was the same.

"I'll look into it. But if I do it's on my terms." Theo didn't trust Tim not to muck things up. Most likely if he just got the information and handed it over, Tim would end up getting them both caught. "I figure out who did it, I go with you when go to do whatever you plan to do with it. I'm not having my name dragged through the mud just because you are too emotionally invested. Deal?"

He felt his heart thudding in his ears as his cousin created the terms but ultimately agreed to help. Tim nodded, hoping his shaking hands weren’t noticeable. He could deal with Theo’s rules, as long as he got ahold of the men who had tortured Adamina. It would be worth dealing with whatever his cousin thought necessary, it would be worth whatever trouble that might be caused.

With that thought, he stuck out his hand and shook Theo’s.

“Deal,” Tim said, sternly. “You’ve got a deal.”