Breaking the Laws

[Leandra Graas R3]

„I want to break into somewhere,” Leandra informed Damon as she hopped onto a free chair and curled her legs under her at the table at the table Damon and Ashlyn and a quietly snickering Rister were seated at in the library. “Hi, Ashlyn, love the blouse. It’s quirky!” Leandra informed the blonde girl cheerily, before lowering her voice by another notch as she turned back to Damon, “Just imagine it. It is a dark night, where even the moon is shrouded in secrecy and shadows and just the brightest stars offer the faintest beam of light to guide your footsteps. Your heart isn’t even sure which way it should be going as you slip through the shadows over velvety green grass to reach the window. And although the sound of glass breaking is nearly inaudible, it sounds like the tolling of a hundred gongs in your ears. Yet, you have no choice but to slip through the window into the house the quietly creaks around you as you make your way over to where you know the jewels are kept. I want to go and burglar some place. I did consider Gringotts but that might be a little bit too ambitious for the first time. Besides breaking into a private home would hold an old-fashioned charm a business doesn’t have. At least I think so. I won’t really know for sure until I test both options. So, will you help me break into somewhere today?” A twitch of a smile flashed across her Damon’s lips as Ashlyn stared at her with something akin to horror. The blonde Gryffindor was slowly learning that Leandra always carried out all the fancies and ideas that struck her while she was in the middle of writing her stories. But knowing it all first-hand made all the difference in how well you could write about it really. “Sure. Be ready to go from outside the doors at eight,” Rister drawled out with a wicked smirk at Ashlyn, “Damon, reckon you could organise a portkey or should we be apparating?” “Portkey will leave a trace of some sort, even if I get it through cousin Careia, so I would suggest apparating. You can take Leandra and Ashlyn can go with me,” Damon stated slowly as he observed Rister thoughtfully. “Perfect. I’ll leave the details then. Be sure to wear all black!” Leandra stated merrily, uncurling her legs and leaving the trio once again, hearing Ashlyn furiously hissing at her brothers that she was not planning on breaking into somewhere. And that Damon wouldn’t be breaking into somewhere either.

When Leandra exited the castle five minutes before eight later in the day, she found Rister already waiting for them, wearing black pants and an olive-toned sweater, covered by a simple jacket. Hurrying over to stand next to him, Leandra beamed up at her oldest brother as he automatically adjusted his lounging pose to such an angle where his body would take the burnt of the wind from her as they settled in to wait. Damon and Ashlyn arrived exactly on the second, Damon in grey silk pants and a white shirt and Ashlyn dressed in all black with even a black ski-cap hiding her hair. “Really, Ashlyn, that’s so cliché. Could you look any more like a burglar? Does the cap have a mask with holes for your eyes and mouth if you tug the edge down?” Leandra wrinkled her nose at Ashlyn, who looked about ready to set Damon on fire, especially as he murmured thoughtfully: “Well, I have to disagree here. Ashlyn does look rather fetching in a cat-suit.” Ignoring Damon for now, Leandra twirled, smoothing her long burgundy skirt out with her palms: “We’re acquiring an experience, not fortifying an old statement. I figured a skirt would be nice to hide things under between the rubbers of my stockings and if we should run into someone charming, I could use it to display my feminine charms until etiquette states I can leave again.” Ashlyn didn’t seem entirely sure what to say in response to such an agreement but an awkward silence was prevented by Rister, who twirled Leandra around and pulling her along at his side started making his way to Hogwarts from where they could apparate, Damon and Ashlyn, with horror and fury nearly radiating from the girl, following them. Leandra and Rister could both easily ignore that though as they cheerfully discussed the famous thieves and thefts of history, a topic that probably only annoyed Ashlyn even further as they spent at least half of the walk to Hogsmeade discussing different cover-names they should take on.

It was just as they had reached the point from where apparition was possible when a dampener was put on the entire outing. Throwing her head back, Leandra brushed a strand of hair out of her face with a graceful hand clothed in pale leather glove and sent a haughty look at Meredith, who seemed rather uncertain as she stood before them, questions and protestations on her lips as she had obviously overheard enough of their burglar plan to be suspicious. “Think you blew our cover,” Damon tossed at Leandra, who sniffed at the notion of it. Meredith had apologised to Morgana and her apology had been accepted and Mom and Dad’s unexpected presence in the Hogwarts castle had meant that the fact Rister had taken her to the family home had blown over easier than it would have otherwise. But Meredith wasn’t really trusted. She hadn’t deserved that. “Ah,” was all the comment Rister offered in response to Meredith seeking reassurance that they weren’t doing anything… illegal and turned to take Leandra between his arms, Damon mirroring the movement with Ashlyn. ‘Ah’ didn’t seem to be quite the answer Meredith was waiting for though so once Rister had landed them safely on their feet between some trees from among which you could see the faint outline of a house, Leandra rose to her tiptoes to glare faintly at Meredith clutching her brother’s shoulders, noticing that Damon sent a sour look at the rather startled looking Hufflepuff as well and Ashlyn… looked about ready to jab a wand in Damon’s eyes. Ashlyn to snarl. “After six years you should know better than to try to between Slytherins and their purpose,” Rister remarked dryly, freeing his shoulder with a quick twist of his body before walking forward to look at the house, “Looks rich enough to house some precious jewels, don’t you think so, Leandra?” Slipping past Rister, Leandra smirked at the house. Rister correctly identified the smirk as agreement as he took a step back and with a sweeping gesture included them all in his next words: “Lead the way, Leandra, you’re the mastermind behind this entire plan anyway. I’ll bring up the rear.”

Nodding seriously, Leandra straightened her back and stared at her motley crew of vagabonds: “Damon I want you to come second in case I’ll need brute force to break through a door or something like that. Ashlyn, the middle, you’ll handle everything and anything that might happen from biting ants and allergies to aurors reactional teams.” Leandra ignored Ashlyn’s wheezing exhale and her mutterings, as she looked Meredith up and down: “Really, if you wanted to come and carry out some illegal things with us, you could have dressed a bit more conservatively. At least take off your ring. Jewellery tends to pick up a lot residual magic. Rister, you’ll bring up the rear.” Leandra raised her left hand, in a Disney-princess fashion stretched out her pinky, gave a little regal nod and a sniff and turned on her heel. She could hear Damon moving to take up the spot behind him and Meredith incredulously demanding from Rister if they were really going to breaking the law. “You weren’t invited and as I recall you grabbed my shoulder so I could accuse you of spying and kidnapping and attempt of slavery. Now move,” came Rister’s curt reply and then the only sounds in the dim evening were their footsteps as they marched through the small forest-edge and then ducked towards the house diving from under one bush to another, the trip only disturbed by a couple of loud expletives when Damon landed on his stomach in the middle of an ant-hill. But they reached the house finally and gluing herself against the wall as the came to lean against the wall next to her. “Well done, crew, I believe we’re synchronised still although I don’t have a watch. Next step – gaining entry.” “I’m not going to be breaking into anywhere,” Meredith claimed, straightening out of her half-crouch only to have Damon yank her back: “Too late. Your magical signal is already mixed with all of us. If we’re going to jail, we’re all going together.” “You’re all idiots,” Ashlyn hissed furiously, though not without some amusement. Obviously she knew that there was something more to the story for the three of thejm to force an entry quite this carelessly. “Oh, but such damned cute idiots,” Rister purred in response, leaning closer to her ear with a practiced lecherous look, only for Ashlyn to slam her elbow into his chest, having both of them groaning suddenly and appropriately rubbing their elbow and chest.

“Damon, did you bring a diamond knife to cut the window-glass?” Leandra demanded in a whisper and a stern glare at her crew. “Nope. But we have Rister. Why make things complicated?” Damon responded and before anyone could respond Rister had straightened and put his own elbow through the glass. Sending an angelic smile that nobody really trusted to the rest, he gently eased his hand through the gaping glass and flicked the window open. “Ladies first,” Damon suggested with a courteous bow and offered his hand to Leandra who climbed in through the window followed by Ashlyn, Meredith who was half-way shoved through and then her brothers. Grabbing an apple form the basket on the table, Leandra bit into it merrily as she led the rest through a couple of empty rooms to what seemed to be the large living room. “Ooooh, that looks nice. I’ll take that,” she decided quietly, making her way across the large room to pick up the heavy silver candlestand from the fireplace. Damon dragged Ashlyn across the room to lift down a painting to see if they could get rid of the frame and just take the canvas when a clear voice sounded through the room, casting a spell to rope them all mere seconds before the lights of the room were turned on. “My parents are going to kill me,” Meredith groan, squeezing her eyes closed in despair Leandra noticed, even as the rest simply wriggled a bit in their bonds. “I’ve caught myself some thieves it seems,” the male voice resounded through the room, two house elves hovering uncertainly behind the owner of the house. “Rister and I were just being good older brothers, allowing our gentle little sister gain some valuable experience,” Damon offered pleasantly, making Ashlyn snort and offer a choice description of their mental abilities which was not at all flattering. “You should have added a silencing charm. What are you all doing here?” came the curious voice of Lita, as she stepped around Gaenor to stare at them all with a hand on her hip. “Lita?” Meredith’s voice was full of wonderment as her eyes snapped open, Lita!” She seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown or tears, Leandra decided with a slight wrinkle of her nose before noting that Rister had managed to pull himself to sit up. “Lita, you’re a lousy bait. You were supposed to keep him busy on a date,” Rister remarked dryly, making Lita sneer at her as she fished out her wand to release Leandra, Ashlyn, and Meredith from the ropes. “I wasn’t aware I was being a bait. Why are you all here?” Lita demanded, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at them all, “And especially, why is Meredith here?” Leandra exchanged a swift glance with her brothers and they all chorused after barely a second: “It was all Meredith’s fault! She made us do it!” Meredith gaped and Gaenor laughed: “My house elves weren’t entirely sure what to do about my godson breaking the wards and the window of my house.” Turning Gaenor observed curiously as Ashlyn released Damon on the bonds only to promptly smack him once he stood, only to have Damon catch her hand, press a kiss to her palm and then keep it trapped against his stomach as she pulled her over a comfortable couch with a knowing smile: “Oh, it’s a little bit amusing however. I don’t think you’ve officially met Gaenor yet. He’s Rister’s godfather and Lita’s fiancé.” “Pleasure,” Gaenor offered with a smile to Ashlyn, not offering his hand for a shake as Damon kept Ashlyn’s hand trapped anyway, “I’m not as old as being Rister’s godfather actually insinuates. Not sure why Kris and Cleo picked me. Perhaps they hoped Rister would kill me in a couple of years.” “We’re not engaged,” Lita stated, pointing Meredith towards a seat, but her words were ignored by everyone else. “Only because Gaenor can’t really ask you to marry until you’ve graduated. Or at least nearing graduation. And it made sense. You were young so you had time to build up your fortunes but not squander them away so that once I figured I wanted some more income I could just do away with you and inherit it all in my prime age. And then Lita had to pick you up,” Rister made a grimace at the two, before tilting his head curiously, “Although, Lita – want to team up and do away with the old chap anyway and share the profit? All the rest will stay silent because if Gaenor dies in some horrifying manner, they’ll all be accomplishes. Without the monetary perks. In such an occasion I might even be willing to overlook the glaring prejudices shown by the fact that I’m the only one still tied down.” “Gaenor! Rister’s being mean!” Lita complained loudly, even though there was a grin playing on her lips. “I’ll snitch on him to his Daddy,” Gaenor offered mildly, only to have Rister pout for a moment. “Gaenor! Lita’s being a tattletale – OW! – AND abusive!” Rister glared at Lita who seemingly had wholly enjoyed smacking him. “I’ll snitch on her to your Daddy as well,” Gaenor offered calmly, raising his wand and freeing Rister of his ropes, “Leandra, please take my great-grandmothers silver candle stand out from under your skirt. May I offer anyone a drink?”

[Lita Hollows R6]

“They’re doing what?” Lita stared at the two house-elves blankly. She had to have heard wrong. There was absolutely no way that the two elves had just informed Gaenor that his godson had broken a window and proceeded to enter the house that way rather than through the traditional method of using a door. It simply wasn’t possible. Except, of course, for the fact that Gaenor’s godson was also her best friend and Rister was entirely capable of pulling off such ridiculous stunts merely because he felt like it. Let no one ever accuse Rister of being mature when he didn’t have to be or didn’t feel the wish to be. With a thoroughly irritated huff, Lita flopped backwards and covered her eyes with the crook of her bent elbow. “Can’t we just ignore them and hope they stay downstairs?” Lita requested pathetically, peering at her boyfriend with sly hopefulness until she saw him smirk and shake his head. Why did Rister have to choose tonight to indulge his mischievous side? Lita grumbled to herself silently. As much as she loved the boy who was practically her brother, there were times when his intrusions simply weren’t welcomed. Her dates with Gaenor were one of those times. “Fine.” With bad grace, Lita forced herself to her feet and summoned a slight smile to appease Gaenor. It wasn’t his fault that his godson was slightly less than sane.

“Now I recall why you need me,” Lita commented dryly as sharp brown eyes took in the near comical scene taking place in Gaenor’s living room. “You can’t even remember to use a silencing charm. Now, can any of you tell me what you’re all doing here?” She paused for a moment, gaze lingering on Damon and Ashlyn before snorting in amusement. The pair had quite obviously been discussing the best ways to extricate the painting from its frame but now, with her ski-cap askew and blonde hair sticking upwards wildly, Ashlyn resembled a helplessly growling kitten. “See,” Lita began in a deliberately patronising tone, crouching to be on eye-level with Ashlyn, “if you carried a penknife, you could have just trimmed the canvas from the frame and then escaped from your bonds. But you don’t, so you can’t. You evidently haven’t completely adjusted to being Damon’s girlfriend yet.” The Gryffindor snarled something about not being Damon’s girlfriend but, well, everyone had already heard those protests before and it was still quite clear to see that the only problem was Ashlyn’s insecurities.

Oh dear Merlin. The urge to close her eyes and groan in exasperation was nearly overwhelming; sheer will-power was all that Lita could offer as resistance. “Meredith?” Lita turned an incredulous stare to Rister and Leandra. “I don’t know which of you dreamed up this impulsive escapade but I’m fairly certain it didn’t originally include Meredith. Unless,” she added after her eyes flicked to the side thoughtfully, “it was to torture the poor girl and scare her out of her wits.” It wasn’t hard to predict Ashlyn’s derisive retort to that comment so Lita snapped a quelling glare in her direction before the blonde could do much more than open her mouth. Meredith looked almost pathetically grateful to be released from the ropes binding her though it only took a second for her to release that she wasn’t entirely sure of what to do after her release. The Hufflepuff looked pitifully awkward, appreciatively scurrying over to the seat Lita wordlessly pointed to. It would have been an amusing sight had this been any other girl than the one Kris had predicted Rister might marry one day. Meredith Garwin as the next Mistress Graas? This cowering, terrified girl? Even the thought was enough to make Lita shudder with delicate distaste before she got herself back under tight control. “We’re not engaged.” Lita rolled her eyes at Damon pointedly, amused to see Ashlyn promptly pull her hand free only to smack him once again for making untruthful introductions.

“Ashlyn is Damon’s girlfriend,” Lita told Gaenor with a bright, gleeful smirk. “My little brother’s growing up so fast, isn’t he?” Not a word was said about Damon and Ashlyn being bonded. Meredith was there, and she didn’t need to know. Besides, judging from the fierce glower directed at the Hufflepuff, Ashlyn was no more a fan of Meredith than Layla had been. And Layla truly had taken pleasure in passively tormenting Merry, Lita admitted mentally. The small Ravenclaw had spent every possible moment making Meredith’s existence miserable during Meredith’s temporary stay in the Graas castle. Not even Rister had escaped unscathed. Nearly two weeks had passed before Layla had deigned to offer more than a glare to the eldest Graas son. Speaking of whom...Lita glanced at Rister indignantly. “Gaenor!” Lita whined light-heartedly, “Rister’s being mean!” His response earned him a smack before Lita turned her frown to Gaenor. “Kris isn’t in charge of my discipline,” Lita pointed out cheekily. “I’m not technically part of the Graas family. But if our troublemakers wish, they can quite happily break into my father’s house just as long as they don’t get caught. Nobody’s safety is assured when in the Hollows domain,” Lita remarked with sincere dryness, her right wrist unconsciously flexing to feel the absence of the bracelet holding the engraved Hollows crest that had once been clasped around her skin. There was freedom in not strictly belonging to her strict, unscrupulous family. She had found her place, with Gaenor and with the Graas family. Rister had spoken truthfully; she wouldn’t be married until after graduation but she was a Maydell in all but name, or at least an honorary Graas. Graas or Maydell but not Hollows. Never again. “Gaenor, why are you offering the criminals refreshments? Surely a firecall to the aurors would be far more appropriate.”

[Rister Graas S6]

„Using a silencing charm on us would have been rather contradictory to the nature of the meeting,“ Leandra offered thoughtfully, tilting her head as she considered it, “It obviously is forcing an entry, however, due to the relations and history you would naturally be curious over what caused it. If you spelled us silent, then veritaserum would not have much of a use, as we couldn’t talk. And if we were to close our eyes and focus well enough on something in our thoughts we might block out the knowledge of your removing the silencing charm so you can’t force the information out of us. Veritaserum does compel you to speak the truth, but if your mind still thinks you have been silenced then the truth – for you – is that you can’t speak. And you can’t force anyone to right the truth. So if you want to beat out the information of us, Gaenor’s idea of ropes was rather clever.” Rister rolled his eyes at Leandra’s back before glancing lazily at Lita over Leandra’s head. “Anyone else figured it out yet?” Ashlyn sent him a puzzled glance before turning accusing eyes to Damon. That was a good thing about Ashlyn. No matter who was in the wrong, Ashlyn always blamed Damon. Apparently Damon had caught onto that as well so he sent an accusing glance to Rister. “It’s full moon tomorrow night. I’m not entirely sure of the details of quite what benefit this has,” he voiced out patiently enough, not getting any further before Leandra jumped in with all the dramatics an over-imaginative kid can have: “The rage of a family heir aimed at the house of a presumed family-friend. Vandalism. Emotions. Crime. Secrets. If you extract the pictures from the security signature and mail them in the hour, they’ll make tomorrow’s headlines. Damn it. We should have poured a couple of glasses of whiskey down Rister’s throat before having him break a window. A drunken ravaging heir would be far more intriguing. Actually get Merry on those pictures too. A ravaging heir pillaging the house of a supposed family friend who defiled a young naïve girl. Love triangle. I like it.” “Don’t swear and I don’t like whiskey, but the initiative should be applauded,” Rister pointed out reasonably, even as Gaenor summoned a house-elf and with a light smirk gave the orders for him to get the impression pictures of Rister breaking in and anonymously delivering them to the Daily Prophet office.

Now, while Ashlyn was smart and blamed everything on Damon, Lita unfortunately had the tendency of blaming Rister. He could never figure out why exactly. He wasn’t always the one to blame for coming up with an idea. “She grabbed onto my shoulder and I accidentally pulled her through apparition,” Rister informed Lita dryly, not that it mellowed the glare out much. “Damon doesn’t have a time-line for marriage over his head, which is probably why he isn’t throwing temper tantrums back. Then again it’s amusing to watch Ashlyn twist him in knots with no real effort,” Rister pointed out, even as he sauntered over to the grand piano and sat behind the keys, absently touching his fingers to one. “In the light of this development, I feel that I should tell you that Rister can tell the piano,” Damon informed Ashlyn dryly, “Go get him, tiger!” Rister sneered at Damon, who returned the grimace in kind even as Ashlyn almost involuntarily drifted closer, even if she did look somewhat unbelieving. “Mom made us. All of us play at least one instrument. I know exactly four pieces of music. Two, because one would be lame. Three to show that I’m highly educated. And the fourth just so I could laugh in people’s faces then they attempt to mock me by learning just three pieces of music in order to impress people. Its genius isn’t it.” “Damon plays…” Leandra was cut off mid-word and a quick glance showed the wand in Damon’s hand. Ashlyn seemed somewhat drawn as to what to do so Rister reached out a hand to him while patting the seat he was sitting: “Come to the charming old brother and I’ll tell you all the dirty little secrets.” “I don’t play anything,” Damon protested with a scowl, while Rister snickered at him, drawing Ashlyn closer to him in a living shield. “You’re right, you don’t play. You give lessons to ghouls and wrights in how to kill people with sound,” Rister snickered at Damon liberally, even as his hand tightened around Ashlyn, keeping him from putting some distance, “Now, now, be nice or you won’t learn the secret. He has enough blackmail on us to guarantee the silence of everyone else and I’m not sure you want to confront Mom and Dad about the way the brought up their kids just yet, do you?” Rister grinned, merrily ignoring the glare he was receiving from Damon and Ashlyn. “And not on you?” Lita questioned with an arched eye-brow as she reached for her wand again to free Leandra of the silencio. “On me too, but I figure that his embarrassment value evens out the blackmail. Damon learned the harp,” Rister grinned victoriously at Damon’s groan and Ashlyn’s unbelieving expression, “But don’t ask him to play for you. He plucks one string and it sounds worse than a field-full of tomcats being strung.”

“One of these days someone’s going to slip poison into your food and then I’m going to dance on your grave,” Damon informed Rister, sounding a bit muffled as he had pressed the palms of his hands over his eyes. “I love you too, honey, but I have a strict females only policy,” Rister countered, before giving Ashlyn an affectionate squeeze. After all, somehow he seemed easier for Ashlyn to swallow than Jared and Gabriel. Well, perhaps not Jared as Jared loved music as well. But easier than Gabriel. Perhaps he had something of that cliché older brother charm working for him. “Would you care to go dancing on my grave? Naked of course. Wouldn’t be fun otherwise,” Rister suggested with an exaggerated wink that made Ashlyn huff, elbow him not too gently in the ribs and march across the room to Lita and Leandra and Meredith, muttering something under her breath that Rister decided to turn a deaf ear too. “Tell Dad he can go and discipline himself next time he’s staring at you and I might believe you,” Damon muttered instead, as he let his hands drop to glance at Lita. “I think he occasionally disciplines me,” Gaenor muttered with a shake of his head, even as he crossed the room to Lita, wrapping an arm protectively around her and pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose. Evidently he had noticed her rubbing her wrist where the bracelet with the insignia had once been. It was Leandra’s non-stop-chatter that kept most attention away from the gesture though. “He doesn’t want us to perish when he sends us to the dungeons, as he can’t summon aurors due to the nasty hidden secrets and skeletons. Every self-respecting pureblood has dungeons. At least one room and a hallway. Male purebloods at least, as Ashlyn didn’t have one. I checked. You really need to modify that before Damon fully moves in with you, Ashlyn, then again maybe buying a new house and moving there would be wiser. Might get tight there otherwise with the twins and Layla and all the babies you two are going to be making. I’m going to be an interesting aunt. Actually, the kids will have awesome aunts and troublesome uncles,” Leandra informed Ashlyn merrily, before tilting her head towards Rister: “Rister, were you planning on kissing Meredith good night after walking her home today?” “I wasn’t planning on walking her home. We’re in Ireland so I wasn’t really planning on walking anywhere really,” Rister answered, even though the sharp look informed Leandra that he was treading on dangerous ground. “You weren’t planning on walking her home but planned on kissing her?” “Leandra.” Rister’s voice had a steely quality in it that straightened the backs of both of his siblings and by extension Ashlyn as well. Even as Leandra lowered her eyes while gliding over the floor to perch herself on the piano stool behinds Rister. Kneeling on the seat, she leaned forward laying her elbows and her chin on his shoulders: “I’m sorry. But you are the best thing that would probably ever happen to the silly girl and she doesn’t even realise it – she would ask you out if she did, considering how many times she has screwed things up -, so she doesn’t quite deserve to be kissed by you right now.” Rister sighed and shook his head, turning his head just enough to grin wryly at Leandra who promptly landed a smack of a kiss on his cheek: “I should probably apparate her back though I promise not to kiss her.” Turning his head, Rister arched an eye-brow at Merry: “Ready to go – yes, I know you don’t need being taken care of and all that but you can’t apparate through the wards around the house I can – or do you want that tour through Gaenor’s dungeons first?”