Aftermath (Ric/Dan)

Ric had been pacing for a while now a few days a go he'd just got over his brothers dead and things were finally looking up. Sophia was pregnant, he was finally going to get the family he wanted. Then his parents were murdered, and he found out he had a brother he'd never ever heard about. He still couldn't believe they had kept that from him.

With his mind made up he made his way to the stair. "Alden can you come down please?" He asked before moving to sit back in the living room.

It was time to get to know his little brother.

Aldan couldn't quite get used to this room. Sure it was bigger and more organized, heck it even had a pretty wicked bed that he'd bounced on for awhile when he saw it. The fact remained, however, that this wasn't his room and he felt rather like a stranger visiting someone's house.

The 11-year-old grimaced and remained laying on the large bed, contemplating doing a disappearing act and going back out in the streets of London like he usually did when he didn't want to be home. Well, this wasn't his home. At least he couldn't think of it that way yet.

Just as he was about to make a grand escape, he heard his name called by his older brother (which was still foreign to think about, that he was living with his brother --or one of them at least). Aldan sighed and pulled himself out of bed, heading downstairs and into the living room after he didn't see Asric in the hallway.

"You rang?" he asked dryly, leaning against the door frame.

He looked up as he heard Aldan enter the room. He had heard his whole trip to meet him of course, his senses were training to pick up even the slightest of sounds. "Take a seat. It's about time we got to know each other." He said pulling out two bottles of butter beer. "Here." He said handing one over.

"Did my... our parents now mention me at all whilst you grew up?" He asked.

He did as he was told and sat on the recliner, wondering why Asric suddenly decided to get to know him. Well, they'd only known of each other for a day, so he supposed it made sense. Aldan accepted the butterbeer and inclined his head in thanks.

Aldan frowned at the question a little, but decided to answer. "They told me I had two older brothers, but really that's all they ever told me," he said. He remembered asking, back when he was seven years old and had just received the scar on his neck as a 'present' from an unknown man. The man had said because of his brother, and that was probably the only reason he'd ever known he had siblings.

"Obviously mum and dad never mentioned me to you," he said with a shrug.

He nodded, of course that was all they told him. What else were they going to tell him, the truth? No his parents were big on the truth. "Figures." He said before thinking a little. "Didn't you ever wonder why they never told you anything about us?" He asked, because if this kid was anything like him he'd want to know everything.

"No, we haven't spoken much these past few years. I've been busy." He said before taking a deep breath and sitting up straight. "Right im sure you have plenty of questions so go ahead."

Aldan shrugged, staying quiet for a minute or two as he heard Asric ask him about why he wasn't curious. At the time, he'd tried to find something about them, but he figured his brothers had wanted nothing to do with him, having been on his own with his parents since Day one.

Aldan looked at his older brother for a minute before deciding to ask, "These enemies... How would you protect your parents if you never talked to them that much?" In all honestly, Aldan was starting to connect that his brother's little enemies could have had something to do with the scar that sat proudly against his neck like a token of a fight.

He thought for a second. "I don't know if you know this Aldan, but i was taken away from our parents at 11. I was made the apprentice of the worlds best hunter and that required me to be with him at all times so i could learn how he worked and lived." He explained, he wanted him to know why he wasn't around and that now no matter what he would be there for him.

"Mother and father practically threw me out the house. They couldn't let me pass this great opportunity. Don't get me wrong, i loved every minute of training but i missed valuable time with them. The didn't owl, or visit or even return the owls i sent in the end i just gave up. Its dangerous for us to have family. We kill people and those peoples families come out to seek revenge. It was safer for them not to write, i understood that. In end the end people assumed i was an orphan, it was better that way so i didnt correct them." He shrugged.

"The point is no one knew my parents were alive so you were all safe."

Aldan blinked at the information he received from the man in front of him. Apprenticed at 11? Well, it was making more sense at least, why his parents and Asric had such bad communication really. "Why'd he want you to be his apprentice?" Aldan asked after a second two after the explanation.

As Asric went on in explaining, Aldan felt a little bad for trying to blame Asric for all this, even though he didn't outright say anything to his older brother. "They did know though," he denied. "There was this bloke back when I was seven and he knew who I was i think. He kept talking about a brother to me and that was the only reason mum and dad ever told me I wasn't an only child." Aldan wondered if that man had been the one who'd killed their parents in the end, but he didn't voice this aloud.

"Sometimes no communication is just as deadly as being with them all the time," Aldan said stubbornly, having wished he'd grown up with his brothers around. It would have made life a lot better.

He shrugged. "He saw potential in me and he wished to use that." He explained. "I guess he saw himself in me so he knew exactly what he could expect from me. And believe me i wanted that more than anyone. You heard of Durmstrang? Thats the school in Russia where our parents sent me after master ordered them too. Over there being an apprentice make you like a god, they place you above everyone else." He explained and he had to admit it felt good to be placed above other when it came to power.

His head snapped up to look at his little brother. "What?" He asked. "Remember what he looked like?" It might not have been his fault, Ames was off pissing wizards off just as much if not more than he was.

He nodded. "I know that now, what would you have done in my position? You've heard many stories about how the current hunters have no family left thanks to revenge. I thought you were better off being left in the dark, they knew what the apprenticeship meant for them but they pushed me into it anyway." He explained, it made sense at the time even if it didnt now.

Aldan nodded, having read about the school before alongside the french school. He was a bit surprised that Asric had been sent there and he was a Headmaster at Hogwarts now. What a difference... "How'd you become Headmaster at Hogwarts then?" he inquired curiously, finding himself interested in his brother's past now that he had the chance to hear about his family.

Aldan shrugged as his brother asked him if he remembered his face. Of course Aldan did, but he couldn't find any records of the guy in the heritage books their dad had owned when he went looking. "He had green eyes, extremely tall and was pretty much bald," Aldan described, recalling the man in his mind perfectly. "I... I have an eidetic memory so I can remember his face," Aldan admitted after a second, figuring that since his brother was telling him all this then he might as well tell him. He wasn't proud of his memory, but it was nice to rely on when you needed to know something important.

Aldan nodded at Asric's words about position. Yeah, he probably would have tried to do the same thing in the end. "Sometimes being left in the dark can be just as dangerous though," he said as he remembered reading something along those lines, "but yeah, I understand..." Aldan looked at the floor a little, feeling bad that he'd been so angry with this guy who did what he had to and he could've dumped Aldan at some foster home or something in the end. "Er... thanks for this...."

"As soon as i left school i moved back here and helped the ministry out with a lot of problems. The last headmaster died peacefully of old age and they felt the time came for someone with experience of directing groups of people and having a knowledge of battles so that when one finally does come they could help protect the students and direct those that were to fight." He explained. "I turned them down at first, i didnt deserve to lead, i tried that once and i lost a brother." He said choosing that moment to get a drink.

"For months they pestered me until i finally gave in and excepted the job. My hunting background soon had me planning out fights in the castle, they were right i was the perfect guy for the job." But power goes to my head. I left it control me and i forget about the people im suppose to be protecting." He said sitting up straighter he added for himself, no one else needed to know that. He needed people to believe in him.

His eyes narrowed as he tried to picture the man he described but no one came to mind. "Keep an eye out for him, if you see him again let me know as soon as possible understand?" He said, he could easily follow the mans tracks if the scent was fresh enough. "You don't need to thank me, we're the only family we have left we need to stick together."