It was only the next afternoon that Hugh and Aurelia found themselves on the way to St. Mungo’s. Not only did the red head have a few last tests to be subjected to with her recent addition to her little family, but the pair were there on a slight note of other business. Besides, rumor had it that Trevor was back after yet another trip around some part of the world and Aurelia was curious as to its validity.

“I don’t know why wizards even bother with muggle things sometimes.. Like phones.. Getting a wizard on the phone is so difficult. You have a better chance of winning the muggle lottery..” Aurelia stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets, shaking her head a little as she watched the world outside the cab’s window.

She turned to Hugh with a small, sheepish smile. “Sorry. But you’d think after I nearly yelled his ears off for disappearing that he’d know not to just pop off for a weekend or so.” Her mind was buzzing with their real intentions for the visit, but she didn’t dare speak about it. It kind of scared her a bit; moreso than the ‘baked goods’ (or so they’d been dubbed by her and Damian) she now carried did.

“Besides.. How is anyone to know I’m having children if all my friends are never around to hear the news?” The comment was more of a speculation on the lacking presence of Chase in her life recently. She had known there was some big case going on, and that the Auror friend of hers couldn’t really talk about it – for safety reasons – but still, it was a bummer not having any girl pals around to get all gossipy with.

The future of his life with Aurelia had never looked so interesting or complicated, and although they were knocking things off the list as quickly as they could; it all still centered around the arrival of a child or suspected children; their wedding date; and informing everyone about all these things. Chase had been curiously absent, and even Aurelia's colleagues at St. Mungo's were unaware of all that had happened since the Paris trip. But those same colleagues were the ones they'd depend upon in the coming months, though he wasn't going to leave it all to the experts. He could play a role, too. Love and affection for the redhead was good tonic for her spirits, as it had been for him, but he would also study the technical end of things. One thing that he was sure of: She'd get the best possible care, and he had started to make himself study all the books her could find on childbirth. Luckily, she seemed to be having only minimal morning sickness, was sleeping well, and food was something she loved, so that was all to the good.

Then came the startling discovery in the attic: It had been like one of those time capsules being opened. Hugh kept his arm around the lovely girl as the cab swished past the familiar row houses and headed for the hospital, and listened to her concerns about her friends. It certainly occurred to him that they were a very modern couple compared to some of them, at least in terms of knowledge about such devices as phones and transport and daily life. But then, his family had very nearly been muggles, and Aurelia's upbringing in the midst of London had lent a lot to her own education. In short, he preferred being able to blend in well.

"Not to worry, we'll catch Trevor if we can. Although Chase may be busy this friday. maybe we ought to host the dinner this time. We've never done that."

Aurelia was simply tickled by the idea of hosting dinner. That would be a perfect opportunity to tell everyone dear to her, and celebrate not only their engagement, but also their forthcoming addition to the family. She was glad he thought of it; it had just always been the custom to goto Chase's that the red head never thought to host it herself. And now with Damian teaching her to cook, she could manage to actually make something for the lot of them, with a little help of course.

"A wonderful idea! I've got a few days off this week too, so I can get all the cleaning and planning done."

It was a short trip in the cab to the hospital, so they were arrived in no time. Aurelia thanked Edith and paid the fare before stepping out and onto the curb.

Hugh also thanked Edith as they got out of the cab. The venerable cabbie, with her knit cap and fingerless gloves and clay pipe, looked at the couple on the sidewalk. A small smile crinkled her face. They'd often traveled with Edith.

"You need me to wait for you two?" she asked.

"We might be a little while, Edith, thanks. We'll send you a signal if we need you," said Hugh.

With a wave of her hand, the purple cab screeched into motion again, and vanished.

"Yes, I was thinking we could send out the invitations tonight, and I'll leave it to you to work things out with Damian if you want to do up something special. I'll borrow a couple of house elves from Three Chimneys so you don't have to do a lot of cleaning yourself."

They took the secret entrance to St. Mungo's and were soon in the reception area, and Hugh signed in as a visitor. Then Hugh let Aurelia lead the way to the proper ward, where Vincent Hearthen was to be found.

The buzz of the hospital sent Aurelia’s senses on ends. It seemed that there had been a lot going on since her last day, but in all actuality, it was just all the same. People got sick or injured because of rogue potions or great wizard battles they got themselves in, and they were sent here to be fixed. There was a place for those who weren’t able to be helped, and so this was where the pair were headed.

Aurelia was stopped a few times by this and that co-worker, wanting to hear of her good news and how she’d been doing – as the ones who stopped had been in on her delicate situation prior to Hugh knowing. She promised to stop on her way back and tell them everything; but for the time being, she had some business to attend to.

As they reached the elevator, Aurelia pressed the button for the fourth floor and took up a spot next to Hugh. Her hand felt for his and she laced her fingers with his, leaning her head on his arm. She was glad he’d come and swept her away from the hectic hospital life. This sort of job was rather draining, both on the emotional status and physical being. There was always so much to be done, and one never really felt as if their job was done when quitting time came.

The couple rode together, hand-in-hand up to the fourth floor. On that floor were some of the sadder cases of magic gone wrong, or in some cases where the trauma of some event was difficult for even the best intentions to overcome with magic. The loss of loved ones could lead to madness, and although Aurelia had put a lot past her, the ghosts lingered. Vincent Hearthen was a ghost like that, still lingering for who knew what purpose?

When the elevator doors opened, it was into another reception area, lit by soft overhead lighting, and with the walls painted a soothing sea green. A few chairs and a couch with a lot of reading material were to one side, and there was another lounge through some doors to the left where people could come and visit those loved ones that still possessed the need for human company.

Fortunately, the cases were few that were incurable. Once they saaw Mr. Hearthen, they'd know how far gone he was, or if there was a kernel of the original remaining that they could reach somehow. Hugh had brought along a few sheets of random music in a folder. Maybe if he heard music it would help? Or at least, seeing the sheet music might spark some memory.

The mediwitch on station there greeted the pair.

"We're here to see Vincent Hearthen," said Hugh.

"Are you relatives?" said the mediwitch.

"No," said Hugh, and looked to Aurelia for help.

The smell of this floor was something odd to the red head; there was a light perfume about the air, and she didn’t know if it were the ward itself, or the woman at the counter. She didn’t know the woman well, but she had obviously been there awhile; the woman had played victim to the nightly song, always the same for Mr. Hearthen. Aurelia smiled at the mediwitch and shrugged her shoulders. “I picked him up some new music; I’m awful tired of listening to the same tune night after night.”

“You’re telling me.” The woman replied and smiled, handing over the sign in sheet for their access to the ward. “It’s nice of you to stop by up here and visit though.. No one ever comes to visit him.” Aurelia signed and then handed the clipboard to Hugh, taking the leather-bound music book and wandering forward a little. She thanked the mediwitch and stepped away from the desk.

Had he been wearing the new lab coats they’d been issued last month, Mr. Hearthen would have looked exactly as if he belonged checking patients rather than being one himself. The aged man was at the end of the hallway, Aurelia pointed out to Hugh as they began down the hall. She explained that he rather liked feeling he still cared for his patients; and though they never really gave him the rights, most of the patients here didn’t mind the man, and he never really interfered.

Vincent had been checking the charts of a rather comatose lady when Aurelia and Hugh approached. He had noticed the pair at the desk and only assumed they were coming to see him; most the young ones came to him for help – that’s what he was here for.

“Ah yes! Seems stable here.” He tucked the chart and turned to the pair, extending his hand to Hugh first. “Vincent Hearthen.” They shook hands and then the man turned to Aurelia. Oh! How big she’d gotten! He’d have to tell Fredrik to keep up the marvelous work!

“Little red.” He embraced the red head and though she didn’t fight him, she didn’t really return the hug either. Ah, well, why would she. He was just a crazy old man! Even if he did watch her grow up. And she’d turned out so well. Looked just like her mother, only she had her father’s eyes. Thank Merlin she’d been spared his nose! How dredful her petite face would look with a nose like Fredrik’s!

Aurelia gave the man a warm smile and held the music notebook tighter in her grip, pulling it up to her chest. “Mr. Hearthen, I thought maybe if you have a few moments you could chat with us? It’s about my father..”

“How is old Fredrik? Why doesn’t he visit me? My children won’t visit either.. I can’t really blame them though, but Fredrik, he should know better than to leave an old man like me alone for too long.. I miss his music! I’m no good at playing, though I still try..”

The redhead was utterly confused. She knew the man was loose in the head, but had he no recollection of her father’s death? It seemed odd to the redhead. She didn’t know what to say really. Aurelia eyed Hugh a moment before she took a breath.

“He sent me with music for you..” She piped up, holding out the book. “He meant to send it ages ago, but I guess he lost it.”

Vincent gave a good laugh and collected the leatherbound music book. “Typical Fredrik. He was awful at remembering things. Cordelia had her hands full with him always; scheduling his days for him and keeping him from getting off task.”

Aurelia didn’t know how hard it would be to hear someone speak of her mother; she’d never really met anyone who spoke of her to the redhead. She took a step back and looked to Hugh. “Please excuse me, I’m going to the ladies room.. I’ll meet you two in the common area at the end of the hall in a few..” She turned and hurried away.

Vincent turned to Hugh with a lost expression. “Did I say something to upset little red?”

When they first met Hearthen, Hugh was a little confused, but the nature of the man's former job was soon apparent. he talked almost normally, but it was clear his mind was completely out of joint. Interestingly, though, he recognized Aurelia as Fredriks' daughter. it might have been far worse if he'd mistaken her for her mother. As it was, Aurelia was unsettled during the whole conversation; and Hugh could well understand. He stood close, and returned Mr. Hearthen's handshake with a smile.

"Hugh Kenrick," he said simply. The man seemed to accept Hugh's presence as just another friend of the family, which suited Hugh having to make a more detailed explanation. He simply watched his fiance interact with the older man. Mr. Hearthen probalby wasn't much older than Hugh's father, but he appeared far older than the pictures they'd seen. Grief and loss no doubt had aged him.

Soft piano music played in Hugh's head as he listened to the two speaking to each other. How often did this happen in the world? Lonely, abandoned people. Forgotten by their loved ones, left to live in a dreamworld of unreality. Hugh knew it happened to wizards as well as muggles. The talk began to get a little uncomfortable when family members were mentioned, especially the man's children, Katyi and Alexander, the children who's disappeared. He'd completely blocked that out, as well as the deaths of Fredrik and Cordelia. He quietly took Aurelia's hand until the emotion of the moment took hold of her, and she excused herself. He gripped her hand a moment before she left. he looked at the portfolio in the old man's hands.

"No, sir, it's just been a long time since she'd been able to come to your house and visit, you see. In fact, we were hoping that we could sometime. You know, an old-time sing-along? Aurelia, er, Auri is quite a pianist like Fredrik. In fact, we could try this one out while we're waiting for her. I see you have a fine piano in the lounge."

"Ah, yes, it has been so long. I'm sure that she'd like our old friend Anup from Darjeeling. He's a Prince, but we all call him Anup. He never seemed to mind. he loved music, too. She might enjoy his company. But yes, let's see. Do you play?"

They walked towards the lounge, and the mediwitch eyed them curiously, her eyes sad. When they reached the lounge off the common area, Hugh spied a fine old German piano, a Bosendorfer.

Hugh replied that he played a little, and the man set down the music portfolio on the music rack, and the man opened it. The old fellow sat down, and adjusted his glasses, and looked at the music. Then he pushed himself back from it.

"Complicated," he said. "Perhaps you ought to try it, Hugh?

"I think I'll wait, sir, until Aurelia comes back. She's the one with the skill."

Aurelia had made it quickly to the restroom, pulling up a chair to just sit a moment and take in the emotional toll of what the man down the hall had said. It should be easy for her to hear about her parents; after all that time she’d neatly tucked away her thoughts of them, but it was still sometimes an effort to make it though a conversation.

So she sat. Not for long though; it was only a few moments before she put the chair back, went to the sink, ran the water and patted her head a little. Though her cheeks were flushed, she felt rather chilled. How odd. But, she had never had magic children growing in her womb, so she imagined maybe the awkward feelings were due to that.

Her footsteps brought her to the lobby, where Hugh and Mr. Hearthen sat chatting. She gave them a smile before approaching the piano. “You won’t play it Mr. Hearthen?”

The man looked up at her with a sheepish grin, shaking his head. “No dear, I like it better when you play..”

Aurelia smiled and took up the seat Vincent offered when he stood. He wandered off a little and then stood next to the paino. The red head eyed the lines of music, reading then over once before she set to playing.

The girl seemed all right when she returned, so Hugh settled back as she began to play. The music that filled the small lounge was not your run-of-the-mill waltz or sonata. It was a vibrant piece of music, and had a distinct far eastern sound to it. It was almost as if the music had been meant for something other than a piano, although Hugh knew enough to recognize notation. Fredrik Murdir must have written it seated at his own piano at home. Home. Aurelia's house.

He watched his fiance manipulate the keys, and she made no mistakes. Though she rarely played, her skill on the ivories had helped them before. He watched the reaction of Vincent Hearthen as she continued to play: He seemed to be enjoying it, but at one point, his face grew serious.

"We never went to the Raj's wedding, little Red," he said during a bridge in the music.

"Why didn't we go?" The man looked lost and confused, but his eyes were focused on Aurelia.

Music. It sometimes seemed to the red head that it was the only thing that made any sense.

Aurelia was rather flawless when it came to playing the piano; though it wasn't often that anyone ever heard or saw her playing, but she practiced always. Sometimes, when she didn't want to sit at an actual piano she would make a faux keyboard using her wand and play a song or two in silence - the music playing in her head.

But now, at the hospital she'd spent a countless hours at, the sound of music filled the lobby and wafted through the halls. The woman at the desk smiled a little and went back to filling out paperwork.

The reaction from Mr. Hearthen went unnoticed by Aurelia, who was more focused on the piano and the notes on the pages. These notes were written in her father's hand; the man who she sometimes hardly remembered.

His question prompted a look up though, and Aurelia was a little lost at a reply. "I.. What wedding?" She looked back to the page, picking up where she left off.

"I don't recall any wedding Mr. Hearthen.. Perhaps we were busy taking care of all these people here.."

The music faltered for just a second as Aurelia stopped. Hugh caught something in Mr. Hearthen's look and tone and he looked at Aurelia for a moment, and then back to the older man. He was looking at Aurelia as if he saw her in a totally different way. It was as if someone had wiped the condensation off a window and could see more clearly. His expression was different from when the pair had first greeted him and played the music.

"Sir, you said the Raj's wedding?" said Hugh. He fished into his coat and found a couple of the old photos that they'd found in Aurelia's attic. He pulled out the one of Vincent Hearthen, fredrik Murdir and a few other people, and the man with the turban and business suit with the small beard.

"This man's wedding?"

He looked at Hugh, at the picture, and he muttered something, a word that Hugh didn't recognize.

"Have we met, sir? he said, and then looked back at Aurelia with a confused look.

"You're all grown up," he said tonelessly to the redhead."The wedding march Fredrik wrote...No, of course there was no wedding."

Aurelia had thought the tune to be quite nice; it was a flowing piece that seemed to have had a lot of work done with it. The red head thought it was no less than perfect really, a piece she might have liked to have played at her own wedding. Thoughts of the wedding though were put off for the time being to address Mr. Hearthen.

“Yes sir, I am grown..”

The picture Hugh had pulled from his pocket was unlooked at by the red head. It was the one that he had found when they cleaned out the attic. The older man they sat with seemed different after listening to the tune and seeing the picture. It made her a bit curious.

Aurelia sat back and gave a small sigh. What a world they lived in; to have all these adventures and never a normal year. But what was life without a little adventure. She tilt her head from side to side, trying to get rid of the kink in her neck. “Which wedding?”

. Hugh's ears had pricked up at the man's sudden clarity of thought, and his change of expression. Although he'd been asked who he was, Hugh didn't answer for the moment. Of course, Vincent Hearthen wouldn't know him. He realized that for the moment, the man was in something like a sane state, and not in the fantasy world he had dwelt in for 20 years. Aurelia re-asked the question, and the man looked at her. HIs speech came slowly and haltingly, as if the memories were coming back in slow motion.

"Anup Ragujar, the man in the picture. You - you were too young to remember but your father was helping Anup and I... and they both disappeared. First Anup, and then your father disappeared... they were ...about...about the...my chil--

Now the tears were pouring from the man's eyes, and he stopped speaking. Hugh put a hand on the man's shoulder.

"We'd like to help, isn't it so, Aurelia? That's why we're here." said Hugh.

Aurelia was utterly and completely lost at that moment; she had no bearing as to what had just transpired within the man’s head and lifted whatever veil there was. She sat there with wondering eyes, looking between Hugh and the man sitting next to her on the piano bench. Her hair dropped from behind her ear where it’d been tucked, and she quickly moved a hand to brush it back again.

Before she could open her mouth, Mr. Hearthen was crying and Aurelia was moving into her pocket for a handkerchief. It was habit to carry one, something she had started forgetting since she no longer roamed the hospital halls anymore. Lucky for her though, at Hugh’s mention of leaving for the hospital that previous morning had prompted her to stuff one in her pockets. She handed it to Vincent without much thought before turning to look at Hugh.

“I.. Yes..” She choked out, clearing her throat. Her eyes found Vincent again and the redhead couldn’t help but tear up. Stupid hormones, she mused sarcastically to herself.

“We want to find out what happened.. We’re trying to figure things out..”

The man took the handkerchief and wiped his eyes with it. Whatever was going on, his eyes focused on Aurelia, and he took the handkerchief and gave it back to her. Then he reached inside lab coat and the flannel pajama top under it.

”I’ve tried to reach them, it’s the shuttered room, the old playroom. We were always happy there…”

The words came very slowly and then stopped altogether. However, his hand withdrew from inside his clothing, and brought something from around his neck. The hand fell nerveless onto his lap. It was an old piece of yarn, and something brass – a tiny brass figurine -- dangled from it.

”The m-music,” he muttered, and then he stopped, and pressed the thing into Aurelia’s hand. When he looked up at them again. Hugh could see his eyes had resumed their faraway look.

”Do you like poetry? I love Emerson, his words come home to me like truth. Like Lady Truth herself, remember?”

Hugh knelt down by Aurelia, he looked at her eyes, and back at the piano, and then back at the object in her hand. He noticed the figurine was something like a ballerina, but her legs were strangely shaped, like -- like a skeleton key.

The perplexity of the situation at hand held no clarity when Vincent handed her the object he’d had around his neck. She took up the yarn and key-like figure in her hand as he spoke. There were so many questions she wanted to ask.

The shuttered room? Whose happy there? His children? Her? Her father?

Her face scrunched a little, the lines on her forehead signifying her absolute confusion. “The music..” She mumbled, letting her hand clutch the yarn with an urgency.

When he seemed to lose the lucid nature he’d struggled to hold for those few moments, Aurelia smiled rather jubilantly at the man. “Yes. Poetry is lovely. My mother sometimes draws pictures according to poems she reads..” It had taken everything in her to mention the woman; but it seemed that Vincent was lost in his own timeframe again, and she didn’t want to disturb the flow of things that had resumed.

Aurelia eyed Hugh, rather curious to his thoughts. She gathered the sheets of music and filed them away in the book again. With a quick motion, Aurelia draped the yarn around her own neck, moving her red locks to hide the makeshift necklace for the moment.

“I hate to cut our visit so short Mr. Hearthen, but we’re expected for lunch with friends of mine..” It was the only thing she could think of to get the pair of them out of staying any longer; not that Vincent would really mind, as he was lost in thought. “We’ll come back for a visit soon though. If that’s okay with you I mean..”

She took Hugh’s hand when she stood, leaning against his arm. Aurelia was itching to leave, to sit and try to figure out what had just happened between the three of them and those pages of music she’d played.

Hugh's face fell when he realized that the man had drifted from them, and when Aurelia softly extricated them, and they said good-bye, the man made no real protest.

"It's been a lovely picnic, and the lake is so fine this time of year, isn't it?"

However, Hugh had taken note of everything the man had said during their time with him. The music had some kind of effect on him, and he'd had a brief period of lucidity. But even the random ramblings could be important, so when he and Aurelia were alone in the foyer, they sat down once more to talk about what they'd heard.

"All right, it's clear we need to retrace his steps on those last few days before his children vanished. Someone must know where his home was, and that key-thing must go to something Maybe someone on the staff would know the address?"

He paused a moment.

"Your father and that other fellow in the picture was helping him, and then they couldn't. But we can."

Once they’d found momentary quiescence in the foyer, Aurelia sank into a plush chair, paying no attention to the few straggling people who wandered by. Her eyes focused on a tile at her feet as Hugh began to speak, and it wasn’t until he was completely done that she even considered looking up.

She had felt the dizziness of the world crashing in her head and she closed her eyes again, taking in a breath. The red head was trying to comprehend everything, but almost none of it made a lick of sense to her. Aurelia opened her eyes again, looking up at Hugh.

“I’m sure I can get the address; it’s just a matter of getting his file from the database.. I don’t have a login here anymore, but it’s just a matter of me going upstairs and grabbing someone to do it for me..”

While she was upstairs, she had to stop in with a friend of hers for a few tests anyways; Aurelia hadn’t been feeling up to par lately, with dizzy spells and fatigue way too often. She wanted to make sure she was okay – she figured it was just a lack of some vitamin or another, and had nothing to do with the swimming fish she’d seen in a dream the other night. Nothing to bother Hugh with.

“If you’d like, I can get the file and meet you here.” She smiled and collected herself before standing. “Should only be ten minutes or so.”

His girl looked out-of-sorts, and that was natural. She was dealing better with her past than ever, but the shock of meeting Mr. Hearthen, and the odd things he'd said were certainly weighing on her mind. When she announced she was going to look up the data, he nodded, and then fished out a small, silver-winged hummingbird messenger of the kind they used in the IMMF, and set it down on a table nearby. Then he turned fully to her, and gave her a long look.

"This is a lot to take in, and I know it doesn't make any sense, but the music helped somehow. He seemed normal for about a minute there -- I wrote down what he said in case its important."

He clicked his tongue a little inside his mouth, and looked around the halls. No one was really looking at them, but something in Hugh's mind said

"I'm no Seer, that's your Aunt's skill, but there's so many odd things going on with this, it makes my hair stand up on the back o my neck. Like, why would anyone kidnap the man's children and not ransom them? -- why did you father mail the music to himself instead of just giving it to Mr. Hearthen? How was this other fellow involved, this Anup Ragujar. Seemed like it ought to have all ended happily, but it didn't, but something tells me it's not finished."

He paused.

"Look, this is obviously upsetting to you," he said holding her hand. "Why don't I take you home after you pull the address? I can go have a look around, no need for you to go to that house."

As lost as she was with all that was going on, Aurelia was certain of one thing; if it involved her, she wasn’t going to send Hugh off on some crazy adventure that obviously involved her. Engaged or not, she wouldn’t send him to the wolves. Besides, all of the going on’s did peak her interest. It had been quite a few years since she’d had to put on her adventure boots and dig in; so it was like starting all over again.

“You know darn well I’m not letting you go at this alone.” She made her way over to him, slipping her arms around his neck. “Hugh Kenrick, just because I’m you’re fiancé now doesn’t mean you’re going to shelter me everything that’s not rainbows and orchids.”

Aurelia tip toed and placed a kiss on his cheek, and then placed one on his lips. She flattened her feet and gave him a hug, standing there perhaps a few moments too long; she just enjoyed holding him close sometimes.

She bid her momentary farewell to Hugh, slinking off down the hallways to the elevator.

It had only been five or so minutes past what she had told Hugh when she returned to the lobby. She’d been done on time, but it had taken her a minute to process everything she’d discovered up on that second floor.

“A few of my acquaintances here at the hospital that I saw send their congratulations. Sorry it took so long. They had something of a medical mishap going on up there and there wasn’t anyone up there to look anything up for me.”

Aurelia handed Hugh a very thick envelope, jammed with papers, all on Mr. Hearthen and his stay at the hospital. “I actually ran into a friend of mine, Jacob. He said about a year ago while he was hiding from the chief that he took refuge up in Mr. Hearthen’s room; well, he would have, but he appeared to have a visitor..”

She gave Hugh a confused sort of look. “Who would visit him? His children are missing, his wife’s been gone for some time now, and he hasn’t any real family.. Most of his friends shrugged him off once he’d been admitted to the hospital.. Seems that most people don’t want the burden of having a sick friend.. Either way, I thought it a little odd. He mentioned that Mr. Hearthen didn’t seem very fond of his visitor once he’d left; that he threw a fit. I think there’s record of it in that file..”

The girl was full of news when she returned, as well as having a huge sheaf of papers and records in an envelope. He could see how she'd have to explain everything to her friends about the wedding and all, and made a mental note to make sure they invited her closest colleagues from St. Mungo's. But as she revealed more information that was pertinent to their visit, he grew more serious. He took in all that she said, nodding along slowly with her revelation that Mr. Hearthen had had a visitor.

"That's certainly odd," said Hugh. He took out a few of the papers, and shuffled through them. Hearthen's address wasn't all that far for them to go. It was across from the Queen's Wood nature preserve, a very pretty spot, and Connaught Gardens.

"He said something about a picnic, didn't he?" asked Hugh. "There's a lake very close to his old house, if my memory of that district is correct."

Armed with the address, Hugh packaged up the papers again.

"Miniaturize this, would you my love? I want to send it up to the office. I'm going to assign a project manager to this case," he said, looking at her. "Yes, I think the IMMF just took up a new case."

Aurelia nod along with Hugh’s question about the picnic. She had remembered him saying something about it, and he was right; there was a lake somewhat nearby. It wasn’t an exceedingly familiar place to the redhead, but she had passed through here and there.

“Sure.” Aurelia pulled out her wand, giving the stack a tap and a simply incantation that shrunk it to a miniature size; small enough so that it could be stored in the jeweled bird Hugh had on the table, and sent to his offices.

The red head tucked her wand away with a grin. This case would mean they could work together; she very much liked working with Hugh, as it meant they could spend more time around one another, which was nice now that Aurelia didn’t spend all her time at the hospital. As much as she’d wanted a job there; she had found that she really wasn’t bound to stay locked up in some building for too long, as it had started to drain her mentally and physically. Prior to her departure, she was the thinnest she’d ever been in her entire life; it was nice to have a healthy appetite back. It was good for her too; given the news she’d been given some ten minutes ago.

Oh what a fiasco that was going to be.

Aurelia mustered a smile, handing Hugh the tiny papers. “Here you go, love.”

Hugh set the little silver bird to flight back to the IMMF headquarters at the top of Crystal Heights Towers, a good few miles away near the Thames. He'd get Mallory Faraday started on a team that would go through the papers with a fine-toothed comb and extract every bit of information. It didn't need more than the researchers backing them up, he knew the pair of them could tackle examining a house. She was intrepid enough, but he had long since shook of being utterly foolhardy: Having a team know what they were doing was wiser. He paused a moment, thinking who Mallory would pick for the backup team. Maybe Frank Martin, an excellent researcher, and yet handy in a pinch. If they needed an Enforcer for any reason, he'd suggested getting Jynn Andrews.

With the address in hand, he stood, and brought her up with him easily.

They retraced their steps to the street once more, and Hugh hailed a cab. This one was driven by a fellow named Veatch as Edith was busy with another fare, he reported. However, Veatch was just as efficient with his green and gold taxi as Edith was with her big black one, and they sped past Regents Park in no time.

"Your friend Jacob said in the report that the man who visited was possibly Asian Indian. If it was Anup Ragujar, then he didn't really disappear. I had another thought, too. Was that piece of music completely finished?"

Traffic passed them in the cab for a few moments before Hugh questioned Hearthen’s visitor. Aurelia looked to Hugh with a slight nod. “Well, he didn’t specify, but he did say – ‘Aur, you know, he was out of sorts.. Certainly not from London.’ I do imagine that it could have been him.”

She played with a few strands of her hair for a moment, contemplating the ordeal. It hadn’t occurred to the redhead until that moment that perhaps her father was, like the Hearthen children, still alive. How surreal; to have closed that door so many years ago to have it all change for her.

“The music?” Aurelia questioned, pulling her bag from it’s spot on the floor of the car to her lap. She shuffled through it before producing the small leather bound folder. Her eyes widened as another folder started to stick out and she quickly shoved it down into her purse. Her bag was shoved back down by her feet again and she opened up the sheets of music.

Reading over it, her fingers tapped out the keys and she paused. “Actually.. The beginning and end are there; but there was a chunk in the middle that really made no sense.. Perhaps the pages are out of order? I mean, it reads okay and it played just fine, but it just didn’t make sense.. If that makes any sense..” She had most of her father’s works memorized by heart; especially one that her father had written for her as a lullaby. Speaking of that tune, it sounded familiar to the piece she’d played in the hospital. In fact..

She yanked a few pages around and tapped out the keys again, when she didn’t get it right the first time she yanked all the pages out, handing them to Hugh. He looked at her curiously but said nothing as she sifted through the pages in his hands, taking one here and there until the once organized papers were in order again. A grin spread from her lips and she looked to Hugh.

“Oh! Hugh! I think I know how the composition is supposed to go! I thought this piece sounded so familiar, and for good reason! It’s a longer version of a melody my father played me as a little girl!”

Hugh watched as Aurelia silently played through the composition again, her pretty hands flying over the imaginary keyboard, her eyes slightly closed as she heard the music in her head. He'd seen her do at various times, and it always brought a smile to his lips. He'd thought he music sounded familiar, but he'd put that down to it being music composed by Aurelia's father, and she'd occasionally played scraps of music she had from him on the piano at home.

"Wait, this is the same composition as the lullaby, but longer? We used part of that when we were figuring out the activation spells for the Armillary that the Society of the Dragon used. We spent all that time in the Music Room figuring it out..."

His mouth opened as the old, old memories came flooding back, and yet it wasn't all that long ago, almost eight years since --

"Your father's disappearance was at the same time as Mr. Hearthen's children, and their friend disappeared, too. It's too much of a coincidence for these events to be unrelated."

He grabbed her hands. A wild set of thoughts burst into his brain one after another, but he tried to lay out the ideas calmly, in Hugh fashion.

"See if this makes sense.The music was part of a powerful set of magics, right? Your father was contracted to do it for the Society of the Dragon, at least that's what those two we met told us when we were in the Timeslip on Titanic. However, your father mailed these music sheets to the house, he never delivered them. That's why we had to help the Society complete their work, we had to, so they could help stop Death. They never received this whole composition."

He took a deep breath.

"So then, your father mailed them, addressed to the house, but with a note for his friend. He wanted Vincent to know about this work. What if someone -- the one that really caused the accident, knew he had that music or thought he did? They came to visit him at St. Mungo's --"

As it often did, the puzzle pieces were slowly starting to fall into place. Aurelia was quite proud of her work with the music sheets; equally happy to learn it really was an expanded version of the lullaby her father had used to play for her.

“Yes. I’m certain it is.” How long ago that had been! Eight years. Yikes, it seemed like ages really. It was funny though, that Aurelia could still remember all those younger days. Perhaps it was because she had spent so many years thinking about those days, over and over again. How fortunate for her that things had worked out, or perhaps she’d be living those old days forever in her head. Now though, she had a chance to make new memories with the man sitting beside her.

“Ever the adventure with you Hugh.” She murmured, those playful and hopeful thoughts starting to weigh in on her conscious.

When he reached for her hand, she jarred her view from the window to him, listening intently. To his mention of the song being a part of magic, she nod, a few locks falling from behind her shoulder.

“Wait.. Visit who at the hospital? How would they know Vincent would be sent the music? Residents don’t really ever get mail.. Unless their family brings it, and why wouldn’t they have come look for it after getting rid of my father? They’re not daft, they had to know that it would be small work to get past a child and a neighborhood babysitter.. They could have easily gotten the music, if they knew he had it..”

Hugh agreed with her confusion about anyone knowing about the music.

"Yes, you're right, but his madness saved him, I think. They might have done just that -- searched your house -- except that Mr. Hearthen was already insane by then.That must have convinced them that whatever nefarious scheme they had had succeeded.It's doubtful anybody knew for sure who ended up with the manuscript. Mildy laid aside all your father's old mail, and it wasn't until we looked for it that we found it."

Hugh had never believed that Fredrik Murdir could have known what trouble he was getting into with writing the music for the Planar Travel sequences. That made it all the more difficult to bear for his daughter, this he knew. It was still a sore point with Hugh that he had drawn all her past back to confront her; she was generous enough in spirit could call it adventure. Though they both realized that in some way it was meant to happen. He was realistic to know that she would never be the person that might have been had her parents been living. He probably never would have known her. Selfishly, he was glad she was just enough in need to have talked to a shy boy on a train, and drawn him out. But if the circumstances had been different, she knew -- for he had told her in times of stress -- that he would have simply wanted her to be happy.

But now they were approaching something unknown, and Hugh had that odd feeling that he sometimes got -- when the school was atttacked, or something wasn't quite right. Three years ago, during a particularly low and lonely time, he had actually run a simulation of how the Knight Bus accident had happened, using what he knew about the Society's Planar Travel. He had done it because he missed Aurelia, but when he was done, he didn't contact her because he was afraid that he would only re-enter her life carrying disaster and doom with him. He loved her too much. But now, he was re-thinking that night. But the taxi was drawing nearer to the address, and he started looking for the house numbers.

"Do you remember anything about Mr. Hearthen's house?"

The world outside came back in view to the redhead, who managed to stuff the music notes into her bag without having Hugh question the other folder in it. She looked out the window and managed a short reply to his question about recognizing the house.

“Big, red, and on the corner the next street up.” Her hand reached out a little and she pointed.

It had been a great many years since Aurelia had been in the house; and even when they did visit – it had maybe been twice her entire life – it had never been for too terribly long. But the street looked familiar to her, like she’d had a dream about it recently. This may have been, though the redhead often forgot her dreams the moment she woke.

“I think that’s it..” She mumbled, letting her hand drop again. To be honest, she wasn’t completely sure. But for some reason that house seemed like it was it.

The street they turned down, Onslow, was bordering a park reserve on the fringes of London, not too far from Regents Park. The houses were old, dating back over a hundred years. Unlike the usual row houses common in London, these were from an earlier era, when wealthy Londoners would promenade down the streets in the evening, smoking cigars and talking. Each house was unique, or nearly so, and the one that Aurelia fixed her eyes on was red brick, also unusual for London. It sat in its own yard, bordered by a fence.

But as Aurelia pointed and he felt her tension in her off hand, he, too had a flash go through his head. He'd seen this in a dream, and more than that, he'd seen a room with a window in it, like a turreted room. But it wasn't Three Chimneys.

"This is it, Veatch, stop, please," said Hugh.

He turned to Aurelia and took a deep breath.

"Ready?" he said. "You know, I had a dream about this place, just the other night, I didn't remember it until now. But I've never been here before."

“Ready.” Aurelia replied with a small exhale. She thanked and paid their cabby, crawling from the back seat to step onto the sidewalk. Her eyes were fixed on the house. Why was it so familiar? Sure, she’d been there as a child, but never since.

The house itself was a sight to her, and Aurelia looked to Hugh when he spoke up about the dream. “You know, if I could remember my dreams, I’d swear up and down that I dreamt of this place too..” She shook her head with a slight look of confusion though.

They walked up the walkway, hand in hand for the most part. Hugh stopped her from her first reach out to knock on the door to ask if she were going to be okay. She nod and stole a quick peck on the lips before turning and really giving the door a knock this time.

“Now or never I guess..”

[[CONTINUED IN The Shuttered Room]]