Disclaimer: I'm too young to be Rowling so there is sadly no way Harry Potter is mine…

Placing:Seventhyear.

Challenge: 'Prompt of the day'. Prompt: (dialogue) "Where's your towel?". 2000 words. Gryffindor, Hogwarts.

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sSsSsSsSs

HIDING PLACES

Part VI: Jewellery

sSs

"A necklace," Dean said incredulously. "You went and broke into the National History Museum of London to steal a simple looking, godforsaken necklace…"

The Accountant frowned.

"I thought I told you that we didn't steal anything," he said. "Stealing means the people in charge of the place know that the thing is there and the thing belongs to them, doesn't it? So it cannot count as stealing if they don't know it's there and if it definitely doesn't belong to them!"

Dean stared at the other two men.

"You broke into the National History Museum of London and now you want to debate stealing with me?" He asked incredulously.

The Accountant just shrugged as an answer while Marius Black shook his head.

"It's not as if anybody knows that we were there," Marius told Dean. "Truly, you're acting as if we were captured by the police red-handed!"

Dean pinched his nose.

"I don't think it matters that you weren't caught –"

"They don't even know that we were there," Marius corrected.

Dean groaned.

"Honestly," he said tiredly. "There you go and tell me that there's no way that anybody will ever find out that you were in the museum – while at the same time telling me you don't have any magic! I'm quite sure that a museum has quite a good security, and at least security cameras in every corner – how by Merlin and Morgana do you believe that you were able to avoid them?"

Marius Black snorted and looked at the Accountant.

"There he goes again with the squib argument," he said amused. "Idiotic child thinks that just because we can't use his stick we're helpless!"

The Accountant just patted Marius' shoulder.

"Don't worry too much about that," he said emotionally. "He has nearly seven years of indoctrination to undo, you know?"

Dean stared at the two men in front of him.

"You're insane!" He finally declared. "Totally insane! You break into a museum for a necklace and have the guts to tell me that you weren't seen or any other way found by the security measurements! That's totally insane – especially without magic!"

Marius just raised his eyebrow at that, but Dean wasn't finished.

"A necklace! A simple, good for nothing necklace!" He moaned.

The Accountant and Marius exchanged a look of pity as if it was Dean who had lost his marbles.

"Youth these days," Marius said sighing and shook his head disappointedly.

The Accountant nodded.

"No sense for simple beauty anymore," he agreed. "Our world is truly doomed…"

Dean stared at the two people in front of them incredulously.

"You two," he finally said slowly. "Are the most insane people I've ever met in my whole life!"

This time the look exchanged between the other two was tinged with amusement.

"Thank you, lad," Marius finally said. "It's good to hear that we rank that high on your list."

Dean groaned.

"I'm pretty sure that that isn't a good thing!" He objected, but the two squibs didn't seem bothered by that at all.

For the next four and a half minutes Dean lamented how much better his life might have been if he had never met the two insane squibs in front of him, but in the end, he finally understood that wishing for a different past wouldn't help him at all.

He groaned, sighed and finally decided to move on to safer pathways.

"So… the necklace," Dean said finally while again taking a look at the simple silver necklace that was lying in front of him on the table. It didn't look much.

It was made of blackened silver, without any kind of adornment to it. Dean was sure that there had to be hundreds or thousands of similar necklaces out there! He couldn't understand how those two squibs thought that the one in front of them was in any way or form special…

"How do you know it's enchanted the way you think it is?" He finally asked.

The two squibs looked at him as if they weren't sure if he didn't need some kind of medical attention for his insanity.

"How don't you know that it's enchanted?" The Accountant asked with interest in his eyes.

"Huh?" Dean looked at the other man confused and the Accountant turned to Marius.

"You did teach him how to use his magic differently, didn't you?" He asked a little bit accusing.

Marius Black just raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I did, Boo," he said half-amused, half-insulted. "Who do you think I am?"

The Accountant frowned.

"I heard you were hanging around with magicals a lot in the last months," he finally said. "I wasn't sure if it hadn't affected you in any way or form…"

"Ah!" Marius nodded earnestly, understanding filling his eyes. "Of course! A valid concern. But don't worry, Boo, I'm not yet going back to the stupidity of the wizarding kind. I was taught better than that, you know?"

Dean definitely couldn't let that stand.

"Hey!" he objected and the two squibs turned to look at him. "Magicals aren't stupid!"

The two squibs snorted, then the Accountant patted Dean's head.

"You've still a lot to learn if that's what you think, my apprentice," he said.

"Don't worry, Boo," Marius said sighing. "We will teach him… someday."

Dean opened his mouth to object to Marius words, but before he could, a knock could be heard from the door.

The Accountant looked towards the corridor and then back at Marius.

"You've got an appointment today?" He asked.

Marius waved it off.

"Nah," he said unconcerned. "That should be one of the nuisances that can't stop visiting me."

"Nuisances?" The Accountant asked amused.

"Yeah," Marius replied, obviously not interested in opening the door. "They come by and use my place as a hide-out. Nuisances, I say."

"People use your place as a hide-out?" Dean asked incredulously.

The older man just raised an eyebrow challengingly.

"That's all your fault, actually, lad," he declared. "Since you brought by that Nott boy, I haven't been able to get rid of him and his gang!"

The Accountant sighed.

"Then shouldn't we let them in?"

Marius frowned.

"Do we have to?" He asked, his face emotionless.

The Accountant thought that over.

"Not really," he said shrugging. "But you might have to put a new paint job or two on your door if you don't. I heard that blood is not that easy to hide with paint, you know?"

"You heard?" Marius said amused. "Sounds more like you had to try and do a paint-job like that to me…"

The Accountant waved it off.

"What can I say?" He said. "I'm a man of many talents."

Marius snorted.

"And there he goes and tells me I scared the shit out of Grindelwald," he said amused. "Prankster blood! Nobody is scarier than those who have it flowing through their veins!"

Dean stared at the Accountant and then at Marius.

"And there they go and refuse to believe they're mafia," he mumbled to himself. "Damn insane and scary squibs!"

The two squibs exchanged a look, clearly having heard Dean's exclamation.

"We're not mafia," they chorused, then Marius stood up and went to the door, the Accountant hot on his heels.

Dean couldn't see what was happening in the corridor, but he definitely heard the door open.

Then there was a nervous 'Whoa, man, we're not hostiles!'

Marius' answer was a snort.

"You're a Nott," he said gruffly. "Black's never trust a Nott!"

"I'm as good as disinherit," the voice of Theodore Nott replied. "I told you that before, old man!"

"You sure we're safe here, Theo?" another voice chimed in nervously. "It doesn't look safe, you know?"

"Don't worry, we are," Theo replied. "Dean showed me this place."

"Just because that damn youth brought you here doesn't mean that you can come back, brat," was Marius cool reply.

"So you let us stand here until the Snatchers caught up with us?" Theo asked incredulously.

The answer was a laugh from the Accountant.

"He's got you there, Doc!" He said amused and Marius grumbled.

In the end, the oldest sighed and declared: "Alright, come on in."

The next that could be heard was shuffling, then Theo and Colin Creevey rounded the corner and entered the living room.

They both stopped surprised and stared at Dean.

"Dean!" Colin greeted happily before reaching behind himself and pulling his little brother Dennis into view. "What are you doing here, old chap?"

"Hiding," Dean drawled. "What else?"

The answer was an amused snort coming from Theo.

Then Marius spoke up from behind them.

"If you would step aside, nuisances? I would love to return to my living room, if you'd please!"

Theo and Colin flushed and hurriedly entered the room, dragging Dennis with them by default.

"Gets a bit crowded in here, it seems," the Accountant commented while following Marius into the room and to the sofas.

"You could say that," Dean said dryly. The room wasn't that big and with the six of them, it definitely was getting crowded.

"Well, a bit maybe," Colin said. "But it's not as if we had the time to find another place to hide. Those damn Snatchers are getting better and better. They've been following us for a day now and we were unable to get rid of them."

The Accountant frowned.

"Maybe you should activate that runic confundus you have on your property, Doc," he said. "That should stop those child-killers from camping out on your doorstep."

The Black just raised an eyebrow at the Accountant.

"I'd ask how you know about that," he said dryly, "But that would mean that I'd expect you to actually answer that question – and we both know you would never do that, Boo."

"Exactly," the Accountant replied. "Now, do you plan to activate them or do you want those child-killers to camp-out on your doorstep?"

Marius thought about it.

"You think they'll camp-out?" He asked the Accountant interestedly.

"They might," the Accountant replied. "They are somehow tracking them and they camped-out at the record store for the other boy."

Dean rolled his eyes.

"Dean," he said. "My name is Dean as you well know after three days of knowing me."

"Some things I prefer to forget," the Accountant said dismissively. "Especially if it's the name of the magical who can't understand that I didn't steal anything."

Dean rolled his eyes a second time.

"I really feel loved today," he said sarcastically.

"Good," the Accountant said. "That's one thing off the list. Now, Doc, do I need some cleaning supplies for the camp-out in front of your door or do we activate the confundus?"

Marius thought about it.

"Go for your supplies," he finally declared. "Just give me a moment to look for the cement."

Dean, Theo and Colin stared at Marius.

"The cement?" Colin finally asked confused. "Why do you need cement?"

Marius just waved it off as unimportant.

"For my part of them," he said before looking at the Accountant. "If you need something, I might have a thing or two in the cellar. I'm even willing to give those things away without payment as long as you don't colour my door red."

The Accountant thought about it.

"Seems like a fair deal to me," he finally said. "Give me a moment or two and I go looking. I might need a white towel or two."

Dean frowned and looked at the other three boys before mouthing 'a towel?'

"Where's your towel?" Marius asked interestedly.

"Back home," the Accountant replied. "Wasn't planning on interrogation when I came here, you know?"

Theo turned green.

"How do you use a towel in interrogation?" He asked faintly.

Marius just looked at the boy pityingly.

"Believe me," he said. "You don't want to know."

The Accountant shrugged.

"It's not that bad," he said. "I mostly just use it to make things look worse than they are. Intimidation tactic and all that. A white towel just enhances the red of blood. It looks scarier that way. Of course there are other –"

"I don't want to know!" white-faced Colin interrupted the insane squib while he pressed his hands to his younger brother's ears. "I truly don't want to know!"

The Accountant shrugged and turned back to Marius.

"The towels?"

"Kitchen," the older man said dismissively. "Everything else you might want is in the basement."

The Accountant nodded.

"Thanks," he said before asking. "Are you planning to call in the Gang for the clean-up or do we use the bay?"

This time, Dean couldn't stay silent anymore.

All he could think about were Marius' and the Accountant's objections that they were mafia… and now they were talking about a gang!

"The Gang?" He repeated incredulously.

"Nah," Marius said, either answering the Accountant, misinterpreting Dean or doing both at once. "Thought we're using the bay. More chances of the bodies being found and all that…"

Dean's eyes nearly bulged out.

"You want the bodies being found?" Colin ask faintly.

"Nah," Marius said. "But I wouldn't be totally against it. And you have to admit, Boo, the Gang is way too good at hiding bodies."

"They are," the Accountant said. "It's part of their service, after all."

"Good service," Marius nodded. "Just a little bit boring for my taste… and a little bit too close to the morons of the wizarding world –"

"What gang?" Dean intercepted the discussion heatedly. He somehow felt ignored.

Marius and the Accountant turned and looked at him frowning.

"The Gang Of Bothersome, Limitless, Impressive Non-Magicals, what else?" The Accountant said as if it was a given. When Dean, Theo and Colin exchanged confused glances, the Accountant's frown deepened.

He looked at Marius.

Marius scratched his head in confusion.

"You don't know the Gang?" The Accountant finally said, staring at all of them as if they had grown a second head.

The three magicals exchanged a look and then shook their heads at once.

"Don't you know anything about the real world?" Marius Black finally asked with a sigh.

Dean pouted.

"Not one of us is part of the mafia," he pointed out. "We definitely don't deal with gangs or drown people in the bay."

The Accountant groaned.

"No wonder your lessons on odd magic didn't stick, Doc," he said. "Those three are totally clueless! Tell me, was anyone of you ever in Diagon Alley at all?"

Dean looked at the two insane squibs in confusion.

"We all visited Diagon Alley," he said sharply. "Why by Merlin and Morgana do you think we didn't?"

The Accountant and Marius exchanged a look.

"Because nobody with working eyes could miss the white marble building of the Gang in the middle of Diagon Alley," Marius Black pointed out incredulously.

"White marble building?" Dean asked confused. As far as he remembered there was just one such a building in the alley. "Gringotts?"

"Yes, Gringotts," the Accountant said sarcastically. "What else did you think I was talking about? Ollivander's maybe?"

"But… but Gringotts is run by the goblins…" Theo stuttered confused.

"Yes, by the goblins – the Gang Of Bothersome, Limitless, Impressive Non-Magicals – G.O.B.L.I.N.," the Accountant said. "What else did you think 'goblins' stood for?"

With a shake of his head he left for the kitchen and the basement.

"I'm going to find the cement," Marius said while also shaking his head. "After visiting the bay we might have to contact the Gang nevertheless. Maybe there's a way for them to either copy the enchantment on the necklace or split it up into more than one or something like that. It's a little bit too small to fit you three at once, after all."

And with that the two insane squibs went out to get themselves some Snatchers camping on Marius' doorstep.

Dean, Colin, Dennis and Theo looked at each other.

"Goblins," Dean said faintly. "And there they go and claim they're not the mafia! My Ass!"

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Just a little idea

Hope you liked it

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