My Child [Morag]

[Alecsander]

Max rushed out of his office, heading back to St Mungo's and the rest of his shift. Alex sighed, letting the quill fall from his fingers as he lay back, trying to relax. Tensions in the department were high. Tensions in the Ministry was high. And tensions in his private life had come and passed the snapping point. He hoped training Max would help relieve some of his stress. He needed to shoot someone. Something. Anything.

The door to his office slammed open, slamming shut with sudden force. "YOU COULDN'T BLOODY WELL KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT, COULD YOU?" Alex gaped in shock. Morag stood there in all her wild-eyed fury, blue eyes blazing down at him. She was a tall woman, almost as tall as he was. He was not used to being short, even when sitting. He shut his mouth with a snap, narrowing his eyes at the intruder and casting a silencing field around them. Having her shout at the top of her considerable lungs would definitely defeat the very purpose she'd wanted secrecy for in the first place.

[Max Kameren]

"YOU COULDN'T BLOODY WELL KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT, COULD YOU?" In his absence away at school Jamie had gotten a Howler. Kameren – lucky, lucky Alecsander Malice Kameren – Was going to get the real thing. Morag MacDougal stood stick-straight with fury, her back against the Head Auror’s office door so she had enough space between them to properly stew in her frustration without hexing him on instinct.

In her esteemed opinion, Morag had been more than patient with the father of her son. Her son, specifically. Alex Kameren was a donor, not a father, and she intended it to stay that way. Over the last fifteen years she had made that explicitly clear.

After her initial outburst Morag simmered into a tense seethe, taking a step forward and learning with her arms on the back of one of Kameren’s desk chairs. “Alex, we’ve talked about this over and over again. Why did you think it was your right to introduce yourself to him? Why now, with everything that’s happening in the world? Everything that you’re involved in? Moreover, what self-respecting forty-one-year-old man goes to concert festivals?!”

She waved off any protest he may have, her lake-blue eyes hard with frustration, “I know you’re going after whoever murdered that family, and whatever it is Jamie doesn’t need it. Doesn’t need you.” She hissed through a set jaw, her blue eyes steely on him. They may have never properly dated but Morag knew Alex. She knew the Kamerens. She also fought in the last war: she saw what happened with his nephew and doo-lally brother. That wouldn’t happen to Jamie. Not her son.

[Alecsander]

. “Alex, we’ve talked about this over and over again. Why did you think it was your right to introduce yourself to him? Why now, with everything that’s happening in the world? Everything that you’re involved in? Moreover, what self-respecting forty-one-year-old man goes to concert festivals?!”

She waved off any protest he may have, her lake-blue eyes hard with frustration, “I know you’re going after whoever murdered that family, and whatever it is Jamie doesn’t need it. Doesn’t need you.”

Alex let her rant. Finally she paused for several breaths. He spoke into the silence, his,voice calm. He knew raising it to meet her temper for temper,just made things worse. Also, it tended,to bring on the stutters,faster,,something he'd learned to his detriment in more than one fighr.

"First, if you must know, it was a date. Secondly, it was an accident. I certainly wasn't looking for my son at a concert on a school night."  Mild though it was, he couldn't resist getting,his own dig in. 

"Finally, you don't think I know that? I well know the dangers we face--that he would face." he took a deep breath. He'd really had more time to talk than he'd expected. Likely she was seriously weighing the pros and cons of hexing him stupid, satisfaction against consequences for hexing the head auror inside the Ministry. 

"Morag--" he started.

[Max Kameren]

"First, if you must know, it was a date. Secondly, it was an accident. I certainly wasn't looking for my son at a concert on a school night."  Mild though it was, he couldn't resist getting,his own dig in. 

Morag stood with her hands on her hips, brow arched as she glared at him. How was it whenever he managed to string a full sentence together it had to be filled with irrelevant information? What did she care if Alex was on a date when he decided to reveal his parentage to their son? They shagged once fifteen years ago and he was hardly the type to spark jealousy.

"Finally, you don't think I know that? I well know the dangers we face--that he would face. Morag--" he started.

“Don’t ‘Morag’ me.” She cut him off with a wave of her hand, her gaze sharpening on him. “You know what you say in that situation? You apologize, you mend his wrist and you send his arse back to Hogwarts! You’re an auror, you don’t have to be his father to tell him what to do.” She threw her hands in the air, her voice getting louder with each admonition. “You can tell me it was an accident all you want Alex, but you did not have to tell him who you were.”

“And what’s more - you couldn’t even let me know what you did?!” From her large knit sweater Morag produced a series of rolled parchments, dropping them on the Head Auror’s desk. “I had to find out from Jamie in three freaked-out letters! Now he’s upset at school, where there’s nothing I can do to manage the fallout from the stupidity that you started!”

Morag paused to catch her breath, her temper quelling after her most recent bout of shouting.
It was strangely cathartic, yelling at Alex. He made such a good springboard of her rage. She sighed, her voice finally relaxing to calm disappointment. “You see, Alex, this is why. Did you think at all about how this would affect him?”

[Alecsander]

“Don’t ‘Morag’ me.” She cut him off with a wave of her hand, her gaze sharpening on him. “You know what you say in that situation? You apologize, you mend his wrist and you send his arse back to Hogwarts! You’re an auror, you don’t have to be his father to tell him what to do.” She threw her hands in the air, her voice getting louder with each admonition. “You can tell me it was an accident all you want Alex, but you did not have to tell him who you were.”

"He broke his wrist, Morag." he'd not told her, had he? Not about the curses. He sighed. "MacDonald or not, he is my son. And no Kameren can hurt another,without the pain returning to them." the old scars seemed to twinge in his shoulder at the thought. It had been an accident, but he had pushed the boy down a hill. 

“And what’s more - you couldn’t even let me know what you did?!” From her large knit sweater Morag produced a series of rolled parchments, dropping them on the Head Auror’s desk. “I had to find out from Jamie in three freaked-out letters! Now he’s upset at school, where there’s nothing I can do to manage the fallout from the stupidity that you started! You see, Alex, this is why. Did you think at all about how this would affect him?”

Alex certainly wasn't going to tell her that Elle had recognized Jamie first, and had blown his cover before he,could say anything. After that there was no going back.

"It would have come out at some point, Morag. You cannot shelter him his entire life." he was reading the letters, which focused on one particular theme. "Seems to me he's more upset about the lies,you told than anything else."

[Max Kameren]

"He broke his wrist, Morag." He sighed. "MacDonald or not, he is my son. And no Kameren can hurt another,without the pain returning to them."

Moag scowled and shook her head through Alex’s explanation; she’d heard it before, he’d told her years earlier when Jamie was still a toddler. She just didn’t care. “Don’t lecture me about your creepy family’s curses. I didn’t know about them then, why do you think he would know about them? Coincidences happen.”

"It would have come out at some point, Morag. You cannot shelter him his entire life."

“You don’t think I know that?” Morag’s eyes shot daggers at Alex. She crossed her arms, pacing back and forth in his office. “Do you think he’s ready for all the fucked-up shite your family’s into? At fifteen?” She shot him a meaningful look; they’d discussed Max Kameren’s kidnapping in relation to Jamie’s safety at length in multiple arguments. He’d been the unknown son of the Head Auror during wartime, after all. Their stories were eerily similar. They hadn’t been able to help Max then when there were two of them. Morag wasn’t taking a chance on Jamie. Not now, with the Wizarding World shaking itself up once again. When Jamie was older, and the world was more stable. When Alex was more stable too, she mused bitterly with an added glance in his direction.

"Seems to me he's more upset about the lies you told than anything else."

“Very astute of you detective.” She spat, not bothering to glance at his smug face as she paced. This row wasn’t about what she’d done. Morag knew what she’d done, and it was what was best for Jamie at the time. Alex didn’t think, just blundered in and detonated a long-dormant bomb in her family life. She stopped, turning to him with a suspicious look. “What did you tell him, exactly?”

[Alecsander]

“You don’t think I know that?” Morag’s eyes shot daggers at Alex. She crossed her arms, pacing back and forth in his office. “Do you think he’s ready for all the fucked-up shite your family’s into? At fifteen?”

"He'll never be ready! That's life!" Alex could feel his calm starting to splinter as she continued to spit vitriol at him. He was an auror for Merlin's sake, not some sort of dark wizard sacrificing virginal maidens to some unspeakable evil. He was really getting tired of having women screaming at him. He'd really been very nice about this whole thing since she'd revealed she'd used him as some sort of unknowing (and unwilling) donor. Mostly for Jamie's sake, he hadn't wanted that kind of pain for his son, the kind that came when your parents fought and screamed at each other. Though he might still consider killing her if she didn't bloody calm down!

“Very astute of you detective.” She spat, not bothering to glance at his smug face as she paced. This row wasn’t about what she’d done. Morag knew what she’d done, and it was what was best for Jamie at the time. Alex didn’t think, just blundered in and detonated a long-dormant bomb in her family life. She stopped, turning to him with a suspicious look. “What did you tell him, exactly?”

"I told him I'd answer his questions." Before he could stop himself he added, "Did you think I invited him to sacrifice virginal maidens to some unspeakable evil at the dark of the moon?" That was certainly not helping, but it felt good. He hadn't had such a good time at speech lately. He missed being able to snark at people. "If you didn't want this, you should have picked someone else!" He added, narrowing his eyes at her, meeting her icy blue eyes with his sharp green ones. Jamie had really inherited that family trait in spades, he remembered.

[[Before you guys freak out I mean unwilling as in, he was NOT wanting kids]]

[Max Kameren]

"He'll never be ready! That's life!"

Ready for his true family history? Alex was right, there wasn’t much they could do to prepare him. Hell, besides Jamie Alex was the only well-adjusted Kameren to come out of that line in centuries. He deserved a happy childhood though, at least. He deserved to get through Hogwarts before getting dragged into this shite. “What did you tell him, exactly?”

"I told him I'd answer his questions."

Morag’s face paled and her mouth dropped open in outrage. “You what?!” She took another step closer so only the desk separated them, locking eyes with him. This was a rare moment she couldn’t use her height to intimidate: the bastard was taller than her. A sliver of her thought about hexing him even within the Ministry. It appeared he’d forgotten his place in this negotiation. “You told him to fucking contact you?! Alex!”

”Did you think I invited him to sacrifice virginal maidens to some unspeakable evil at the dark of the moon?"

“You had NO RIGHT to do that!” Morag’s anger seared white-hot and she raised her voice once again, leaning over the desk to get in his face. There was a wild sort of rage in her eyes, born from fear. Fear of losing her control over their relationship. Losing Jamie. “HOW DARE YOU go behind my back like this Alex!”

"If you didn't want this, you should have picked someone else!"

“I WISH I HAD!” She shouted, pushing herself off the desk and turning away from him. She was too livid to even look at him in his smug face. The face that her son had largely inherited, she regretted to admit. She squared her shoulders, lowering her voice to a warm seethe as she issued her demand: “Alex, I forbid you from contacting him. Not in person, not in an owl. You are not his parent, you have no right. You’re just a donor.”

[Alecsander]

“I WISH I HAD!” She shouted, pushing herself off the desk and turning away from him. She was too livid to even look at him in his smug face. The face that her son had largely inherited, she regretted to admit. She squared her shoulders, lowering her voice to a warm seethe as she issued her demand: “Alex, I forbid you from contacting him. Not in person, not in an owl. You are not his parent, you have no right. You’re just a donor.”

Alex pushed to his feet. His voice was low but this time it was not with a blank calm. "Morag, I have been extremely patient with your--demands. I have not fought you on this for Jamie's sake. But you need to stop." He did not tower over her, she was only a few inches short of looking him straight in the eyes--when she was facing him, that is. "Better or worse, he knows me now, and I will not lie to my son or avoid him to soothe your injured ego."

He sighed, he was really tired of this. He'd taken what little responsibility was allowed him by paying support, Alex wondered what Jamie thought his mother did for a living. As far as he could tell, it was 'Find a rich guy & have a kid'.

[Max Kameren]

“Alex, I forbid you from contacting him. Not in person, not in an owl. You are not his parent, you have no right. You’re just a donor.”

"Morag, I have been extremely patient with your--demands. I have not fought you on this for Jamie's sake. But you need to stop."

She tensed at the implication of Alex’s statement. As much as Morag raged at him, they both knew the power balance in this agreement was less one-sided than she let on. Morag had Jamie and a lot of fight in her; Alex had money. Before now, the other important tool in Morag’s negotiation was the fact that Jamie hadn’t known about Alex. Now things had changed, and not to her liking.

"Better or worse, he knows me now, and I will not lie to my son or avoid him to soothe your injured ego."

“He is not yours.” Morag glared at him, turning and pushing a stack of papers off his desk before storming out of his office and slamming the door.

[Alecsander]

“He is not yours.” Morag glared at him, turning and pushing a stack of papers off his desk before storming out of his office and slamming the door.

Alex waited until she left the room, slamming the door shut behind her, before sighing and dropping his head onto the desk with an audible thnk! He hit his head again. Things were going just splendidly. Fuck.