Making sure his wand is tucked in his wrist holster, Kingsley makes his way down the street around the bend and two the left. He arrives in front of a small stone cottage with flower beds filled with carefully tended sprouts. The primroses have yet to bloom, but green buds lapping up the water promise that they will soon begin to slowly bud into a peach color.
Up the path, Kingsley he pauses and listens faintly hearing voices. Raising his hand, he loudly knocks causing the voices inside to still. He knocks again and the door opens just a hand breath by an oak-colored haired woman with milk chocolate-colored eyes. She was pretty in a traditional English sense.
"Yes, how can I help you this evening?" Warily asked the widow, Marsha.
"I am currently seeking a missing person, I was wondering if I might be permitted inside to ask a couple of questions," Kingsley smoothly said all the while loosening his wand from his wrist holster.
"Ah, my house is dirty, it's rather embarrassing really."
"It'll be just a minute," Kingsley insisted, before shoving the door roughly aside causing Marsha to be thrown back and fall onto the ground.
A hooded figure raises their wand to attack, but Kingsley says, "Stupefy!" Red sparks burst out from the tip of his wand and render his attacker temporarily unconscious.
"Adolphus!" Marsha shrieked and scrambled towards her lover. Despite her fear, she sent the dark wizard a fierce scowl. "He wouldn't have hurt you! He was just trying to protect me!"
"Madam, I cannot explain in detail now, but I can assure you that he is a wanted criminal," Kingsley firmly said entering the house and remaining vigilant lest there is a second Death Eater on the premise.
"No!" Marsha protested protectively kneeling over her lover. "Adolphus swore to me that he's never intentionally hurt anyone including muggles like me or much less killed anyone!"
Kingsley appears to be rather dubious at the statement, but he couldn't deny in the fierce manner the muggle widow was standing protectively over the Death Eater. Deciding to take a risk, he says, "Alright, I'll give him one chance only to explain himself then. However, Madam, I need you to step back, I am going to bring him back to headquarters."
Biting her lip, Marsha looks worriedly at her lover. She knew that her lover was mixed up in something terribly bad. He hadn't said exactly what, but she knew it was terrible as many nights he would wake with screaming nightmares in her arms. Sighing, she reluctantly gives her consent.
Kingsley summons the wand of the unconscious Death Eater and carefully puts it away. "Rennervate!" he cast the reviving spell, (the counter to the stunning spell) as red light falls upon the target.
The Death Eater lets out a groan before panic fills his movements as his hood falls back to reveal a thin man with sleek hair pulled back and dirt-colored eyes hidden behind shaded spectacles. "Marsha!" Adolphus Holtus cried out in fear that his lover had been hurt.
"I'm fine, Adolphus," Marsha answered as the two lovers embraced and held each other in relief.
Adolphus pressed a kiss to the top of his lover's head, before noticing the Auror holding his wand alertly in hand. Reluctantly pulling himself away from the embrace of his lover, he turns to face the wizard. All the while, he protectively puts himself between Marsha and Auror.
"How might I help you, Auror-?"
"Shacklebolt," Kingsley replied without removing his eyes from the Death Eater. "I would have already arrested you, but your muggle lover insists that you are innocent."
A weary sigh escapes from Adolphus, who nods his head. "He raises his hands to reveal stained hands from horticulture. "I am a gentleman by nature, Auror Shacklebolt," Adolphus honestly answered with guilt. "I am a Horticulturist and as a result a stain on my family's honor."
"My father said that if I did not become a Death Eater, he would disinherit me," Adolphus shamefully continued. "I don't have many skills worth a trade. And so, I relented to my father's request. I foolishly believed I would not become overly involved since I am not much of a fighter. I was mostly ignored for the most part and left to my own devices. My only task was to gather magical herbs and I more than willingly did."
"And that's how we met," Marsha interrupted with a soft smile wrapping her hand around her lover's. "We both love picking rare mushrooms and herbs. We continued to meet in secret time and time again, and before we knew it our meetings became something much more."
The two lovers stared tenderly into each other's eyes until Kingsley Shacklebolt loudly clears his throat. "Mr. Holtus, please do continue," he pointedly requested.
Adolphus flushed bright red in embarrassment. "Once Marsha and I became lovers I knew that my father would never accept my taking a muggle wife. However, I didn't care, I slowly began to steal an item or two to pawn off and amass sufficient funds for the two of us to flee to the new world."
"However, then the Dark Lord changed for the worse," Adolphus whispered with blatant fear in his eyes. "He required that we all receive the Dark Mark." A shudder of fear shoots down his spine as his slightly scarred, dragon-pox-marked hands pulled the sleeve of his robe to reveal a skull with a serpent protruding from the skulls mouth like a tongue.
"We are all connected to him," Adolphus fearfully whispered. "We must answer his summons lest the mark begins to burn."
"We couldn't leave after that it was too late," Marsha sadly explained on behalf of her lover who went silent. She hopefully turns towards the dark wizard. "I don't know much about magic, but surely it can be removed?"
Kingsley is reluctant to lie, nor does he wish to crush the muggle woman's hope. "It is a possibility, I suppose."
Marsha brightens up and glances over at her lover, who does not appear to share her hope at the news. At that moment, she understands that the wizard Shacklebolt had only answered in such a manner to appease her. It was likely that the mark could not be as easily removed.
"No, you can't go back!" Marsha grasped the front robes of her lover. "You said it yourself, he'll kill you!" Seeing her lover unable to meet her eyes, she whirls back to the other wizard. "Please surely there is something that can be done to help, Adolphus!"
"Madam regardless of your lover's intent and purposes he has taken the mark," Kingsley firmly said. "He is a Death Eater wanted by the Ministry of Magic."
"NO!" Marsha protested. "He committed no crime! He has done nothing wrong!"
"And what of tomorrow or the next day or the day after that?" Kingsley countered "Madam can you guarantee that he will not harm another living soul?"
Marsha falls limply back as her lover; Adolphus gathers into his arms. "I am sorry, Marsha, this is all my fault," he whispered in regret. "I should have left when we still had a chance. It was my greed that brought us here."
Silently Marsha begins to weep in the arms of her lover, while Adolphus holds her as tightly as he can in his arms. He knew this might very well be the last time he holds her. He would be sentenced to Azkaban like the rest of the captured Death Eaters.
Kingsley carefully observes the two lovers the entire time. Despite his initial disbelief, he found the two to be sincere toward each other. Their two stories seemed to match as impossible as the idea of a Death Eater falling in love with a muggle might be. However, he had the guilty feeling that maybe, just maybe Adolphus Holtus might be of use.
Kingsley Shacklebolt was not a betting man. However, he was a Gryffindor. And every now and again, he took a leap of faith into the unknown.