Chapter 2: Your visits are too seldom.

A boy, well not really a boy, more of a man in a appearance (a boy in his actions) strolled into the Leaky Cauldron around eight pm. He looked about himself, there was an old man sitting along in the corner and a young man reading a book in the opposite corner.

"Dead tonight, Tom?" He asked as he walked past the bar man.

"Eye" Tom said, in more of a grunt than a word.

The young man sat alone, at a small, secluded table and ordered a pint of Fire Whiskey. He took a gulp and forced it down. Tomorrow was going to be a long day of traveling; he wanted to have some good-natured fun tonight. For now…he was waiting.

The man had short dirty blonde, almost light brown hair. It was unkempt and going any way it wanted. He had black linings of charcoal along the bottoms of his eyes, which gave him a very menacing look. His face was adorned with wooden piercing. One through his septum that was used by the Druids in the woodlands of Bulgaria to show their worthiness with the Arts. Two through either side of his bottom lip. They were referred to as Snake Bites because he was a Parsel Tongue; also that he was an animagus. Also, his ear-lobs were slightly stretched, meaning to the Druids that he was skilled at Occlumency. However, the most unusual thing about this man was that his eyes were the iciest blue you would ever see. Some even said it was practically silver. One look into them and you felt like you could be there for hours.

"Deakon!" Someone called his name from across the room. He looked up and saw whom he was waiting for. A man with shaggy brown hair and eyes to match. He had one thick bar through the middle of his eyebrow. It meant nothing, just there for fun. Deakon stood to give his friend a long, loving hug.

"Nazz." You see, these two are practically the best of friends. Always have been since they met each other at the Durmstrang Academy. What you have to understand is that Deakon wasn't always enrolled in the Durmstrang Academy. He isn't even Bulgarian. He originally went to Hogwarts, and was in Ravenclaw house. However, after a playful spat with Fred Weasley turned into a fistfight in his second year, he was expelled and sent to Durmstrang. Where he met Nazz.

"Deakon, man…I cant believe you're staying in this bump!" Nazz said, as he looked around the tavern. He didn't notice the look he got from Tom.

"Excuse me…The Leaky Cauldron is not a dump." Deakon said, laud enough so that Tom could hear him defending his favorite tavern.

"Whatever. I thought we were going to Hogsmeade anyway." Nazz said, as they both sat down at the table. Deakon took another large sip of his Fire Whiskey.

"We are, but the train doesn't leave until tomorrow morning. So, were sleeping here tonight." Deakon caught the look on his friends face. "Unless, you prefer walking there, go on…I'll give you a head start."

"Don't be an ass. This place is just…" Nazz trailed off.

"Comfortable?" Deakon finished.

"I was gonna say dirty…" Nazz said, rolling his eyes at Deakon, who gave him one of his signature smirks.

"Well, lets go upstairs and get some sleep." Deakon said as he quickly finishes his drink and he starts to walk away from the table to the rickety wooden staircase.

"Are you kidding me, its only 11:30. There's so much to do tonight, lets go-"

"It's the full moon. We stay in." Deakon said flatly. Nazz knew that tone, when Deakon took that tone, you could fight him on the subject. There were a lot of things about Deakon that people didn't know, except for two people. One of them being Nazz. They other, his cousin and best friend in the world.

Rowan Rose.

The walked up the creaky stairs toward room 12. The room was dusty and smelled like old men. Deakon didn't like the smell, but he could handle it for one night. Just as Deakon and Nazz settled into their beds to try and get a good nights sleep. They heard a soft tapping on their window. Nazz stood and opened the window and a jet-black owl flew into the room. It settled on the bedpost with a letter attached to its leg.

"It's Constantine." Nazz said to Deakon.

"Rowan?" Deakon said out loud, not really to anyone. He hadn't heard from his dear cousin in a few weeks, which was deathly out of character. She was usually so eager to talk to him.

Deakon stood and took the letter from the owl, which hooted and waited for his usual treat. Deakon ignored the small owl and went directly into reading Rowan's letter.

Dear Deakon,

Sorry about not writing to you lately. School has been weighing down on me a lot these past few weeks. Plus, the nightmares aren't helping. I'm studying Occlumency like you said I should. I don't get it much, but I will keep trying. Are you going to be at Hogsmeade still this weekend? If you are, you know where I'll meet you.

Love Always,

Rowan

"So what did she write?" Nazz asked with excitement. Deakon just sat on the edge of the four-poster bed.

"Talked about school and asked if I was still going to Hogsmeade this weekend." Deakon said, soundly a bit disappointed.

"She hasn't written to you in practically a month, and that's all she says?" Nazz asked, quite disappointed himself. "I mean, her letters are usually short novels. That was hardly a paragraph. What's with that?" Nazz finished. Deakon looked deep in thought as he made the rings in his lips twist around.

"Something's not right. We'll ask her about it tomorrow when we arrive in Hogsmeade." Deakon said as he climbed back into bed. Although, Nazz knew that Deakon wasn't as all right as he was saying he was.

In fact, Deakon was very protective of Rowan. She was in her seventh and last year of Hogwarts and was excelling. She wanted to become an Auror, just like her father had been. Or so, Severus told her. Deakon was already out of school. Spending much of his time exploring the Arts of Druids, living in forests of Europe. His family lived in London, but he hadn't seen them in years. Described Deakon as being "expendable".

He was in fact, a very skilled wizard. He was excellent at Occlumency and Astrology. He knew how to perform all the Unforgivable Curses (though never used them!) and in his sixth year he became a gifted (yet unregistered) Animagus.

When he learned he could transform himself into a ferret, with bandit like markings on his face, he immediately wrote to Rowan to tell her about how to do it. She mastered it within weeks and was surprised to see that her Animagus form was also a bandit ferret. Of all black color. Every time Deakon mastered a new magical ability he wrote to Rowan and taught her how to do it.

The next day, Deakon and Nazz packed up their things and got on the train to Hogsmeade at Kings Cross Station. Muggles passed every which way and didn't pay much attention as wizards of all sorts ran right through a brick wall to get to Platform 9 ¾. Once they arrived in Hogsmeade they would make straight to the Hogs Head to meet up with Rowan in the wizarding village.