Hello, mes petits choux! I know, I know, I suck- one week is the longest i've taken to update a story without declaring a hiatus. But I've completely lost the inspiration to write because there are just too many other things I need to take care of right now- vaccinations, bookings, packing, etc.
I AM SO SORRY FOR THIS. But I will really try and write this story when I have breaks from college!
As always, I want to thank all of you magnificent reviewers (I hope I replied to all of you): drenched-in-sunshine, ronandhermioneismagical, LittleRed22, pennyg, Lizaluvsdoggies, SaruDM, benniegirl, Gabrielav, thestoryreader99 and Snidget'n'Fwooper.
And thank you to all those who alerted/favourited: HP fan not the sauce the book, LittleRed22, benniegirl, whatapileofshit10, Gabrielav, Wizkd515, IncertCleverHPReferenceHere, Snidget'n'Fwooper, random-ju-user and daughterofhorses.
Enough of my namby-pamby excuses, read on! I actually kind of like this chapter.
Chapter Four
The man deposited the scroll onto a silver platter and bowed them in. A short walk through the foyer and they entered through another pair of doors, these ones wide open in welcome.
Rose felt her breath catch at the splendor which greeted them. A massive chandelier dominated the ceiling and jewel-toned orbs of light bobbed near the upper reaches of the large room, creating a sort of half-lit atmosphere. It was pleasantly warm and the crowd was almost obscenely colourful. The other party-goers had donned rich, vibrant colours and she caught a glimpse of a stuffed flamingo hat bobbing above the crowd. In her current attire, she blended right in.
She peeked up at Scorpius from the corner of her eye and noted that he looked highly unimpressed. She instantly rearranged her own features to look slightly bored. Soiree at the Minister's? Haah! She went to those all the time!
"Come on," he muttered, nudging her towards the swarm of wealthy and probably, powerful people.
"Keep an eye out for Flockton."
Rose stumbled slightly over her high heels as they were swallowed by the crowd. Craning her neck around, she caught sight of a small group of wizards in dark robes standing in a cluster near one of the large bay windows. Clenching her hand tighter around Scorpius' arm, she nodded discreetly in their direction. The Minister was standing at the centre of the group, head down and lips moving.
Scorpius nodded and they made their way over to Flockton's corner. He looked up as they approached and smiled.
"Mr. Walker."
Scorpius smiled at him in return and shook his hand warmly. "Minister. I must thank you again for inviting us."
Rose felt herself straightening up subconsciously when the Minister's eyes alighted upon her. This was the first time she'd seen him in person and he looked intimidating this close up. His hair was dark and untidy and there was an unpleasant glint in his eyes. He would have been good-looking ten years previously and even now retained some of his appeal but there was a hardened look about him, as if he'd seen, perhaps even done, unpleasant things.
Or maybe, Rose chided herself, I'm just letting myself get carried away imagining things as usual. Innocent until proven guilty, Rose.
Flockton took her hand in his and brushed his lips over the back of it. "Mrs. Walker, I presume?"
"Aah, yes." Rose stammered slightly and felt herself flush. There were a few amused chuckles from the onlookers. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she continued regardless. "My husband has told me so much about you."
She laid her now free hand fondly on Scorpius' arm and tried to look suitably infatuated.
Aargh, kill me now.
She observed with increasing impatience as Flockton and Scorpius conversed about various matters of political relevance. She almost snorted at some of the misinformed opinions of the others in the group but remained dutifully silent. She longed to contribute her own thoughts to the discussion but was aware that other than Malfoy, probably no one in the group credited her with actually having any thoughts at all.
Noting that over twenty minutes has passed, she decided it was now high time to enact phase two of the evening's plan.
She laid her hand on Scorpius' arm again to catch the attention of the group and excused herself to the 'powder room'.
Then hurrying out of the massive room with mounting relief, she ignored the directions she'd been given and after a quick glance around which revealed no spectators, she crept up the stairs, as quickly as she could in her long robes.
The first floor was eerily quiet, none of the noise from the party below filtering upstairs. The halls were unlit aside from the occasional torch in a brass bracket and the portraits were dozing lightly. One in particular caught her eye. The occupant was caught in an odd loop of movement. The witch in the painting was standing near the edge of the canvas but with a flicker, would reappear every few seconds in the large chair in which she'd originally been painted. Rose watched this parody, transfixed, for a full minute.
The plaque underneath the portrait said, simply, Emmaline and depicted a date of death some ten years previously.
Then, remembering her mission, Rose pushed the oddity from her mind and hurried on, leaving the malfunctioning portrait behind.
She ignored the majority of doors she came across, not having the time to examine all of them. Instead, she searched for something more distinctive. What she really needed was his study or his bedroom; somewhere he may keep important documents.
She found what she looking for at the end of one wing; there was a plain wooden door without any sort of latch or keyhole and she could feel the distinct pulse of magical energy emanating from it. Pulling out her wand from where she'd strapped it to her leg, Rose ran a simple diagnostic spell.
She sighed as she mentally ran down the number of defensive spells on the door. Uncomfortably aware that she'd already been gone for five minutes, she started on the first of them.
xxx
Scorpius laughed for the fiftieth time at a joke that was not remotely funny. Rose had been gone almost ten minutes. That wasn't much, but her absence would soon begin to attract suspicion.
Flockton chose that very moment to voice his concern. "I do hope your wife is alright, Mr. Walker. She's been gone a while."
Scorpius shrugged unconcernedly. "She's probably just run into some friends. She doesn't find matters of state particularly engaging." Haah, if only she could hear him saying that.
"All the same, if she doesn't come back soon, I think Darius ought to go look for her. She could be lost or hurt."
While Scorpius highly doubted that Flockton cared at all about Rose's health, he was rather more concerned with the rest of the Minister's pronouncement.
If Darius Caligari's red-rimmed eyes and pallid complexion weren't enough to give him away, the way he'd been looking at Rose certainly was.
He wondered what the wizarding world would think of the Minister keeping the counsel of vampires.
Darius smiled, evidently pleased with this arrangement and Scorpius' grip on his flute of champagne tightened imperceptibly.
This could get unpleasant.
xxx
Rose sifted through the pile of papers neatly stacked on the desk. Nothing. The drawers were devoid of any useful information as well. Where ever the Minister kept his personal documents, it wasn't in his study. Rearranging the pile and making sure everything was as it should be, Rose edged around the desk and caught sight of an odd pile of books lying on a small side table obstructed from view by the large couch.
She reached for them, confusion growing as she read each title. A handsome young wizard with blond hair smirked up at her from the cover of one book. Turning to the last book in the pile, she couldn't completely stifle the gasp that threatened to escape her.
Having memorized the titles, she glanced one last time around the room, replaced the books in their earlier haphazard manner and hurried back out the door, re-engaging the wards with a sweep of her wand.
Listening closely, she headed back down the annexe, keeping both eyes and ears peeled. A shuffle to her right caught her attention and she spun around, heart pounding. A door stood ajar, revealing nothing but inky darkness beyond. Then slowly, something shuffled by the gap, unrecognizable in the near non-existent lighting.
Casting a very dim Lumos, Rose raised her wand slightly. The silvery light glinted off two orbs, cracked and grey with age and framed by sagging, rotting, flesh and wispy strands of what could have been hair. They were eyes and they were staring right at her.
Extinguishing her wandlight, Rose tamped down on the mounting panic, stifled the scream rising in her throat and fled back down the corridor, towards the freeze-frame portrait.
She collided painfully with something and found herself falling backwards. A hand came up to catch her wrist and tugged her forwards into an icy wall. Heart hammering, Rose realized that whoever had caught her was cold- no, freezing- as nothing alive should be.
Raising her head slowly, horror intensifying, she met Darius' blackhole eyes.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Mrs. Walker," he hissed sibilantly.
She didn't like the way he'd emphasised her assumed name and tried to tug her wrist out of his grip. He merely re-doubled the force he was using and Rose cried out at the sudden pain.
"I...I was looking for the powder room like I said," she tried, valiantly keeping her voice from shaking. "I got lost."
"I-"
The vampire broke off and hissed with anger as steady footsteps sounded behind him. "Catriona. Mr. Caligari."
Rose had never been so glad to hear Scorpius' voice before. She could have kissed him right then.
He drew level with them and took in the situation quietly. "I would thank you not to manhandle my wife, Mr. Caligari," he said with a coldness that rivalled the vampire's.
The latter relinquished his grip on her at once and Rose instantly took several steps backwards, nursing her sore wrist. Then, tossing the pair of them a contemptuous glance, Darius strode back the way he'd come, his strides unnaturally long and graceful. "I'll be waiting for you downstairs, Mr. And Mrs. Walker." He smiled at them and they caught the reflection of firelight off his fangs. "Don't be too long."
Rose started trembling the minute he'd left and was barely aware of Scorpius picking up her wand from where it had fallen.
Scorpius cupped her face and forced her to look at him. "Cat," he whispered, her nickname sounding absurd to her in her current mental state. "I need you to calm down. Do you understand me? I need you to be okay."
Rose stared into his eyes, reminding herself that they were blue, not black and he was warm, not cold, till her shaking subsided.
Then, nodding jerkily, she held out an almost steady hand for her wand and stowed it away silently into its holster.
Then taking her hand, he guided her downstairs and back into the party where she smiled at the Minister and a smug Darius and assured everyone that she was fine, she'd merely gotten lost and thanked them for their concern.
xxx
Later that night, back at her own apartment, Rose placed the expensive necklace back into its velvet case and slid it across the table to Scorpius.
She'd changed out of the gown and was in her infinitely more comfortable tank top and pyjama bottoms.
She'd felt odd keeping the ring and dress but she'd be needing the former and Scorpius had assured her that he had no use for a formal gown.
They were now seated at the island in her kitchen, mugs of tea in front of them, comparing notes.
"He's definitely up to something, though it remains to be seen whether it's illegal. Other than Caligari, he spent most of the evening with a select group of people. We'll have to look into their backgrounds, any recent activity they've been involved in."
At the mention of the vampire, Rose's gaze darted to her right wrist which was an unpleasant shade of blue by now. She scowled into her chamomile tea. Damn leech.
Scorpius was looking at the ring of bruises as well and appeared perturbed. "What the hell is a vampire doing hanging around with the Minister for Magic? Don't their laws forbid them from forming unauthorized alliances?"
"He must be a rogue then. Maybe an exile. It'll be hard getting information on him, vampires aren't exactly forthcoming with their knowledge, even if it's about an outcast."
"Yeah." He took a sip of his tea. "You should put something on that," he added, nodding towards her wrist.
"Oh...yeah." Rose squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze and dropped her hand into her lap, out of sight. "I've got some Star Grass Salve lying around somewhere."
He snorted at that. "Star Grass? That stuff sucks. You need some Mandragora for that."
"No way," Rose argued. "I'm not shelling out ten galleons a pop for this. Star Grass works just as well."
He made a sound of indignant disbelief. "You're deluded if you think that worthless weed is as good as a mandrake."
"I know it's as good as a mandrake. It's certainly more value for money anyway."
"You shouldn't compromise on medicine because of expense."
"Well, excuse me if-"
He waved a hand, cutting her off. "This is ridiculous, we're not here to argue about bloody medicine. Did you find anything in Flockton's manor or not?"
Rose sniffed haughtily and recounted her discoveries. "There wasn't anything much, no documents that I could have duplicated anyway. But I did find something odd."
He sat up straighter and pinned her with an intense look. Rose wished he wouldn't. "What?"
"There were four books in his study which caught my eye." She listed the titles and watched his expression grow contemplative.
"Well," he said lightly. "That confirms it. He's definitely into the Dark Arts if that's his idea of leisure reading."
"Yes, but-"
"-the last one? I know. It's odd. And what does he hope to achieve from reading about them anyway?"
Rose didn't know either but it worried her. Till now, they'd assumed that Bartholomew Flockton had merely been dabbling in the Dark Arts. So why was he so interested in the lives and conquests of Salazar Slytherin, Gellert Grindelwald, Tom Riddle and strangely enough, Albus Dumbledore?
There it is! I shall TRY to update but I haven't really got the next chapter written out so it'll take time. There WILL be an update though. Eventually.
I love you guys and apologies once again for my sudden laziness. :*
Now wish me luck- college in twelve days! EEEEEEEEEEEE! :D