A/N: Final edit.
Scarlett stumbled into the lonely pub and looked over at Scabior who was sitting on the far side of the room. He seemed to be giving Felix and Nero a bollocking. She had no time to smirk though as she pushed past them and sat down. Scabior was so involved in his argument that he didn't see Scarlett down his drink. And Felix's. And Nero's. And X-ray's. Scarlett's hands stopped shaking but the loud argument which was taking place right next to her sounded muffled, like listening from behind a closed door.
"...An' I don't want you goin' out on your own, either!" Scabior shouted at them both. Scarlett sunk down, watching Felix and Nero wince with every loud word that came from his mouth. She glanced over at the bar to see the barmaid quietly washing glasses, knowing better than to interrupt an angry snatcher.
At the end of Scabior's rant he mentioned something about getting some more fags. He looked down to see an empty glass, along with all the others. He looked over at Scarlett who was looking down at her hands which were being nervously wrung in her lap. She didn't dare to glance up at him.
He moved so one hand was curled over the back of her seat whilst the other was braced on the edge of the table, "Did you just drink all our drinks?"
Scarlett nodded silently, waiting for the bollocking that never came. She peered up at him cautiously. Scabior's eyes bore into hers before he finally huffed and said, "Right, that's comin' out of your pay check. Let's get some fuckin' fags then."
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Scarlett let Scabior walk in front as they scoured the shops, unsure whether Greyback would make another surprise appearance any time soon. Scarlett walked past a window and a particular pair of shoes caught her eye. They were Doc Martins in a classic steel toed black and the felt a twinge of lust at the sight of them. Scarlett tried the door handle but unfortunately it was locked. Scabior carried on walking along unaware until she got so frustrated she took out her wand and cursed the door loudly. It shattered and lay on the ground in small, uneven pieces. Scarlett grinned as Scabior turned around to see what the noise was and walked into the shop.
Seeing that there was no one around to be seen, she walked over and plucked the boots from the shelf. They felt heavy but comfortable in her hand as she walked over to a nearby chair and sat down. Scarlett examined the sole and found to her pleasure that they were her size. She slipped her left foot into one but was angry when the seam at the front dug into her foot. She tried the other one on and found exactly the same problem. Scabior sighed in the doorframe which he had been watching her closely from for about 3 minutes.
He walked forward and crouched down by her feet. Scarlett watched him curiously.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
Scabior shoved his thumb down on her toes before looking at her impatiently and saying, "If they fit length wise then take them."
"But the seam digs into my foot." She frowned.
"Yeah," He replied, "You 'ave to put somein in them to stretch the seam, like a can o' beans or something-"
"And you would know because..." She said jauntily.
Scabior stood up suddenly and grabbed her by the collar and pushed her up against the nearest wall, his face close to hers. Scarlett's eyes widened and her breath hitched as he brought his wand up to the pulse point of her neck.
"Don't take me as some idiot just because I 'ave an 'ackney accent." He was suddenly fuming, "I am so fucking fed up of people looking down on me because of my background . All my life I 'ave 'ad to put up with snotty bastards who won't even give me a second glance because of where I grew up and who my family are. I don't need someone else 'aving a go at me, and I might not be some Death Eaters daughter but, dahlin, what I lack in brain cells I more than make up in cruelty." He accentuated this point by lifting her up a foot so her legs were dangling helplessly. Scarlett's hands clawed at his until Felix mercilessly appeared in the doorway.
"Oi, Scabior. Me and Nero are hungry." He moaned.
Scabior looked at him before dropping Scarlett and storming outside. She gasped before managing to control her breathing. She then stood up, put on her old shoes, smoothed her hair down, unruffled her clothes, picked up her shoes and followed the schizophrenic snatcher down one of the most dodgy alleyways in the Wizarding World, her heart still racing.
The rest of night went pretty quickly as they spent it wandering around aimlessly, half drunk. They returned to camp with full stomachs, nicotine and alcohol in their veins, a pair of shoes and a dark magic book (Scarlett's) which was unbeknownst to the rest of the group.
Bored with fatigue, the snatchers collapsed on the uncomfortable logs which were slightly damp after the short bout of rain earlier. Scarlett grasped a bottle of Firewhiskey and contemplated her life so far.
She had a horrible upbringing which had inevitably led to the death of her intolerable father, then she had been given a new meaning to life when she started attending Hogwarts. When Dolohov found out about Ricky, he took her out for private tutoring. Now she'd met the snatchers, Scabior and Greyback and wished she was still living with her father.
Scarlett took another swig on the fiery liquid, set it down on the ground in front of her and mulled over her last thought. When Scabior went into the tent and came out again, sitting next to her, Scarlett felt a fear rise in her spine which was long since forgotten around Scabior. After what Greyback did to her the first time, she always felt a small amount of safety around him. Her trust had collapsed slightly at his sudden outburst earlier.
She shifted along and Scabior moved up next to her. She moved up again another foot and he followed her. With a sigh she went to sit on the end of the log and with a grin Scabior followed her. She looked to the right and deciding there was nowhere to go she stood up and sat on the other side of him. Scabior let a small grin tug at his lips and moved to the end of the log. Scarlett chuckled and sat down a little too clumsily, knocking him off the end. He frowned before grabbing her leg and pulling her down.
Scarlett fell on top of Scabior and smirked softly. Scabior looked up at her and gently planted a kiss on her smiling lips. Nero, Felix and X-ray stood up and walked off into the tent, mumbling about getting a room. The two snatchers giggled and stood up together. There were no words exchanged between them as they entwined limbs. Scarlett rested her head on his chest and swayed gently in the breeze.
After only 30 seconds in this warm and safe embrace, Scabior pried her arms off of his and walked into the tent, leaving her out in the cold.
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It had been a week since that night, and Scarlett had received the same treatment over and over. It was almost worse than being tortured, because at least when someone's inflicting pain on you they're still paying attention to you.
Scarlett had tried smiling or nudging him playfully on the arm but had gotten those cold gazes which made her body droop and her eyes water. Scabior had pushed her away again and again and Scarlett was now wondering what the point of remaining a snatcher actually could be.
She didn't mind the others, they could even be fun at times, but they would never compare to Scabior. Or even the person he used to be.
Scarlett pushed those thoughts out of her mind as she placed 5 cards in front of her on the wooden table, drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She was in an inn which was situated in the middle of a busier muggle village.
"Royal flush." She grinned triumphantly. X-ray and Felix have her a look of mild amazement and Nero threw his cards on the table and walked over to the bar, ordering another round of Grouse. It would never come close to Fire Whiskey but it was nice and mellow.
Scabior huffed and followed Nero over to the bar, sidling up to an attractive woman around 25. She was plastered in makeup and looked as if she hadn't slept in a week.
Scarlett glanced over to Scabior as he trailed a hand down her side and let it rest on her lower back. He then leaned forward and whispered something in her ear which made her laugh a little too loudly. Scarlett's eyes burnt as she watched them laugh together.
The woman then leant up and whispered something in his ear which made him grin and lead her along a corridor which presumably led to somewhere more private. The woman said something and walked the other way, towards the toilets. Scarlett stood up and followed her as inconspicuously as possible. She slipped into the toilets and observed her putting even more makeup on.
Scarlett walked over casually and sat on the sink next to her. The woman glanced up at her before carrying on smearing bright red lipstick on her thin lips.
Scarlett wondered how to phrase the following sentence.
"How much did he pay you?" The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them.
"If you're looking to ask him then you're no competition, love." She replied in a northern accent.
"No, I have a proposition for you." Scarlett hopped down and stood behind her.
"What is it?" The girl paused, setting down the cheap lipstick on the edge of the sink.
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Scarlett followed Marie out of the toilets and down towards the room.
Scarlett stood closer and whispered, "Just how we planned, yeah?" She said, slipping 5 muggle twenties into her hand. Marie nodded and walked down towards the room, then winked at Scarlett before opening the door and joining an eager Scabior.
Scarlett resisted the urge to smile as she walked towards the table and beckoned to the other snatchers.
Felix, Nero and X-ray stood up and moved towards her.
"What?" Nero said impatiently.
"Come with me." She said quietly before disappearing down the narrow corridor.
Nero, Felix and X-ray followed before Felix said, "If this is your way to try and seduce us, it's not working." He grinned.
"Shut up, Felix." Scarlett gave him a weary look.
She stood outside their door before whispering, "Listen. Just trust me. And try to keep quiet."
They all pressed their ears to the door and listened quietly.
They heard some moaning and some dirty words before the unmistakeable rustling of clothing then a condom packet being opened.
"Look, what are we-"
"Sshhh!" Scarlett held a finger to her lips.
Scabior's muffled voice came from behind the door, "Are you ready to see it, love?"
Then came the loud voice of Marie, "Is that it?" She gasped audibly before everyone outside burst out laughing. Felix and Nero collapsed to the ground, unable to see for tears of laughter.
"I'm sorry," Marie shrieked, "But that'll do nothing for me, you've wasted you money here...maybe you could try enlargement surgery?"
Scarlett heard footsteps getting closer and they stepped back to see Marie slip out, give Scarlett a hi-5 and scurry out of the pub. Felix and X-ray looked at Scarlett incredulously, "You set that up?" they asked.
Scarlett gave them a small nod before chuckling quietly to herself.
X-ray and the others let out another bout of laughter which only ceased when Scabior appeared in the doorway, fully dressed and mad as hell.
Scarlett gulped.
Scabior looked at them all, Scarlett the only one looking guilty and not laughing her arse off. Scabior suddenly lunged forward but snatching had taught Scarlett a thing or two, and she ducked under his arms before running out of the pub. She tripped over the doorframe but was caught by a burly guy who said, "Watch where you're going there, love." Scarlett shoved him away as Scabior burst out of the pub, wand in hand and a thunderous look on his face.
Scarlett didn't stop running until she saw a tree line. Collapsing down on the ground, she looked around but could not see Scabior. Her nerves were right on edge, knowing that from experience, just when you think you're safe the bad guy will jump out of nowhere and grab you.
Right on cue, Scabior walked out from behind a thick pine, only 4 metres away from Scarlett. He cast a spell at her which tore past at lightning speed as she rolled over. Scarlett looked over at where the spell had been cast and saw a nearby trash bin on fire. She whipped out her wand and set an equally hideous spell which he dodged perfectly. Scarlett cast flames to rise up in front of him, distracting him long enough to run further into the sparse woods.
She tripped over something else and fell flat on her face, standing up fast but not fast enough as she saw Scabior approach slowly, wand raised.
Before either of them knew what happened Scarlett shouted out a spell she had read not long ago in the dark magic book she had bought.
"FLECTENDUM CORPORIS." She screamed, and a brilliant bright green shot out of her wand and hit Scabior straight in the chest before bouncing off and throwing her backward too.
Just because Scarlett cast the spell, it didn't mean she actually knew what it did. Scarlett was just skimming over the pages, mainly because there were so many and only this one stood out to her because it had an odd picture next to it. The picture was a beast with a man's head and a man with a beast's head. This could have simply been a metaphor but Scarlett wasn't so sure anymore.
After about eight seconds, Scarlett and Scabior both got to their feet, feeling odd.
Scarlett looked at the ground to find it was much further away than usual; also that she was wearing Scabior's plaid trousers. Scabior looked down and found that he had a more feminine figure and different clothes on as well.
Their worst fears were answered when they looked up at each other, or rather, themselves.
Scabior and Scarlett screamed.
A/N: What d'ya think? Eh? Please review.