The snow globe sat upon its bed of cloth, taunting her with its lack of movement, the waving Santa making a fool of her. On the opposite side of the library table, Su's snow globe rose obediently into the sky, wobbling slightly before dropping upon its own bed of cloth; it was at least more than she had achieved.

With a resolute frown, she pointed her wand at the globe. "Wingardium Leviosa" she said and with careful movements, she tried the spell. But the globe remained where it was once again.

It felt like her wand was sneering at her, as best a stick of wood could, anyway. "And what is your problem?" she muttered. "I can do this wandlessly, why not with you, I wonder."

Reaching out her hand, palm down, she twisted her power, bringing the globe rising into her palm as the flakes within swirled gently. She was getting rather frustrated, honestly. It wasn't that she couldn't perform the spell, it was that her wand refused to perform it.

"You can use mine, if you want" came Su's voice, presenting her wand to Morgan. She looked rather reluctant, hand clasped tightly around the wand, but she was still offering.

"That's sweet of you, but I rather believe I need to figure out how to use this one. If it would merely stop looking down its nose at me...:" she said, casting a dubious glare at the pale stick of wood.

She tried again, this time spending a large amount of time merely sketching out the wand movements, the swish and flick, carefully ensuring that both movements and pronunciation were absolutely perfect; with a wobble, the globe rose up, not a single flake disturbed by its rise.

Her wand felt… grudging, as though what she had just done was only barely acceptable as it twisted her power, performing a lot of legwork for the spell by itself, controlling the magic and adding its own, making the spell far easier; with an accidental twitch of her wrist, the globe fell.

So that was the problem… "I guess you'll only accept perfection, hmm? Well, not an insurmountable obstacle, but still rather… annoying." How had Ollivander described it? Ah yes, a 'regal, ruling thestral.' Well, it was certainly living up to that. Such pride...

Across from her, she saw Su give a little shiver, eyes fixed upon her. That was… still strange. Maria had quite the explanation, of her magic feeling 'enchanting and seductive' especially to someone as dark and loyal as Su was. And since magic was a reflection of the person…

I can't... You don't even see it, do you? You prostituted yourself out for my loyalty, Morgan. And look at Su. Trust me, you're good at persuading people Maria had said, when Morgan had questioned it. Really, did she have to put it so bluntly? Come now, surely there were less vulgar ways of putting it.

Speaking of which… The doors to the library opened, revealing a rather dishevelled Maria, her top and skirt torn and burnt slightly, hair a mess and looking rather tired.

Su, she noticed, had started pouting, turning her head away abruptly as Maria entered. Really, she could still be such a child. She couldn't figure out why, for the life of her, Su sometimes couldn't get along with Maria. Often they would talk happily with each other, other times Su became like this.

With a sigh, Maria slumped down next to her, head resting upon her arms as she relaxed.

"And what happened to you?" Morgan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Bit off more than I could chew, apparently" she said, sighing.

Morgan's eye twitched. "Oh Maria, thank you for such a… comprehensive answer. it answered so many questions." Then she waited.

Maria quickly folded. "I tried to imperio another person. It… didn't go well. Seems my limit is just one person. I managed to get our dealer back under control, he wasn't very happy when he was aware…"

"Hmm, well done Maria. I hadn't thought of that. Is that a limit of the spell or just you, do you think?" She hadn't thought of that, of whether their was a limit upon the number you could control. It was a small reminder, that she shouldn't get too confident.

Maria frowned, face contemplative. "I think... Maybe, someone might be able to control more than one person, but it won't be easy. It's beyond me, anyway."

Morgan wasn't sure how she felt about that. On one hand, it drastically reduced the usefulness of the spell, but on the other, it prevented the incompetent from gaining too much power. Just the thought of one fool holding control over large groups of people sent her lips twisting, a grimace marring her face.

"Ah, and who did you try it on? Nobody important, I hope?"

Maria shrugged, completely nonchalant as she said "Just some junkie. I don't think they even noticed, as out of it as they were."

Morgan's eyes took in her demeanor and began shimmer fiendishly. "And here I was, thinking you hated that spell. Imperio another person of your own initiative? Oh, how times have changed." A wicked smile curved her lips, her words jabbing the sudden weakness, a familiar rush buzzing through her when she was reminded if the power she held over this girl.

"It's a… powerful spell" Maria muttered, turning away, hiding behind a curtain of hair. Her hands gripped the table edge tightly, wood creaking beneath the heavy grip as she avoided Morgan's suddenly wicked smile.

Oh, dearest Maria, how far you have fallen. Morgan remembered the reluctance she had when she first ordered her to imperio their little potion brewer. Hmm, she never did ask what his name was, did she? Oh well, it hardly mattered.

"Oh? Is that all it is? Are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with the recent darkness to your magic? I wonder, have you started to enjoy it, the way he does everything you command…" Dark magic always, it seemed, had an underlying 'scent' of saltwater to it. It may be overlaid by different aspects depending on the person, but the salt was a constant. Maria's aura, once a rather floral scent, now had that underlying ocean smell, lapping at the senses, gentler than Su's.

Morgan thought it was rather nice.

Morgan loved this, in all honesty. Watching Maria slowly fall deeper into her influence, watching her actions become more twisted thanks to her own words… She could see why her magic turned the way it was. Manipulating Maria to her will was something she took great joy in, as she did molding Su into her image.

Maria shot up, back ramrod straight as her eyes sought Morgan's frantically. "I haven't!" she blurted and for just a moment there was a look of terrible helplessness within her eyes.

Oh Maria, you feel it, don't you? The joy at such power, at the way their little dealer bent to her every demand… Morgan could well understand.

"Enough about that" Maria said suddenly, turning the conversation. Turning, she fixed Morgan with a look that sent shivers down her spine, a smirk showing that she knew just how she was being affected by it. One hand was placed on Morgans leg, sliding gently up and down her bare skin. "I used a lot of magic today. I could use a refresher before the meeting tonight. Who knows what could happen, after all…" she whispered, leaning in, voice husky and filled with promises...

It appeared Maria wasn't the only one being corrupted by the other. The flash of joy in Maria's eyes as Morgan's breath hitched confirmed how much she was enjoying this, this small power she held over her.

If Morgan was going to push her about the imperio, then she would respond with this, both a distraction and a way to regain some sense of superiority, of control. She was falling - no, had fallen - and Morgan could see this was just an attempt to feel better.

Well, that was fine, she could have her small victories if it made her feel better, it didn't change that Morgan was the one in control, not Maria. And she rather liked it…

She was distracted by a sudden banging sound from Su's side of the table, her snow lobe having slammed into its cloth bed. "I want to go for some ice-cream" said Su, eyes meeting Morgan's, face scrunched up adorably.

At this time? The light streaming in from the window was the pale gray of early morning, far too early for something like ice-cream. Ugh, children, they could be so troublesome at times.

"It's a little early for ice-cream, don't you think Su?" Especially as Maria's delightful magic pressed against her, reminding her of the bedroom they had set up just down the hallway…

In response, Su's eyes widened, lips pouting as her eyes became slightly watery. "Please?"

Morgans eye twitched under Su's onslaught, that look piercing her. Honestly, did she want ice-cream that much, to look like she was almost going to cry over it? It was baffling, but it was the sort of thing children did. Denying them sweets was a sure-fire way to make any child upset.

"Why don't we go later?" she offered.

Su deflated, looking like Morgan had just told her Santa wasn't real. "That means no, doesn't it?" she mumbled, somehow projecting the words of entire generations of children. But Morgan remained unfazed, and Su's expression abruptly cleared, eyes narrowing.

It was good to see she was mature enough to not get too upse-

"You're just being lazy, Morgan" said Su, laying her head on her arms.

Morgans thoughts stuttered to a halt. Lazy? Lazy! Why, it seemed she had been slacking in her tutoring of this little brat. Had she not seen the hours she'd spent mastering her power? The time she had invested into teaching her? Oh, she-

You're just being lazy, Claire. Words from long ago whispered through her thoughts, her grip tightening on her white wand. God, had it really been so long? Years and years, and the memories only got dimmer and dimmer…

And suddenly, her blinding rage was slipping through her grasp. Well, that was for the best. To be so riled up just from being called lazy, was she this thin-skinned? Well…

"Very well then Su, come on. I'll apparate us over… The mood is ruined anyway." She may as well, it wasn't like she was expecting much to happen tonight anyway. Maria would be fine.

Su's eyes flashed, lips curling into a smile as she hurriedly stood. She sent a grin at Maria as she grabbed her hand.

Maria just sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.


New London, where wizarding society overtook muggle. The smooth poured roads of muggles replaced with smooth, perfectly connected cobblestone roads, so well made a person could drive down them with no bumps. Streetlights were replaced by Victorian style iron posts, painted black and shining an orange light upon the streets. And the houses were all fully detached, with large gardens and beautiful, Victorian architecture.

Slowly, the muggle world was being replaced by the wizarding one as more construction was rolled out throughout the country, led by one Arthur Weasley, funnily enough.

It was in a pub within this area that they were meeting up with someone. The main room was large and busy, a bar sitting against the back wall, shelves glistening with coloured glass bottles as the bartender chatted with customers.

In one of the booths around the walls of the venue, Morgan and Maria sat across from a girl. She was twitchy and nervous, her blue eyes shooting all around the place, blonde hair stringy and unhealthy, much like her clothes, just showing beneath a plain black cloak.

And she was thin, frightfully so. Her cheekbones were prominent in her gaunt face, her fingers, curled around a glass bottle, thin with dirty nails. She cut a wretched, pitiful sight against the pleasant atmosphere of the pub.

"You- you didn't say there would be someone else here" the girl said, casting nervous, dubious looks at Morgan, tightly clutching her bottle to herself like a lifeline.

"You're free to leave whenever you want" said Maria, eyebrow raised. Seeing that the girl said nothing, she continued. "My boss wanted to meet you."

Morgan watched as the girl eyed her, disbelieving. It was an amusing reaction, to see someone so stunned.

"B-but she's just a kid… No, no, there's no way. You must be older, right? One of those that drunk too much Youth potion, right?"

Morgan hummed. "Fay, Morgan Fay" she started. "And no, I haven't even started schooling yet."

Ah, the girl clearly wasn't expecting that, if the way she was gawking at her was any indication.

"That-that" she stuttered, disbelieving, before shaking her head, taking a sip from her bottle. "And- and why did you want to meet me?" she asked, eyes filled with distrust, body ready to flee at the drop of a penny, her body as taught as a bowstring.

Moran smiled, eyes glinting. "First, why don't you tell me what you've found out."

She became, if it were possible, even more wary. "That's not how this works. I-I want the rose first, then I'll tell you." There was a desperate yearning to her voice, a note of sheer desire. Morgan had no doubts that if she demanded it, she'd be able to get the information first, but it wasn't necessary.

"Very well" she said, nodding to Maria, who promptly reached into her own cloak, bringing out a nondescript bottle, small and filled with clear liquid, sliding it across the table.

It was quickly grabbed up, the girl looking around nervously at the other patrons of the bar. Rather pointless, really. A subtle notice-me-not, as well as a muffliato kept anyone from paying them any attention. Even Maria's clothes were unflattering, made to avoid drawing attention. Unlikely as it was, it was still better to be safe than sorry. If someone connected Maria to a Morrigan, well…

And the pub was chosen specifically for the reason that it was usually busy and loud. Even without the Muffliato, it would be difficult to overhear them.

Opening it, she dropped a few drops of the liquid into her bottle, followed by drinking it greedily. Almost immediately, her body relaxed a little, no longer as taught or wary, her nervous fidgets practically gone as previously unseen strength entered her eyes. She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before meeting Morgans, almost a different person.

The rose, a highly addictive drug made from some beautiful purple roses, and very illegal. It didn't offer any highs or euphoria, in fact it didn't have any effect really.

It was just addictive, dangerously so, and often mixed in with other drugs to keep them hooked. Or even other things, from lipstick to food, a person would soon find themselves desperately addicted to whatever the drug was added to, mistaking the source of their addiction for, say, the spiked food rather than the drug itself. The withdrawal effects were... unpleasant. Paranoia, nerves, a desperate need for more...

"Feeling better, Miss Clearwater?" Morgan asked, a teasing smile on her lips as Penelope flinched, her paranoia not completely gone even with a taste of the drug. "Good, then on to business. Tell me everything."

"There's not much to say really. She's… difficult to track." Unlike before, her voice was now much stronger, the pressing need to acquire her drug gone, her thoughts clear again. "It's frustrating, she's ridiculously paranoid and without a wand I can't follow her much without danger of being spotted" she said, a note of annoyance colouring her tone.

That bottle was not exactly cheap to produce, she could have made a lot of money from that, so the girl had better have found more than that, else she would start getting rather… upset.

As though sensing her thoughts, she stumbled over her next words in her haste to get them out. "B-but i did find something. Every day, without fail, she eats at a restaurant near Diagon Alley, the Roasted Boar."

Ah, now that was something she could use. Perhaps that bottle was worth it….

"Not bad... Well, Miss Clearwater, let's move onto my next business." Slowly, so as not to scare the girl, she pulled out the ash wand, laying it in front of Penelope, who had startled when she saw the wand. "I find myself no longer in need of this, so I'm giving it to you."

Penelope gaped at the wand, mouth flapping like a fish as her fingers reached out for the wand. But, with a flinch, she pulled back, glaring at her with eyes filled with suspicion. "And what's the catch? There's no way you'd just give me a wand, I'm not even allowed one" she spat out.

Oh, the poor thing, is that what they had told her? That she wasn't even allowed a wand anymore? Morgan's eyes glittered as a smile spread across her face. Yes, this wouldn't even be difficult.

"You are allowed a wand" she said, relishing the surprise in Penelope's blue eyes. "Did they tell you that you couldn't own one anymore? Tell me, who said such a thing? Could it have been some Pureblood, out to deprive you?"

Ah, and now her eyes were filled with anger, warring with her suspicious instincts. "If that's true, then why wouldn't anyone sell me a wand? Not even the shittiest wand makers would" she said, bitter.

"Because they're not allowed. It's against the law to sell to those that have no owls and aren't in education" Morgan shrugged. "And those that would… Well, as one, ah, mudblood to another, discrimination is everywhere, no?"

Penelope glared at her, struggling. But, eventually, Morgan could see her begin to believe her, if only slightly. "That still doesn't tell me what the catch is."

"No catch" she said. "You can take the wand and leave right now, if you want. I only want to… build a good relationship between us. You scratch my back, I scratch yours, as it were." Indeed, as suspicious and untrusting as Penelope was, the only way to ever gain her favour would be to not restrict her.

"Why the fuck would you want that?"

"Because unlike the purebloods out there, Miss Clearwater, I believe you have worth, worth much higher than that of most purebloods out there." Ah, now she was getting somewhere. "Even without a wand, you discovered what you did. I thought you were bluffing when you said you could do it, to be clear, but I find myself… pleasantly surprised." She leaned forward, passionate orange eyes drilling into Penelope's wavering ones, seeing the deep desire within them. "You were accepted into Hogwarts, something only the best of us 'mudbloods' can ever achieve. You survived Azkaban. Many go mad or lose their powers or any number of other things, but you…" She reached out, slim finger gently tilting Penelope's chin, leaning in so they were practically breathing on each other. "You are a diamond, Miss Clearwater, despite what others may have said; I want you."

She could see the effect her words were having. Ah, purebloods, they had no idea of the danger they were creating, the weapons they were carelessly tossing aside, just waiting for someone like her to pick up. Treat a person like trash for their entire lives and, well… A few words could be all that was needed.

Sitting back, she crossed her legs as she observed the fight going on in Penelope, eventually culminating in her picking up the wand. "And- and I can leave whenever, right?"

"Oh, indeed. In fact, you don't even have to decide tonight. We can meet later, if you want. As an added incentive, however… I've just recently been accepted to Hogwarts." That got a reaction, a shock travelling through her body. "I can easily get you access to books from their library. The greatest library in Europe, according to some. I can even have Maria here teach you some magic - you only finished up to your third year, right? - and you may even be able to complete your OWL's."

They sat for a while, her and Maria just watching as Penelope gazed at the wand in her hand, eyes flicking back between it and them. This was an opportunity, to grasp the lifeline offered to her and pull her from the abyss, she just needed to reach out and grasp the hand offered.

And she was only 15. The world may have hardened her up a little, but no 15 year-old could keep taking such hardships alone, not when a helping hand was so willingly offered. Beneath the surface, there was a desperate yearning for acceptance, for help, for affection. Morgan had no doubt what she would eventually choose.

It almost made her feel pity for the girl. In another world, she would have become a Prefect and eventually Head Girl. But that world was gone now, allowed to wither away by useless wizards.

But that wouldn't stop her from squeezing every ounce of use out of her that she could.

"You, are you going to kill her?" she asked, looking down at the table.

A victorious grin flashed onto Morgans face, unseen by Penelope. "Oh, Miss Clearwater" she said, once again pulling her face up by the chin.

"I'm going to do much worse."

Yes, Morgan was never in any doubt about what choice the girl would take.