((Many, many cookies to Dee for creating Dante, as well as Lucas Raine.))
"Nice work yourself, Miss Wellington," a velvet voice complimented with an amused tone. The voice was a woman's, whose head happened to be in the middle of Charna's fireplace. Charna blinked a few times, to make sure that she had actually seen the face of the other woman, though there could have been no doubt about it. The woman was Dante Luna, an old friend of Charna's, and an old enemy as well. Currently, the two were on level ground, having recently settled a conflict over the mentioning of Charna's deceased father. In the interest of both of their lives, they had decided in the end to put old differences aside. Charna knelt by the hearth, already feeling the cold stone cut cruelly into her kneecaps, numbing them upon contact.
"Did you like it, then?" Charna questioned, returning Dante's amused smile with one of her own. "Peeves was excellent, in my opinion. Of course, I have never liked him, but give him leave to wreak havoc on a crowd of happy students at a feast, and he will do back flips and sing 'Waltzing Matilda' to do whatever it is you might wish," Charna laughed - a cold, cruel laugh that even sent chills down her spine. "It has been an interesting first day, nonetheless- speaking of which, where the hell were you? You've missed out on the … festivities, shall we say." A grin cracked around the corners of Charna's drawn mouth.
The head of Dante, framed by tongues of amber flame, laughed. Her brown locks glistened as the fluid-like, almost musical sound escaped her lips. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. I just can't decide which Charna is, but we'll be living together for the next nine months. Dante thought to herself, knowing the full benefits and consequences of accepting the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. "As I recall," Dante remarked, still with a bit of a chuckle hinting at her voice. "You once sang 'Waltzing Matilda' after you had consumed too many glasses of … rum, I believe it was," Dante remarked, before laughing again. It was certainly enjoyable, to converse with a familiar face that could relate to her on both a different and secret level. Memories were painful, as well as bittersweet, though recalling the humorous ones had no apparent consequence for the thought troubled Dante Luna.
"As I further recall, Miss Luna, you made up your own song, and then you were too dizzy to sit properly, so you toppled onto the floor and kept right on," Charna reminded the woman with a laugh. To recall such times of youth, when we were so innocent. How things have changed, drastically. It seems that the very world has turned upside down, our equilibriums both unbalanced now. We know each other on a different level, and we can only wait, which is bothersome because I'm the most impatient person that I know. Suddenly, Charna became more serious. Her eyes narrowed, ready to decipher any facial expression that Dante made following her next question. Several years as an Unspeakable had proved useful. "You're not answering my question, Dante. What's keeping you, and why aren't you here?" Charna inquired, narrowing her eyes a bit more.
"Business, Charna. Just business - it was Lucas Raine this evening, if you must know," Dante drawled, as if she were suffering to reveal even the most miniscule bits of information that she could. "I'll be arriving in the morning, as Dumbledore said. I've told him that I had to straighten out some personal affairs before heading to Hogwarts to teach lessons," she followed, allowing herself another chortle of sorts. "I wasn't lying, was I? Anyway, enough of boring you with my business dealings - how has Severus take your being there?"
This time, it was Charna's turn to laugh. "Not too well, I might tell you," she indulged her friend with a pleased air radiating from her regal form. "I assure you that he will be ecstatic to see you," she pronounced, her voice dripping with blatant sarcasm. Snape had always had somewhat of a hatred of the two women, dating back to their days at Hogwarts, when they used to strut about, the highest and mightiest of Hogwarts.
"Yes, I'm quite ecstatic," a voice drawled. From the hearth, Charna's blue eyes locked on the black ones of Severus Snape, who was framed in her doorway, wearing a rather pleased yet unpleasant look.