Authors Note: I own all the Aurors and folk dining with Malanda and Antony. Yeah. XD And for the record, I created the Îmblânzitor de Serpis by myself. No one helped. The group is mainly for use in Role Playing, mainly by myself and the guy who plays Moros Blackspell. Hi Moros! XD Anyway, I own them. xD If you'd like more information on the group, let me know.
I should also warn you that this chapter is where you start to see why this has a PG13 rating... bad language and sexual connotations AHOY!
From Dawn to Dusk
Chapter 2 : Inside the Halo
It wasn't long before the group was crowded into a private booth at the back of the Black Halo, a dimly lit pub on the outskirts of Craiova. A few others had joined the five, bringing the total number up to nine as they sipped their drinks, catching up on what had been missed since they'd last spoken to each other. In the middle of the circular booth sat Antony, with his arm tight around Malanda's shoulder, almost protectively. The others sat to either side of the pair; the three Aurors of the group sat together on one side of the booth and the other four sat to the other side of Antony and Malanda – who was clearly the center of attention for the evening.
A waitress soon came by to refill the drinks, and the young woman who had been flirting with Antony in the woods spoke up as Malanda's flask was being refilled. "So, Malanda..." she began, surveying the girl over in a somewhat skeptical manner. "What made you decide to come back instead of tramping around with your little school friends back in England?" The woman was dark haired like the rest of them with her own thick Romanian accent, and her green eyes flickered with every word she said, as if to convey her emotions more clearly than through her words, though it was clear as she spoke that she shared a certain distaste for Malanda – both in her eyes and her speaking.
"Oh, that's simple," Malanda replied, a devilish smirk upon her lips. "You see, Rebekka, I'd just taken to missing Antony so much..." She turned to the side, kissing Antony's neck a few times as he grinned smugly. "That I had to come back and see him! After all, I didn't want any other girls fawning over him while I was gone..." She snuggled up to Antony a bit, her smirk growing as she spoke, and one hand wandering up to caress Antony's shoulder and neck while she focused her attention and spite on Rebekka. "After all, surely you know what it's like to have other girls all over your lover! It's not fun, is it?"
Rebekka's eyes narrowed, though the other Snake Charmers at the table merely laughed or 'Ooooh'ed at what Malanda had said. "You immature little bitch..."
Malanda's response was merely a playful grin as she pulled away from Antony slightly so that she was sitting no closer to him than the person on his other side, though his arm was still around her shoulders. "No worries, Rebekka. I'm not trying to steal your man or anything- " She paused abruptly, as if something had just occurred to her. "Oh, wait, I'm sorry, last I checked Antony wasn't 'your man' anyway! Do forgive me..." Everyone at the table laughed, including Antony, as Rebekka glared daggers at Malanda, outraged.
"Well he's not yours either!"
"I don't know, Bekka..." Antony finally interjected. "She's damn near close to having me... closer than you will be, anyway."
Rebekka, beat, continued to glare at Malanda, eyes narrowed. "I could turn you into the British ministry...Oh, wouldn't they be excited... Lord Voldemort's daughter captured at last. And imagine! Her, the murderer of eight innocent people..."
Malanda rolled her eyes. "Don't waste your breath, Rebekka, they'd be more interested in knowing that one of their top Aurors has been corrupted than knowing that someone they're convinced has changed her ways has gone back over to the dark arts."
A tall man beside Rebekka's eyes widened as soon as Malanda mentioned telling the ministry about Rebekka's actions. "You can't do that."
"Oh?" Malanda seemed slightly amused. "Why not?"
"Because! If they know about one of us, they know about all of us, and that's not fair. I'd get in trouble too! So would Josef and Ilse..." The couple sitting beside Marc nodded in agreement.
Malanda, however, giggled, as if the situation was merely a game. "Oh come on, guys. You think I'd do that to you? Besides, it's a part of the pact – you don't snitch on anyone." She rolled her eyes. "I may be only seventeen, but I'm not stupid. Head Girl of Hogwarts? Top marks in every subject? Does that mean nothing anymore?" She sighed somewhat overdramatically.
"Yeah, yeah. She carries a point, guys, calm down." Another young man spoke up from the other side of the booth, his hair a light blonde- a strong contrast against the other, dark haired Romanians, except for his sister Ilse, who sat with the Aurors on the other side of the table and had her own long, blonde hair. "Besides, if anyone here deserves to be turned in, it's Antony, the pedophile..."
"Shut it, James, or you're going to be out back with those bodies you and Hannah dragged back earlier." James gulped, and Antony snickers. "Besides, like Mal said. No one snitches...whether it be about murder or my relations with Malanda, got it?"
There was a collective murmur of agreement and a shuffling of glasses as those who disagreed opted to sip their ale instead. Once the silence had passed, however, Ilse spoke up curiously, tilting her head sideways slightly and letting her straight blonde hair slip off her shoulders as she studied Malanda carefully. "How old are you now anyway, Mal?"
"Seventeen, as of May." She said this without flinching before taking a sip of her drink, knowing good and well that she was in a crowd of twenty-somethings who – if they knew how old she was at all – didn't care to know about Malanda's age or detested her for it.
"Seventeen? That's all?" Rebekka inquired, almost disgustedly. "My God, Antony, you are a pedophile."
"I said shut it!" Antony spoke loudly this time, obviously irritated by the continued remarks about him and Malanda. Rebekka shrunk back slightly with a pout, as Ilse arched an eyebrow at Malanda.
"Then unless you're deceiving us, it would appear that you havn't been in Romania 24 hours before lying to someone." Ilse laughed. "Nice job, Miss Riddle. Nice job."
Malanda grinned wickedly. "What can I say, I like a good ale when I can get one... plus nothing compares to Romanian alcohol." She lifted her glass in a toast fashion as if to mock the fact that she, herself, was too young to be drinking. She took a sip, but before she could put the glass back down again, Antony had turned to her, tilting his head in a careful fashion so that he could easily whisper in her ear.
"I know you're having fun being your usual bitchy self and pissing off Rebekka, but could this continue at a later time?" He kissed Malanda's neck slightly before continuing. "We have a bit of catching up to do, and-"
"Say no more, mei amant..." She whispered back, smiling. "I'm ready to go when you are."
The two bid goodbye to their friends and soon were walking down a dark, dirt road which led off into the woods, where the shadow of a large mansion could be seen outlined against the full moon. Malanda kept her hands in her cloak pockets, gazing around almost idly as Antony walked beside her, his own hands folded behind his back. It wasn't long until they reached a tall, steel gate that blocked off the long path towards the mansion, and Antony leaned against it casually, watching Malanda carefully.
"So you've finally graduated..." He smiled slightly as Malanda glanced up at him with a girlish grin, leaning against the gate beside him.
"Yeah, and?"
"You're finally an adult now. My ickle Mal-Mal, all grown up."
Malanda rolled her eyes. "Oh can it, 'Tony."
"Well, if it's any consolation, you're more grown up than half the other girls in the group. I mean, Bekka acts like a fourteen year old-"
"Keep in mind I'm only seventeen, love."
"- and Ilse's not much better. But you... you've got your head in place." He turned slightly so that his side was against the gate instead of his back, studying Malanda in an intrigued manner.
"How is that?"
Malanda shrugged. "I guess I've just learned from my mistakes, is all."
"What mistakes?"
She glanced up at him, gazing at him for a very long moment before speaking up. "I don't know."
Antony was silent a moment after this, himself, before speaking up again somewhat quietly. "You're still planning on training to be an Auror, aren't you?"
"Of course."
"Malanda..."
"What?" She glanced up into his eyes, it being obvious from her expression that she was expecting another 'You're a Riddle, you can't do that.' speech. Antony didn't say anything in response, however, but merely reached over to Malanda's left arm, taking it gently and sliding the sleeve up to reveal a very prominent tattoo of a snake emerging from a skull – the Death Eaters' Dark Mark. Malanda looked it over a moment before pulling her sleeve down.
"So what?"
"So you're one of us! You can't be an auror!"
"Rebekka is."
"Rebekka's a bitch."
"So am I."
"Malanda..."
The girl sighed, turning so that she was facing Antony straight on and gazing into his eyes, her own bright blue eyes showing hints of crimson as they reflected into his.
"You cannot deny I'm a bitch when I'm worse than Rebekka is, just as I can't deny that I'm a death eater while I've got this mark on my arm. But Antony, you are in no position to tell me what I can and cannot do, because try as you might, you do not hold more authority than me in this group, and I can have your ass on the ground dead in a matter of seconds, so I suggest you not fuck with me. Now, if you excuse me, good night."
She turned abruptly, giving the gate a good shove. Instead of holding tight like before, it now swung open with a loud creak, allowing Malanda to start down the dirt path towards the mansion, cloak pulled tightly around her. For once, Antony didn't bother going after her, either; he merely hung back at the gate, frowning at Malanda's retreating figure as she disappeared into the darkness.
