Chapter Seven – Decisions, Decisions
Andi sat, curled up on the only window seat in her flat, hands wrapped around a mug of hot tea, and watched the people on the busy city streets below. It was just past four o'clock in the morning, and many late-night partygoers were just now stumbling home to pass out in their beds. She personally felt that sleep was a waste of time, and thanks to A-KAD, she never needed more than an hour a night, and most nights she didn't need any at all.
Without taking her eyes off the street she sipped slowly, contemplatively, from her mug. Anyone who looked closely enough would have noticed that while her gaze was trained on the ground some forty feet below her, her eyes were not actually looking at anything. She was lost deep in thought, as she had been for the better part of an hour. A letter, bearing the unmistakable, spidery scrawl of Albus Dumbledore in shockingly bright purple ink, was lying open at her feet. In pure Dumbledorian fashion, he'd written extensively and said next to nothing. There'd been several different references to the recent weather conditions at Hogwarts, inquiries about her health, statements detailing his own problems sleeping, and a brief sentence that had seemed squeezed into the end of the letter as an afterthought asking if she would please meet his associate at The Leaky Cauldron at the provided date and time, as he was in need of her unique services.
There were many things weighing heavily on her mind, but three in particular were due to the frustratingly verbose letter. The first was the fact that the headmaster had written her at all. The purpose of the letter had obviously been to set up the proposed meeting at The Leaky Cauldron, and the purpose of the meeting had something to do with her being a vampyre hunter. There was nothing wrong with this except for the fact that this meant Dumbledore knew that she hunted the undead in her free time. She shouldn't be surprised, considering that he seemed to know pretty much everything else. She still wasn't sure if his knowing was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it would make slipping out to go hunting during the school year much easier, since she wouldn't have to worry so much about an excuse if she got caught. For all she knew, the headmaster would encourage her nocturnal excursions, and she wouldn't have to do any sneaking at all.
On the other hand, the fact that he knew meant that the Ministry might know, or at least the Minister of Magic. This was something that she wanted to avoid at all costs. Anonymity had always been her best defense, and the last thing that she needed was to become the newest toy for the Ministry's Magical Creatures Department officials to play with.
The second thing that she now had to think about, thanks to the letter, was Dade's position in all of this. She loved her little brother dearly, but she couldn't afford to continue to look out for his safety and take an assignment from Dumbledore, if that was even what the meeting was about. She now had even more reason to wonder if Dade might be welcome at Hogwarts. He showed no magical talent at the moment, but he was definitely linked intimately to the magical world. Besides, if Dumbledore trusted her enough to contact her and request her assistance, surely he would do her the favor of keeping Dade safe for her while she did the old wizard's bidding.
Both of these topics threatened to overwhelm her with their complexities and multi-faceted implications, but neither caused her quite so much confusion or worry as the third thought that had assailed her with the reading of the letter.
She was well aware that Dumbledore's main concern at the moment was the safety of Harry Potter from the forces of the rising Lord Voldemort. She couldn't help but wonder how vampyres tied in to that at all. And she couldn't help but fear the answer to that puzzling thought. She remembered her conversation with Talan only hours before, about how the vampyres were growing more confident, as though they were massing behind some leader. She tried not to let herself consider how that related to the power that Lord Voldemort was gathering, but the ominous thoughts slipped in uninvited.
And so she sat, troubled and confused, trying to decide whether to meet this mysteriously un-named associate of Dumbledore's at The Leaky Cauldron. She glanced again at the specified date and time in the letter and sighed. She had less than two days to decide.