Chapter 8

Life was never stable when you had no one to depend on, things changed all the time, and they needed to be adapted to quickly in order to survive. The summer had passed, and to both boys' utter surprise, a Hogwarts letter never came. They had both been terribly relieved. Chaz, because his best friend wouldn't be leaving him, and Raven because he wouldn't have to be a poster boy for the Wizarding world. He was a kid of the streets, he loved darkness and shadows, he was cunning and vicious when need be. He would never make a good poster boy for the Wizarding world, and besides, he hated unwanted attention

News of his disappearance appeared in the papers in early September, when he never arrived for the start of Term feast. He made front-page news for a week after, a picture of James Potter, to give the public an idea of what he would look like. It said that he would be very similar to James, except he had green eyes and a lightning bolt shaped scar. Even the muggles had adverts in their papers, asking anyone if he had been seen.

Because he had no wish to be discovered, Raven took to altering his appearance slightly, but not much effort was needed because he hardly looked like his father at all, with his would-be silky black hair and pale complexion, completely unlike his fathers tan skin and messy hair. The only thing he changed were his eyes and his scar, his eyes because they were such a unique color of green, were lightened a bit to have them not resemble his mothers so much. His scar, though he was sort of fond of the pale white line he had made it with his abilities, was a little bit harder to change, and because he couldn't rid himself of it completely; he simply changed it into a barely noticeable slash that ran over his eyebrow and onto his temple, just missing his eye. He kept all his fae-like features, but let his dark demeanor suffocate his light side. He looked a dangerous sight for an eleven year old, which is how they found it so easy to set up a life in the sleaziest district, where no one in their right mind would search for a child.

The people of the neighborhood left them alone, as Raven did not look like the type of person you wanted to mess with. His newly shown darker side is what attracted Ikey to them both. Ikey was a scoundrel, but he had a lot of connections, and he could keep them safe.

It was in late October, ten years after Raven parents had died, that Ikey found them and took them in. They had been just the two of them for so long, and they weren't faring all that well on their own. They didn't have anywhere safe to go because they weren't a large enough group to defend any a spot of the city for themselves, and they had no real connections. They'd survived solely upon stealing everything they needed, and they slept in a different alley every night. With the winter coming on fast though, they needed a more permanent place, which Ikey promptly offered them when he discovered Raven's talent with his hands. It was a shot of luck that Ikey was the man Raven decided to pickpocket. Ikey had known what he was doing the whole time. He was, after all, a master thief himself. Ikey was only gauging his skill, and when Raven had succeeded and was pulling away, Ikey caught his arm, and held him fast, and gave him two options. One. He would let Raven go, minus his right thumb. Or two. He would take Raven in, keep him safe and healthy, and teach him all there was to know about fencing. It was his choice, but there was never any doubt about which one he would choose.

Ikey was a criminal, and no way around it, he lied, he cheated and stole, he was deceiving, and he held no guilt for what he did, He was the Prince of Fences for a reason; he was damn good at what he did. Though Ikey truly was a cheat, he was no murderer, and despite his... occupation, he was a good man. He wasn't a proper gentleman; he'd said once that he'd never fit in to normal society, so why bother? He did what he pleased, and one thing he was best at was the flats. He was a master of cards, any game, and he taught Raven, whom he said was a natural at it, and Chaz, who wasn't the best at it, was always backup during their games

Ikey would cheat when the stakes were high, but he could win easily playing honest in a dirty game. Though he never called it that, it was cheating and when asked one day, he said that it was simply art of relocation. It was more masterful than cheating, and took a lot of work. In a single game, he would go in, having everyone underestimate him, losing steadily, and then only gradually coming back to win everything. Partway through the game, he would replace the cards with his own marked ones, so when dealt, he knew what every one at the table had. He said relocation need only be used when it was necessary, and he could win the pot even without it. Relocation was a safety, but it was still an art. Ikey could take a single pack of cards, shuffle them, and pull out any random card from the deck, naming it with ease before he'd even glanced at his hands. 'Eight of spades', he'd say, and Bam! There it was on the table. 'Seven of hearts', Bam! on the table again. 'Ten of Diamonds', Bam! 'Nine of hearts', Bam! 'Jack of clubs', Bam! all this was done without him ever looking down at his hands, ' a simple straight' he'd say. ' And 'never win with more than you need, my dears. Never give yourself a four of a kind by relocation, and extravagant hand needed to happen on it's own'. He was a master at his craft, and Raven and Chaz learnt everything he would teach them, and they soon become quite skilled, though Raven truly was much better than Chaz, they worked well as a team, and despite their age, they could get away with playing at a table full of older men because of Raven's shifting abilities, he would simply make himself look older, saying Chaz was a brat who worked for him or something. Though people rarely asked questions anyways.

Ikey's teachings didn't stop with cards, though they practiced thousands of hours with them, perfecting what they already knew. His teachings branched out into many places. He taught them to be aware of everything. Every move your opponent makes, every nervous habit. He taught them how to read a person, and how to keep from being read. He helped them school their faces into masks, able to change into any expression at will, or to be expressionless if need be. He taught them to fight in many ways with many weapons. He taught them the art of getting what you want from someone, making it seem to them that it's what they wanted all along. Negotiating was another art of Ikey's that he passed on to both boys. Ikey, despite his upbringing was a very smart man, he taught the boys all he could, and they absorbed his knowledge like sponges.

The boys were soon hardened to the ways of living with Ikey Solomon. It was rough and they had to earn their right to have his protection and his knowledge. Peaceful wasn't a term used by those who lived life near Ikey, there were fights and close calls with police and other thieves, you couldn't trust anyone, everyone was out to better their own lives. It was a dirty life, but the only one they were comfortable with. They didn't mind after all, stealing was second nature and they loved the thrill it brought them.

Sorry guys but this chapter is a filler, but very necessary, I felt I should get an update out soon.

A/N: Ikey Solomon was a real and notorious thief in England in the 19th century. He's not mine, but was a real person once upon a time. Many characters in books have been based off him, including Fagin of the book Oliver Twist.

My Ikey is not really accurate at all, the real one was a terrible sneak and he was more greedy, he would only teach brats off the street because it was a good profit for him.

Ciao

-Darkness