The story behind this piece of fiction is my own work and so is the original character(s) – the characters and locations you recognise from JK Rowling however are not owned by me and are only borrowed for use in this fiction and I am earning no money from writing or publishing this – I write this purely for my own entertainment and yours and because I love the originals they are based upon so much.
HK
Shattered
"Thirteen pieces…" Lucius mused as he laid the broken pieces of mirror on his desk "just three pieces missing!" He ran his fingers around the mosaic that framed the round mirror; next to it was a statue of Ra on top of which the mirror would stand once it was whole once more.
The ancient Egyptian artefact was believed to have been owned by Cleopatra. The mirror had magical properties but was thought to be evil and dangerous and so it had been magically broken into sixteen pieces, these pieces were separated and scattered throughout the world. Rumour had it that if these pieces were ever brought back together the mirror would repair itself and become whole again. When it was placed into the stand the bearer would gain from the mirrors power.
Lucius had information that he believed would lead him to the next piece of the mirror and so had apparated into an alley in Soho. Stepping out into the street no-one seemed to see him. Men scurried by with their heads down not wishing to see or be seen as they moved from one strip joint to another.
Walking up to a discreet black door and rapping on it with his cane. The door was opened by a woman who looked like she was in her sixties, she was dressed in an extravagant old fashioned dress that looked Edwardian and was definitely out of place in modern London. Lucius instantly knew that this woman was not a muggle. "Madame Aelita" Lucius greeted the woman "Mr … please, do come in" she faltered knowing better than to use this blonde wizards name within her establishment. "I got your message; you are right on time" she moved a curtain aside "you will be able to see from here without being seen yourself."
From the darkness of his private box Lucius watched as the stage lit up, a voice announced the next act to be called Desert Storm, the music started to reverberate around the room and the crowd jumped to its feet cheering. Then she walked onto the stage; her hair was cut into a neat chin length bob and her eyes he had never seen anything like them, they were so dark he could not tell what colour they actually were. As she moved around the stage she had a feline grace, with each movement she gracefully and slowly removed items of clothing and whirled around two large fans made of black ostrich feathers. The men in the room watched her with they eyes bulging and jaws slack, she had them all entranced and yet she had shown nothing. Even once she was completely naked there was barely any part of her body on show because of the fans. Lucius was himself both transfixed and disgusted. He knew from his research that the woman on stage was a witch, a pureblood witch, and yet here she was removing her clothing and dancing to entertain muggles. With one final glance at the stage before she left it Lucius walked out of the box he had been watching from and back out into the main hallway of the house of burlesque and spoke to its proprietor again. "When does she leave?"
"I am sorry Sir, I cannot tell you that." Madame Aelita replied.
"Yes, you can!" Lucius pressed.
"I'm sorry; I have to protect my girls"
"How much will this information cost me?" Lucius pressed.
Madame Aelita started to protest again and Lucius took a purse full of Galleons from inside his cloak. The woman's eyes lit up at the sight of the money and she explained that Miss Storm was about to leave.
Lucius waited outside the club and saw the young woman as she left, she wore a knee length silver grey coat which was trimmed with fur all around the edge of the coat, she looked like she had stepped out of the 1920's, right down to her shoes, which had a small heel and a buckled 'T' bar across the foot.
She walked right past Lucius without looking his way and walked down the street, at the corner she turned and Lucius followed, he turned the corner just in time to see her go into a doorway. When Lucius arrived at the same door he saw he was outside an art deco styled restaurant. When he walked through the door the maitre d' approached him and spoke "we have been expecting you sir, please come this way, your table is ready." Lucius was puzzled but followed the man towards a booth table in the back. Taking a seat he ordered a drink and the maitre d' left, shortly afterwards a waiter delivered his drink, placing it on the table before him.
Lucius sipped his drink silently for a few minutes before he felt that he was being watched. When he looked up he saw her walking towards him, she wore a silver sheath dress that was encrusted with diamante and beaded tassels that clung to her figure and shimmered as she walked. She slipped into the booth opposite him and the waiter appeared once more delivering a drink before her "why were you following me Mr Malfoy?" she asked, her eyes meeting his challengingly.
"Was I following you?" he asked with a raise of his eyebrow.
Taking a sip of her drink she replied "Now, now Mr Malfoy, don't be coy with me, it really does not sit with your reputation."
"What reputation would this be?" he watched her across the table and noted that her eyes were a dark indigo blue, if a shadow fell across her face they appeared to be inky black pools.
"I am not in the mood to play games!" she downed her drink and moved to stand "goodnight Mr Malfoy!"
Before she could walk away Lucius reached out a gloved hand and took her hand in his "I'm sorry, please, stay…"
She turned and faced him once more "why were you following me?"
"I saw your show" he replied before he could stop himself.
"Oh, so you are a fan?" she sneered at him "who would have thought it!"
"What I meant to say was I saw your show and wanted to speak to you" he replied quietly, trying his best to look sincere.
Sitting back opposite him she replied "about what exactly?"
"Why do you do it?" he looked at her puzzled.
"Why do I do what?"
"Now who's being coy?" he asked.
"Touché Mr Malfoy" she grinned and motioned for the waiter to bring them both more drinks.
"So?" he pressed.
"Why do I dance for a living?" she asked "or more to the point, as it is you asking, why do I dance for muggles?"
"Well yes, you are a witch, why do you remove your clothing for the entertainment of muggles?" he almost spat the word muggles as though it were offensive to him to even say it.
"I enjoy it, and there are not many places like Madame Aelita's in the wizarding community."
"Do you not feel you are wasting your time and powers on those people?"
"Actually no, I love my job, it pays well and the people I dance for are more respectful than many wizards I have met."
From the way her eyes glittered as though challenging him, Lucius knew this last comment was aimed at him directly.
"So, Desert Storm, is this your real name?"
"Of course not, that is my stage name, it helps prevent overzealous fans from finding my home – of course it does not prevent them from following me … does it Mr Malfoy?"
Lucius laughed and the sound of it caught even him by surprise, "please" he said to her "call me Lucius."
"In that case Lucius, you may call me Tempest" she stuck out her hand for him to take.
He took her hand into his own and shook it with a smile "Tempest?" he looked as though he were contemplating the word "does that not mean Storm?"
"It most certainly does, I see there is no fooling you, my name is actually Tempest Sahara, and I was born just outside Cairo during a desert storm."
"That would explain your somewhat exotic look and your dark eyes, you are Egyptian…"
"Half" she replied "my mother was Egyptian, my father was English."
"Was?" Lucius queried.
"They both passed away a few years ago" she sighed.
"Oh, was it an accident?"
She almost laughed at this, "No Lucius, they were murdered."
"I am sorry to hear that" he said, and looking at the tears in her eyes he shocked himself when he realised he actually meant it.
"Really?" she reached out and pulled his arm towards her, roughly pushing up his sleeve "and here was me thinking you Death Eaters regretted nothing you did!" Lucius looked from her face towards the dark mark exposed on his forearm.
"So Lucius, are you going to cut the bull and tell me the real reason you followed me?"
When he did not reply Tempest jumped to her feet and headed toward the back of the restaurant, grabbing her coat from a rack she dashed through the fire door in the back wall. Lucius followed her but as he left the building he saw he was in an enclosed courtyard with no exit, and she was not there. "DAMN!" he hissed to himself as he realised she must have apparated.
As Lucius went back through the door into the restaurant he did not see the black cat that jumped from on top of some boxes and walked across the top of the wall before sitting and watching him leave.