Chapter Two

Weakness

He looked up from the table, his hands pressed down upon it as he studied the map upon it and he smiled. "Tell me Percival...how much time is your department wasting on trying to find me?"

"It doesn't look like a waste of time from where i'm standing." The voice came from behind him and he smirked, nodding slowly.

"And where are you standing..? A man like you...? a brilliant man like you...?" He paused, slowly turning around to finally face his pursuer, his hands in his pockets. Graves looked as he always did, a quiet intenseness about him which made you feel as if you were just witnessing the calm before the storm; before he shifted into the powerful and formidable wizard he was at any moment.

"Between you and death." Graves murmured. Vance smiled, evaluating the man. His eyes then slid to the dark haired woman standing near to Graves, she looked young, younger than most of the other Aurors in the room and he noted how Graves held his hand splayed beside him, almost as if he were wordlessly telling her to keep back as he stepped forwards. "You have no love for no-maj's...you know what we're fighting for is right."

"I have had no inclination to believe in the cause of a man like Gellert Grindelwald." Graves replied casually, bored even as he continued stepping forwards. He paused, his eyes upon the much younger man in front of him "Do not let yourself be blinded by power or lured into dark magic by those who will do you nothing but harm...you are still very young."

"Mr Graves..." He tutted shaking his head "Do me the courtesy of believing that I am of sound mind and that I have not been manipulated into my beliefs, they came freely and of their own will." He smirked, his head motioning to the side as his eyes remained on Graves "Grindelwald only voiced my thoughts before I did." Graves raised his chin, exhaling audibly "But enough about him...Our back and forth has been a real battle hasn't it? Arch enemies? Foes who fight till judgement day?"

"I don't make enemies of children." Vance blanched red, rage burning in his eyes "For all your big clever words Charles, that's what you are."

"It isn't wise to underestimate me-"

"I didn't say that." Graves replied just as calmly as before, his eyes still boring into the young man. Vance sneered, snorting in disgust "Now, you've broken the law...you killed an innocent young girl today."

"Innocent? What part of no-maj's are innocent? They've been hunting and killing us for years, even members of their own damn kind, mistaking them for us! And you know it's because they fear us don't you? Because they are lesser beings! Don't you see?!" He exclaimed shaking his head with a sickening smile "No-Maj's just don't matter, whether they live, whether they die...! Who cares? None of you do surely?!" He said, suddenly speaking to the whole room "Not one of you will have any affiliation with no-maj's, so...tell me how it even matters? They are here for our entertainment." He said suddenly switching back "They matter as much as a hound in it's cage." Graves stared at him with something akin to both worry and pity.

"Good God man...You're insane." Was his only reply.

"Am I? OR maybe I just speak a truth all of you are afraid of." The room was silent.

"No. You're just wrong." Vance rolled his eyes in frustration shaking his head and letting out a noise of distaste

"The unbreakable Graves; the man made of unbreakable morals..." He sneered before suddenly his face began to change and slowly he narrowed his eyes, leaning back against the table and perching upon it's edge, hands still in his pockets "...you make very little sense to me Graves...by rights you should be one of us, you come from a prominent wizarding background, you hold no love for no-maj's...I know that as a fact." Graves hadn't moved, but his eyes still bored into the younger man in front of him. "So why..." he blinked, something in his head beginning to click.

"It's time to surrender." Graves pulled him out of his thoughts, "We've talked long enough." Vance smiled

"We'll talk again soon don't you worry..."

"Vance-!" He warned, stepping forwards and drawing out his ward but Vance was too quick, pulling out his own wand and aiming it at the ceiling. Graves had almost no time to react, whirling around and grabbing Tina as the building caved in.

"Vasili i'm going crazy." Vasili looked up at her as she sat down in front of him on one of the leather oxford sofa's. He peered at her over his half moon glasses and cleared his throat.

"Why is that mishka?" He asked folding the large paper he'd been reading in half and raising an eyebrow. She sighed heavily and shook her head

"I keep hearing songs in my head and then singing them out loud." He blinked once and his frown deepened and he sat forward as if he were going to tell her something very important.

"Mishka...you are singer, I'm quite sure that is what singers do-"

"No, it's more than that!" She exclaimed standing up "It's like there is someone in my head! I can hear them!"

"It is called a conscious mishka...everyone has one I assure you. Is little voice which annoys you in your head-" He began standing, hands out and nodding assuredly and she shook her head

"Vasili! It isn't my conscious! It's someone playing the piano! And singing! And it's a man! The last time I checked I was still a lady!" She hissed the last part and he looked at her again for a long, silent moment.

"...have you been sleeping-?" He began slowly, his eyes narrowing and she exhaled sitting back down in the chair in a heap.

"I...yes, maybe I'm going mad, I don't know? It's all very, very strange."

"Well...is he telling you anything bad?"

"What?"

"The voice," Vasili said sitting down again opposite her "Does he say bad things?"

"...no?" Vasili smiled "If anything, he makes me feel calm."

"Then maybe is just...someone who is supposed to be there?" She looked at him before sighing gently and rubbing her eyes

"...maybe."

"We're all a bit crazy mishka, if he makes you feel happy, maybe he should just stay." she smiled a little at that, stood from the sofa and kissed him on the forehead

"Maybe he should..."

He was back again. Back in this place and he knew he shouldn't be. But staying away was getting too hard, sometimes he just needed to hear her, see her on stage...it meant he was able to think clearly, soothe his own soul.

He was sitting by the bar, a drink in his hand as usual and he knew something wasn't right. Something didn't feel right. Someone was watching and in his suspicion and confusion, he turned around at the wrong moment. She'd gotten herself a glass of water in a break from singing, standing right next to him without him noticing because of the odd feeling he'd been having and found himself staring right at her.

He saw something in her eye, something click in her mind. They were never this close, never looking at each other for this amount of time. No...no no no.

He moved passed her, something about him causing her to turn and watch as he made his way through the crowd and away and she could just see the back of his head...she blinked, feeling as if she were in a thick fog where she couldn't see or hear properly.

A grand, black piano played alone and with no pianist, it's black and white keys whimsically moving as if it were being played by the ghost of one of it's past owners.

"Lydia!" She broke out of her trance to look at Vasili who motioned up towards the stage, the guys were finishing their instrumental track. She nodded, feeling a chill run up her skin and suddenly moved, worming her way through the people and to the stage where she clambered back on to a round of enthusiastic applause.

"So, we're gunna play you another few numbers, we've got a one that a friend of mine told me to try out, she was quite insistent, I-!" she suddenly stopped, talking, frowning gently and clearing her throat "No...wait, Fella's? I wanna sing 'love me or leave me' okay?" They all nodded, not that perturbed by the song change but she saw Vasili look up at her from the bar "Good, A-one, A-two, A-one-two-three-four!" The band behind her started up and somehow the song erupted from her like an explosion, as if she'd been waiting to say those words all evening.

"This affair is killin' me, I can't stand uncertainly. Tell me now I've got to know, whether you want me to stay or to go..."

He felt himself stop breathing for a second, slowly stepping around to the right of the stage, his eyes not leaving her as his breathing accelerated. Something was wrong. Her smile faltered, he watched her brow furrow but she quietly cleared her throat and continued, her smile returning but not as bright.

"Love me or leave me and let me be lonely, you won't believe me but I love you only, I'd rather be lonely than happy with somebody else..." She blinked rapidly, suddenly taking in a breath and he watched as tears surfaced in her eyes, an expression of pain spreading over her features but she kept going, almost as if it was beyond her to stop and he said her name under his breath, the intense worry in his voice obvious.

"You might find the night time, the right time for kissin', but night time is my time, for just reminiscin', regrettin' instead of forgettin', with somebody else..." she swallowed thickly, her breathing harsh and on the very edge of tears and she frowned "There'll be no one, unless that someone is you..." she suddenly gasped, a tear ripping down her face and she stepped backwards before suddenly her head turned, almost as if she sensed his presence and her eyes slammed into his. Suddenly he moved, going through the crowd towards the exit and she dropped the microphone, all but jumping off the stage and staggering through the crowd, people looking at her, concerned, trying to stop her and help her but she pushed them away, stumbling out of the club after his quickly disappearing figure. She heard Vasili call after her but then she was outside in the cold, taking in a gasping breath and looking around till she saw his retreating back-

"Who are you?!" She cried out suddenly and he stopped dead in the middle of the road. She had her long evening gown in one hand as she pulled it up to free her legs and began walking towards him hurriedly, angrily wiping the tears from her cheeks "Hey! Mr!"

He seemed to be just standing there, unable to turn to look at her so she moved more quickly, infuriated by him ignoring her "HEY!" But then he suddenly turned, baring down on her with eyes that were so dark and filled with something she knew. She stopped abruptly, unable to breathe for a moment. "...Who-?" She began shaking her head, her chest rising and expanding rapidly as he just stared at her with expressive furrowed eyebrows and said nothing, she opened her mouth to say something and felt her throat burn, tears searing in her vision "...I know you!" She suddenly said, her voice breaking "But I don't?! ...I don't understand what's happening?!" He said nothing, instead his chest rising and falling rapidly as he stood stock still in the street just watching her. Her eyes zigzagged over his features and she blinked repetitively almost as if she were trying to see something that was just in the corner of her eye, just out of sight.

"...For your love is my love, There's no love for nobody else..." The voice of one of the Jazz players filled the night sky and she heard Vasili call out, he was by the door which he'd opened letting the song out into the world but she couldn't take her eyes off him as if he might disappear into the night if she did.

"I'll be back in a minute!" She cried out.

"Are you okay?!" He exclaimed and she closed her eyes in frustration, turning around to shout over her shoulder

"Yes! I'll be a minute!" Turning back around and feeling everything inside her go cold. He was gone. He was just gone. She felt as if someone had stabbed her in the stomach, everything inside her hurt and she just didn't understand why.

And then she was walking, running down the street and looking everywhere, she needed to find him, people didn't just disappear, they didn't and he wouldn't run away from her, not this time- she stopped, not this time? What did she mean not this time? She suddenly clutched her head as pain spiked through it and she felt something hot ripple from her nostril, placing her hand up and wiping away what could only be blood. She made a sound of distress, staggering into a nearby alleyway and trying to stop the bleeding which was making her fully panic even though she'd had nose bleeds before but this was different...everything was different. Her chest was seemingly not working and breathing suddenly seemed impossible and even more impossible because of the blood coming from her nose and she felt tears searing in her eyes once again as she held onto the wall and then slid down it, landing in a heap on the cold pavement with her head resting on her knees and her hands in her hair...and she cried. A quiet, heartbreaking sound of someone who was unmistakably horribly sad in their soul.

She heard it then, the piano, quiet and melodious and calming...everything. She could do nothing about falling asleep, her head slowly sinking backwards against the wall, her eyes closed and her breathing slowing and the world grew quiet.

The tap of his dress shoes on the pavement didn't wake her, the light from the deluminator didn't stir her and as he crouched down opposite her, the touch of his hand on her cheek drawing her hair out of her eyes, only made her sigh gently. He easily picked her up into his arms, lifting her as he stood, her head resting against his shoulder and her breathing even. As he walked out of the alleyway he saw Vasili standing by the entrance, his arms crossed over his chest, his face thunderous.

"I told you. You were coming far too often." The Russian's blunt tone told Graves everything he needed to know and he nodded. The Russian held out his arms to take the sleeping girl but Graves shook his head.

"No...let me make it right this time." Instead of an angry penetrating look that Vasili usually gave he only sighed and nodded.

"Fine. But you know what you need to do."

"Always." Graves replied monotone before carefully walking off into the night and disapparating, leaving the Russian to go back to his bar.