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Carmen had moved out of the manor. The Dark Lord had not exactly been happy with this but to be quite honest, the woman's constant presence annoyed him. Voldemort was a man who enjoyed his solitude. so she wanted to leave, he let her. he knew that she could not go very far not with her loyalty to him. And with the Dark Mark on her arm, she would return whenever he called her or Voldemort would without a question, hunt her down and kill her. He had no idea really as of yet that Carmen had found someone else. And if he had have seen the signs, he would have pointed a finger at Derick not Eric. However, as of yet, he had no clue.
There was no sign of the man as Carmen packed up her things. She was only taking the items she had bought. Nothing that he had given her or provided for her. Living here had meant that she had not had to provide for herself and so she had been able to save quite a bit of money. She would be fine.
Hogsmeade was to become her new home. Why? Carmen knew of course that it was far away from London and the Ministry but she would just apparate to and from work. It would not take long to commute that way. But she needed a change of scenery. She needed to get away from it all. Then there was also the fact that Hogsmeade was a small little town. It was pleasant and clam and catered to the students of Hogwarts. Carmen felt she would be able to enjoy herself there.
It took a bit of time to buy a house as it would anywhere else. So Carmen walked from the train station to The Three Broomsticks. She carried a medium sized bag over her left shoulder. Carmen was tired and stressed and worried about what the future held. for her, harry Potter and the rest of the wizarding world. Weary, Carmen arrived at the front door of the inn and she sighed before opening the door and stepping inside. the inn was... interesting? Directly across from the front door was a wooden staircase heading up two the second floor. On the left was a large fireplace with a pile of wood beside it on the floor. The wall around the fire place was covered in shields and mounted antlers. On the right, a dozen wooden tables and behind the staircase, a long bar with many liqueur bottles and a wall of mirrors. The floor was made of bare wooden planks and hanging from the ceiling were large circular steel chandeliers wan lit candles. There were a few people here. It was nearly noon, lunchtime. It was the weekend and so a good number of the patrons were students.
Carmen stepped around the staircase and to the bar where an eliding man stood. he glance up at her. "What can i get cha'?" he asked her letting his eyes move over the woman. "A room?" Carmen asked. The man was silent for a moment and then moved to the end of the bar and poked his head through a set of swinging doors. Moments later a woman entered and a man went back to work. This woman was tall and pretty. She had curly blond hair and blue eyes. When she she spoke, her voice was clearly dominant yet her smile was sweet. "I'm Madam Rosmerta." She old Carmen now and Carmen nodded. "Carmen Erickson. I need to rent a room." Madam Rosmerta made a little sound of understanding and then from under the counter, brought a ledger.
Half an hour Carmen was standing alone in her rented room. It was small. Much smaller than she was used to but it was all her own. She smiled softly. The room was simple. A wooden double bed, a bedside table and a dresser along with a wooden and red lounge were the only furniture. There were two other doors. One a closet and the other a small bathroom. There were two multi pane windows in here as well. But she was alone and she was safe here. she unpacked her few items and took a hot shower and then just relaxed in the room.
It was mid afternoon and Carmen needed to get some fresh air plus she was hungry. She dressed in a white blouse and a pair of blue jeans. On her feet were inch heeled black Dragon hide boots. She distended the wooden staircase to the restaurant/pub below. Her hair was back in a another casual ponytail. She had gone half a day without food and decided that maybe she would eat and then do a little shopping.
The pub still had a few customers. Mostly students from the school. Carmen took a small table and then sat slowly. It did not take long for a waiter to come over to her with a menu. She ordered a salad and a water. She was not extremely hungry and would get a little more later if she wanted. Her food came quickly and Carmen settled back. She had brought a book down with her and now opened it.
Eric had been up at Hogwarts. He was the new Apparition Professor. A position The Dark Lord had pushed him into. At first, he hated being a professor but now, he found that he did not mind it nearly as much and the students were normally good for a laugh. Right now he was in his quarters with a good book. A glass of brandy and a ashtray and a lit cigarette sat on the bedside table. He supposed he should get up and get going. He needed new quills and and he needed more brandy. The was always gone...
It took a bit of time for him to leave the castle, and then the grounds before apparateing to Hogsmeade. He appeared in front of Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. As he was approaching the front door of the quill shop, Eric's eyes fell on the inn. He reached inside of his coat and pulled out a cigarette and then his lighter and lit it. "Hmm," He murmured softly to him self. "I suppose a nice Brandy wouldn't hurt first", Taking a drag of his cigarette, Eric started for the Three Broomsticks.
Eric got to the front door of The Three Broomsticks, and took one last drag of his cigarette and threw it to the ground. He entered inside and headed straight for the bar of course. "I'll take a brandy on the rocks" he told the bartender. Eric grabbed his drink and headed for a little table in the corner of the pub. He pulled out his chair and took a seat. He put his brandy on the table and started to stare at it. He was lost in thought, and was thinking about his father back in Blantyre. He would often think about his mother as well, and for some strange reason he started to think about them right then and there. 'I was there not to long ago' , he thought to himself and felt the guilt return.
A little fly started to fly across Eric's face when he then snapped out of this depressing mentality. He shook his head back and forth a couple times, and then picked up his drink and drank it down in large mouthful. He slammed the glass hard on the table as he got up to go get another.
As Eric approached the bar there didn't seem to be a bartender in sight. So he hung his head and sighed at the same time, while turning quickly around and leaned onto the bar. He brought his head up slowly, and his thick hair hung around his face and in his eyes. He looked left and noticed a few people there he would casually run into. Then he looked over to the right and didn't see anyone at all he knew. As he was just turning his head to look the other way, when a woman turned her head just in time for him to make out who she was...
The sound of the glass hitting the table caught Carmen's attention. It had been unexpected and she looked up from her food. Her eyes took him in instantly at the bar and Carmen suddenly lost her appetite all together . She looked down again quickly. Of all the luck. The moment she had decided to come down stairs was the moment he decided to get a drink...it was early for drinking wasn't it?
She sat there unsure of what to do. She felt rejected by him and that made her angry. She wanted to say something...to do something to strike at him... But at the same time, Carmen did not want to let him know how much he had hurt her. Eric did a double take. "Shite..." he said to himself. "That's Carmen" He felt a lot for this girl, and there was some real chemistry that was going on between them, but he did ditch her in another town on their first date, and he knew that she would be pissed! He waved in a never mind way to the bartender who was now approaching and started walking towards the door.
Carmen wanted to get out too. she had looked away from him as soon as their eyes had met and now she took her money and placed enough for the food on the table. She would leave. She had shopping to do anyways. She stood now and without looking at him, headed for the door.
Carmen thought he was still at the bar and she made a bee line for the door. Eric had been walking rather briskly towards the pub door to get outside and away from this place. He quickly recited to himself repeatedly "Please let me get away...Please let me get a way", His eyes were on the floor as he moved. They collided with each other. Not hard. Her shoulder glanced the man and sent her a little off balance. She was surprised to find herself so close to him but did not look up at his face. She was even in more of a hurry to get out of there now. Moving through the door, Carmen's other shoulder hit the door frame much harder than she had hit him. So much for a quick exit... Eric watched her but didn't say anything. He had been so cruel to her, but not willingly and had no intentions on ditching her at the pub that night. If it hadn't been for his transformation, things probably would have been fine. He still needed to learn control, and after all of these years he still hadn't mastered it.
As he watched her now running across the street towards the old book store, Tomes and Scrolls, Eric saw her pause to hold her shoulder in pain. He thought that this would probably be a good time to maybe express his apology for before. "Why not" he pondered to himself as he stepped out of the inn. "This would be a perfect time to apologize and help her if she allows it."
Eric ran his hands through his hair, batted his coat to try and straighten it out then started for Carmen. he was muttering to himself as he cross the road now. Eric was trying to work out exactly what he was going to say. How was he supposed to explain this?
"Carmen," He called now. "Wait..." Carmen's body obviously tightened. She did not want to here any pathetic "I'm sorry's" or the over used "it's not you it's me". She thought seriously of running into the shop now and hiding like a child. When he caught up and stepped up in front of her, Carmen tried to look anywhere but at him. It was not long before she failed and looked up to meet his eyes. The anger, betrayal and pain was clear in her eyes. Carmen said nothing. She swallowed hard and then he was speaking.
" You have every right to be upset right now...but I need to make sure that your arm is alright" He told her and now Carmen frowned. Was he kidding? "You left me in a pub in a town I never even been to!" Carmen snapped now. Her face was full of rage. "Why in the name Merlin would you feel you need to take care of me now?" Carmen realized that he voice was a little loud and she struggled to lower it. Eric actually grew quite embarrassed with how loud her voice became, but he deserved it. He should be counting his lucky stars that she didn't start beating him profusely in front of the whole town."You're damn right I have every right to be angry!" Carmen saw his eyes on her shoulder and she growled "It's fine. It was just my own stupidity. "
Carmen moved to step around him now trying not to wince as her arm moved. Really it did hurt quite badly but she did not want to admit that. "Enjoy your day of drinking." She quipped. It was rude of her and she did not actually mean it. She knew that he was not an alcoholic...well no...she did not actually know that but she got the feeling that he wasn't... She wanted to apologize for her words but did not know how. But then again why should she? Her own emotions confused her.