[Hogsmeade] The seen and the unseen

[Alyssa Veraldi]

The stars were twinkling brightly above the buildings.  The night enveloped the little village of Hogsmeade as patrons of the shops and pubs began to make their way home.  Eyes hiding behind the alleyways were watching, waiting.  Dressed in black robes with her heard covered Lyssa stayed hidden not wanting to be seen or noticed until it was time.  The woman had been in the village for hours waiting, biding her time.  Lyssa wasn't like other people she didn't like to be out and about with the common folk.  No she thought she was really too good for that.

Plus there was just something about being out and about in the dead of night that made Lyssa feel alive. Ever since she was a young girl growing up she was happier when night time fell then when she was forced to deal with the day time. The dark sky was just perfect for her. People thought her odd, some said she would have been better suited to being a vampire. Lyssa didn't relish the idea of being some undead thing she enjoyed life way too much for that though the thought of maiming and torturing people with razor sharp fangs especially if they were muggle born filth didn't seem half bad either.

A smile curling her perfect lips upward Lyssa kept watching from her hiding place as she watched a mother and son leaving the candy shop. It didn't take the blonde woman very long to smell the mudbloods and her smile vanished as quickly as if had arrived. They had no right to be here in this village a village made for wizards. Her wand was in her hand so fast no one would have seen it coming and without thinking she pointed it at the mother and her son.

An unforgivable curse already on the tip of her tongue a sense of satisfaction washing over her as she did her best to get a clear and precise shot. When the targets were in plain sight Lyssa almost peed herself she was so giddy with excitement. It was coursing through her veins making her whole body tremble in sheer pleasure. Once she knew she could strike both mother and child from where she stood she started to say the curse out loud but before she could get all the words out there was a hand at her mouth and a hand on her arm pulling it down so now her wand was at her side. There was no fear on Lyssa's eyes only anger at the gall of some idiot stopping her from having some fun. As she seethed she knew what her captor did not and that was she was able to bite him and make him let her go. She said him because she already knew without seeing that he was male. Hoping he would let go she prepared herself for what she would do once freed.

[Nicholas McNiven]

McNiven did not know why he had returned to this part of Scotland, it was too risky. There was so much that could go wrong and no doubt so much that would go wrong! But it had pulled him in like a moth to a flame, he did not know why but there had been low mutterings in the dingiest of pubs that a new Dark Lord was on the raise and he was looking for followers. Dark Wizards where showing their true colours and McNiven…well Nicholas McNiven was a man that would sell his loyalty to the highest bidder and since the Ministry wanted him locked up on Azkaban the new Dark Lord seemed like his safest bet.

Naturally he had waited till the cover of night before he wiggled out of his hiding place and started to quickly and quietly move around the streets of Hogsmeade. He worse a long dark cloak in an attempt to keep him hidden but it still did not help quell the nerves that raged in his stomach as he waited impatiently at the end of a narrow alleyway for the main street to clear before he dared ran to the opposite side. He felt like a scared little animal who was waiting for the perfect moment to run out of the undergrowth…is this truly what his life had become?

It was then he heard a noise behind him and a sense of dread overcame the man. How could he have been so stupid! Was he getting that old and delusional that he forgot to check the way behind him? Since the street clearly was not going to clear anytime soon McNiven crept down the alleyway as quietly as he could, creeping up behind the dark figure in front of him. He could tell that she had a wand out but it was not pointed at him, instead it was pointed at a women and her child who had just come out of a sweet shop. The colour drained from his face, McNiven was not all bad and the thought of a child being killed was something that did not sit comfortably with him and so before the witch could mutter such a terrible spell he reached out to grab her, one hand covering her mouth, the other on her wand arm dragging it down and also her backwards down the alley.

Once McNiven believed the coast to be clear he let go of the witch, pushing her away from him as if he was disgusted to be in contact with someone like her for too long. “Are ye owt of ya wee mind?” His thick Scottish accent always came out when he was angry. “Didn’t ye know who that was?” Of course it was no one but if he could make her think it was a member of the Ministry then maybe she would not be so angry with him. “It would have given away ya position to every other ministry official out there.”

Now that part was true and it was something that McNiven feared the most. What chance would he have against a dozen Ministry members without a wand?

[Alyssa Veraldi]

If she was angry before it was nothing to how angry she was now. Alyssa was about to have some fun she hadn't had any in so long and now someone decided that they should stop her. As soon as she was released she turned to find herself staring at some man she didn't even know. Her eyes narrowed as she stared daggers at him wishing him nothing but the worst. He said something but anger only allowed for bits and pieces of the conversation to sink in she knew something about the ministry was mentioned but she hadn't heard anything else. The blood in her ears was pounding, and her head was throbbing as she clutched the wand in her hand tightly.

Who did this fool think he was coming up to her like that? Alyssa waited for him to shut up before opening her mouth. re you crazy? Do you know me well enough to walk up from behind and stop me from doing just what I want to do?" Now she lifted her wand holding it out at him, her breathing ragged so that her chest was rising and falling.

"Did you know her or something, was that your wife, your baby?" She gave him a scathing look "No I doubt it you don't look like anyone would have you anyway" came the next remark. Lyssa had no idea why she was so agitated by this but she wasn't too sure why. Shaking her head she mumbled something about stupid, nosey gits that should be hexed for sticking their noses where they don't belong.

Rolling her eyes at him she started up once more "Who in the hell are you anyway? What's it to you what I do for fun around here?"