[Hogsmeade] Blood betrayal

[Sebastian Hubbles]

The streets had fallen into darkness and only the silver moon light shone through the clouds. No stars could be seen through the thick layer of cloud and a fog was starting to fall from the sky. It was not normal weather for May but then things in the magical world were not normal, change was in the air and it was for many they were finding this time of uncertainty unsettling and there were rumours of an uprising.

If the residence of the small wizarding village were peering out their window that night they would have seen the tall figure of Sebastian making his way up the high street. His cloak billowed behind him and with every long stride there was almost an echo of boot then staff hitting the cobbled street. His eyes were narrow as he peered around in the darkness looking to see if his contact had arrived and indeed he had. Standing at the entrance to one of the side alleyways was another man of a smaller build but in the dim light he still looked just as dangerous. His hand was in his robe pocket ready to pull out his wand in case it was an unwanted guest however as the two approached smiles appeared on there faces revealing similar toothy grins.

“Cousin Daniel.” A low rumble of a voice came from the taller of the two as he dropt into a low bow. “It is good of you to come at such sort notice.”

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

There was a laugh from the other and as his companion had risen from his bow he threw all formalities to one side and reached forward embracing the other slapping him joyfully on the back. As he stepped back they looked into each others eyes the smiles still present on both faces.
“A Hubbles never turns down a family member, particularly one that has not been seen in almost three years. It is good to see you again Sebastian.”

The joy was clear in Dan’s eyes yet in Sebastian’s it seemed to falter, if only for a second, at the mention of family. Maybe it was it just the moonlight, the scattered light from the shop windows creating unsettling glows on their faces but Dan noticed this change and he knew his cousins past and he would not put it past him to be in on a dirty deal. This doubt was enhanced by Sebastian wanting to meet him at night and out of sight and sound of the village.

“Shall we go inside? I think it would be less suspicious then two men standing in the street.”
“Cousin you must understand my situation, I am a wanted man if the Ministry catch me I would be locked up for years.”
“Still showing your magical skills to muggles then?”

[Sebastian Hubbles]

Sebastian gave a bark of a laugh and tapped his staff repeatedly on the floor to show his amusement to what his cousin had said. Taking Dan by the arm Sebastian guided him down the side ally glancing over his shoulder but all the while still laughing. If Dan had not been lapping up the attention his cousin was showing he might have realised that Sebastian had not answered his question instead he was getting straight to business. Dan was clever and although his excessive drinking had killed many of his brain cells Sebastian was sure he had enough yet to be able to read his own relatives body language.

Leaning his staff against the side of the building wall Sebastian turned to look at Daniel, he wanted to do this properly but he knew that by the end of it Dan would not remember anything so formalities were a waste of time and time was a very precious thing.
Slowly he began to fold up his selves seemingly immune to the bitter nights air and oblivious to his cousins confused expression.

“Why did you not bring Girty with you how old would she be now? Sixteen?”
“Eighteen” Dan cut in sharply.
“I did ask in the letter for her….”
“She had studying to do.” His good mood was starting to fade.
“Pity it would have been nice to see her again.”
“Seb you did not ask me out tonight to just talk about Girty.”
“That is the thing Dan.” The toothy grin spread across his face once more. “I did.”

In a quick movement Sebastian quickly stepped forward and pinned Dan to the wall, he tried to struggle but against his strength the weed of a man had no chance. The shock on Dan Hubbles face was laughable and that is just what Sebastian did as his cousin winced as his head was slammed brick wall behind him and spit covered his face.

“Come on Dan tell me what Girty is going with her little friends. The Ministry have heard about it so come on tell you dear cousin.” He slammed his head against the wall again the hollow sound of Dan’s echoing around them. “You will regret it otherwise.”

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

“Girty is a Hubbles Seb we look out for each other and we do not sell each other short!”

Raising his leg Dan keened Sebastian in the stomach winding the man, he stumbled backwards grasping for air while Dan slid down the wall holding the back of his head. But it was no time to be lying on the floor groaning in his pain as Sebastian had reached for his staff and with a deafening roar whacked the struggling man around the head with it. Falling over to the side Dan began to spit blood out of his mouth along with a couple of his teeth. Swearing loudly Dan struggled to his feet and threw a punch at the taller man hitting him square on the jaw but that was as much damage as he would do as the professor was thrown against the alleyway wall and he was soon slumped in a heap.

Looking up with blurred eyes, his head pounding and blood dripping down his face Dan looked up at his cousin wishing he had the strength to give him one last thumb. Instead all he could do was look on as Sebastian stood over him with his staff in hand and a manic grin across his face.

“You made the wrong choice Danny-boy. We will have another one of these meetings soon and you would be wise to give me the answers I want. “

Dan tried to protest by calling him all the names under the sun but not only was he finding it hard to talk with all the blood in his mouth but before he could do anything Sebastian’s staff was pointing straight at him and with a flash of light the past ten minutes had been erased from his mind.

[Sebastian Hubbles]

Things had not gone how Sebastian would have liked them but that was what happened in life and instead he would just have to try again another day. Dan had put up a pathetic fight and now he had no recollection of the meeting it was time to start phase two of the plan. Ripping the sleeves of his clothes and smearing some of Dan’s blood on himself Sebastian bent down and picked up Dan giving the dazed man support and started to leave the alleyway with a slight limp. Straining his eyes the tears started to flow and with a small cough his hoarse voice started to call for help to anyone who might be in the pubs or houses near by.

“Help…somebody I need help, we have been attack! My…my cousin he is badly injured…somebody please HELP!!”

[Christi Locke]

Christi had just gotten out of the shop, after closing up and such. She had changed before she left, so now she had on her favorite short black dress with her red high-heels. Her heels clicked softly as she walked down the path, blonde hair swayed against her shoulders as the wind caught it. Ah, tonight was a nice night.

She barely heard a shout, and turned to see where the noise was coming from. Curious, she walked over to where a man seemed to be shouting. Her nose wrinkled instantly as she caught a whiff of the blood. Her blue gaze flicked down to the man's body, and her held her hand to her mouth.

"Oh god what happened to him?" Christi looked to the man who was shouting, her eyes wide. She had been hoping to go to the bar tonight, but that would have to wait. Someone was in trouble.

[Sebastian Hubbles]

Dan was starting to become a dead weight as he put little effort into trying to walk meaning Sebastian had to drag his cousin along with him. They eventually reached the middle of the street when Sebastian gave up and dropt his cousin to the floor only to see someone walking towards them. Thinking quickly Seb dropt to his knees and started to pant heavily as if he was exhausted from the fighting and then having to carry his injured comrade.Looking at the woman with eyes glistening with tears Sebastian took a deep breath and through the tears he managed to stutter out a few words.

“We were attack by…some people, they wanted…money my cousin refused and they stunned me and started to beat him up. They…they left him for dead then…then took the money and ran.”

Sebastian turned to Dan, gently lifting him up and supporting his head the tears flowing down his face as he looked upon his blood covered face and the black eye that was starting to form. In hindsight Sebastian started to think he should have inflicted a bit more damage to fit with his story broke his arm or his leg, something that was easy to fix but would make his story more believable.

[Christi Locke]

Christi remained looking at the unconscious man, listening still to the man's story. "Attacked?" Her gaze flicked to the panting man, then back to the unconscious one. "Apparently your cousin took a beating." A frown settled on her ruby red lips. "Well we best get him somewhere. Do you know anywhere close we can take him? House, or something?" She glanced up at him, one eyebrow raised. She lived somewhere around here, but not very close. And plus, she wasn't going to take two strange men to her house unless she had had a couple of drinks.

Rissy gently touched the man's face, possibly hoping he would stir or something. It would be much easier to get him somewhere if they didn't have to carry him. She glanced over to the man who was in tears. Wouldn't she have heard if someone had gone and attacked? Well, maybe she just wasn't paying attention. Ah well, she would think this over later.

[Sebastian Hubbles]

Sebastian wiped his face on his torn sleeve and turned to the woman, as his eyes fell upon her he found it hard not to grin at her, she was very beautiful and he cursed his luck to bumping into her when he was meant to be crying over his cousins unconscious body after a brutal attack. He guessed however seeing as he was staying in town a little longer then he had planned his flirtation could wait as right now he had a job to do. So with sad eyes trembling bottom lip and shaking hands Sebastian looked around the street like a lost puppy trying to think about where they could go. The castle was not far and there Dan could get treatment and his teeth maybe saved.

“My cousin is…is a professor up at the school. We…we should take…take him back so he can be sorted there.”

Sebastian watched as the woman stroked the side of Dan’s face, he seemed strangely at peace with the world which was always useful, but then memory charms always seemed to have that affect on people. With his blood stained hand Sebastian touched the woman’s shoulder and started to sob once more.

“Do you…do you think he will be alright. I…I would never, never be able to for…forgive myself if…if something happened to him.”

[Christi Locke]

"Hogwarts did you say?" Christi looked back up at the man. That certainly struck a chord in her memory. "Alright, let's start then." She looked down at her shoes and grimaced slightly. Not exactly the proper attire for carrying some man. Rissy Bent down and pulled one of the teacher's arms over her head. She kept a firm grip on his arm and stumbled to stand up. God this man was a dead weight.

"We better start walking now. Night's not gunna get any brighter." She glanced back at the man as he started to stutter and freak out a bit. "He doesn't look like he's in very bad condition, but I'm no medic." Christi grimaced slightly at the smell. Ug, she hated blood. The smell, the look, the feel. The whole thing sent shivers down her spine. What a way to spend a night.

[Archibald Nish]

The small home-based herbalist was a most reliable facility to get the ingredients that Archi needed for his potions and so he had often gone there since his arrival at Hogwarts. That chilly May afternoon he had made his way, Fedora hat on his head, to the herbalists. He had ended up spending more time then anticipated and had stayed for dinner too. It was fascinating how well two people could get along so splendidly and know as little about each other as Archi did about Fiona.

After dinner Archi felt it was time for him to leave and so he gathered his coat, his hat and his bag of herbs and spices and left the house. It was dark by the time Archibald's small feet met the road and he could see the mist rolling in. Putting his hat on, the healer waved to Fiona (who promptly disappeared into her house) and turned to make the journey back to the school when shouting could be heard echoing down the street. Turning on his heal, Nish made his way, briskly, to where he thought he had heard the noise coming from.

Nish went around a corner and saw two people carrying a third between them. Running as quick as his legs would carry him, Archi waddled over to the people. "What has happened?" he asked, his gruff voice resonating in the cool night air, "can I be of assistance? Can I help somehow?"

[Sebastian Hubbles]

Sebastian pulled his cousins arm around his neck and pulled him so all three of them were standing. It seemed the woman who was helping had original other plans for the evening but he was happy that someone else was here for the show however he had hoped for a bigger crowd, Sebastian did love to perform to a crowd.
Sniffing a little louder then was normal Sebastian nodded his head in agreement to the woman putting his best foot forward but also remembering he had original had a limp to continue.

But they did not get very far as out of the mist came someone else, at first Sebastian thought it was a younger student from the school, that was until he heard the voice and realised that was not the case. When touring with the muggle fair’s he had made good friends with a group of small people and had learnt from experience never to challenge one in a drinking game.
This one however unlike his pervious acquaintances, seemed to want to help stop pain rather then cause it and so pleased to have someone else to perform to Sebastian started the tears again.

“We…we were attacked. Daniel he…he is badly hurt we need to get him to the castle…I…I…”

Sebastian dropt his head and slumped his shoulders causing Dan’s body to slip to one side and his head to loll to one side. The on thing that has been fortunate for Sebastian is that Dan had been so quite. He had done this a few times before and sometimes the memory charm backfired on more then one occasion resulting him Seb having to talk his way out of a situation and on occasions using force.

[Christi Locke]

Christi, once again, cursed her shoes. The sides were digging into her foot, and it was rather uncomfortable to drag around an unconscious man. Sigh, if only she could find some big, strong man to do it for her.

Someone else seemed to have come --from what she could see-- out of nowhere. She blinked for a moment, then glanced over to the sniffling man. She nodded along with the story, then flicked her gaze back to the other.

"Unless you're a healer, I doubt you can help a lot. We were trying to take him back to the school because he works there apparently." Rissy stumbled, and unfortunately, lost her balance when the other man let the unconscious man's arm slip off of his shoulder. She landed roughly on the ground, letting a curse fly from her lips as it happened. Part of her dress ripped, making the bottom come further up her leg. So much for looking nice tonight.

[Archibald Nish]

Archibald was waiting for the barrage of laugher or questions but he had learnt many years ago that when panic and fear was in the blood little else mattered but the person hurt. This suited him just fine. Archi listened to the sobing man's story and wondered why a grown man would dry over so small a thing as being attached. So, perhaps it wasn't a small thing but to resort to cry took a special kind of courage. The woman, helping to two men, looked dressed for a special occasion or even a date and Archi could tell she didn't know who he was.

"In point of fact, Madame," Nish said, knocking the top of his hat back, "I am a healer and I happen to work at the castle too so I can only assume that it is me you are coming to see. Most fortuitous that we should come across each other at this time." Archi took a step towards the unconscious man. "You said his name is Daniel," he said to the sobbing man. "Must be to moping Daniel Hubbles I've been hearing so much about from the students."

Archi studied the man's face for a moment before taking a step back and turning to the woman. He was perseptive enough to have worked out that she was having some trouble and noticed that it was her shoes she was struggling with. "Madame," he said hoarsely, "since I am unable to assist in the carrying of Professor Hubbles her may I be permitted to remove your shoes and carry them to the castle for you? It is quite a walk and your shoes would get ruined in the walk, and then I may have two persons to heal." He sent her a smile before moving his bag and jacket so they were hanging in the bend of his arm.

[Sebastian Hubbles]

Sebastian listened closely to the conversation between the other two people in the street, the little guy seemed to work at the castle and he knew who Dan was but not ever so well, which was always a good thing. This meant he would be able to get into the castle easily have a nosey around the Hospital Wing and even accidentally get lost on the way out and just happened to find himself in the Miss van Haestregt’s office.
Trying to suppress a cruel smile and the look that he was plotting something Sebastian continued to sniff and whimper every time he turned to look at the limp body of Dan. It was then however the woman slipped over and caused almost a domino effect, Sebastian did not expect all the weight to suddenly be thrust upon him and as a result he toppled over sideway.

For a few seconds Sebastian lay on his back unable to move his arm that Dan had fallen upon and just looked at the star filled sky. He gave a small groan and pushed his cousin off his arm letting the dazed man roll over onto his front. This was turning into far more trouble then it was worth and he had not even got that much information out of Dan either, maybe in a dazed state he will be easier to coax answers out of once they were in the hospital wing.

Slowly crawling over towards Dan Sebastian noticed that his cousins eyes were open although they seemed not to be focused on anything and the dazed smile never left his face. Giving Dan a small smile Sebastian turned around to look at the healer with wide eyes and a look of hope.

“Mr…I think you should have a look, Dan is waking up.”