The (un)Happy Hour (Open)

[Reckony Pike]

"THE LAST GOODBYE?" Reckony's voice bellowed across the pub, causing those closest to the barman to wince slightly and then lean closer as the gossip of the day-after grew in delicious intrigue. He stared Curse straight in the eye, taking extreme (almost sadistic) pleasure in his friend's discomfort, and dared him to deny what he had heard - already - from at least a dozen of his trusted patrons.

Word was out: Curse Kameren and Arianna Blackthorn snogged, then drank, then danced, and someone almost fainted. In some versions, Arianna almost died. In yet more versions, they were attacked outside the Cauldron by demons.

Reckony's favourite description of the evening went as follows: Curse received a letter from a Ravenclaw student who harboured a secret crush on her Potions professor. Curse went to the Cauldron to call it off, not because it was the better pub (because it wasn't) but because the Three Broomsticks was where everybody knows your name and he would be embarrassed amongst his real friends. Upon entering the Cauldron (they let anyone in), Curse was attacked by a group of Amazon women and pushed towards the bar, where upon he tripped over one Arianna Blackthorn. Arianna was nearly crushed in the throng, but Courageous Curse lifted her effortlessly to her feet, shielding her. Over eye contact and a sharp drink, Merlin bless, they decided that their love was true and eternal. Being brought up as an aficionado of history, Arianna suggested that they seal their love through a traditional wedding dance. Unfortunately, they chose the Last Goodbye. Reckony didn't judge. Then, Courageous Curse saw that Arianna was losing herself to the song and deduced, through his witty intellect, that Arianna was drugged by a jealous Amazon woman who secretly harboured love for Curse and who happened to be the aforementioned Ravenclaw student (who looked old for her age). Curse took Arianna back home where he saved her life and then slept with her.

GOD Reckony loved his job.

"You are never to go to The Cauldron again."

[Curse Kameren]

Curse examined his cigarette as Pike relayed Curse's apparent Big Night Out to him, wondering what sort of injury he could give himself with it that would allow him to go home and lock himself in his flat. Max was with his mum; his son had made the bravely foolish decision to tell Amelia about finding Ari in the apartment himself, and now Curse had to pay for it. He wouldn't be seeing Max for a week or two, he guessed. Amelia was convinced he was a horrible parent, but sooner or later she'd come back around. He thought about going back to his flat, but the looks his students gave him weren't much better. As if going back to Hogwarts could get him away from the rumors either way.

"You are never to go to The Cauldron again."

Curse cleared his throat awkwardly, taking a long puff of his cigarette as he tried to figure out where to start. "Pike, please tell me you don't believe any of that rubbish," he was uncomfortable, but he tried his best to keep his cool. Unfortunately, this was the one subject he couldn't cover coolly. Arianna was his kryptonite. He summoned the ash tray from down the bar, his discomfort only growing with his friend's sadistic grin. He shrugged. "Either way, the Cauldron's rubbish. Got poisoned there once." He took a drink from his butterbeer, trying to fill space in the conversation so he didn't have to talk about it. He learned long ago, trying to fight the rumor mill wasn't going to get him far. If anything, it would only sprout more rumors.

[Reckony Pike]

"Pike, please tell me you don't believe any of that rubbish. Either way, the Cauldron's rubbish. Got poisoned there once."

"Ahhh! You see? You've finally come to your senses, my grasshopper. That's what I'm talking about. You and I, see, we're teammates. You frequent my bar and I TAKE OUT ANY FREAKHEAD THAT CALLS YOU WEIRD." Reckony sent a seething look down his counter, effectively gutting those customers who were too intent on Curse's awkward predicament to mind their manners. "Are we clear now, everyone? Everyone got it? You mess with Curse Kameren and you'll deal with me. Plus, I'll add 20% to your tab."

The offending listeners turned en masse and looked the other way.

"That's right." Cocky Pike. "We're a team. So, teammate," he perched his upper body on the bar, leaning close. "Can you tell me what really happened? If you could leave out the part with the song, I'd be most obliged. I have bad memories. And leave out the part with the waltzing. That doesn't make you very manly, my good friend. Just looking out for you."

[Curse Kameren]

Curse tried to keep his head down from the stares, trying to ignore the eavesdroppers on their conversation. They weren't discussing anything important, he didn't mind. Well, he did mind, but not enough to do anything about it. It was his fault for going out in public, really. Curse couldn't help but crack a smile as Reckony defended him, tapping his ashes into the tray with a chuckle. "My Hero."

"That's right. We're a team. So, teammate," he perched his upper body on the bar, leaning close. "Can you tell me what really happened? If you could leave out the part with the song, I'd be most obliged. I have bad memories. And leave out the part with the waltzing. That doesn't make you very manly, my good friend. Just looking out for you."

Curse rolled his eyes. He'd never heard the bloody song before in his life, but if Arianna wanted a waltz, he would waltz. "It wasn't nearly as exciting as your story, I warn you. I'm rubbish at stories, anything beyond Max's bedtime story is too much for me." He shrugged, sighing as he realized the warning didn't sway Pike's interest. "It was sort of an ambush. She was out with friends, and they sent me an owl with a student seal saying to meet there. I figured if there was a student at the Cauldron I shouldn't just leave them, so I went. Couldn't leave after she saw me, obviously." He shrugged, continuing. "So we talked, had a few drinks, and we danced. She was getting a little too tipsy, and I needed to get home to Max, so I took her home. We just slept, nothing else. It was a bit awkward when Max woke up though." He took another puff of the cigarette, doing his best to push the story off non-chalantly. It wasn't a big deal; well, to others it shouldn't be. It meant something to him, but the rest of the world wasn't in love with Arianna Blackthorn.

He let out a chuckle with a lungful of smoke, smiling crookedly at his friend. "That's really all of the story. I'm an absolute bore. Sorry to ruin your fun." He took another sip of his butterbeer as he tried to change the topic. "So, how's Bowre lately? His kids have been doing well in my classes lately, and I'd almost say I miss him."

[Echo Ashaelyr]

She was running.

It didn't matter how long, but it seemed like years. Running, through twisting turning corridors that turned to trees, then brambles, then ruined walls, a labyrinth, where she couldn't stop running.

Or it would catch her.

A side corridor. Something flashed at the corner of her eye. A tall mirror was propped against the crumbling wall. She stopped running, walked up to look in the mirror.

Echo screamed.
....................................

She thrashed among the bedclothes, coming awake with a snap akin to falling suddenly. Reality hit her like a cold splash of water on the face, but still she untangled herself and raced to the mirror in the flat's tiny bathroom. Her own pale, scarred face stared out at her. The three scars across the left brow, marks of a demon fight. Several pale ones tracing her nose and cheekbone. And the golden-black burn scar radiating out from her golden eye.

Echo looked away from the reflection. Others told her she was beautiful, with thick curly dark hair and high cheekbones. But all she saw was a shadow, a worn and weary spirit that wanted rest, but couldn't find it.

As she put on her clothes, some stylish jeans, grey blouse and leather sleeveless vest on top, Echo tried to pull her mind away from the nightmare's smokey tendrils hanging around her. Maybe she'd seek out a familiar face. Curse had mentioned a pub in Hogsmeade where she was staying, something called Three Broomsticks.

She brushed and braided her hair, and pulled on a black wool cloak. For a moment she hesitated to put on her sword, but decided to. One could never be too careful. Adjusting the strap so the sword pressed diagonally across her spine, its worn hilt protruding over her shoulder, she paused to clear her mind, and then focused on the destination. Turned on her heel...

...and with a small crack of displaced air, appeared in front of the weathered but friendly looking pub. She opened the doors, striding confidently in and looked around. There. Curse was talking to another man.

"THE LAST DANCE?!"

The man he was talking to appeared quite animated, but there was general camaraderie about the pair. Echo waved her ungloved hand at him, and then chose a table nearby, ordering a butterbeer. She smirked as their conversation floated over to her and it became clear that Curse was being interrogated by the other man, a smidge jealous of their friendly debate. She drank her drink slowly, letting herself relax slightly as the nightmare finally drifted away.

[Reckony Pike]

"So you were sleepy?" Reckony sounded deflated by Curse's version of the story but accepted it as fact. Curse wasn't the type to lie to save face. In fact, it was the Potions Master's self-depricating sincerity that attracted the barkeep to him in the first place. He loved a good personal "train wreck." If Curse told him nothing happened, nothing happened. End of story. And one was a dorkus to think otherwise. Reckony almost instantly switched from gossip-starved to protective. No one else would dare mention that night in his bar again.

"So, how's Bowre lately? His kids have been doing well in my classes lately, and I'd almost say I miss him."

"You miss Theodore Bowre? My Theo?" Pike arched his eyebrow in consternation and put the back of his hand against Curse's forehead, as though to check for illness. "Mind you, with everything else that's been going on with the demons and those bloody May Day poles, a study in silence is probably a good thing. That man. I love him and I owe him but right now I'd rather be pummelled by the Whomping Willow than deal with his mutterings. He's perfectly fine one second, tallying bits and beating the arse out of baddies, and then he's off on this whole thing with Jack. He's your brother. He's allowed to be aloof. Jack's probably hiding from Theo. I know I am."

During the tirade, Reckony was filling an lengthy order. Somewhere between the sixth "purple drink" and the twelth tankard of butterbeer, he noticed a rather lovely creature at a nearby table. She seemed to know Curse. Or at least she waved at him.

"Um, my Cursed friend. Don't look now. 6 o'clock. Your excellence has been caught in the crosshairs. My, my - you are quickly becoming the most eligible bachelor of our decade. Teach me, master."

[Curse Kameren]

Curse arched a brow of surprise at Reckony, his emerald eyes confused as he took another breath from his cigarette. Eligible bachelor he was not. Why did everyone say that to him? What part of 'scarred, sickly single-dad physicist' was attractive? He turned around on his stool, his confusion turning to a soft smile when he saw who it was. "Echo," He smiled warmly, greeting her kindly as he pulled out another stool for her to sit and join them. "Didn't see you, must've been sitting perfectly in my blind spot." He gestured with cigarette-laden fingers to his scarred eye.

He turned back to Reck at the bar, taking a sip of his butterbeer as he did. "Reckony, this is Echo. She's a friend of mine. Echo, Reckony." He tipped his ashes into the tray as he spoke, putting specific emphasis on the word friend for Reckony's sake. Eligible bachelor my ass. He smiled at Echo, speaking around his cigarette as he put it back in his mouth. "Have you been feeling better?" He looked her over analytically, his eyes lingering on his gloved hand for a moment before going back to the bar. He gestured again to Echo as he spoke to Reckony: "Another patron of the Cauldron, reformed. You must be doing a good job, Pike."

[Echo Ashaelyr]

Echo walked over when Curse beckoned her over, taking the stool her offered with a nod of thanks. As introductions were made, she held out her left hand and gripped Reckony's firmly.

"Well, you seem to know Curse pretty well," she said levelly, "then I guess you're all right with me. I don't know too many faces around here." Reckony seemed like an intriguing man, just from observation Echo found herself warming to his sarcastic but also strong personality, especially in the way he ragged mercilessly on Curse.

The tall woman waved for the server to refill her butterbeer and took another sip. She liked to drink slowly, letting the liquid warm its way down her throat.

Patting Curse on the shoulder in a comradely fashion, she nodded. "Yes, I think that potion you mixed me is doing the trick. Feeling much more like my usual self. You don't..." she eyed Reckony for a moment. "...happen to know a useful concoction for nightmares, do you? I'm not talking regular bad dreams, if you know what I mean."

She guessed that even though his condition didn't involve demonic blood in his system, that he must have residual nightmares from his curse. She guessed that the growing intensity and realism of her dreams was a result of the progressing infection...and the looming possibility of being consumed by the demonic mind. But she woke from the dreams exhausted and it made it hard to focus.

In her line of work, focus was key. That's how she'd gotten impaled the first time Curse and her met.

"So Reckony," she turned to the man, so as not to make him feel excluded. "What is it you do around here? I'm a demon hunter by trade, don't let that sound all impressive. It's a job someone's got to do. I know what Curse does. Now that's an impressive job."

Echo drank some more of the butterbeer. It had a strange tang to it. Metallic, bitter. She frowned at it. "Hmmm, this tastes a bit off. Or maybe it's just me." Her words slurred a bit, and she shook her head slightly. It was just a butterbeer. She shouldn't be feeling off at all.

[Reckony Pike]

"Another patron of the Cauldron, reformed. You must be doing a good job, Pike."

Reckony was surprised when Echo offered her left hand in greeting; most shook politely on the right or performed parlour-tricks with their fingers and fists in some sort of buddy-buddy, sorority-esque puppet show. But no, Echo liked to shake on the left and Pike wasn't about to comment on her difference. The Three Broomsticks was all about difference. The goat drinking an olive-laden Sparktini in the corner was a testament to that.

"Pleased to be of service," Reckony spoke over the assorted butterbeer taps, filling a pint for his latest guest. Pike wasn't entirely certain that he liked hearing about reformed patrons. It meant that the customers went to the other bar in the first place and why was that? Did Paul market himself more successfully? Did he have those silly drink specials or the pub-games that made even the most stately of individuals look like pre-pubescent pixies? Location. Location, location, location. Paul had London and the Diagon crowd. All Reckony got were those exiled to the hallows of Hogsmeade. Yeah. The demons were great for business.

The barkeep picked up on Echo's mention of nightmares and was about to recommend a 100-proof nightcap (called a Moony) when she mentioned that he butterbeer was off.

Well if that didn't just make his week. Everyone was a critic. Paul's beer was probably better. Paul probably had decent nuts too. He now promptly lost his reformed patron from The Leaky Cauldron. Reckony showed none of the sting that sat pecking at his stomach lining. On the contrary: he took Echo's complaint and dealt with it as any barkeep would.

"Metallic? That sounds worrisome. Hold on a moment, love. I'm sorry." Pike reached over and took Echo's drink, holding it up to the light. He promptly placed it down behind the counter and slung an "Out of Service" card on the tap, warning his servers not to use the keg until he had a chance to change it out. Reckony grabbed another stein and poured a new drink from a Belgian varietal. He handed it back to the woman and watched carefully to ensure it was a sufficient replacement. "French butterbeer is a little hit and miss. Much like their Quidditch squad. Hopefully that one will be a little better. Let me know."

Reckony planted his hands firmly on the counter and stepped back, stretching his taut muscles and twisting his neck from side to side.

"It must be this weather. It makes me feel all excitable and tense. Anticipatory. Watch - the last time I felt this way we had them bloody demons! We're probably going to get dementors or them banshees now. Something bad always happens when I get the excite-mites. On the plus side, we have a demon hunter with us! We won't have to use keg barrels or Curse's blood this time. That was a freaking party." Reckony huffed and moved to release the French keg from beneath the bar. To himself - "Maybe a Russian stout."

[Curse Kameren]

"Have you been feeling better?"

"Yes, I think that potion you mixed me is doing the trick. Feeling much more like my usual self. You don't..." Curse smiled lightly, glad he was doing his job well. She kept his attention as she faltered though. "...happen to know a useful concoction for nightmares, do you? I'm not talking regular bad dreams, if you know what I mean."

He bit his lip, his green eyes rolling towards the ceiling as he thought about it. "Not on the top of my head, sadly. Just a few simple ones when my son won't go to sleep. I can look into it though, I'm sure I have a list for a good brew somewhere." He took a sip of his butterbeer as the conversation progressed to include all three people at the bar. He smirked when he realized Reckony was a bit upset by Curse's earlier comment. Apparently talking about the Cauldron was equal to a personal insult to Reckony Pike. He seemed troubled by the Cauldron also having patrons.

"What is it you do around here? I'm a demon hunter by trade, don't let that sound all impressive. It's a job someone's got to do. I know what Curse does. Now that's an impressive job."

"What, babysitting?" Curse arched a brow as he ground out the end of his cigarette. It was getting towards the end of the year, and lately his teaching felt much more like fighting Max about bedtime. The students were ready for the summer, and after these last few weeks, he sort of was as well.

"Hmmm, this tastes a bit off. Or maybe it's just me."

"Metallic? That sounds worrisome. Hold on a moment, love. I'm sorry. French butterbeer is a little hit and miss. Much like their Quidditch squad. Hopefully that one will be a little better. Let me know."

"Give me that." Curse's brow furrowed, his face suddenly serious as he reached across the bar for the offending butterbeer. Once an auror, always an auror. He had been poisoned in a similar way, and that was how he was the way he was now. No matter how much therapy he went through, there would never be a way of getting rid of all of his paranoia. Paranoia was simply another word for auror instinct, from time to time. If something was off, it meant something sinister. He muttered some spells, stirring his finger around the butterbeer and around the glass. When he finished, the butterbeer turned a dark red. He glanced up at Reckony, worried.

"You might want to confiscate any butterbeers you took from that tankard, mate. This one's been tampered with." He stood, putting his hands on both of Echo's shoulders and looking into her eyes. The red the butterbeer turned narrowed it down slightly to what was in it; that mixed with the metallic taste let him know it was a potion, not a poison. So he didn't have to worry about her dropping dead right now. But what potion is it. "What are you feeling?" He asked, his eyes examining the witch. Why had someone slipped something into Echo's drink? Unless...

Curse let go of Echo, his eyes flicking up and around the bar. "Echo, I think you need to get out. Now."

[Echo Ashaelyr]

"Keg barrels?" Echo laughed pleasantly, it sounded like they had quite an adventure involving demons. "Well, that's a new one. But you're both in one piece, so I guess it worked."

She reached for the mug, or at least tried to. Her arm felt like it had fallen asleep. Somewhere in the back of her mind an alarm bell went off.

But Curse was way ahead of her. As the butterbeer in the mug turned red, Echo's gaze turned darker, intense. Someone had drugged her. And with a twisting in her gut, she began to suspect who exactly.

Curse let go of Echo, his eyes flicking up and around the bar. "Echo, I think you need to get out. Now."

"Yeah, I think you're right..." she slurred, rising to her feet, but instantly sat back down. It felt like her legs had fallen asleep too.

"It's useless, Ariadne." A cold, sneering voice said behind her. "That hagstooth potion is spreading through your system right now, making you unable to move. Quite effective, if I do say so myself."

"They found me..." Echo's eyes narrowed and she tried to reach for her sword, but a heavy hand pressed down on her arm. She tried weakly to push the hand away as a face hove into view.

Dark eyes in a pale face, wearing black robes. Robes of the Ministry of Magic. "Collin Daksmer." She spat.

"Stand up," he ordered, and though she tried to resist, her body obeyed his command.

The door to the pub slammed open, admitting six Ministry officials, four of them Aurors.

"Ariadne Ashaelyr, you are under arrest! The rest of you, go back to your business." The leader barked out orders for two of his men to grab Echo.

It was the moment she had been dreading for so long. And now the nightmare was real. They would throw her in Azkaban, or run experiments on her, or worse. She did not know what her future was now going to be, but she knew that it would not be pleasant.

"For evading arrest all these years," Daksmer faced her, a cold smile on his face as he recounted her charges. "And for being-"

"No! Not here, not in front of them..." Echo gritted out.

His expression darkened in an instant, then without warning he punched her in the stomach. "What?! Ashamed of what you are?"

She gasped for breath, doubled over between the two Ministry Aurors holding her arms.

Daksmer grabbed her right hand and tore the glove off, leaving just the silver band on, so that luckily, at least Curse was protected. Her twisted hand was revealed for the whole pub to see. She knew he was doing this for a reason. To alienate her from everyone, to mark her as cursed in their sights.

"You're under arrest for being a threat to any decent wizard, and for being a corrupted witch without any control over you." He spat, throwing the glove to the ground in contempt.

Echo's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Daksmer, you always hated that I outwitted you. Don't let your personal agenda-"

"SHUT UP!" He spun on her, pointing his wand at her. "I've finally brought you down, half-demon. No more running for you."

[Curse Kameren]

Curse's hands clenched, and it was all he could do not to send a spell shooting at the man laying a hand on his friend. Daksmer. He had always hated Daksmer. He was one of Curse's man opposers in the Ministry, one of the first to campaign his being removed from the auror department. Nothing had pleased Daksmer more than to see Curse lose his mind and get locked away, getting him out of the way so he could warp the justice system to fit his own needs. The door opened and more Ministry officials entered, aurors. Some looked at him apologetically, others sneered with the added satisfaction of pissing off Curse Kameren, on top of destroying an 'evil' woman. They shouldered him out of the way as they went to Echo, binding her for arrest.

"No! Not here, not in front of them..."

Curse snapped when he hit her. "What the Hell do you think you're doing--" Curse jumped at the wizard, but was immediately restrained by other aurors. His hands glowed a dark, angry red. He glared at Daksmer, his teeth grit in an ugly, crooked scowl. He wanted to lash out, but the shred of reason that kept his temper at bay held him back. Cursing Dashmer into oblivion would hardly help Echo's case.

"Daksmer, you always hated that I outwitted you. Don't let your personal agenda-"

"SHUT UP!" He spun on her, pointing his wand at her. "I've finally brought you down, half-demon. No more running for you."

Curse shook himself loose of the other aurors, getting between Daksmer's wand and Echo. "If you touch her, you know I'll rain bloody Hell down on your department." He held a glowing red hand up between Daksmer's eyes. "I swear, if you hurt her--"

"You'll what?" Daksmer replied, smiling twistedly. He was glad to get a crack at a Kameren as well. "You may be out of the Mental Ward, Kameren, but you're far from free of them. Attacking on officer? Resisting an arrest? Aiding a fugitive? All I have to do is say the word and you'll be back in that hospital, and that little bastard you keep in the castle will never see his daddy again."

Curse's glare didn't waver from the man, and he didn't move. Slowly, the red glow of his hands went out. There was nothing he could do. Daksmer had the power to take his son from him. As much as he wanted to help Echo, he couldn't sacrifice Max for her.

[Arianna Blackthorn]

Footsteps and hushed whispers broke Arianna's concentration. Furious, she jerked up ready to chew out whoever had disturbed her research. Several of her office mates were chatting with an intern from the auror department. She'd been about to scold them on proper work decorum when she heard what they were talking about. A half-demon. A woman with a scarred eye and glove covered hand had been spotted. She was wanted and some where in Hogsmeade. A chill down Ari's spine made her shiver. Echo. They had found her. They had been careful!

Arianna quickly grabbed her things and went down to the auror department. They were not very forth coming with information. But she did manage to get the name of the arresting officer. Daksmer. Curse had told her about him. They had never gotten alone well.

Quickly, Arianna made it to the transport station. With a wave of her wand she was outside the three broom sticks. Legally she had no right to be there but she was currently researching demons for the ministry so just maybe she could convince this Daksmer fellow to allow her to run tests on Echo. That way she could make sure the woman wasn't imprisoned or worse, killed.

Shoulders back, head up she marched into the three broomsticks, her ministry robes billowing out. Her face was schooled into a slight sneer as she took in the situation. Echo was hunched over in between two minions. Her glove was off and Dasker was having a staring contest with Curse Kameren.

"What is going on here." She demanded as she stalked forth. She pointed a finger at the ruined hand. "That should not be uncovered. It is dangerous. Do you know proper demon protocol? Have you even cast a rune protection circle. Just touching the skin can cause a flare up. You could have killed your entire team! She is no ordinary human and must be treated with extreme care and caution, lest you wish to release the demon inside of her. Now, she is to be transported to the department of mysteries for containment and tests."

[Reckony Pike]

Behind the counter, Reckony tightened his fingers around a solid piece of dark-stained wood. It was a muggle contraption called a "baseball bat" and an odd branding ("Louisville Slugger") was emblazoned on the side. Reckony vaguely knew about baseball and he had no clue what a Louisville was. But Reckony knew a Slugger, and it was practically his middle name. His focus darted from Echo to the Ministry officials, to Curse and then to Arianna.

It took every inch of self-control to keep his outrage grounded: from Daksmer's sucker punch of the girl to his threat against Curse's son, he was about ready to annihilate the man and his entourage. Attacking the Ministry brass would do little to help Echo or Curse at the moment. For once, he sided with Arianna's intellectual approach than with his brass knuckles.

So he wasn't too far off with the beautiful creature comment. Was Echo a creature? Was he rude to even think that? Deep down, Reckony realized he had at first flinched when he heard the accusation shouted by Daksmer. It was involuntary, it was human. Others in he bar had done the same and some started to flee the establishment in grave concern for their well-being. Reckony's shock quickly gave way, however, when he saw the inhumanity of Echo's treatment. Reckony had compassion where compassion was due.

You don't kick someone out of the running just because they're a little banged up. His grandma taught him that.

Realizing that he was grossly under-skilled to handle the predicament before him, Pike set to work on the one concern he could: Max Kameren. He didn't know Max and Max was likely to give him that same degree of Kamereness that made his father famous, but he knew someone who could at least keep the child safe until he was certain that Curse wasn't going to the loony bin along with the half-demon.

Reckony hid behind his servers and rushed for the stairs, taking three steps at a time until he was at the base of a ladder leading to the roof. Pike hoped that his magic would not fail him: if there was ever a time that he needed it, this was it. His boots balanced on the grim-covered roof tiles as he awkwardly reached for his wand.

"Here she goes. Work for me, baby. -EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A blue flash spewed from the end of his wand, startling Pike to near hysterics. The light took the form of a hooded crow, whom the barkeep hadn't seen since he first learned the spell at Hogwarts, and it flew in circles around his head until Reckony gave the command for the bird to find Theo Bowre. Get Max Kameren to Harkness House until you hear from Curse or I.

[Echo Ashaelyr]

For a moment Echo was overwhelmed with emotion. The way that everyone was talking about her, as if she wasn't even human. As though she were a beast, a creature not worthy of being treated as a person. It was the way her life had been since that ill-fated battle. She'd protected that group of wizards and witches during the demon raid in Farrow with her life, and that's what she had lost. Her life to that cursed demon. By getting bitten, by being infected with its blood, she had lost her life as Ariadne.

And she'd been treated like an animal by the very citizens she'd defended.

Was Arianna on her side? But the way she talked about Echo, so impersonal and clinical...and the way she spoke of testing, Echo's heart sank. The ministry woman may even be the one who'd sold her out. After all, why else had she appeared so conveniently?

Echo was a very tough woman, a fighter, but for a moment, as everything rushed in on her, from Daksmer's angry accusations to the horrified looks on the patrons' faces, a single tear coursed down her cheek. Maybe she was what they said. Losing her humanity, becoming the enemy. Could she trust herself around others?

Then her expression hardened, her right fist clenched, the twisted claws digging into the palm of her blackened hand, but she felt nothing. It was the only thing unaffected by the poison.

"Daksmer. You leave them out of this. That man, Kameren, he didn't do anything. We're just having an incidental chat over a drink. Look at me Daksmer, you reeking piece of wormgut." Her angry, glacial tones cut through the din of the argument.

The ministry official spun on her. "Why? Actually think you might make some friends here?" He laughed scornfully. "You know that will never happen. So long as you're alive and free, you'll always be a danger to others."

Her miscolored gaze burned into him. "I said...leave. Them. ALONE." With the unnatural strength in her right hand, she jerked her arm free of the guard's grasp and punched Daksmer in the face.

The guards retaliated by stunning her with their wands. She crumpled to the ground.

Daksmer strode over to Arianna. "You should know to stay out of this, woman. You have no authority to take my prisoner. Do you know what she did to me?" He indicated a scar along his cheekbone and neck. "She's evaded capture several times, and is a wanted fugitive. That...creature...is to be locked up."

He didn't mention the bribe he'd received. There were a few individuals who would pay quite handsomely for a chance to study Echo's condition.

"Unless you can show me some authorization, Miss, you better get out of here." He glowered at her, casting a sneer over at Curse.

"And you, Kameren, better play nice."

He frowned. "Where did that barkeeper go. He's a witness, we may need to question him."