The tiny little row of Polish houses was well-manicured and neat, although it was hard to tell in the darkness.  Every street lamp had burned out but one, and it was far, far away from the cottage that he was watching tonight.

He'd been at it for too long, waiting until the neighbors were sure to be asleep, just in case.  The older couple that lived here were the only wizards in a town full of Muggles, so it seemed unlikely that their protections would be designed to attract attention from their neighbors, but he'd learned that lesson once, too well and too recently.  So, instead, he waited, cradling a cigarette in dirty hands, shadows wrapped around him in the darkness, and watched the lights in the windows wink out one by one, until there were only a few left, showing faintly through dark curtains.

He could tell already that it was not going to be a good night. Aviad felt hot, unnaturally so, despite the chill in the air.  Grimacing, the mage tugged at his shirt collar to free himself room to breath, and then started forward.  He flicked the cigarette away, and it only took a step out of place to crush it against the ground.  The last few glowing embers dying away against the asphalt were the only sign that anyone had passed this way at all.

The old couple wouldn't be back anytime soon; he'd made certain of that.  It only took a moment to dismantle their outer wards.  Azazel, as much as everyone bought into the idea that it was much more secure to design your own security, they all took their spells from the same books in the end.  Idiots.  Maybe this would teach them a lesson.

He was through the first in a flash, and a moment later had hopped over the fence.  The inner wards, the ones protecting the house directly, were much more complicated.  The old man had worked as a Cursebreaker once, and he hadn't simply adopted these out of some book.  Aviad huffed out a breath as he got down to business.  Smooth white stones set out in a brisk pattern, as close to the boundary as he could get it, and then the blood red candle in the center.  He snapped his fingers to light it, and then rocked back on his heels to watch it burn.

The tiny flame burned brightly, straining upwards as a thread of smoke rose into the night sky.  Impatiently, Aviad crossed his arms, unable to fight off a teeth-chattering shiver.  If he'd been too hot before, then it was far too cold now.  He was tempted to light another cigarette, a second little point of light to join the candle in its fight against the overwhelming darkness, but it wouldn't take too much longer.  Once he burned through the ward, the inside of the house would be his oyster.

Why wizards decided to live among muggles was something Shamera Harvey had often questioned herself.  She may have when she was younger, but now that she was older she wasn’t sure how she’d done it before.  It just seemed much easier to live among other magical folk.  There wasn’t anything wrong with living in a muggle area if your house is a bit out of the way.  But why would someone live in one of those perfect little muggle housing areas? Certainly it would be dull company. Besides you never knew if you’d have an owl or company just pop by.  And what if the muggles saw you had company but never saw anyone arrive or depart? The owners of this house were older, so mayhaps that’s why they lived in a muggle town.  They probably didn’t do much magic these days, so it wasn’t too difficult for them to hide it, perhaps.

But what this old couple was doing with an old Grindelwald artifact was beyond Sham.  She’d been watching them this week from afar, and from the information she’d collected it seemed like the man was a collector of some sort.  So perhaps he just liked the piece, but had no idea what it could do.  Likely he didn’t realize that it was part of a bigger artifact either.  All of the other pieces were in different displays in the National Museum of Wizarding History, and the plan was to get all of the pieces together.  Those other pieces were to be acquired at a later date.  For now, it was up to Shamera to procure this piece inside the vacant cottage, for the couple was to be out of town.

Sham apparated a few blocks away, dressed in her night-work blacks.  She’d left the Underground to her managers, thankful to have a job tonight.  While it was nice to have the nightclub as a cover, this was the work she preferred; sneaking around.  As she approached the house, she realized she might have to sneak more than she’d thought.  The lights were out around the target, and she could sense something amiss.

The outer wards weren’t there.  Having been to the house a few times already this week, she knew the old man would have the wards up.  And yet, they weren’t.  That meant someone had already taken them down.  Quiet as she could, Shamera went to where the outer wards should be.  It was recent that they’d been dismantled.  With as little noise as she could, she made her way over the fence and looked around for another person.  Through the dark, she saw the figure of a man.  And there he was, almost through dismantling the inner wards.  Far be it from her to interrupt him while he was making her job a little easier, so she waited quietly in the shadows until the wards were fully taken down.  Then she would find out his purpose here, and hopefully it wouldn’t be the same as hers.

Hood up and wand drawn, Shamera tip-toed her way behind the man, thankful she’d decided not to wear the steel-toed boots, but the quieter shoes she’d owned.  Once behind him, Sham stepped slightly to the side and put her wand to his throat.

“Who are you and what is your purpose here?” Sham lowered her voice as she asked, doing her best to hide herself. “I have business here and I’d rather not have anyone in my way, which you seem to be.”

Now that she was next to him, he was a few inches taller than her, and perhaps a couple years older.  Sham had dealt with men taller and older in her line of work, but she did sometimes hate resulting to using violence.  Plus, even though it was dark, he did seem somewhat attractive and it would be a shame to ruin that.  Hopefully he had the sense to cooperate, granted he likely had no idea who he was dealing with.  Then again, Shamera didn’t either.

The candle was burning more greedily now.  The white stones were beginning to glow with a soft, faint light, and he could see the flickering of the wards behind them, iridescent sparks just barely visible against the darkened shadow of the house.  Aviad huffed out another breath, wriggling his toes in a futile attempt to stay warm, and then decided to hell with it.  As he dug into his pocket for another cigarette, someone put a wand to his throat.

The mage froze.  Damn this to hell!  His entire body tensed, as if he were getting ready to fight or for flight.  And then words, spoken softly in English behind him.  Why was it that everyone on this damn continent spoke English?

"Well," he started.  The word felt hard and thick on his tongue -- too heavy, too slow, just like he had been.  Aviad could have cursed, and it would not have been a pleasant one.  He pressed his tongue against the back of his teeth, letting out a quiet, irritated hiss.  An English woman, and she'd come up behind him?

"It appears that there is an easy solution to that.  Because I can step to the side, and then I will not be in your way."  He gave a humorless smirk, rolling his shoulders back to crack them, although none of the tension left his body.  He was on his toes, straining to listen, to judge where she was and if she'd begun to move.  "Shortest distance, two points, no?"

Shamera watched his reactions after she’d somewhat announced herself. Thankfully he didn’t try to attack her, as she would have had to attack back.  Instead he stood still and let out a hiss.  As bad as it might have been, she smirked a little at how irritated he sounded.  Good, because I’m irritated too. She thought.  This was something she wasn’t used to, another person trying to pull a job the same place she was.  Though he still hadn’t answered what he was here for, and hopefully it wasn’t for the same object.

As he spoke, Sham realized he wasn’t English.  And nor was he a native Pole. In fact he sounded rather Israeli. And that further piqued her interested at this mystery criminal who was trying to burglarize the same house she was.  When he rolled his shoulders back, the sounds of a few cracks seemed to fill the air of the rather silent night.

“If I allow you to step aside and we enter this house, I highly recommend you do not get in my way again.” Sham said, stepping directly in front of him, looking directly into his eyes. “And you better hope we aren’t here for the same thing.”

Looking threatening was probably one of those skills Shamera needed to work on.  She could definitely sound threatening, but it was often difficult for her to look it.  Once again, she was hoping the darkness could help her with that.  And if she could either threaten or work something out with this man, then hopefully she’d be able to get the artifact quickly, and leave.  Sham would rather not stay here too much longer than necessary.

The wand was lowered from his throat, and he didn't let out a breath -- simply stayed very still as she stepped around him and finally into his field of vision.  Well.  She was young -- he wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.  In the darkness, it was hard to get a sense of her, beyond her height and the reddish tint to her hair.

He clucked his tongue, giving a thin smile.  "Of course.  If you allow," he repeated, the faintest trace of humor in his voice.  She would not be allowing him; she wouldn't be pulling the same trick twice on him.  Fool me once, et cetera.  "I don't know about that, though.  I don't always mind being after the same thing."

Behind her, the ward had come alive, shimmering with an incandescent fever in the darkness.  Suddenly, the smooth white rocks began to blaze.  They burned with a blinding, brilliant light, and then all at once the flare was over and they'd gone dark.  There was a spark, and the hints of the warding spell vanished as well, shorting out in an instant.

Now there was only the darkness around them.  Aviad smirked.  He gave the woman a look -- just smug enough so that she'd know that he was the cause of it -- and then bent to collect both the stones and the nub of the candle, which had also gone out.

"Well?" he asked, gesturing grandly towards the house.  He cocked an eyebrow at her, cool and unruffled as he smirked.  "Don't let me get in your way.  Ladies first, Red."

This was definitely going to be more interesting than she’d originally thought.  Possibly a little more difficult as well.  But at least Shamera didn’t have to worry about the wards, since this man had already dismantled the outer, and now the inner.  When the rocks flashed and the spark lit up the yard for a moment, Sham knew it had been finished.  She could have done it on her own, but wards weren’t exactly her favorite things to work on.

And as much as her mouth wanted to let out some sass, she decided to bite her tongue.  Keep your head on the job. she told herself.  She wouldn’t let this man get in her way.  Sham decided to just keep her senses heightened in case he tried anything.  But for now it seemed as though they might be able to play nice and get through this.

“A gentleman, how quaint.” She said, rolling her eyes as she turned to the house. The nickname irked her a little, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t heard before. How clever, calling a girl with red hair Red.

It was two stories, and the artifact she was here to procure was on the second floor in the man’s display room. Shamera had two options.  Climb up the drain pipe into the window on the second floor, or enter through the bottom floor and take the stairs up.  Deciding she’d rather not have the man watching her as she shimmied up a drain pipe, she went towards the lower window. She removed a knife from her belt and used an old muggle trick to jimmy the lock of the window to open it. Then Sham lifted herself up onto the ledge and into the house.

“You coming, sweetie?” She asked, leaning her head out the window. Then she stepped in and took a look around, just in case there were any more security systems in place. Not noticing anything she made her way toward the stairs, not bothering to see if the man had made it in yet.

He cocked his head to the side, smirking as he watched the woman saunter towards the house.  There was a part of him that felt very deeply annoyed at the upstaging -- after all, he was the one who had taken down the wards, who had scouted the place to begin with and had made certain that the old couple would be out.  This witch had seemingly only appeared in the right place at the right time, and now she was setting limits for him.

He quietly huffed out a breath, slinging his bag over his shoulder.  He could deal with the perceived slight later, once an opportunity for redemption presented itself.  For now, he had business to attend to -- and he would be lying if he said that there weren't times when he enjoyed company.

With a popping sound, he vanished from outside.  A split second later, he reappeared inside the house.  Aviad flashed a smirk in the red-haired woman's direction, just to make certain that she'd seen, and then turned to survey his new surroundings.

The interior of the cottage looked to be far bigger than it had seemed from the outside.  It was simply though elegantly decorated, with paintings of flowers hanging on the walls and all of its furniture matching, made from a dark, shiny wood.  In the brick fireplace, a fire had roared into existence as soon as Shamera had entered; flames crackled brightly, shifting from orange to yellow to an almost pale blue as they shifted and danced.

It was far, far warmer in here than it had been outside, but he still felt far too cold, and now he'd started to shiver.  Aviad clamped his teeth shut to keep them from chattering, fumbling in his pocket for another cigarette.  It took him a moment to free it, and another to get it lit with his shaking hands, but once he finally had it in place, even just the too-familiar act of drawing in on it was enough to center himself again, his eyes closed as he let out a breath.

He flicked off the first few embers, and then cast another glance about the room.  Red had already disappeared up the stairs.  Tucking the cigarette into his mouth, Aviad started up behind her.

He didn't see her at first -- she'd clearly already disappeared from the short hallway into a room -- but the first open door proved successful.  The woman had to be a professional.  Interesting that she'd chosen to come here the same night that he had, Aviad thought as he slipped in through the door.  Not that it really mattered -- they couldn't be here for the same purpose -- but he had to admit that he was curious as to what would draw a British thief to such a tiny town in Poland.

"Nice place," he remarked idly, leaning a shoulder against the wall.  He took another drag on the cigarette, and then took it between two fingers, letting the smoke waft lazily up towards the ceiling.  "The paintings are a little tacky, though.  Think I'd go for something a little less cheery."  He smirked slightly, arching a brow in the woman's direction.  "Happen to find what you're after?"

The fire that started as she entered had momentarily made her freeze.  But of course, Shamera wasn’t to be too scared by a simple charm to automatically start it when someone was detected.  Actually, it was rather clever, and she made a note to have that installed in her own place. Especially because it does get rather chilly at night, just like in this house.

Halfway up the stairs, she’d heard the man apparate into the house.  Sham hoped to Merlin that there wasn’t any apparition detection charm in place.  The old man who owned this place was clever, and that was something he might have thought of.  So Shamera felt more of a sense of urgency to find the artifact she needed. After gaining access to the display room, she searched for what she came for.  That object was a ring.  Previously regarded as just an old belonging to Grindelwald, recently they (being her extended family) had revealed that it had information regarding a weapon of some sort that had been developed by Grindelwald himself.

In the midst of her searching, she heard the door open, and in came the man.  And of all things, he was smoking a cigarette and decided to lean against the wall.  Sham looked at him, incredulously. Either he was incredibly stupid or just really wanted to be caught.  Perhaps he’d just been sent to torture her on this run.  Did people seem to not trust her? Or were they just testing her?

“Really, are you trying to get caught? Honestly, you’ve got a fair hand at wards, but you’ve probably set off about three other detection charms.” Sham shook her head. “And not yet.”

Why he was standing there, leaning against the wall when he should have been looking for what he came for was beyond her.  Sham continued to look through the different glass cases, using light from her wand to illuminate them.  But then, she caught a glimpse of a honey-yellow gem.  She was fairly certain that was it.  As she got closer to it, she realized it wasn’t, but a rather close one.  It was far too dark.  Continuing her search, she felt the man’s gaze.

“Honestly, did you actually come here for something, or to annoy me?” Sham asked, turning to look at him. “Because right now it’s very much looking like the latter.”

Had he come here just to annoy her?  Aviad smirked into the darkness.  The question itself put him one point closer to victory.  He took a long drag on the cigarette, savoring the feeling at the back of his throat, and then blew the smoke out again, aiming it into the air as it drifted towards the ceiling.

"Honestly?"  He mimicked the woman's accent as best he could, and then shot a smirk in her direction.  "I was just trying not to get in your way.  Being a gentleman and all."  He grinned, leaning back lazily against the wall as he watched her.  "Thought I ought to let you look first.  I'd hate to end up on the wrong side of that wand again."

Though he wasn't entirely opposed to ending up on the wrong side of other things, he thought with a devilish grin.  His position here, even watching her pawn through the glass cases in the darkness, was proving to be the perfect observation point.  Too bad she was proving to be so short-tempered about things.  Pretty girls who knew how to wield both wand and wit with the same cutting edge were far more rare in this world than he would have preferred.

For now, though, he was happy to settle for simply annoying her.

"The floorboard by your right foot is loose," he informed her nicely.  It was; even in the darkness, he could see it veer oddly as she shifted her feet.  Aviad flicked his cigarette, sending another ember falling.  "Did you have something particular in mind that you came here for, Red?  Or just whatever happens to go well with your wardrobe?"

“How incredibly thoughtful of you.” Sham said, rolling her eyes.

This was definitely getting frustrating.  She needed to find out who this man was, and one day sneak into his home and steal something. One at a time. Just little things and eventually he’d be in such a confusion as to where his toothbrush went, or where his favorite blanket went.  And then he’d realized it was her.   Shamera smiled at the thought as she continued her search.  As she moved her feet, she started to feel a floorboard shift a little. She paused right as she heard the man mention the loose floorboard.

“Yes, thank you so much for pointing that out.” Sham said, turning her head and giving him an annoyed smile before squatting down to inspect the floorboard. “And yes, I’m here for something specific.  Though everything goes with black, so if that were my reasoning here, I could take everything.”

Sham was a little perturbed that he’d seen it and had to point it out before she’d started inspecting it. Shining her wand light on it, she wriggled it a bit more, eventually pulling it out of its spot.  Beneath, there were a few small hidden items.  She reached a gloved hand down and pulled them out.  Setting them on a nearby table, she picked up what looked like a nice velvet jewelry box. Holding her breath, Sham opened it.  Inside lay exactly what she had been looking for. The gem of the ring was a brighter yellow than she’d thought, but the markings inside it were what let her know for certain it was the ring of Grindelwald.

Putting it into a small pouch on her belt, she smiled. Now it was time to turn the tables. After putting her wand in it’s sheath, Sham walked over to the wall where the man had been standing, watching. She plucked the cigarette out of his hand and took a draw.  Then she blew the smoke up at him.

“Your turn, Sweetie.” She said with a smirk, motioning to the room. Hopefully it would take him more than just a moment to find what he came for. But she would be lying if she said she didn’t want to watch him work.

Well, then.  Aviad stayed where he was, a smirk playing across his lips as she snatched the cigarette away.  She was efficient; he'd give her that, and now that her task seemed to be complete, apparently she'd regained interest in the game between them.  He certainly wouldn't comment on what type of a lady only wore black; nor would he judge the values of a lady who blew smoke in his face and then practically challenged him to one up her. 

With a snort, the lanky mage straightened from the wall.  He took a step closer, and then another, until he'd closed the minimal distance between them.  Without saying a word, he leaned in closer, until there were only breadths between them, until he could look her directly in the eye.  He'd see how long she'd let the silence stretch.

"You sure you want to see what comes next?"  His voice was low, almost a whisper, but there was no mistaking the teasing challenge in his words.  Aviad quirked a brow, flashing her a cocky, confident smile.  "It might not be safe.  I'd hate for a nice girl like you to end up in the crossfire."

When the man started taking steps towards her, she could feel her heart beat just a bit faster.  It wasn’t that she was scared, but perhaps more of the thrill of the hunt. Shamera could almost feel his body heat as he came as close as possible to her.  He stared down at her eyes, and she just continued to gaze at his.  She wasn’t going to back away, not now.  It was definitely a weird feeling, and Sham wasn’t used to this.  It had been a very long time since she’d been on a job and had someone else there.  And it took a bit of force not to step back as he kept staring down at her, silent.

Finally, he spoke. And called her a nice girl? Did he honestly think the girl who’d threatened him, and done this job almost alongside him had a problem with danger? She’d come this far, so Sham wasn’t about to just leave.  As much as she hated to admit it to herself, she was curious about this man. She also wanted to see him work a bit more.

“What gave you the idea that I’m a nice girl?” Sham returned the brow quirk. “I live a dangerous life. I don’t care much for safe, so go on, show me

If he'd been smirking before, there was no doubt of his expression now; at the woman's words, Aviad broke into an enormous, roguish grin.  He reached out to reclaim his cigarette, pinching it between his thumb and index finger, and then cheekily gave Shamera a wink.  Hefting his bag over his shoulder, he ambled with a swagger to the center of the room.

This wasn't really the best place to be going about his task.  Normally, he would have preferred the solidity of the ground floor or the cellar, and stone or dirt to work on, instead of something as changeable as wood, but mages couldn't always be choosers.  Besides, Aviad thought as he slung his leather bag to the ground, he had an audience to perform for.  He wasn't about to give up the opportunity to show off.

He tucked the cigarette into his mouth, taking a quick draw on it as he dropped to his knees, and then set to his task.  First, out came the same white, smooth stones from before.  He quickly arranged them into a circle, his hands moving as swiftly and surely as if he were dealing a deck of cards.  Next came an old, dried rose.  He squeezed his hand shut around it, crumbling the petals, and then quickly scattered them on the floor inside the circle.

It was a process that he'd gone through a dozen times before, and the confidence of Aviad's motions left little doubt that he knew his business.  A sprig of herbs -- rosemary, by the look of it -- was tossed into the center, bound with a piece of red string.  It was followed by a white candle, which he carefully balanced alongside.  Finally, he removed a small leather pouch from his bag, and poured a cascade of tiny white salt crystals into his hand.  Rising to his feet again, he carefully sprinkled the salt in a wider circle just outside the ring of stones, obviously taking care to make certain that there were no breaks.

"Last chance," he informed Shamera nicely.  He took his cigarette between two fingers again, briefly sucking in on it to enliven the ember at the end, and then shot her a quick, impertinent grin.  "I can't make promises that this will work the way it's supposed to.  If all you want is an excuse to enjoy my company, you might be better off offering to buy me breakfast instead, Red."

That smirk seemed a little too cocky for Sham. She felt like he wanted to impress her.  Though, of all the ways, this was a lot better than what guys normally did at the Underground. Drunk guys didn’t impress Shamera at all. But tall, dark, and handsome foreign men burglarizing? He definitely had a better chance than most others. After he went to set up for his… whatever, Sham went and leaned against the wall, close to where he had been.

She watched intently as he set up. He knew what he was doing and did it without a flaw.  Granted, Sham didn’t exactly know what he was doing.  She hadn’t really gotten many chances to study mages at work.  But this made her want to know more about the different types of magicks. Stones, herbs, and flowers were an interesting way of working magic.

“Oh no. Despite my better judgment, I’m too interested now to go. You’re stuck with me for a little longer at least.”  And that was true.  A lot of her thoughts were that she really should just leave.  She got what she had come for.  Sham didn’t know this man, or what he was capable of.  And she should really probably leave.  But that was a lot harder said than done when she really was intrigued. “We can talk about breakfast later.”