It was the day after Christmas and all week long Vincent Carrow had been pacing the festive streets of Hogsmeade, unusually hungry.  There was something about this time of year, around the holidays, which attracted him back to the quaint little village, all covered in snow, the bipedal humanoids all snug in their warm little cabins, their chimneys piping billows of white smoke into the cloudy skies.... 

It made him want to ravage the entire town.  To turn it red.  To stop their happiness.  To interrupt their peace.

Last Moon had been one giant adventure, a few missteps, and an eye for an eye.  It had left him exhausted and in need of a deep recovery, his meagerly human form taking a hard hit from the injuries he'd easily sustained as a Were.  If he could find a way to be the Wolf twenty-four seven, he would.  As it was, he was left ravenous, stalking families in Hogsmeade but left without the means to do what he really wanted.  It was stifling. 

The bustle had died down somewhat today.  The crowds were all staying in to rest for the weekend in the rosy aftermath of a happy holiday.  The Wolf in Vincent had grown bored, but he still lurked in the village stubbornly dreaming of a red Christmas.  He'd have to wait till New Years Eve.

It was this dark day, sitting on a barrel in the cold, that a lone figure drew his attention.  He'd seen and smelled someone he must have known, a witch, for the first time in many, many Moons, and now he stalked her to the Three Broomsticks.  Who was she?

He waited quite a while, then entered the establishment.  The door swung closed irreverently behind him as his eyes quickly scanned the pub for her fair skin and nearly white hair.  Where was she?  He searched the tables, finally seeing her behind the bar.  Having a closer look he thought he knew who it was, a pureblooded Ravenclaw from his year named Arianna Marsh.  They'd shared the castle in the 80's, and my had she aged well.  Her scent was alluring and she seemed to glow like a Roman statue.

Vincent Carrow took a seat at the bar, gaze fixed on her as he lowered his hood and undid the scarf from round his face.  Wetting his lips, he hit the palm of his giant hand on the bar top. 

"Is that you?  Arianna?"  His voice was slightly boisterous and full of the charms of a charismatic man.

Christmas had been relatively quiet and uneventful.  There was a part of her that had simply wished to curl up in a ball next to the fire in the the tiny cottage she was renting near The Three Broomsticks and let the day pass without any fuss.  Her extended family had other plans however, and Anna had gone to London to spend some time with her Uncle and his family.  Dinner had been relatively low key, but he had still insisted she escape the little village for a few hours.

Her shift was nearly over, but she had wanted to wait for a couple of her tables to finish their meals before heading out for the evening.  So, busying herself with helping to organize silverware behind the bar, she hadn't been paying any attention to who might be entering.  The sound of her name, however, caused her to look up from her work suddenly.

Her mind quickly searched her history, trying to place the man at the bar.  A memory flashed in her mind from school of a young Slytherin from her year and a small smile formed on her lips.  She hadn't seen him in years, since graduation if she wasn't forgetting some encounter during her final attempt to be the good little society girl her parents had always wanted her to become.

"Vincent?" she asked.  "It's been ages...how have you been?"

Setting aside the silverware completely, she took a step closer to the bar, giving him her full attention.  The teenager she remembered was gone and in his place was a rather attractive and intense man.  It was something that only seemed obvious when meeting a school acquaintance after so many years.

"Can I get you something?" she added, remembering her duties as a waitress.