The boutique had actually had a busy day. It was more upscale, and Rocio certainly had a strict ‘if you have to ask the price, you cannot afford it’ policy, so she was pleased when it got more work rather than less. Though she supposed that she had also picked a prime location to place the shop, she was in Knockturn Alley, yes, but almost at the intersection with Diagon Alley. In fact, she could see the goings on in Diagon Alley if she was standing by the windows of her store. At the moment though she was standing behind the cash register preparing to close; she had sent her workers home already and now only had to take the day’s earnings to the bank.

After clearing out the cash register – she would be back in the morning to open up and replace the money that needed to be there – she made her way out from behind the counter and grabbed her large black handbag, placing the money in her bag with one perfectly manicured hand. She exited the store and a quick flick of her wand locked the door behind her, ensuring to put on the charm to prevent anyone from breaking in. Of course, Rocio didn’t believe that anyone in Knockturn would break into her shop; they respected and feared her a little bit, thanks to the name on the door.

 She walked away from the store, slipping her wand pack into the outer pocket of her bag and her nose scrunched at the thought of entering Gringotts once more. She detested the bank, not really for any reason more than the fact that she had to deal with those disgusting goblins. It was below her to associate with them; after all, they weren’t far from being the house elves that kept her mansion in order. They were creatures, not magical beings as they touted. She had never seen one do real magic, and she believed that was the way it needed to be kept. Wands were only for Wizards.

She was walking at a brisk pace, and reaching into her handbag for something when she walked right into something moving and solid. She stumbled for a moment in her high heels and, taking her hand from her handbag tentatively, looked up. An apology was beginning to come out of her mouth when she noticed who stood before her. A sneer formed on her face and a scoff came out of her mouth. “Ah, it’s only you.” She addressed the woman coldly, and a quick look swept her body from head to toe. She hadn’t really changed, still the sorry excuse for a witch she had ever been. Not that she deserved to be a witch, foolish muggleborn. After observing Akiva, she looked down at herself, wanting to mutter a quick scouring spell on her clothes. She was probably dirty just from coming into outward contact with her.

She had almost fallen because of this woman before her, and the idea did not make Ro pleased. Did no one look where they were going anymore? Akiva should have noticed that Rocio was coming, and Ro was positive that had she seen her she would have stayed away. After all, why run into someone who loathed you?

Pay day was generally a very good day for anyone, especially when they had been doing extra late hours and working as much as she had.  Indeed, she would have to really go buy some new work robes with the money she had amassed, or perhaps splurge at Flourish & Blott’s as a treat, since she would only need to transfer a little of the wizarding money to muggle currency.  It was a little tedious, but after she deposited her pay in the bank, she would have to do it.  Rent was coming up and she really couldn’t afford to not pay it.  Her parents wouldn’t appreciate it and she couldn’t exactly keep her grandmother’s house.

She was thinking about it more, since she did have Gordon and Lady, and she wouldn’t really be truly alone, but she was going to talk with her parents about it in the evening.  They were having dinner, of course, since it was Shabbat, and she had a good week at work, caught up with quite a few people and found out a lot about several issues that were currently being beat around the ministry, as well as just getting to know her friends in general.  She had a date too, though she didn’t talk about it that much.  She wasn’t sure what she was feeling about it, she did like Gil, of course, but she just didn’t know.

It had mulled around in her head on the slower days and she couldn’t help but always get drawn elsewhere in her thoughts anyway.  She felt badly, but she couldn’t really help what she was thinking.  This was the continued trend as she walked toward Gringott’s.  She had apparated right into the Alley and had to stop by Flourish first, actually, to talk to Leon, the owner, about possibly getting a few books extra quickly.  There was an issue that needed to be resolved in magical transportation and they required some texts by Monday, and Akiva hadn’t gotten a chance to order them. Leon was nice enough; however, to overlook the breach and do what he could for her, regardless.

As she walked, she felt like her mind was drifting back to work and back to everything that had been going on.  She was so consumed and on so well worn a path, she didn’t even realize that her path might directly intersect with another and result in a forceful collision.  This consumption was enough to actually jar her off one leg and tottering to regain her balance. “I’m sorry,” she said before she even had a chance to look at who it was, of course, when she did, she could almost feel her blood run cold in her veins.  Licking her lips, she held her head high; thankfully, she was taller than the woman, which seemed so odd.  Akiva always felt very small when being scrutinized, buy here she was, at least four inches taller than the woman who could make polar caps feel like a day in Hawaii. 

“Rocio,” she greeted icily, remembering their school days together and the horrible things that she had said to her.  Akiva tried not to say things back, but it had not always been easy, and when she left school, she could only imagine how happy it had made her, until, of course, she found out what happened.  It wasn’t hard to know, at least she couldn’t hold that above her head.  “You’re fine, I trust?” she questioned with a clipped voice.  Just because she didn't like her didn't mean she wasn't going to make sure she was okay. Goodness knew if she didn't ask, she would probably find papers delivered to her door about being sued over the emotional stress of a chipped nail.

Even her name sounded dirty coming out of Akiva’s mouth. What had she done to anger Merlin that he should have thrown her in the path of one of the people she most loathed, especially when Rocio had such a difficult time concealing her dislike for people. She had a horrible temper and it was not in her nature to forgive others anything, even when it was something they couldn’t help, like their blood status. She could only wish that this wouldn’t have happened. She had been having such a lovely day now that all of the Remembering Day festivities were over, though she hadn’t insulted anyone in days and Katz provided a good target.

As the woman spoke, Rocio couldn’t help but imagine the beauty of one of her lovely snakes wrapped tight around that pale, white neck. A bite from any of her babies and that would be the end – though she had never attempted before to set them on killing anyone. She would need an extreme amount of control over them to do that, and probably knowledge of parseltongue. It was enough that they didn’t attack her or try and eat her when she held them. They loved their mommy, and knew exactly who she was. The thought of any of them getting at Akiva was nice, but her babies deserved to be fed better than that.

 “Well everything was running smoothly until you came along, though I suppose your parents thought the same thing.” She offered Akiva a sickeningly sweet and incredibly fake smile. “I’m sure they loved learning their precious daughter was a witch. Muggles.” She shook her head and a small huff escaped her mouth. “They probably still think you are just a freak.” Rocio smirked at Akiva, knowing that there was a possibility that she was right. Muggles had never understood and would never understand. Had they not shown this with all of the times they had gone on witch hunts and the like?

“And you?” she asked after Akiva as a mere courtesy, a form of habit after having been raised by a diplomat. Not that said diplomat spoke to her very much anymore. Claudio and Anamaria were not happy with the path their daughter had taken in life, and had to make do with knowing that she had not committed any crimes yet. She may have become a purist and a hater of all other witches, wizards and magical creatures but she was still their daughter. They had raised her to be a lady, and a lady she was, a bad person of breeding, great.

Rocio’s reacting was just what Akiva expected, though that did not make it sting any less.  She had never been entirely sure why they hated one another so much, but there had immediately been a burst of hatred between them in school and that had been the end of it.  Perhaps it was Akiva’s blood status and her curiosity that had immediately upset the pureblood who thought that the world should be handed to her and anyone who wasn’t from her privileged class was to serve it to her.  Akiva had never bought into that logic, and thus, they did not see eye to eye on anything – even physically, though, for a time, they had been at that same level.

Setting her jaw, she was glad she did not have a habit of crying in front of people.  It had always been something she was good at, expertly performed when she had walked out of that part, but the stings that Rocio threw at her were less damaging than that.  She was just… having such a good day and here this was, thrown into her face.  She was glad she would be going home for the evening and had that to look forward to so she wouldn’t have to stress about it too much.  If she were alone, she might have been inclined to think about it more, but since she wouldn’t be – it would be alright… she hoped…

She licked her lips as she decided not to dignify her with a response to that, after all, she was going to be better than that.  There was nothing wrong with being a Muggleborn and some muggles at least tried to understand and were supportive.  Her parents had been, as far as they could be, especially for an academic and an accountant.  They were very grounded in reality, and had taken some time to get used to it, but by now they were used to it – and Akiva had to remind herself of that.

“I could say the same,” she replied stiffly, echoing Rocio’s sentiment when she was asked about if she was alright.  Funny the woman would even bother, considering she had been so overtly hostile over such a simple question.  Brushing down the front of her clothes, she almost balled a corner of fabric in her fist, but decided against it – she didn’t need to be torn to shreds about a wrinkle or two either.  “I’m glad to hear you’re alright, wouldn’t want to be the cause of unnecessary agitation,” she added with a hint of irony.

There was more to Rocio’s hatred than simply matters of blood. In some beginnings it might have started out as a slight jealousy or perhaps arisen out of a need for acceptance. When everyone around her was busy hating muggleborns, she couldn’t help but agree with them and their views. Her first year though, when she had started at Hogwarts, she had very few friends and so there was no one to rub off on her in their hatred, the dislike of akiva Katz had thus risen from inside her. She was so bubbly and everyone who liked muggleborns wanted to be her friend. It seemed so easy for her, and she wasn’t even a person of breeding like Rocio was! Her open nature and the fact that everyone loved her made Rocio detest her all the more than she might have otherwise.

She stared into the face of the woman before her, her naked eyes showing her true feelings, not that her actions didn’t give off the same ones. Akiva’s face changed her jaw set and the skin tightened, while a smirk grew more broadly on Rocio’s face. It seemed that she had struck a chord. “Awww, did I hurt your feelings?” She took on a patronizing tone and tutted at Akiva softly, as though the woman wouldn’t understand if Ro spoke to her like an adult. She had been a Ravenclaw, yes, but the house had made other flukes, like that Tristisa bloke, who got under Ro’s skin even as a pureblood. There was simply a long list of people that had the ability to irk her.

Rocio had to ask if Akiva was alright, good manners had to prevail at some point. There was also the fact that Akiva would probably run crying to the Ministry about this little run-in and tell them that she had been harassed by Rocio Adair. Rocio’s familial connections would work against her in that case and not even all the lawyers money could buy would get her out of that mess. Perhaps she should get it in writing that Akiva Katz was okay and Rocio Adair was not going around knocking over muggles like some crazy person that… well… runs around knocking over muggles.

“Agitation indeed,” Rocio couldn’t help but ponder again at the good fortune Akiva had that there was no reptilian friend nearby, then there certainly would have been an agitation, and perhaps some screaming. Of course, no amount off telling her to stay calm would help, especially not coming from Rocio, so she would always be able to deny that she had done it on purpose. Though her history with Akiva would be enough proof against her. The Ministry of Magic was a topsy turvy place these days. The Wizarding World in general was. “Don’t worry though, if I find anything wrong you will be hearing from my lawyers. Unlike you, I can afford legal counsel and don’t have to wait for the Ministry to assign me someone.”

Some people just brought out the worst out in people, and that was very rare for Miss Katz.  She was usually one to maintain the same personality and demeanor despite the circumstances, but Rocio just made her want to hex someone.  Well, not an innocent someone, just Rocio, but it did.  She was so infuriating and despite her small stature, she packed a lot of arrogance, entitlement, and attitude in her arsenal.  Perhaps if she hadn’t been such a slytherin in school or got caught up in all that she might have been a decent person, but some people were just not so lucky. 

Being patronized was even worse when it was by her.  Akiva did not have a habit of thinking badly of people, she just tried to avoid it, but it was funny that Rocio would speak to her like she was a child when it had been clear, at least to Kiki and her closest friends, who had been smarter at school.  It wasn’t much to some people, but what could one do with the money they had if they didn’t know how to spend it?  Obviously there was no problem there for Rocio, she seemed to be doing exceptionally well for herself, but Akiva didn’t necessarily want to agree with that.  She had basically done the same job at Flourish & Blott’s without her name on the lease, so she couldn’t expect to be that impressed.

The threat of counsel was enough to tinge Akiva’s cheeks pink.  She might not have been a lawyer, but she did work near them all the time and she shook her head.  “If it had been my fault, I might worry – but it was you who walked into me,” she pointed out.  It was true, Rocio had been the negligent one who had walked into her, and though she would probably contest it, it wouldn’t matter.  Akiva might not have been that powerful by herself, but she had friends.  She could use them if she felt the need to.  She was sure Rocio had the same luxury, of course, but her background was far more suspect than Akiva’s.

[[Sorry it's so short!]]

The bustling wizards and witches around them seemed to pay no mind to the two young witches glaring at each other in the middle of the Alley. Every now and again a bystander might stop and attempt to stare, though death glances from Rocio most often succeeded in their aims of stopping such things from happening. There was no need for an audience, no need to make a spectacle of themselves. After all, this was n'ot a fight. It was more like Rocio insulting Akiva and Akiva pretty much taking it. A fact that Rocio adored. The superiority she felt when the little muggleborn couldn't respond to her was great. She lived off such superiority and it fed her hunger for power.

She shifted her pose, standing in controposto, continuing to look up at the woman. That, at least, was unfortunate. Rocio was so petite that even when she was acting superior to people she was still - quite literally - below them. She would have hated it, if she did not think Akiva might have been an odd muggleborn giant to begin with. So large and grotesque. She couldn't help but wonder if Miss Katz actually lived with a little army of cats. It would be so appropriate to have the Ravenclaw spinster become a cat lady. Ro felt justified in having her snakes, she had been married and fate had been cruel. No husband and not a child to her name, her parents barely speaking to her and her only other semi-familial connection locked in Azkaban for life. Her snakes were all she really had.

Rocio laughed haughtily at Akiva's assertion that she had been the one to bump into her. "Who is your witness? Tell me where you came up with this preposterous idea, please." Rocio knew that she could find several witches and wizards who would vouch for her - intimidation went very far, and she had many friends. Not that she would actually take this matter to any form of court, the Ministry was a corrupt and dirty institution and she did not trust them. More likely, she might take matters into her own hands. The pint-sized witch may not have scared Akiva Katz, but her friends certainly could. They would be happy too, especially once they heard of today's encounter.

"Of course, the odds that I would waste my money on suing you for," she paused for a moment to think of what she might be able to use as a just cause for such action, "emotional damages, would happenn to be very slim. I would waste money and win nothing, what could the court grant me, your clothing? Sorry, I have better taste than that." Akiva was by no means poor, but Ro was very wealthy. She had a fortune that went back generations and a boutique that worked spectacularly well. She would not want for money, nor did she have to agonize over spending money. She did as she pleased and that was enough to keep her happy.

“Take your pick,” Akiva gestured the mass of people moving around them.  At least one of them would have been willing to say something and stand up for her.  She couldn’t imagine that Adair would have that much influence to be able to bend everyone to her will.  Akiva certainly didn’t feel any inkling toward letting Rocio win.  She didn’t really think she had anyway.  At twenty-eight the woman had been married, her husband died, and from what Akiva heard, was pretty much alone.  Akiva was surrounded by friends and family with prospects all around.  She certainly had nothing to envy.

That might have been part of what made Rocio so hateful, she figured.  Akiva might have been less wealthy and less privileged, but she certainly did not have a lack of opportunity.  Her career was where she wanted it to be, she had been engaged and that had ended on her terms (to some extent), and now she had been getting more involved with some people as well as garnering a larger group of allies and friends.  When she thought about it, she had endless possibilities at this point, Rocio, on the other hand, couldn’t do much except wither away into nothing as a bitter widow.  It was enough to almost make Akiva sad for her, almost. 

She didn’t even have to care about her petty insults.  Akiva didn’t feel badly that Rocio wouldn’t take her clothing.  Obviously, Rocio and Akiva were two completely different people.  While one almost never strayed far from black, the other tried her hardest to avoid the color at all costs outside of the professional environment.  Akiva dressed to be pretty but also comfortable; she didn’t have to wear the biggest designer or something that would overwhelm herself.  Rocio dressed the shell, presented herself as such.  Akiva did the same, but presented herself as a deeper and more complex person than that – at least, she thought so. 

It’d be best to just leave the fact that Akiva had far more than her clothing to offer.  There was property and money that she had saved up, but Rocio didn’t need to know about that now did she?  “Well, I’m glad you won’t exert that much energy,” she commented with a bit of sass in her voice, uncommon for someone who usually spoke as nicely as she could, “since it would create even more unwanted interaction.  I have no desire for any of your things either,” she added, “so I believe we are done here.” She narrowed her eyes a little, subconsciously challenging Ro to keep going.  It would only bode badly for her, in Akiva’s mind, so her best option was to make the right decision.

Rocio rolled her eyes at Akiva and was amused by her insolence. Was she unaware of the fact that Rocio was used to doing as she pleased and getting away with it? Then again, she might have been forgetting that Rocio’s place of business was on the brink of a world of trouble and dark arts. The last name alone was enough to make people think twice about doing anything to anger her. It was well known which way the Adair family had always gone and Rocio would be no different if she had married into them. Thus it would be assumed that she would hold acquaintances of an unsavory nature who could easily hurt those they felt had in some way harmed the woman. She certainly had her own sphere of influence.

“Just believe me, Katz, I can have any of these people siding with me faster than you think.” It really would not take much. She would simply need to invoke a few names and that would be enough to have people cowering and saying that Akiva had in fact harassed Rocio. She was sure that more than a few people would be willing to back her up. She needed muscles to stand behind her threats, and she had none. Well, she did but they were all scaly and liked to slither, though her constrictors were beautiful. Her eyes flitted once more to Akiva’s neck, the thought of one of her babies wrapped around it was going through it once more and she was growing to like the idea more by the second.

 Rocio laughed snidely at the suggestion that she should leave Akiva alone. She supposed that Akiva really did not know her well at all if she assumed that by telling Rocio she was done they would be done. “There is no point in wasting my energy that way.” As though the Ministry would be fair at any rate, even if Katz had done anything wrong they would still side with her. No matter how innocent Rocio was in any matter the Ministry would never take her side. It was her name and Akiva’s position that made that impossible. The Ministry would always protect it’s own over others, and this was a major part of why Rocio hated the Ministry.

“As to being done, I do not believe we are.” Rocio saig with a smug grin. “I will say when we are done, Katz.” She had better get used to having power taken from her, not that the woman had any power. She was weak, like a little mouse. Ro was a snake on the hunt and Akiva her next victim. If she could unhinge her jaws and swallow her whole she might have tried to do so. Then again, she assumed muggleborn probably tasted like dirt and even as a snake she would have better taste than that. Eating dirt was really not her idea of a good time.

She stood straight again, and looked the woman in front of her up and down, taking in everything about her. She was even more of a bloody annoyance than she had ever been before and Rocio would really love to have her put in her place. Muggleborns did not belong among the proper wizards of the world and if Ro had her say, they would not have a place in the future, except as servants of those in the higher classes, in the pureblood caste. Then she could buy Katz and make her feed the snakes, give the house elves a nice break. That would be fun to watch, Katz in the middle of all of Ro’s hungry snakes. The idea made a smirk appear on her face, it was such a pleasant vision of the future.

She looked at Katz and shook her head. “You always did have a tendency of feeling ‘entitled’ where you had no right to.” Rocio shook her head and gave a huff of disapproval. “You think being a muggleborn is so special, don’t you? You think you are entitled to things because you were condemned for so long.” She dropped her tone to a whisper and leaned in close, her breath on Akiva’s skin. “You are nothing, you never were anything, you never will be anything more than a dirty mudblood.” The tables had turned, and now good purebloods were being oppressed, but one day they would take everything back and the Wizarding World would see who was more powerful truly.

Perhaps Akiva should have known not to talk at some points, but she couldn’t help herself.  Adair was a woman who didn’t deserve to be bowed down to or catered to.  She wasn’t a person who deserved Akiva’s respect.  She had her people, sure, but that didn’t mean it was earned the right way.  She had to pay off allies, rather than making them the right way and the lines she drew were arbitrary at best.  What did blood have to do with talent?  Surely nothing in Akiva’s case or a lot of the muggleborns she knew.  Some of them were far more talented than Rocio and some of her cronies could ever hope to be, Hermione Granger had been enough of an indicator of that.  She was absolutely brilliant, sometimes it perplexed Akiva why she hadn’t been a Ravenclaw, at least before a lot of the events occurred.

Some of it was still hard to think about, but it had been a testament to the power of talent over birth and Akiva felt very personally attached to the events.  It wasn’t just about being a Muggleborn.  There were tons of them walking around, but she was Jewish, and as much as no one else ventured to make the parallel, she had.  She survived, of course, as a refugee to the muggle world for a while, but she had, and it made her proud, at the very least.  And she had just as much of a right to declare it done as Rocio did.  Her cheeks tinged an angry pink at the declaration, but she didn’t leave – she couldn’t say why, but she felt like there might have been something worth listening to keeping here there.

It wouldn’t do to upset the great queen of everything, after all.  She had already fallen so far from grace.  Akiva knew a few things, being that talk did not stop after things ended, and the woman didn’t need Akiva to blow her off. Her family had already effectively done that and she had nobody else.  Sometimes, she wondered what occupied her time, and then realized she was better off not knowing.  It was probably horrible and wicked, and Akiva didn’t need to be caught up in it.  She was probably some sort of crazy collector anyway, and it probably wasn’t glass unicorns either. 

Raising her eyebrows at Rocio’s assertion that it was she who always felt entitled, she couldn’t help but balk in laughter. “You can’t be serious,” she snorted, despite herself.  She knew it was stupid to respond, but her mouth moved before her brain shut it and that was all she could do – the thought had to be finished now.  “I was entitled?  I worked hard for what I had and got, and still do.  You, on the other hand, were fed everything on a silver platter with a silver spoon.  It is you who feels entitled to prestige and power.  You can’t inherit proficiency, Adair.”  Rocio brought out the worst in her, and the caustic edge to her voice was indication of that enough. 

The next part of her little diatribe was just about it though.  Akiva’s dark eyes narrowed and she balled her fists.  No, she wasn’t going to hit her, but she thought about it.  Her nails dug into the smooth flesh of her palms and she bit her cheek.  She brought up a slur that made her blood run cold and a bad taste enter her mouth.  “Enough,” she hissed angrily, her cheeks were bright red now and she felt like she could have hexed her in the middle of the street.  Glaring downward at the smaller witch (it felt so much easier to be terse with someone who was four inches shorter than she was), she didn’t have to deal with it.

“I have more than you’ll ever have again, Adair,” she added with something of a self-satisfied smirk, though she knew it would serve to make her feel somewhat badly later.  She didn’t generally abide by the one lash for another rule.

“Please inform me why I would be anything other than serious?” She really wondered sometimes at the things that came out of other people’s mouths. Did no one think before they spoke anymore? Perhaps Akiva needed her tongue cut out to deprive her of the right of speech if she was going to abuse it in such a manner. Or perhaps her wand should be snapped in two, and then she could feel what so many purebloods felt. The shame of losing that which most identified you, that was something that a pureblood would be horrified by. Not to mention the humiliation that came with other people knowing you did not have a wand. Not that Rocio knew what this was like, she simply had friends who did and could use a new wand.

She shook her head as Akiva spoke of her entitlement. “There is a distinct difference. I do not feel entitled, I simply am. When you actually are privileged and entitled it is not wrong to feel so. I believe it simply means that you are aware of the reality of your situation.” She really did think she made an excellent point. If ever she felt that she deserved anything, it was because she had been born into a family of great privilege and her parents had never denied her even the smallest thing she wanted. She was fortunate; she had been born that way. Akiva felt that way because of the way her people had been treated. “You can inherit power and magical proficiency; it is called being a pureblood.”

The physical reaction from Akiva was precious. “I suggest you control yourself if you do not want to cause a scene.” She spoke in a smooth and controlled voice, her air of superiority more apparent than ever. As a Slytherin she had learned to develop the skill of hiding her own emotions behind a stone cold face. Akiva, it seemed, was no more in charge over her faculties than – “Animals act like that you know, showing all of their emotions with no control. Though I suppose you are not really much higher on the chain of evolution than they are. You may even still be in that phase.” She smirked and raised her eyebrows briefly, the most emotion she would show.

She looked right up into Akiva’s glaring face, with terrific gall. So she had struck a chord with the little princess, had she? And now she was acting upset. Her fists balling, and Rocio would be surprised if a tear or two might not slip out of those narrowed eyes. She tended to have that effect on people, house elves and small creatures. There was simply something in her character that seemed to upset them. She couldn’t quite be sure what it was. After all, she was an angel. All she did was ensure that everyone understood where they were on the chain of importance and classes. And Akiva came right after mice.

This comment set Rocio’s blood to boiling, though she would show no outward display of this to Akiva - though a good kick to the shins would be well deserved. Then again, there were more effective ways; there were people who were better at this than she was. She knew that there were people who she knew that could intimidate Katz and make her sorry for that comment, and she would be calling on them very soon. The other woman had no right to insinuate that she had more than Ro could ever have. That was a lie, and Rocio knew it. She had already been married once, and perhaps she would marry again if the right man came along. Really it wasn’t her fault that she hadn’t met anyone to replace Zachary yet, it was more difficult than it seemed.

She gave a cold laugh and shook her head. “How can you have more than me? That is utterly preposterous. I have friends, a successful business, unlike in your case a man actually wanted to marry me and I am respected.” Well, okay, so maybe she was feared. In her mind though fear equated respect, one never gained respect with love, that was an idea espoused by hippies and the new Ministry. Perhaps only in a marriage did love bring respect, but that was just about the only place.

It was very sad that Rocio actually believed what she was spewing out, the idea that she was entitled to feeling entitled.  No one was entitled to anything.  To think so was absolutely ridiculous.  Obviously Rocio was just as delusional as she had always been.  The tide had obviously turned and she was no longer powerful, nothing about her was, she had connections to convicts and old blood – those the ministry didn’t trust anymore, the government gave up on them.  It couldn’t be excepted that they would enter the good graces again, unless they amassed a movement, and that was just ludicrous.  There weren’t enough to garner power nor were they as strong as they had once been.  The shackles of blood bondage were in decay, perhaps not completely gone, but surely broken in the right places that they couldn’t be used again.

“You can be born with ability, but that doesn’t mean you will use it correctly – or well,” Akiva countered.  Perhaps Rocio had tried to stick the knife in her side, but Akiva wasn’t about to let her get to it so easily.  She had laid down and presented her belly like a dog the first time, but she wasn’t an animal – the insinuation that she was just pained her cheeks a bright pink.  She couldn’t believe the gall of the woman and felt like she could have hexed her into next month if she wanted to be investigated by the ministry.  She didn’t want to lose her job or have to deal with the repercussions of having attacked someone.  She thought about it though. 

It was a lovely thought too.  She could only imagine giving her a bit of a wake up call.  Akiva had been very talented in her day and still had a bit of that spirit in her.  She was sure she could just a little something, and to even imagining it was satisfying enough.  She almost allowed herself a smirk.  Instead, she had a little frown etched on her features; she wasn’t an animal and wouldn’t dignify Rocio’s cut-throat attacks by acting like one.  “You know, when animals are weak and dying they act like nothing is wrong,” she pointed out, “so that the more fit won’t prey on them.”  She raised her eyebrows in challenge; she remembered something from care of magical creatures, and from reading a book on dog training. 

Rocio wasn’t a dog though; she could hardly be that good of an animal. She was a reptile, cold blooded and waiting to strike at any moment.  She was probably a snake – very fitting for her past, present, and most likely future.  She shouldn’t have been so quick to accuse anyone else, but covering one’s own failures was probably more important to her.  Adair was just so wrong, misguided and wrong.  She wondered what had happened to her to make her like that, but she shouldn’t have been surprised – the whole entitled and privileged thing was enough.  It took someone who had not come from that kind of background to understand and care.  Adair was not that person and never would be.  Her bitterness would get in the way.

“You had someone,” Akiva bit, bringing a striking emphasis to the situation Rocio had found herself in now.  She was a once loved, not a currently loved, and granted, Akiva was the same, and though Akiva didn’t exactly say she had someone, she implied it.  She had been on two dates recently with Gil, which was probably more than Rocio had seen in a long time.  “And I also have a career and plenty of friends, some very important ones,” she added, “so perhaps we could be considered equal there," She smiled softly, her brown eyes bearing downward, “but, I also have family - and a clean record."

Rocio really couldn’t help but scoff at that. Katz acted like she had been so much smarter than Ro during their Hogwarts days, and she had not been. Rocio was a very talented witch in her own right. Not to mention the fact that her pureblood status gave her automatic prestige. She also felt that Katz had probably worked for her grades and to learn everything a lot harder than Rocio ever had. She was lazy about working with her magic. She knew the spell would work once she tried it and had never really bothered too much with silly subjects like muggle studies. She had done well enough on her OWLs to take a good amount off classes. She had even received an O in potions.

“Being born with the ability also means I did not have to work as hard as you did to prove myself. Everyone knew what to expect from me, brilliance. From you, they could only hope you would not be a blockheaded muggleborn who would use her magic foolishly. If they were impressed by you it is because you were a muggleborn who succeeded and did not set anything on fire.” She was probably right. In her mind, the idea of being told that you were the most talented witch of your age was generally said to muggleborns due to how impressed the magical community was that a muggleborn had skills on par with a pureblooded child.

Clearly Katz had never been around snakes. They were never weak, even when they seemed it. They simply bided their time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Then, with graceful moves and exact precision they would dart out and take their prey, sinking their teeth into them to release the quick-acting venoms they were so known for or to take them into a coil and constrict them. They were dangerous all of the time, especially during the time one assumed they would be the weakest, when they were shedding from one skin to the other, the time when other animals might choose to attack. They were seemingly more alert during this time, especially since they could not see.

A slight to Zachary was something Rocio had never permitted before, and even if Katz had not directly insulted him, she had invoked his name indirectly. Yes, she had had someone and he had died bravely fighting for a cause he loved. If he had not been brave then he could have run from the battle, apparated home, escaped it all and Rocio and his mother would certainly have vouched that he was home that night. Then she would still have a husband, but she preferred to have a brave war casualty than a coward who ran from battle, too scared to die for his beliefs. That would have been a horrible way to live, shunned by proper pureblood society because Zachary had not been able to finish a battle.

“I have a clean record, Katz. In case you forgot how to do your research, I only married a Deatheater, I never fought. And, yes, my father-in-law and several friends are in prison, but that doesn’t put anything on my record.” Not to mention the fact that her father had been a diplomat in England at the time and that had greatly aided in the matter. She was still his child and still had diplomatic immunity at that point. Even if she had done anything wrong, she would have gotten away with it. True, she would have had to withdraw to Spain and her father as well, which would have eternally shamed him, surely. Then again he had eventually been shamed by her retaining her purist views.

If that was what Rocio wanted to tell herself to make her feel better, that was fine.  Akiva knew the truth of the matter, or her version of it, as one could never fully know the truth, but she was sure her version was closer than the crazy widow’s delusions.  Later she would look back and think on it, but in the middle of the confrontation, standing face to face with Rocio Adair, she was not clearly contemplating the philosophy of truthfulness and the ability to recognize what was truth above all circumstantial situations.  No, she was not thinking of any of that, rather just how much she would have liked to hex Adair and be done with the whole business.

She didn’t have to take abuse from someone like her, she didn’t tolerate it from people she actually liked and what possessed her to stay put was beyond her comprehension.  She wasn’t sure how she wanted to respond, if at all, to the claim that it was only the fact that any Muggleborn was talented at all that they got recognized.  It was through hard work and talent!  One could work as hard as one wanted on something and still be bad at it, though Akiva figured Rocio would not appreciate the difference.  She would chalk it up to something else and then twist it around.

It seemed that their entire conversation was being twisted and spun to suit either of their needs.  Of course, that couldn’t be unexpected.  Neither would let the other win or accept that the other had valid points, as to each party, the other was living a delusion and couldn’t possibly understand the way the world really worked.  Amusingly enough, they were quite similar at this point in time, though it was supposedly what you saw of yourself in others, you hated or admired.  Unfortunately, Akiva saw any bad trait she could have had in Rocio, and it made her detestable. 

And maybe she had a point about her record being clean, but she certainly didn’t involve herself with a group that would suggest she was innocent at all.  Akiva felt like even if she “only” married a death eater, it meant she supported them and she was just as guilty.  After all, it was the silent or supportive who allowed things to happen.  With a strong enough push against, terrible things might not have happened, but people didn’t consider themselves responsible if they didn’t hold the wand to a neck, pull a switch, or actually fight, they were innocent.  In Akiva’s mind, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

“It might not be on an official record, but people know,” she pointed out, “and they keep it in mind.  You might not have flicked the wand, but you certainly didn’t stop it either,” she frowned, looking down at Rocio in the most disgusted manner she could.  It wasn’t very good, considering she didn’t have the emotion very often, but it was condescending.

“There are many things that do not go on records but which people know and keep in mind.” The threat came out like a hiss in Rocio’s soft tones. “If I did not stop it, believe me I was justified in my lack of motivation to do so.” She really did not like Akiva Katz, and would actually have felt even better about supporting the movement had the self-righteous blonde witch died in the battle. Then again, not every movement could be perfect and so she would simply have to accept things as they were. Besides, no one was sitting around moaning about pureblood rights, now were they? No. It was all about muggleborns. So what if pureblood rights were denied? That was their philosophy.

They believed they had the right to do as they pleased with everyone around them. They could take the spoils of their war and simply forget that another class existed. They were delusional if they honestly believed that they could just forget about the pureblood problem, like it would just go away because of a little defeated. Did they forget what they had been through? Were there not many of them still standing after everything that had happened. Last time she checked, there were.

Katz did have some spirit in her, however, and all Ro wanted to do was break that and make her cry. Though she was not very intimidating at all she supposed, there was not much she could do to Katz at this point to make her upset. Perhaps she would have to send forth others, people who were of her mindset, who believed that muggleborns should shut their mouths and listen to their superiors, watching as they had their wands snapped right in their faces, or better yet, forcefully taken and residing in the hands of their new pureblooded owners.

((Sorry for the length :/.))