Finally, escape from hell the Hall.

Raine Almasy pushed past the velvet curtains into their private box, her dark dress trailing in the wake of an increasingly leisurely pace. The space was empty and she exhaled a sigh of relief, laying a hand on the back of the closest chair. Aunt Ira might have been perfectly at ease amongst Ministers, politicians and the occasional  Department Head- she wasn't quite as practiced in social graces. Hogwarts did not constitute the most ideal of training grounds for such things.

"My kingdom for a bed..." the red head glanced across the balcony towards the Stall seat, which were gradually filling up as guests made their way to the main theater for tonight's Opera. Merlin.

The entire affair had been weeks in the planning- to them it was one night, to Raine it had been day after day of watching her aunt disappear into the city center for preparations. To think the end was only one performance away. Still standing at the entrance, the young witch glanced over her shoulder at the sound of muffled footsteps from behind.

"Good evening?" she called, shoulders straining back into a more decorous posture- a fragile imitation of her more striking relation.

The opera was an event that Mihai had attended with his daughter in the hopes that they could have some bonding time. As soon as he had recognized Ira and someone he assumed was her daughter, he knew that wasn’t the case. He and the liaison had quite a history-- he had once been assigned to oblivate her memory, and they had run into each other on multiple occasions. None of them had been pleasant. Both of them had received injuries from the other, and duels had usually ended with one of them escaping.

And it seemed that she had a daughter, a daughter she took to public outings. While Ira chatted with ministry officials and Juni chatted with some classmates she had seen, Mihai slipped into the box and stood next to Raine. When Ira walked in, he would be sending a message. A message that he knew her weak spot. He knew who would potentially put Ira in a vulnerable situation. While he would never do anything to hurt Ira’s daughter, a silent threat could do wonders.

“Good evening.” He replied, hints of a European Portuguese accent slipping through. “Do you mind if I stay in here for a bit? It’s crowded, and there are some people out there I’d rather not talk to about--” he groaned, “Politics. I’m sure you understand.” These sorts of affairs were chock full of socialites and politicians trying to make their way up by schmoozing. It was so dreary and boring after a while.

“I don’t believe we’ve met. My name is Mihai Zamperia. I’m an old friend of Ira’s.” Mihai gave Raine a charming smile. "It seems like she's busy right now." 

The wizard who came slipping through the velvet curtains was not one who she expected or recognized.

Raine took in his general appearance, the markedly foreign accent, a sort of charm that she couldn't place- and her frown of surprise only dissolved once he revealed that he was indeed a friend of her aunt. Well... aunt Ira did get to know all manners of people in her capacity as a patron of arts. And wasn't his name familiar? Zamperia?

"I understand your plight completely," she executed a vague, graceful curtsy. "It was my design in coming here as well..." the young witch smiled, shedding an inch of the propriety she had fostered in the Hall. None of that was necessary here. "Politics simply isn't my game."

Unless of course they had taken to duelling with each other at the Wizengamot or at tea parties. Still, she considered the gentleman warily and with a reserved form of scrutiny that the elder Almasy might have commended.

"It isn't often that I have the chance of meeting one of my aunt's old friends." Raine smiled faintly. "We don't discuss Moscow now that her home is he-- oh!" she stopped abruptly as the man's name finally struck a note. "Zamperia. Are you Juni's father? I'm terribly sorry. Raine Almasy-" a hand was offered. "I attend Hogwarts with your daughter."

Not that she socialized much with the fourth year but Raine knew more about Ravenclaws than she typically let on. It had been her sister's house, once upon a time after all. Many classmates had been spotted across the evening - Schlawkward, Whitman, Strellie - but she didn't expect this.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Miss Almasy.”He made a mental note to remember her name. Raine. She seemed sweet, but not sweet enough to keep him from using her against Ira. Although Raine wasn’t Ira’s daughter, she was her niece. This was an extravagant event, and her attendance with Ira instead of some other person indicated to Mihai that Raine was of importance.

 Mihai shook her hand gently. He hesitated to say that yes, he was Juni’s father—but he had attended the ball with her. Zamperia wasn’t exactly a common last name—and his brother hadn’t had any children. “Yes, I am Juni’s father.” He replied kindly. “Are you in—ah—what is it called?” His hand twitched slightly as he thought of the particular word. “Are you in Ravenclaw with her?” He had attended Beauxbatons, so the Hogwarts Houses were always a bit difficult for him to remember. He understood the concept, but none of them had seemed too important until his daughter attended school.

Even then, they weren’t important to him unless it was her house.

“Don’t be sorry.” He replied, twisting her words around in a teasing manner. “Being her father isn’t that awful.” Mihai looked around, “Juni is here somewhere. This was supposed to be a father-daughter date, but… I believe she ran into one of her classmates. I don’t want to embarrass her too much.” He didn’t even have to try to embarrass her! Usually, he thought it was best to keep his distance when she was socializing with her friends. Plus, he had the whole rest of the evening to spend time with her.

The polite smile widened at his apparent lack of familiarity with the houses.

"Gryffindor, actually..." a glint of lioness courage glimmered in her eye. "Where dwell the brave at heart, or so we like to tell ourselves." It was easier to have a sense of humour about it when one wasn't at Hogwarts, where house loyalties were a much stronger presence.

It mattered less at the Opera House that Schlawkward and Zamperia were ravens or Theo a venomous reptile.

Raine laughed, before she could stop herself, at the wizard's quip about being Juni's father- displaying a disposition that broke any resemblance to her aunt. Considering the crowd this evening she rather expected that parents would be embarrassed by their children and not the reverse.

"You exaggerate," the redhead asserted in good humour. "I'm sure that she's proud to have a father with such good taste. Only the culturally astute come to attend tyotia's[1] stagings." Or at least as far as she knew; such productions were entertaining but this was a social realm still new to her. Even if she could talk a fine game.

The influx of audience members was becoming more apparent now, a steadily rising murmur of conversation drifting up from the Stalls while witches and wizards went passing by outside the boxes. Aunt Ira would soon be up - at least she hoped - and introductions to the other box guests wouldn't have to be handled alone.

"It should be an excellent initiation into the arts," she commented with a glance over the balcony at the stage; red curtains patient. "I didn't realize that Juni was interested. My extracurricular activities aren't... relevant." Raine looked back at Mihai with a wry expression. "I'm more intrigued by law enforcement, to my aunt's dismay. What is it that you do, if I might ask?"

1.	Russian for aunt.

"Mister Zamperia," a droll voice slithered into the box as the veil parted. "Is in no particular business of consequence."

Ira was a dark, towering figure on spindly heels. The veil fell back into place behind her and she considered the vaguely bemused expression on her niece's face before smiling coldly at the wizard who had so slyly asserted himself into their acquaintanceship. A threat, was it?

"Mihai," she moved seamlessly to Reinka's side, a thin hand slipping across the girl's shoulders. There was nothing protective about the gesture. "I did not think you would come to one of my affairs but it is good to see you. And your daughter, of course." The gleam in her eye hardened; the civility in her tone was strained. A threat of losing her niece was not large but his own child- a different question. "That was her in the Hall, da? They grow up so quickly."

Why, some of them were closer to death's door than they might realize.

A hush was gradually falling across the theater now and Ira looked away from her unexpected guest. The performance was due to begin. Her gaze returned to Mihai, intelligent and sharp.

"Our Opera begins soon. You and your daughter must stay to watch with us- I insist. An usher will be sent for her." Without her having to indicate, the young man standing at the entrance disappeared to fulfil the command and Ira nodded once at the wizard. "If you will excuse me now."

The witch turned her back to the box occupants, proceeding to the edge of the balcony where she would have the pleasure of opening the stage curtains for this evening's events.

Kurby had had years of practice at sneaking away from formal events.  Years ago, he'd discovered that the trick wasn't to leave at the expected time -- the end of a speech, the start of intermission -- but just afterwards, once attention was focused on the unfolding events again.  His grandmother would surely check to make certain that he was in his seat once the Opera resumed, but once she presumably settled in to watch the second act, he could sneak away in good faith and hurry off with Amherst to get the bloody hell out of anything resembling formal wear.

The first act had been painful, but not horribly painful.  Sure, there were other people in the box, but he'd shown up late enough that he'd managed to enjoy any small talk, and a quick dash to the bar during intermission meant that he once again had a drink in hand.  Excessive alcohol, expensive or not, was surely the best strategy for enjoying this monotonous, predictable drudgery of an opera.  If he had to sit through one more melodramatic saccharine solo, Kurby thought his eyes might roll out of his head.

He'd returned to his seat with a champagne glass in each hand, and had just settled into it when the curtains had begun to pull apart again.  Kurby had barely paid attention -- they were probably resetting the stage or something -- until the loud crack, as loud as an apparition, got his attention.

The werewolf hunter started, his jaw locking as he stared down at the stage.  Those bodies swinging -- they couldn't possibly be -- he was already out of his seat by the time the screams started, depositing the champagne glasses clumsily back on the floor as he quickly reclaimed his feet.

Sat at the corner closest to the stage, Raine had not the opportunity during the performance to converse with her aunt or any of the other attendees. It was a dull position to occupy- she had after all known about the Opera's plot for quite some time now. One of the bard's happier tales.

"It looks much more impressive in full costume," the redhead observed when her aunt had returned from speaking with one of the other patrons over intermission. "Especially that headdress."

Lowering herself into the seat, Aunt Ira nodded agreeably- she nursed a flute of champagne in both hands. It had obviously not seen so much as the skin of her lips and like much of her relative's lifestyle, this too was only for show.

"Da, I thought you would enjoy that. They were imported fr-" a sharp intake of breath interrupted the elucidation and Raine frowned, glancing about to follow the focus of attention. Oh for Merlin's sake! Some fool had gone and pulled up the curtains too early!

Crack, the sound brought both women to their feet and the glass of champagne went tumbling to the carpeted floors. Raine's mouth dried up at the very sight of swaying corpses- and just before that tide of screams, she heard more glasses spilling over from behind. It took an effort to look away from the sight.

Aunt Ira was clearly in shock but there wasn't time for that.

"Excuse me, Mister Bagnold. Backstage." Raine twisted around, heels already kicked off as she brusquely moved down the short aisle. "I can't close the curtains from here, they're enchanted against that sort of thing."[1] As any wizarding stage is. A stronger wizard might be able to break it, with the right charm- though she wondered as to why none of the crew had yet acted.

Her wondering hid a possibility that perhaps the responsible stagehands were also dead.

1.	Exit Raine Almasy.

Hell.  Kurby would have delivered a collection of swears that were definitely not appropriate considering the night's expectations for higher culture, but he managed to bite his tongue just barely in time.  Ripples had begun to spread through the theater -- the first scream, voices raising, shouts and cries and a growing, panicky clamor.  He risked a look back at the stage, where the bleeding curtains still hadn't been closed; the bodies hung there, swaying and suspended by their necks for all the world to see.

But he'd be damned if he'd let some kid be the coolest head in the lot.  Kurby gaped after her for a moment, and then looked down at his twin champagne glasses, considering them for a beat too long.  Scowling, he finished one in a quick gulp, and then fumbled the other one aside, setting it down on the floor near the railing.  Drawing his wand, and letting loose a string of profanity under his breath that had no place in polite company, he hurried after the girl.

Despite it all -- despite the gruesome scene on the stage below, and the panic that was spreading throughout the Royal Opera House -- he couldn't help feeling the tiniest bit relieved that at least now there was no chance that he'd have to sit through the second act.