19th of August, 2011
7pm, Sellaphix Apothecary

The Sellaphixes had not seen or heard of their former employee since the explosion Nate had inadvertently caused[1] while running errands for Rafe. Since the explosion that set in motion Rafe's imprisonment, and Nate's debt to Cinead Tawse and eventual Azkaban sentence.

Nate had rolled, and rolled hard on the Sellaphixes.[2]. The Mrs. Sellaphix had battled back, and Nate had got out, found a a new job, and had been laying as low as he could. The entire thing had been a circle of blame and responsibility.

But the Daily Prophet report about the Apothecary being burglarized made him lift his head. It had been almost three years. Rafe was still in prison. Something nagged at Nate.  Something made compelled him to try and help.

He'd walked by a few times over the day, looking for a time when there were no Aurors around. It wasn't until evening came that he felt sure Mrs. Sellaphix was alone. He crossed the street and rapped on the front door, keeping a look out down the street.

1.	14 October 2008 Runespoor Explosion
2.	14 Oct 2008 Long Wand of the Law

Zelda moved aside the drawn window shade just enough to see who'd knock in defiance of the sign. CLOSED, it said. Elixa had gone, the Aurors had gone. Anyone else who had cause to be here would come to the back, so who dared knock?

It was Briggs! With a flash of her wand, the seven locks released the door which flew open.  Zelda charged forward her wand in the man's face.

"Did you do this!" she demanded, driving him off the uneven pavement into the street. "Did you do this!"

In violent temper, she flung a spell at his feet. The cobblestones cracked under his stumbling feet. How dare he approach her! How dare he knock on her door? He'd ruined everything! The last years of her life had been a battle against crumbling decay, and it was his bumbling, his arrogance, and his fecking running mouth that caused it all to come down, caused it to be Zelda and her husband to be the ones to let a legacy slip through their fingers.

"I should kill you!" Another warning shot at his feet.

She came at him like a banshee. He expected her to be angry, but he should have been prepared homicidal.  Nate backpedaled and raised his arms in surrender.

"No! It wasn't - !" Of course he had nothing to do it! What possible motivation did he have to trash the shop?

"Shit! It wasn't me, I swear! Put your wand down!"

Nate Briggs had more than enough wands in his face to last a lifetime, and he was well sick of taking the blame for things he didn't do. For some reason the Sellaphixes only brought him trouble and he swiftly began to regret coming back.

"I'm here to help!"

Zelda stopped her forward progress only when Nate's back was against a wall. She stood at wand's length from the shabby young man with his fashionably mussed hair and muggle jeans. What a consummate failure was Nate Briggs. Oh, she'd been plenty fond of him in the past. He got on with the boys, was good with customers. He'd done the job, he'd done it well, and he was trustworthy. He knew how to be discreet. Right up until he wasn't. He made a mistake the Sellaphixes were always careful to avoid, and that was falling in with the wrong crowd.

None of this would have happened if -

"I'm here to help!"

Zelda's eyes grew wide. Wrong. Answer. 

"You lying - !"

She closed on him, pulling her wand arm back to turn him into something unnatural, but before she could her left arm shot out and snatched at his throat. Her grip was vice tight. Zelda's face was almost as shocked as Nate's! Her ears started ringing and no amount of willpower was enough to stop her arm from strangling him.

She gasped from the effort and pain. "I can't!"

Nate struggled against Zelda's iron grip on his throat, unable to breathe. He pried at her hand, clawed at her fingers but the small witch's strength was insurmountable. He couldn't even move from the wall; his shoes scraped futilely on the ground.

Zelda Sellaphix was going to kill him. This was it. Of all the people he'd pissed off, it would be Mrs. Sellaphix who ended him. He knew there was only a few more seconds before he'd start losing consciousness, and if she didn't let go after that, it would be only minutes until he was dead. That thought and two others filled his mind: How and Why? 

His vision started to go and he felt strength leaving his arms. And then suddenly he was free. She'd let go.  He fell to the ground, gasping and coughing. He scrambled away backwards and found his wand in his jacket, but couldn't cast anything.

Zelda had watched in horror as she began to see the life draining out of Nate's eyes. This wasn't happening! She'd said it - that she wanted to kill him - but she hadn't meant it. She knew now, even as she did it, that she didn't have the capacity to murder. But her cold, numb arm had other ideas. And the ringing in hear head - it was all beginning to make horrific sense.

Tears streamed down her face as she strained to release him - to release herself! And suddenly? It ended. She stumbled backwards clutching her left arm to her chest.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she breathed. "It wasn't - it wasn't me. I didn't do this...!"

The commotion had woken Knockturn Alley. There were people on the street who'd doubtless seen what happened, faces peering out from dark nooks. Without another word, Zelda turned and ran back into the Apothecary, slammed the door, and locked the seven locks.

Nate watched in confusion as Zelda didn't come for him again, as she backed away like she'd seen a ghost. People were watching now, and he slowly got to his feet. She disappeared into the shop and all the lights went out.

Nothing about any of this made sense. It was like she was possessed. But he wasn't going to follow her, that was for sure, and neither was he going to wait around here. Nate took a deep breath, imagined a safe place, and Apparated.

fin