October 9, 2011 @ 2am; Saturday night
The Diagon Alley flat of Virgil Carstairs, Nicholas Bevans, and Ariadne Gamp

Some people never learn, thought the figure crouched at the door leading in from the balcony. The young tenants had only a simple lock on the door that could have been picked with a blunted fork. He'd expected just a little more considering who dwelled within - over-achieving youthful nits with fresh Ministry gigs, he was to understand. All those NEWTs and they left their balcony open. Tsk tsk. What were they teaching at Hogwarts these days?

Nate, being smarter and prettier than most people, was through in a spell.

Click, said the latch.

He'd cast upon himself an obscuring spell[1], light passing through him as if through still water. In the dark, his form would be nearly invisible save perhaps a fluctuating edge to his silhouette - that and he'd still have use of magic. Upon his feet was a sound-muffling enchantment, just in case. Thus concealed, he began picking deftly through the flat with both wand and fingers. And he wasn't neat about it. Drawers slid open and their contents levitated up and out for full view.[2] Golden galleons and other apparent valuables were slipped into enchanted pockets. In his wake, a sea of gently floating jetsam.

Some locked cabinets only rattled and so Nate saw to them personally, picking them open and ejecting the contents for his perusal. He worked his way through the kitchen area then through shelves and tables in the main room. He smirked. He could smell gillyweed. Maybe he'd find their stash.

"Your payment is anything you find, except what we spoke about," so said his employer. Gamp and Carstairs were surnames names enough for the ex-con to guess it'd be worth his while.  That, and the break from the numbing tedium of life. And, he wouldn't deny, a tendency towards self-destruction born from entitled misanthropy. It was a living.

First priority was the Object, which was meant to be Gamp's. He tried the first bedroom near the kitchen[3].  It clicked open.

1.	Obscuring Enchantment
2.	Mass Levitation
3.	Ariadne's. Floor Plan

Clues in the first bedroom confirmed it was for the only witch in the flat, ergo the Gamp. It didn't take must equivocation for Nathan to feel justified rifling through her belongings, but as he did he realized that she wasn't hoarding anything interesting.  He used the same strategy as he had before: checking the door for any wards, closing it behind him, and levitating everything out of drawers, cabinets, boxes, and bags for easy perusing.

He tried to make quick work of a very thorough search. While his pilfering spell worked its magic revealed the easy-to-find odds and ends, Nate searched for anything better hidden. He tested for loose floorboards or wiggly bricks. With a wave of his wand, the books floated off the shelf and fluttered open like gently rustling blooming flowers. All that fell were a few photos and clippings. He ran his fingers over window sills for a hidden key, he lifted the mattress and found only a journal. Under a bed he found a box that refused to unlock. He couldn't be sure, but it was likely enough that it held what he'd been sent to find.

On his way out, he plucked a handful of golden Galleons out of the air, and inspected an interesting looking magical device he didn't recognize - worth taking, he decided.

Nate was quiet as he moved back out to the main common area and crept along the wall, past a bathroom, to a second bedroom.[1].

He tried the knob. It turned. He opened it slowly and winced as it squeaked. However, nothing immediately stirred, so he went on with it.  He cast the mass levitation charm again, and drawers, cabinets and boxes all released their contents into the air. Clothes came out of wardrobes, records out of sleeves, books off shelves, cash out of pockets.

Then a noise not of his making. Nate froze in the relative dark, his blurry form partially illuminated by light from the street. Shit, there was someone else in the room. He searched his memory for if he'd actually accoutned for all three flatmates being out - had he actually seen them all leave? Who was this sorry lag-a-bed not out having a drink?

1.

Nick's

Nicholas groaned as he opened his eyes.  It was dark and obviously way too early.  He waved his hand at his clock and it lit up.  And lit up a handful of sickles floating in the air.  Why were they floating?  Nicholas blinked a few times, trying to decide if he was still asleep or not.  He pinched himself, and it hurt and he didn't wake up.  Or he was awake.

He sat up and looked around grabbing for his wand.  "What the hell?"  Everything was in the air.  Which made no sense.  That had never happened before.  "Lumos," he swept the room with his wand, money, records, clothes, seemingly everything that had been stored away in his room was floating around the room like an out of control charms class.  All of it casting weird shadows that almost hid the open door.

It had definitely been closed.  "Who's there?  Virgil, I get it I pissed you off but really."

"Oh, shit."  Nate hissed as the kid cast around with a lit wand. He only had a few seconds to decide his next move. Which kid was this? The boys were both Ministry punks, one of them was Mysteries the other Obliviator. Either scenario meant they likely had more wand training that the average just-out-of-school greenwand. Who knows what spell he could manage to pop off? A spell fight was exactly what Nate didn't want - adding assault to burglary would bring more heat than he preferred. But if the kid even managed a simple Body Bind, Nate was screwed.

Sorry, ye little shit, Nate thought.

With a flick of his wrist, he sent every object levitating flying at the occupant. Then, quick as he could: Tenebris Somnus[1]. He'd aimed at the light of the wand, and if he struck true, the poor kid would be out the rest of the night.

1.	Sleeping Charm - Tenebris Somnus

Nicholas got hit by a book and then a record and then everything else he owned was flying at him.  "Immobulus," he shouted.  He had no idea what was going on, but everything froze in the air, only for him to be hit by something else.  He had a moment to comprehend that he'd been hit by a spell before he was back asleep.

A deep sleep that even the nightmares he was pulled into couldn't wake him from.

The kid managed to get a spell off before going unconscious, and Nate's right leg went suddenly cold, stiff, and numb. He lost is balance and fell forward hard on his hands and elbows. His wand skittered away; the spell that had been concealing him dissipated, and anything still left hovering dropped to the ground making too much noise. (Everything he'd left afloat in the first bedroom and living area also made a nasty clatter.)

He bit his tongue. This was not going well, this was not going well. The whole point was to rob an empty flat, not get into it with the resident. Nate groped for the wand, beginning to panic. He hadn't seen if he'd knocked the kid out.

Nate got his wand and aimed it at his immobilized leg. "Finite Incantatum."  Oh, thank Merlin it worked. As feeling and function came back to his leg, he noticed there was no movement from the bed. He checked on its occupier.

Out like a light, covered in his own belongings. "Little arsehole," he grumbled.

But it was time to finish his business and begone. He limped out of the bedroom, crossed the living area to the last bedroom (because he couldn't leave well enough alone), and worked on the wards on the door. He did here,[1] as he'd done in the other two, levitating all there was to grab.

He was quicker this time, going straight for the coin, some potions reagents he knew pulled a nice knut, and huh. A bloody violin. Why the hell not? Nate tucked it back in its floating case, let everything else in the room drop to the ground, and made his exit out the way he came.

Exit Nathan

1.	Virgil's room

Virgil had allowed a few drinks to be pushed in his direction, having gone to see a play and spent the night out with some of the actors from Stardust. Life wasn't a complete disaster: the red wine was good, autumn rain was soft, Cepheus Gamp did not hate him, and a cosy warm bed awaited him at home. No, he thought as he climbed up the stairs to their flat on the floor above, life wasn't too bad at all.

            "Mreow?"

Dante was a spot of white fur against the dark of the living room, coming out from underneath one of the kitchen chairs. Virgil switched on the lights and smiled drunkedly at his cat. "Hello o'sweet poet," he addressed her grandly, "did Nick feed you? Hmm?" she rubbed up against his trouser leg affectionately.

Too affectionately, like when she got trapped in his trunk. He blinked. All of their stuff was on the floor. Some of their stuff. He picked up Dante, holding her in his arms and going straight to Bevans' room. Knocking didn't incite a response - it never did anyway - so he tried the handle.

"Nick?" Virgil turned on the light with his free hand. All of his flatmate's stuff was amassed on the bed, the room more of a mess than you'd expect. He approached the mattress, running a hand through Dante's pale fur as he eyed the sleeping form.

Dreaming. Didn't even need to reach out to sense that it was a nightmare: glimpses of glossy dark walls, walls now familiar to him as an Unspeakable-in-Training. He was still a little annoyed about Monday afternoon[1] and it would be tempting to let Nick suffer in his own little hell like he'd done with Moira[2] once. But that had been different and he needed to know what had happened here anyway.

Virgil reached for his wand, Dante hopping out of his arms and climbing on to his shoulder instead. He cast the strongest waking charm he could think of, knowing it would be an unpleasant jolt awake but opting for effectiveness.

"Hey," he spoke loudly, still too tipsy to control his volume very well. "Oi, Nick, wake up! Have we been bloody robbed?"

1.	Swimming in These Empty Towns - 3rd Oct
2.	All the stars come down to my aid - 20th Aug

[M] For language

Nicholas was alone in a dark room that he'd seen in far too many nightmares and soaked in blood.  He knew it was a nightmare.  It had to be a nightmare. That didn't stop the panic.  Because it felt too real. And nothing that he tried to do to wake up were working. He'd find the bodies of his friends next. And then Gamp would attack.  Not that that had ever happened in real life. But since when had that stopped nightmares.

"Oi, Nick, wake up! Have we been bloody robbed?"

He shot up, grabbing his wand that was still laying next to his hand on the bed, he pointed it at the person standing in his room, "Expulso! Fuck!" He jerked his arm sideways as he finally recognized Virgil standing in front of him with Dante.

            "Expulso! Fuck!"

Virgil ducked, somewhat unnecessarily as his flatmate forced his aim aside. He made a mental note to pry a wand out of an unconscious person's hand should circumstances repeat themselves. Dante was squirming in his arms - she hissed at Nick and leapt down to the floor to leave the room with her fluffy white tail held up high. An offended princess.

Nearly being hexed had cut through Virgil's drunkedness. It didn't look like anything had actually happened to Nick. Reaching out throughout the flat with his Legilimency told him there were no other minds in the vicinity.

"Is that a yes? I'm going to check my room," he muttered and left the other wizard to recover in private, adding a quick: "Don't think Ari is home yet," over his shoulder.

They had definitely been robbed. Look at the state of this place! Merlin, he had to get better wards. Perhaps Edgar could ask a favour of uncle Sol. A chill crept up Virgil's spine as he unzipped his jacket, tossing it on one of the bean bags. He tried not to imagine what he would have done or felt if a stranger had entered his room whilst he was sleeping.

It left him with a cold, hard feeling in his stomach. He pushed open his bedroom door.

"Sorry," Nicholas muttered as he wiped the tears off his face.  He didn't understand why this shit kept happening to him.  In school.  At his home.  What was next?  At work.  At least that would make sense.  "What?  I don't know what happened.  I—there was someone in my room—I thought it was you—pay back for—my stuff was just," he scrambled out of his bed.

Everything that hadn't fallen to the floor when he got out of bed followed when he yanked the blanket off to wrap around himself.  Partially to keep himself warm since he didn't see a shirt to grab, and partially so that Virgil wouldn't see him practically shaking.  The nightmare was bad enough, the memories it brought back were worse, and there had been someone in his room, who'd knocked him out and could have done a whole lot more than put him to sleep. The thought crossed his mind that at least he hadn't woken up in another dark room.  But it didn't make him feel any better.

He walked out into the living room, other than the fact that all the stuff hadn't been sent flying at someone, it looked like his room. His bare feet slapped the floor as he walked over to Virgil. He wiped his face again.  "I woke up and all my stuff was just floating," Nicholas said unsteadily.  "I couldn't see anyone.  And then my stuff flew at me.  I didn't see the curse but," he paused and sniffed.  "I was trapped in that fucking room... I'm sorry." 

He leaned his head against the cool wall.  "I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have..."  Shouldn't have fired a curse at him.  Shouldn't have let him get away.  Shouldn't have left the damn silencing charm that kept his room shut off from the flat. For thinking it was Virgil in the first place.  Nicholas couldn't even decide what he was sorry for.  All of it. None of it.  Other things.

"I'm just sorry."

As soon as he entered, one of his crystal lights sprang to life and bathed the room in its golden yellow glow. Virgil stood at the doorway and observed the disarray of his usually tidy bedroom. It certainly looked like someone had used a floating charm to dredge out his belongings and let them drop to the floor right away. His trunk, locked with a DMLE safety lock[1] beneath his record player and cosmetics, appeared untouched. Fine. That was where he kept most of his proper valuables and a larger stockpile of galleons for emergencies.

The spare coin box and its contents were gone, as were some of the crystal potion bottles. Beatrice Bear, his childhood teddy bear, was still on the peach fruit patterned bedsheets. 

Nick was approaching from behind, talking some nonsense, which was when Virgil realised with a start that his violin was missing. Edgar's old violin. The violin he had learned to play on (barely, fingers too small and slender and hesitant at the time), the one he sometimes fell asleep caressing after composing lovelorn tunes. It smelled of wood polish, ivory, old books.

            "I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have..." his flatmate reminded Virgil of his presence and the young Unspeakable looked away from the empty spot on the shelf. There had been tears on Nick's face, genuine contrition and fear. Why did he have to be so mawkish about this? "I'm just sorry."

"It's not your bloody fault we were robbed," Virgil snapped impatiently and stepped further into his room to quickly check on his wardrobe - perhaps their robber didn't know much about clothes, as all the good pieces were still here. "Whoever the fucker was, he's not done a thorough job. My violin isn't even worth that much on the market." Although sentimental value was priceless to him.

A quick affair, it must have been, nothing specific or dangerous seemed to have been taken. Unless...Ari.

"Pour yourself a drink," he told Nick brusquely as he swept past him out of the bedroom with a distracted pat on the shoulder. His owl Odysseus should be perched on the balcony at this hour.  "Or light a joint, whatever. I'm going to owl level two and we should see what Ari says, whenever she gets back."

1.	Formerly the property of Solomon Carstairs

Nicholas turned as Virgil pushed past him.  His pat was anything but reassuring and Nicholas hated feeling helpless and actually attacked.  Even if he was un-injured this time.  Thank Merlin he hadn't woken up to... No he wasn't going to go down that road.  He wasn't going to think about the kidnapping. Virgil was already sending an owl, there wasn't anything else to do but calm down.

He sniffed loudly clearing his nose as he wiped his eyes again on the blanket.  He didn't want to look like he'd been bawling like a child when level two arrived.  He had to work with those people after all.

He made his way carefully over to the kitchen. Hopefully the whiskey was still there.  It was probably a terrible idea, but it also seemed like a great one too.  Which was how things had gotten out of control before.  It pulled the whiskey down and a glass and poured until the glass was nearly overflowing.  He took a drink, picked up the bottle and walked over to the sofa.

He sat the bottle down and climbed on to the sofa.  He pulled his blanket tight around him and sipped on the whiskey.

Zora Roh was on the late shift. She didn't mind. Iona was out of town, Waverley was up at school and she could listen to the WWN in the bullpen.

"Roh, one for you. Just a robbery. MLE's tied up. You want?"

"That's alright. On it."

She collected the information and after not too much longer. she was knocking on the door of one of the lofts.

"MLE," she declared. There weren't any visible signs of a break-in at this entrance. Could have been sneaky, got in another way, had their own 'key'. This wasn't an in progress, so there was no reason to come in cracking.

After a bit, a young wizard - wiry, blonde, and looking a bit ill - answered. He was a bit older than her daughter, looked like. She looked past him.

"I'm Auror Roh. You reported a break-in?"

After sending his owl off to the Ministry, Virgil dragged his feet to the kitchen so that he could make some tea. A nice mild brew to sober him up before MLE arrived and started asking questions that would need clear, precise answers. He considered warning Nick not to get too drunk but if whisky was what it took to stop the other wizard from spewing his feelings everywhere, it was best to leave him to it.

Someone was knocking at their flat by the time Virgil had managed two cups of ceylon and three cigarettes. He was feeling awake in spite of his physical tiredness. Bearing his wand, he answered the door.

             "I'm Auror Roh. You reported a break-in?"

"Do come in, auror." Virgil smiled dryly at her and stepped aside with a little bow. "Virgil Carstairs. I arrived home twenty minutes ago to find our rooms in this state," he explained right away as he showed her in with a nod at Nick. "Bevans here claims to have witnessed the burglar in his room before being knocked out."

Dante, his cat, slipped out of his bedroom to curiously observe their visitor. Virgil poured himself another cup of tea as he spoke. "Our third flatmate, Ariadne Gamp, isn't back yet. Several belongings have gone missing."