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~12pm

Outfit

Moira Randall needed a break.  The incident at St. Mungo’s with the Runespoor eggs had shaken her more then she cared to admit, especially since as of late something was clearly affecting her magic.  Just that morning she had sent a teapot flying across Marcus’ kitchen when she attempted to simply warm up the water.  Something was wrong, and she didn’t want to admit to that.  It had started in the middle of the month and slowly it was growing progressively worse.  She had taken two weeks off following the Runespoor mess and she found herself worrying that she wouldn’t be returning if things didn’t improve.  She couldn’t put patients at risk…but it meant admitting something was terribly wrong.

Of course it didn’t help that after the whole mess the level of protecting the Auror’s office kept on her had increased.  She hadn’t had much say in the matter, and she knew it was for her own good.  Still, she hated the feeling of needing a ‘babysitter’ almost as much as she hated having the press follow her around.

So, she had decided that morning that she was dragging her cousin out to the winter festival in Hogsmeade for a little fresh air and a chance to just disappear among the crowd.  Of course she had her usual pair of Auror’s tailing her somewhere in the distance, since apparently there was no escaping them now.  At least no one seemed to take too much notice of her, and there were no members of the press snapping her picture.  No one had expected her here and she could just blend in a bit it seemed.

Glancing at Nicola she said, “There’s an ice sculpture at one, but I thought maybe we could avoid it.  I wouldn’t mind just looking at the vender stands a bit or maybe ice skating…”  Tucking her hair behind her left ear she added, “I really appreciate you letting me drag you out today.  I just needed a little company.”

Paul Martin had only been an Auror for two months and now he had been given a very important and high profile job, well he and another Auror who was in charge of the whole thing. Paul and his boss had been tasked with keeping an eye on Moira Randall, the finance of the Minister of Magic, and to a lesser extent her cousin, who had recently been realsed from prison. He knew that if a choice had to be made Moira would be the one they had to protect but both Paul and his superior wanted both woman to get away saftley. They were visitng the Hogwarts festival, and Paul was not happy she was in a place with so many people, however Moira was more than happy to blend in with the crowd. Paul had split up from his superior as they had lost the girl's a few minutes ago. Paul knew Moira better than his superior as he had been injured and ended up in Moira's department at Mungo's Hospital where she had fixed him, which was the reason he had volunteered for the job.

He sped up through the crowds to find the two woman he was meant to be protecting meaning he was saying sorry with every second breath after bumping into people over and over again. He was unsure if she had ditched them on purpose or not be he was rather annoyed at himself for losing her, she was a healer for goodness sake not some sort of female James Bond.

It took him about five minutes before he saw the two woman, or their heads in the distance, he saw that dozens of people were between him and the two girl's and he really wanted to ask her why she had left them. He decided to, for the first time, use his Animagus form for the benefit of his Auror profesion. He stopped in the crowd for a second and concentrated before he shrunk from his 6'' to about 7 inches tall. He had a small, but relativley, long bushy tail, he had two brown stripes running down his back, four legs, two beedy eyes and pointy ears. He had transformed into a Sugar Glider. In this form he was easily able to manouver between the crowd.

He lept from the floor onto one Wizards robes and climbed up them to his shoulder. As he tried to bat him from his shoulder Paul jumped to Witches head and kept going like this until he was within jumping distance of the two woman. He lept from an elderly Wizard, who had noticed him, and unfurled his membranes tucked under his shoulders and glided to the floor beside the two woman and transformed. "Moira, you scared us. Did you give us the slip on purpose?"

It was crowded and she hadn’t been paying attention to her two shadows.  They were supposed to be the professionals and she needed a day to simply be, to live her life on her terms.  This whole thing was getting out of hand, but she had even less say it seemed in having the Aurors around as she did in whether or not the press was constantly hounding her.  She was quite certain Nicola was even less thrilled about it their ‘company.’

When Paul appeared out of no where next to her she jumped, her heart suddenly pounding in her chest and it had taken all her strength not to let out a scream.  She liked Paul and really she had been lucky when they assigned him and his boss to her, but she still looked over with a slight glare.

He had been a few years behind her at Hogwarts, but from the same house.  She hadn’t seen him after graduation until he ended in her care at St. Mungo’s after a rather nasty encounter with Hippogriff.  They got along pretty well, but the whole idea of having no privacy was truly starting to get to her…She knew it came with the territory, but accepting that this was now her life was more difficult then she had imagined.

“Merlin…don’t do that!” she scolded as gently as possible, dropping the hand that had flown to her racing heart back to her side as she stopped and faced him.  She reminded herself that he was just doing his job as she continued, I didn’t give you the slip…but don’t tempt me.  I think the only danger I’m in at the moment is dying from fright.”

She took a deep breath, her features softening a bit and she glanced over at her cousin before adding, “Look, Paul…I appreciate you and your boss trying to keep me an eye on me, but I just need a little space today to clear my head and spend some time with my cousin.  We’ll try to make sure we stay where you can see us, but we’re fine, really.”

(OOC: I would say let's give Mel a chance to post with Nicola before we go too far.)

It was her first Christmas out of prison. Her first Christmas at home without William Tawse to spend it with. Nicola had enjoyed those Christmases, alone in the posh flat with her husband, enjoying the lavish gifts each had given the other with the money they’d earned from the illegal smuggling. But this one Nicola had been dragged to a ‘family’ dinner. Before the 25th December 2008 Nicola had been under the illusion Azkaban had been hell on earth. After the 25th December, she was quite certain it was in fact dinner with the Randall’s just over a month after being released on a murder charge from Azkaban.

To make matters worse for Nicola, this time Moira had dragged her to the festival in Hogsmeade. That would have been just bearable, being dragged around some cheery little family festival on a freezing cold, icy day with only a few more pounds of fat on her skin than her days in Azkaban. But now, owing to Moira’s new engagement, there were a couple of idiotic, troll brained red robed prats following them.

“I suppose a bit of fresh air isn’t too terrible. Our entourage however...” Nicola muttered as she walked beside Moira. Out of nowhere, the auror suddenly appeared and Nicola’s hand instinctively found the wand, before she knew it, it was pointed at the man daring to come so close so suddenly. It didn’t matter he was an auror, the man was invading their personal space. The ex-azzie had been under the illusion that once she was released from prison she would be left alone, or at least a lot more than before. But they’d sent the fool Fox on her case and now her dammed cousin tried acting like a celebrity with a couple of wand waving bodyguard idiots.

“Merlin forbid...” The youngest Randall sneered. Had they given him the slip on purpose? If only. Nicola gave Moira a knowing look before reluctantly slipping the wand back in her pocket. She didn’t want to leave this auror alone but she didn’t want to end up behind bars again. Oh but he was young and looked like he’d only just become fully fledged. A perfect play thing.

“They’re just afraid I’m going to kill my own cousin, Moira.” Nicola smirked slightly, hooking an arm in Moira’s. “I’d watch your back.”

A grin crossed Paul's lips when he saw Moira's reaction. Many Animagus were upset when they ended up with a small creature, most were hoping for somehting powerful like a lion or bear, but Paul could not be happier with what he got being able to transform into a Sugar Glider, something so small and nimble, helped him to no end. Yes he could cause inteligent and graceful Witches to jump in fright but he knew it could help in a really dangerous situation. Paul was certain his boss would not approve of how he was using his power but he hoped Tamis Raynor would not mind to much. As he became Human again he saw a wand pointing at him. He sniggered he may be younger than the former azkaban prisoner but he had no doubt in his mind he could beat her in a duel, he had developed quite an ego since becoming an Auror but even before that his dueling skill's were great for his age, and even if she was beating him he had another Auror to back him up. Paul looked at the wand for a second before ignoring it completley, and Nicola for that matter. He would protect her if he had to but that did not mean he had to like her at all, and in fact he did not.

Paul decided to ignore Nicola's snide remark, he was above the Slytherin's little games.

"Sorry Moira. I understand you want to spend time with your cousin I am sure she is incredible company." He said as he rolled his eye's. Paul brushed of some dirt from his red robe before he continued. "I have a job to do, I do not want you...or your cousin getting hurt on my watch. I know you can look after yourself Moira but you are a target now. Please do not make me say I told you so."

Paul then began to step back into the crowd when he heard Nicola and stopped. "Yea, we are totally petrefied of your incredible command of the Dark Arts." He said laughing as he blended in with the rest of the Hogsmede crowd and met up with his boss. His boss was 57 year old and past his best he admitted himself he was not the best Duelist and the Auror office used him mainly for infiltration task's and the like. Usually he found out the information and they sent in more powerful Wizard's. To Paul that sounded like agony, he wanted to be on the front line day and night non stop for as long as he was an Auror and even after that. He never wanted to leave the ministry and had plan's to climb the ladder after his Auror day's were over, well if he lived that long Auror's have never been known for their life expectancy.

The only thing that was going to get her killed was ending up between Nicola and Paul when one or both of them had enough of bickering and wands weren’t just being drawn.  Paul was doing his job, she more then understood that.  Given Nicola’s history with the law though she was well aware that her cousin wasn’t exactly thrilled about the company.

“I…yes, thank you,” she said to him, glancing at him apologetically as Nicola linked their arms.

Thankfully Paul slipped back into the crowd leaving them with the illusion of being alone again.  She felt bad that he ended up assigned to her.  It wasn’t his fault she was a target and needed extra protection, and she knew she shouldn’t take it out on him.  Yet there were times her annoyance at not being able to breathe without the Ministry knowing turned on whoever happened to be there at the time.

“He’s really just doing his job,” she said to her cousin.  “I mean…it’s supposedly for my own good I guess.  Anyway, can we not think about them for a little while?  I think I could use an eggnog or something, what do you say?”

Between the mess at St. Mungo’s and the unpredictability of her magic she was a bit of a ball of nerves to begin with.  For one day she just wanted to just be, for things to be a little like they were before.  She loved Marcus…but she knew there were times she hated sacrificing some of her freedoms to be with him.  It was a choice, like everything in life, and she was trying to remind herself that it was all worth it. 

“Better company than an imbecilic gnome with roaring acne and a god complex.” Nicola muttered as she scowled across at the big headed auror. Oh he would learn.

Of course! Because the fact that Nicola had been banished to the notorious prison, in the middle of the cold a vicious sea for murdering one of his own didn’t make this baby law enforcement officer crumble just a tiny bit. Of course Miss Randall had been released from said prison, murder charges dropped. But the mere fact that Auror Fox regularly chased her down for a ‘catch up’ (and not the cup of tea and a sandwich type), demonstrated that this rookie’s department, much to Nicola’s displeasure and inconvenience, didn’t believe in her innocence. However, Nicola didn’t bother to mention this to Eager Ernie Auror. She didn’t really fancy paying much attention to the fact that the moronic troll was even there. Why the hell was Moira so willing to let Wally Wandwaver follow her as if she was under suspicion? Nic didn’t like it. She didn’t like it one bit.

“His ‘job’ is to protect you, Mo. I’ll bet you ten galleons he can’t protect himself from a small girl with a catapult. And he’s possibly the best of the whole retarded lot of them. I doubt it, but it’s possible. Yesterday it was learning to tie his shoelaces in double bows; today it’s stalking the Minister’s fiancée and her apparently murderous relative.” Nic didn’t fancy eggnog, she fancied going home. That wasn’t going to happen, Moira was too stubborn.

“I’d very much appreciate ditching Meryl and Gladys first, Mo.” Nic muttered, returning her wand to her robe pocket. “Those idiots are waiting for me to so much as breathe wrong and give them an excuse to arrest me.” Moira simply had to understand her cousin’s dislike of the law. After all, dear Moira had been led to believe poor little Nicola had been treated very badly by the law.

Paul and Nicola were not getting on very well and to be honest it was probally Paul's fault he did not really think she was innocent and Paul had never believed in second chances, especially when they had come from Azkaban and were now walking around in a public place. Paul saw her place her Wand back in her pocket as Paul moved back into the large crowd not sure what to do except keep his distance and an eye on Moira. Paul decided to keep his wand in his hand incase he needed to use it some time soon. Paul had a strange feeling that Nicola wanted to give him the slip and he was also wondering if he should do something so she would not be able to tell where she was. Paul had two options, a charm to make himself invisible but he had never cast a spell to that affect and was not sure he should do it for the first time in Public. The only other choice was turning into his Animagus form, he decided that would be the best option.

Paul glanced through the crowd to his boss and gave looked at him. He knew as soon as he saw Paul what he was asking. And he nodded giving him his approval.

He moved out of the crowd until he was beside one of the shop's of Hogsmeade, this paticular one sold Cauldron's and Common Potion supplies but nothing special, where he transformed into his Animagus form in seconds he was a small marsupial. The shop he was beside had a waterpipe running down the side of the House from the drains. In his minute size he was able to scurry up the waterpipe up to the thatched roof.

His plan was simple. He would scurry along the thatched roof and spy on the two woman hoping they would not notice them. He could not here them from where he was but he was right alongside the two woman.

Moira couldn’t help smirking just a little at the image that formed in her mind at Nicola’s assessment.  Paul was pleasant enough really, and she didn’t doubt his abilities.  She just wanted to feel like a ‘regular’ person again for five minutes.  No press, no Ministry connection, and no Aurors trailing behind her following her every move.  She had yet to try to explain this feeling to Marcus, but she had a feeling it probably wouldn’t change much of anything even if she did tell him.

She glanced at her cousin weighing her options for a moment.  No one knew she was here.  She hadn’t been scheduled to go to the festival that day; it had merely been a spur of the moment decision when faced with being alone for the day at Marcus’ place with nothing to dwell on but whatever was going on with her magic.  What harm could a few moments of truly being alone do?  It’s not like whoever was trying to set her up was going to be stalking around Hogsmeade on the off chance she might show up.

“For once I think I might be willing to go along with that,” she said softly.  “I mean…There are times I feel like I should be informing then when I need to use the loo in addition to everything else.  It was bad enough when I felt like that Skeeter woman was stalking my every move…this is just getting old.”

She was frustrated and there was no one she could really take it out on.  Whoever had tried to set her up was the one to blame for all of this and she couldn’t express her displeasure to them.  She added, “Of course I’m not exactly sure how we’re going to go about getting a few moments to ourselves.  Seems Paul is very much aware of our every move.”

A silent watcher had observed the quartet from the shadowy rooftops, back alleys, and densely crowded streets of the Winter Festival.  Piercing blue eyes darted between each of the subjects, analyzing them each and sorting them quite easily.  Judging by the way that the two men moved, they were rather obviously Aurors.  Of course the elder one was far more reserved than the eager youth, but when doing surveillance it was still easy enough to discern when others were casting a constant vigil over their surroundings.  As for the women...Nero knew Moira.  They had gone to school together, though that was little more than a vague haze in his clouded and warped mind.  And Nicola...he recognized Nicola.  She was like him.  Though he'd served such a short sentence in Azkaban, he kept rather abreast with those that came and went from those cold, dank, shrieking halls...

Nero moved much like the damaged landscape of his mind...it seemed that while he was there, he was overshadowed, flickering, and fading into nothingness by the darkness his curse.  Unnaturally silent and stealth-like, Nero seemed to flow through his environment.  Nero knew this would be no easy feat, even for one as experienced and cunning as himself.  Luckily, remaining undetected was perhaps his strongest suit.  These would hopefully make up for the shortcomings of his twisted mentality.   

Oh dear naive and stupid Moira had not an inkling what it was like to have one’s every move tracked. For when someone did actually know every damn time you utilised the lavatory facilities of your cell. For when you couldn’t breathe without someone watching, hearing. She felt cramped staying at home in her huge flat or with her ridiculous fiancé? Had Moira ever been contained in a steel barred prison cell, six paces by five? Her cousin had counted. Walking around that damn cell perimeter everyday in vain hopes it had grown. Instead with each new morning, she felt the walls closing in. No, Moira was just whining. Had not a single idea what it was like. And she never would unless she snapped and cursed the idiotic auror following them in the middle of this quaint and sickeningly happy festival.

Getting old? Nic’s lips pursed as she glanced sideward to her cousin and seemingly only friend. But who needed friends? “Mmm...it’s horrible when you don’t deserve it but you can’t control it isn’t it?” A dark eyebrow rose to be covered by the young woman’s fringe. Moira would never know. This was just the minutest taster. She thought she had a bit of trouble with a few criminals? That really was no biggy. It was all a big overreaction and Nicola had been dragged into it. Since when had she ever had aurors following her for a good reason? She wanted to lose them.


Moira agreed. “Shh!” Nic hissed before grabbing Moira’s arm and dragging her down. Within moments they were crouched underneath the crowd and a few more moments later, the couple were hidden under a clothed stand. Nic rested more comfortably on her knees and put a finger to Moira’s lips. “Don’t say a word.” She whispered. “Follow me.” The tables were all lines up perfectly, making it possible to crawl under the long line of them to find escape. Perfect.

The ex-azzie wasted no time in setting off towards where she knew the quieter area was on her hands and knees. “Excuse the view.” She muttered quietly with a smirk as she continued to crawl quietly in her dress and boots.

Before she truly had time to process what was happening or really have any second thoughts, Nic had grabbed her arm and was dragging her down out of sight beneath a table.  Somewhere in the back of her mind as she ducked underneath she thought this could possibly be a terrible idea.  Marcus would like be completely furious but she would deal with that later when her mind was a bit clearer and settled.

She gave a nod to her cousin before setting off crawling under the tables behind Nicola.  Part of her felt like a small child again hiding among the clothing racks in a store to give one of her parents a start when they went to look for a garment.  In those days it had often earned her quite a scolding, much to her dismay.  She pushed aside all of those thoughts though, including how she planned to explain the unscheduled detour later and simply followed behind Nicola.

“Excuse the view.”

A smirk formed on Moira’s lips as she shook her head slightly at her cousin.  That was certainly the last thing she was about to concern herself with.  She was just hoping that at the end of this they didn’t manage to find some member of the press ready to snap a photo of her crawling on her hands and knees at a public event.  She was becoming ever increasingly more aware of just how her actions could affect more then just her.

“Right now, Nic, with the promise of salvation from well meaning but overbearing law enforcement as well as escaping any possible press, I’m not about to complain,” she whispered.

“Good.” Nicola responded. She hardly cared if Moira wanted to complain or not. To Nicola, it was simple. She despised any type of useless, arrogant and idiotic law enforcement and was therefore glad to be away from them. Allowing herself to be dragged out by Moira had been to avoid the constant nagging to do so and that had ended up landing her glued to a pair of red robed twats with not a brain cell to share between them.

But they were now away and to be perfectly honest, Nicola would have done a bunker even if Moira wasn’t so happy with that. She needed to get away before her wand did her thinking instead of her head. The witch was impulsive. That was how she’d ended up in Azkaban the first time.

Nearing the end of the table, Nicola glanced back. “Shall I go first?” The ex-azzie didn’t wait for an answer. Instead she poked her head out under the cloth hanging over the table and glanced around. It looked clear. Without a moment’s hesitation, Nicola emerged from under the table and straightened up. She glanced around to once more confirm no one was around and no one had spotted them. Fortunately, the end was emptier. Well it could be with a stall selling tea cosies with the chance of putting your grandmother’s stern face on it and mops that played classical music until the floor was completely clean.

Nicola wrinkled her nose at what these stalls had to offer before her eyes fell on a familiar face. “Shit!” She cursed under her breath. She didn’t need the gullible Isaac (she never did find out his last name) bumping into her here. Nicola was supposed to be the poor woman, all dragged down by her husband’s corruption, stuggling to find her feet again. Innocent, worn and friendly. Ha! What a chump for believing all that. Nonetheless, she felt she may want to call on this man another time.

Within moments, Nicola was gone, disappeared into the forest. She never bothered to spare a thought for Moira still under the table. The youngest Miss Randall looked after herself. The one and only.

It took her a moment to get her bearings and crawl out from under the table.  She brushed some of the debris off of her hands and pants before opening her mouth to thank her cousin for her help.  It seemed they really had managed to give the Aurors the slip for a few minutes and she was grateful.  Until they managed to find them she could breathe without feeling like everyone was watching.

The only thing was when she looked around Nicola was no where to be seen.  Her brow furrowed as she looked in either direction.  Where in Merlin’s name had the other woman gone to was completely beyond the mediwitch.  It’s not like there were really that many places to hide and she had only been a few paces ahead.

She supposed it was karma in a way.  She had, after all, given the Aurors the slip; it was fitting that she should now find herself alone.  Or perhaps Nic had thought she saw them somewhere and decided to continue this little game of hide and seek without telling Moira.  She figured at some point the other brunette would show back up, but she glanced around one more time.

There were other people milling around at some of the stall and she wandered towards one that was relatively empty hoping Nic would make an appearance or give her some sign of where she had gone soon.  Like a small child she decided it was better to stay near the spot she had last seen the other woman.  She gave a slight smile to the vender as she browsed the items that had been set out for display. 

This was the opportune moment.  The master of stealth had watched from both near and far vantage points.  First from afar off...to ascertain just who was following the two women.  Fate had been far too kind to Nero Donovan Monroe today.  The women had given their protectors the slip...and then separated.  Though Invisibility Cloaks were rare, they were indispensable in the assassin trade and Nero made full and proper use of it.  There would be no discarding it when stumbling upon a shocking surprise or terrible secret.  There would be no "close up moments".  An assassin's work was his life and that meant living in the shadows of mystery, danger, and blood.

The familiar looking girl from Azkaban had departed into the forest.  This was good.  It was unfortunate that Moira had not given pursuit, as this would have given a more secluded location for what Nero had in store for Ms.Randall.  A strange, sparkling mist seemed to blow in from nowhere...Sleep Dust.  It dissipated quickly and had effect immediately upon inhalation or other physical contact.  At the least it would daze those affected into a slothlike, dream state.  Muscle tension loosened incredibly, speech lowered and slurred, and vision was impaired.  Everything was impaired.  A warm, tingling sensation would flow throughout the body...and the invisible Nero would soon pull the dusted Moira underneath the secrecy of his cloak.  Had this been a normal circumstance, someone in or near the booth would have seen the woman vanished and given a scream, or at the very least been alarmed.  However...with the patrons and employees mucking about trying to support their own weight or toppling directly over...they were less inclined to even notice the girl's disappearance.

Nero knew Moira...even if only in the vaguest recollection of the depths of his twisted mind.  Moira had once known Nero as well...but she had only had one previous encounter with his..."new self."  And now she was in his possession.  And now a mere teleportation spell was all that remained between the duo and a complete escape...

*POOF!*