Zada was curled up in front of the fireplace in her unplottable apartment. She had clearly seen the signs that Grindlewald was struggling to stay in power. She had been exploring her options. Stay with him? Fight it out til the bitter end? Try to take over him herself? He'd certainly made enough of a mess of it that she thought she might do a better job of it if he were out of the way anyway. Or--just dash off to let him duke it out alone against whoever it was that might come? There were a great many options but very little time, she felt. She was sipping on Russian vodka. The house was blessedly silent tonight. So different from the noisy halls of Hogwarts. The only sounds she heard were the fire crackling and the silver chains around her neck making a slight rattle as they clattered together against her black sweater. She kicked off her black boots and straightened the cuff of her black jeans because she felt a draft. Wait..a draft? There shouldnt be a draft.
She turned and looked to see that there was an owl. She got up and went over and took the parchment from the owl and closed the window, allowing him to warm up and let the snow melt off his wings. It looked like Mikki's owl. Well, the one she used regularly anyway. She opened the parchment and read it. It was scrawled, like she was under some sort of duress. She was in trouble. She needed backup. Oh, damnit. Mikki prided herself on not needing help. On being able to handle things herself. It was what she had thought was going to endear her to Gellert so highly that Gellert would prefer Mikki above all others. She took the message over and picked up her glass and read the message again, considering. What the hell had she done? What was she into? And what was she asking Zada to walk into? Zada rarely ever went to Diagon Alley. Something niggled at the back of her brain. Something she didn't like, but she didn't know what.
She finished the rest of her vodka in one gulp and slipped her boots back on. She put out the fire in the white marble fireplace and rose to her feet. She picked up her full length fur coat. The lynx with the white fox trim. She put it on and donned a pair of black leather gloves. She picked up her wand and apparated to the location Mikki had specified in her parchment. She found herself standing, wand at the ready, nearly toe to toe with a number of other wizards. Some faces she knew. A face or two she didn't know. She began to instantly try to commit them to her memory for future use if necessary.
Her eyes narrowed. So, it was war, was it? If that was what they wanted, that was what they would get. She glanced at Mikki and saw a very unusually blank look on the girl's face. That sent off huge warning bells in Zada's head. Mikki was never that empty headed. Young, yes. Empty headed, no. And not ever when engaged in a contest. Not ever. Something was wrong. She took a self defensive stance, ready and able to kill the first person who moved.
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