Damien was exhausted. Still, he didn't stop running. What looked like a mere apparition had started to look more life-like, more physically threatening. Too bad for him, his luck ran out in a cliché. Of course, he had turned the corner only to be stumped by a dead-end. Quickly, he turned to face the entrance of the dark alleyway and backed up, right up to the end of it, where he could feel the stone wall slam against his back. Damien let out an unintelligible sound, a manifestation of the sudden pain from the impact. His hand shot to his wand, only to find the lack of it. Of course, luck would have it that he had dropped it right before he turned the corner. Swearing profusely, in his head, Damien gulped and blinked, willing for a way out of this.
The figure stopped just right where his wand had fallen at, picked it up, and began the menacing approach to where Damien was stood at, trapped in the doom of a clichéd nightmare. There was a glint of a sinister grin, and then the wand was tapped hard against the profusely hard surface of the figure's ... hand? The sound of staccato rapping from their act pervaded this corner of doom. Damien couldn't even blink now. He stared hard in anticipation. Snap. And then, the sound of his wand, now in two, landing with a thud and rolling towards him on the ground.
The boy jolted awake, and found himself face down on the floor again. An ache at his chin began to form, and Damien reached to rub at it, with a familiar scowl on his face. He flipped himself over and sat up, before scanning the room with his eyes of fatigue. Once again, he woke with the realisation that Lorcan had, without much of a warning, moved the entire family to London. The house was more cramp, in Damien's opinion. Unlike the house out in the obscurity of the woods, a city house in London couldn't allow one the same luxury. Still, this one was supposed to cost more than that one hiding in the forest. Even if he couldn't understand how that could be so, Damien was resignedly accepting of the move, if only because the building was located where wealthy people live at. After all, he, like Lorcan, was merely concerned with the appearance of wealth. Still, it was far from the sort of influence that Damien desired for, admiring the other Slytherin students from their established families and pride. Of course, though, the D'Eaths were not the same, and could not afford what some of the others had. They were, simply, rich enough.
There was more rapping of doors down the hallway before it stopped. Presumably, then, Lorcan had already passed his room. Damien got up with a sigh, and proceeded to change out of his pyjamas into a suitable shirt and pants.Damien stopped to check that all of his hair had been combed neatly to a side before he left the room. He had, despite the teasing, still refused to see his obsession with tidiness as a disorder. It was merely an extension of his strife for perfection. Of course, this perfection was self-defined and very skewered.
Having taken quite awhile to come to and to get himself tidy, by the time Damien entered the dining room, a row was already taking place. It was not a surprising sort of welcome for the morning. Lorcan had too many children, and he could jolly well add some more in the years to come, what with his womanising ways. Well, really, he did not have too many children that he acknowledged. There were surely others running around that did not share the privilege of calling him Father. Still, the ones living with Lorcan all had rather clashing personalities, ensuring the hotbed of fights too frequently.
Damien sat himself silently just as Alexis turned from Lorcan to address Damitrius. No greetings were offered, as was the usual Damien around the family. Ironically, the boy only really got along with Alexis. While most of the family shun the girl after her transformation, Damien had surprisingly warmed to her, in private. It was possibly the affections he would have usually felt for his mother being transferred to his older sister. Whatever it was, one of the reasons why Damien detested Damitrius, besides the validity of a House rivalry, was her attitude towards Alexis. Once again, the present D'Eaths in the dining room found themselves subjected to the Gryffindor girl's outburst against Alexis. Annoyed at the early start, Damien glared at Damitrius and rolled his eyes. He did not, however, venture to assist Alexis. After all, his was a passive sort of affection. He abhorred Damitrius, but it wasn't enough to prompt him to be overt in his support of Alexis. Pity she had to be turned into a Werewolf. Appearances still counted. Damien still had to maintain his distance to Alexis around others.
Tired of the fighting, however, Damien looked to his father, as if wishing the man would say something to break it up for now. He was really more interested in enjoying his breakfast in peace, even with the frustrating presence of Damitrius. He contemplated about saying something, only to have his thoughts interrupted by the Butler's question on his choice of drink. Quickly enough, Damien was calmly sipping at his warm tea. As he reached for the toast on his plate, he eyed the others at the table. Only then, he decided to contribute to whatever family bonding that these breakfasts were supposed to advocate.
"So, father, I was giving some thought to the apothecary and our roles in it." Given that Damien had arrived the the dining room later than the others, he had of course missed the earlier conversation about the matter. Knowing nothing about that, he proceeded, "I believe some of us deserve more important roles than others." He glared at Damitrius before he continued, "Alistair has been doing a good job with tidying up the wreck of the place." A praise for the brother Damien admired so, if only for the deeds that Alistair had supposedly done. "Perhaps Alistair and I could work together over the matter of management and the potions in the shop. They are, after all, vital to the business. There are other matters about the shop that the others can busy themselves with." Once again, Damien had meant that about Damitirus, not sure if Alexis was even involved in the family business.
by 
