Lost

This was perfect, just perfect. The morning had started out fine, as fine as anything could be for someone who just got out of St. Mungo's that is. Her sister had tried to keep her in bed to rest, but she was tired of that. Of feeling useless in bed while a twelve year old who is usually sick and very fragile took care of her. That didn't seem right to her, but they had Sophia with them, since they always stayed with her during the summer, but still she didn't want Naomi having to take care of her even if it was for a little bit while Sophia wasn't there.

After finally being able to convince Naomi that she was well enough to get out of bed, she managed to get her to let her go outside for a bit. Hitamé was strong enough to go places by herself all the time, whether she was sick or not, but Naomi ... not so much. So it took a lot of convincing but she managed to get her younger sister to let her go alone. Sophia would be back any moment anyways, so she wouldn't have to worry about Naomi being alone for every long.

There was one thing she hadn't counted on though. Getting lost. She had no idea how, but she ended up lost in some random place away from Sophia's house. She didn't think she'd gone that far away from the house, but if she was in some other part of the neighborhood she'd never been in before, it was obvious she had. Of course knowing how she hadn't exactly been acting normal since she got out of St. Mungo's, she expected herself to do something stupid ... like what she'd done now.

Hitamé stopped where she was and looked around, a clear look of confusion spread across her face. She didn't know anyone here, but that was normal since she didn't go out very often anymore, and neither did Naomi, so even if she had come along and they both got lost, neither of them would be able to do much right now.

Sofie was not very familiar with this country, but she had done her research and, as the daughter of a man who had posed as a shipping merchant in the muggle world, Sofie had become a very good navigator. Her first job on her own had been a trivial one- follow this Higurashi girl and try to bring her over to the Death Eaters. The man who had tried to convince her of this quest had thought force would be the best way. Sofie knew about young girls though. She knew how to do this.

Sofie was sitting on a brick wall, a tree hiding her from view. She could see the street and the door through which her prey had last disappeared. She saw a splash of color and sat up. Time to go. She waited a little while, gathering a ton of full shopping bags to help her case. It gave her a legitimate reason to be out and about. She waited until she saw Hitame turn a corner before she followed too.

She did not hide the Dark Mark. She wanted the girl to see the mark and associate it to her kindness. It was all apart of the deal. She walked, pulling out a mobile phone and pinning it between her ear and shoulder. “Louis, I swear I’ll declaw the kittens Thursday. I know, I would have done it sooner, but Alice had a nasty bit of this flu and I was visiting her at Mungo’s.”

It was all white noise to the girl who was far ahead of her. Sofie followed, making it seem most unordinary as she did, going from fake phone call to fake phone call. The girl stopped as Sofie said, “Yes, yes. Of course. Hang on, Grete, I will have to call you back. Yes, I love you too. She hung up, passing Hitame and glancing back. She paused. “Hi,” she said kindly. “Are you lost? You look a little young to be out on your own.”

FASHION

Every time Hitame looked behind her, she saw the same person, and it was getting very strange. It was like she was being followed and that made her feel very uncomfortable. Then again, everyone and everything made her feel uncomfortable if she didn't know who or what they were. She just always had a hard time trusting anything around her, she was very cautious about everything, no matter what. Sometimes she was even cautious around her own friends.

When she stopped and the woman continued to walk passed her, Hitame sighed, thinking she had only been a little too cautious. But then, the woman turned around and spoke to her. She automatically stiffened and she looked up at the woman with a confused and slightly frightened look on her face. She looked away from the woman's face and as she looked down, Hitame noticed something on her arm. She tried to look away, but she found herself staring at the woman's arm and once she realized what she was looking at, her eyes narrowed immediately.

"No." her automatic answer shot out of her mouth. She was a Death Eater and Hitame couldn't let herself get near the woman. Taking a step back, away from her, Hitame said, "I'm not lost. And I'm thirteen. I can go wherever I want, on my own." she replied in a low tone that she used with pretty much any stranger that came near her. Especially if they were from the Death Eaters or the Dark Followers.

But there was something that threw her off about the woman. She wasn't acting like other Death Eaters. Like Felix had ... she was actually trying to be nice to her. What was that about?

The girl was obviously terrified of Sofie, and Sofie felt a maternal part of her wishing to comfort her. Sofie did have a soft spot for kids. She just had to channel that. She was helping this girl by recruiting her. Poeple who allied with the Order were often hurt because they were so disorganized and they became targets. Death Eaters were always on the offensive, so they rarely needed to protect themselves. And wealth and power was great protection.

The girl spoke, but Sofie was more concerned about the way Hitame's eyes stuck on her arm. Perfect ice breaker. Sofie glanced down and then looked up at Hitame, almost appearing sad. "Oh. You think I'm going to try to attack you or something because of this, huh? It's my job, not my hobby. I don't go around kidnapping innocent kids." Her words were kind and honest. More honest than she had meant.

"And I'm a tad lost myself, I must say, but in a more general sense. I'm new around here. I'm from Russia and I've only been here once before, so I'd have to ask you for directions to my own lair if I were trying to kidnap you." She smiled a little and glanced at her mobile phone. She set down some of her bags and held out the mobile. "Here. Why don't you call your mother or father and ask them for directions, or tell them when you'll be home. That way, I can't kidnap you, because your family will be expecting you." It was all said lightly, assuring Hitame that Sofie was not trying to hurt her.

Hitame winced at the mention of calling her parents. "I don't have parents." she said immediately. Her parents were dead, the ones she actually cared about that is. They were dead and she wouldn't ever get them back. All thanks to those from the group she was a part of. "I don't believe you." she said simply. "I don't trust Death Eaters." she added, staring at the mobile in front of her face. She wasn't even sure if Sophia had one of those things ... and even if she did, she didn't know the number of it.

This was all too weird. A Death Eater, one of those who killed people for no reason at all, like Aqua and Terra had, was actually being nice to her. Since when did they learn to be nice. Just that, made her distrust the woman that was in front of her. She felt herself take an involuntary step back from her. Something was up, she knew it, these people didn't just come out and act nice. They probably didn't even know what nice, kindness was.

Hitame just didn't believe her.

Although, something was telling her that she was telling the truth. But she refused to believe that she wasn't going to hurt her. This woman was going to hurt her, one way or another. That was all she expected from them; pain. That was all they were good for, causing pain to innocent people. But it still didn't make sense to her that she would be so nice. She lowered her gaze from the woman's arm, after staring at it again, and she sighed. This was too good to be true.

Sofie knew it, of course, but her expression softened, and realistically too. She was good at this- it just took pretending. She was imagining all of this was coming from her little cousin Ana, who was harmless and Sofie was rather protective of. "Oh," she said quietyly, dropping her gaze and shuffling her feet. "I'm sorry about that. It's tough times we live in. That's really... I'm sorry to hear that." She gave the girl a look of pure apology, nodding.

She said she did not trust Death Eaters and Sofie nodded. "I know why. I must say, I even find myself not trusting Order members. My father was killed by your Ministry, and the Order." Her voice was soft. "My family is hunted by the Order because my dad helped Death Eaters who were hurt by them. My father was a Healer. He just wanted to help me." Most of this was fabricated, but no one would guess, because the truth about the loss of her father was too real.

"But..." she began. "I have realized that people are not always defined by their alliances. There are many, many Death Eaters I do not like. I like more nuetral people than any. And I have enjoyed the presence of a Order member or two." The girl seemed terrified of the phone. "Just hit pound and speak the name into the reciever. It's magically modified. It will go to either their phone or project your voice via Floo networks. Then they will know you are on your way home."

She was being too nice, and Hitame didn't like it. "What are you up too?" she asked in a low tone. She didn't understand why she was being so nice, everything she heard about Death Eaters just made her seem like she was lying. She only knew them as mean, cruel, horrible people who did anything to get what they wanted. They didn't care who got hurt in the process, and they didn't care about any damage they caused.

"I don't need your pity." she told her. "I've lived long enough without my parents, I don't care that they are gone." she added. Hitame hated her birth parents, and nothing would change that. They were horrible people, that was it, just horrible, cruel, repulsive people who killed many innocent people for no reason - well no reason that she knew of - and it made her sick. The comments she made about the Order and the Ministry caught her a bit by surprise. "The Order isn't bad. They're the ones who keep everyone safe, from you people, from the Death Eaters." she said, taking another step back.

This woman was confusing her. First it was like she disliked the Order because they hunted down her father, then she has enjoyed the presence of some Order members. Which was it? Hitame didn't believe in the whole, "I'm in a certain group, but I like some of those from the other group" kind of things. She stared down at the phone and shook her head. "I don't want to use it." she said. "Sophia and Naomi know that I'll get home." she muttered softly.

Sofie took a long time to respond, rather than answering each of the girl’s inquiries. Instead, she let the girl get everything out, because Sofie wanted to address it all at once. She was carefully crafting her response, though her look of concern might have been pure. She watched the girl; she had even hurt, personally, it seemed, by the Death Eaters. Sofie knew nothing of her parents except that they had been Death Eaters and that Hitame might also be recruited. Being new to the organization, Sofie was pretty much in the dark.

Sofie finally responded, “I was just trying to find a way home, as were you. Like I said. I am completely new around here. And I did not say the Order was bad. I said some people in the Order were bad, just as some people in the Death Eaters are good.” That was all Sofie could really muster. She decided to add, “If they are expecting you, then, I guess there is no chance of kidnapping you today.” Her tone implied that she was kidding as she had never been planning that at all.

“Well, then, I’ll let you go off then,” she said. She threw out her wand arm and with a bang, the Knight Bus appeared. An awkward looking gentleman welcomed her aboard and Sofie paid her way. She glanced at Hitame and then gave the man extra money. “For her, if she would like to get home.” She looked back at Hitame. “It’s a free ride and they can take you directly anywhere you would like to go. Only if you are okay accepting help from someone as awful as me, though.” And Sofie boarded the bus.

She had a point.

Whether Hitamé wanted to admit it or not, the woman had a point. Not everyone in the Order was good. Or at least not the way they thought. Some of them were too reckless, careless and that usually ended up hurting someone. She wasn't so sure about the Death Eaters though, even though she had one of those "good" Death Eaters in front of her, or at least one that semmed like it. The defensive tone left her voice as she said, "Yeah. And Sophia would look for me anyways, and she'll be able to find me easily." She felt herself calm down a bit.

Hitamé decided to trust this woman a little, even if she was a Death Eater. She jumped a bit as the Knight Buss appeared and the thirteen year old stared at it for a long moment. She watched the woman get on it after she gave the man money for both of them. Though she was starting to trust her, Hitamé wasn't sure if she should get on the Knight Bus. But it wasn't really because of the woman. It was more because she'd never actually ridden on the bus before. She rubbed her left arm nervously as she thought about if she should board it or not. She wanted to get home though ... so she decided to get on it.

Whether she wanted to get on it or not, she didn't want to wander around by herself in some place she doesn't know. Biting her lower lip, Hitamé followed the woman on and kept her gaze down to the floor.

The Bus was not full, but it was occupied enough (hopefully) give the girl some comfort. Sofie sat at one of the chairs in the middle of the bus, keeping her out of earshot aof the group of witches at the front of the bus, and the shifty fellow at the back- though out of earshot, Sofie was in clear view, as was Hitame, so the spot served the purposes of both predator and prey.

She sat and saw that Hitmae had followed. She smiled gently. “Make sure you tell him where to get off once the others leave. They go based on who got on first. It’s a little rough, so make sure you old on to that bar right there,” she said, indicating an upright golden bar next to a seat opposite Sofie. “Have you ever ridden the Knight Bus?”