Company is Always Desirable

(( Nonsense. I think little ol' you can outstrip him easily enough Besides, he has to prove himself worthy of the great Kat-Car's interest ))

The woman was messing with his mind of course, Albus knew that. She dropped beautiful, pithy phrases, wonderfully constructed epigrams to nab his curiosity, his weakness, and take harsh advantage of it. But what she said....it.....struck a chord. Albus didn't want to pay any heed to it, he knew it meant nothing, but....

People can only ever be what they allow themselves to be.

What I allow myself to be.....

Then a delayed thought.

She's trapping me already.

Albus stepped into the booth, and watched the glamour slide off from Katrina-Carlotta's face, revealing her attention-grabbing, piercing features once more. For a second, Albus allowed himself to admire the smoothness of the magic, the pinpoint accuracy which characterised the spell-casting of one who was truly born to magic. He remained silent for a few bare seconds, then spoke, "You do not know me Madam Hunt, nor I you. Yet we sit here together, facing one another, waiting for something. As interesting and complex this conversation has been, I don't want to go around in circles. So cut down the chase and come to the point."

Emerald eyes glanced up, clear and determined, "Why are you here? What do you know about me? What do you want from me?"

((Albus doesn't need to worry about proving himself worthy, Kat-Car's already interested. And when she get's interested in something... ))

Katrina-Carlotta forced herself to remain silent as Albus watched her. He appeared to be thinking, and even with her sometimes literally explosive temper, she was hardly going to interrupt a train of thought that may very well be in her favor. It had been a while since she had needed to exercise such patience with another person. Most people either bent to her whims, or weren't of any interest. This young man, however, couldn't even be fully covered by the word interest.

As Albus spoke, his words determined and strong, the dark witch tilted her head to the side in consideration. "You are correct Albus Potter, we do not know each other, for if we did you would be aware that you should have addressed me as Madam Du Hunt just now. But never mind that," the woman couldn't help herself, that had been really bothering her.

"Why I'm here should be obvious, this is a bar, I fancied a drink," the woman smirked into those deep green eyes. "What I know about you is a bit more complex. I know all the gossip of the unexpected Slytherin who grew into a nice, polite you man. But my eyes and this conversation tell me that you are much more than that. So much more than that, yet you hide your power, your strength. Why? Do you do so for the populace that made you this way in the first place?" she questioned relentlessly. The woman had taken a bit of a risk there, but she could sense the dark magic on Albus, close to him as she was, and had concluded that if the man wasn't dark, he at least had darker tendencies. If she could touch him, she might be able to tell more, but the woman had enough information for now.

"What I want from you, I'm still uncertain," the witch allowed herself to admit, "you're interesting, something that isn't easy to come across for someone like me who's seen so much. I admit that you do remind me of someone I knew long ago, someone who needed a person to understand when no-one was there." The woman had been speaking about herself. Her parents still weren't aware she was anything but a proper woman, isolated in their Italian villa as they were. Her mentors were dark, but only by definition, using the spells to expand their massive repertoires. The witch didn't regret anything, but having someone who'd understood back then would've been... nice.

(( Sorry for the late-ish reply. Internet's been malfunctioning ))

She corrected him on his manner of address, and Albus inclined his head in apology. Then she started on what exactly she did know about him, and Albus's heart started beating frantically. To those who knew how to look, his face probably showed too much for his own comfort, but Albus couldn't care less at the moment. His pulse calmed fractionally when he realised she had no substantial information, no implicating evidence, only hunches and guesses.

But.....Albus resisted the urge to shift in his seat, if only minutely, under that sharp scraping gaze. For this woman, hunches and guesses were enough. Those were a Legillimen's eyes, and in those eyes were reflected something that made his chest twist in discomfort. Sharp, naked interest. He felt like a bug stuck in a web, eagerly, curiously perused by the black widow spider, callously determining if he was interesting enough to be kept alive. She was shooting arrows into the dark, but those arrows...... you hide your power, your strength........do you do so for the populace.....those arrows were hitting perilously close to the mark.

And so Albus knew. He knew that without knowing anything, Katrina-Carlotta du Hunt somehow knew everything. She knew what he was. Impure. Tainted.

And the tactic she used next was the oldest and best one in the world: honesty. Her words caressed his ears, and Albus smiled bitterly, "Someone to understand. Understand. Quite the cliche. People do not understand Madam, you know that better than I do. They peer, and enquire, and put on the mask of comfort and understanding, then use you for their own benefits and means. So Madam du Hunt, " Legillimens or no, Albus still looked up straight into her infinitesimal orbs, eyes flashing, "Your concern is appreciated. But I still don't see what's in it for you."

((Don't worry about it, internet can be both a best friend and a worst enemy at times. Um, Kat-Car talks a lot in this one, just a warning. ))

Katrina-Carlotta watched Albus's face as it started to become panicked. She'd almost convinced herself that she'd gotten him, when his face began to relax again. The witch swore inwardly, she been so close. Emotions flicked behind his eyes and face, so many emotions that she couldn't even get a proper grip on a single one.

She let out a sharp exhalation of breath through her nose when Albus started to smile that bitter smile and throw her words back in her face. In anyone else, that noise would have been a snort, but Katrina-Carlotta hadn't truly snorted in years. The dark witch was so close, so very close to loosing her temper. How she managed the reign herself in, would be one of those mysteries, never to be solved. And then Albus looked her straight in the eyes. Even though he didn't know, the man had to suspect her talent in Mind Arts. It was a brave move, a risky one, and for that she couldn't even bring herself to look into his mind. The woman might've been in a war of words with the wizard sitting opposite her, but she still held respect for him.

"You spit my words back in my face with only a thought to yourself," Katrina-Carlotta said spitefully, "of course no person can ever truly and fully understand another. One would have to live every moment the other has ever lived to do so. I know that you, more than most, are aware of those that peer and enquire. But in your over emotive state you forgot to stop and think." The woman purposely paused here, taking a moment to over-exaggeratedly eye him up.

"You know who I am, but don't know my past. Nor will you, as that isn't something I share. You forgot to add to the equation, the possibility that I understand your life because mine was quite similar," the witch said all this slowly, hoping that the man would listen well. That was a bit of a bluff, their childhoods weren't all that similar. However, the Death Eater did have suspicions that Albus wasn't given much attention or wasn't understood at home, any decent parent should be able to recognize their child going dark. At least, she could relate to that.

"What's in it for me, I already explained Albus Potter, do keep up. I told you, you interest me. I've traveled for over a decade in search of powerful magics, I've leant my services to rebellions and revolutions, I've been proficient in dark magic since before you were born, I've defeated both leaders and warriors of countries, I've perfected the strategies of battle, and I've traveled from one end of the world to the other while doing so. When you've seen all I've seen, lived what I've lived, and done all I've done, not much interests you any more. My mentor once told me that the only reason he agreed to teach me as a child was because of a stupid comment I made that interested him. Is it so wrong that I'm just following that same instinct?" the woman asked rhetorically, leaning back in her seat.

Brittle, the words hitting his ears now were brittle. Like the woman before him was barely restraining herself from throwing caution to the winds, and slicing him into tiny pieces, interests be damned. But she did restrain herself to mere acidic words, and Albus couldn't help but wonder why she did it. Was it only because he 'interested' her? Katrina-Carlotta du Hunt was not a woman of patience, that much could be garnered from first glimpse, yet she was holding herself back, for the sake of her interest. In him. Albus would be lying to himself if he denied the fact that this made him feel sort of.......important. Like he actually mattered to someone in this world. Like he wasn't just another blank face entering the world, and leaving it, without leaving behind a remembrance or mark.

"Our lives. Similar. Similar?" The question was incredulous. Albus's eyes fixed themselves on a random spot in the wall, his fingers tapping on the table restlessly. Agitation was running, liquid poison, through his veins, "You, a witch who has 'defeated both leaders and warriors of countries, perfected the strategies of battle, and traveled from one end of the world to the other while doing so' " Her own words, spoken in his voice, were pelted back at her with a Slytherin-equipped cool tongue, but his next words were those of a quiet, desperate twenty-year old, "You think that your life is similar to that of someone who's been f*cking invisible all his life? A world-infamous woman thinks her life is similar to a man whose own bloody family forgot him? You- " Albus stopped, words catching in his throat. No, he had betrayed too much. Control over emotions was the only thing he had, he must not let it go.

Albus breathed in, deep, and spoke in a tightly calm voice fraying at the edges, a voice which twisted and whispered meaninglessly in the darkness, "Understanding is something I've given up a long time ago. I do not wish to seek it. However, since you insist on satisfying your 'interest', do tell me what a Dark witch could hope to give a man like me?"

Do you really think you can give me something which my own, idealist family couldn't? The question was echoing in his head, but it was not rhetorical. Not at all.

((This is getting ridiculous! Kat-Car never talks much, and then around Albus she just won't shut up! So um, warning for length and an obscene amount of Kat-Car dialogue.))

Stupid boy, stupid, stupid boy. He was allowing his emotions to take over his brain. He was letting defensiveness fog that brilliant mind of his from thinking. He'd even let things slip, but the woman was hardly complaining about that. For the briefest of moments she considered that she'd been mistaken about him. But no. No, she wasn't mistaken. Goodness knows she was prone to letting her emotions run away with her at times. Granted, with herself it was always anger, but everyone had a weakness, she supposed.

Katrina-Carlotta just smirked and slowly shook her head as Albus spoke. The silly boy. He wasn't really a boy though, not at this point. He was a silly man. Yet, he was still managing to spit retorts back at her. It was almost.. miraculous, in a way. The dark witch hadn't had a conversation anything like this in a long, long time.

"That's where you're wrong, Albus Potter. You say that we're nothing alike, but do you really believe that? You say that you've been invisible all your life. Invisible and famous, an interesting combination, but hardly impossible," Katrina-Carlotta spoke lightly, as if they were conversing about trivial matters.

"Did you know Mr. Potter, that when I was your age, there were only nine people on this entire Earth who were able to match my name to my face? Recognize my name, even?" the witch paused here, allowing this to sink in. It wasn't an exaggeration, but the cold, hard truth. "I only even got along with four of them, one of which was a very young child, and the other being currently dead," the woman continued. Katrina-Carlotta wasn't sure exactly why she was sharing so much information, but she was careful not to give away anything too specific or damaging. "None of them even understood me, got what was going on inside my head. I was the very pinnacle of invisible. But, I think you understand how that feels, don't you, Mr. Potter?" the dark witch looked deep into the young man's eyes as she said this, still unsure of exactly what was reflected there.

"I'm amused that you think my infamy is so different from the way you are looked upon as your father's son. Yes, millions know my name now. Know my face. But how many of them know me? How many would be able to tell you my true likes, dislikes, habits? You are an adult now in accordance to law, but in many ways you are still just a child," Katrina-Carlotta had been staring at the ceiling the entire time she spoke, eyes trailing over the faint designs absently.

"I don't know what I could give you," the witch spat, voice suddenly as sharp as the blade in her boot, "because you are being far too defensive during what I had wanted to be a perfectly civil conversation." The wanted woman stood then. She couldn't do this. Her magic was underneath her skin, fighting to get out. It had been building, rising like the lava inside a volcano, and now she was dangerously close to erupting. Her magic would calm if only the man would listen, but he wasn't. And now, she needed to leave. Quickly. The technically ex-assassin, but truthfully part-time one, would floo to France. Talk to Marie, pick up a list of hits, use her rage for something productive.

It was a pity, Katrina-Carlotta thought as she spelled on the same glamour she'd worn previously in respect to Albus. If only the Potter had allowed her to show him, he could've been great.

It was like a tsunami. The harsh, unrelenting waves lashed on, mercilessly, intent on obliterating everything in their path. And Albus sat there motionlessly, withstanding the tide.

The words whipped across his face, and Albus tightened his jaw. He longed to stand up, lash back, return a cobra's strikes with a viper's venom. But...how? And why? Was she unjustified in her arguments, her stand? If what Katrina-Carlotta Du Hunt said was true......then......

Then he had been mistaken. Horribly.

Passion. Passion for what she believed in was etched in every line of the woman's face, and as she stared openly into his eyes, and questioned and challenged him, Albus held back a flinch. Did the witch even know what she was doing? She was inviting him, coaxing and insulting and daring him in turn to walk the same path she had walked, the path to self-discovery, the path to chrysalis. At whose end lay the darkness......and simultaneously the light.

She was going away. It was what he wanted, had wished for all along. Then why, why the hell did it feel like that elusive opportunity was walking away, right in front of his eyes? Why did he stand, why...why...."Stop."

Poised, on the edge of an abyss. To freedom, or to doom. Both looked equally attractive.

"If...if I told you..." His voice was hoarse. "If I told you that I agree...." Agree? To what? Albus desperately wished he knew. "Then what would you say?"

It had been a long time since Katrina-Carlotta had given up on something. So long ago, that she could hardly even remember what it felt like to do so. Yet now, it was all coming flooding back, the feelings of failure, disappointment, shame.

She had turned to leave, jaw clenched, emotions the witch wished she could banish running around her brain like a hyperactive animal. But then Potter spoke, a single word. Stop. And so she had.

Katrina-Carlotta couldn't remember turning back to the man, but it had taken her a mere heartbeat to spin back around with a jolt. For the first time since they had started speaking, her mind was blank. The woman wasn't analyzing his words, or reading his expressions. She just remained still as a statue, waiting.

But then Albus spoke again, and the dark witch could do nothing but stare at his face for two extraordinarily long moments. It was then that the infamous witch sunk back into her seat without a word. If it had been any other time, any other situation, the woman would've made a sarcastic comment about how she'd made many points, and which exactly was Albus agreeing with? But she couldn't bring herself to say those words.

It was as she relaxed back into her previous position, that Katrina-Carlotta felt all the anger and the barely-controlled magic just seeping away.

"There are a great many things I could say," she replied, her voice thoughtful and calm, "but none of them will make the matter less complex. You're confused, stuck, your nature pulling you one way and your mind another. It happens to everyone like us, at some point."

She took a small sip from her wine glass before continuing. "The world isn't just back and white. There are shades of black. I know some who use dark magic freely but have never killed a soul in their lifetime. I know those who kill every day like an addiction. There are also those who embrace themselves and the dark, but never harm without cause," Katrina-Carlotta could only hope that this would help to settle the Potter. She was already far too invested.

It took many moments for Albus to realise that the woman before him was just as stunned as he was.

Good. It was good to know he wasn't the only one thrown off balance.

He was breathing, deeply, like an athlete who had toiled for ages and just completed the race of his life, like a warrior who had fought the greatest battle, and fallen to his knees after victory. But a battle against what? That Albus had yet to determine. He was ready to fight, yes, but he hadn't chosen a side. Or had he?

Katrina-Carlotta spoke, and the words brushed by him meaninglessly. He wasn't listening. He already knew what she would say, the arguments she would present. The offer she would make. Even as he looked at his feet and breathed, startling clarity dawned through his mind. His words had made the decision for him. Only his level of commitment remained conflicted.

How many times. How many times had Albus discovered, invented something particularly interesting and longed to try it out. How many times had a stupid reporter bugged him time and time again, and he had itched to whip out his wand and flay him end to end. How many times had his wand vibrated with power, and he was so desperately tempted to end a poor soul's life.

"You too. Holding on and dealing with a stupid conscience is worth it too." Jack turned to look at him, shakily. Their eyes connected.

"I will. Always."

The final breath was expelled. His chest loosened.

"Alright then. I assume you're offering knowledge, I will accept it. But, " His voice sounded strange. Cold, calm, assured. Never-changing. "But I will not kill, or maim, or torture, or do anything to harm anyone without cause. Is that acceptable to you?"

He'd given in. He'd given in. Not fully, not truly, but enough to allow the darkness inside of him to be free while still appeasing whatever goodness was left in his mind. In an odd way, Katrina-Carlotta hoped that Albus would stick to his current values. They never did, not really. So may people turned to the dark swearing that they'd never use it to harm, but always gave in, in the end.

In the most peculiar way, even she had more morals than many the witch could name. Katrina-Carlotta never had been a fan of killing mindlessly, no matter what kind of a monster the authorities liked to paint her as. She may have been an assassin, but the witch considered that a job more than anything else. Furthermore, she always gave deserving victims the chance to fight back, and one had to be a very horrific person for the dark witch to consider them undeserving of a chance at life.

"Good," the witch announced decisively, almost certain that her agreement with the young man would shock him. "It's important to have boundaries, morals, whatever you wish to call them. As with everything, finding balance within dark magic is equally important. Handing oneself completely over to the dark without a thought to everything else is how insanity occurs. I'm sure you don't need me to come up with some examples of those," she told the wizard, with a voice that held a hint of approval.

"You're after knowledge, that's understandable, everyone wants knowledge," Katrina-Carlotta said softly, speaking to herself more than her companion. The witch would need to ask him what he already knew, where he was, what he wished to know. The wanted woman was possibly the largest collection of dark knowledge in England, everything stored inside a heavily shielded brain.