Rebel Without a Cause

Christabelle walked into a bar, slowly looking around. She hadn't come to be around anyone she knew. In fact for the most part she wanted to be alone for a little while. There were a lot of things she had to think about and plans she had to make for her future. She still could not believe that no matter how far away she got from home people were still trying to control her. At least her mother was. She laughed as she made her way to the bar.

If her mother could see where she was at she would have a stroke. It was a disgusting hole in the wall that normally she wouldn't be caught dead in. Living on her own had taught her that she had freedom and she liked the way it tasted. She took a pair of chopsticks she had sitting in her purse and wound her hair up in them to keep them out of her way. Really she was trying to cause as little attention to herself as possible. Was that even possible being a half-veela?

She turned her attention to the bartender and ordered herself a firewhiskey, flashing them with a sweet smile. She had never before had the chance to get herself in a good drunken stupor and she figured she might as well while she had the chance. She never knew when she would have the chance again. She slowly sipped on the golden liquid, feeling it burn on the way down, exploding as it hit her stomach like fire. She relaxed as she felt the heat going through to her extremities.

The last place on earth Felix felt slightly comfortable with being in. A haunt for witches and wizards who had a bad side, or knew a bad side, or wanted to be in on the action on the bad side. It was supposed to be a muggle bar, but it was basically a secret hiding place for anyone wanting a drink and needing to keep out of sight of society. Or well, wizard society. Felix hadn't been in the bar for years. In fact he had avoided it. There were aurors that sometimes snuck in, especially when someone was wanted.

But he had been wanted years ago. He doubted anyone even remembered his crimes. Let alone what he looked like. There might be a poster up in the Auror Offices in the Ministry, but as long as he didn't walk in there he figured this bar would be pretty safe. His cloak was low over his head as he walked up to the bar behind a pretty attractive female that didn't look like she belonged at all.

He ordered himself a firewhiskey and sat down next to the pretty young woman, sipping his drink for a moment before turning his gaze to her. His beard hid most of his face, and his hood covered the rest of it, but his eyes were visible and he gave her a wink. "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this then? Not really your regular crowd I assume?" He asked and took another drink, glancing a bit nervously around the bar as he did. Keeping an eye out for anyone looking a bit too interested in him.

Christy turned her attention to the man addressing her at the bar. "And what would you know of what my regular crowd is?" she asked curiously. Oh great. she thought. Just another person who is going to try to protect me. However, he was right. This would never be the type of place she would go to if she were under normal circumstances. However under normal circumstances she would be back at home working for the German Ministry like her family wanted.

"And really you should be the one to talk." she continued to say, "You look like you're trying to hide from someone. Scared someones gonna find you?" She tried to hide her German accent as best as she could. Years of living outside of Germany for schooling had helped with that. She took another sip of her drink. "Besides if I want to hang around somewhere that I wouldn't normally belong is that so wrong?"

Felix couldn't help but feel his lips twitch into a grin as she spoke. She was feisty, he had to give her that. "Nothing wrong with being in a place like this, just saying you're far too pretty for the ugly lot in here." He said nodding once to the man beside him, who scowled and turned away. He smirked again and turned his gaze back to her as she made a remark about him hiding from someone.

"Of course I'm hiding from someone, who isn't that goes into a bar like this, unless you really hope to get caught though, you usually keep that kind of stuff hidden." He said with a wink and another sip of his drink. He could detect a faint hint of German to her voice, and only because he had tried hiding out there for a while, while he had been on the run a few years ago. Him and his Naomi had spent a few nights in inns there, listening to the fancy accents of the Germans, and it was still in his mind whenever he heard that faint twist.

"Eh, I say belong where you want, the people here don't mind, they are all lookin to hide from someone, something, or just get away from where they were already hiding." He smirked and looked her over again, before sipping his drink and wincing at the fire that flew through his veins. "Personally I've not been here in years.. but the lure of firewhiskey had me here while I was in town.. What about you lass? Hiding from something, someone, or just lookin to see the darker side of life?"

Christy finished off her drink and ordered another one. One thing she had learned was how to hold her liquor. Though in all honesty, it hadn't been very hard when you were raised by parents that drank when they thought you weren't looking. Then again, wasn't that the life of the rich and privileged?

"I'm honestly not hiding." she responded as the bartender handed her another firewhiskey. She sipped on this one, "If I was, I think I could have done a much better job of it." She looked around, "While hiding somewhere I've never been to would be ideal, there are still people I know who would come here looking for me because they know how I am."

She took another sip of her drink, her entire body feeling the warmth radiating from the fiery liquid as it moved down her throat. "I think I'm looking for the taste of the dark side. I've been entirely over sheltered my entire life and honestly, I'm quite tired of it." She looked at him curiously, "I don't think I got your name."

Felix smirked as she spoke, nodding once as he took a larger swallow of his drink and winced a bit before looking down into the glass. It had been a very long time since he had had anything even close to this, and his body wasn't quite ready to handle it at the moment. He nodded as she spoke, and then glanced her over again, smiling just a little bit. Over sheltered life? What a cutie, coming to a dark creepy bar in protest against parents that made her feel trapped.

He smiled and leaned against the counter, watching her for a moment before speaking. "Alex Fawn" he said lightly, looking her over again before looking away, his eyes darting around the bar again, seemingly fascinated with it's inhabitants. "The dark side is all I've lived, Lass.. trust me, it's not all it's cracked up to be. Though it does have it's perks. Most of the time it just leads to a life of loneliness, albeit you are free." he said throwing a look her way.

"Let's just say I've never been very sheltered, I go where I want, when I want, and no one stops me but myself and the people I'm hiding from." He smiled warmly and reached up to scratch his beard lightly, wincing at the sound his fingernails made against the slightly coarse hair. He was growing tired of this thing, maybe it was time for a shave.

"So what about you, pretty lady? What's the name of the girl who is trying to hide, but doesn't want to admit it?"

"I never said I don't want to admit I'm hiding Alex." she said looking at him. The mention of the word freedom had this strange luring sound to it, almost like a dream that she could never quite finish. "My name is Christabelle Whittle." she added, "But no one ever calls me anything but Christy. My mother had a fascination with Belle from the fairytale. Quite an odd one if you ask me. She strived to make me as book smart as she could. Probably what landed me in Ravenclaw when I transferred to Hogwarts my last year of school a few years ago."

She glanced around the bar, "I don't see anything truly dark about this place though. Just skive and dirty." She took a deep drink of her firewhiskey and looked around. The place was truly a place that made you want to wipe your feet when you left but somehow it fascinated her. Most people in the bar ignored the others around them. There were a few wizards and witches that were conversing and gambling but other than that the bar was relatively quiet.

"If you're so free then why are you hiding from someone?" she probed gently. "Obviously if you were truly free you wouldn't be hiding..Am I wrong?"

Felix listened to her say her name, and the tale of her mother, with a look of fascination. She poured words out to her heart's content. So far the only truth Felix had said was that he was hiding, and it made him wonder just how much this girl was hiding as well. Though she seemed a bit too.. innocent to do such a thing. "Well Christy, if you don't see anything truly dark about this place then you aren't looking hard enough." he smirked and turned around in his seat so his back was against the bar.

He picked up his glass and leaned back to continue his conversation with Christy. "Take for example that man in the corner." He said, lowering his voice and nodding slightly towards a man sitting in the corner, staring at some cards on the table in front of him. A large red scar on his cheek. "Used to be a Death Eater.. got the scar from an auror when running after killing a muggle family and putting the dark mark in the sky above the house." he said glancing towards Christy to see if she was listening.

"And the woman over there."

He nodded towards one of the women in the gambling game, who was grinning after winning a few galleons. "She used to work in the Ministry, until it was discovered she enjoyed killing werewolves on the side... went under cover two years ago." He looked her over again after taking a sip of his drink.

"Hiding is the only way to be free, lass." He said lightly, looking up towards the ceiling with a small smirk on his face, hidden by his beard. "When the world doesn't know who you are, that's when you can do what you want. You can buy a house in the woods, or a flat in the city, you can own a bar, or skip countries... you do what you want when you want, because while there are people looking, they can't find you if you go where your heart is contented, and have nowhere to keep you down."

He looked down again and let his gaze settle on her.

"These people trust this bar of course, they hide here for a reason, it's safe. Aurors aren't allowed in, they get kicked out at the door. Muggle's are also kicked at the door. There is a mutual understanding here if you get my drift. People's stories are there's to tell, and they simply want some peace and quiet after a life of darkness." His gaze had turned cold as he looked at her, frowning.

"Not being rude, just want to make sure it's clear that if anyone in this bar gets turned in in the next few weeks, there are people here who will find you, and you will regret it." He said and then turned back to his drink. "Just a fair warning."

Christy nodded and listened. Who would she turn them into? She didn't speak to anyone in the English Ministry. She in all actuality thought they were a joke among the wizarding community. And their most recent laws that they were trying to force onto people where the biggest joke of all to the rest of the wizarding world.

"Why should I care if someone was a death eater at a point in time, or that they killed werewolves? In Germany they kill werewolves there are those that kill werewolves for the pure sport of it after my father was murdered." She said turning her gaze back at him. "If anyone gets in trouble I'm not the one to blame." She looked around watching the people, studying their movements.

"I would honestly be amused at those who sought to do me any real harm. Being so far out of my element I could tell you that you let someone in from a ministry and didn't kick them out. Out of curiosity how can you even tell an Auror from a normal witch or wizard? In Germany they are taught to think like their enemies and go down into the darkness to infiltrate. We even approve of them using the unforgivables to accomplish their goals." She laughed a little at this and drank down the rest of her drink.

Felix nodded when she agreed not to let anything slip. He of course couldn't let her know who he was, but he felt a little more at ease knowing she wouldn't let anyone else in the bar get into trouble either.

"Honestly it's more of the fact that the people who come here are regulars.. they keep a close eye on new people, like you. Watch their movements, watch their eyes.. it's in the eyes you see. You can tell when someone has been through hell and back." He looked her over before letting his gaze fall on hers. "You... haven't seen too much, something bad, but mostly sheltered, I'd wager you saw someone close to you die? You have the look that people get when they are weary after something like that." he said with a small smile.

After another drink, he gestured to his own face, tapping his cheek. "I like to make a game of it, look at someone and guess what they've been through. Try on me, look at me and see if you can make a guess as to the hell I've gone through in my short 23 years of life." He smirked and leaned towards her, the smell of whiskey on his breath.