Close My Eyes

Marcus was used to his clients wanting their own way.  It was just the way of old crusty Bulgarian diplomats. Working for Khaat had been different. She was so traumatized by James now that she didn't want to go out. Hell, she didn't want him even to leave her in her own house. She wanted him with her all the time. She didn't sleep well without him in the room, even when Brian was asleep beside her.  She never complained when he couldn't be, but it was different for Marcus to have someone not running away from him at every opportunity.

She hated going out now because of how disfigured she was. She resisted with all she had, and even so, she had grown to rely on Marcus to help her hide her face in any way they could think of.  Sure, there had been photos in the press but the revolted looks from people when they saw her in the flesh made her recoil and retreat behind the safety of her estate.  Brian had made it as impregnable a fortress as he knew how to design it, and left to her own devices, she would simply become a recluse for the rest of her life, Marcus was certain.

There were rare exceptions to her self imposed exile.  The first exception was if someone she loved were in danger. Her Gryffindor personality got the best of her, and, when combined with her own sense of hopelessness because of the damage James had inflicted, she wasn't the least bit hesitant to toss herself under the proverbial bus for someone else.  Marcus was highly attuned to that and had learned her body language and facial expressions and had learned to anticipate.

The second, and recently more prevalent, exception was when her seers abilities started to kick in.  That could, and did, happen at any hour of the day or night, and when it did, she had an irresistible compulsion to react and to go wherever it led her.  She was drawn, like a moth to a flame. She had told him it was that sudden unquenchable urge to follow those instincts that had at least in part been responsible for the destruction of her first marriage. Her first husband just couldn't adjust to that.  Marcus understood that, he supposed, but he didn't envision himself ever getting tired of the adrenalin rush that came with needing to be beside Khaat because of whatever new debacle she would throw herself in front of or in the middle of.

And the pull had come for her again this morning at just about daybreak.  She had been at breakfast with her family when she was, for no outwardly apparent reason, struck with such utter terror, the likes of which he had never seen from her, that before she had realized what she was doing, she had leaped up and bolted from the table and was racing to find her wand and the thin summer cloak with the full hood that partly shielded her face.  He had raced after her.  

She hadn't been sure of where she needed to go, only that it was London.  He had managed to slow her down, secure the cloak around her, draw up her hood, place her wand in her cloak pocket, and ported her to London.  He had started with Diagon Alley, figuring that was the obvious first choice.  She stood for a moment frozen, trying to get her bearings and figure out where her senses were urging her to go.  

"This way," she said softly, heading quickly up the street.  "Hurry."

"Slow down," he told her. "And stay with me."

"Hurry. We have to hurry," she said urgently.  He noticed, even though she had not, that the green stone she permanently had to wear around her neck had started to give off a slight green shimmer. Well, that explained it.  Werewolves. And that could only really mean James. Damnit.  He was not looking forward to any confrontation with the battleship sized beast.  Some back up seemed, now, to be urgently needed before they ran headlong into James Blood all on their own.

It had been a busy week for Hallie. She was currently staying in the spare bedroom as Maura and Ryo's house. Theodore and her had yet another argument and instead of an ongoing screaming and shouting match, snide remark after pointless insult Hallie had taken herself from the situation and decided a few weeks apart from Theodore may do her some good.

It was tiring. She was used to arriving home from work to a full cooked meal. Theodore would do the dishes, the laundry and even keep the household stocked up on vitamins for Hallie's pregnancy. Granted he had to work as well but the amount of time he spent at Babbity Rabbity wasn't anywhere as much as the duration Hallie found herself locked in the auror office, out on duty or researching more into the Forest of Dean ready for the upcoming Order Battle with the death eaters - something that could happen at any moment.

Living with Maura and Ryo was different. They had child, Ciara, who was less than six months old. Maura was working every and any shift at St Mungo's to help provide for the family and Ryo was off doing stuff for the ministry every now and then too. The household was a hectic environment and Hallie rarely shared the same meal time as Maura. On top of cooking all her own means her laundry needed doing - they'd devised a rota - and Hallie felt like she was going to collapse form exhaustion. Life with Theodore was hard, yet somewhat easy in other aspects. It allowed her to live her dream as an auror whilst leading the Order, but something was bound to give sooner or later and the blonde was working her socks off to ensure that wouldn't happen.


On her desk had arrived the papers for Henry Yewbeam. He had refused to meet his match, had been held in the holding cell during the ministry riots and still was being completely oblivious to the marriage law. Had it been another auror or department of magical law enforcement member who'd receive the documents he would no doubt have been brought into ministry and sent to Azkaban, but Henry was a special case to Hallie for there was more in his besides his criminal disregard for the marriage law.

At the start of the year Hallie, along with Lorcan D'Eath had alerted the ministry of his torturing and abducting of said blonde. The case had fell through and Hallie was told she didn't have a leg to stand on. Literally. The wizengamot had never given a reason for this and Hallie now had the documents, she now had the power to find out why the man who had lost her a limb never received a sentence in Azkaban, why justice hadn't been seen.

Nothing. There was nothing in the file that suggested a dodgy dealing, no superior member of the ministry had swooped in and waved a hand over 'this nonsense' - as quoted by one wizengamot member. It appeared Henry Yewbeams solicitor had been Scorpius Malfoy. The hearing minutes illustrated how the lawyer had shifted the blame onto Hallie. Made out that she was holding a grudge from when he cheated on her during their Hogwarts days, how there was no proof she'd been abducted as their only witness (apart from Theodore who had been too busy caring for Hallie to take an interest in the case) was lying in a hospital bed in a coma - a coma that could quite easily be due to pregnancy problems. Pregnancy Problems? Ciara was fine, she had always been perfectly healthy! Malfoy's word easily painted a beautiful lie in that Hallie was a woman scorned seeking revenge, that she had gone into Borgin and Burkes, destroyed the attic and then had disposed of her wand because she knew when her wand would be called up for prior incantartem all the evidence was show she had recently used blasting charms not the protego she claimed to have used before being overthrown by Yewbeam.

It had taken a while for Hallie to really take this in. At one point she'd had to hurry to the toilets, placing toilet roll in her mouth to silence her cries as she was horrified by the way Scorpius Malfoy had made her own to be a revenge-seeker crazy lady. Thankfully it hadn't had any negative impact on her career, she'd qualified as an auror before the rest of her class, but she'd been made a fool of before the Wizengamot. Had she been able to attend, had she been able to defend herself things may have been different. Though at the time of the trial Hallie was lay in bed recovering from an amputation and couldn't place an argument against Henry Yewbeam. Her accusations were, instead, silenced by Scorpius.

Despite that Henry would soon be finding his rightful home in Azkaban. He had ignored all ministry letters, ignored all claims against him that he had shadowed away from the marriage law and an auror had been instructed to arrest him, bring him to the ministry to be formally charged then carted off to Azkaban. Justice would soon be here, even if it was for a breaking a law that Hallie deemed ridiculous.

In a wisp of green flames Hallie erupted from the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron and had began to make her way to Eeylops Owl Emporium where Henry Yewbeam was working. Today would be the day the blonde would see her ex-boyfriend, the man who had hurt her beyond imaginable and caused her to go through the excruciating pain of regrowing a limb.

Just as she was about to enter the store where Yewbeam worked something caught her ears. A voice, two voices, two familiar voices. Turning her head she spotted Khaat hurrying up the cobbled street, Marcus not far behind her.

'Khaat, Marcus?' She asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as to what Lupin was doing in the middle of Diagon Alley when, really, she should be safe in the Lupin household.

Marcus turned sharply, his typical response, at something that needed his attention. He was pleased to see Hallie Rookwood there. The young woman had already proven her mettle in some formidable situations that would have let others quivering for life. Rookwood had survived more than admirably. Back up. Good. He fully intended to press her into service whether she wanted to be pressed or not.

"Rookwood. Excellent. Come along, would you? I'm not sure where we're going but my guess is that it will be eventful," he said. "Unless you were planning a quiet morning."

How the hell did he tell her in the early morning crowd that his best guess was that Khaat was on the trail of the most violent creature in England? Yeah, well, probably best left unsaid in a crowd. He motioned to Rookwood, pointing just ever so briefly at Khaat who was hurrying ahead.

"Hey," he said, clutching Khaat's good hand. "I said stay with me." She had no choice but to stop but she wasn't paying any attention to him. She was looking around, trying to feel where her energies were leading her to go.

"This way," she said, gesturing to Knockturn Alley. He rolled his eyes at Rookwood. Knockturn. Of course it was Knockturn. Well, this wasnt' going to be tea and scones, then, was it?

She weaved her way through Knockturn's narrow passage and then stopped in front of an old bricked up doorway. She paused and then slowly laid her hand on the old brick. She seemed to know how to give one of the bricks a very quick quarter spin counter clockwise and forcing the old brick to open and reveal a passageway down. Down below the surface of the street.

She started to head inside and down, when he took tight hold of her again and hissed into her ear. "I don't know where we're going!"

"I do," she said softly. "I know this place. Come with me or stay behind, but I'm going."

He sighed, looked back at Rookwood and then followed Khaat into the building and down, down, down the old stone stairs into the unknown.

Hallie knew better to ask what this eventful morning would become in the middle of Diagon Alley. Anyone could be under the large rimmed hat peering at them as they leaned against the wall under the sign for Eeylops and Merlin knows whO the veiled witch on the steps of Gringotts was. Instead the auror simple nodded and began to walk, hurriedly, alongside Marcus as they followed Khaat.

She'd never intended for a quiet morning. That morning she was supposed to be seeing Henry Yewbeam, looking him in the eye for the first time since he tortured her. Hallie hadn't really known what to expect, would she be too hurt? Left in shock, staring at memories in his dark blue eyes? Or would a duel breakout if he resisted arrest? Either way Hallie had been prepared for both, she'd had a decent dose of adrenaline and even though it wouldn't be channeled through Henry no doubt it'd prove useful.

Knockturn Alley. To some this place was forbidden, her Mother certainly restricted her from going down the alley growing up, not that that ever stopped her. From the age of sixteen in the summer holidays she'd met up with her Gryffindor dorm mates and would sneak into Satans. Hallie had always enjoyed a night out and Knockturn Alley had been that source for many enjoyable nights.

Her eyes flashed the sign of Borgin and Burkes. Funny how things came full circle. This morning she was mean't to be meeting Henry Yewbeam, her attack, but instead she was walking past the scene of her abduction.

However there was no time to dwell on the past there was a situation at hand. Khaat Lupin had began to descend down into the catacombs of Knockturn Alley. Hallie had never been down here, heck she never knew they existed. Rumors had flown here and there but Hallie had never found the proof, evidently like Diagon Alley a certain brick needed to be trapped to reveal the secret set of stone steps.

Withdrawing her wand the witch gave it a wave. Lumos.

Khaat descended down the dark stairs without needing a light. She knew the way in her sleep. She went down to the cellar level and kept going down, deeper and deeper. She was moving quicker the deeper she went, feeling a press of urgency and not knowing quite where it came from within.

As they got to the lowest level, the catacomb level, there was light again. The magical lights that the illegal potions makers had placed her long, long ago. The green stone around her neck was glowing brighter, warning her of the presence, at some point very recently, of a fully transformed werewolf.

Marcus's wand was drawn, and he was already picking up on the sound of voices as they neared the lowest level. Multiple voices. Some were upset. When they reached the catacomb passageways, at an intersection, he insisted on making her go behind him, not letting her lead. His wand was drawn and aimed at whatever might have the unmitigated gall to threaten them.

"Which way?" he asked, hearing voices in two different directions. She pointed off to the corridor to the left. He glared at her. "You stay behind me." He could smell an odd mix of mildew, dirt, potions ingredients, wet dog, and blood. Lots of fresh blood.

Death. Khaat knew the smell better than she liked to admit. It was thick here. And recent. They were forced to take a moment to gather themselves, to adjust to the smell and to brace up for whatever they were about to find.

This was where the largest illegal potions maker in London had always been located. She knew it. Knew it well, but she wasn't here to see them shut down. That was the least of her concerns.

"You ready?" Marcus looked back at Rookwood. He wanted to be sure she could withstand looking at some sort of a corpse because he was certain they were about to encounter someone who had very likely bled out.

Hallie followed Khaat and Marcus down the set of staircase until eventually it lightened. The light had to be artificial, they were so far below ground now that it would surely be impossible for natural light to read, wouldn't it? She was right. Magical lights decorated the stone, cave-like walls. However they weren't the only light in the room.

A dull green flicker of light was gently growing brighter and brighter the further they walked through the catacombs from around Khaat's neck. Hallie had seen Lupin wearing the necklace before but have never seen it illuminate, especially this powerful. What was it for? Hallie didn't know but she suspected it had some sort of power to it. Was it this that had led Khaat down below Knockturn Alley?

A cry echoed from ahead. Hallie gripped her wand tighter. Someone was here. No. Not someone, some people, there were different voices coming from somewhere up ahead and that brought with it a stench, a horrible stench that snaked it's way up Hallie's nostrils, stimulating her nerve endings and reminded her of rotting vegetables. Worse. Rotting carcasses.

The odor wasn't too familiar but Hallie would pinpoint the scent on that, it reminded her of a duty she had to carry out when training as an auror on a trip to the scene where a witch had been discovered dead. Four weeks dead. Her body had been pale, her lips blue, blood dripping from her mouth and there were flies. Many flies buzzing around that peculiar scent emitted from the body. The scent coming from deeper in the catacombs reminded her exactly of that. Hallie shivered. Whatever was happening down here wouldn't be pleasant.

Now Hallie was shaking more than ever and was thankful when Marcus and Khaat paused. Gathering herself the blonde inhaled three deep breaths, exhaling slowly reminding herself of all that she'd been through. Nothing could compare to her past: hearing her Father murdered whilst hiding in the closet, watching Maura being mutilated, being tortured and having her leg amputated, finding Khaat Lupin in Blood's headquarters.

Ten seconds later she was composed, ready to face whatever challenge presented them. Hallie silently nodded to Marcus, her wand raised and pointing ahead of her.

Marcus spun around into the room, wand drawn and leveled. He wasn't prepared, though, for the horror in front of him. He had seen death more times than he wanted to count, but never had he seen anything like this. Brutality. Plain animalistic brutality. Violence like nothing he could even imagine. It made his stomach churn.

He immediately reacted to spin back around to try to block Khaat and Hallie from seeing. Khaat was trying to look over his shoulder.

"No," he clutched at her quickly. "No, this isn't fit for anyone to see." She was, though, already getting a look over his shoulder.

"Oh, God," he heard her say in a small voice. She was trying to push past him to go in.

"No, there's nothing you can do," he said.

"I'm too late," she said softly. "He killed them. Why? Why them?"

"Khaat, look at me," he said, "what is this? Why are we here?"

"Did he get them all? There were three of them who worked here," she said. "Let me in. Let me pass." Marcus looked at the people who had gathered already. To him, these were the low lives of Knockturn. The thieves, the illegal potions runners, the criminals.

He saw some of them already rifling the shelves and looting illegal potions into bags to steal them. Khaat bristled seeing them looting the illegal lab. She drew her wand and was going to fire, but Marcus blocked her.

"Do you want to get us killed? What is the matter with you?" he frowned.

"They're stealing!" she said.

"From an illegal lab? Really?" Marcus frowned.

"I...knew them," she said. "They just worked here. Just trying to make a living. They didn't deserve this.... Please. I want to go in."

"With me, then," he said quietly. He looked at Rookwood. "Don't do this if you're not up to it. You don't have to see this."

Hallie, who was just about to follow Marcus, felt herself slightly pushed back and blocked from view by Marcus. Naturally the auror tried to sneak a peak, which proved difficult giving the fact Khaat was now standing in front of her attempting to do the same, fighting against her bodyguard. Whatever had happened in the room Hallie could only go upon what she had heard.

There had been three of them, three innocent people working within an illegal potions lab. It was this sort of thing that gave the department of magical law enforcement great difficult and although Hallie would have liked the three women to see justice and receive a sentence for her crimes wishing them dead is beyond anything Hallie would have hoped for. Beyond Belby and Lupin three dead bodies would be strewn across the ground, in a horrible state owing to Khaat's reaction and the stench. Moreover they weren't alone, by the sounds of it the common criminals that found themselves in and out of the Ministry for hearings were in the room too.

'I'm coming.' Hallie nodded strongly in response to Belby's call on her duty. He had asked her to follow them into the bowels of Knockturn Alley, dragged her away from arresting Henry Yewbeam and now there would be three dead bodies on their hands besides countless petty criminals. They would need her, not just for protection but to help clean up this mess. There was a chance this would have to be reported to the department of magical law and, being an auror, something no doubt Hallie would be made to investigate when that time came.

There would be no point Belby asking her again, no point double checking for Hallie had made up her mind, much like Khaat and she was going in the room. The fact that Lupin kept mentioning 'he' wasn't soothing either. From all the unfortunate run-ins Khaat had experienced lately 'he' only had to mean one person: James Blood. Hallie wasn't wanted, she was needed.

What Khaat had seen over Marcus's shoulder was nothing short of horrific. She'd been a healer a long time, and she had never seen anything like this. Marcus went in ahead of her, and she followed.

"There were three," Marcus said, identifying body parts. And there had been three dresses. One was a rose satin, another was a bright leafy green cotton-y material, and the third had been something in royal blue. It seemed unlikely that any woman would have had that particular mix of colors, let alone fabrics. And then he saw hair. Brunette, brown, and dirty blonde.

Khaat had seen the same thing. There was no humanity in this. None. This was beyond what she'd even known of animals to do. This was pure monstrosity.

She saw the criminal low lifes that were looting the place, all looking for the cash drawer. She knew that wasn't in here. She went over to the far wall and used her wand and an enchantment she should have forgotten long ago, opening the hidden door to the back room--the storeroom and the potionsmaster's own office. What she didn't know was if whoever was the potionsmaster here now was also here and dead or simply not here. She needed to know

The herd of criminals behind her merged to follow--a new place to look. Marcus stood in the doorway and spun around facing them, wand leveled. "I don't think so, Mates," he said. He looked at Hallie, motioning Hallie to go with Khaat into the back, while he held off the unwanted others. He looked back at the others. "Did you hear anything?" he asked them.

"Us?" one of them asked, "Why would we have heard anything?"

"Because surely somebody heard something!" Marcus was never short on sarcasm if he needed it.

"Do you know how far underground you are, Friend?" another sneered at him. "None of heard anything. Seen nothing neither."

"Sure," Marcus said, not believing them for a moment.

"Who are you? The aurors or something?"

"Or something," Marcus replied dryly.

It felt strange, standing besides criminals, watching them rob the place and not try to stop them. It was a struggle, in inner argument within the blonde. She wanted so much to simply tie them in ropes and take them to the Ministry on their way out but right now Khaat was her main priority and Marcus appeared to be handling them quite efficiently.

Not that talking to them was achieving anything, they didn't seem to have heard or seen anything. Somehow Hallie wasn't too sure she believed them. If they didn't hear anything how did they all know to break into the place? Were these criminals, people who robbed for themselves really going to spread the word? Surely they'd want to have all items down here for themselves. Something wasn't right.

'Khaat. Khaat, what's happening?' Hallie asked in a hushed voice as she began to follow the lady towards the back, trying her best to ignore the criminals. Wouldn't it be best to all stick together? Marcus was an incredible bodyguard but he was outnumbered at least seven to one. Then again Khaat seemed too distracted by revealing the back room, whose door appeared to have been hidden.

'I've got a bad feeling about this, we need more people.' She quickly added, swallowing as the door to the back room slowly opened.