Escapism

Did his bail cover going to the Quidditch World Cup? Ariel Greyback sorely doubted it. Still, he’d never been one for Ministerial rules and regulations and he wasn’t going to start caring about it now. He recognised his life would have turned out mightily different if he had but he wasn’t going to put effort into it when the moment was gone. It was too late to go back on all of his mistakes so pushing the boundaries that his bail allowed for wasn’t going to make much difference. Still, the Ministry had more or less purchased him a one-way ticket to Azkaban. Why not potentially speed up the process?

The lagoon was beautiful, the waters shining clear and blue in the summer sunshine. The warmth took his mind off of what was nagging at him. As he sat down with his book against a boulder by the water’s edge, he tried to tell himself that it was a normal day and he was a free man not waiting for his life to implode. In fact, he was a man waiting for the next match that Scotland were playing. It was meant to take place in a few hours’ time, just before sundown, and he was taking the opportunity to soak up some of that sunshine.

Sighing contentedly, Ariel opened his book and lowered his eyes to the page. He put one arm back behind his head and with the sound of children playing, people swimming and chattering away around him, he absorbed himself into the story. So for a moment he really could believe he was someone else.

The day was beautiful. It was very warm for this time of year. 
Tris was walking and thinking that this was really high time to do something with her life. She graduated long time ago and now she needs to find a job.The truth is that she doesn't get used to live here in wizards world yet. She was thinking to go to work in the Muggle world, but didn't even know what she would doing there. She didn't finish any Muggle school, and now she didn't want to bother with it. Luckily, she has brought her sketchbook.She sat down on the ground. The clear blue water, sunlight and all the environment will look nice on the picture. She hoped only that she would be able to replicate all on the picture without mistakes. 

Not far from her sat one, by the looks she realized very angry guy. In addition to hair which was quite brighter than her she could have sworn she noticed similarities regarding them. She shook her head and assumed that she just imagining it. There are great chances that somewhere there are brothers or sisters for whom she doesn't know, but the chances that just today she meet her lost brother are still small. She started with drawing humming softly all the time.

Company at the lagoon's edge. There was plenty of it, mind you, but Ariel was still a little bit unsettled that anyone had come that close to him. He had to remind himself sometimes that he wasn't a pariah, regardless of however much he seemed to try and make himself one. He wasn't as terrifying looking as he had once been, either. His hair was cut, his face was clean and his teeth had blunted so that they were more like a human's once more and less like the razor sharp knives of the werewolf. He was human but he still didn't quite feel human sometimes.

Swallowing, Ariel turned the page of his book and smoothed his hand over it. He chanced a glance in the person's direction and discovered a brunette sat there. He immediately lowered his gaze back to the book. He'd never particularly been interested in brunettes. Redheads and blondes had always been more of his type - the latter much to the disquiet of his roommate, Ariel had thought. He continued to read, instead.

Up the grassy embankment, a Quidditch game was going on between a group of children. After a while it drew Ariel's eye and his confusion as he watched the beaters. The bludgers were doing something quite strange, indeed, and Ariel couldn't put his finger on what was wrong with them until one veered off in their direction.

Throwing down his book he scrambled to his feet and sprinted towards the bludger, catching it before it hit the girl. His back hit the grass and he felt all of the air leave his chest. He groaned and turned over, struggling to keep hold of the bad tempered thing.

"Oh, come on," he hissed at it, getting proper purchase on the ball. "What's the matter with you?" He asked it, coughing as the air found its way back into him. He winced and shook his head. Since when did he play the hero?

She drew dedication, ignoring the happenings around it. It was amazing how she managed to shut down, as if the reality does not exist. That for Tris was not difficult, if you take into account that the majority of her time she was not interested in the people around her.  She's less looked around, and more and more drew from memory. This was less hard.

For a moment, she raised her head and looked back surroundings. Not far from her children were playing Quidditch. She shook her head in disgust. She had never overly interested in sports, particularly those in which she could get a serious injury. She couldn't understand why people would voluntarily want to be hurt.  She occasionally went to the games Muggle sports which it certainly looked less violent. She never understood why people like this.  Shaking her head once she devoted herself again drawing.

She senses something, some movement. Someone crashed there in front of her. Just as she started to shout to be careful where they go, thinking he was a child, when she realized it was a guy who was sitting across from her. She looked at him as an alien, wondering whether he was normal, why he throws next to the person? She noticed that he was holding a bludger, at least she thought that is the name for this ball, and it is assumed that it went to her and he saved her.

Wow, what a hero, she thought.

„Are you okay?“  She asked with her most serious voice, though he seemed to her more than all right. She held out her hand to help him get up from the ground.

“Not bad,” Ariel admitted, chuckling wryly despite himself.

Pressing the bludger against his belly, he took the offered hand and got back up onto his feet, clearing his throat as he went. Reaching up, he rubbed at the back of his head and felt his cheeks colour somewhat embarrassedly. He wished, then, that he could hurry off and hide. This wasn’t his gig, after all said and done. This was the sort of thing his best friend was built for. He was meant to be in Azkaban, really, stewing with the other dark wizards and witches. Instead, he was catching bludgers and saving potential damsels. How the mighty did fall.

“Sorry, hang on,” he mumbled and trudged up the embankment where he was met with one of the children’s fathers. Ariel found himself muttering that he was fine and that it was no trouble at all. Really what he wanted to say that it was troublesome, saving people like that. He wanted to add that it did nothing for his reputation, either. Instead, he said ‘you’re welcome’ and the man invited him to have dinner with his family later on. Bizarrely, Ariel agreed to it, too. He rationalised that it was free food. Who was he to pass up on that?

“Are you alright?” Ariel asked, sloping back down to the girl. “That was heading right for you. Nasty little bugger,” he shook his head. “It probably wanted to be involved in some of the actual matches, rather than the kids’ one.” Ariel chuckled again and licked his lips, awkwardly looking around for a moment before shoving his hand out between them. “I’m Ariel.”

After the guy got up, she left out the paperwork quickly back into the bag. She didn't like strangers watching her work. Maybe it was because she was afraid that the other her works considered ridiculous, or maybe just didn't want anyone to see this side of her. She surreptitiously watched the stranger assessing his condition, this was a really nasty fall.  However, he looked healthy enough while he was speaking with the father of a child.

He came back to her and she barely registered that he spoke to her. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you," she murmured, moving her hair behind her ear.

"Nice to meet you, Ariel. I am Beatris." She smiled faintly. She assumed it was now her turn to thank him, though, she had to admit, the ball would have hit her badly.

"Uh, thank you .. That was really nice of you"


She wrapped a sweater that she had brought with her. Tris wasn't a classic witch. Her clothes were completely Muggle, without anything that resembled a magic wand except her wand hooked to the belt of her jeans. She thought the local mode is ridiculous. These people with mantles and other nonsense are it more resembled clowns than humans. However, this guy looked almost as if it has style.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

It's nice to meet you.

Was it? Ariel thought bitterly.

It was probably only nice because she didn't know him. Therefore, she hadn't had time to develop any kind of relationship with him and therefore hate him. As far as she was concerned, he was probably just a random do-gooder. He almost wished he'd let the bludger hit her in that moment. Not because he wished her any sort of harm, mind you, but because it might have stopped her developing any kind of sense of standards in regards to him. He'd never meet the ones he'd set now. Even his next sentence would be a disappointment.

"Yeah," he muttered. "You too."

Classic, a mocking little voice at the back of his head scoffed.

"Don't mention it," he went on, reaching up to scratch behind his ear. "You're ... you're welcome, I mean. It's ..." he took a hesitant breath. "That would've really hurt so ... y'know ... lucky catch." Ariel laughed weakly.

She looks at him like he came down from Mars. What, he was raised by wolves, and they didn't arrive to teach him any manners?

"Hmm I notice that you are very talkative," she muttered sarcastically to herself.

"Anyway, I'm very grateful. I wish there was a way to repay you," she smiled faintly.

At that moment has passed a younger member of the DE, she saw him at meetings but never talked to him. He briefly addressed her with Miss Greyback and she briefly waved.
She returned the look on her talkative savior. He looked like to be struggling with something, obviously he didn't know how to behave. She hoped it was not her reason for his nervousness. And why should she be? She was just careless girl which he rescued from the ball, no big deal. It's not like it would therefore think that he's the prince on a white horse for which she wants to marry. She had to resist laughing at the thought. He definitely was not her type.

Ariel heard the quip and it rankled within him a little bit though he didn't let it show on his face. He inhaled deeply through his nose and managed to crack a smile, the line she delivered turning his stomach as opposed to really garnering the response she must have hoped to get from him. He wanted a maserati, he wanted to say to her. He also wanted the Ministry off his back. There was a way she could repay him if she could produce either of those outcomes. Alas, that was unlikely.

So wrapped up in his thoughts, Ariel barely noticed the passing man. It was only when Greyback floated through the air and half-slapped him in the face that he opened his mouth, looking from the passing man and the girl before him. Ah, he thought sourly, so it's a small world after all.

"Fenrir spread himself far and wide didn't he?" Ariel inquired tartly, crossing his arms over his chest. "It appears we share genetics, kid."

She flinched a little when she heard the name Fenrir. It's a name that she so refused to mention, but she couldn't deny that she had heard of him. She was ashamed of her genes but that in this world is clearly not enough, especially if the father recognized as his child, as well as many other children, in the end. She wanted to ask him how he knows her father, when it was his next comment hit like a bucket of ice water. She knew that her father has a lot of children around the world, but the fact that this freak who is saved from the wild ball, related to her, it was too much for now. She opened her mouth to say something but didn't know what. What could she say?

"You ... You are ... You have ... You ..." she was completely speechless and clear lost the ability to put together a coherent sentence. In the end she just shook her head, unable to say anything that would make sense.

She met cousin, brother, whatever. She had to come to terms with it.