A New Leader's First Show of Bravery

As his foot slammed into the door, it flew open, revealing a dark hallway. Had no one heard the noise outside and thought to turn on any lights? Oliver just hoped that nobody was left in their rooms, because he still wasn't sure what the Death Eaters wanted from these Muggle-wizards-in-training. (He still had no idea what to call them, since they were not technically just Muggles anymore.) Oliver doubted that the masked figure in front of him saw any difference between what they were and what they had become.

His first thought was, if he was on the other side of that door, he would have thrown a spell of some sort at the opening door, particularly since it had yet to be opened that Oliver could tell. The Death Eaters had not been around back when he and Hallie approached. They had, seemingly, taken a more direct route, by entering through the front. So, the first thing that came to mind was your average Protego charm. At least it would block to other man's first attack, if there had been one.

Oliver needed to distract this man so Hallie could run past and deal with the one they had heard above them, or to check downstairs.

Another figure ran through, pausing to look towards Oliver, and the Hufflepuff graduate had to feel like there was something familiar about them. Ben? The figure darted up to the next floor, and began looking through rooms in hopes of helping people escape quietly before Alexander or any of the others noticed.

(ooc: If you want Ben to accidentally convince Corrine to snag Hadley, we can do that in the other thread after we finish this part!)

(ooc: so sorry this is such a late response!)

Alexander had entered what appeared to be a small bedroom, a bedroom that appeared to have nobody inside. There was a small desk with a desk lamp that had been switched on. Besides that was a single bed with the covers pushed across to one side, the shape of a body still imprinted onto the mattress. Whoever had been in this room had to be around here somewhere. No doubt the blast of the front door had disturbed them. Perhaps stealth would have been a better option after all.

Moving across to the wardrobe he held his wand out, muttered alohamora and watched as the wardrobe doors swung open to reveal nothing but clothes. As the doors had opened they'd knocked into the dressing table besides it causing the lamp to shake and fall to the floor, rolling beneath the bed.

Crouching down, his wand extended, Alexander peered below the single bed. Nobody. Whoever had been sleeping had decided to stay in the room would be a mistake, either that or they were curious and decided to find out what was happening elsewhere in the Inn. How foolish. They would have been safer in their beds.

Leaving the room Alexander returned to the dark hallway. There was movement from the floors above. Clearly Corrine had found her way without getting distracted by another muggle magazine. Where Lorcan was hiring the new recruits from Alexander didn't know. You were either fully committed or out, there was no in between.

Another boom sounded from downstairs somewhere and, had Alexander not been wearing his mask and the lights were on, a grin would have been visible. The order had arrived. Now was the time to prove his worth. Alexander wasn't going to freeze in fright in the way he'd done upon facing James Blood, he was going to show his fellow death eaters he was not to be messed with, that he was the definition of great. The adrenaline was pumping and-

'What do we have here.' Alexander slurred with a laugh as he caught sight of a figure down the corridor. It was hard to make out who the figure was owing to the darkness but it was either a muggle or a member of the order. Either would serve nicely if they could direct him to Hadley Swan.

'Incendio.' Alexander chanted, waking his wand and igniting a nearby candelabra.

'Connolly.' Alexander acknowledged upon recognising the figure. What were the odds that Alexander would find himself against the leader of the order. Every death eater knew his face, it was in their nature to know who their enemy was. However, unlike the founding Fathers of the death eaters, the face of the opposition didn't strike fear in the way that Dumbledore had. Connolly was nothing compared to the past leaders of the Order but, even so, being the one to slay the leader of the Order was still a recognisable feat.

'Petrificus Totalus!' Alexander called, swishing his wand and sending the body binding curse hurtling down the corridor before crashing into a protective shield. The blue light from the collision illuminating a new face that had arrived besides Connolly.

A blonde. A good-for-nothing, ever-interfering blonde who went by the name Hallie Cooper. Alexander attended her wedding to Theodore Rookwood. Heck it had been at Hogwarts the entire school had watched their headmaster marry filth. That had been a low point in the Rookwood's family history. Perhaps Alexander could gain more acclaim in the pure blood circles if he were the one to remove the girl who had almost ruined their pure blood lineage.

'He's blocking the stairs to the upper level.' Hallie muttered in Oliver's ears. Together the blonde and Oliver could easily over power Alexander but a scream from elsewhere in the Inn rang in Hallie's ears. She needed to find the muggles, help them out.

'I'll check these rooms.' Hallie told Oliver indicating towards the few rooms at their end of the corridor before running to the end room.

'It's a shame your girlfriend is too scared to stay around.' Alexander called. 'Imagine how well I would be rewarded if I'd brought down the ex-leader as well as the current one.'

Petrificus Totalus. Alexander cast again, this time non-verbally as his spell headed towards Oliver.


(ooc: I remembered Hallie was with Oliver so I figured I'd just send her to look in rooms to get her out of the way?)

[ooc: I'm going to reference the bit from your other post!]

Oliver narrowed his eyes dangerously at the boy down the hall, wondering if his choice to join the Death Eaters was due to bad parental influence or sheer ignorance. If this young man truly understood what his comrades had done in the past, would he be so willing to participate in such things? In truth, Oliver couldn't determine who was looking at him through that mask, but the other figure's obvious eagerness and desire to risk his own life made Oliver quite sure they were young.

Not that Oliver himself was all that different when it came to his age. Of course he was still young. At twenty-two, his age was almost nothing compared to previous leaders of the Order. Dumbledore himself had created the organization, and Oliver could only hope that, given time, he could grow into the leader they needed and wanted.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Hallie spoke and moved away, going to check on rooms where Muggles may not have yet made it out. He tried to keep watch over her out of the corner of his eye, but seemingly out of nowhere came a spell, and Oliver only had time to suck in a breath and turn himself sideways to avoid it.

"In case you were wondering," he pointed out, the desire to speak appearing in a moment of forced nonchalance, "that one isn't my girlfriend. But I suggest you leave her alone nonetheless." His voice had hardened to a darker, more threatening tone, but he wasn't actually sure if it would make the other man uncomfortable.

It may not have been the most brilliant plan, and it was clear that Oliver would surely regret it later. But he didn't have time to stop and think about it in the moment. Particularly considering the sound of fire that suddenly crackled in the room. The smell of it was distracting, and it took a moment for him to fully gather his wits before sending his go-to as of late, a rather simple cutting spell. Where Oliver's dueling skills were not the absolute best, his aim had been getting better recently. Augustus Rookwood and the back of his hand would surely have agreed.

So Oliver sent one towards the other man's wand arm, just hoping that it wouldn't be dodged. Right behind that, he tried a Stupefy, but his wand rejected the order, instead shattering a vase to his right. Releasing a curse loudly, Oliver held his arm up to shield his face from the flying splinters of glass. He was starting to wonder if the magic acted up when his heart rate was furious beneath his chest. It hadn't done so with Alice, though, when he needed to save her. He had no clue at that point, how to deal with the problem, so he just gripped his wand more securely and prepared for some sort of counter attack.

That one isn't his girlfriend. Interesting. Alexander had simply being taunting him, trying to wind him up. It was very Hogwarts immature, pretending that a guy likes a girl when he really doesn't to frustrate him, divert his attention and concentration but Alexander had been supplied with an answer he wasn't expecting. It mean't that Oliver had a person and whether that person was here or not could prove useful at some point. As the senior death eaters had always said: Love is a weakness. People will go crazy for love. They'd do anything. Even he had displayed that symptom. He'd help dispose the body of a werewolf that Isadora had murdered. At the time he told himself it was to protect himself but, really, he loved her.

Alexander had been distracted in thought for a moment, the sound of crackling and smoke seeping from underneath the door that the blonde had fled to had gathered too much his attention. The next moment a spell had been hurtled his way. Alexander raised his hand, ready to cast a shield charm, but he was too slow. The cutting hex ripped through his robes and into his skin leaving him with a bloody gash.

He gasped. He'd never been on the end of a hex that had drew blood. Naturally he'd cast such hexes before but now he knew what it felt like. It stung and his toes began to uncontrollably move to fight the pain.

SMASH.

A vase had smashed and sprayed glass everywhere. Whether it was Oliver's intention or not it proved effective for a couple of shard found their way towards Alexander, who was more ready this time.

Protego.

The glass rebounded from the shield charm and fell to the floor.

'You know you should really work on your aim.' Alexander taunted through gritted teeth as his cut continued to sting.

'How about I show you how it's done?'

With another wave of his wand, using the locomotor charm, the shard of glass that had shattered and fallen were rising in the air, dancing pirouettes as though they'd trained at the London School Of Ballet for years.

Oppugno. With a sharp jab of his wand the glass shards soared towards Oliver, although, for whatever reason they rose up above him and hurtled down the corridor before landing like darts in the back wall - only just missing the blonde witch and a muggle that had fled from the fire into the opposite room, no doubt looking for a window to escape through.

Why the shards of glass had changed course Alexander didn't know. It irritated him. Was it because they thought Oliver was his master owing to the fact he'd shattered the vase? Or was it the magic going haywire now that they were surrounded by muggles? The shards of glass had altered direction as the muggle entered the hallway. Whatever the reason Alexander wasn't about to dwell.

'Sectumsempra!' He cried, slashing his wand towards Oliver and beginning to move forward in hope he'd be able to back Oliver into the flames that were curling around the door and beginning to creep up the walls and along the floorboards.