Xenia/Scorpius 5

[Rosalie]

Anya was equal parts elated and suspicious that Draco Malfoy had agreed to meet with her at all. Elated because, after a week in a muggle homeless shelter; she was tired, sleep deprived,and a cleansing charm wasn't nearly as satisfying as a hot shower. This was especially true considering her most pressing problem. Anastasia Belenko, who had been a successful, 22-year-old Curse Breaker as part of one of the most elite teams in the world just a few days ago, was standing in front of The Three Broomsticks as a fifteen year old version of herself. That it had also been several years since the point at which she'd been hurled through time and space by some really nasty defensive magic, only served to further complicate matters.

She made her way to the bar and managed to get the tender's attention. "Draco Malfoy please?" The man gave her a strange look, and she realized the authority in her voice sounded nothing like a fifteen-year-old girl. Biting her lip, she tried for a shy expression, and could almost see the mental shrug of the man as it transpired. With a short nod he motioned with his head. "In the back" was all the answer she got, and subsequently all she needed. It was disorienting that everything looked so similar to when Anya had been here as a student. The same tables and booths in the same places, though the faces around them had changed. It even smelled the same. That was, until she entered the private back room per instruction. Crossing the room, she sat down rather heavily despite her best efforts. After a long, deep breath, her eyes found those of the man across the table. "It has...been a long time" She made a face as though realizing how ridiculous that was as an opening line. "I admit, I am a little surprised you agreed to this, Mal--Draco."

She studied him, and realized with mild irritation that the years had been kind to her former rival. The same icy blue eyes studied her in return. If there were new lines at the corners as he did so, it only added an edge of maturity to his still-too-handsome face. He easily bore enough resemblance to the Draco Malfoy she remembered to be recognizable. She wondered how long it would take, how many questions he would ask before he believed her. The thought unnerved her and she reached up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear unnecessarily in order to have something to do with her hands. The current style annoyed her, but she had learned quickly that sympathy was an excellent tool for survival, and the cuter and more innocent she looked, the more people wanted to help.

Looks like: THIS

Shava

[Shava]

Getting a message from an old semi-enemy-turned-wary-companion was odd enough, but Draco had long learned to keep his options open. He had, after all, proven himself well in power and wealth with a good business sense since his days of the war. He had little doubt for his skills and connections, but this one had always been a sort of thorn. While a mix of annoying and attractive, they had a very personal level of interaction few could claim. So he was feeling edgy at this meeting, especially as the general location hadn't been his to choose. Sitting in the back room frowning at the door, he had become wary the moment the doorknob started to turn.

He had not been prepared for what entered.

Brows narrowed in suspicion, he watched her grudgingly, almost unable to accept what his eyes were seeing. After her stumbling words he frowned a bit more before saying "Hmm. Yes, it is out of my way." His eyes traveled over her, slowly from head to toe before he rang the bell and ordered himself a whiskey and her a...butterbeer. As if to smack her in the face with her age, he waited till they arrived and as the door shut sat back not touching his yet. After a moment he said "All right, explain yourself. Prove to me you have good reason for calling my attention to yourself."

It was nearly too hard to believe, that she could really be the same person, but there were several things to command his attention from the curve of those familiar (if long since touched) breasts to the look in the eye. But that part, at least, had changed; she had no confidence at this moment, no experienced moves to her walk and stare. Surely this was a joke of some kind rather then what his mind nearly jumped too...

[Rosalie]

Upon seeing him, Anya grudgingly admitted that the years had been unjustly kind to Draco Malfoy, though they had apparently not softened him as much as she might have hoped. He looked highly suspicious, and under the circumstances she was forced to acknowledge she didn’t blame him. He speaks for the first time, and her lips quirk upwards gently. “You sound like your father” she observed before she can think better of it, and then flinches, realizing she’s not sure how that comment might be received. She remembers the senior Malfoy with the vividness a child assigns to a known, powerful figure. She had seen him many times, though thankfully she had never met him personally. When he orders the drinks, and her butterbeer arrives, she eyes it with resignation, wishing desperately for something stronger; like a large glass of red wine...or a bottle of vodka.



In addition to her irritation over the need to maintain appearances, she can tell by the spark in his eyes that he’s enjoying this. Given the fact she’s spent nearly a week on the streets of London, the realization is like salt in an open wound. Still, she needs his help, and it wouldn’t be wise to piss off the one person alive right now who might actually help her find a way out of this mess. Still, she lifts the mug without speaking, and her fingers whiten around it with the effort of controlling her tongue. When he spoke of proof, she smirked. “I would think, considering the history, that calling your particular attention to myself would be proof enough I have good reason” she answered with a soft edge of irony.



A deep breath, exhaled in a long sigh, both to prepare herself for what came next, and to gain control of her unfortunately very tumultuous, teenage emotions. Proof? Well, that was easy enough. With a brief glance at the door, it closed and locked itself. She would enjoy it while it lasted. “I can’t very well go around using my own wand, since I’m supposedly dead as of…” she looked at him critically, “Several years ago.” She took a deep breath, “at least I assume that’s what people think. Since I haven’t been seen anywhere in that time.” Another breath, “I was part of an elite curse breaking force working in a tomb outside of Cairo.” She was still puzzled by the next part of her story. “One of the artifacts must have held a fair bit of defensive spell work against dark magic, because it reacted with the dormant energies in your mark and…” she shrugged one shoulder briefly. “The next thing I remember I was sitting in the street in a side alley in Diagon.”  

With another glance at the door, as though to assure their privacy, she unbuttoned her shorts without much hesitation, and rolled them down to reveal the vivid Malfoy Crest still engraved on her hip. “I was twenty-five in 2006 a week ago” she finished softly. “Now I think I might be fifteen.” She paused to let him digest everything, waiting to see what he might say. She knew there was a fair risk he would take terrible advantage of this situation, but what choice did she have really. Who else would possibly believe she was a 25 year old expert curse breaker trapped in a fifteen year old body?


Words: 567
Outfit: Here
Lyrics:Daniel Powter - Bad Day
Notes: Ah Draco and Anya...I have so missed their tension
Tags: Shava

[Shava]

The news he sounded like his father was definitely not welcomed, though in his earlier years he might have been proud. Too many of his father's decisions had led the family to the brink of destruction and so Draco had had to struggle a bit to set them on firmer ground since. It was still precarious in some ways so his frown deepened at the comment. Her assumption of history however was so far off as to be nearly ridiculous. "That would require me admitting a history exists before we have established identities and if you know me, you know I have never been one to jump at conclusions." That was as close as he would go to saying he wasn't sure what he faced yet or what this really looked like.

She would need to do more first.

Listening, the furrows on his forehead grew deeper as she spoke; he had never tried to keep up with her after school preferring to ignore their connection since she had resisted and avoided his trap. Her ego showed with the 'elite' but she didn't talk like a child much causing him to start to put more credence to her story. However when she spoke about the mark and that it was his, his eyebrows went up. Could it be...? Unbuttoning her clothes, he felt a mixture of excitement and anticipation that this was real and upon seeing the mark he nearly stood up, turning it to a leaning on the table. "Ah." His reserved sound escaped softly and then he stood walking around the table and without asking bending down to place a finger on the mark.

It felt familiar (as well as activating the old memory of course) and he leaned back standing and looking down at her for a moment, taking in all she had said. "Well now." After a minute of standing there, he crossed back around the table and picked up the whiskey downing it on a single gulp as the flames snuffed. "Fascinating. And you've been surviving how since then? A week in London without any ID or wand would hardly be easy." It was true then, she had somehow come across one of those oddities in magic where things go haywire and now she was here, probably to beg for his help.

Sitting back down he patted his leg as if to a small child saying "Come here, Anya. If you really are seeking help."

[Rosalie]

It was obvious by the expression on his face that he didn’t appreciate the comparison to his father. She looked sheepish for a moment, and it was on the tip of her tongue to take it back, but instead she let it lie rather than dwell on something that obviously displeased him. After all, if someone had told her she had anything at all in common with her own father, she would have reacted with even less enthusiasm. He responded, finally, and she resisted the urge to smirk, because it gave her further opportunity to prove who she was. “Well, if I remember it right, that day in the tower near the end of school when we called our ‘truce’, I admitted that I had no idea who you were except for what I had seen.” She could quote the conversation nearly exactly. “I’m still terrible at apologies for the record.” That had been a particularly difficult conversation.

This was going smoother than she might have thought, while hostile, he was not nearly as much so as she might have expected. Though, that could possibly be because he had over a foot on her height-wise...and a wand. Anya had been petite even as an adult, as a teenager, she was even more so at barely 5 foot. As she revealed the mark she had spent many years trying to hide, he came around closer to study it and she tensed noticeably. When he ran a finger over it, the long-dormant magic responded to his touch, causing her eyes to open wide and then squeeze shut as she drew a sharp intake of breath. Damn it! It was all she could do to remain still as every muscle in her body tensed with the effort. Unable to speak for fear of lashing out, she merely stood silent until he had finished his examination.

When he pulled back, she fixed her clothing quickly, keeping her expression as blank as she possibly could. Deep, powerful emotions hidden behind a careful mask of indifference that made her eyes appear much older than the rest. A nod to his question about survival before she took a deep breath and spoke cautiously. “The muggles have shelters for teenagers who live on the streets” she informed him. “I lied and told them I was seventeen so I could stay out of an orphanage.” She didn’t tell him about the other nights, the ones when she couldn’t find an open shelter and had to do her best on the streets of London. It was those that had finally driven her here, to ask for help from the last person on earth she ever wanted to see again.

He patted his knee and she arched a brow at him in a disbelieving expression. Though she took a few wary steps closer, she remained standing. “I may look fifteen, Draco, but I’m still twenty-five” she reminded him. “Besides, since you were kind enough to reactivate a certain bit of dark magic” she said softly. “I hardly think you would be too keen to have someone catch you with a teenage girl writhing in your lap” she pointed out. Surely he was married by now. In fact, she was sure of it. Victoria….Astrid...She had seen something in the society pages a few years back while she had been flipping through the Prophet.

Words: 564
Outfit: Here
Lyrics: A-Team - Ed Sheeran
Notes: Ah, yes, there's Anya
Tags: Shava

[Shava]

Another note; she had the memory as well. He would rather have preferred to have her forget about that part, but whatever. "I just avoid them by manipulating the situation so that I'm right and others have to do it instead..." A very Malfoy way actually which did cause a moment of hesitation in his mind, but not on his face. Being like his father was something he was working more on and thought he had been doing better with. Being reminded of his failings was not a positive thing. That also went into his judgement about her.

A concept nudged his mind.

Although she hid it, he felt her reaction in the swift intake of breath and the answering magic of the mark. A slight smile, knowing that he still had the upper hand or the long term. Feeling the magic was there, she would have a harder time ignoring the memory and what it had caused her to do a few times in the past. He glanced at her and a part of his mind already had an idea, something she was going to hate and yet need. The feeling of being in control was empowering at that moment! "So then, sleeping with strangers. Interesting." What was it like on the streets? Dangerous? Freeing? Scary?

How important was his help to her? How much did she desperately need it? Was she against the wall to the point where she was willing to do anything? If he told her to strip for him and do everything he said would she? No. He knew there was a limit and she didn't feel like someone who was willing to debase herself entirely yet for another's approval. A second later. "And why not an orphanage? Is there some sort of objection to them or to being controlled? Explain." But what actually got to him was her hesitation to approach. That annoyed him and he decided to push the point into her awareness.

"If you want my help, you'd better get used to doing as I say. You may be in a hole, but I have lots of options available. Most of those do not include complications of someone who does not follow their role." He looked pointedly at his leg until she made up her mind...


Rosalie

[Rosalie]

Anya knew he was sizing her up, considering his options. Her fight or flight instincts were hovering just below the surface. There was no way she could fight him, and so her only option at the moment if this became too much was to run as fast as she could and hope his reputation was still important enough to keep him from following her into the street. “Right” she answered cautiously. He was sounding more and more like the Draco she remembered, and she wasn’t sure being under his thumb again was a sacrifice she was willing to make, even for survival. She had nearly lost her mind last time, would have if it hadn’t been for...A sad look crossed her face as it always did when she thought of Nat. He had saved her life, and he remained one of the only people from that time in her life for whom she had truly cared, and he was gone. Nat would have helped her, she was absolutely sure of it. The thought did nothing to ease her misgivings about her current situation. No two people could have been more different than Nat Shire and Draco Malfoy.

She hated the look that came into his eyes when he realized the power he still had over her, hated even more the feelings and memories that came rushing back into her own mind. His comment about strangers caused her eyes to flash. “I did not sleep with strangers!” she bit out. “Contrary to what you’ve always thought of me, I am not anybody’s whore.” She smirked wryly. “Actually, this incarnation is probably a virgin.” For a ridiculous moment, she almost laughed. She had been cold, hungry, and scared to death, but it would take longer than a week to drive her into the beds of strangers. It was one of the reasons she had come to him. Working corners was a fate she wanted desperately to avoid, desperately enough to be standing here now. Even now, hunger gnawed at her empty stomach, clouding her judgment and constantly forcing her situation to the front of her mind.

She forced herself to focus on his question. The orphanage had occurred to her, but briefly. “I met several people my age or a bit older while I was on the streets” she finally answered, “who had escaped from orphanages. Their stories were….not pleasant ones.” Some had been horrific, and besides, the idea of being a fully trained witch in a muggle orphanage was something akin to torture in her opinion. “I don’t trust myself not to hex the first person who tries to do something to me I don’t like.” Present company excluded of course. He could, and probably would hex back. “I decided it would be my...second to last resort.”

She listened, her expression carefully blank until he finished speaking. Powerful, conflicting emotions raged in her eyes for a long moment. She should just run, as fast and as far as her legs would carry her. Was a muggle orphanage worse than whatever he might do to her? She searched his eyes, only to remember that he too was a master of keeping his thoughts and emotions veiled. Tense, she slowly, haltingly moved forward and settled herself on his lap, every muscle in her small body was rigid. Her discomfort was palpable as anxiety coursed through her unhindered. She didn’t look at him, didn’t speak, barely breathed as her total concentration was focused internally on the many terrible scenarios currently tag-teaming through her thoughts.

Words: 593
Outfit:
Lyrics: Gravity - Sarah Bareilles
Notes: Blah, all the negativity
Tags: Shava

[Shava]

You could see her hesitation, which meant if he decided to nail her down the benefits had to be large and much more tempting then anything she might find on her own. Which, oddly enough, made something in particular come to his mind. An interesting thought, he played it out for a moment inwardly, deciding he liked the unexpected nature of it. She reacted as if stung, giving his feeling of superiority a boost as she was letting the adolescent side take more control. Or did she have a choice? "My my, don't we jump at that suspicion easily, must be weighing on your mind these days. I was speaking of the shelters you just mentioned, since you would be sleeping in a place with strangers you do not know nor can fully trust."

Let her realize what she had jumped to a conclusion of and his silent smile thanked her for giving him the upper hand in the conversation. "So, not desperate quite yet, but closer then you like. That is what forced you to come to me. Last possibility maybe?" He saw it in her reaction and pursed his lips. She might be a virgin now, but now that his mark was active again by his touch it wouldn't be long before she would have to turn to some male to try and get some control over her situation. That thought added well with the first idea still being slowly pushed around in his mind.

"No, they are places which usually end in hopelessness and then death. Few can survive with their help, but it sounds like except for me or prostitution, that might be your last hope." As she finally bent to his will and sat on his leg, he placed one hand behind her on her back to steady her, forcing her body to lean into him some, balance and depend on his support. That amused him, but it also served a purpose. "And you finally learn to bend your stiff neck to reason. Very well then, I might be able to help you then. If you had not been able to do that, there would have been no other choice for you I think. I certainly would not have trusted you to maintain a role."

There. Now that they had established how desperate she was, then they could bargain. He didn't say anything for a minute, letting her wait till he felt the moment right. "Have you ever acted? Do you think you have any chance of pulling off a teenage girl? I happen to have need of someone that age to perform a job in secret."