A Valuable Friend?

[Larissa Sedgwick]

A light breeze rolled through the near-deserted streets, dancing as it collected the dirt from Obsidian Harbour. A single brown leaf, that had seemingly have come from nowhere, lay on the ground, twitching. For a moment, the deep grey clouds above, drew close. Silence fell, nature holding its breath. A gentle, deep rumble emanated. Not a drop of rain fell. But it would rain, soon. And the leaf began to twitch again, fully raising one side and tumbling, landing only momentarily on the toe of a tall black boot. It scuttled away. Perhaps that was sensible, for the boot on which it had paused, belonged to none other than Larissa Sedgwick.

Larissa was staring with her pale blue eyes, watching something in the distance, her platinum blonde hair blew around her slender shoulders. She was not the stupid little girl that she had once been. She stood there, tall and proud, just watching that something in the distance- a boy. Someone she had once known. Her hands were in her pockets, not even attempting to grab her wand. The boy had looked back at her, almost returning her gaze.. But it was like she was invisible. Larissa wanted it to be this way. To work without getting caught was much simpler.

Being back in New Zealand was not best suited to Larissa's needs, however, she had been exchanging 'owls' with the girl for months, so it only seemed right that she do as she had promised. Though they had written a lot, they hadn't really said much.. Well, one couldn't with the occasional interception of messages. And so it was that they had arranged to meet at this point of Obsidian Harbour. Larissa waited, emotionless, for this girl to arrive. She took out her pocket-watch, observed the time and put it away again. Not long now.

 

[Shaylah Rouge]

Shaylah was wearing black jeans, trainers and a hoody. The hood was up with her head down and her hands were in her hoody pocket. It wasn't cold but she didn't exactly want to be seen by anyone other than the girl she was meeting here. When Shaylah looked up, all she saw was dark silhouettes of buildings. There was an occasional glimmer of the moon through the dark clouds but everything else was near darkness. This was how Shaylah liked it. It meant less people saw her and if anyone did then it was easy for her to hide.

It had been a while since Shaylah last saw Larissa. The last time they'd seen each other they were competing and Shaylah loathed the girl. She had been writing to her by owl recently though and even though she knew barely anything about the girl it seemed they had a lot more in common than she had originally thought. She wanted to know more though. For all she knew, she could get a friendship out of it.

Shay walked over to the older girl when she saw her. "Evening." Her wand was in a place which was easy to get to but she wasn't reaching for it at all. She would only do that if it was truly necessary. "It's been a while since I've seen you. How have you been??" Shay didn't know how to act around her. She couldn't be truly friendly because she hated her last time they'd been together but she wanted to give her a chance.

 

[Larissa Sedgwick]

Larissa hardly looked at Shaylah, peering down her nose a short way. She continued to stand still and strong. Finally, after Shaylah had spoken, Larissa fully acknowledged her. "Busy." The reply was short and firm. She did not wish to discuss the last few months in detail, not with this girl. It was getting dark, fast, but through the dying light, Larissa's gaze was visible, boring into Shaylah in a judging fashion. She withdrew a hand from her pocket, dusting a few grains of dirt from the other sleeve of her coat. "Shall we dispense of the small talk and get straight down to business?" She raised an eyebrow, not waiting for an answer and certainly not returning the polite question.

"From what I have heard," Larissa began, turning her back on Shaylah, feeling confident enough to do this, knowing that the magic she had been taught at Durmstrang would be no match for this girl. "And from what you have written, though fairly cryptic, I have managed to take a certain understanding; I am not the only one with a father locked away." She lowered her voice slightly as she said this. Larissa often called Grakul her father, regardless of what he was to her in reality. But he had been the greatest thing to happen to her, at the time, and he had protected her from her no-good mother. Larissa wasn't going to allow her temper to flare at angry memories. They were just memories. The witch was dead, now, along with Larissa's brother and father. All of them were dead and buried. She could could choose her own family. Grakul was her key choice.

 

[Shaylah Rouge]

Shaylah's face showed no emotion what so ever. She missed her father more than anything but she wasn't about to show that to Larissa until she knew she could trust her. "That would be correct." She nodded. Shay was glad that there were things that brought the two girls together but she didn't like the fact that it was through her dad. She hated her mother now and she couldn't believe the woman was the fault of her dad going to azkaban. "What's your point??" Shay wanted to know what she was getting at. Yeah, both of their dad's were in azkaban. Why did she care?? She had never once cared about any Rouge so why was she starting now?? Of course, Shay kind of felt sorry for the girl having to go through school with no father the same as Shay was. It just made her want to be with her and have someone to help her through the cr@p in her life.

 

[Larissa Sedgwick]

Larissa brought her hands together as though she was about to pray, pressing the index fingers to her lips. She thought long and hard for a moment. "Tell me about him- your father, what happened." She was keen to learn more, to understand how alike her and Shaylah really were. Her step-father had been taken in as a Death Eater, thanks to her freak of a mother. And now.. And now her cousin was running for Minister of Magic. That was the last thing she needed for a quite life. Perhaps some sabotage was in order?

Larissa watched a passer by looking up at the sky, before scuttling on to the Leaky Cauldron. Larissa had half a mind to head over there, herself, and grab a drink. Sadly, it would be another two weeks before she would legally be allowed to buy a strong alcoholic drink. She focussed back on Shaylah. Could she trust this girl? She had so far. Larissa's level of trust had diminished since the incident with her mother and Grakul, but as much as she would not have liked to admit it, this girl was probably the most trustworthy.

 

[Shaylah Rouge]

Shaylah found it odd that she was being asked about her father like this. Most people mocked her about the fact that her dad was in azkaban and she was forced to live in the half way house when she wasn't in school. Larissa seemed to be genuinely curious as to what kind of a man he was and what happened to him. "My stupid mother couldn't protect herself so my dad stepped in and ended up killing two kids. An auror picked that moment to turn the corner and sent my dad straight to azkaban. I haven't seen him since Christmas in my first year at Hogwarts." Shaylah sighed slightly. "Everything was fine until that pathetic woman showed up and made my life a living hell. You wouldn't think she was a slytherin at school. She acts too idiotic."

Shaylah stopped talking when she realised she was rambling. It was a normal thing for her to do. She could easily talk about her father for hours on end without stopping but she wasn't going to for two reasons. The first was she didn't know how much she could trust this girl. The second was she didn't want to seem boring. It was something she had been confused for in the past and she didn't want it happening again. "Until I was ten I didn't know who my mother was. It was just me and my dad, no one else." The whole time she had been talking Shay had been staring out at the street but now she turned to Larissa. "What about your father??"

 

[Larissa Sedgwick]

Larissa listened intently, taking in all that Shaylah said. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. And then, the question had been turned back on her. She was not going to lie. Larissa didn't lie, nowadays, she just didn't tell the whole story. "He was caught by my mother for being a.." Larissa shifted uncomfortably. "Anyway, she found him out and on Christmas day, a couple of years back-" Larissa closed her eyes for a moment, thinking on the past, hearing her own frantic cries, her attempts to get him back. She reopened her eyelids to reveal much bluer orbs, wracked with emotion. Emotion she had hidden for so long. But she did not cry. "Aurors.. They took him away. He hadn't done anything wrong." She sounded tired of her own words.

There was a distant shriek of laughter, followed by the brief appearance of two figures in glittering robes. A celebration, perhaps? Larissa glanced over with a frown, muttering something under her breath. She turned back to Shaylah when the two old hags were out of sight. "He was my one ticket out of that hell hole, but she stopped him from saving me." She paused, thinking about Mark. He had momentarily slipped to the back of her mind. "Of course, I was lucky enough that someone killed the evil cow." Larissa took a sharp breath of air, turning her head away to look up at the clouds. Darkness was nearly upon them. The light was dim and a gentle rumble signaled the closeness of the storm.

 

[Shaylah Rouge]

Shaylah nodded in understanding. She guessed she knew what Larissa meant by 'He was caught by my mother for being a..'. If she was guessing correctly then their dads may have even known each other. "My dad was a...as well." She hoped Larissa knew what she meant by that. It wasn't exactly the kind of thing she said out loud in the middle of a street. It had been posted in the daily prophet when he was given his sentence but she was never going to say all the same. She'd spent so many long years making sure no one found out that it was out of habit.

Shaylah looked over at the two figures when Larissa muttered something. She guessed it was nothing important and looked back at Larissa after the women disappeared. "I wish my mother was dead. And her stupid screamers." Shay rolled her eyes at the thought of her mother. "She abandoned my father with me when I was a baby and married some other man. When the other man died she went crawling back to my dad." Shay wished Tracy had never come back into her life. She loved life when it was just her and Jay. The two of them were like best friends back then. It had all changed once her mum came into he picture. Suddenly Shay was the second person in his life.

 

[Larissa Sedgwick]

Larissa listened to what Shaylah had to say and she forced a brief, almost sympathetic, smile onto her face. And when she spoke of her mother, Larissa felt herself twitch slightly. "Do you really?" She asked into the short-lived silence. The atmosphere seemed to become crammed with thoughts, buzzing around like flies. For a moment, Larissa wondered whether she was really going to say this, the trip back to New Zealand having already caused her some issues of doubt within herself. The sooner she got back to Germany, to Mark, the better.

Her eyes has become that cold and serious grey. She was going to clarify her words, she was going to ask. "Do you really wish she was dead?" Larissa was looking at Shaylah, now, full in the face with a look that she had not given her before. It was asking, wondering, if Shaylah really wanted this problem solved in such a way, or if she was just grieving her father. Larissa had once thought this was the case for her.. Until she asked for a solution, and one came. Her life was better now, of that she was sure. It would only be complete, however, once Grakul was free.

 

[Shaylah Rouge]

Shaylah narrowed her eyes slightly. Larissa was acting as if she knew how to have Tracy end up dead. She had once liked Tracy but that was before she had found out what a manipulating b!tch the woman was. Then she realised how all of it was her fault. "Yes. Getting rid of her would be like a dream come true." Shay had no idea where she would live if there was no Tracy and she was guessing that she would end up with a few enemies but she didn't care. As long as she got rid of the Satan of her life she was fine.

She kept her eyes on the older girl as she spoke. She wanted to see if she was telling the truth or just getting Shay's hopes up ready to watch the crash and burn. "Do you know a way??" Shay may have been a heartless pig but there was still no way she could kill her mother by herself. She would need help if she did. She wondered how anyone would get around Tony to kill Tracy. He wasn't exactly an easy guy to beat.

 

[Larissa Sedgwick]

Larissa's face remained emotionless in appearance. She was seriously thinking things through in her head, and though she hardly knew the girl, she could empathise with her. Larissa remained silent for a good few minutes. "Do not jump to conclusions," Larissa began, although, she knew that Shaylah was not jumping to non-existent conclusions, as every idea had potential. "I am not saying that anything will happen." She fixed Shaylah with a firm look, telling her that she should remember this carefully, that should anything ever happen to the woman.. Like an accident, that Larissa would have been in no way involved and that her name would never need to be brought up.

"However, time can only tell whether or not some.. innocent woman will be clumsy enough to fatally injure herself, but that is none of my business." Larissa turned away. She had no intention of committing murder, herself, not when she could potentially enlist the help of another. They may not have been there for long, regardless of what the lack of light said, but Larissa was willing to end the meeting here. "I think that is enough, for now," she said, holding out a hand. "There is little more for us to talk about at this point in time.. I will be in contact, should anything come up.." She looked darkly at Shaylah, her words clear. A light rumble allowed the first of many raindrops to fall.

 

[Shaylah Rouge]

Shaylah felt happy that Larissa wasn't lying to her but she was disappointed because it meant that there was no definite yes or no. Maybe was a word Shaylah didn't like because it meant she had to wait and find out if anything was going to happen. She wasn't exactly the most patient person in the world.

When Larissa said she was going Shaylah nodded and shook her hand. "I'll look forward to hearing from you." She hoped it wouldn't take to long to get an answer. She wanted to find out whether she could get rid of Tracy once and for all or whether she hopes were up for no reason. Then again, Larissa had gotten rid of her mother some how so why wouldn't she be able to get rid of Shaylah's?? She shook that thought out of her head before saying a final good bye and turning to walk away.