After the Snake

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella was extremely grateful to be off of Bleak Street and in Obsidian Harbor, having had a terrible time there. She was lucky to get out alive.

Persephone, having figured that the danger was over, had since disapparated, leaving the two girls and the man alone. Estrella gulped as she made her way up the dark alley on the street, expecting the lecture of a lifetime from Josh. She looked to Courtney, her expression blank.

 

[Courtney Potter]

Courtney looked back to Estrella and attempted to give her an encouraging half-smile. I hope we're not in too much trouble. Especially Estrella, her godfather is here. Courtney was glad to be away from Bleak Street, but at the same time furious about the events that took place there.

Courtney didn't know what to say, but wanted to say something to break the awkward silence. "Out of all things, a dragon had to be what I expected the least."

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella raised her eyebrow at Courtney, biting her lip a bit and still waiting for Josh to fly off the handle. She couldn't expect any less, she guessed.

"The dragon? I didn't expect to be locked against my will in a shop in the first place. Apparently, browsing is now a crime!" She shook her head, her dark eyes glinting with a blend of amusement and anger.

 

[Joshua Hanson]

Josh walked along with the girls, silently trying to figure out exactly what to do. He was not happy to be in Obsidian Harbor without disguise. He finally saw a dark alley between Weasley's and the Secondhand Shop. He walked down the alley, tugging at Estrella's arm as he did so, hoping that she would get the hint and follow him. He did not fancy yelling at her on the main street, and would let her know exactly what he thought once they were out of sight. He was livid that Estrella and her friend got themselves into such problems.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella glanced at Courtney, following Josh and gulping a bit, feeling increasingly embarrassed. She waited for the lecture of a lifetime. At least it wasn't Valcan that came, she thought to herself.

She shifted her feet as she stood, wondering avidly what Josh was going to say.

 

[Joshua Hanson]

Making sure they were alone, Josh looked at Estrella. He had grown fond of her over the summer holiday, and was not wanting to see her harmed. His eyes were flashing, he was livid with them. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN WERE YOU THINKING GOING DOWN THERE ALONE?!?! HAVEN'T YOU BEEN LECTURED ON VENTURING WHERE PEOPLE MAY WANT TO KILL YOU BASED ON WHO YOU ARE AND WHO YOU ARE RELATED TO?" Josh was in her face yelling at her. He turned around, walking away from her to the other side of the alley. "Do you realize what could have happened to you down there? If it wasn't that idiot, it could have been any of the other cretons that wander around down there."

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella's face was shock white as she stood in her place, her eyes wide as she looked back at Josh, clutching her fists at her sides. She was not used to being yelled at, however, and hated when people got up in her face. As he walked to the other side of the street, she replied coolly, "We had no idea it wasn't okay to shop."

She immediately wanted to kick herself; Josh had just saved them, after all, and she was sounding a bit ungrateful. She crossed her arms, waiting for another inevitable tongue lashing that she was pretty sure Josh would be willing to dole out. She looked to Courtney, pretty sure that she shouldn't say anymore.

 

[Courtney Potter]

Courtney followed Josh and Estrella into the dark alley, regretting ever suggesting to go on a shopping trip. She jumped when Estrella's godfather started to yell, and stared down at her feet with wide eyes.

When Josh began to wander down to the other side of the alley, Courtney looked up to Estrella and blinked a few times. She didn't realize that their little Bleak Street adventure would have caused them so much trouble.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella couldn't help looking over to Courtney, a glint of amusement flickering in her eyes, unsure of whether to be amused or feel disappointed by Josh's yelling. She waited for his reply to her little comment, wondering if it was going to anger him further or not.

 

[Joshua Hanson]

Josh spun around, looking at Estrella. "It is okay to shop - just not down Bleak Street ALONE. If you have the desire to go there ever again, you need to have a chaparone. What exactly do you think your grandfather would think if he found out that you had gone down that street alone after all he has done to help keep you safe. You know that there are people who wish you harm. Now that git of a shopkeeper is going to want revenge on what he thinks you did to his store. He was behind it all, but how do you know that the slimeball isn't working for someone who wants to bring harm to you and your family? You need to be careful. Valcan Drage is a very powerful man in a very powerful position in the world. There are people who would harm you just to get at him. You need to be VERY CAREFUL!"

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella listened to Josh's words, taking them in as the truth but still detesting being yelled at. Crossing her arms over her chest, she muttered bitterly, "I wish I wasn't in the family. I'm tired of being dragged down because of it." After all the trouble that it had caused her, she would rather have been born into a normal family with normal jobs and who didn't attract attention to themselves. She appeared immature and young for her years as she added, "We should both be considered old enough to not have chaperones; we're fourth year prefects, after all! And how were we supposed to know that Bleak Street was full of nutters?"

She knew that she sounded like a kid, but so what? She was tired of being yelled at by every and any adult that crossed her path.

After a moment of thinking about her own words and then Valcan, she gulped a bit, and inquired meekly, "You aren't go to tell him, are you?"

 

[Joshua Hanson]

"I don't know if I am going to tell him Estrella," Josh responded. He was much calmer now after he had gotten his anger out at her. His biggest fear was if there was a report of him being spotted, and if Estrella found out his secret from that git of a shopkeeper. He was yelling about it on the street, and that is why Josh stayed silent and snuck out the other side. "I fear that he may have heard already because of his connections with the Ministry. That slimy git probably made a report of the incident and fabricated a ton of lies about it. I need to run some damage control to find out what exactly is known about it, and how much Valcan knows." Josh looked at both of them. "The most important part is that you are both safe, and we should really get you back to the school to ensure that you stay that way."

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella bit her lip- She really didn't want Valcan to find out, but it seemed inevitable. Things were just not going great for her lately; who knew that an innocent shopping trip was going to turn into a gigantic mess? She remembered a verse from a book somewhere, was it a title of a chapter? Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Her stubborn side didn't want to apologize, but she managed to say, "I'm sorry for putting you through so much trouble." Her dark eyes flickering, she inquired with an unsure tone, "Erm, just for passing interest- How mad does Valcan get?" She had a feeling that the answer wouldn't be good.

She looked to Courtney, her expression somber and more than a little frustrated; what else was that shopkeeper going to leak out? That she and Courtney were thieves?

Looking to her friend's bag, she hissed, "What did you snag from there, Court?" Her expression lit up with a blend of fear and a mischievious excitement, forgetting momentarily that an adult was there, who most likely wouldn't approve. She did not feel sorry one bit for the shopkeeper- In her eyes, the crime was justified. He at least owed them a few things. She would have rather settled for the motorcycle or something else as intriguing, but they had to settle with small things.

 

[Courtney Potter]

When Estrella's godfather addressed them both, Courtney felt grateful that he was there to get them out of trouble, but she also felt terrible for putting him through the situation. Courtney nodded at him, "Thanks for coming."

Courtney quickly averted her gaze away from Estrella's godfather, and settled it on Estrella. "I'm not entirely sure what I've snagged. I think a couple of things might have fallen out when we were trying to get out of that disaster of a store."

Courtney opened her bag in front of the three of them, to see what she had managed to steal. She pulled out a book and handed it to Estrella, "Now that might prove for some interesting reading." Courtney stuck her hand in her bag once again and pulled out an apple, "I wonder what this actually does. Maybe it's just a decoration."

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella's eyes lit up as Courtney pulled the stolen book from the bag, taking it and running her hands over the cover. She looked to Josh a bit nervously, knowing that a normal adult would disapprove highly of the way these goods had been obtained. She waited to see his reaction, looking to the apple.

"I don't know what they do, but they're rather silly; think about it- This whole mess was started just because I touched one of those stupid things!" There were, of course, other factors involved, but it was easier to put the blame on one single thing instead of all of them.

 

[Joshua Hanson]

Josh frowned at Estrella's question. "You really don't want to find out how mad Valcan can get. It is not pretty." He noticed the items that the girls were taking from Courtney's bag. He really was not sure what to do with them so he just ignored it for the time being.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella frowned a bit, saying, "I suppose I wouldn't want to figure out." She instead decided not to think about how Valcan would react to the situation, and instead dug into Courtney's bag, pulling out a curved, smooth glass bottle of yellow poison. "Whoa!" she exclaimed, a broad grin lighting across her face. "I wonder what this does!" She knew that it probably was not okay for her as a minor to be handling a poison, but it was intriguing all the same.

 

[Courtney Potter]

Courtney gasped at Estrella when she pulled out a bottle that contained yellow liquid from her bag. "I can't believe I missed that one! Do you reckon we should test it out somehow to see what it could do?"

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella looked doubtfully back at Courtney, knowing that Josh probably wouldn't approve and waiting for his reaction. Her dark eyes trained on the bright liquid, she considered Courtney's suggestion for a moment, and then she shook her head. "After what happened in that shop, I wouldn't trust anything from there," she said, shrugging her shoulders, and holding out the bottle for Josh to see, she asked him whimsically, "You have any idea what this is?"