Up to no good

[Noel Deveaux]

Noel stepped back into the cell, cringing as the police officer slammed the door closed behind her. She shuffled over to the seat she had abandoned several moments before she had been allowed to call her mother to come bail her out. She sort of wished she had chosen someone else to call but it wasn't like she had many options. Her mother had spent the majority of the two minutes she had been allowed yelling and telling her that she should have simply left her there. Noel had fought the urge to make a retort and just listened, mumbling a good bye when her mother had told her she would arrive after she managed to exchange some galleons for muggle money. The girl hadn’t told her mother exactly why she had been arrested, though she was sure the officers would delight in telling her that she had been arrested after being caught breaking her muggle boyfriend’s car window. She knew that she should have disapparated away but she hadn’t been thinking of anything but exacting revenge and hadn’t even realized that her boyfriend was actually walking back to his car while she was breaking it. Who knew she had such horrible timing? Still, Noel had enjoyed seeing his face when he saw that all of his windows had been broken in, even when she was in the backseat of the police car and headed to the station. That would make him think twice about cheating on a girl again, at least for a short while. She was sure that he’d never be able to be in a monogamous relationship. He thought he was too pretty for that sort of thing. If she didn’t know any better, Noel would have thought he came from veela blood with how conceited he was.

Placing her arms in her lap as she took a seat, Noel looked towards her bandaged hands and tried to look bored. She examined the long scratch on her hand that ran from her thumb up to her wrist where a shard of glass had made its presence known. She hadn’t gotten a good look at herself in a mirror since before she’d been arrested, so she had no idea if her face bore similar scratches though she was sure there were some. At least the officers had helped her get the glass out of her hair. They didn’t want the glass to be used by the other people in the cell as weapons. Over the past few hours, she’d seen a drunken woman released to a dour looking woman and two girls come in who looked like they’d been in knock-out, drag down fights. They kept staring murderously at each other and Noel half expected them to go at it once more. She knew a couple of other girls had come in as well, but she couldn’t tell what they might have done and no one seemed to be in a talking mood anyway. None of them looked particularly dangerous though, which she was thankful for. She was a sliver of a thing and unless she could use magic, which she couldn’t here especially since she'd left her wand at home, she’d be pretty useless in a fight. Noel sighed again, wondering if crying would help her to avoid trouble from her parents. Thankfully, her father was away on business but she knew he’d hear about it as soon as her mother could get around to sending him a message. “This blows” she muttered to herself as she glanced at the clock on the opposite wall and realized that she’d been at the precinct for most of the night.

 

[Valera Vyhnal]

This was not the first time that Valera Vyhnal was being led all the way back to the cells. Her brother was going to kill her, eventually. She was just finished with her single phone call, and she was very lucky that her brother was even sober enough to answer the phone. She was very lucky indeed. While she was being searched for weapons, Valera made her presence known for hollering out things like she was going to sue them for sexual harassment. Valera almost fought back when the cop led her to the cell. Sure, she could have apparated away, cursed the man and erased his memories, but what was the fun in that? Plus the Ministry was bigger than muggles, she did not want to get in trouble with them. "In you go, Valera," said the officer as the cell door was slammed shut. "Oh you want to go on first name basis now? Get bent, you pig!" Valera flipped the officer the bird before she turned around in her stance to see who all she was roomed with until her brother came by. She was getting tired of being fingerprinted, and she was getting tired of being searched. This was not her first offence at all, and nothing would stop her from spreading her art around the world, letting all who see, and how the government was corrupt. They should be arresting drug dealers, not artists! However the officers were just as stupid as the rest of them. She looked at the person with her, in the cell, and she could see that it was another girl. Valera combed through her hair, which was caked with spray paint as well as her arms and clothing were coated with neon color spray paint. Valera noticed that there was a scratch on the girl's hand, and wondered what in the world she was in for. Valera took a seat next to the girl, and she gave her a slight smile.

"So, what did the donut loving pigs bust you for? Fighting?" Valera asked, her Boston accent making itself known fairly well. Her brother did not really have an American accent. It was weird, but it seemed to be a little from Romania since his Quidditch team was there. Valera stretched her legs out a bit, and she knew that her friends would not like her behavior at all. She believed in freedom, and she felt so bound down with the laws here in the States. She wanted to explore elsewhere. Her name was getting too well known for the cops. If she kept on, then they would just bust her and she would end up in a horrible, orange jumpsuit. Valera had just gotten in here, but her brother would be here any moment. She didn't want to be in here for much longer. She had spent a couple of nights in the cells before since Jarrett was not there at the time to release her. Legally, he was her guardian. However he was a pain in the ass of an older brother too. There was something in the stars that told her that. She looked at her painted hands and she placed one of her elbows on her jeans, and propped her head on her hand. She was getting really bored, really fast. She didn't have any paint on her now, which would have really helped, but then again she would probably be fined if she tried to paint up the cell block. She mentally begged for her brother to hurry and get her out of here to cease her boredom. There was nothing that could be done to make this little 'incident' go by faster.​

 

[Noel Deveaux]

Noel had nearly fallen asleep, her head leaning against a corner of the dirty cell, when she heard the door open again. The young woman watched as another woman who appeared to be about her age entered the cell. She was obviously quite well known to the officers who called her by her first name. Noel sat up, watching with an amused expression on her face at the first bit of entertainment she’d had since being placed in the cell. The woman was a feisty one, that was for sure, and she was also a mess. Various neon colors dotted her hair and her clothing was covered in the same colors. It was obvious to the woman that Valera was a graffiti artist. She’d never met one before, but she figured that few other people ended up in jail and covered in paint. Giving the girl a tight smile as she sat besides Noel, the girl scooted over so she could have more room. She pulled her sleeves down further, an attempt to cover the long scratches on her hands. The sleeves weren’t long enough though. Up until that point, no one had really spoken in the cell, aside from the brief mutterings when they had first been brought in. Noel had simply thought it wasn’t allowed and her bright blue eyes quickly went towards the cell door where she knew the officers were sitting not very far away. The girl’s accent made it clear to Noel that she was also from Boston. Noel’s accent was clearly a Bostonian one though she couldn't escape her French heritage.

Shaking her head, Noel felt a sliver of glass land on her jeans. She quickly brushed it off. “No” she said in a low tone. “I…um…I broke some windows on a car and got caught” she finally admitted. She glanced over to the other people in the cell but no one else seemed to be paying much attention to them. Noel wondered how much longer her mother would be. She really wanted a shower and to climb into her bed. “You’re an artist, aren’t you?” she asked, about to ask something else when an officer came by and shouted the name of one of the girls with the murderous glare. Obviously, someone had posted her bail. Watching as she scurried out, Noel sighed. She was beginning to think that her mother had decided to just let her stay until morning. It was definitely something she would do. She often thought that her husband was much too lenient with Noel and that Noel needed some tough love in her life. As if finding out that your boyfriend was cheating on you wasn’t tough love. The eighteen year old had been dating him for almost a year and her mother ‘adored’ him.

 

[Valera Vyhnal]

Valera looked over at the girl and saw that she probably kept her from sleeping, and she immediately felt bad for that. However they were in jail, so things were a lot worse on them. Valera knew that her brother would probably kill her for what she had done. When the girl said what she had done, Valera's lips curled into a smile, and she could not help but laugh a bit. That was pretty funny! Valera stated after she stopped laughing, "That is so kickass. You wouldn't even begin to know how awesome I find that." She looked over the girl and saw that she definitely needed something to heal her. She looked around but thought it would be too risky with cameras and stuff to pull out her wand. And she might be a muggle too for all she knew. Then she would be in even worse trouble. The muggle police did not scare her in the slightest. But the ministry did. Her purple eyes roamed over the slivers of glass all over the place, and wondered if the girl needed stitches or something. And she wondered why break some windows on a car? She didn't seem like she was drunk or on drugs, so someone must have really pissed her off to deserve such a thing. When she was asked if she was an artist, she was about answer when an officer came in and shouted to another one of the girls. Not her. Jarrett really needed to hurry his ass in here before she went nuts from being locked up.

"Well, that's not what the donut lovers call me. It is their fault that they had a blank billboard and I saw it as a canvas." She shrugged her lean shoulders before she looked over everything else in here. Perhaps she would be spending the night? Valera would not mind it if she had a friend or something in here, but alas. Valera stuck out her hand, even if the other girl's hands were scratched up, "I'm Valera by the way. Valera Vyhnal. Who might you be?" Valera still thought that this girl was amazing when it came to busting cars and stuff. It sounded like great fun. She started to imagine some things with the girl, like while she cracked windshields, she painted with spray paint all over the car. "I don't know when my brother will pick me up, so we might have time to get to know each other in here before we make bail." Well, that is if they do make bail. Perhaps this was punishment. But if Valera was going to meet cool people in here, she might get caught more often than what she does already. There was only so much excitement that this place offered anyway. She rarely got to know others that seemed more like her.​

<i></i>

 

[Noel Deveaux]

A coy smile crossed Noel’s face as the other girl called her actions awesome. She wasn’t sure that her mother or father would think of it that way, but deep down she did take pleasure in those words and in her actions. Noel had been wronged and she had done something about it. Getting caught had been a definite downside to all of it, but she knew that she’d laugh about this someday. When Noel noticed that the woman’s gaze had gone to her hands, she slowly inched them back so that they were hidden beneath the sleeves of her shirt, her gaze turning more serious. Her blue eyes drifted back up from her shirt slowly as she listened to the graffiti artist speak. She couldn’t imagine doing anything like that, mostly because she couldn’t draw. The rest of it sounded pretty cool though. Another small smile crossed her face as Valera introduced herself. She slowly reached out her hand to shake the girl’s own. “I’m Noel Deveaux” she stated, her accent decidedly North Eastern. Her parents were both of French descent and Noel was fluent too, but she’d never gained the full accent that her mother had.

“They let me call my mother hours ago” she stated, her fingers going to her mouth. Not that she had any nails to nibble on. She always bit them off before they could grow very long. “I wish I had a brother to bail me out. It’d save my ears from the lecture I’m sure my mother is preparing” she complained as she rolled her eyes. The petite girl noticed that some of the other inmates had decided to go to sleep. Noel had given up on sleep. She knew that it wouldn’t come while she was in this cell, and now that she’d met Valera, she sort of didn’t care. Noel knew what her mother would say about her new acquaintance and that was one of the reasons she continued conversing with her. She had a habit of getting into things that she knew her mother would disapprove of. “It seems like the officers know you well. Do you come here often?” she asked as casually as she might have asked someone where they got a shirt. It was almost comical how in stride Noel was taking everything, especially in light of how she knew her mother would react once she arrived.

 

[Valera Vyhnal]

Valera took the girl's hand into her own and she gave a small shake to it. She grinned a bit at the girl's name. The last name was as strange as her own. Foreign. She could have sworn it was like, French or something. Her own was Latin. Even when the girl spoke, she could hear the accent. She wondered what school she went to. Or she once went to. "It is a pleasure!" Valera spoke, rather excited to have met someone that was interesting enough. She was so badass, and it was amazing. Valera yearned to share some of her own badass techniques with someone. She would have with her best friend, but she was a bit... She wasn't like Valera when it came to it. Valera was seeking a partner in crime, quite literally. Valera hoped that Noel was not going to move off. She planned on keeping in contact with her, and not just by staying in jail either. They were here until their family came after them. Jarrett would be coming too, definitely pissed at her for doing such a thing. That would definitely be scary. Her brother was a scary person when she saw him really mad or upset. Though he had been drinking now, so she was rather disappointed in her older brother.

Valera looked at her hands, and she wished that she had a mother to give her a lecture. Valera snorted, "My brother acts more like a father because our parents died when I was young. I think I would prefer a mom over him. He's just. Once he starts yelling, he won't stop. Looks like we are both in a lot of trouble." She fiddled with her hands as she hoped that everything would turn out okay. She wanted to get out of here and fast. She hated it when the man kept her down. It totally sucked! Valera looked over at the others, and she noticed that they had gone to sleep. That was a real shame. She could never sleep in a cell. She felt like an animal. She needed to be free and expand her wings to express herself. Just being in here sucked the life out of her. Valera looked over at Noel with her shining, purple orbs when she was asked if she came here often. Valera appeared to look innocent and she nodded, "A least every other month. But now that I am eighteen and over, I will probably try not to get caught. Orange is not my color. I'd wipe their memories if I could..." She also gave away that she was a witch just then, and she shrugged a bit. She was a little prideful that she had been caught that many times though.​

<i></i>

 

[Noel Deveaux]

Noel couldn’t help but grin cheekily at the other teen’s obvious cheer. It was like they were meeting at a park or a party or school and not in the confines of a 12 by 12 barred room. She just knew that if the setting were right, she and Valera would probably get along amazingly and she knew just as quickly that her mother would absolutely hate Valera. Her mother hated most of her friends, finding them to be distractions to what she wanted for Noel: for her to follow in her own footsteps and own her own interior decorating business or at least follow in her father’s footsteps and work a nice Ministry job. Noel didn’t have much of an eye for design like her mother or the patience to work for the Muggle-worthy Excuses office like her father. She didn’t have the motivation or dedication to become an Auror or the stomach to become a Healer. She lacked the athleticism to play quidditch and didn’t care enough about the sport to become a member of the Quidditch committee or anything like that. She lacked motivation for everything, and it wasn’t as if she had done poorly on her exams. To the contrary. She had left Salem with 4 NEWTs and her apparition license, though she’d had to take that exam three times before she’d passed.

Listening to the girl speak about her brother, Noel couldn’t help but wish that she had such a connection. Her older brother had died right after she had been born after being attacked by a werewolf and her biological father had left the family shortly after. She wouldn’t even remember what either of them looked like if it weren’t for the pictures in the old photo albums in the attic. Sometimes, when she was younger, she would steal away to the attic and spend the entire day looking at the few pictures, seeing the resemblances. And her younger half-sister was...young. At only 7, there was only so much Noel could do with her.

“I think we are” she stated with a frown. Her mother had a flair for the dramatic and she was not looking forward to the scene that would take place in a few moments. As Valera continued, Noel trained her blue eyes on her and listened, the cheeky grin back again. “No…it doesn’t go with your skin well” she said and then continued, “Yea…that would be amazing.” Noel knew that there was in fact a way to wipe memories, but she wasn’t going to let on that the comment was anything more than a muggle dream. Noel was many things but a violator of the wizarding secrecy laws was not going to be added to her titles. Just as she was about to ask Valera why she drew graffiti everywhere, she heard a loud bang of a door followed by a heavy French accent demanding to know where her daughter was. Noel sighed. “I think my mother is here” she said in a resigned voice. She couldn’t hear the officer’s response to her but she heard her mother’s voice going further away, likely to a place to fill out paperwork so she could be released.

 

[Valera Vyhnal]

Valera noticed that Noel was grinning now, which was a change from the room. It was so dark in here anyway. Valera wondered how her parents would have thought of her now. She was a rebel, never gave a damn about what the police did. She was a witch, why would she care about a few muggles no less? It was possible that she got her attitude and her lack of remorse for things from the Grimrar family, consequentially where both of her parents descended from. Not that she knew though. The only thing she knew was that they were dead, and she had no guidance in her life except for her overbearing big brother that drank a lot for some reason, and chased away one of her other brothers for trying to help him. Worrying over her future was not in her agenda because she was going to be one of those artists, just not the cliche ones that painted their feelings or something stupid like that. The only one that could and worked well was Van Gogh. His life was so tragic, he turned it into wonderful paintings. "Any idea on how we can weasel out of it?" If Valera knew that the girl was magical, they could apparate off without anyone in here knowing since everyone else was like, asleep or something. Otherwise, she feared that Noel was a muggle, and she could not risk exposing magic, and she would not be strong enough to put her under the Imperius curse at all to make her forget everything. Wait, that was obliviate. Yeah, she better not cast any spells regardless if she knew what would work.

"It would not go with your skin either, the color of jail orange." What ever happened to the black and white striped outfit? Those outfits sounded better anyway. And looked better too. She could work with the stripes. Noel noted that it would be amazing, and Valera was tempted, but she did not want to get in trouble with the wizarding world. She was terrified of the dementors and Azkaban, so she did not want to get around that. Her ears perked up and she heard some woman with French accent come bursting forth, and then Noel said that she thought that her mother was there. Valera sighed and she leaned back against the wall, "Well, at least you are getting out of here." She wondered if Jarrett would even come by, since he was drinking a lot recently. Then again he might have sobered up to come up here. Valera looked down at her hands and she closed her grayish purplish eyes. She hated being here and she bet that she was going to spend the night. "So, Noel, since you are about to be freed, how about we meet up again? I think it would be fun to tag and break some windshields at the same time." She giggled a bit at the thought of it. That would be really fun, and it was a strong reference of how they ended up here to begin with. Her brother might hate it. But did she care? No because he did not bother cleaning up his act, so she would not clean up hers.​

 

[Noel Deveaux]

“Out of this? Not unless you know how to get rid of bars and make the police officers forget we were here” she said in a low voice. Noel had studied enough magic to know that there were ways to do both, but she was not an Obliviator so removing memories was not a skill of hers. She had done well enough in school, but focusing on spells that would aid a life on the lam had not been on her mind back then. And, she didn’t have her wand on her anyway. Noel had never been very good at wandless magic. Wordless magic was different. She seemed to have a particular affinity for that particular form of magic. Even her mother seemed impressed with the skill that she had so long as a wand was in her hand. Hearing her mother’s voice one more, coming closer this time, Noel cringed. She closed her eyes briefly, sending a silent prayer to whatever god might be listening to keep her mother from being too embarrassing. As her newfound friend spoke once more, Noel opened her eyes and turned her head, her clear blue eyes staring at Valera. She hadn’t explained that breaking windows wasn’t a particular hobby of hers or that this was the first time she’d ever been in such serious trouble. She usually didn’t get caught when she did things that were on the wild side.

Before she could answer, her mother was in front of the cell as the officer fumbled with his keys to open the door. Speaking entirely in French, her mother began to berate her, complaining about being awakened in the middle of the night and having to transfer wizarding money to muggle money to make her bail. Noel stood up quickly, her arms wrapped around herself protectively. The woman continued, stating how very disappointed she was and that Noel was a poor example for her sister. The teenager’s blue eyes glistened as she attempted to mentally steel herself against the onslaught. If this was how her mother was behaving in front of everyone, she could only imagine what awaited her when they were out of earshot. “Mama” Noel began, her voice quivering as she quickly replied in French that it was not her fault and that she had caught her boyfriend cheating. The lies quickly flew off the teen’s lips as she threw the blame onto everyone but herself. As the officer held the door open, Noel stepped forward, allowing the waterworks to begin. “Save it. Those work on your father but not me” her mother replied harshly in accented English before turning and walking away. Noel stepped through the open door and wiped at her eyes before turning her head to face the girl who remained in the cell. The few others who were inside were already settling back into their positions after the loud intrusion. With a smirk, Noel nodded her head to indicate that they could meet up. She mouthed one word Mall before moving on, her face already contorting again as if she had been crying for hours.

It turned out there was still paperwork to do and as she waited with her mother, conversing in French, Noel spotted a man who only looked several years older than her walk in. She stared at the guy, quickly dabbing at her eyes so that her makeup didn’t look too horrible, though she was sure that it did after her ‘crying’. The guy was extremely attractive, and her blue eyes stared at his back until her mother shook her knee and pointed to the desk where she was being summoned. Noel quickly stood and headed there to finish up the rest of her paperwork. She wanted nothing more than to get to her bed and sleep.

 

[Valera Vyhnal]

Valera was about to say that she did know a way to get rid of the bars, and to make the police officers forget why they were here, but she could not without proof that Noel was a witch. She could not risk just whipping out her wand and then showing the world. She really did not want to risk exposure, especially now. Though they could always say that she had gone mad. Then the wizards would come by and just punish her even harsher than the muggle police ever could. The muggles could never take away her magic or access to her wand. Valera sighed and she nodded in agreement with Noel’s low voice. It was not like she had much of a choice but to agree. Valera could hear the sound of that shrill voice and she knew that Noel’s mother had soon arrived. Valera noticed that Noel cringed and she rested her hand upon her shoulder for support, if not moral but something. She did not want her new friend to end up being embarrassed as much as she could be when Jarrett arrived. She could not hear him but she could feel him coming, if that made any sense. It was like there was a disturbance in the force. Valera could very well be scared of her brother when he was mad. She just prayed that he did not smell like an alcohol store. Her purple eyes looked over and saw the mother of Noel, saying something in French. She wished that she understood French so that she would know what in the world her mother was saying. If she understood it, then she would have known that the family were magical. However it was definitely not that way. She noticed Noel’s behavior and found it odd. However Valera could feel for her. She did not know what could be worse than Jarrett before, but she might have found it. An angry French woman. Valera was a little worried over what would come from Noel, but then she got a little excited to see that she had mouthed one word, which was mall. They could meet again at the mall. And the girl was really talented with her acting. Valera wished that she had something like that down, but truth be told, she sucked.

After pacing the cell for a bit, she could hear her brother coming in, his voice very recognizable as he was apologizing for his sister’s behavior, again. Valera could finally see him and she waited for the police to open up the door before she stepped out. “What in the hell were you thinking, Valera? If you get caught again, it will be the big house!” Valera looked over at the cop before she shrugged her lean shoulders. She would not get caught next time. Or, she could just go to another state, she did not know. She could cast a spell over her paint, then paint, then remove the spell and have the picture show up. No one would ever know. “Fine, I won’t paint on any of the billboards again. Their fault for being blank anyway.” She shrugged once more before she cast the cops a smirk before she walked out with her brother. After spending a night or two at a time in the cells, she did not feel any sort of guilt anymore. She just could not wait to go to the mall and meet up with Noel again. She seemed really cool. As soon as they were out of the police station, the artist snuck off, without her paints, to go do something better than just breaking the law. She wanted to have some fun.​

---

Fin​