There is a brisk autumn wind in the late evening shaking the leaves on the trees. The villagers of Bitterweed pull their coats tighter around them as they hurry home. At the edge of the town is an elegant, but rather large, thatched cottage. A faint popping sound is heard as a strawberry haired apprentice with floppy hair and freckles hurries up the path with his many packages. Muttering a charm, the door swings open as Wilfredius gasps, "I am sorry, I am late, Master, but the A.P.D. are running inspection points through Diagon Alley! And as per usual several folks were arrested again for being unregistered merchants and selling prohibited items!"
"I do not want to hear excuses, Wilfredius," said a sharply dressed wizard in chartreuse-colored robes, Damocles Belby. Damocles' thin lips are pursed in a thin line, his hair is sleeked back as everything about him screamed a jagged personality. However, his face softens just a fraction almost invisible to the eye as he sees his apprentice begin to wilt. The boy was a dreadfully perky child for a Gryffindor, he really should have been a Hufflepuff.
"No matter," Damocles crisply said as Wilfredius perked up again, and set down the packages on the table.
"Yes, master!" Wilfredius eagerly replied. "I'll hurry and put everything away, before starting dinner."
"It is of no consequence," Damocles gestured dismissively with his hand. "I was invited to dinner by an old friend as such I won't return until late evening, and so do not wait up."
"Er, is that such a good idea, master?" Wilfredius unwittily said out loud.
"And why is that?" Damocles flatly inquired.
Wilfredius' freckles stand out even more starkly as he pales and licks his dry lips nervously. "Well, er, you know after the wizards who kidnapped you only jus' weeks ago and were thwarted by the A.P.D. and the local Auror's, but still the Auror's seem awfully worried after the attack. Master, you really, should not be going out so late."
"I will come to no harm, Wilfredius," Damocles murmured as he grabbed his cloak, and emerges from cottage, before carefully closing the door behind him. He paused outside of his cottage for a moment to don the garment. His hand paused on the cloak pin, an emerald leaf pin, a memento of his late mother. His younger brother's face flashes in his mind, before he pulls his hand away from the pin as if scalded.
Hurrying away and further down the road, Damocles apparated away to emerge in a corner of a well-lit cobbled stoned street. Adjust his cloak collar, he makes his way to the Silver Chalice. The posh pub is sparkling clean as the well-dressed waiters serve and pour drinks into silver chalices. Wrinkling his nose at the snooty ambiance, he glances around searching until at long last he spots his dark-haired friend, Secundus Wilkes.
Secundus was not even paying attention to his surroundings as he gloomily swirls his wine in his silver chalice, when Damocles slides into the booth across of him. With a twinkle of amusement in his eyes Damocles begins to rant against his apprentice. "Can you believe what Wilfredius had the audacity to say to me, Secundus?"
Already used to his a few years older friend's antics, Secundus drily says, "No, what?"
"He said that I should stay home after that awful attack on my person!" Damocles huffed in pretend indignance.
Secundus arches his brow at his friend and drily replies, "Damocles, my friend, you have an awful tendency to alienate all those that care about you. And do not dare to deny it! We both know that Wilfredius was truly worried about you, and I only invited you out tonight, because I needed to get out of the house for a breath of fresh air." Damocles sneers in usual fashion, before grabbing a dinner menu and proceeding to hide his face from his friend.
Secundus refrains from rolling his eyes in exasperation at his friend, before changing the subject. "Mm, regarding your request, I have an answer."
"Oh?" Damocles said as he slowly lowered the dinner menu to peek at his friend hiding his interest and hopeful satisfaction.
"An Auror friend of mine did indeed confirm that those that attacked you do belong to the underworld," Secundus murmured in a lowered voice as to not be overheard.
Damocles eyes fill with glee to the disturbance of Secundus. "I though as much," Damocles all but purred as he glanced back down at his lowered menu.
Narrowing his eyes, Secundus suspiciously says, "And just what are you planning, Damocles? And don't try to fool me, we are both Slytherins."
Damocles' thin lips tilt into a frown as he says, "Whatever I am planning it is of no consequence to you, Secundus."
Secundus resists the urge to scream at his friend but manages to contain the urge. "I have already lost a son to them," Secundus hissed softly. "And I will not lose a friend out of sheer stupidity."
Damocles looks utterly affronted by the idea of being called stupid as he sputters, "I am not a fool!" However, he could not deny that which he contemplated was sheer madness.
"Oh?" Secundus snapped. "Well I happen to remember your Charms and DADA finally N.E.W.T.'s Damocles and you only got an Acceptable. And need I point out the fact that it is was Reginald Prince, who saved you that awful, wretched day!"
Damocles opens and closes his mouth in anger, before pursing his lips in irk. "I am well aware that I not a dueler," he growled. "But I owe, the old Prince a life debt, and by Rowena's Head, I intend to pay my debt!"
"By setting yourself up as bait!" Secundus snarled having easily guessed his friend's plan. "Are you mad?! Because I can assure you Damocles, I will drag you off to St. Mungo's this very minute!"
At this inopportune juncture, the waiter arrives and asks, "Can I take your order's, gentlemen?"
"No!" Both wizards roared as they glared at the poor waiter.
The trained professional server having seen it all says, "Then I shall come back later, gentlemen," before hurrying off to another table.
Both of the men take deep breaths to calm themselves as Secundus flatly says, "Might I remind you that what you are proposing requires certain skills, which you lack, Damocles! However, knowing you, you stubborn old fool, you will go right ahead and fulfill your plan. As such, I am not going to attempt to even stop you except to recommend an Auror to you."
Damocles sniffs and glances back down at his dinner menu. "You mean that awful Hufflepuff friend of yours, the fat one?"
"Well, he is certainly not plump anymore," Secundus drily replied. "And need I remind you, the sorting hat almost placed you in Gryffindor old friend. Perhaps, that would have been a better house for you considering your rash temperament!"
"How rude of you, Secundus! Never suggest such a vile thing in my presence again!" Damocles said utterly aghast, but he could not very well deny the awful truth of that statement. It was a sore point of his.
Secundus mutinously glares back until Damocles dramatically relents. "Fine, you win this round, Secundus. I will accept the aid of your fat friend! Now, I do not wish to hear any more of this nonsense, I wish to enjoy my meal uninterrupted!" And swiftly brought up his dinner menu to block the view of his friend as a solemn expression appeared on his face. That was exactly the point he had been aiming for, and now his plans would swiftly be implemented into order. However, he could only hope that he would hold out until that time. The whispers within his dreams and mind had begun growing louder and clearer as of late.
"Really, Damocles, what are we eleven again?" Secundus loudly declared earning himself a loud tsk-tsk from his friend hiding behind the dinner menu.
Still, Secundus could not hide the trickle of dread and worry for Damocles. His friend's sense of honor had always pushed him to reckless fights even as students, which had only grown as they grew older. (It had even been the cause of the rift between Damocles and his younger brother.) And for a time that nature had finally been pushed aside, but it always reared its ugly head back up again. And what worried him was that this time around there would be no saving Damocles.