Prancing Unicorn: A Pub

An average pub for the magically inclined

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Corvus Darrow was reading the latest Daily Prophet. However, it was merely a ruse as he was actually observing of everything around him. He was seated with his back to the wall so he could see the comings and goings and exchanges of people. He had been away a long time, but it seemed like nothing had changed. He turned to a new page.

Ariadne Grey was seated at the bar, drink in hand, when a wizard stumbled against her, murmuring apologies. She turned towards him, angry at having spilled red wine all over her robes, and that's when the drunken lout got a good look at her face for the first time.

"No matter, sweetheart, I'll buy you another one," he said, leering rather disgustingly. Ariadne sneered at him, getting up from her seat.

"Bite me!"

"Alright, if that's how you like it, love," he chuckled, putting his hands on her -- absolutely the wrong move. She shoved him backwards, sending him sprawling on his arse in surprise.

"Leave. Me. Alone. I don't want to be bothered." The wizard scrambled to his feet, angry now, too, and embarrassed. He pulled Ariadne in by the waist, digging his hand into the small of her back painfully.

"I didn't ask," he hissed through clenched teeth, pulling her towards the back exit, which was only a few feet from where she'd been sitting. Ariadne took a quick glance around; it appeared that no one had noticed their little scuffle. Perfect. She let him drag her out to the back alley, still maintaining the illusion that he had the upper hand. He'd regret his rash actions soon enough.

Slowly a scene unraveled before Corvus. A drunken idiot seemed to be bothering a woman who clearly did not want to be bothered.

Corvus wouldn't have given the entire situation a second thought, hadn't he caught glance of the woman. Ah, a familiar face. Grey. She was an old school mate of his, a few years younger. His interest was piqued.

Therefore, when Grey and the drunk gravitated outside, Corvus slowly closed his copy of the Daily Prophet and followed them discreetly.

The moment they were outside, Ariadne used the sudden adjustment from light to dark to her advantage. Despite the fact that he had several inches and many more pounds on her, it was easy; he was drunk, and all it took was a well-placed boot to send him sprawling again. This time, she whipped out her wand and pointed it directly at his face, sending a silencing charm his way. The man gasped wordlessly, no sound issuing forth. Ariadne grinned for the first time that night, ready to have a little bit of fun.

"Crucio!" There was the distinct sound of breaking bones as his body contorted in hideously unnatural ways while she laughed triumphantly standing over him. "That'll teach you some manners, I think? Must be awfully painful...I think I heard something break. I think I heard a lot of things break, actually...." Ariadne released the spell momentarily, crouching over him to examine her handiwork.

"Tsk tsk, I can't say you have a very high pain threshold, tough guy. You bleed an awful lot, too. Messy." She shook her head and stood up again, using a simple cleaning spell to get rid of the red wine and the blood. Another casual flick and the man was writhing in midair again, soundlessly screaming for help that would never come. When his eyes began to roll to the back of his head, she released the spell, sending him crumpled to the floor in a battered heap. Dead or unconscious, she wasn't quite sure, nor did she particularly care.

Corvus was naturally quiet and Grey was distracted so he easily stood in the alleyway unnoticed. Ariadne Grey, he remembered. That was her first name. She had been the one who had seen him perform one of his little experiments. He was going to use a Memory Charm her but, he thought otherwise. She had seemed more fascinated than frightened. Something he found intriguing. So he let her remember.

A decade later and it seems that their roles were now reversed. He was the one observing her. Carefully he watched her actions with a sharp and eager eye. His eyes narrowed as she kicked the drunk away, silenced him and put the Cruicatus Curse on him. But he wasn't watching the puppet, he was watching the puppeteer. He was watching her every move; her body language, her expression, her face. She was enjoying it. She was enjoying the pain she was bringing to the drunk and she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. He recognize the feeling.

Corvus could hardly refrain from smiling.

Once she was done, he applauded. A slow, series of claps with noticeable silences in between. The kind that would encourage a sonorous applause in an opera house. "Bravo," he said aloud.

Ariadne whirled around at the sound of applause, startled. Clearly from the reaction she'd gotten, the man who'd been silently observing her wasn't about to cart her away to Azkaban, but she straightened up and wiped away a drop of blood that had splattered on her cheek anyway. Her eyes by now adjusted to the light, she nevertheless had to strain to see who was lurking there in the shadows; a murmured lumos revealed none other than Corvus Darrow at the end of her wand.

There was a sharp intake of breath, and hands instantly flew to her hair, combing out the dark, silken locks self-consciously. "Corvus Darrow." It was a statement, not a question. She'd remember that face anywhere, and that hair; she'd been quite enough taken with him after their first meeting, had stolen enough furtive glances at him from the corner of her eyes. He'd been more popular than her back at school -- admittedly not difficult to do -- she'd been quiet, kept mostly to herself, the girl who took in everything with her cold blue eyes. Years and years of watching and waiting, and now it was her being observed. She remembered that time in the Forest, and smiled.

"I suppose the tables have turned. Like anything you see?" she asked lightly, arching an eyebrow.

To anyone else, it probably wasn't the priority to approach a woman who you had just seen beat and tortured a man into coma. In fact the priority would be to a. run the other direction, or b. apparate, but not Corvus.

Corvus smiled at the sound of his name and gave a slight bow. He stepped towards her, ignoring the drunk. He had eyes only for her.

"Ariadne Grey," he rolled her name off of his tongue slowly, thoughtfully. "How you have grown." His smile grew until it reached his grey eyes making them glisten.

"I think I just might." Corvus answered her question slyly, he either liked her handy-work or her... or both. He bowed his head towards the pub. "Might I buy you a drink?"

The man lying broken and bleeding in the alley was instantly forgotten; Ariadne stepped closer to Corvus at his words, as if hypnotised by his steely grey eyes. She'd forgotten how just looking at him could make her mouth go dry -- yes, she could certainly use a drink.

"I think you'll find you can," she replied, sparing a glance for the dying man behind them. "I might need to take care of this...situation, first." There were two obvious choices, death or memory modification. Ariadne decided to leave the choice in Corvus' hands, curious as to how he'd proceed. She'd recognised something behind his eyes that day in the Forest, and it seemed he saw the same in her now, a notion that could only make her proud.

"What would you suggest?"

Corvus reached onto his coat pocket and pulled out his wand. Finally he paid the body laying before them attention. He turned towards the drunk and leaned down so he was at eye level. The grossly, disgusting, drunk out of his mind, glutinous pig had probably done a lot of atrocious things against the others but did he deserve to die?

"If you'll allow me?" He looked up at Ariadne.

"Of course," Ariadne replied, bowing her head slightly while still maintaining eye contact with Corvus. She had no idea what he'd do next, but her eyes were wide and alert with anticipation and eagerness. The utter lack of compassion for the man at her feet was clearly evident as she contemplated his fate with next to no concern for any family or friends the man might have. Her only thought was of how long it would take for his disappearance to be discovered, if hey decided to kill him, versus how long it would take for someone to find him, if they wiped his memory.

Corvus bowed yet again, when Ariadne gave him her permission to do his will.

He stretched his arm making it hover above the drunk's body. A flick of his wand, and he started healing all of his wounds and broken bones. He started from his legs and went up. "This..." he couldn't say man, he was not a man in Corvus' eyes. "...Creature's," He settled with, "manners are to be reproached, he desperately needs a bath and he was rude to you."

"But he probably has a mother who loves him." Corvus' tone was cold, sarcastic even. "It wouldn't be right if we kill him." He healed his chest area and continued towards his head." He siphoned off the blood.

"But that," as the last of the wounds finished healing, Corvus stopped his wand at the bloke's temple. "Doesn't mean," his voice dropped, "that we shouldn't punish him." He took out another item from his pocket, a vial which he uncorked.

He whispered, "Anima Dementis."

The man's eyes and mouth opened immediately. If he could scream, he would have. But unfortunately, or fortunately depending on the point of view, he was still under the Silencing Charm. The man was buckling violently and finally, a white pearly substance started to emerge from his mouth and onto the atmosphere. It was his soul. Corvus brought his wand over it and put it in the vial.

He corked and pocketed it. Corvus stood up and headed towards Ariadne. "Odd, isn't?" He said as if nothing had just happened. "Nice clear night like this, and yet it seems Dementors are about. A bit strange really. Now about that drink..."

He offered his arm to her.

Ariadne stared for a moment, awed beyond belief by what she had witnessed. She'd seen many dark deeds in her lifetime -- seen horcruxes made and Dementors delivering their fatal Kiss -- but never the way Corvus had just done. Such cruel, terrible mercy...it was the most sadistic thing she could imagine.

She might have fallen in love, or whatever passed for it in her blackened soul. Without hesitation, Ariadne took his arm and looked up at him with a wicked smile, admiration gleaming in her eyes.

"Stranger things have happened, but I'm thirsty and we have quite a lot to catch up on, I think," sne told him, releasing the Silencing Charm. The man was apparently unaware or incapable of ascertaining what had happened; either way, he remained where he was lying on the cold pavement, quiet and staring up at the sky with unseeing eyes.