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[Isabella Kerrith]

The morning of Bella's arrival in London had been a bit hectic. Attempting to move several magical items and clothing into a flat was not exactly fun when all of muggle London were walking by. She had become highly annoyed, and the only thing that could cross her now flustered mind was a stiff drink.

Standing from the floor of her new flat, she brushed dust and dirt particles off of her clothes and took a deep breath, releasing the air in a sigh. She shrugged her shoulders as she glanced around her living room at the giant mess and shook her head. She would worry about all of this junk later. It was about time for her to have a sip and get out of the wreck around her. Her only good thought was that her bedroom was completely set up, and if she just so happened to come home a little tipsy, it would be nice to just fall straight into her mattress and not move until it was time to get ready for work in the morning.

With that being another thing weighing on her mind, Bella felt as if she wouldn't be able to relax while she was out either. It didn't matter to her though, for the thought of getting to meet new people perked her up, and a shower seemed necessary.

She stepped out of the shower feeling like a new woman, using magic to dry her hair into perfect chocolate brown ringlets, framing her face beautifully, and magicked on a bit of light make up. Nothing too extreme, although her medium pink tone lips were bright, yet lovely all the same.

Dressed in a simple black dress and a white mini jacket over it, Bella stepped out of her flat and onto the street, making her way towards the Leaky Cauldron, her mind racing around all of the things she would soon be facing. A large worry of hers was her sister. She and Daphne had made no contact in at least 3 years now, and she was worried about how her sister was doing, and WHAT she was doing.

She pushed the worry from her mind as she stepped into the Leaky Cauldron and took a seat at the bar, ordering a double shot of firewhisky and a large butterbeer. She smiled, thanking the bar tender and quickly surveyed the room.

[Jude Dawson]

(FYI, I am setting this immediately after the Hogsmeade attack.)

Ever since the incident at Spellbound, Jude had been carefully avoiding the bars. He still wasn't sure what had happened to him that night; all he knew was that his family's precious heirloom, his ring, had been stolen. It was rather a humiliating experience, knowing that he had been taken in by someone and robbed right under his nose.

But upon hearing that Becky had been killed in the Hogsmeade attack, as had his friend Madelyn, Jude had to get out of the house and get something to drink. He headed straight to the Leaky Cauldron.

Grief and sadness clouded his eyes as he walked up to the bar without even pausing to look around. He just wanted a drink. Or eight.

"Firewhiskey," he said to the bartender. "And leave the bottle."

[Isabella Kerrith]

Bella had been deep in thought with her drink when she heard another voice beside her, belonging to a man that looked about her age. He had requested firewhisky, the whole bottle. She raised her eye brows and smiled softly at him.

"Well, it seems like you are worse off than I am if you need the whole bottle," she said, her voice holding a gentle quality that she normally didn't use. She studied his eyes, and found what looked like sadness, and suddenly she felt bad, fearing that she might have brought a subject up that he didn't want to talk about.

She extended her hand out to the man and smiled again, "My name is Isabella, by the way, but you can call me Bella."

[Jude Dawson]

Jude looked up at the woman and managed a watery smile. "Hi, Bella," he said. "It's nice to meet you."

The bartender placed a shot glass and a bottle of firewhiskey in front of him, then poured his first shot for him. Jude nodded a quick thank you, then took a swig from the glass before turning back to Bella. "I'm sorry.... I just found out that a couple friends of mine were killed today."

[Isabella Kerrith]

Bella smiled softly when he attempted to smiled back at her, but her facial expression quickly turned to worry. It was hard for her reporter face to not slip over her features, but she successfully fought that urge back and turned her attention to the man beside her. He still hadn't offered her a name, but she would give it time. He had hers, and that was all that mattered right now. That and the fact that he looked like he would start crying.

When he revealed that a few of his friends had died that day, her hand flew to her mouth, covering the shocked expression on her face, although her eyes showed the emotion she was feeling clear as day. One downfall she did have, not being able to hide emotions unless absolutely necessary.

"Oh Merlin, sir I am so sorry about your loss," she said, her voice very quiet, sadness tinging the edges of it. Her thoughts immediately flew to her twin sister Daphne. Although the thought hadn't crossed her mind before, but if the things she was feeling about Daph were correct, then all of the bad things she was doing could be put off on Bella herself. The two were identical in every way except for personality. She had no clue what drove her sister to the madness she had embraced, but Bella wanted to stop it.

"Wow, was it accidental? Or an attack, if you don't mind me asking?," she asked nervously, hoping he wouldn' hate her for dragging the subject out.

[Jude Dawson]

Jude downed the rest of the contents of his glass, then quickly refilled it. Looking back at her, he frowned. She must have just come to the area if she hadn't heard what had happened in Hogsmeade. He almost envied her.

"You mean you haven't heard?" he said in a tone that was devoid of emotion. "There was a terrorist attack in Hogsmeade. The village is destroyed, and people... even students... were killed. Two of them were friends of mine. One was actually my ex-girlfriend."

He sighed softly and drank a little more of the firewhiskey, then turned back to look at her. "I'm sorry. I didn't introduce myself, did I? I'm Jude."

[Isabella Kerrith]

Bella downed her current shot of firewhisky, and then took a small sip of her butterbeer to keep the taste of the firewhisky from being so strong and completely burning a layer of her throat off. She could drink the stuff, but it could be quite harsh at times. She shook off the feeling of the fire and returned her attention to the man before her.

As he relayed the information to her about what had happened, the attack, the death of his ex-girlfriend and friends, the mayhem in Hogsmeade, her eyes could do nothing but widen. Her hand once again moved to her mouth, covering the shock again.

"Oh Merlin, a terrorist attack? That's awful!," she half asked, half exclaimed. She shook her head, knowing she wouldn't cry over it, but understanding how the man before her felt. She had lost family and friends too. She was sure she already had, she just didn't know since she had been away for so long.

"I am deeply sorry for your loss, Jude," she said, trying the name out on her lips. She liked it, and he was definitely attractive, but this was no time to think of things like that. She knew she now had a story she needed to get to the bottom of.

"If there is anything I can do for you, just let me know," she offered politely.

[Jude Dawson]

Jude managed a weak smile. "Thank you... Bella." He sighed, then took another drink from his glass. "The thing is, normally, I would have been there. In Hogsmeade, I mean. I could have been there when it happened. And I'll never know now whether I could have saved Becky... or Maddie... or if I could have been killed just like them. You know what I mean? It's one of those things... the 'what ifs' of life. It's just not fair... They didn't deserve what happened to them."

At another time, he surely would have noticed that Bella was beautiful. He might have even tried to charm her and compliment her. Instead, he only noticed that she was kind and that her voice was soothing. It helped, just a little.

[Isabella Kerrith]

Bella couldn't believe these horrible attacks. It made no sense to her why someone would want to do this. She made a mental note to herself to go and check out Hogsmeade and assess the damage. This story was going to be huge when it busted open. If she could only get more information. .

"Jude, I hate to ask this, but seeing as how I'm a reporter and you have some information, would you mind, when you feel comfortable of course, talking about the attacks? You can say no and I would be completely understanding I promise, but this would be a good way for everyone to know how amazing your friends were that passed away," she asked, using her soft and reassuring voice, trying like hell not to sound like a reporter.

[Jude Dawson]

Jude sniffled. Normally he might have been turned off by her question. Reporters, in his opinion, were generally opportunists, looking to prey on the weak and exploit people for the stories that they told. But he also knew that they weren't all like that. People like that Bambi Ackart, whose stories he'd been reading in the Daily Prophet, were common, but there were good reporters, too. Weren't there?

"I would like to tell their stories," he said quietly. "I don't know if I can talk about Becky yet... But Maddie... I would like to talk about her. She was such an interesting and unique person... I wish I had taken the time to know her better."

[Isabella Kerrith]

Bella nodded as she listened to Jude. She could tell at first he felt a little reluctant to speak with her, but she felt his composure change, and it felt more relaxed between the two. She held her warm smile, trying to reassure him that everything would be fine and she wouldn't twist it like most reporters would have. She would take his side of the story, and then go and retrieve first hand accounts.

"I completely understand if you don't want to talk about Becky first, but if you are willing to talk about Maddie that would be great. Just let me know what she was like, how she reacted in stressful situations, when she was very happy, little things you noticed about her, how she felt about certain things. Anything and everything you can remember about her, make it known to the world so they can know what kind of person we just lost due to this foolishness we have going on here," she said, sadness in her voice at first, but a tinge of bitterness at the end.

Bella already felt as if she knew the cause of all of this. The bloody "Pureblood vs. Muggleborn" war. It couldn't even be classified as a war really. Those blemmin idiots were the only ones blowing things out of proportion. Not wanting to give equal opportunity to others. Bella herself was a pureblood, but she didn't look down on those who didn't have pure wizard lineage in their family tree. It was ridiculous to her, and she wanted it stopped.

"Now Jude, when you find yourself able to talk about Becky, then you can come to me at any time. You can find me at the Daily Prophet or you can just owl me," she said with a reassuring smile.

[Jude Dawson]

Jude sighed and took a sip from his drink. "Maddie was... unique. I never knew it she ahd some unique power or if she was just crazy, but she was always talking to things that weren't there or things that couldn't talk. But she had a good heart, and if you got her talking to you, she was very intelligent. She saw things in ways no one else did. And she was a loyal friend... if you were in trouble, she'd do anything for you."

He sniffled softly. "She would have been safe if she'd stayed in Spellbound... the attack didn't really hit that side of town. But she went out to help... she stopped to help some children and got killed for it."