Strangers in the Night (Open)

[Tara Mulcahy]

The night was cold and dark, and the streets of Hogsmeade seemed to echo with the kind of eerie silence that usually precedes a heavy snowfall. Tara could smell it in the air, a frosty scent that nipped at her nose and chilled her to the bone. Only a crazy person would be walking around at this time of night in weather like this.

But then, Tara never pretended to be sane. Still, as she walked past the warm pubs and cozy cottages of Hogsmeade, she felt an odd sort of longing, a desire to be inside, where it was warm and welcoming. But she had business to attend to, and pleasure would have to wait.

She was to meet a contact who had recently acquired a rare artifact, which she hoped would please her master. He had proven to be harder to please than she had expected. Or maybe the charisma she had heard so much about was somehow lost on her. She wasn't sure. But she was trying.

They were supposed to meet in the alleyway next to the Hog's Head, which was just ahead. Maybe when she was done, she could pop into the pub for a nip or two. She let out a breath, watching the cloudy puff that escaped her lips. Shoving her gloved hands into her pockets, she walking quickly, ignoring the other people who were milling about.

[Ariana Frost]

Ariana rubbed her arms and braced herself against the cold air that blew in her direction. Why, of all places to meet someone, they chose to meet outside, at night, in an extremely cold alleyway? She hadn't a clue. All she knew was that she was already extremely irritated that she had got chosen for this task.

Not only had Ariana had a hard day at St. Mungo's today (she had been harassed by some creepy man named Dexter), she was also livid that she had yet to make contact with any of her fellow death eaters. Until now. But this wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

Ariana sighed and looked around. She could smell warm butterbeer being brewed and hot foods being cooked. She rolled her eyes and patted her grumbling stomach. She was beginning to think that this was all a big hoax and that she should probably find some place to hide what was in her bag before she got caught. She looked around once more and was about to apparate, but she stopped. She saw someone coming and by the way they were walking, Ariana decided it was best to just wait.

[Tara Mulcahy]

Tara shivered. It hadn’t really been her choice to meet here, but the Dark Lord had insisted that all exchanges of goods be done out of the public eye. Her apartment was even too public; anyone might be around. The sooner they got this part of the business over with, the better. She was anxious to get somewhere warm.

Hearing a sound, she glanced ahead and saw a figure lurking in the shadows. Most likely, this was her contact. Not acknowledging the person, she moved closer until she was about a foot away from the woman.

“Cold night,” she said in a casual tone. “Think it might snow?”

This was her way of testing the waters, to make sure this was the person she was to meet. And anyone else who might be listening would think it a simple conversation about the weather.

[Ariana Frost]

When the contact approached and started to speak, Ariana was relieved. It was a woman. Even though she was a death eater, she was still less threatening than a man. Ariana could only assume that her fear of men may have come from childhood experiences.

"Cold night." The woman stated. "Think it might snow?" Ariana lifted a finely manicured eyebrow. Was this woman really testing her? Like any other person would be standing out in the middle of the night in an alleyway behind the Hog's head in below freezing temperatures with the a bulky purse at their side? She sighed. She supposed that this was all precaution, so she went along with it.

"It a possibility. I don't plan on being outside when it finally shows though." She said, placing a hand lightly on her bag that was hanging from her shoulder, signaling that she had the artifact for delivery and that she was ready to get this over with.

[Tara Mulcahy]

Tara assessed the woman for just a moment. She was beginning to think that she wasn't really the best judge of character, because she always assumed that everyone was exactly what they said they were. She could recognize body language, such as irritation and a slight bit of uncertainty. She caught the nod of the woman's head, and knew what it meant. But why this woman would be here, involved in all this was beyond Tara's comprehension. Not that she even knew what she was involved in this herself. She had thought she knew, but now she wasn't so sure.

"Me, neither, actually. Never liked the cold much," she said, her voice still casual. "That bag of yours looks heavy. Perhaps I can take it off your hands?"

[Ariana Frost]

Ariana breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't lied. She didn't plan on being here when the snow did finally decide to show up. She reached into her bag and felt her fingertips graze the outside carvings that were etched into the ancient box she was carrying. Ariana gave herself credit. She wasn't nosy when it came to some things. And this was one of those things. Whatever was in the box, Ariana was clueless.

Ariana reached deeper into her bag and got a stronger grip. She was just pulling the box out of her bag (you could just see the corner of the box sticking out) when the back door of the bar slammed open and five or six drunk men came toppling and tripping out. All of them were laughing and talking vulgarly about various inside the pub. Ariana rolled her eyes and let the artifact fall back into her bag with a dull clunk. She immediately turned to this woman and gave her a hug.

"I know. It has been so long since I've seen you. I keep getting the late shifts at St. Mungo's." said Ariana, gesturing dramatically towards her St. Mungo's bag and giving the woman a look that suggested that she should go along with it so as to not look suspicious.

[Tara Mulcahy]

Tara was anxious to get this over with, so the intrusion was more than frustrating. She had been about to reach into her wand pocket and hex the lot of them—since they were clearly too drunk to fight back—when Ariana pulled her into a hug. She was stunned, but only for a moment, until she realized what the woman was doing. Ah, well. It might have been fun to hex the men, but it also would have been messy, and she might have had to give an explanation. This was better and would arouse no suspicions.

“Oh, I know!” she replied, doing her best to sound sweet and perky. “And I really do need to get out more. The kids just keep me so busy…. I just never have any time for myself anymore. I just hope they take it easy on poor Bob tonight. He’s not used to their energy. But you must tell me, how have things been at the hospital? I miss everyone there.”

To all appearances, they would look like two old friends and co-workers out for a social evening out. But just in case they happened to attract the attention of the men, she slipped on hand into her pocket, anyway. They were, after all, two single women out in a dodgy alleyway after dark. That tended to attract a man's attention.

[Ariana Frost]

Ariana looped her arm through the mystery woman's, casually chatting away about St. Mungo's and her "life". She was leading her farther away from the drunk men, who were only getting more rambunctious and loud. She cast a glance over shoulder and saw that the drunks were slowly following them at a safe distance. Ariana rolled her eyes. These boys actually thought that they would take advantage of them? They obviously didn't recognize danger when they saw it. She turned and face straight and talked in a low voice.

"We'll have to get them somewhere secluded and quiet. We obviously won't be able to pull this off without some sort of mess." She sighed. Despite all acting, she had actually had a long shift at the hospital and was growing increasingly more tired and irritable. "How do you want to do this?"

[Tara Mulcahy]

Tara frowned deeply as she glanced over her shoulder at the men. Honestly, could they be any more annoying? There was business to be done here. And these idiots were going after the wrong women, to be sure. She wondered briefly why they didn't just stick to women who actually were interested in them, but then it occurred to her that they probably couldn't find any. They weren't especially attractive, they were drunk and ill-mannered, and clearly had nothing better to do than stalk women in dark alleyways.

How to handle the situation? Well, the logical thing to do would be to aim a few Stunning spells at them and make a run for it. They could head to the Rusty Nail in Knockturn Alley to make their transaction--Rusty never looked twice at shady dealings in his club. But the chances were too great that they'd find more drunken cads like these guys. Besides, Tara didn't run away from anything. These guys were drunken louts, and they deserved to suffer.

"I'll take the three on the left, you take the three on the right. They're drunk, their reflexes won't be very fast. And they're idiots."

[Ariana Frost]

Ariana was a little too excited for the situation than was necessary. She really couldn't help it. After all, there hadn't been a meeting among the Death Eaters in months and their activity was at a minimal. She thought. She couldn't know for sure. She hadn't heard from anyone about what was going on among the Death Eaters or their master.

Ariana nodded at her "partner" and turned around to face the drunk men. She needed a way to lure them into an alley behind a closed business. Too many people would hear them if they were close to the pub, so it needed to be somewhere where no one would think to come looking in the the middle of the night. As she assessed the situation, it came to her.

"If you want us boys, then you'll have to come and get us." She smiled flirtatiously and made a scooping motion with her finger. This got their attention and it earned the girls a lot of cat calls. She turned and looked the other woman. She was quite beautiful, Ariana noticed. Winter was one of her favorite season (just because it was pretty, not for the temperature), and something about the way the moon shown on her red hair and the way the snow was starting to fall made her look serene but fierce. It made Ariana feel out of place. Like she wasn't cut out to be one of them. She shook herself. They had a job to do.

"Let's lure them into this alley and we can take them out. We'll hide them behind or in something. People will find them tomorrow morning when we're long gone." She turned back to wards the men to keep their attention. She didn't want to appear to take over the whole operation so she waited for her companion to make the next move.

[Tara Mulcahy]

For just a split second, Tara paused. She wasn't particularly sure she wanted to kill these guys. They were idiots, and maybe they deserved it, but she had managed to avoid actually killing anyone so far. She'd rather play with them, do a little mischief, and leave them to wake up feeling like they'd been kicked in the head by a hippogriff. On the other hand, as inebriated as these guys might have been, they might still be able to identify the two women... and they couldn't have that.

"Works for me," she agreed in a low voice. She would do her best not to kill any of these guys... there were other ways to make them forget they'd ever seen the two women.

She put on a flirtatious smile, and tossed her vivid red curls over her shoulders. "Yeah, come on, boys, what are you waiting for? Come and get us."

[Ariana Frost]

Ariana was on the same page. She didn't want to kill them, especially if it wasn't part of the plan or without permission from their master. Maybe hit them with a stun spell or something. She didn't want to be recognized. Her Lord would most certainly NOT be pleased.

She looped arms with woman (whose name she still had no idea) and began walking and since she figured they were about to stun six people, she might as well introduce herself.

Ariana cleared her throat. "I'm, um, Ariana by the way. Sorry about all this mess." She shrugged. It was all she could offer in this situation.

[Tara Mulcahy]

At this point, it no longer mattered whether they kept things secret between them. After all, they were on the same side, and it was them against the six men they were about to stun. They might as well know each others' names.

"Tara," she replied simply. "And don't worry about it. Part of the job, I suppose."

They knew the risks when they joined up with the Dark Lord. And even though Tara still sort of had her doubts about what she was doing, she was along for the ride. She would deal with her uncertainties soon enough. She would squash down every bit of doubt, everything good that was once in her, and she would be the Dark Lord's good little soldier.

The men were getting closer now, so any further conversation was impossible. All Tara was able to say was, "I'll take the three on the left, you take the three on the right."

Without waiting for confirmation from her partner, she walked over to the three guys closest to her and smiled sweetly. "Ready for some fun, boys?" she said teasingly.