Not Dead Yet

1990 December

Yule rolled around and Alana returned to London with the satisfaction of a well-fed cat. The last few days had her jittery but she was rather proud of how well she had held up with not having had a job for over three months. The key to her success had been in keeping herself busy. Hogwarts had proved to be an excellent source of entertainment and distraction for the young witch. Occupying herself had never been easier and she had often found herself straying from the beaten path in the corridors and winding up in the strangest of places. It would seem she hadn't been the only one with strong emotions regarding the return home either, though the sentiment was likely different. Leoen had set a newspaper on fire when the topic was breached in a rather rare display of accidental magic. She had asked at some point why the Volkov's sent their children to Hogwarts and his reply explained his trepidation. Hogwarts had the highest mortality rate. The answer was rather telling but she wasn't one to judge the parenting skills of strangers.

Speaking of parenting skills, Marius seemed indifferent to her return but the silence that had been between them when she left had lifted. The eternally-teen vampire acted like nothing had happened which suited Alana just fine. She was far more eager to experiment with her non-traceable wand rather than engage in small talk. She had also learnt that Marius and Otavio had formed a tentative friendship in her absence. Otavio had been the one to inform her of that little fact while inviting her to spend a few days with his coven during Yule. He seemed to have gotten the hint from her nefarious colleagues that she was something of an intermediary for the workers of Knockturn. Alana foresaw an increase in her popularity in the near future now that Otavio had extended his hand for a closer relationship. Harley's had run smoothly in her absence with minor aid from Roul whom she'd informed of her enrollment. The bastard had laughed at her misery over the floo call.

Alana sprawled across a satin couch with an arcane text in her hands. Sometimes she wondered if vampires had anything better to do than collect books. Octavio's collection was interesting if a bit above her comprehension level. He had a lot of old tomes on muggle history and ancient spells for whatever reason he thought the subjects worth his attention. The mansion he had purchased and then expanded was a lovely building with Italian curves and roman edges. The architecture was reminiscent of the designs she had seen whilst in Romania. The coven itself had about twenty members currently with a slow rate of expansion. It was hardly surprising as members of the Spanish, French and Italian coven would naturally be reluctant to leave their much larger and more influential groups for Britain.

Another vampire passed through the doorway of the library and stiffened. His nostrils flared when he heard breathing but he caught no scent and quickly switched to sight to find the source.

"Try to drink from me without permission and you'll end up worse than the last one," Alana drawled whilst using a single hand to motion to the pile of cold flesh and fabric on the ground. The female vampire wasn't dead but may very well be wishing she were with Alana's use of a paralysing charm and nightmare curse. The joys of having an unregistered wand from Gregorovitch. The male quickly grabbed the book he wanted and left. He was smart enough to heed a warning when given.

1990 December

In an old building stowed away in the shadowed corners of Knockturn Alley, a young girl shifted a black game piece over a white. She leaned back into her seat to eye the man across from her. He made his turn and she struck.

"You've got to be shitting me!" Came the tell-tale curse as the man lost yet another game of Nine Men's Morris to the cloaked witch. She gave a hidden smile as he put another bag of knuts on the table. It had quickly become apparent to the customers of Harley's that strategy-based games against Sparrow were a lost cause. Nevertheless, a few patrons still felt pity for the poor man.

"I've got a job for us!" The fist that slammed down on the table belonged to a burly man Alana was regretfully familiar with. Raymond's grey eyes were rooted on the significantly smaller form of the fourteen-year-old. She glared at the male for interrupting her state of relaxation and slipped her mouth mask down to scowl at the man.

"Didn't we just finish a job? What's so great that you feel the need to interrupt my well-deserved leisure time?"

"How do you feel about putting that wand to use?" He grinned and she reluctantly gestured for him to elaborate. "One of the western European packs needs some strays taken care of. A group of four messed with the locals and turned a few before running off. The pay is 400 galleons split 50/50." There was a brief pause before she replied.

"A hunt then?" Alana caught the reason he'd enlisted her easily enough. The werewolves would have trouble hiding from one tracking wizard but a second would be impossible. She grinned maliciously. The pay was too good to turn down and he knew it.

They set up camp a few kilometres off from where the Danube river met the Slovakia-Austria border. It was still the early hours of the evening when they began to move. Four wolves, three females and one male with each possessing a wand and the ability to use it. It was a suicide mission for most and admittedly, not that strange of an occurrence. There was a reason most wand-users who were bitten were turned away from the wizarding world. They tended towards aggression and their magic waxed and waned with the moon in both power and control. Raymond and Alana had chosen to hunt on the night of the full moon, despite their increased power on that night. Control was their main concern and the power fluctuation would only make them easier to track. That fact had become more evident as the full moon neared. Raymond had placed a blood trace on one of the bones of a human not fortunate enough to survive the werewolves attack. The potency of the spell increased with every minute.

Alana watched her partner warily. She had never before worked with him on a full moon but she was confident that at the very least, the man knew the limits of his self-control. He was a werewolf as well but he had, or at least he claimed to have learnt enough tricks in his many years to overcome the troubles that label brought.

"Quit your worrying," The man directed a frown in her direction and she smiled sheepishly at being caught. They both knew the risks of taking this job. Raymond huffed and twisted to observe their immediate surroundings. His grey eyes would pick up any trail easily. A dark brown coat hung from his shoulders which lent an air of grace that was otherwise absent from the male. His hair was cut short for convenience and ruffled messily from the previous night's sleep in the forest. He stilled and breathed deeply.

"South. Four kilometres and moving fast."

It took only a blink for them both to start moving.

Raymond took the lead as per usual and practically leapt through the foliage with an ease rarely found in a living creature. Pisces curled around Alana's neck in a mock embrace while she shadowed him silently. She was grateful she had performed a physical enhancement ritual on the night of Yule. The effects were astounding and the timing had only maximised its impact. There had been no title earned but she hadn't expected one in the first place.

Scrsh! Fwssh!

Company at 3 o'clock. Alana grabbed a branch and swung herself upwards just in time to avoid a painful body collision with a 6 foot 3 female werewolf. She landed on a branch and quickly activated the runes lining her equipment. Her movements were as unearthly as any magical creature's as she jumped several branches away. Lightening charms ensured her movements went unnoticed as she landed softly near Raymond's current battle. The wolves' attempt to separate the two hunters had been mediocre at best.

"They've split 2-2! I want them pinned Sparrow!" Raymond's shout was as loud as ever as he raised a gun towards toward his two targets and fired six shots successively. The two women dodged most of the metal projectiles though the two that grazed them left searing scars wherever they made contact. The usual devastation the hand-crafted, silver bullets inflicted was lessened as the moon had already risen and was dulling whatever pain the wolves might have felt. Their powers were already piquing but their more animalistic forms would only emerge once the sun had set. It was a dangerous time to be around one werewolf, let alone five. Alana sent out a controlled wave of magic with her wand in a quick and silent Homenum Revelio. Her targets' locations popped up in her mind followed by a map of the surrounding area when she cast a Terrenum Revelio. Her legs did not falter in their journey as she cast.

The male werewolf quickened his pace as soon as his wife sensed they were being tracked. He held his teenage son in his arms closer to his c.h.e.s.t. The small boy had gotten a fever a few nights before and neither of his parents had the means to tend to it. He cursed as his joints began to ache. The moon would claim him soon and he only hoped his son would last the night in his weakened state. A thump sounded behind him but he didn't dare turn to see who it was. He pulled his wand out and cast a blind Bombarda behind his head. It was easily avoided. He threw a few nastier curses but it was to no avail and the presence that had been following had not abated. It finally forced him to turn to face the unknown danger. Only, there was no one there.

After a moment's hesitation, a length of metal pierced his back. His son was dropped to the ground, forgotten as he twisted to successfully dislodge the blade. Alana ducked the fist that came for her head and lamented the man's fast reaction. Her knife had barely made it in a centimetre before she was forced to bring it back. She brought the hilt of the blade up in a neck chop as the man's punch overextended.

"F.u.c.k!" She had regretfully been unaware of the steel-like strength of the man's skin to anything that was not silver. She hadn't realised it was so close to sunset. As soon as the thought passed, she heard the crack of bones and pulled her body back as the man hunched over. His skin writhed on his skeleton as it stretched and contorted. His clothes ripped as long hind legs and copious amounts of black fur grew from his body. She crouched lower and switched the dagger to her left and with a wand in her right. The man raised his head upwards sharply revealing an inhuman snout with small, beady eyes. The wolf shot forward with a growl and the witch threw her body to the left. Her wand cut upwards and a gash appeared on the c.h.e.s.t of the beast only to heal itself in a matter of seconds.

"Diffindo! Everte Statum! Flipendo!" The wolf was thrown back several feet but it brushed the impact off easily. Alana cursed the damn creature. She had forgotten how infuriating they were to fight with but it seemed like a full moon made them a million times worse. It was little wonder why the ministry was constantly antsy about a werewolf rebellion.

"Fumos Duo!" She growled and the area was swiftly covered in dark smoke. She slipped into the darkness easily. She was hardly one to give up halfway through a battle.

Edited 25.10.2019