Just some things

Knockturn Alley was a strange place. Though Avis visited it every year to get her schoolstuff, she never used to come down here to buy some other stuff. But today she was up for it. She had to refill her potion and herb collection and this was the only place where she could buy the things that were on her list.
She walked on the street holding a bag in one hand and a parchment with list of things in the other. If only her mother'd knew where she was right now – she'd be dead. Lucy Summers never walked in these streets. They were all so dirty and full of people who didn't deserve to have their business here, in London or elsewhere.
Now, however, Avis regretted that she came here without a map. She didn't see where she took the wrong step, but now she was lost in an old and dark street with many odd looking people around her. She tightened her grip around her bag and turned around to walk back, but there was nothing to go. And not being too tall, she was unable to see over the heads that were moving all around her.

Biting her lip, Avis felt for the second time in this day, how tears were gathering in her eyes. She was about to start crying, but the last drop of hope kept her from weeping. She started walking, feeling that it would be even worse if she'd stop right there and stand willingly in one place. Avis took another turn on the street only to end up in another unknown place with strange shops and same looking people around her. She was too scared to ask any of them for directions. Again, looking around and inspecting the place where she was standing, she saw only one opportunity to get the hell out of this place and maybe find her way back at the “normal“ section of Knockturn Alley. Finally, she found a perfect little, but old house, and walked towards it, examining it carefully. „If this really is the only way...“ She murmured to herself and put her list of herbs and potions into her bag. Then, making sure that it wouldn't distract her, she placed it comfortabally on her back and warmed her hands. She was now about to climb this house and try to do some parkouring.

Aaron guessed that most of the dark wizards and witches had heard by now, from the way they were reacting towards him, that he was the newest leader of the Death Eaters. He did not want the news to get out because it could potentially ruin some of the plans he had, but there was nothing he could do to stop it now. Usually, he could just walk through Knockturn and be relatively unnoticed, but now when he walked through everyone stepped out of his way and they refused to make eye contact. Part of him enjoyed how they were reacting, but the smarter part of him, was not to keen on it.

There was another strange happening going on in Knockturn this day. There was a younger girl, who could have been no older than sixteen or seventeen, walking around the alley looking scared and lost. It was not the best place at all for her and she had no idea how much danger she was in just by being in this part of the alley. He could see it in some of the wizards eyes, they wanted her, and the things they would do to her would not be pleasant. He had spotted at least two that were already following her and Aaron rolled his eyes, some dark wizards had no class.

She turned down an alley and was making her way to a house. She must not have been thinking because the house made a perfect area for potential kidnappers, or worse, to sneak her into and do whatever they wished with her. The two wizards who were following her turned down the alley and were both heading in her direction as she started to climb the house. Aaron was not to keen on letting things of this manor happen, so he would not allow it to.

"Gentleman," He said as he walked up on the two wizards. "I hope you are not planning what I think you are."

"It's none of your business, pretty boy!" Said the first man

"Go find your own girl! She is ours!" The second one said as he reached for his wand.

Aaron reacted quickly and grabbed the mans wand arm. He twisted it behind his back and he stole the wand from his hand and he pointed it over the mans shoulder as the first man tried to grab his. A red spark shot out of the mans wand and hit the other man in the chest. It was not as powerful as it would have been if Aaron had his wand, but it was all the distraction he needed. He kicked the man in the back of the leg and brought him down to his knees. He pulled his wand out and aimed it at the other man and disarmed him before he could react again. He pointed the stolen wand into the back of the other mans neck and kept his wand pointed at the second.

"Leave." Was all he said. The two man scrambled to their feet and the one who had his wand disarmed tried to grab it. "No, leave it there, you do not deserve it." The man went to protest, but it would have gotten him nowhere, so he left in a huff. Aaron sighed and picked up the second wand and put all three into his robe, separating his own from the other two. He patted himself down and then returned his attention to the girl who was climbing the building.

"Young lady, do you not understand the danger that Knockturn alley presents to someone as young and pretty as yourself?" He smirked and then put his hands in his pocket and looked up at her. "Come down, I will walk you out of here."

Climbing the houses wasn't that hard for Avis, actually. She visited her grandmother in Italy every summer and she lived on the countryside. There were many trees and a beautiful forest that was all given to her to explore. When Mina was still alive, both of the girls loved to climb on the trees as high as possible and see the world, birds and beathe with the cold fresh air. Once Avis broke her arm after unsuccesful climbing attempt – the branches had broken under her feet and she fell down. The doctors said that she was lucky enough to survive this one without any other broken bones.

She didn't hear or see how two strange men followed her there. After warming up her hands, she pulled herself up and with really fast movements she was already on the roof and standing up, looking in every direction to find her way out. Suddenly, when she heard a voice that came from below, Avis gasped loudly and looked down. Three men standing right on the streets. God damn it – her father had warned her about this place. Rapist, kidnappers and her fears came true when one of them spat that she was Theirs. Now she started panicing. She looked around once again but not to examine the streets but to look at the houses. The nearest, two storey building, was too high for her to climb without any help. And she wasn't allowed to use any magic outside the school. But only this once... she thought. The Ministry would forgive her her act, wouldn't it?

Sudden fight scene distracted her from her thoughts. She looked down but closed her eyes and looked away. Even though there wasn't much violence, only one spell and few kicks, she could not bear to see it. With her nerves, she was already at the edge of fainting. When she opened her eyes, her saviour was talking to her. Two scary men were now gone. Avis shivered and stepped closer to the edge of the roof, but didn't come down. She didn't want to – but then again – what coice she had? If he wasn't a liar, which she hoped was true, he'd actually help her get the hell out of there. And if he was... She didn't want to think of it...

Avis took a deep breath and jumped off the building, landing quietly on her feet. She was too scared to step closer to him. In fact, she wasn't even able to look into his eyes now when they both were on the same ground.

( Sorry for taking so long ( )

Aaron was not sure if the girl would trust him or not, but what choice did she have, she had just witnessed him save her life. Plus, where was she going to go? If Aaron was after her surely she knew she could not get away. He was fit and agile and could probably catch her with relative ease. Oh, and he had that magic stuff that he was pretty good at also.

He put his hands in his pockets and he waited for her to come down. He tried to look as nonthreatening as possible and the thought of it made him want to laugh. The girl had no idea that she was walking directly at the Dark Lord of the Death Eaters. If she knew she would have never trusted him, but that was the beauty of Aaron, he was great at hiding things.

"You walk boldly through Knockturn alley and yet you fear me? The man who just saved your life?" He smirked and he kept his hands in his pockets. He did not want to move towards her or make any sudden movements. God, it was like dealing with a dog he had just found. "My name is Aaron Marcheti. I own the wand shop Marcheti's wands back in Diagon alley. Ask around, I am known for being pretty friendly." He smiled and he did not move from his spot, wanting to gain her trust before he escorted her away.

"Your name, may I have it? I wish to know the name of my companion."

Nowhere to go now. Avis felt strange urge to run away from this man who actually saved her and maybe even her life. Her eyes studied him carefully, trying to see something that might be dangerous. But by the way he stood there, hands in his pockets and doing nothing but just waiting for her to start moving.

He was right at this point. She had nothing to fear anymore. At least she hoped so. She realized how stupid and funny she looked while standing like this: leaning agianst the wall hoping for it to protect her from the harm. She didn't know anything about his shop. Actually even his name was unfamiliar for her so basically she had no clue that she was standing face to face with the leader of the Death Eaters. God, if she'd knew – she'd faint right infront of him or maybe, if she'd be stronger, she'd run from that place, screaming and panicing at the same time. Pff, Gryffindor, indeed. What did that hat think when professor put it on her head?

Although she'd rather find the way out by herself from this place, she finally stepped closer to him. „Avis,“ was her quiet and shy answer. She looked up at him; though she was tall, taller than most of the girls, with her position right now she seemed to become shorter and shorter with each second that passed by. „Thank you,“ Avis added quickly, thanking him for both saving and helping her.

She was one of the most nervous girls he had ever come across, which was not saying much, because he usually did not meddle in the affairs of younger people. He always thought their problems were petty and not worth his time. What with girls always worrying about boys and boys always worrying about girls and both of them always feeling oppressed by the older generation. It was enough to give him a headache. But she was have a legitimate problem, and Aaron was never one to shy away from someone who needed help.

"Avis," He said, finally removing his hands from his pockets and looking down at his watch to check the time. "Very pretty name. Original and it stands out." He held his arm out signalling for her to follow him. The twists and turns of Knockturn, accompanied by the strange witches and wizards who filled its grounds, made it easy for anyone to get lost. The girl would notice, at least he thought she would, that instead of being stared at or followed, the usually dark group would not get in their way now. Every witch and wizard in Knockturn feared Aaron, and they would all get out of his way without question.

"Tell me, Avis, why were you down here in Knockturn. Does not seem like a place fit for a young lady like yourself."

Avis never bothered thinking about boys or girls. She knew that none of them saw her the way, for example, boys saw other girls at school and she was fine with that. If she was destined to live and die alone, fine by her. At least she'll have a collection of cats at her home and they will offer her company. So why worry? Being old crazy catlady was a nice idea. That would allow her to observe everything and still be unnoticed by the others. How fantastic life could be!

She didn't jump away from him when he finally moved. Avis only looked how he moved his hands and listened to his remark about her name. That made her smirk:“Thank you. It comes from the latin word bird.“ She looked back to the roof on which she had climbed and snorted quietly. Bird? No, more like an ape. When Aaron started moving, Avis quickly followed him, looking now once again around to get to know this place more. For some uncertain reason, she was sure that she'd come there once more. She kept close to her tutor, yet, trying to be polite, she left him some breathing space as well.

She realized that for some odd reason people were all keeping away from her companion. It seemed as if they all feared him. Avis found it scary, yet on the other hand, she felt completely safe. Had he gotten his position with violence? Or he was just a wizard who had earned his respect and with his popularity came also the fear of him? Either way, he earned Avis' respect for now.

„I came here to buy some herbs and some potions.“ What she wanted to do with them, it wasn't his concern. Then again, Avis was so innocent herself and with the eyes full of fear it was douptful that she'd actually came here for something else than a bottle of green, tasteless gelatin. But it was her obsession.

Aaron continued to walk slowly and keep his eyes straight forward. It was strange walking down an alley that he once feared and now being the one who was feared. There was a part of him that almost loathed himself for being that way. He had always sworn he would be a protector and not, well, who he was now. He often wondered what it would be like to go back and meet his past self and see just how much he would hate himself.

Aaron was not too familiar with latin, but when she said that it came from the word bird, it made since. Aviation, bird, it could not be that hard of a language to learn. He had often thought about learning a new language, but with everything that he was already busy with, it was hard to find time to sit down and dedicate time to it.

He wondered what she had been doing there looking for herbs and potions, but she did not seem like the type to just give out information. Just getting her to talk seemed like a chore in its own regard. "A potion maker are you?" He smirked and turned a corner, they were getting close to being out. "Maybe you will cure this meddlesome disease that has been going around?"

Avis couldn't just walk there and stare at the motionless ground. Her curisoity grew and grew with every second that passed. Although she was still afraid and even without noticing she had grabbed from Aaron's sleeve in hopes not to get lost in the crowd, her big eyes traveled from shop to shop, from a person to another one. All of them were odd looking, some even dangerous. She noticed that there were also people who were looking like those two men who had followed her before.
Yet, she could not understand one thing – why, all of them – were keeping away from their way? She looked up at Aaron to read something from his face, but there was nothing that she could see. Not the slightest idea. And it disappointed her. Usually people were like books to her. She could read from one's face all the thoughts, ideas and sometimes even the concerns and if she'd look closely, she'd be lucky enough to see some scars from the past.

Right now, though, she had to admit that her companion wore a perfect mask.

Aaron's question tore Avis away from her thoughts and she looked at the street again. „Yes,“ she replied shortly. Which reminds her – she never had a chance to buy her stuff! Darn. „I... I don't think so, but as you can see, I haven't caught it. Yet.“ Even though she carelessly touched a person who's skin was covered with this cursed green rash. Part of her hoped at that moment that she'd get infected and suffer like the others, but something made her immune for this. For some time. Maybe it's the fact that with all those potions and teas that she's drinking, she inserted some sort of vitamins and friendly bacterias into her that strenghtened her immune system.

„The only cure that I'm able to think of is a good poison that will help those poor souls stop suffering and finally meet their doom.“ When she realized what she said, Avis' face went paler. I can't believe that I just said that! She gasped quietly. Oh dear lord.

Aaron was suddenly intrigued by the girl. She had not caught the disease yet, even though it seemed like everyone else had. She went to a school filled with other students, most of which were sick, and yet she somehow managed to not get sick. Aaron on the other hand was very reclusive and did not mingle with very many people, and yet, he was one of the people sick. Were there some people who were immune to it, and if there were, what could Aaron learn from them?

He smirked when she mentioned a potion that would just ease the suffering. If he was not sick, that would have been the perfect idea for him, but he was so it did not benefit him much. As soon as she said it he could see the regret on her face, she was not used to saying things of that nature. It was natural to have thoughts like that, but most people thought it was inhumane, so they tried to push those thoughts to the very back of their mind. Aaron, however, believed fully that some people just needed to die. Natural selection.

"Be lucky you have not caught it yet, it is quite uncomfortable." Aaron was able to keep it at bay with potions from Lorcan. Some days he would wake up and there would be no green, others it would be on his chest and look as if it was going to start spreading again. It was the luck of the draw. Either way he always felt weak and it was a task to get started in the mornings.

"Can't say I agree with the poison, I quite like living despite being sick." He chuckled and he rounded another corner. With that the entrance to Diagon could be seen and he stopped and put his hands in his pockets. "Well, Avis, this is the end of the road. I am sure you can make it back from here without getting chased by someone who wants to wear your skin as a robe?"