Broken

Naomi collapsed. For four days, she had not slept, eaten, or drank. She had not stopped moving- she had joined in on the chase after Felix Barker. She had sent an anonymous owl to the Ministry, preparing them for the imminent capture of Felix Barker. Her husband would have a few things coming to him. And she would not sign the divorce papers until she could bring them to him in his Azkaban cell. She wanted to see him defeated.

But she had not caught up to him. Between the approaching full moon, chasing him, and running from the Ministry, Naomi had been worn down. She had just begun tramping up Hogsmeade, trying to reach the Shrieking Shack when her legs buckled and she knocked over the Three Broomstick's trashcans in the process.

She rolled over. She was done. She had the house yes, and the money, but her life was being started over. What could a girl do who only new murder and torture? Who only knew fear and terror? She wanted to go back to normal, but all of these bloody vision filled her head. She was evil. Evil. She couldn't change that.

It had been a busy night at the Three Broomsticks. Thursday nights were never normally that busy but Matt wasn't complaining. More money for him, which almost always went directly back into The Three Broomsticks. But Matt always liked to stay behind and have a small drink. Sometimes he brought Nemo along, and sometimes Khaat or Robert would join him. And lately he almost relied on his peaceful drink alone. So much had been going on so quickly. Death Eater's were making themselves known, and Jess hadn't showed his face in months. But he had his friends, and he had his drink. He smiled as he downed his half glass of scotch and smacked his lips. He noticed a trash bag sitting out by the back door. He huffed and got up to take it outside, unbeknownst to him there would be a surprise waiting.

When Matt opened the door with the trash bag in hand he noticed how much of a mess it was. There were trash cans without lids with garbage spilled out. Then he noticed a figure, laying with a trash lid on its head. He picked up up and nearly dropped it again. He knew that mess of hair, he knew the face. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the figure. It was a Greyback, a Deather Eater. A Death Eater who had nearly killed him recently. Keeping his wand on her he moved towards her. "What are you-" but he stopped. She didn't look well. As a matter of fact she looked positively ill. He let his wand down. There was no way she was in any fit to attack him.

Matt wasn't sure whether or not he should help her. He was torn with himself. After all she had nearly killed him, and would probably try again. Then again he couldn't leave her out here, it'd be bad for business. He went with the latter of the choices, and hesitantly he picked her up over his shoulder and took her inside the bar.

She heard a voice but hadn't the power to look up. If it were someone from the Ministry, she had no chance to escape. She lowered her head even farther, her pride throbbing painfully. Naomi Greyback, diminished to trash. She was in her mother's position, her mother before she found a pureblood man to clean her up and take her in. Naomi would not be so lucky- her mother still looked elegant. Naomi looked more beast than woman. Naomi was destined to fight her struggle alone. She could not even brave being pitied- that would hurt more than it all.

The person lifted her and she felt her body go a little limp. She caught a whiff of the smell of the man and groaned. Oh no. This was terrible. Irony never stung so badly. How was it a man she had so ruthlessly tried to murder was now her savior? The universe was trying to demolish her pride- she could not hold her head high. She was being reprimanded for all of her evil works.

"Just because... you're helping me..." she said in a hoarse voice. "Doesn't mean... I feel bad about trying to... kill you." A terrible cough rattled her small, shrunken frame. "Orders and orders." She felt a chill enter her bones. "I'm just a little glad I... That I failed." And she was lost to unconsciousness.

"Bloody Greyback." Matt muttered as he put her down on top of the bar counter. He pulled out his wand spoke a few words and a blanket erupted from the tip of his wand. It glided gently down to cover Naomi. He positioned it better and than gave her a proper look over. He had assumed the worst, but as it turned out she was just really really tired. He heard the beginnings of snoring and he decided it'd be best to leave her and let her sleep for a bit. He contemplated taking her up to one of the rooms he rented out to local's for nights at a time but decided not too. He wasn't going to be too nice to the woman who had nearly killed him. Oh how the tables had turned. She was lucky he was helping her this much.

He went behind the bar and began to pour himself a drink. He wasn't going to leave her alone in The Three Broomsticks even if she was paralyzed. He didn't trust her, and that meant he was probably going to be up all night. He didn't mind, he had gone longer without sleep. It came almost natural to him, staying awake. Albeit he had slept until four that afternoon so he was pretty awake. But to be safe he decided to brew a but of coffee. He contemplated sending a patronus to Khaat or perhaps even Nemo. But he thought better, he sat down at one of the empty tables and opened a magazine, ready to waste a few hours.

Naomi awoke in the early hours of the morning. Her back ached from the hard surface and from days of constant movement without rest. Her eyes slid open and she squeezed them shut again. There was no problem remembering where she was or why she was there. She remembered Felix, she remembered Matt. She was not going to waste time catching herself up with her own life events.

She tried pushing herself up but her arms gave way. With a sigh, she stared at the ceiling of the pub. She guessed it was about four in the morning. Her stomach suddenly let out a monstrous growl and she groaned. The groan came from a dry, parched mouth and her lips cracked. "Shit," she whispered, pained. Her hand flailed and searched the side of the bar, reaching a tap. She pulled it and gathered as much of the drink as possible into her hand before dumping it in her mouth. She would have preferred water to butterbeer, but it provided some relief.

It had appeared as though Matt's subconscious allowed him to nod off that night. He had grown very bored of the magazine early into the night. Which meant that he had to find some other way to keep himself awake. After a few hours of meddling with tables, fiddling with the lights, he passed out. Luckily however he had heard a struggle coming from the bar area which woke him. He had fallen asleep in a booth with a bunch of salt on the table. He had been counting them before he fell asleep. But there was something important he had to deal with, Greyback

He got up and slowly made his way over to where Naomi was laying there, awake. He entered the bar and grabbed a glass. "Aguamenti" he said quietly, pointing his wand into the glass. He trusted the magical water more than he trusted what came out of the tap. He slowly moved the glass towards Naomi's mouth, wand at the ready, and began to pour it into her mouth. "Good morning sunshine." he said cheekily as she gulped down the water. He yawned loudly and when she had finished he put the glass down, away from her. "Now, I've got some questions for you."

Naomi heard the approach of who she could only assume was Matt Lestrange and she sighed, helplessly lowering her head down and waiting. It wasn't as if she could struggle, or had a right too. If she was trying to come back from a life of evil, she needed to be open to the people she had previously wanted dead. And though it injured her pride, she drank gratefully when he brought a glass to her lips. He put the glass away and her stomach growled, but that would have to wait.

He wanted answers and the tired woman knew she had to give them. If she wanted to be trusted enough to help go after Felix, she was going to need to start proving it now. She was grouchy, but she wanted to be good. She propped herself up and turned, so her legs were dangling on the edge of the bar. She reached up and rubbed her eyes. She then realized Matt was worried about her attacking him. She reached down and removed her boot, turning it upside down so a dagger clattered out. "Take it. And I lost my wand, so no worries there. Ask away."

Matt took the dagger and put it in his back pocket. It felt pretty lightweight, a quality dagger. Who knew a Greyback would actually own a finer quality of items. He smirked to himself as he filled the mug with water once again. She seemed to be regaining some of her strength. However, he was pretty sure she wasn't about to attack him. Her tone and bod language told him that much. After all, he just saved her life. "Alright." he said as he put the glass down next to her. "What the hell?" he asked vaguely.

He wanted to know what was going on here and there. Why on earth was she in such a state that Matt really couldn't help but ignore the irony? A state in which he really couldn't help but feel pity for the Death Eater. A woman who had tried to kill him, on multiple occasions. "What's happened?" he asked her more personally this time. "It's not everyday I get a werewolf in here. Let alone one who's ready to kill me as soon as the word's given."

She raised her palms to her temples as though about to perform a Jedi mind trick, but she rubbed her palms in circles, trying to calm the storm in her head. She was rather exposed at the moment- and not because her clothing had been ripped in several places. No, what choice did she have but to deliver the truth?

She covered her eyes with the heels of her palms before she said, "I left my husband." She dropped her hands heavily into her lap. "Actually, I promised to get him thrown in Azkaban. Y'know Felix Barker? Of course you do, everyone does. However, I go out every month and mutilate muggles, pillage here and there, eat some livestock, and he's the favorite. He's Ministry's Number One right now. You know where I am? Nine. NINE." She scoffed.

"Felix cheated on me with one of the girls he captured, and I'm sure she's not the first. See, he captured me. But he never laid a hand on me." She was now looking at one of the lanterns in the pub, staring intently at it. "I spurned him and though he kept me, he didn't lay a hand on me. He bought me things. He respected me. We spoke, we bantered, and I fell for him." Her reverie was broken and she looked down. "Stupid. I wasn't good enough for my father, making my pathetic, muggleborn-loving brother heir while I was doing his work... And I helped Felix and got all of the discomfort with no perks but his promises. He promised me we'd stop running one day. No torture, no murder, just us and our dog, somewhere secluded and nice. Maybe a kid. I dunno- the things that make a life."

She sighed. "But I f*cked it up," was her simple explanation. "I could've had that, but never with him. I trusted the man who kidnapped me. Don't muggles have a term for that? Stockholm Syndrome or something? I let myself murder, torture, and destroy... all to impress a man who never could have really loved me. And now what can I do? Chase him down until I'm thrown in Azkaban?" She shrugged. "That or until I'm dead, I suppose."

The look on Matt's face spoke for itself at the detailed account of Naomi Greyback's tale. Of course he really had no idea who Felix Barker was or how in hell he made it to the number one spot on the Ministry of Magic's most wanted list. But judging from her story he seemed to be like a pretty nasty fellow. Matt's expression just screamed What the hell? I mean even after all the stuff he's been through it had never gotten as bad as-well at certain points it had. He was nobody to judge, but whatever Barker did he seriously pissed the blond before him off.

Matt took a minute to soak all the information into his brain system. What had happened to her was still very vague. She hadn't given him any details about how she had screwed it all up but Matt really didn't care too much. He closed his eyes and moved side to side while thinking about what in the hell he was going to do with his girl. From his understanding, she was simply under a misguided influence. He didn't want to think it, but maybe she was looking for a second chance. He didn't trust her though. Not right away at least. Jess didn't trust him. He was pretty sure Jess only started trusting him that year. After nearly five years of knowing Matt-just now. He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Right..." he said slowly, squeezing every drop out of the word.

"Sounds like you're in a bit of trouble." he said absentmindedly. He really didn't want her to die, he didn't think she deserved it. And if she was telling the truth he was pretty sure she could find redemption somehow. "You realize that getting off the list is a lot harder than getting on the Ministry's list right?" he asked her. He realized he was actually quite hungry. And he had noted her stomach growls earlier. He had never cooked for a werewolf, what did they eat? Did they like their bacon raw or what? "Uh, you want something to eat?" he asked awkwardly. "Do werewolves like their food cooked?"