Hit & Run

It had been a busy day for Hallie. Earlier that day she had arrived in work to discover that her first captive had been murdered within the Ministry earlier that morning and at it had caused an avalanche of paper work - not to mention it'd provoked a rage within her. Charlotte had gotten a free pass, sure she was dead but she didn't have to suffer the consequence of a lifetime in Azkaban. Then of course the many questions of who could have killed the lady had polluted her and Carth's mind all day. 

Oh Carth. How he was such a distraction. Not that he wasn't a good auror or annoying, quiet the opposite - unless you count his handsome good looks annoying? They certainly caused Hallie's mind to drift elsewhere, the way he looked in her blue eyes with his equally icy blue eyes. The way his hands held a quill. Just lately the ex-Gryffindor was struggling to contain herself around him. It was only today when she realised that she had developed feelings from him. Feelings that hadn't been there at St Mungo's, the shrieking shack or auror training session. Perhaps it was because they had spent a whole today together on the Topez case? 

Stepping into Diagon Alley from the leaky cauldron she walked down the alley. Hallie had recently moved out from her Mother's home to a rented apartment above Madame Malkins Robes. It was two bedroom, one bathroom and an open plan kitchen come lounge area. The reason for her purchase was that it was a shorter distance to apparate to the Ministry each day and her brother Toby was currently living with Jack Dyllan. 

It had only been three weeks ago that Hallie had found out that her brother was alive, the brother that had vanished from the face of the earth after a werewolf biting, was alive and well - to some extent. He still suffered from lycanthropy and was still exhausted by the pain of being thrown out by Hallie... Not that she had meant what she had said five years ago as an irrational thirteen year old girl. Unfortunately Jack nor Toby had contacted her wanting to arrange a meeting. Despite that Hallie had decided to rent the flat above the shop in hope when he did agree to meet her, or if they randomly collided, there would be a place for him and her to be. She didn't want him to meet their Mum yet, he was still a flight risk and Hallie simply couldn't bare to see their Mother broken by losing her son twice. No. Hallie would give him a trial opportunity before reintroducing him to his Mother. Perhaps it was selfish? Cruel? Whatever people would think Hallie didn't care she knew in her heart that it was the right thing to do. 

The lights flickered behind closed curtains and the nights were slowly creeping sooner evening by evening. It had gone half past ten and Hallie was eager to collapse on her bed for another busy day tomorrow. 

Besides Slug and Jiggers was a narrow alleyway that led to behind the shops. There were garbage, empty crates and the staircases to the apartments above the shops. Madame Malkins was a three story building. Madame Malkin herself, now retired and old had passed the shop onto a new manager but still resided on the first floor before Hallie Cooper. 

It may have been her imagination but the auror was sure there was the sound of footsteps behind her as she turned down the narrow alley to the back. However, not wanting to glance over her shoulder she pressed on, clutching her wand in case of an emergency. 

'AGH-' Hallie squealed in sudden shock. However what was left of her wail never escaped her lips, a hand had cuffed her mouth and another had yanked her blonde locks back, arching her back. Her eyes were wide open as she began to thrash against her attacker. 

WHAM! She'd kicked him in the shin and pulled her wand out - although it was too late. The attacker, whose face was covered, had kicked the wand from her grasp and smacked her head against the wall. 'HELP- GEt GET OFF ME!' She screamed in protest as he threw her to the ground before lowering himself to her.

WHAM! He'd punched her in the face. A bruise would surely show in the morning. 

WHAM! He'd snapped her wrist in the process of her pushing him away.

The pain was too much for Hallie as she left out a deafening scream. Surely someone would hear her? A resident, maybe someone on late night business with undercover things to do. 

Or so they would have heard her if the attacker hadn't rammed a roll of tissue down her throat to silence her screams. 

Gagging for air, tears of pair streaming down her face Hallie squirmed from the attackers grip as he tore her Fathers watch from her wrist. He grabbed her bag and upturned it, not caring for her pitiful choking sounds as she began to cough up the tissue. 

'T-that's p-p-rivate!' She gasped as the sticky tissue in a mush of spit fell from her lips. There were papers, letters, a photo of her and Toby, an uneaten apple and name badge scattered across the floor. 

'USELESS!' The attacker barked thrusting the empty bag at her leaving on his heel, the watch in hand and the papers and photos still on the dark, dirty floor. 

'No!' Hallie shouted through the pain of her broken wrist noticing the watch in his hand as he began to leave the narrow alleyway.

WHAM! The feel of a hard boot had whacked her in the face, causing her to fall back and hit her head on the floor once more. Hallie was knocked out cold in a swamp of letters whilst the attack and her Father's watch had disappeared. 

(OOC: sorry if there are typos, I typed it on my phone)

Toby was no stranger to Diagon Alley after dark. While he usually made it back to Jack's for dinner and stayed until Sunny went to bed, it wasn't uncommon for him to then head out again. The werewolf figured it was the fault of the incredibly active lifestyle he'd lived with his Pack. After sitting indoors for just a few hours, the teenager would go stir-crazy.

Flooing into Jack's shop, the boy rolled  his shoulders back and exited Weasley's Wizard Wheezes at a slow meander. Staring up at the waxing crescent in the sky, Toby began to mentally calculate the date of the next full moon.

The werewolf's counting was interrupted by the sound of a distant piercing scream. The teenager instantly began to sprint down the alley, without a single thought as to the practicality of running straight into danger.

Not slowing his pace for a full minute, Toby began to look side to side for any sign of someone in distress. The blonde had almost passed the small alley between Slug and Jiggers and Madam Malkin's, when his eyes caught a lock of blonde hair contrasting against the dark cobblestone.

Instantly turning down the alleyway, Toby took in the figure of an unconscious woman. Her face was mostly obscured by her hair, but he could see the puffiness indicating that one of her eyes was starting to swell. Upon further inspection, one of the witch's wrists was positioned in a direction that was most certainly not natural.

Licking his lips, Toby glanced down at the papers around them, looking for something that could possibly identify the unconscious body only meters away from him. Leaning to pick up a small rectangle by his left foot, something Toby was almost positive was a photo, the teenager began to tilt it in an attempt to catch enough moonlight so that the picture would be visible in the darkness.

A moment later, the werewolf let out an audible gasp and almost dropped the photo in shock. The picture was of him. Him and Hallie. Head slowly turning back towards the blonde witch, Toby took in the features of his now grown-up sibling. Stomach suddenly in knots and adrenalin pumping through his veins like fire, Toby was kneeling at his sister's side in seconds.  

Trembling hand brushing away the silky blonde strands he'd once been taught to braid, the werewolf let out a shaky breath after seeing his sister's face again after all these years. Calloused hand cupping the unbruised side of her face, other hand automatically going to check for a pulse, the wizard let out a relieved sigh as he found one. Swallowing a few times due to the sudden dryness of his throat, Toby Cooper parted his lips to say, "Hallie?"

'Hallie.' Toby whispered. The pair had been sneaking around the house at night, looking for where their Mum had hid the biscuit tin. It wasn't that they had been naughty, okay, so they had worked their way through fourteen packets of biscuits in two days but to the troublesome two it seemed not a good enough explanation to hide the final packet concealed in a tin.
That evening the seven year old Toby Cooper and ten year old Hallie Cooper had waited until their Mum was asleep before tip toeing from their sleeping chambers.
'Hallie.' Toby's voice called again in the darkness from the pantry.
'Shh Toby Mum'll hear us.' She replied, quietly closing a cupboard containing pots and pans. The only souce of light was that from the moon that filtered through the cottage windows. The window that in the years time Hallie would be watching her Mum fight two werewolves through.

'Hallie.' Toby's voiced sounded out in the darkness again. However, this time the voice sounded more deeper, manly, wolfish - perhaps he had suddenly needed to cough, or the sight of the biscuit tin had startled him. A callused hand held her wrist. Yes! He'd found the tin and was taking her to it but... Hold on. Why was his hand so rough? Sure they played in the forest a lot and often scratched them on hanging branches but they hadn't been out for two days.

'Wha-Agh!' Hallie cried, her eyelids fluttering as she came round fighting the pain. Her wrist hurt, her head hurt and her face hurt. She could feel the coldness from the floor shivering it's way through her clothes. What had happened? Who was this person stooping over her? Had she passed out? She didn't even recognise him it was too dark... It wasn't Toby. Toby was long gone, the pair weren't once together in the darkness again.

'W-what happened? Ouch!' Hallie forced her body up and meant against the brick wall. Now she had a sense of her surroundings. Hallie was on the floor in the alleyway between Slug and Jiggers and Madame Malkins. Her memory was flooding back. A stranger, with a covered face, had ambushed her walk to her flat above the clothes store. He'd grasped her by the hair, punched her against the wall and gone with her Father's...

With her healthy hand she grasped her wrist. He'd gone with her Father's watch. The item that wasn't to tell the time, not as a fashion statement. The watch that never left her wrist had been her Father's that she had taken from the bedside table after he'd died when she was seven and Toby four. Gone. Without a trace.

'W-who are you? P-please help me.' She stuttered. Her eyes were suddenly wet at the realisation that the connection she felt with her late Father had been torn even more, he suddenly felt further away. Not knowing what to do she looked at the floor around her. Auror documents and letters were surrounding her - her pear wand rolled to rest upon a grid across the narrow alleyway.

Thankfully she wasn't too far from her new home - she'd be able to make it with the help of the shadowy figure hovering over her but that wouldn't answer her many questions that rattled through her brain. Who was it? Had it been a death eater? Was this revenge for capturing Charlotte Topez? Had it been a random attack? Did they plan to get the watch? Had they been following her movements for a while? The only thing Hallie knew for certain was that the wizarding world wasn't safe - a lesson which she'd learnt just over ten years ago.

"I don't know what happened," the teen admitted, voice low and strangled, "I heard you scream and then found you here." Hallie's breathing was uneven, and the werewolf could only hope that his sibling was not about to go into shock or have a panic attack. Injuries, Toby was fairly equipped to deal with; mental stuff, not so much.

In fact, Toby himself might've been in shock. This was his sister, his sister! And she was beaten and bloody and alone in the dark. What on earth had happened? What had Toby missed?

Hands flailing, feeling useless, Toby began to gather up all the papers and unceremoniously shove them back into the bag he'd found near Hallie's left foot. Spotting a familiar-looking wand balanced precariously on top of a metal grate, the blonde shoved that into that bag too. Finally tossing an official-looking name badge into the bag as well, the boy finally turned back to the witch.

Toby was no storyteller, but the male had often imagined being reunited with his sister. Over the years he had daydreamed about the oddest situations, and every kind of reaction his sister could possibly have. He'd never imagined this. And so, the ward of Jack Dyllan selfishly kept his name to himself, even upon his wounded sister asking for it. He didn't want to deal with her reaction just yet, and would certainly be drawing out admitting his name for as long as possible.

"Come on, let's get you up," the werewolf said in what he could only hope was as soothing a tone as he'd been attempting. "I've gathered your things. You didn't hurt anything other than your wrist and face, did you? I don't want to jostle anything," Toby added, not wanting to see someone that he still cared for so much in anymore pain than she already was.

"Do you need me to help you floo to St. Mungos?" the blonde asked, internally wincing at the distance between their location and the nearest public floo. Toby wasn't sure if Hallie would be able to make it that far, not unless he physically carried her there. Squatting down beside the injured blonde, Toby offered an arm and a shoulder for Hallie to pull herself up. Idly fingering the wand in his pocket with the other hand, the teen wondered if he'd be able to convince the Improper Use of Magic Office how much of an emergency this was.

Hallie held her wrist and watched as the stranger began to gather the letters, her name badge and her wand. Thank the Lord he was helping her, although his words wasn't much help at all. It didn't answer her questions, although at least she knew her scream had worked. Who knows how long she would have been there before someone came to help - possibly in the morning.

'I-I live above the shop.' Hallie gasped as she inclined her head back to Madame Malkins. 'The staircase to the apartment is round the corner and I ... I think I'm fine.' She explained taking his arm and shoulder to push herself from the dingy cobbled ground.

'AGHH' Clearly she'd twisted her ankle or something during the fall because upon standing the blonde collapsed back to the ground, luckily having the strangers arm allowed her to keep some balance. 'Do, do you mind helping me walk there?' She asked. Hallie usually would have felt a but cheeky asking a stranger to help her but it really did beat shuffling and her head still felt foggy. For some reason she kept conjuring up thoughts about Toby every time the strange spoke, which was weird as he couldn't be Toby, Toby was staying with Jack Dyllan. On top of that she needed to sort out of the auror documents in her bag and check none were missing. If they were, well she'd think about that if the situation showed itself.