The Heist

Gavin had never cared too much for New York. He would take the Big Ben over the Statue of Liberty and the Tower of London over the Empire State Building any day. But the host of the party was a reliable source of income for Gavin's second job as freelance security, making him swallow his distaste and floo to the City that Never Sleeps for the evenings event. The man wore an outfit too formal to be comfortable and was sure he looked like every security guard from every movie in the simple black suit that matched his coworkers. His employer clearly had no creativity.

Gavin lingered by the edge of the room, watching the doorways off on the west side and occationally sneaking appetizers off of the buffet table next to him. He had been working for this man long enough that he had started to recognize the regular guests, though none of them would ever have remembered him. When it was called for Gavin was quite good at blending in to a crowd, contrary to what his years in Gryffindor had shown. He would be lying if he claimed he loved his second job but it paid the bills and that was really all that mattered.

A blonde woman in a form-fitting golden gown entered the room and Gavin watched her as she moved effortlessly through the crowded room and let herself into a door at the back that lead to the host's office. With a slight sigh Gavin resigned to adopting the duties of secretary and left his spot on the side of the room as he went in search of his employer. His eyes scanned the crowd and eventually fell upon his target.. who just happened to be in the middle of a dance. But Gavin had been instructed to alert the other man immediately on the blonde's arrival and he made his way on to the dance floor with little hesitation.

Gavin arrived at the dancing couple, lightly touching the man'a arm and speaking lowly. "Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Bates. She's here." The older man nodded and released his dancing partner, saying goodbye with a kiss to the back of her hand. As he did so Gavin's eyes flickered over the girl, just barely noting her attractiveness but not really noticing her as he scanned the room again. As Mr. Bates was pulling away a sudden lightbulb of recognition flashed in his head, almost like déjà vu. He spun back to face the brunette as the other man was just walking away and Gavin made no attempt to hide his stare and then immediate smile.

"Audriana Swan." He stated, a childish grin having grown on his face. How long had it been? The last time he had seen her must have been graduation, almost ten years ago. It felt like an eternity since they had played Quidditch together and all at once a flood of questions washed over him. How had she been? Where was she living? Did she still play Quidditch? Was she married? (He glanced down at her ringless hand and felt oddly pleased.) What was she doing for work? But out of everything he was thinking only one phase spilled out of his lips.

"You cut your hair."

Honestly? How much longer did Audriana have to pretend to dance with this git who really was clearly after one thing. Turning her head away, she stared at the floor a little ways to her right. It wasn’t until someone spoke that she realized the man was pulling away. Well, thank Merlin.

Her brow furrowed as he lifted her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it, before turning away. Audriana pursed her lips but took a deep breath and glanced around for any sign of Robin. If he expected her to act like this all night, she was going to have to have words with him. This was not acceptable at all. Where was the tosser, anyway? Because if he had left her-

Audriana Swan.

Well that certainly wasn’t Robin. Not even close. Bloody hell.

Lifting her chin slightly, Audriana turned her head and glanced over her shoulder. So it was him. How strange. And what awful timing. She was opening her mouth to tell him as much when he spoke again. Why wasn’t she surprised by his reaction? Of course the first thing he would notice was her hair. How many times had he teased her about it before a match? Hey, I’m just saying, if your hair catches the snitch you won’t get any of the credit. That thing is an entity on its own.

“Um, no, actually. I didn’t.” She replied, glancing up at him. Immediately, she could feel herself falling back into the fearful, confused girl she was in her seventh year. When all she had really wanted was to tell him everything and having him look at her with those impossibly blue eyes of his and comfort her. But she wasn’t ever able to. Instead, she had pulled away. But it hadn’t mattered in the end; Gavin hadn’t been the type to force his way back into her life, apparently. Or if he had tried, it hadn’t been too much effort, because she hadn’t really noticed.

“And don’t call me that,” Audriana added, tone short and anxious. If he ruined this, Robin would never forgive her, and she would just owe him whatever else he came up with. That was definitely not okay. Guilt whacked her upside the head at her tone before she took a step closer. “Tonight it’s Amanda Hastings, and I’m here with a family friend. An Ivanov. So just play along. Please.”

She wanted to reach up and start idly braiding a chunk of her hair, as she had done in school when he made her nervous or embarrassed, but there wasn’t any bit of it that was long enough to do so. “If tonight goes badly…. Well, it could be dangerous for both myself and for Robin.”

It had been ten years and he didn't get so much as a greeting.

Not that Gavin had expected hugs and teary eyes at how much she had missed him over the last decade but he couldn't helped but be slightly amused at how unphased she seemed by their reunion. Her response was as casual as if they were still in Charms class fifth year and for some reason that felt completely appropriate. She reached up as if to touched her nonexistent hair and he raised his eyebrow slightly, understandably confused by her denial with the evidence clearly in front of him. She.. hadn't cut her hair? She had sometime in the last ten years to make it that short.

Gavin was still smiling until he heard his name. Not again. Gavin quickly glanced around the room, knowing he wouldn't see the familiar head of brown hair anywhere. The more Audriana talked the more pieces clicked into place - Audriana's presence at an event like this, her dancing, the short hair and fake name - the git was sneaking right under their noses. "Oh, bloody hell." Gavin groaned to himself, closing his eyes momentarily as he reflected on his own stupidity. There was no way he was going to get fired over the little shit that was Robin Ivanov.

"Where did he go, Aud?" Gavin asked, tracing her gaze for any unconscious betrayal of his location. He had already forgotten any sort of false identity, though it would have proved useless anyway when he was exactly the person that it was meant to fool. Gavin grabbed her shoulder as lightly and unthreateningly as possible, locking her eyes with his. "I promise you won't be in any danger. Where is he?" Gavin meant it - he wouldn't let any harm come to the brunette if she helped him or otherwise. But he couldn't promise the same for her Russian friend.

Of course, of all of the people in the world, Gavin and Robin had to know each other. That just made her life so much harder. She very nearly glared at him before realizing they were still near the center of the dance floor. Attempting to pass their exchange off as a friendly greeting or chat, she simply let her hands fall back to her sides. Audriana didn’t even want to know how they had met, or what had allowed the younger man to get under Gavin’s skin.

“He didn’t tell me. I’m not even exactly sure what we’re here for, okay?” She claimed evasively, turning to head off of the dance floor. At least if anyone asked she could play the role of some girl offended by a potential dance partner. This definitely wasn’t okay. He was using old nicknames she hadn’t heard in years, and she suddenly just wanted to get away. It didn’t make any sense.

In school she probably would have jumped – figuratively, of course – at the chance. Not that she would have ever let him guess that she cared. He touched her and she stopped short, her entire body stiff at the contact as his eyes met hers. Even if she had known where Robin had gotten off to, she couldn’t tell him. Audriana would not get herself further into debt by ruining her chance to escape it.

She bit her lip, turning away and debating her options.

“I can’t, Gavin.” The words fell past her lips before she could reconsider them. Strangely, she hadn't called him 'Blackmoor' or any old nicknames. Something about their being older and her being the one truly at fault (though she often was in school, as well) made it hard to attack him for no reason.

She glanced up at him guiltily, pulling her lip back between her teeth to worry it again. “I owe him. I can’t just- just get him into trouble.” Suddenly, the need to avoid explaining why she was in Robin’s debt hit her and Audriana took the offensive instead. “Why are you looking for him anyway? For all you know he’s just here for a party. No one even questioned our arriving.”

There had always been a line between pleasure and work in Gavin's mind and now that he had crossed into the latter it was hard for him to remember exactly who he was talking to. Audriana claimed ignorance and Gavin felt a twinge of doubt before settling in belief and nodding gruffly before releasing her arm. I owe him. The words made Gavin sit up a little straiter as he was forced to consider again what exactly Audriana was doing here, besides just accompanying him. Her owing him meant he had done something for her and Gavin was just a little too curious as to what that had been. But all thing considered, paying off a debt was slightly better than being on a date.

Gavin couldn't tell if she was stalling on purpose or just really inconveniently but there really wasn't time to answer questions. "Because whenever Ivanov comes to a party he insists on making a spectacle of himself - it's when he's quiet that he's a real problem. So you're either going to have to come with me now or I'll have no choice but you turn you in to my boss. He's made Amanada an accomplice and I really, really don't want you to get involved in anything worse."

Gavin raised his eyebrows, judging her expression and movements before feeling secure that she would follow. He made his way off of the dance floor, glancing back as he reached the edge to make sure that Audriana was still right behind him. The pair made their way into a hallway, suddenly leaving the voices and the music of the party behind them. Gavin led them up a large staircase that merged in from the right. At the top step he pulled his wand from his sleeve and murmured an incantation that immediately lit recently used doors with an unEarthly pastel pink aura.

If for nothing else, Mr. Bates' paranoia (in this case taking the form of enchanted anti-intrusion doors) made Gavin's job easier. The pink glow was present on maybe three or four of the doors in the immediate hallway, though it would be necessary to check the other wings if Robin was not to here. Gavin moved to the door with the brightest aura, tapping the handle to unlock it, and swinging the door open. A bedroom was revealed with a young women in her towel moving towards the bathroom door. Gavin made a hurried apology and closed the door as quickly as possible.

Gavin turned to Audriana and shook his head. "Next."

Her brow furrowed, but Audriana didn’t quite doubt Gavin’s assessment of the younger man’s party habits. She had obviously never seen him being a ‘spectacle’, but that didn’t mean that his general behavior didn’t suggest the possibility of it. His words didn’t scare her as much as he undoubtedly thought they would. Gavin clearly had no idea what she did for a living – Robin was one of the only ones who really knew.

As his eyes searched her own far darker ones, waiting for her to either join him or make him take her into some form of custody, she held her breath. Her heart ached in response to both of the options standing before her. She could step forward and potentially doom Robin, making him hate her forever. Whatever she had seen in him that morning, as well as the obvious attraction he held, would be gone. Or she could step back and once again lose the one boy – well, man, now – she had ever wanted to love. Thought she could love.

She told herself that it had been too long since she had seen Gavin; for all she knew he had changed completely. It took her far longer than she cared to admit to step forward and walk along with him.

As she followed him out of the room, her hand came up to wrap around his bicep to keep up the pretense of being a casual party guest. “Look, this isn’t the worst scrape I’ve been in. I guarantee I can handle myself.” It came out as an almost scoff though she had the tact to look apologetic for it. Her hand slipped off of his arm as he stepped into the first room, coming back out entirely red-faced.

“Blackmoor- I mean- Gavin…” She glanced at him, pursed her lips as he looked over, blinked and corrected herself. Audriana knew that convincing him would take more than just words. It would take sentiment and truth. It would take her reminding him about their past, regardless of if he had never felt the same way she had.

“Listen, Captain,” she started, tone slightly sarcastic like it had always been, as they moved towards the next door. “I don’t know what the deal is with you two. Maybe he stole your girl or made your job harder, but it doesn’t matter. He saved my life and I will not see his ruined. Make a deal with him. Make him promise to never come back or whatever it is that you do but don’t – don’t ruin my chance to make it up to him.”

What in Merlin’s name was she doing? Her eyes were huge and she was actually begging Gavin for help. It was completely absurd, and her past self would never have forgiven her for it. Never would have stooped to that level.

Had it really been so long? Nothing from her voice to mannerisms to smell seemed all that different to Gavin. It felt like yesterday that they pair had been fighting in the air over who would call plays. Her hair was the only thing that really made him do a double take every time he looked over at Audriana. It was a huge change from the mass of black that she used to wear atop her head and while Gavin would have never pictured her as a pixie cut type girl it suited her. Really suited her.

She addressed him by his last name then appeared to change her mind, correcting herself to something a bit more neutral. Listen, Captain, So much for pleasantries. The sarcastic nod to his greatest Hogwarts accomplishment produced a more nostalgic response than anything and he rolled his eyes slightly in return. No, Swan hadn't changed at all, haircut or not.

Gavin stared at her, his heart and brain battling as she spoke. Giving Robin any chance at all was against everything the Gryffindor stood for, both as an employee and a person. It didn't matter what the other man was here for; Audriana's reaction and Ivanov's track record made it clear that whatever he was doing would be almost certainly distasteful to Mr. Bates. The genuine look in Audriana's eyes was the only thing that made him second guess himself.

Was she asking for his help?

And just like that his heart won. Gavin raised his eyes for a moment before letting out a sigh of resignation. "Fine." He help up his hands as if to remove himself from some of the responsibility of what he had just agreed to. "I'll talk to him. Try to work something out. No promises, though." he added. On the few occasions that Gavin and Robin had actually gotten around to conversations the Gryffindor had found the younger man quite difficult to deal with and had doubts about him making any compromises.

"Let's keep looking." Gavin urged, feeling uncomfortable whenever they look a minute to pause. Just because he had agreed didn't mean he didn't want to find Ivanov. That was as vital as ever.

The pair continued down the hall, making their way towards another bright pink door a ways down. There were several long seconds of silence as they moved, leaving Gavin to indulge himself in a memory from Uni that was rising to the surface.

Gavin and Keiran sat across from each other in the library, stacks of unopened books sitting beside them. The small mountain of schoolbooks was kept growing as Avery dropped more off before disappearing back into the library shelves for long periods. She was behind on some History of Wizarding Britain project and had dragged her two, very bored, best friends to sit here and give her 'help'. So far there had been very little helping and the boys had amused themselves with throwing snacks in the air and preventing their descent with various spells.

Gavin caught a slightly-soapy grape in his mouth and held it out on his tongue for Keiran to see. The Slytherin boy did not look particularly impressed and Gavin closed his mouth with a grin. "So you never said how your date went Saturday." the Gryffindor offered conversationally.

"Date?"

"Yeah, know you. The blonde in Economics? Chelsea?"

"Mmm."

"That bad, huh?" Gavin continued jovially. After a couple years of forced friendship with Keiran he had gotten used to their extremely one-sided conversations, no longer even really noticing the disinterest of his table mate. "Ah, well. Understandable, I guess. You have always seemed to prefer brunettes." That one Gavin noticed. How completely weird was it for make that observation, let alone say anything about it? The words had just slipped out but they seemed to have gotten Keiran's head out of the clouds.

"What?"

"I don't know. Just Audriana.. Irene.. You sorta have a type." Just stop Gavin, just stop.

"Audriana?" Keiran questioned again, his eyebrows raised in the appearance of disbelief.

"Yes, Audriana. You should remember her. You dated for quite a bit, didn't you?" Gavin had gotten much more defensive than intended, the frustration of those Hogwarts memories starting to come back. It had been bad enough that she had dated Keiran Hayes of all people but the fact he didn't have the decency to even appear to care about her now bothered him more than he could say. His voice had risen too loud for the quiet library and several other students had turned to give the pair dirty looks.

"Mate, it wasn't even real. Calm down."

"What?" It was then Gavin's turn to look lost and confused. Over the next few minutes Keiran managed to explain how Audriana had asked him to fake their relationship and how he had gone along with it to repay a debt. He explained to the slack-jawed man that it had had something to do with him and most importantly confirmed that Audriana had never really had any real feelings for him.

"She said something about annoying you."

Gavin looked over at the woman beside him, a sly smile growing as he remembered Keiran's words. Even though this new information about Audriana's dating life didn't change how much she had pulled away in seventh year it still made him feel like, just maybe, he could have had a chance with her. And if she had no ring on her finger and wasn't here on a date.. didn't that mean he might still have a slight chance?

He wasn't stupid. It had been ten years since he had really known the girl and everything had changed since they were in school but that didn't stop Gavin from wanting to get to know her again. He missed her more than ever now that she stood in front of him and not even a second later he had made his mind to just say exactly what was on his mind. Gavin broke the silence seconds later with a simple - "So, question.."


((OOC: I will edit the flashback however you need. Hardcore godmod.))

Audriana’s mind raced as Gavin visibly fought himself regarding his response to her hopes. She wasn’t sure if it was her admitting to Robin saving her life, or if it was the minute and momentary walk down memory lane, but he had agreed. More or less. Her breath rushed out as a sigh of relief, her hand extending to pull him towards her. “Thank you.” Audriana breathed against his shoulder as her arms wrapped around one of his own.

It was slightly challenging to keep up with him as he was still walking, but a huge part of her was desperate to be near him, to touch him. He was here, and he was real. After Audriana had left the day of graduation and never looked back, Gavin had not been part of her life. She had always been so sure that things would work out. That he would wake up and finally see her.

But then Seventh Year had rolled around, things had changed, and she hadn’t even been able to look at him. Not unless it was during a match and he didn’t realize she was looking. It sounded almost pathetic now that she thought back to it.


Since the snitch had been released, Audriana had lost track of it. It would show up eventually. She hadn’t been chosen as the youngest female seeker in ages because of her anxiety or nerves. The snitch would find its way back. If it didn’t, she would wait until the points were impressive enough to search it out and beat the other team to it. Yes, she was a little cocky, but that was just how things were. Especially this year.

With her entire family officially gone, Quidditch season couldn’t have come sooner. While it did mean more practices with a certain Gryffindor team Captain, it also meant less time to herself. More time to have responsibility and things to worry about. The Gryffindor-Slytherin game had come around earlier than it had the year before, so this game wasn’t one to take lightly. Not that Audriana could ever let herself do so, of course. Not when Gavin was in charge, either.

A group of Slytherins sliced through the air in front of her, making her lean back to avoid them. Shooting them a nasty glare, Audriana flew higher and observed everyone from above. The Slytherin seeker was on the other end of the pitch, down by the Gryffindor goal posts; Audriana hovered at the end of the oval pitch just to the left of the Slytherin hoops. She had learned that hanging about on their side of the field often confused and annoyed the opposing teams, so she stuck with it.

“Blackmoor has the quaffle, skimming past the Slytherins with just enough room to spare. But oh! He’s nearly knocked off by-“

Audriana didn’t catch the rest of the sentence as her eyes shot to him, following his motions across the pitch as he swerved to avoid bludgers flying his direction. Her heart caught in her throat as one flew past his head. Gavin ducked, aimed, and released the quaffle with perfect timing brought about by at least six years of practice and training. The sound marking a goal rang through the pitch and she relaxed, allowing a half smile onto her lips.

His eyes met hers from several feet down and across before he turned and flew in the other direction to chase after the Slytherin team. Audriana desperately hoped she was imagining the distrust and dislike in his eyes.

It was time to find the snitch, she decided, if only to keep from thinking about how his look made her stomach fall to the grass of the pitch and left her floating with her heart aching.


Gavin sent her a look that was far too amused, forcing Audriana’s thoughts to be put on hold as she waited for him to say something. Anything. A question? This couldn't be good. What if he wanted to know about her job? Or, heaven forbid, a relationship? She would have nothing good to say - nothing he wanted her to say or expected her to say. She wasn't some professional Quidditch player or married with little nippers running about her feet daily. She was still alone with a career that was hardly even able to be considered one.

“Yes? What?” She asked, too quickly. She probably should have just glanced at him, waited for a question, and kept quiet. But she was already on the defensive; what could he want to ask her about that she could answer honestly? Audriana didn’t want him to immediately dislike her again.

They stopped in the middle of the hallway and for a moment Gavin completely forgot about their mission. She snipped a response at him but a boyish bubbliness had risen inside of him, pushing away his worries. As he glanced over at her, Gavin almost felt like he was fifteen and about to ask her to the ball. But the Gryffindor was a man now and the time for worrying about who would take your teammate to the dance was over. He had grown up and with age came responsibility; he was obligated to ask much more embarrassing questions now.

"Did you really date Keiran Hayes just for my benefit?"

Gavin tried his hardest to restrain a grin, almost giddy about revealing the knowledge Keiran had given him. He hadn't stopped to consider that the secondhand story might be false or worry about any sort of poor reaction. One of his biggest downfalls, Gavin had never been particularly good at thinking things through. While his temper wasn't concerning, his impulsiveness had gotten him into more than one sticky situation over the years. The grin he was holding in broke though as he looked down upon Audriana.

- - -

16, 42, 12, 21, 70

The numbers clicked in one by one as Robin turned the lock on the safe. The process was nothing new but, like always, there was a certain urgency in his movements as he worked, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to check the empty room behind him. As the last number slid into place the safe opened with a pop to reveal a sword, goblet, and small jewelry box inside. Robin gingerly picked up the sword, closing the safe door and letting it lock with a loud click.

Someone, at some point in his childhood, had thought it would be a good idea to have Robin take a lesson in swordfighting and the heavy metal felt almost normal in his hands. He slung the strap over his shoulder so the scabbard rested on his back, the medieval design contrasting with the clean grey of his suit. A new surge of confidence filled him as he slipped out of the room as quietly as he had come, ready to go back downstairs and retrieve his date for the evening.

Besides, if anyone tried to attack him now he was armed.

Audriana’s hand fell from his arm, staring at him as the words hit her. She was sure her mouth was hanging open in pure shock. How the hell did he know? But more importantly, why was he bringing it up now? She just wanted to step away. Or run, if possible. But that would only prove to him how right he was. Instead, she just eyed him warily in silence for far longer than was actually appropriate.

“How would-? Why would you-?” Shaking her head, Aud gaped at him another moment before finally finding her words. “That’s completely ridiculous. And of all the things you want to talk about right now, you choose that?”

Her voice was far too loud, which she realized too late. Ducking her head, she instead shot him an annoyed glance. If Gavin didn’t figure out that he had been told right, or had figured it out, Audriana would be seriously concerned for him. They didn’t have time for this. Robin was off somewhere potentially getting caught – hopefully not – and she would look for any excuse to get out of this discussion. They never needed to go over this, actually. If she avoided it forever it wouldn’t be long enough.

It had been a good eight or nine years since their last real discussion, regardless of how much she had sometimes wished to find out what he was doing with his life. The problem there, of course, had been the fact that Audriana wouldn’t have been able to tell him a single thing about her own life. Now that she understood his job (more or less), she knew she had been right to keep it quiet. A painful image of his coming to arrest her flashed into her mind and she very nearly winced. Instead, she pushed any visible sign of fear away and looked at him once more.

Natalia had once suggested that while there are some people that are technically right for you, or some that are essentially wrong for you, there were some in your life that you just choose. Gavin was starting to look like one of those people. Regardless of how hard she had tried to keep him away from her, he had shown up. What a twisted trick of fate this was. Frustrated, she huffed audibly and set a hand on her hip. "You know, you're a complete tosser, Gavin Blackmoor. You can't just focus on the task at hand? No, you decided that it would be great fun to bring up things that you have no proof of. That makes perfect sense." The last sentence came out dripping with sarcasm - but, unfortunately for Gavin, she wasn't quite done. "No, indeed, you won't be getting an answer from me. You know why? You're a shit."

It would be better, she decided as she spoke, to send him away again. What kind of insane man would stick around after she was attacking him so persistently? She clearly wasn't comfortable, and was massively put off by his question. Maybe they could find Robin and just bolt, so she wouldn't have to see him again.

The idea made her stomach sink, but she ignored that as best as she could. There was no reason to feel like she wanted him around. Last she had spoken to him was probably the day of graduation, but even that whole school year had been rough. Fighting was all she could manage with him then, and apparently even that was unchanged.