I Have It, What You Desire..

So, he was a messenger now? That was probably all he ever was and ever will be for Moira and James. No. He refused to believe that. He was more important than that, he was the one who kept them updated on things that happened within the castle walls. So still technically a messenger. No matter how Dylan looked at it, he always came back to the conclusion that he was nothing more than a messenger. It wasn't that bad though, he didn't end up hurt since no one knew what he was doing in there. He was just another student.

Scratch that. He wasn't a student anymore.

But he was able to remain somewhat in the school through the forest. But he wasn't that useful anymore, he just realized. If he wasn't in the school, how was he supposed to keep them updated. He needed help now. So he'd take the message he had from Moira to this Nessarose girl and he'd make a deal with her. Moira wouldn't mind, he hoped. James might, but since he was under Moira's care, he couldn't really say anything.

Dylan had made sure a letter reached Nessarose, telling her to meet him in the clearing near the center of the forest. He'd made sure to tell her he came with a proposal for her from Moira. A proposal for power. It would benefit her. But while he convinced her, Dylan would make sure she became his eyes and ears within the school. He'd learned a thing or two from Moira about manipulating people. But somehow he thought this girl wouldn't be so easy to convince.

But Moira had told him that she would do probably anything if it meant she would get power. Dylan had kept an eye on her before the decree had been placed and he figured that what Moira said had been true and hopefully she would agree to what he was going to propose to her.

”What motivates you, Nessa?”

“Love. I think. Or the want of it.”

“The lack of it?”

“Something like that.”

"What, then?"

"Maybe I'm just tired of people covering up who they really are. If you threw away your kid because they were a squib, wouldn't you feel guilty?"

"Of course."

"My folks don't..... And they should. They will."



Rolling her eyes, Nessarose lit the letter on fire at one corner and watched the parchment burn away as she furrowed her brow at where it dissipated into the air. Tucking her wand into her right boot, Nessa straightened, wrapped her scarf around her neck, and pulled a light sweater on. It wasn’t too very cold out, but it wasn’t quite warm yet, either. Leaving the Slytherin dormitories, Nessa ignored the second year that greeted her and let the door close behind her.

Whatever this kid wanted, it had better be worth it. Nessa wasn’t going to be pleased if she walked all the way out into the forest and came back empty handed or entirely the same as when she went. Huffing, she tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and bounded down the steps onto the grounds. While she would admit to not having been busy as of late, she wouldn’t complain if she had a bit more to do with her time. Whatever Moira wanted, perhaps it would give her a way to get what she wanted.

The Bridgewood daughter needed to be found.

And possibly avenged.

Nessarose nearly stopped at the edge of the woods, trying to recall exactly when she had decided to make that goal her life’s mission. For the past few years, it was all she thought about when she wasn’t working on school assignments. There was no way to guarantee that her goals could be met if she didn’t find her way to the top, though. That had to be done, and soon. Otherwise her adoptive parents would just continue to get away with what they had done. It wasn’t like they would see it coming; they didn’t know that she knew. Overhearing people, though often the best way to hear negative things about oneself, could also provide insight and create determination. Nessa knew this better than anyone.

Shaking her head, Nessa closed her eyes briefly before steeling herself and taking the first of many steps into the forest. As she came upon the clearing, Nessa wondered again if she had ever met the guy she was supposed to meet. He apparently wasn’t at Hogwarts anymore – otherwise, couldn’t she have just met him somewhere secret besides the forest? If they were caught, it wouldn’t look good (though she hardly had reason to care, did she? What did she care if her folks got mad?).

She cleared the line of trees as she caught sight of the boy standing in the middle of the opening, lifting an eyebrow in slight surprise. At the very least, he was cute – though, really, he was more on the attractive side. Nessa stood a little taller, determined to show whoever he was that she wasn’t going to back down if the right offer were made.

“I got your letter…” She started vaguely, hands stuffed into her back pockets as she waited at the edge of the trees. She was waiting for him to catch sight of her so she could see if she could place him. Nessa half wanted to see if he recognized her, even if she didn’t remember him.

“What does Moira want from me?” She added belatedly, realizing how vague she sounded. At the very least, she had to address the situation. Prove she was the right person, provided he wasn’t sure.

As he turned to see who had approached, Nessa’s eyebrows both raised fully in surprise. No, she definitely didn’t know him, but she found herself stepping towards him and eying him cautiously. What could this boy offer her? Her subconscious commented lightly that his being attractive could be helpful, but Nessa swatted it away with a mental glare. Her eyes flicked over his face and gave him a quick once over in an almost silent question. Her stance was nearly like that of a scolded animal sidling up to its owner and wondering if the human could be trusted again. One shoulder forward, she stopped when she had nearly reached him and blinked a few times as she awaited the explanation for the meeting.

”She wants power.”

“And what does this have to do with me?”

“You’re going to convince her to join us.”

“And what if she doesn’t want to join us?”

“Then use your.. ‘charm’ to convince her.”

“Alright.”

Sometimes Dylan wondered why he chose to remain where he was. Why he chose to stay on the pack’s side and then he remembered that he didn’t have anywhere else to go and if he left, he might never find anywhere else because he was sure James would kill him before he got a chance to. So maybe it was just fear that kept him there, but he had to admit that the certain power he got from Moira, and technically from James, for being the only one who was up to getting other students to join them was pretty good. He was treated fairly well since he had yet to disobey them in anything, and even he doubted he would do anything like that any time soon.

Moira had told him to use his ‘charm’ to convince her to join them. But Dylan wasn’t sure if that could even convince the girl. He wasn’t exactly the smoothest person to convince anyone like that. Words were better for him, but even then sometimes he messed up pretty badly. Of course, he had gotten better at things like that since he had been turned and Moira had been ‘training’ him. He just wondered if this girl would be easy or hard to convince. Moira had told him that the promise of power would be good enough, but would it really be?

Dylan was way too pessimistic for his own good sometimes. He never knew how he managed to get out of things since he never saw the bright side to anything.

He heard someone approach and he turned around to face the direction where the girl was. She began to speak and Dylan looked her over. She was attractive, at least. Before the Ravenclaw would have either been too scared to speak to someone like her, or he would have regarded her as being beautiful in his mind. He acted so much cooler than he normally would around her, though it was obvious he had a liking to her already because she was pretty. He knew she was familiar, there was somewhere that he’d seen her before but he couldn’t remember where. Not that he thought it was important, it was probably just from classes or something.

The boy knew her name was familiar when Moira had mentioned it, but he hadn’t worried about it. Dylan looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “It’s more like what you want from her.” he stated. “You want power, don’t you?” he asked her. Moira had been specific enough when she told him to get her to join them. He was only supposed to offer her what she wanted. Just tell her that she and James, even himself, could offer her the power she seeked. And if she decided she didn’t want to, he was supposed to convince her in a different way. The only problem Dylan saw with that was figuring out how he was supposed to use the charm Moira said he had to get her to give in.

He was always bad at things like that.

Nessa wasn’t quite sure what to make of the guy standing before her. They weren’t too far away, but his question given in return for hers made her step closer, curiosity piqued. His expression mirrored her own, raised eyebrow and serious (albeit slightly confused) one. Even through that, though, he was good-looking. She couldn’t deny that.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Nessa asked as she stopped just in front of him. She had to be on the offensive if she wanted to keep in control of the situation. It was lucky she wasn’t too short, for she rather appreciated the ability to look straight into his eyes rather than up at him. She nearly regretted being so close, though, as her interest was likely too obvious. He was both attractive and claiming that he could offer her power? There was definitely something intriguing about that.

Suddenly, the realization that he might notice if she were curious hit her. She refused to give in just because she found him interesting enough to investigate. Power would come on her terms, and because she chose to accept whatever supposed help this boy could offer. Nessa pushed down the part of her that was so very Ravenclaw and instead started circling him slowly. This was about getting to a point where she could beat her folks. They weren’t quite her parents, and calling them that felt wrong. But it didn’t always have to. Someone could prove her wrong; she just needed to know.

“What could you offer me that I can’t get on my own…?” She asked finally, eyes taking him in and watching for signs of lying or weakness. If she could figure out his game, she could be the one in charge of how things went and what she got out of whatever deal he wanted to make. “I’m sure that power comes in many forms and while you may offer one of them, what is it about yours that makes it so much better than my other options?”

Sure, she was interested. But interest didn’t mean that she was willing to jump in and just go along with whatever he suggested. He was here for Moira, which meant that it was probably something rather good, but also likely to be something she wouldn’t want to take part in. The woman hadn’t exactly endeared herself to Nessarose, after all. Crossing her arms over her chest, Nessa eyed the boy warily, waiting for whatever response he thought could convince her. Something told her that she would be leaving relatively empty handed – but that didn’t mean she couldn’t toy with him for a bit.

"Name's Dylan." he replied casually. The Ravenclaw never was the type of person to be formal, even when it really needed to be that way. It was something that his parents always struggled with with him. His brother was perfectly proper and formal when it came to anything and they often wondered where they could have done wrong with him since he never wanted to act that way.

“Ooh, aren’t we a little eager?” Dylan asked raising an eyebrow at the girl. He has to admit that he found her quite interesting, but that was something that he would keep to himself. She seemed interested in whatever he could offer her, and Dylan began to panic. He just began to realize that he didn’t know what he was supposed to offer her in regards to power. Moira hadn’t told him what kind of power he was supposed to offer her.

He had to keep her interested though. Just long enough that he could come up with things to offer her. She asked what he could offer that she could not get herself and he chuckled calmly. What could he offer? He thought for a moment, looking at the ground before flipping his hair to the side and smirking at her. “Well..” he began. “For one, would you be able to take control of a group of werewolves like James Blood’s pack on your own?” he asked her. “I highly doubt you can. Especially with someone like James at the head of the pack.” he added.

“However. I can help you with that. Wouldn’t you like to have an entire pack of rogue Werewolves at your disposal?” he questioned, leaning in closer to her.

"Sooner or later you can have all of us doing whatever you wish." he stated. "In fact, I'm willing to follow your orders right now." he smirked. Sure, he was lying about giving her that kind of power, there was no way that Moira would let her become the leader of the pack let alone James. But it was the only thing he could think of. And once she was in the pack, she wouldn't be able to get out anyways. Unless she wanted to die.

Which was something that Dylan was starting to not want to happen. She was too interesting to lose. Dylan wanted to play with her for a while, and he was going to make sure that she didn't get herself into trouble with either of the alphas in the pack.

"Whaddaya say?" he raised an eyebrow at her, still leaned in close to her face, hand in his pockets.

Nessa filed away the information he gave her, able to attribute his face to a name now. Dylan. Interesting. Assuming he knew her name, she just nodded slowly, stopping the motion immediately at his next question. So he had caught on to her interest. Well, that wouldn’t do. Her eyes darted to the trees around them, attempting to point out how very disinterested she was. Well, at least until he spoke again, tossing his hair as he directed his gaze at her again.

Nessa blinked at him absently, quite unable to understand what he was getting at, at first. Shaking her head, her eyebrows pulled together as she watched his smirk grow. She very nearly leaned away as his face came within inches of hers, but that would have implied a nervousness she didn’t want betray.

“Your plan seems to imply either a stupidity that doesn’t suit you, or an idea in your mind of me becoming a werewolf, which is more unlikely than the first.” Nessa lifted an eyebrow, allowing her hands to drop to her hips in a move rather unlike her. She didn’t approve of the plan he seemed to be laying out for her.

She all but gawked at his claim that he would do whatever she said. Nessa found herself tempted to test him, though the direction of choice would be rather difficult to choose. With him so very close to her, Nessarose wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted. Frowning, her eyes roved over his face, trying to read him. Why was it so hard to see what he really was getting at? What he really wanted?

Whaddaya say?

She didn’t know. It sounded rather absurd, his plan of turning and taking over a pack. Firstly, she didn’t know the first thing about werewolves and how their system worked – she made a mental note to investigate that the next morning. Secondly, she had heard rumors about the people Dylan mentioned; they hardly seemed the type to let her take control so easily. But then, on the other hand, power was rather hard to come by at Hogwarts. If she were part of something bigger, something… dangerous, couldn’t she get what she wanted through different means?

The real question, she decided, was how she wanted to go about securing that power. Befriending the Ministry folks? Or following Dylan’s plan?

“How about,” she started, meeting his gaze again as her resolve hardened. “I think on it and let you know?” Nessa suggested, leaning in to match him, their faces mere inches apart. If he thought he could get away with whatever he was after in just one meeting, he was sorely mistaken. This would take research and serious contemplation. One eyebrow pulled up in challenge, the corners of her mouth doing the same. It actually had been a while since Nessa had found anyone at Hogwarts challenging, but she was still surprised at herself when she realized it was a smile, and not a smirk, that she wore as she stared him down.

Dylan chuckled softly. "There's a chance I am being stupid. Maybe, but there is quite a bit of stupidity within me." he joked. She seemed to be buying the lie he told her but at the same time she seemed almost weary of it. He began to think that she would flat out reject the offer and be on her way. That was something that he couldn't allow now.

"Hey, now there's an idea." he raised both eyebrows as though he hadn't had that same idea before. "You becoming a Werewolf wouldn't be too bad, of course you humans never want to give up being as petty as you are." he sighed, shrugging. "Too bad it's unlikely to happen. You won't be able to become the leader of the pack and you might end up dead too." he said, looking at her with the most serious face he could have ever given anyone. "It's a pity." he shrugged, throwing his hands up in almost defeat.

She leaned up, closer to him as if challenging him and Dylan licked his lips. "You don't think I'm telling the truth do you?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. "Believe me, I can get you to the position I'm promising. And you can out me to the test right now. Give me an order and I'll follow it." he moved in closer to her slightly, leaving almost no space between their faces and he smirked at her.

Nessarose said she'd think on it and let him know and Dylan wasn't sure he wanted that to happen. She could decide she didn't want to be a part of what he was offering and that wouldn't help at all. He leaned back, away from her and studied her face. Then, without warning, Dylan grabbed her by her upper arms and pushed her roughly against a tree, crashing his lips against hers. "Don't take too long. The offer won't be on the table forever." he told her, pulling away before he turned to leave.

As he walked away Dylan looked at the ground, before bringing his hand up to his mouth and moved his index finger over his bottom lip. What had that been? He hadn't been planning to do that, and even if he had planned it he wouldn't have done it as roughly as he just did. But for some reason, her being so close to him had triggered something and he hadn't been able to help himself. Hopefully that had been enough to get her to accept the offer.

Something told him that she would decide to join them though.

A week later, Nessarose could still feel where he’d grabbed her arms, and her back was only just starting to get over where it had scraped against the bark of the tree. The problem, though, was that she didn’t actually mind either of those things when she thought about her meeting with Dylan. No, indeed. Instead, she focused on the fact that while, for hours, she could feel where his lips had met hers, the sensation had been lost over the week.

He pulled away, watching her as if he were trying to read her. Nessa’s smile only grew that much bigger before he reached the short distance between them and touched her, forcing her lips open into a gasp. The collision with the tree didn’t hurt more than a second, but only because she was distracted by him kissing her. Oh, so he wasn’t attacking her; at least, not in the way she had expected. Her fingers curled against the tree in an effort to remain grounded as she pushed back against him, meeting his efforts part-way.

What are you doing, Nessa? She chided herself silently.

She really didn’t know. The brunette had never been kissed before – try as her housemates might to convince her to loosen up – but she had never expected her first to be like this. Just as she was considering lifting a hand to pull him closer (Could she do that? She didn’t even know him!), he pulled away and spoke. Nessa tried to keep her breathing even in a show of not having been affected by him. That, of course, was a massive lie. By Wednesday she had written him, requiring (not requesting) a meeting that Friday night.

She was being all sorts of stupid if she thought that this boy could get her what she wanted. But Moira, on the other hand, and even James could. Becoming a werewolf sounded fairly awful in the terms that Dylan had presented them, so at least she could rest assured that it hadn’t been his plan. She wanted nothing to do with that. What she didn’t understand was how he thought she could run a pack without being part of it. Perhaps, she mused, it would be better to be someone in league with them, though not one of them, so she could play both sides. Surely they would appreciate that effort, right? Nessa chewed on her lower lip as she stood waiting in the clearing, eying the tree she had been forced against.

That wasn’t going to happen again, was it? Nessa wasn’t sure if she minded the idea or not. Glancing around, she continued to worry her lip, arms crossing in front of her. She rarely tolerated lateness, and Dylan was running out of time. If he didn’t show soon, she would just find her own way to get what she wanted.

Dylan still wasn't sure what had come over him. What had possessed him to kiss her the way he had a week ago. It hadn't been part of his plan to do that. But it had gotten her interested, he was sure of that. And Moira was pleased with him. That was what matter, that she knew he was doing what she wanted him to. But he still wondered what she wanted this girl for. Besides increasing the pack's numbers.

She didn't seem like she could be of much help.

But when he received her letter, Dylan immediately set out to meet her. Hopefully she had the answer he wanted and if she didn't well.. that wouldn't stop him from making her a part of the pack anyways. Moira had been clear. She wanted the girl as a part of the pack. That meant she had to be turned. And Dylan was going to get Moira what she wanted. Even if it meant a fight.

He didn't want to seem to eager though and he made sure to stay out of the girl's sight until he wanted to appear. He wanted it to seem like he wasn't all that interested. Like she was something that didn't matter too much to him. After all it was Moira who was after her. Not him. But she needed him to convince her because she was around his age and he could do.. things.. that could end up convincing her. Like he had done the previous week.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." he finally spoke up, noticing that she wasn't all too pleased with waiting for him. He moved out of the shadows into the clearing, moving close to her wearing a smirk on his lips. "Did you miss me?" he toyed with her, moving in close to her face like he had before. He studied her face for a moment before leaning back and moving away from her.

"Do you have an answer for me?" he asked, a serious look on his face.

Nessa nearly jumped at his voice, cursing herself mentally for doing so. That wouldn’t be a good sign of her determination to have this meeting end with her getting what she wanted. She stiffened at his approach, lips parting just enough to allow her to quietly push out a breath. Scoffing at his question, Nessa rolled her eyes and leveled her gaze at him. “Hardly.”

Witty… Her subconscious rolled her eyes, but Nessa ignored it.

She shifted her weight from foot to foot, watching him closely as he moved away. She immediately felt the chill of the night come over her again. Nessa hadn’t realized that his closeness was where the warmth had come from, as if he radiated it. Perhaps he did. He needed an answer, she knew, but something about having to admit to her decision made her nervous. Her fingers twisted into her skirt, trying to convince herself to speak.

“I want to meet with Moira. I’m not sure I trust you.” Or trust myself around you, she added silently, eyeing him warily.

Nessa rarely trusted anyone, so her anxiety about trusting Dylan wasn’t very unusual. At the same time, a part of her wanted to trust him, was drawn to him. It wasn’t enough, though, to have just a bit of her interested in him. No, she had to focus on the larger part that said that he was trouble and that things wouldn’t go right. Realizing that she hadn’t exactly answered him, Nessa let her hands relax at her sides.

“I’m interested,” she added as she tilted her head to the side patronizingly. “But only in what Moira has to say or can help me with.”

She had to set boundaries for him; after their last meeting, she didn’t want him thinking that he was the one that had changed her mind. No, her research had helped, but just as much as her actions were driven by want for revenge, they were driven just as much by the desire to make something of herself. She could be someone important if this went right. Even still, Nessa felt her body listing towards him, wondering what it would take to convince him. “If you can’t arrange that, I’ll contact her myself.”