Indecent Transactions

Several Days Later...

Brin had been locked away in her chambers, working to add the final touches to her potion, for several days now. Severus looked at his watch, ten past noon and she had not yet shown up to lunch. He did not eat; he knew she needed time and space to work, but he half hoped that she would call on him for more assistance.

Yesterday, he had seen her for the first time since their little chat by the pond. She had run down to the dungeons as his last class of the day was filing out, frantically in search of some hellebore. Luckily, his fourth years had just completed a lesson on the Draught of Peace and there was some hellebore left over (...meaning one of the students had forgotten to add it to their potion).

He exited the great hall and made his way towards the staircases. Suddenly, an owl swooped in from an open window overhead, clutching two envelopes, both with a large \"M\" embroidered in gold on the flap. The owl dropped one of the letters into Severus\' opened palm as it flew by and soared right back out the window without landing. Severus promptly ripped open the envelope and pulled out the letter, the invitation...no, this could not be what she had in mind, she could not possibly...

Severus followed ran towards the main hallway, but the owl was out of sight by the time he stepped inside. He took out his wand and quickly said \"Invenio Ludus\", the spell used commonly by children in Wizard Seek&Hide games. Immediately, a small yellow ball of light shot out of the wand and flew off to the left, Severus trailing closely behind. Following the yellow light he soon reached Brin\'s room, only to see that the door had been left carelessly open. His heart sank as he stepped inside; he was too late...a neatly made bed, an empty cauldron in the corner, a small green puddle on the ground, a glass of floo powder on the desk next to the fireplace. He walked across the room and rested his hand on the desk as he stared into the cold fireplace...Something was under his hand, a small slip of parchment. He picked it up and read in flowing green ink:

\"Knew you\'d be the first here, Sev. I\'ve taken the potion with, for safekeeping. So you know, it turned out perfect, thanks to your help. Didn\ave ave time to tell Uncle Albus goodbye, hope you\'ll tell him I\'ve stepped out. I shall be seeing you shortly if my calculations are correct. Until we can speak freely then, Brin\"

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The roaring green flames died down around her feet, revealing a large, carpeted study with high, vaulted ceilings, walls lined in enormous bookcases, and a brightly sparkling chandelier. Brin ducked out of the large fireplace, her heart pounding. Walking over to the nearest bookcase, she pulled a small, silver flask from her robes and placed it behind a dusty copy of The Wonderful World of Wizarding-First Edition. This would be a safe spot for the time being. She took off her cloak and positioned it neatly out of site under a very comfortable looking, burgundy colored lounge chair.

A short wizard in black and white entered the room. He froze mid-step when he caught sight of the dark haired witch in deep emerald dress robes starring up at him from the chair on far side of the room. \"Madame,\" he said after a momentary pause, \"You arrived earlier than expected. I assume your journey was satisfactory and your...labors were successful. May I escort you to the main dining hall?\"

Brin stood and smiled graciously, \"Why of course, lets be on our way.\"

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The wizard walked one step behind Brin at all times. From the library they walked out into a large corridor decorated every few yards by paintings of different sleeping, blond wizards and witches, a few pail enough to be vampires and some very pretty women who were definitely veela-probably the source of the Malfoys\' fair hair. After several minutes they reached a fork in the hall and Brin paused, unsure of which way to go. Charles almost continued walking, but quickly stopped and gestured to the left hallway, saying, \"After you, Madame.\"

Finally they reached a huge, open room, the main hall. At the far wall, hanging over a big open doorway, was a striking dark green tapestry with the same curling, gold and silver \"M\" that had appeared on the envelope. Charles followed her to the doorway and smiled. \"Have a pleasant evening, Madame,” he said as he bowed his head slightly and turned to exit through a small door to the right.

\"Well, here we go,\" said Brin very quietly to herself (or thought very loudly, she couldn\'t tell). She took a deep breath and walked gracefully forward into the party.

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The air was filled with sweet smells, gentle music, and soft chatter. The evening meal had not yet been served and most of brightly dressed wizards and witches were talking in small knots amongst the round tables. As several pairs began dancing on the wooden dance floor in the center of the room, the musical instruments, playing themselves of course, stepped up the beat.

\"Brin, is that you?\" called a voice from the left before she even had a chance to look around. Brin looked over to see a tall, unfamiliar man in aquamarine dress robes waving at her from a group of talking wizards. \"Oh you must remember me,\" he said pleasantly, the five other wizards now also glancing her way. \"Marseilles, in France, this summer?\"

Try as she might, Brin found that she could not recall ever seeing this man before, but she decided to see where he was going with this. \"Ah yes, Marseilles, so lovely in the sutimetime, \" she replied warmly.

\"Indeed it is,\" another wizard jumped into the conversation, \"I was there myself not two months ago.\"

The first man took a step towards Brin, \"How rude of me not to introduce my comrades, this is Julius Regent, Lochrin Dippet, Walden Elfrida, Theodore Conner, and Brutus Scrimgeour.\"

\"Pleased to meet you all,\" she stated, and as they exchanged greetings she attempted to casually move herself into a position with her back to the wall, so that she could see anyone before they saw her.

\"Brin,\" said the still unknown man, \"it has been so long, but it seems as if I last saw you only yesterday. I wonder, do you still love to dance?\"

Blushing, she was caught off guard by this strange man\'s knowledge of her. In an attempted recovery of her composure and trying to stay in character, she smiled and nodded.

He reached out his hand to her and said, \"Would you care to...?\"

There was no way out of this situation without acting extremely suspicious in front of these unknown wizards, and she could not afford any mishaps at this stage. So, she took his hand and walked out towards the dance floor, even if it meant revealing her presence to anyone who happened to glance into the center of the room.

Brin found herself delighted as the strange wizard twirled her gracefully around the floor. She looked up into his eyes. \"So you\'ve no idea who I am, then?\" he asked jubilantls ifs if he was somehow pleased with this.

Brin maintained eye contact with the man, raising her left eyebrow ever so slightly and smiling, but she did not respond. After a pause of a few seconds the man continued, \"Frankly, I never encountered you in Marseilles, I\'ve never even been there. But I have heard a few things about you of late.\"

\"Oh really?\" she said, feigning indifference.

\"Truth be told, what I heard was so terribly intriguing that I simply had to ask you about it in person...\" But at that moment the man stopped, releasing Brin and stepping back.

In a suit of black silk, Lucius Malfoy stood directly in their path, smiling callously. \"So sorry, Jacob, but may I cut in? I have not yet had the pleasure of...welcoming Brin to my home.\"

Jacob looked from Lucius to Brin, saying, \"I will consent, Lucius, but only on the promise that we continue this conversation another time, Brin.\"

\"You\'re on,\" said Brin with a small smile. She turned and looked at Lucius smugly, \"So then, shall we?\"

Lucius, his gaze unwavering, took her hand and whirled her once around. Then he wrapped his arm lly aly about her waist and they spun effortlessly along the perimeter of the dance floor. \"I assume you have something for me.\" mused Lucius.

Brin acted mildly surprised. \"Do I? Well, I\'m not sure I know exactly what you are referring to. Could you...describe it for me?\" she said, avoiding his eyes. This was not precisely the way she had planned her opening performance, but she felt confident that she could work with it.

\"Brin, surly we have played this game out already,\" replied Lucius smoothly. \"But if you will insist on it, let us retire to more private quarters. After all, these matters are of a rather sensitive nature, are they not?\"

He abruptly halted their spinning, Brin unable to budge from his grasp. The two of them stood totally motionless on edg edge of the dance floor. Still unmoving, Lucius loosened his grip on her waist, but Brin did not back away, did not break eye contact. Finally, the tension building to almost critical levels, Lucius turned away and, without looking back, strode towards the doorway Brin had entered through. Brin lingered for an instant on the dance floor-this was definitely not something she had planned for- but she quickly turned and followed Lucius out into the main hall. He made his way into a small side door and down a dark stairway. They were walking through a long, shadowy corridor, lit by the occasional the blue flame of a Vestal Everlast Torch. He was still several yards in front of her when she heard, \"Stupefy!\" shouted from behind her. She twisted around but did not have time to respond; yet, as she fell to the ground she thought she saw someone step out from one of the dark passageways that intersected this one.