First Meeting (Dahlia/OPEN)

[Silas Emery]

Silas moved quickly away from Hogwarts Castle. He was headed to Hogsmeade to floo to Knockturn Alley. Earlier that day he had received an Owl from a fellow Atrox member the fool didn't even code it he thought as he made it to the edge of the town.

Walking to a random house he moved to the back door. "alohamora" he said as he tapped the doorknob. Casting a silencing charm, and a Disillusionment charm he made his way through the house and after a moment he found there fireplace. Grabbing some floo powder he stepped into the fire place "Knockturn Alley" and in a rush of green flames he spun and was gone.

Landing in Borgin and Burkes, Silas brushed himself off and quickly made his way out of the shop. No use keeping Miss. Dahlia waiting. He made his way through the grey streets, the overcast sky making the alley look even more evil. As he stood by the entrance to wait for his fellow member he looked around the alley. "What a stupid and obvious place for a meeting, truly some ingenuity would be nice" he said in an even tone. He took off the Disillusionment charm and waited.

[Dahlia Manchester-Talaith]

Dahlia was intrigued; there wasn’t a single reason she could see why the Dark Lord had trusted her with such an important assignment, but the arrogance inside her was convinced it was a good thing. (She didn’t stop to think that perhaps she was being sent out on a task that no one else wanted to be bothered with.) As she waltzed the streets of Diagon Alley she did little to conceal her identity. She found it to be rather an imprudent idea. The more a person tried to go unnoticed usually resulted in their appearing suspicious.

Dahlia waltzed with a confident strut down Knockturn Alley. She knew exactly who she was looking for, Silas Emery had dark brown hair and if the vague description she had received wasn’t enough, he was bound to be the only seventeen year old roaming so deep in the back alleys. Upon first glance, though Dahlia thought she had to be mistaken. He didn’t appear as young as she had thought. (In fact he almost seemed quite handsome) She quickly drew her stare from his face. Dahlia continued down Knockturn alley without any plight; If he didn’t have the sense to follow her, then that was his problem.

[Silas Emery]

Silas watched as a girl, in her twenties passed him by. Taking a quick glance at her, and setting his analytical mind to work he quickly deduced that this was the woman who had sent him the note. Judging from her body language he could tell that she wanted him to follow her. He looked at her indifferently, and then with a turn of his boot walked after her, remaining a short distance away. Far enough to not be recognized as being with her but close enough as to not lose track of her.

After a short deal of walking and a few turns he was feeling slightly annoyed with there little game. Quickly closing the distance between them, he said in a low tone so as not to be overheard "As much fun a follow the leader is, it is completely impractical and useless. It would make more sense for us to finish this quickly and get down to business then to remain walking around the alley attracting attention and wasting valuable time." and with that he promptly stopped walking waiting for her to respond, as he had no time for childish games when he had better things to do than follow around some girl.

[Dahlia Manchester-Talaith]

Dahlia heard Silas' footsteps behind her getting closer. The bitter voice in her ear caused an involuntary twitch and she snapped her head backward. She wanted to wipe the smug look off of his face, but saw that hehad somehow managed to land further back in the darkness of the alley than she thought. Perhaps she had lost track of how far they were walking. One at a time she took the foreboding steps toward him, until she was standing just a couple feet away. She didn't bother to search the alley because she knew there would be no one there to see. With a quick series of movements Dahlia forced him up against a wall and stuck her wand against his cheek. He was larger than she thought, a little less easy to handle. She grabbed the gold chain from around her neck. A part of her wanted to leave him standing alone in the alleyway looking like a fool, but Dahlia knew that if she came back without the new recruit then she’d be in trouble.

She forced Silas’ hand onto the gold chain, along with her own, and in an instant muttered the quiet phrase. “Vasallus.” The two of them were sent reeling through the portkey. Dahlia landed gracefully in the middle of a grassy field and she waited until he was safely landed beside her before spitting his insulting comment back at him. “Is that practical enough for you!?” She cackled, loving the feeling the portkey had left her with.

[Silas Emery]

Silas felt her press up against him in the alley. As her wand dug into his cheek he brought his own wand to her stomach. He showed no fear on his face, and in fact felt none. She wouldn't kill him, as she didn't have the guts to face the wrath of the Dark Lord. Then again they were both low ranking and insignificant, what is a few deaths in the grand scheme of things.

He watched her grab her necklace, and by logical thinking he quickly recognized it as a portkey. He saw the look of anger and contempt on her face, if he was an emotional man it would have made him laugh. The most it got out of him was the hint of a smile playing on his lips. As she spoke what must have been the activation word, he felt the familiar pull in his navel. As he spun he watched her with mild interest, taking her in for the first time. She was pretty to say the least, and to deny a physical attraction would be illogical; something Silas was not. As the portkey dropped them into a field, Silas landed with grace and poise.

He heard her snide comment, and in a calm even tone he answered "As theatrical as your performance was it most likely did attract attention, especially with what I assume is an illegal portkey. So we left the alley in the most impractical and possibly illogical way possible. Honestly they say with age comes knowledge, I am certainly not impressed. So tell me why did we schedule this meeting?"

[Dahlia Manchester-Talaith]

Silas' insolent behavior drew a sharp breath from Dahlia's lungs. She grimaced and tucked the golden necklace back into her robes. Glancing into a pair of desolate eyes, (it was as if she could have gotten lost in the twisted array of colors,) she expressed her frustration toward being made a fool of. "If you were as smart as you put off, Silas..." She said his name with a wicked tongue and began a strut across the field. "Then you would know that the ministry has no way of tracking illegal portkeys. Otherwise I wouldn't have used one..." The last few words came out in a shout as she lengthened the distance between them. It was of little relevance, to try and convince him that she was smart enough not to make such senseless decisions, but Dahlia figured she could at least try to stand up for herself.

When the two of them were far enough apart she drew out her wand and motioned for Silas to step forward. “Now remember, Mr. Logic, I am still a lady, so take it easy on me.” She winked mischievously. “The rules are simple. No serious injuries, I don’t think of either of us would enjoy explaining the loss of the other to the Dark Lord.” She rolled her eyes, if that wasn’t enough to keep Silas under control then she had no idea what was. The second she was done babbling Dahlia cast a spell forward into the earth, “Deprimo.” The ground in front of Silas blast into a whirlwind of dust, and Dahlia took off to disappear somewhere deep within the towering grass.

[Silas Emery]

Silas chose not to answer her, or her taunting words. 'Now is the time for action' he thought. He listened to her as she crossed the field. He knew after she was finished talking the duel would begin, so he made sure he had his wand at the ready. As she used the Dark Lord as a threat he knew she had no conviction in hurting him, and in fact seemed to fear that he was very powerful, or dabbled greatly into dangerous hexes. He smiled.

He didn't really hear her spell, she was a bit far for that. However he felt the weight of the Deprimo, his body was able to stand up to the pressure but he doubted the ground would and so quickly shielded his face as the Earth erupted. Dust, dirt, and debris flew around him. With a swish of his wand and "Depulso" it all flew away violently, Silas hoping Dahlia would be hit by a rock.

He saw her hair in strike contrast to the rest of the field, in quick succession "Stupefy" "Ducklifors (Turns the target into a duck)" and "Expulso" he watched the three spells leave his wand, jets of color heading at his target. Silas knew he was an excellent dueler and did not plan on losing this fight. The woman chose to be illogical, and so she would lose today.

[Dahlia Manchester-Talaith]

Dahlia realized her mistake immediately, as Silas began sending spells in her direction. In an effort to protect herself she shouted a shield charm, “Protego!” It was hardly any use though, as she cast it too late. The first spell from his wand hit her like a whirlwind (although not to its full extent) and Dahlia went flying backward into the ground. It wasn’t exactly the softest landing, but she managed to avoid whatever other charms Silas sent at her. With her face in the dirt and bloody scratched up arms she struggled to find her wand; her thoughts were reeling for a spell to counter his attack.

It didn’t take long for Dahlia to roll into a sitting position after grabbing her wand from underneath her. She aimed and cast forward into the center of the grassy field, where she spotted Silas’ figure on its way toward her. He had better not have planned on actually knocking her out with that spell; she didn’t want to know what else he may have tried to use on her if given the chance. “Confundo!” She hoped it could confuse him for a bit to give her a chance at escaping. Just for an added impact though, she held her wand in place, “Incendio!” If she was lucky, he would be confused and set on fire! The idea gave her something positive to think about as she jumped to her feet and stumbled through the grass. This time Dahlia chose a spot where the grass was rather tall, so as to hide herself from Silas’ sights.

[Silas Emery]

Silas watched with mild satisfaction as his spell hit. Then he saw her roll up and fire a spell he did a quick Protego. He lowered his shield having not seen the other spell, his robes burst into flames. "Aaggh" he cried out, more in surprise (as his robes did a good job protecting him) then in pain. He threw off his outer robe and then with an "Aguamenti" he put the fire out. Quickly spinning on his heel he searched for the blonde haired witch.

Catching sight of her he conjured a group of birds "Avis". then with another swish of his wand he sent them barreling at her. Then with a final swish "Incarcerous!" he sent the ropes flying at her ready to wrap it up, both metaphorically and literally. He bent his knees in preparation, just in case his spells failed.

[Dahlia Manchester-Talaith]

By the sound of his shouting Dahlia figured that Silas had been hit by either the flames, or the confusion. She smirked and held her wand at the ready, backing up into the grass, but he seemed to come out of nowhere with his frenzy of birds. Dahlia screeched, “Ah! I hate birds!” Her behavior made the situation seem so humorous, she was sure. She waved at the air as the pesky rats flew around her head. Silas’ ropes barely made it to wrap around her body as she was fumbling all over the place, but she was tangled nonetheless. She fell backward into the dirt once again and blew a loose curl out of her face. She had to appear furious by now, or at least rather frazzled.

Before Silas could retreat Dahlia sent a couple spells with her free hand. “Everte Statum!” She would have been pleased to see her opponent be the one rolling around in the dirt for a change. She stood and began pulling the ropes from around her torso and shouted one more spell just to even things out, “Furnunculus!” It was a frivolous choice, but she had to come up with something and thought the result of which could be just slightly funny.

[Silas Emery]

Silas heard her shouts and moved towards her, It was time to finish this duel. He observed her struggling with the ropes, and noticed exactly how flustered she looked. 'She is getting upset, and a temper will always lead to bad choices' he thought. He raised his wand for the proverbial coup de grace, and then he heard her spell.

Quickly he tried turning to the side, but her spell still managed to nick him in his shoulder and spin him viciously, sending him back a few feet. He wasn't exactly sure weather it was her bad aim from struggling with the ropes, or his quick action, but had had the spell been a few inched to the right he could have been sent flying on his a**.

Silas however had little time to ponder this as she sent another spell hurtling at him. "Protego!" and a green/blue shield shot up in front of him deflecting the spell (with any luck right back at her). Silas knew he needed to be more creative so with a quick "Slugulus Eructo" aimed at her, and a "Bombarda" aimed at the ground around her. He planed to end this duel quickly.

[Dahlia Manchester-Talaith]

Unfortunately for Silas, his rushed spells created a perfect example for Dahlia to base her decisions off of. She shielded herself just as he did, "Protego," and managed to block some useless incantation he had barked. She was distracted enough for just a second though that there was no time to anticipate the caving in of the earth around her feet. The sting of her own spell reflected off of Silas' shield took her concentration to another place. Her skin felt like it was boiling across her arms and chest, she panicked to ease it from bubbling and hoped the spell wouldn’t have its intended effect. She fought to ignore the pain descending amidst a cloud of rubble and shouted aimless spells at her unseen opponent. At least one of them would have to hit its mark.

The deeper her body was engulfed in earth, the more Dahlia had to avoid hazardous chunks of earth blasting toward her, “Reducto!” A path was cleared so that she could see, and she aimed her wand at Silas. Her competitive edge was no longer concerned with doing any damage because she knew it was time to end their little duel, “Petrificus Totalus!” With his body binded, perhaps she would have just enough time to climb out of the debri, she thought. Just in case though, she hissed a warning through gritted teeth, “If you have any sense at all you’ll put your wand away, and agree to end this.”

[Silas Emery]

Silas watched her throw up her own shield but only after her spell had bounced back and hit her. He saw the boils begin to develop on her, very gorgeous body. He was slightly disappointed seeing his slug spell stopped by her shield, even though it was rather school yard of him it would have been fun to watch. He heard her spell before he saw it and conjured a bird just in time for the spell to his that instead. Unfortunately, the power from the spell was strong enough that it pushed the bird right into his face, causing him to stumble from the impact.

He heard her call the end to the duel, so he cautiously lowered his wand, but kept it ready if need be. He moved towards her quickly, with long strides. For the first time today he noticed that it was rather cold out (not winter below freezing cold, but cold enough). He cast a warming charm on himself. As he finally reached her he held out his hand to help her up while the other grabbed a boil clearing potion from his pocket (which by coincidence he happened to have) "Here drink this." he said handing her the potion.

[Dahlia Manchester-Talaith]

When Silas offered his hand in a truce, Dahlia didn’t know what to do with it. She gave him a smug grin as if to say she didn’t believe the sudden gentlemen act. He seemed sincere enough though, so she stuck out her hand in defeat. The small potion gave her a quick recovery from the sting of her last spell. She closed her eyes with a relieved sigh. “Thanks.” The word was bitter on her tongue; Dahlia wasn’t accustomed to showing such selfless gratitude.

She glared at Silas with the slightest bit of affection in her eyes, feeling suddenly that he might not be as much of a nuisance as she thought. He was clearly a very talented young man. The fact that he had enough sense to end their duel with a kind gesture made Dahlia want to apologize for being so short tempered with him, but she ignored her moral and let him go on thinking she hated him. After all, it wasn’t like Dahlia to submit to friendships so easily.

[Silas Emery]

He pulled her to her feet and watched her drink the potion. He heard her hissed "Thanks" and dismissed her with a wave of his hand. He could hear her bitterness but chose to ignore it and move on. He felt her glare at him, even though he couldn't see her as he had turned away.

Turning back to her he gave her an insincere emotionless smile, his eyes betrayed nothing of his thoughts within. "We had an interesting duel" he commented as he motioned to the ruble of the ground around them. "It would seem that we were decently matched, for a time" he added the last part as an observation but in after thought realized it might be taken as a barb at her forefeting the dule. He smiled slightly on the inside amused at the situation that had befallen them. "So whats next Miss Manchester?"