Lorcan’s grin was, as ever, met with a despairing glance from Narcissa. “As talented as you are, darling, I’m not certain your music is really romantic enough to be considered an appropriate soundtrack for the procreation of people – let alone dragons.” She gave a hopeless shake of her head, uncertain as to how she’d managed to get dragged into such a bizarre conversation quite so quickly. “It was a similar situation, although we spoke about the rather more delicate, charming topic of my wedding.”

Lorcan couldn’t help but feel a small sense of satisfaction at the look, and he was only just getting started. “Oh, well if we’re talking ‘making love’ or whatever than maybe not. But for, fucking, then definitely.” He paused for a moment before smiling again, “I think dragons lean more towards the latter.” He nodded, taking a sip of his drink, “Ah, of course. And how is that coming along? Should I expect an invitation?”

It was only during mid-apology that Kilian realized he’d slipped his way into a photo with the Lorcan D’eath. Many thoughts came to mind, the first: How did this Hestia girl know Lorcan? “Gimme a copy of that, yeah?” Kilian requests of the photographer before turning to the rockstar, “Merlin, mate, I kinda can’t believe I’m meeting you right now and without any of my friend’s help. We have many mutuals, you know. But I’m Kilian Ollivander, massive fan of your work.”

There were a bunch of people at the party who wanted to take pictures with him, requests he were all too happy to grant. This definitely wasn’t his usual type of party but that didn’t mean it was fun. He certainly hadn’t minded when Kilian had slipped in the photograph at the last moment and grinned widely at him as he introduced himself, “Ohhh, do we?” He asked curiously, beaming at the compliment. “Nice to meet you mate. I’m a massive fan of my own work too,” he added jokingly, “But thank you.” 

“It’s a rather eclectic mix of guests, but I suppose darling Hestia is the sort of witch who gets along with just about anybody. How is it that you know her?” 

“Sorry ‘bout that, mate. Saw a photo being taken, I got in it. No matter though – we all looked good, yeah?”

Out of everyone Sophia could have called, Lorcan was a strange option; but he was also a logical one. She had seen what the man could do if he put enough effort into it, she’d seen his darkest side and she knew he wasn’t afraid of blood or violent death. Lorcan could be a real predator when he wanted to be, and that was exactly what she needed right now. She should have been scared, probably, that he was going to bail or run away. This was the first time her friend was going to see her darkest side, what she really was capable of. However, something inside her was telling him that he wasn’t going to be surprised; that anyone who saw this was going to be surprised. The monster, the beast, the insanity had always been inside of her, visible to many others but herself. 

She gave him the shortest of looks when he arrived, waiting to see how he was going to react to the whole scenario. When he didn’t scream in horror or tried to run Sophia released a breath of relief she didn’t know she was holding back. She allowed her muscles to relax from the previous tension when she spotted a little smirk on Lorcan’s lips. “I fucked up. I have no idea who that is and if people find out- believe me, there are worst destinies than death or jail.” It was the true. If Rodolphus Lestrange heard what she had done tonight, he was going to make sure to send her to the deepest pit he could find and finally be rid of her. At his question, the brunette shook her head. “I’m not. I don’t remember anything. I don’t know how I got here, or what I did this, or how.” She looked at her hands and recognised burning patterns under the blood stains. Those were going to hurt like a bitch in the morning. Next thing she noticed, Lorcan was next to her and her eyes were on him. “Oui, we should do that. What about- the body? Should we burn it too? Should we make the house disappear somehow until the whole thing quiets down if they start an investigation? I don’t even know if someone saw me with that- person.”

In the past whenever Lorcan had lost control or fucked up too bad, he had always turned to his dad. There was no one else he could trust to come help him, and in a way he knew this was an act of trust on her part. This was more serious than the things they usually got up to, those had an almost carefree, silly edge to them. Lorcan had never always seemed to gravitatate’s towards peoples’ darkest sides, he sure as hell wasn’t going to run away from her and if she needed help, he was going to try his best.

“Of course I do. I am very good at observing. Unless you have picked up some new ones.” Freddie chuckled, trying hard not to think of the strange sense of familiarity that was taking over her. “Yes. People have been trying to get information out of me all day. One girl pretended to be a reporter and all.” She cocked an eyebrow. “And what would you say? Because I have been denying our relationship all morning.” She pursed her lips, convincing herself silently that this was a really bad idea. “All right, let’s go.” The words left her mouth before she could control them and a moment after she was standing up and following him outside.

“I’m always picking up new ones. Gotta keep up my game,” he replied with a small laugh, his voice light and teasing. He raised an eyebrow at her, “Well that’s not an easy task. I’m surprised none of them have ended up with a broken nose.” Lorcan shrugged, in reply, “Well I can’t exactly confirm it either.” Lorcan was half convinced she was going to say no and maybe it was the right thing for her to do. This was a slippery slope but Lorcan didn’t want to turn back. He held out his hand, apparating them to the middle of his apartment. “Make yourself at home,” he said once the nausea had passed, “You want a drink or something?”

The first thing Sophia felt when she opened her eyes and recovered consciousness was her mouth completely dry. The room she was in was unfamiliar and cold, and it was almost in complete darkness, except for the pale moonlight peeking through the window. The second thing she noticed as she licked her lips and her muscles started aching and complaining after being passed out on the hard floor for probably hours; was the putrefied smell that abruptly hit her senses and made her wake up completely. A mix of burnt flesh and fresh blood scent took over her surroundings and she couldn’t help but feel herself wanting to throw up. 

The previous hours were a blur, completely lost in her mind. Desperately looking for an explanation, or at least a single clue to where she was, Sophia sat up and her eyes took a moment to get used to the darkness that engulfed her. Her head was spinning and she felt as if the pit of her stomach was shrinking. Both hands on the floor, she tried to pop herself up. There was something liquid and thick on the wooden surface, on her hands, and running down her arms too. Dark crimson covered her clothes and as she looked down at the mess she had made, she noticed the body. Bones broken, skin mutilated and half of her face completely burned; the dead woman was lying on the nearby bed like a ragdoll. 

Sophia tried to remember what had transpired. She could recall flashing lights, booze, cigarettes, pills, she recalled the smell of sweat, heat and pleasure; but everything after that was faded to black. Had anyone seen her leaving whatever place she had gone to with this person? Did the stranger have a family who was looking for her? What exactly had she done? Desperation started to kick in. Pointlessly trying to fix her dark curls smeared with blood, she sent a quick message. “I need your help.” 

It was the middle of night when he received her message. Lorcan had gotten home only a little while ago. He had been upto his usual activities, hitting one of the clubs with the rest of his band before he had hooked up with some girl in the bathroom stall. He had only gotten a shower and poured himself a glass of wine when he got her message. He knew it was serious. She needed help. It sounded desperate and he had never known Sophia to ask for anything if she could help it. He had quickly grabbed his wand- Lorcan would be the best to admit that he wasn’t the best at duelling, oh no, his strength in fighting laid in other methods but he knew it would be foolish to leave his wand. Lorcan touched the peice of paper, it went up in flames. There was a lurching feeling in his stomach as whatever charm she had placed on it worked it’s magic, taking Lorcan to wherever she was.

Freddie smiles at him, tilting her head to the side. “No, I will make sure you remember.” She tried to look everywhere but him, trying to control the warmth and the colour on her cheeks. “Yes you do. This is exactly how you got me to kiss you the first time we spoke. I know your tricks, Lorcan D’eath.” She nodded. “I agree. I think she’s offering a reward or something? I don’t know. That woman is not right in the head. Where are we going?”

Lorcan knew this was dangerous ground he was treading on. He couldn’t get himself to stop though, he didn’t think he would ever get tired of making her blush. Or of her smile. Even when she tried to hide both. “You can’t know all my tricks, I have too many.” He grinned at her. “Is she?” He raised an eyebrow, “Honestly she should just ask me. We meet up for tea sometimes.” He paused for a moment before offering impulsively, “My place?” He then added quickly, “There are reporters everywhere else, you know.”