Broken Bones (OPEN)

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Maya made her way down the cobbled stone street, loving the fact that she had the opportunity to visit Diagon Alley during the school holidays. Once a year wasn’t enough to satiate Maya’s thirst for the wizarding world. She especially enjoyed the trip in the summer as first of all it was the first sign that September 1st was approaching and the second was that it let her escape her unbelievably uneventful and mundane life during the summer holidays. Even the presence of her brothers didn’t make up for the fact that she wasn’t allowed to perform magic and she was stuck on a farm day in day out with her family the only company available. Last summer had been seriously boring as she never got the opportunity to visit any of her friends. That was why she needed to invite Kynan over. She wasn't even allowed to fly anymore as her father still defiantly refused to let her use anything magical in front of her siblings. On more than one occasion Maya had fantasized about the day she turned seventeen and she ended up cursing her father, turning his ears into bats or something. Well she had plenty of time to figure out how to curse him, she was still only 14. That was a depressing thought, Maya couldn't wait to grow up and leave her home for good. She would miss her mother though and that was the reason she was here.

Her mother wanted her to pick her up some flesh eating slug repellent. Her father was obviously unaware of the errand. Not that Maya wasn't used to keeping secrets from her father, she had caught her mother performing magical spells around the farm and never uttered a word about it. Maya looked in the shop window's displays and soon she had forgotten about her boring home life as the atmosphere brightened her mood. After Maya made her trip to quality quidditch supplies and got her fill of gawking in the window she wandered down the street and rested at the lane way leading into another row of shops. 'Knockturn Alley.' She had heard a lot of the place from schoolmates and was never allowed to go down. Not that anyone of her schoolmates had ventured into the street either. Well no one was here to stop her now and it would be some story to return to the castle with. Looking guiltily over her shoulder every few steps as she thought someone was bound to spot her she made her way down the lane way. Maya noticed the sudden change in atmosphere as no one was enjoying chirpy pleasantries, in fact most people were avoiding eye contact. Maya also observed the appearances of the people in this area of the wizarding world. It was full of shabby looking wizards wearing moth eaten robes, starved witches and dusty looking shops. Well this place looked boring, what was all the hype about she wondered to herself as she walked idly along gazing in shop windows. The one shop that did seem of any interest to her seemed way out of her price range so she skulked on by. She was about to return the way she had come, suddenly worried if she could recall her way back to Diagon Alley. She didn’t really feel like announcing that she was lost.

She was scurrying along when she heard a commotion down an alleyway. Against her better judgement she stopped to look at what was happening, her curiosity getting the better of her. Maya was normally one to act without thinking and she had completely misjudged the situation. Only seeing the dark haired man with long scruffy hair attacking another helpless wizard. Who did he think he was? Maya intervened whipping out her own wand. "What are you doing?" She called down the street, disdain lacing her voice as she grasped her wand tightly. In her haste she had also forgotten that she was not supposed to perform magic outside the walls of Hogwarts. She wondered would the guy notice her youth, one thing in her favour was that she was currently supposed to be presiding in Hogwarts. She only had the luxury of visiting the street thanks to her mother's urgent errand.

Nothing about his position or condition had not kept Neal from doing what he wanted to do, which was tormenting the tormentable. Neal would destroy to unburden himself of oppression in the form of people who just marred his day, who just marred his consciousness, who just marred his happiness.

His small group was a secret community of wizards and so many of their crimes, at any rate, remained unknown among the foolish majority. But still, he believed that Death Eater's works had their wings. And one way or the other, they would get noticed.

Neal and this little circle of devils were crying foul over the hasty, twisted and unjust actions of the Ministry of Magic. Allowing those filthy and impure Mudbloods to learn and perform magic was completely mental.

Earlier this week, they all wanted to stage an attack at the Ministry to show their indignation but the trouble was they were hugely outmanned against those Aurors and Ministry defenders. And this fact left another bitter taste in his mouth. But anyway, he was determined to make another revolution possible. He needed not worry though. No government, no matter how powerful it was, could put a Death Eater down.

Neal dropped the stick, and turned to see a girl talking to him. "None of your business girly." He said coldly.

This girl sure did have some guts to talk to Neal like that. He stared at her, and came to conclusion that she was a student. "How about you?! What the hell are you doing here?  It looks like you are still in your Hogwarts years.

Neal saw the girl gripped her wand. He grinned before he let out a little quiet giggle. "Accio wand!" He shouted. "Now, how about I make you a deal. You, yes you... Take your sorry ass back to whatever hell hole you have crawled out of and I will not beat your brains out. How's that sound?" Neal said as he looked at the girl.

Maya looked directly into the perpetrators eyes and his cold stare forced her into rethinking her position. But then she looked down at the victim’s unconscious form sprawled on the ground, still unmoving. It wasn’t like she campaigned for poor defenseless people on a daily basis, but she couldn’t just let it go and keep walking by. She didn’t know what had gotten into her, usually she didn’t have this much of a conscious, and still she felt like she was doing the right thing. She looked back down at the unmoving body, wondering if there was anything she could do to help and now that she had actually taken in his figure she noticed how disheveled the person looked. Maybe, he was another one of them creepy people that seemed to lurk on every corner of Knockturn Alley.

Maya tried not to cringe away from the man as he seemed to be sizing her up. God she hoped he didn’t know occlumency, it would have really come in handy if Maya had paid more attention to their class on legilimency Maya really doubted that anyone needed to read her mind to figure out the conclusion he had come to. Maya gritted her teeth, trying not to let the colour flush to her cheeks as her young appearance was obviously a dead giveaway. “No.” She said too defiantly. “And why wouldn't I be allowed here. I like taking leisurely strolls,” she said fixing her tone and trying to act more blasé. "And what about you, what are you doing here?" Maya questioned, pointedly fixing her stare at the man on the ground he had so cruelly attacked. Now that Maya had taken in the man’s appearance up closer she guessed his age, knowing he had at least a good ten years on her. That meant at least ten years more experience and guessing by his antics today it seemed like he had plenty of experience in ruffing up people in dark alleys. Maybe she should attempt to curse him now, but she couldn’t perform non-verbal spells and he could probably block them. The element of surprise was really her only choice, running was also an option though..

Maya quickly glanced over her shoulder seeing if anyone had noticed their little spat, but then her window of opportunity was gone as she felt her wand flying out of her grasp. She tried to quickly grab it as it flung through the air, Maya’s cheeks really flushed dark red now at her own carelessness and the cheek of the stranger. Where did he get off, taking someone’s wand? “Oh so your going to beat me up too?” Maya asked, a lot more courage in her voice than she actually felt. Her only form of defense was resting in the other man's hand she doubted that she would fare too well in a fist fight with him. "And my sorry ass, excuse me, but have you looked in the mirror lately? You look like you haven't stepped foot into modern society in the last six months." Maya turned up her nose as the man's attire, really wishing she could keep some comments to herself. Maya was beginning to guess she had gone to far, but she wasn't about to leave without her wand. She wondered if the man lying on the ground still had possession of his wand. Although Maya probably wouldn't have enough time to grab it and attack, she reasoned as she glanced between the conscious man leering at her and the unconscious unkempt man on the ground. She didn't know which one she detested more, probably the stupid git smirking at her like he owned the place as he currently had her wand! Maya didn’t really feel like writing back home about having to get a new wand and explaining how she had accidentally lost it or something during her trip to Diagon Alley. That would surely go down well.

Neal observed as the girl looked directly into his eyes. He wasn't expecting that she could somehow remain level with him. Perhaps, she was thinking about something in her mind, she was up to something, and he was certain it was no good. Or maybe, she saw herself as higher than him.

But then the girl immediately remove her gaze as she looked down at the unconscious body. Neal followed her gaze. "He just deserved that." He paused for a moment, grinned and then he went on. "People like him had to feel the burden of their transgressions. These stupid people wanted to prove that they could do anything, even harm me. Seriously?" Neal smirked and looked at the girl.

He was also thinking if the girl was here to help that bastard or if she was one of those 'Good guys' sent just to convince him to stop the violence he's making, he would definitely refuse. Neal would never stop until he created a river of blood that would continue to rise, day by day. His enemies would not know how to escape it, where to go, what to do. And even their dumbass Ministry leaders would fear they too would drown in this river.

"Wow, I didn't know Hogwarts babies can take leisurely strolls here." Said Neal smirking as the girl claimed that she was here just to take some aimless walk. He ignored the girl's question. He didn't have to explain to her what he was doing here. He didn't need to explain to anyone. "Trust me kid, you don't want to fight me. Be a smart kid and walk away. Because if you don't it won't end good for you."

He wanted to spare her life, not that it really mattered to Neal, he'd put her out of her misery if he had to. Looking around his surroundings he noticed that there was nothing that girl could do to defend herself. And her wand? The only thing she could use to protect her no matter what, it was on Neal's possession's now. Neal was pretty convinced that the girl could not perform non-verbal spells or wandless magic. She carried an eternally young look in her bright eyes that said as much about her as anything. She couldn't be more than eighteen, obviously she was inexperienced.

Neal chuckled when the girl made a comment about his clothes. "Do you seriously think that you can out insult me like that. For you information, I was raised on insults. That's how my dad put me to sleep at night." He smirked as he stepped closer to the girl. "You're being ridiculous girly, you're stepping into danger zone." He didn't want to hurt the kid, but if the kid continues this, he would just have to kill her and finish this little mascaraed.

Transgressions? Oh so now he was bringing out the big words. Maya hadn't a clue what he was on about and why he was eyeing her every movement like he was foretelling what she was going to do next. Maya's eyes narrowed for a moment as she felt like he was talking down to her. She knew what he was saying next though as she understood the double meaning in his words. "Gotcha, your invincible. So you know if I can just have my wand back and be on my merry way..?" Maya asked with a sweet smile.

The look of malice and he smirked when he said this nearly forced Maya to step back from the man unconsciously, she gritted her teeth though and refused to give this man the satisfaction. He seemed to enjoy hurting and frightening people and got a kick out of hurting them, something Maya wouldn’t let happen to her if she could help it. As this internal struggle went on a look of concentration and plotting emerged on the man’s face and Maya wondered what he was thinking. After a moment of consideration she thought she’d be better off not knowing.

“I’m not a baby.” Maya stated, tactfully ignoring the mention of Hogwarts. She attempted not to sound petulant as she crossed her arms over her chest and tried not to stomp her foot. She was getting nowhere with this man and all the while she was conscious of the fact that the poor soul was still lying on the ground by her feet suffering. Although, he couldn’t be suffering much more than her she reasoned and she wondered if all of this was worth it seeing as the man on the ground looked like he had just walked out of a trip in Azkaban. “I never said I wanted to fight you, I wanted to make sure the man was alright. Or is that not allowed, do you want me to just let him die?” Okay that was probably a bit exaggerated but still. “I think he’s suffered enough.” Maya said, hoping to turn the man’s attention back to the other guy as he seemed to have some anger issues and pent up rage that he needed dealing with. Maybe he could still take it out on the unconscious guy and Maya would get her opportunity to slip off with her wand hopefully intact.

“Well that explains a whole lot.” Maya retorted to the man, wanting to add a condescending snort but thought best of it. She still valued her life, or at least her health. He could quite possibly be in counseling rather than skulking around alley ways in Knockturn alley and getting a kick out of attacking random and innocent passer-by’s. She kept that part to herself though, no point in angering the beast even more.

She was really pleased she had kept her mouth shut when the man stepped closer and she shirked away from him trying to make herself as small as possible. Maybe he'd just forget about her and continue on reigning terror for fun. "How about we forget about this little incident and just move on and continue leading happy lives. I can certainly do that." Maya said, trying to convince the man that she was worthy of keeping quiet.

"Yes! I am invincible." He said, looking at the unconscious body. "I know these people better than they know themselves. They're weak. Their whole life has nothing but easy and it’s all they know." He smirked as the girl gave him a friendly smile.

Neal then snorted when the girl said she just wanted to check if the bastard was alright, a disgruntled look crossing her who'd seemed so intent of making herself look tough and brave. "Given the circumstances that I experienced with muggles and mudbloods like him, I cannot give them the sympathy they're probably expecting. They tried to destroy me. So I have every right to vent my anger and show my vengeance." Said Neal.

"I’ve been tracking that muggle-born thieve for a couple of days now and finally, I caught him. He wasn’t just doing theft of money, he was a thieve of knowledge and magic! He makes me sick!" He stared at the guy again and spat on the ground.

"A lot of muggles like him harass, insult, underestimate, and treat witches and wizards like a shit. They create many scandals everywhere, hurling invectives and abusing the magical race." He stared at the girl. "For the longest time now and all these years’ wizards did nothing to but remained silent, in spite of the fact that muggles attacked, accused, maligned and tried to destroy us." It was very obvious Neal was becoming more and more displeased.  Muggles thought they could do anything they want and believed whatever they did it would always benefit them.

He raised his hand, as if he was telling her to stop talking about forgetting this incident and moving on. "Avada Kedavra!" Shouted Neal. A blast of green light blazed and hit the guy.

Neal despised muggles. Their history was full of  lies and flaws about witches and wizards. Wizardkind should unite and responsibly protect their sacred right to rule over the world. They should take the effort to demonstrate their power anywhere they go to show that they were superior. And most importantly, they should possessed the tyrant authority. If they failed in these most basic of their responsibilities, then they couldn't complain about the muggles who rule over them, abuse them and oppress them for they always got the neighbors they deserved.

He cocked his head, "Oh, so you're not here to fight? That's a good decision. Perhaps you realize the outcome won't be pretty for you.  Oh and you're wand you said, I have to know first if this really chose you or not."

Maya was about to protest about the person lying on the ground being weak. How did they have any other choice when they had no means of protecting themselves? But then Neal was rambling on about Muggle-Borns and Maya zoned out. Seriously, it sounded like one of her History of Magic classes when they were being taught about how Muggle-Borns were treated by Death Eaters during the First and Second Wizarding Wars a few decades ago.

Oh. A few things began to click with Maya all at once. First of all, she was facing a Death Eater. Or someone that thought they could become one at least. She wondered if he was part of the old alliance of Death Eaters and got a lucky escape and if he thought he could start a rebellion of some sort. Come to think of it Maya had heard tell of something to do with dark wizards becoming more prominent. She usually didn't take note of what happened outside the walls of Hogwarts. Secondly, this was exactly the type of situations her parents wanted her to avoid and the reasoning behind them being so overly protective. Well too late for that. And thirdly, THE DEATH EATER STILL HAD HER WAND!

Maya recalled from her history class that if muggles didn't integrate themselves into their world the wizarding line would just die off. Maya hadn't even realised her best friend was a Muggle-Born until she visited his house and that clearly didn't change anything! There was hardly any pure wizarding blood lines left, just the ones who lied about their heritage and then others who married their distant cousins. Maya cringed at that idea. So there was no way the man standing in front of her didn't have some Muggle-Blood in his veins. Maya didn't think it was the right time to bring that up though.

Oh Merlin's beard, this was not happening. Maya thought as a burst of green light erupted from the man's wand. Maya was close to tearing out her hair at that stage, or more to the point on the verge of passing out. Maya stumbled backwards, tripping over her own feet in the process and just had enough bearing on her surroundings to cling onto the wall for support. Maya could feel tears forming, but refused to let them fall, telling herself over and over that the now lifeless form on the ground was nothing to her, probably a bad man with no family to miss him. That still didn't stop her from gaping at the body, willing him to come back or hoping that it was all just some sick joke. All the while her vision was clouded by the jet green light which had long disappeared, but still remained prominent in her mind's eye.

“That was all you. I’m not going down with you.” Maya firmly stated sticking her chin out putting what little bit of courage remained into the steadfast pout. When the aurors came asking questions Maya knew who’s direction to point them in. Not that she was ever going to say that out loud. “Of course that’s only if you get caught.” Maya shrugged, her eyes still bugging as she felt like she was living an out of body experience. All her words and actions seemed foreign to her, as if she wasn’t controlling her own actions. She tried to force herself to shut up and turn and start running for dear life, as that seemed to her only option to save herself. Clearly no one was going to act the hero and come strolling out of the shadows brandishing some sort of hero badge. Nope, this was reality now and apparently how things went down in shady looking alley ways.

“Of course it’s mine.” Maya spat, thinking the man was jumping to conclusions that she had robbed the wand off some other innocent victim. How else would she have gotten it? The only place she knew of to get wands was Ollivander’s the only other option robbing people of their only weapon to defend themselves with. Maya guessed that the excuse of a wizard standing in front of her probably had a hoard or wands lying at home.