Between the Shadow and the Soul [Chad and Sebastian]

February was trickling away, but still the nights were longer than days. James did not at all mind this. He found the best times were usually in the dark of the night. After all, he had sorely little to be afraid of. He knew that if he were to bump into anyone, none would be as bad as himself. And currently, he was walking a path he'd once taken quite a lot during his time at Hogwarts. He always found that walking around in Hogsmeade was boring and public, so whenever he had the chance to go to the street, he'd usually walked straight through it and to the hills beyond.

But as the evening started to settle over Hogsmeade, walking through the street might be rather interesting this time around. After all, James wasn't just here to reminisce. Ah, nostalgia wasn't James turf. No, he had a plan, and he was going to execute it. In every sense of the word. So he descended from the hill, and walked beyond the barrier and found himself nearby the Hog's Head. James continued strolling along, not caring about the few people who walked past him. He could be recognized by someone, but it was highly doubtful. So far, only a handful of people who weren't Reapers knew what his face looked like. And some of those just might join his followers.

Besides, people rarely noticed anyone but themselves. Unless James would start behaving suspiciously, there was next to no chance that anyone would understand who he was. He came closer to the final shop of the street, Dervish and Banges, and found that if this should go according to plan, it was time to start acting suspiciously. So he stopped in the middle of the street, very visible as the crowd of people only consisted of adults with time on their hands. He then looked around himself, his jacket's collar up, before he walked around Dervish and Banges to find out just who would follow him. If no one, he'd have to walk back into the street, and kill more than he'd intended. Which wasn't really a loss for him; he enjoyed when things didn't go according to plan, and improvisation was necessary. It usually ended up to be rather chaotic.

(OOC: Godmodded them walking to Dervish and Banges a bit, hope that's ok )

Sebastian wanted to get to know Chad better now that they had accepted they were brothers. Well, Sebastian more than Chad had accepted it. Chad was more of a sarcastic git about it. Sebastian didn't mind it. He knew it was part of Chad's personality and he just had to accept it. He had wondered when he would get to meet his Step-Nephew? Would that be what Phineas was called? But wondered what he boy would think of him and didn't mention meeting Phin to Chad. Sebastian had him in one of his Transfiguration classes and he seemed like a good kid. Sebastian had wondered what had happened to make him live with Chad and not his parents.

Sebastian had suggested going to Dervish and Banges for their outing. Mainly because Sebastian wanted to get his accordion repaired because it needed a tuning, and it was damaged. Sebastian felt that if they met once a week they would get used to the idea of being brothers, and maybe Chad would understand that he wasn't just some crack pot old fool trying to ruin his life, or stalk him. Sebastian noted everything he had done and realized that it was kind of stalking. He had gotten a job at Hogwarts because of Chad, and even took the Ravenclaw house position because of him...whoops. Sebastian only hoped that Chad didn't file a law suit against him. That would simply ruin his week. But also Chad was a little bit on the slow side, and Sebastian did think (hoped) he wouldn't catch on to Sebastian's weird behavior.

They were walking down the street in Hogsmeade to Dervish and Banges. A man was walking in front of them so they had to walk rather slow which annoyed Sebastian to no end. Sebastian loved to walk fast, and didn't like anybody getting in his way, but at the same time he didn't want to be rude. Sebastian hated being rude. He could only be rude when it was necessary. And this wasn't necessary. He shouldered his accordion as it was a little heavy, so maybe since the accordion made a noise the dude would get the hint and move. Or maybe he was just to stupid to realize that Sebastian needed in that store at that moment. He had an appointment and he couldn't miss it.

Sebastian decided to say something to his brother for the first time since they decided to walk to Dervish and Banges. He said, "So, how's Phineas?" Sebastian still wanted to meet him out side of class, and let him know that they were related. He wanted to be the best influence on the kid that he could have. He had heard rumors about how Chad taught and hoped beyond hoped that he didn't bring some of those habits home to Phin. He wasn't going to judge him on his parenting of course, but he bet that it was better than being at his home. Sebastian's goal was to just be the best that he could be at all his jobs. If that included being a role model to Phin, then so be it. He would be the best role model he could be.

Chad was tired. No, not tired, he was exhausted. The night before, he'd been up until the early hours of the morning marking. Then, because of all the coffee he'd been drinking, he couldn't fall asleep for hours more. He wasn't as young as he used to be - he was old, really old, and staying up late partying just wasn't easy anymore. Not that he ever had any partying to do, what with having no friends or life. What sort of geezer got high on coffee to stay up half the night marking class papers anyway? In the past, he usually wouldn't bother much with marking, preferring to just leave his students to it - Muggle Studies was the easy pass lesson, everyone knew that - and save himself the effort. But this year, he'd started actually working hard, and it really wasn't going too well.

To add to the shittiness of the week, he was practically being forced into a little trip out with his bloody half-brother Sebastian. After a whole day of classes, he was ready to eat and collapse into bed, but instead he had to walk around Hogsmeade with an idiot he didn't even want to be seen with. Chad didn't particularly care that they were related - he didn't see why that should mean he actually had to spend time with the younger, far less good-looking man. It wasn't like they'd even known each other had existed until recently - if Sebastian thought they were suddenly going to bond and be new best mates, he had another thing coming.

As they walked along the road, Chad couldn't help but count down the minutes until it was acceptable to make an excuse about how he really should be getting back to the school. According to his watch, they'd only been gone ten minutes, but it had seemed much more like a few hours to him. He eyed the accordion on his brother's shoulder. Who even played the accordion? The worst thing was that Sebastian was actually attempting conversation, as though he thought Chad would be interested in the slightest. That notion was, of course, ridiculous. He was exhausted, and he was freezing cold, it being February and him only having thought to wear a fairly thin sweater. Maybe in a better mood, he could act more civil, and participate in conversation, but today was not the day.

After a moment of silence as they walked, he decided to just go along with it and act like a nice person, the best he could. But actually thinking about the question proved to be easier said than done. How would he know how Phin was? He'd barely talked to his nephew in the past few weeks - was he a terrible legal guardian? "I don't see how that's any of your business," he responded bitterly, before sighing. "Sorry, I'm having a bad day." But how was Phin? When Chad had seen him around school, he looked alright. But he hadn't thought to check. He really ought to, when they got back. "He's fine, why do you ask? Does he take your class?" Wow, look at him, initiating conversation. But they were almost at the shop, maybe this trip would be over sooner than he'd imagined. Not that this was a bad thing, at all.

But before they actually got to the door, he saw a man in the street, congesting the stream of people trying to get past, and acting weirdly suspicious. Surely a man acting so stupidly couldn't be dangerous. So Chad felt the sudden urge to follow him around the corner. He knew Hogsmeade like the back of his hand, living here and all, so he was totally sure of where he was going. What was the worst that could come from it? Without hesitation, he grabbed Sebastian's arm to pull him further along the street, past the shop and around the corner. "Come on," he hissed. He was a naturally curious person, and he really wanted to know what that man was doing. After a moment, he let go of Sebastian's arm, almost certain the man would come too. He followed the suspicious man around the side of the shop, where the street was far less busy.