Reunion (Briana)

Steven Yaxley walked into The Hog's Head. It was quieter here than the other pub, for which the professor was thankful. After hearing the echoed hoots and hollers of students at the school, the last thing Steven wanted was to hear the same thing while trying to relax. The wizard strode to the bar and ordered a firewhiskey, paid for the drink, and took a seat in a far corner of the pub.

Steel blue eyes scanned the pub. Nothing seemed out of place, nor was Steven being watched. The professor retrieved a book, quill, and jar of ink from his pocket. He flipped the book to an empty page and began filling the page with a thin, spidery, scribbling text.

Morgan walked into the Hog's Head Inn in need of some peace. She knew she was strong enough to be around humans, but it was still tiring to be around them all the time. She placed an order for a cup of Earl Grey tea, her favorite, and look a look around while she waited. Morgan's eyes fell on a figure that looked familiar. When he tea arrived, she paid for it, thanking the bar tender, and walked, silently over to the man scribbling away in a book.

When she got closer, and got a good look at the man, she smiled sweetly. It was her Uncle whom she hadn't seen in some time. She bit her bottom lip lightly and asked, "Mind if I join you, stranger?" She was sure to hide her needle fangs as she smiled at him, wondering if her would know her after so long.

Steven was off in his own world to the point that he had blocked out the sound of someone coming into the pub, and the quiet of few voices murmuring to each other. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye and ignored it. When someone spoke Steven lifted his gaze and was prepared to snap at them, when he recognized her immediately. A smile twisted his lips. “You’re always welcome to join me, Briana,” he replied, and put away his book and writing supplies.

The wizard looked his niece over. “You look different...” Then again, his memory could have been playing tricks on him. Steven began a mental checklist and checked things off: yes, yes, and yes... everything seemed to be in order, with the exception of the one thing he couldn’t place. “Taller... though I think I have a solution for that one,” Steven teased, standing up to greet her properly.

Briana was pleased that her Uncle knew her, and was not surprised that he picked up on something different about her. He was always a very observant man. "Taller, perhaps," she said with a small smile as he stood to greet her. She set her tea down and embraced him with a gentle hug. "I've missed you," she said as she held him and committed his scent to memory. Her diet might consist of animal blood, but the thirst for human blood was always there. The more scents she could put with a face and a name, she believed, the easier she could resist the want to hunt and feed on them.

When Steven stood up, he could tell that Briana being taller wasn't the something different he'd noticed. It would eventually occur to him. For now, he would drop the subject and simply enjoy this time with one of the few people in this world Steven genuinely had heart for. The conundrum would be sure to start nagging at the back of his mind again ten minutes later. Instead of thinking about that, Steven wrapped his arms around his niece to return the gentle embrace. "And I, you," he answered, gesturing for her to take her seat while doing the same.

Once seated, Steven leaned forward slightly. He wondered what else had changed, subtle and otherwise. "Anything new going on with you lately?"

Briana smiled and took a seat next to her uncle. He hadn't really changed much since she last saw him, except for age slightly as people do. However, she could tell by his body language that he was still puzzled as to what was different with her. Being taller was something different about her, but not THE something, and she knew it.

Briana raised her cup of tea to her lips and sipped the hot liquid. When he asked what all was new with her, her bright blue eyes glittered. "I start teaching at Hogwarts in the fall. I'm their new Charms Master," she said. She was trying to avoid the topic of the big new thing in her life for the time being. She knew that Steven did enjoy some of the darker things in magic, vampires being one of his more favorite subjects if she remembered correctly. Even if she was right, she didn't know how her uncle would react to one of his favorite nieces actually being one.

A smile twisted Steven’s lips and crinkled the corners of his eyes. “Congratulations,” he beamed, absently fiddling with his glass of firewhiskey. “A bit of a shame you won’t be working at Wolfclaw – I’d see you more often, then...” He chortled quietly at the thought that ‘what if’ scenario brought to mind, “... but I’m still proud of you.” Steven mused about putting together a congratulatory party, assuming Briana hadn’t gotten one yet. But that would mean trying to wheedle out of her who her friends were these days, and where they lived, in order to surprise her. Steven did his best to avoid being direct; he preferred subtlety.

Steven shifted slightly in his seat, and took a sip of his drink. ”I’m still teaching... with varying degrees of success,” he snickered. Some days the kids listened well, and other days that wasn’t the case at all.

Briana smiled brightly, absentmindedly allowing the light to flash off her pure white, double-set of fangs, as she thought about what it might be like to teach where her uncle taught. "Thank you, Uncle Steven. I'm hoping it will be exciting. A new adventure... I've always enjoyed Charms, even in school. It just seemed like a good choice after I graduated from Hogwarts," she said happily.

"I'm sure teaching will have good days and bad days. I remember I had my fair share of rough days when I was a student," she mused. "What would everyone say if they found out that they had you and me as teachers? Would certainly be interesting," she commented with a wink as she raised her cup to her pink lips and sipped her tea.

Steven’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of fangs. So that was what had been different! How he hadn’t picked up on it before, the wizard would never know. Perhaps he was merely in denial. Or maybe he encountered so many vampires that he simply failed to recognize the traits because they seemed near enough to normal, minus the fangs. She hadn’t been a vampire when he last saw her... or so he thought. Steven was now even more curious about what had happened since they last spoke face-to-face. His mind was so abuzz with theories and scenarios that he’d only half-heard what Briana was talking about. ”I’m sure you’ll be in for a long and rewarding career...” he said.

The wizard laughed lightly. ”It would be very interesting, indeed... though I wouldn’t even hazard a guess at what they would say.”

He thought for several moments, and took another sip of his whiskey. ”Did anyone throw a party for you, yet? To congratulate you on getting the job?” Steven asked.

I’m sure you’ll be in for a long and rewarding career... Briana picked up on a subtle change in the tone of her uncle's remark. Did he figure out what was different? Quickly Briana thought over any action she might have done that would have given her away... Her smile.... He had seen her new assets when she dropped her guard enough to allow them to be seen. That would explain the slight reaction she was seen from him. "I'm looking forward to it," she commented back.

Briana dropped her blue eyes then, awaiting his reaction to what she was. When none came, and only a question about a celebration, she simply shook her head and looked back at him. "Nope, no party as yet," she said sweetly with a soft smile. "Not many know just yet," she added, a double meaning to her words.

Steven's steel blue eyes narrowed with concern when Briana dropped hers. The news there hadn't been a party yet made him smile all the more: he could provide said celebration. An ebony eyebrow flicked itself upward at the hidden meaning in her added remark. "Well... we'll just have to change that," he said, offering a wink.

He reached over and placed one of his hands over hers. "About the teaching position, I mean," Steven added. It was now his turn to find something fascinating about the table surface while he decided what to say. "As for the other... we can celebrate that separately... and more low key... if you'd like?" he suggested, arching a single dark eyebrow. Steven glanced around the room at large to make sure they weren't being eavesdropped upon, then lowered his voice, "Although, do you mind if I ask how that came about?"

Her uncle's gentle touch and kind words about having a party to celebrate her landing a teaching position, and only that, caused Briana to raise her sapphire blue eyes to him and smile tenderly. Steven had always been her favorite. "That sounds great," she said softly. When he offered for a separate, smaller party to celebrate her re-birth she nodded slightly, "If you think that calls for a celebration, too." She couldn't help but laugh herself, light and airy as always.

Briana also glanced around before answering his question about how it all happened. "It was about 8 months ago..." she started. Briana told all about the men who tracked her as she left her favorite seamstress shop in London, and who eventally took her down a darkened alley where one tried to rape her. When she fought back, he beat her mercilessly and left her for dead there on the cobblestones, wet with her own blood. Briana told of the woman with dark hair who found her and held her as she journeyed towards death and whatever comes after. How she awoke in a beautiful room with that same woman there, caring for her, feeding her to help her grow stronger and come back to life, as it were. She told about her turning process and the how the woman who had found her was the one who turned her. Briana paused then, taking a nervous sip of her tea, not looking at him. "She said that... she heard and saw me pleading to live, and, taking pity on me, changed me into what I am. What she is... She is now my new mother and I live with her in her home," she said. Then looked up at him, "The rest you know."

Briana finished her tale with a small smile, worry and fear of his reaction filling her bright eyes. He may have a personal love for creatures such as what she was, but his feelings might be something other than that since she was family.

A grin lit up Steven’s face when she finally looked up at him again. It faded slightly, to be replaced with curiosity at her response to celebrating her rebirth. While Steven knew the process of becoming a vampire was no picnic for the person being bitten, he wondered if there was something more to it he didn’t know.

Steven listened intently to Briana’s tale. His face contorted into anger at the men responsible for bringing Briana to the brink of death. Steven made a mental note to go on a manhunt for these people the first chance he got... assuming they hadn’t been brought to justice already. The wizard’s expression softened slightly to hear about the woman that found Briana. A small nod followed: he knew the rest.

“Briana...” Steven sighed, trying to ease a response from his lips that wouldn’t upset her. “I can’t say that I wanted this particular lifestyle for you. Especially what you went through moments before it.” Anger flickered in his eyes, but gave way to something else as he gripped the hand of hers he had touched. “But I for one am glad that you are still here today, rather than the alternative...”

Steven took a sip of his drink, and his eyes darkened slightly. “Do you remember what those men looked like?”

Briana watches as anger flashed in his eyes as he thought about what had happened to her to help bring her to the new life she was now living. But, he was glad that she was alive, in a way. Glad she was still here. She lightly gripped his hand in return. "I'm glad to still be here, too," she said tenderly, a smile touching her lips.

Briana took a drink of her tea, her eyes locking on her Uncle's when he asked about the men. She looked away, and stated matter of factly, "They are dead..." When she looked back up at him, her face was blank. "His was the first blood I took as a hunter.... The first life I took...." she said calmly.

Although Briana’s face was blank regarding the death, Steven couldn't help but smirk. ”Good...” he replied. The wizard glanced out the window, and then back to his niece. ”Had they not been dealt with, I would have been more than happy to step in and make the bastards suffer.” A small, dark chuckle left his lips.

”Now, about that party...” Steven began again in a lighter tone. He tore a blank page out of his book, and brought out his quill and ink once more. ”Anyone in particular you’d like to invite? Or anything in particular you'd like for the celebration in general, for that matter...” he asked, poised to write.

"I bet you would have, knowing you," she said with a smile. Thinking back to the day that she feed and killed on her own, her eyes darkened slightly. "I like to think they both suffered. I think they did," she said glancing out the window.

Her eyes lightened back up when the conversation lightened to talk of the party he wished to throw for her. "Well, there is June and Adrian, you remember them, we were childhood friends together. I'm sure they would be happy to come. You always threw the best parties..." she commented happily. "Could my Mother and new little sister come?" she asked.

Steven nodded, giving a small chuckle at the mention of Bri’s childhood friends. He remembered them well, and wrote their names at the top of a list with the heading ‘Invites’. A grin big enough to erase the remnants of his previous dark thoughts spread across his face. “Well, I try and make sure they’re the best I can give... pretty sure your father thought I spoiled you too much sometimes,” he snickered. The wizard could be brutally strict with a demeanor of ice... but there was also another side only the most liked or privileged, such as Briana, would ever see.

A single eyebrow rose at the question. ”Of course. I’d like to meet them, and it’s your party... you’re welcome to invite anyone you’d like. Although... I can’t guarantee that I’ll be nice to ex-boyfriends,” he replied, teasing lightly and tossing in a wink for good measure.

”Would your mother and sister require anything ‘special’ that I could provide?” he asked.

Briana laughed as she looked into her cup of tea when Steven spoke of her father believing that he spoiled her a tad. He was right, on somethings, but that her uncle enjoyed doting on those he loved and held close, such as Briana.

"I will have to give it much thought. I'm not even sure where all my friends are anymore," she said brightly. Time tended to make people move apart and lose touch, which had happened in her case. "But, as soon as I come up with more, you will be the first to know. And, please, anyone you wish to invite is most welcome," she added. "And, only ex-boyfriends that are still on good terms with me will be invited." At her own joke, Briana giggled.

At his question about Dellen and Katrina, Briana shook her head with a smile. "My mother, Dellen, well, she enjoys food and drink like any other person. Katrina isn't like either of us," she said with a knowing look. "So, really, nothing special is needed. Even for me," she said leaning in close. "I'm a vegetarian of sorts," she said quietly with a wink of her own.

Steven chuckled lightly. He barely knew what had happened with his old friends, as well. ”I can relate... We’ll overlook that, for now,” he said. At the offer to invite anyone he’d like, the wizard shrugged. ”I’m not particularly close with anyone outside of family, these days... in any sense,” Steven muttered, absently scratching a patch of skin around his left ring finger that was a few shades paler than the rest of him.

”Though, I might invite a fellow colleague of mine that I’ve gotten acquainted with... even though you won’t be teaching with us,” he chuckled, lightly teasing again. As much as Steven would have liked it if Briana took up teaching at Wolfclaw, it was Briana’s happiness that mattered most.

The wizard nodded about Dellen, and nudged an inquisitive eyebrow about Katrina. Steven’s small smile never left his lips, though. ”If you’re sure. I like to make absolutely certain all party guests, and my favorite niece, especially, are well cared for... You’ll have to remind me of anything else you don’t like, when it comes to food and drinks.

“Now, how about music? Might be able to snag a band, or some other form of entertainment if you prefer... if we play our cards right,” he asked, with a small snicker. Steven already had plans to contact a friend about entertainment, depending on the time of the party... but he hadn’t decided whether or not to tell Briana just yet. One part of the party, gift aside, had to be a complete surprise for her.

"The more the merrier, Uncle, you know that. Whether I'll be teaching with you or not, I would be happy to meet those you work with," she said happily. Briana wondered if she would see him at the end of term feast at Hogwarts if she went. She wasn't sure when the WolfClaw students and staff would be returning home when the tournament ended.

When the subject turned to her new family members and what they liked and didn't like, she leaned in for a little more private moment. "Katrina isn't like me or Dellen. And Mother and I both enjoy human food still, you know...." she said with a bright smile. Leaning back she sipped her tea. That was one thing that she was glad she could still do, eat normal foods and not just what vampires are known to eat...well drink.

Briana nodded to her uncle when he offered to get music for the occasion. "Live or not makes no difference to me. It's just a little celebration," she teased. "But, if possible, and only if possible... No special tricks or treats or favors," she said, knowing full well he would bend over backwards for her, "The Drunken Gryffens would be a fabulous musical choice."

She had noticed the missing ring on her uncle's hand before, but wanted to discuss party matter with him before asking. "Your ring is missing. Did something happen?" she asked, a touch of worry in her soft voice.

“We’ll have to see,” Steven shrugged, not sure who he would invite to the party. If anyone. There were times when, yes, the more the merrier definitely applied. However, there were also times when Steven preferred smaller gatherings. Speaking of gatherings, there was the end of term feast coming up. The wizard wondered if Briana would be there... and then furthermore if he was expected to be there. It wouldn’t exactly make sense for them to go back to Woflclaw now as the year was almost over. He would have to look into it with a bit more detail.

He leaned in when Briana did, listening intently. A slight smirk, or a small smile, lined his lips. “I understand,” Steven murmured. Perhaps there was still something he could do to make certain Katrina’s time at the celebration was enjoyable. He would have to think on it... or consult a friend of his, who conveniently enough was also a vampire.

A small grin met her teasing. “A little celebration for a large accomplishment,” he chortled. Steven placed a hand over his heart playfully as she made her request. “Me? Go to special tricks, treats, and favors? You must have me confused with someone else...” he laughed. It was completely true, though: Steven would bend over backwards for her if it guaranteed she’d have the time of her life. The wizard wrote down a column for music, including ‘radio/non-live’ above the band name if only to humor her. Steven would always try the spectacular before the mundane.

Steven glanced at his bare left hand at the question. “Mm-hm...” he nodded slowly. “It’s nothing, really. She’s... well, it was a long time ago,” Steven said. He didn’t want to bring their joyful conversation down a peg or two with the details unless she really wanted to know.

Briana gently took her uncle's hand and looked at him with her bright blue eyes. "What happened?" she asked. She knew that it must have been something significant to make him stop wearing his wedding ring, but she didn't know what. Whether it was happy or sad, she wanted to know. He had been there for her through happy and sad times, and now she wanted to return the favor.

Steven swallowed and glanced down at their hands. A small smile crossed his lips, but it wasn't anything like the grins he'd displayed earlier. What had happened with his wife wasn't an easy thing for him to explain. While Steven wasn't the warmest romantic partner, he did have redeeming moments. He gently gripped the hand holding his. "There was an accident, a few years ago," Steven murmured, slowly lifting his eyes to meet Briana's. "She died. I had tried to bring her back, but that didn't work out. So I've moved on..." he explained.

Briana's eyes saddened at hearing that her Aunt had passed. She brought her other hand up to hold his and looked at him. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Uncle...." she said quietly. She didn't know what else to say. She wanted to offer some words to him, but nothing really came. Briana wanted to ask what had happened, but figured, if he wanted her to know, then he would tell her. "Have you found someone new?" she asked gently with a small smile.

Steven made a face at the saddened eyes. He hadn't wanted that. But he supposed it was best she learned of it now, and not ask at her party where her aunt was. Steven stroked Briana's hand with his thumb in a silent attempt to reassure her that he was fine. "It's alright. There was nothing that could be done..."

The wizard shook his head. "Not exactly," he answered. There was a fine line between honesty and providing too much information Briana might not necessarily want to know about him. She probably didn't want to know who or what he ran into when he went out, or what transpired during such times. Steven wasn't the type to share that information either. "I still go out, occasionally... No need to worry." He punctuated the statement with a small smile.