Hall in front of office

Sevastyan backed up slightly to give Kiara some space. The impromptu phoenix tears enhanced his fairly-concocted healing potion to a suitable potency. With Kazimir around, he didn't want any of the Hogwarts residents to see him injured in case the Durmstrang Head decided to catch him unawares. The duel Kazimir wanted was not worth Sevastyan's job, and it was clear the older wizard was out for the blood in his veins. At least Kazimir held no such prejudice against Boris... or his other cousins attending Durmstrang.

Sevastyan had thought the bulk of his body hid the remains of Daniel Lestrange from her view, but by her glance and returned gaze he could tell she'd seen something. Immediately he made to correct the situation: Sevastyan gathered a handful of excess robes and rested his hand against the stone wall, the robes acting like a blood red curtain.

A strange thing happened to his eyes when she'd posed her question: the pupils dilated and then constricted as his brows furrowed and curved slightly upward with worry. Finally, he tore his gaze from hers, taking a rather keen interest in the floor. "It vos either him or us," he explained hollowly. Worded this way, it was a little redundant to outright claim it was in self-defense as it meant the same thing.

'Killer.....' a voice in his mind hissed. It sounded like his brother: mocking, and overjoyed. Sevastyan gave the thought a forceful shove.


"I am sorry, he took me by surprise, and he never lost it like that before.... I couldn't do anything, he knew what I would do before I did it..... I am sorry I dragged you into this...I."


Sevastyan placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It is not your fault. As you say, he vos out of his mind. Some of the most dangerous things in the vorld learn to anticipate our moves. It is not like he vos a member of the staff... or somevone you expected to see..." he trailed off, hoping his assumption was correct. Surely the past tense used in his statements would be a key factor in saying what he didn't exactly come out and say: that the man that was no longer is. Sevastyan was not proud of what he had done.

"And do not be sorry. I vould do it again - in a heartbeat, if necessary. At least you are no longer in danger. No offense but I cannot stand men that must resort to harming vomen, especially ven they are deliberately restrained from defending themselves," he added, unmoving so long as she did not move.

"If anything, I should be the vone that is sorry..." Sevastyan's statement was apologetic and sincere. "I am here to defend... not stoop to the level of the assailant......." He sounded quite angry with himself.

Kiara nodded at confiration of her question, it was over then, she no longer needed to worry about him going after and hurting anyone else.

"I should have expected him to comeback I guess, he has been after me before, but not like that, he never used a wand... Normally I am more then capable of fighting him, I have won them one more then on the times we have met." She did not want him to think she was weak, even though she was having her doubts now.

Looking into his eyes at his last statment she replied.

"Don't even think about being angry with your self over this, he was after blood, my blood he would have stopped at nothing to get what he wanted. You are a good man Sevastyan don't let him or Kazimir or anyone else tell you otherwise. You did what you had to so he can't harm anyone else... Do not apologized that"

"I thank you, you saved my life from someone who had no qualms over who he killed, as long as I died. You put your self in danger to save me and for that I owe a life debt"

At the words life debt Kiara briefly glowed white to signel the magical debt that would not be broken until it was fufilled.

Sevastyan remained still, and made a noise at the back of his throat to show he understood. He couldn't determine if part of her statement was just filling him in on her past or if it was doubt that incited a need to explain this incident apart from the others. "Even the best aurors -former or current- have their moments," he replied sagely, though clearly meant more than a simple analogy between the career of an auror and the life-events of Kiara and Daniel.

He gave a sheepish smile in response to the praise, of sorts, for what he had done. Though he didn't say anything he did nod slightly, a few strands of raven hair tumbling out of the small ponytail secured at the back of his head to dangle at the side of his naturally gaunt face.

"You don't owe me anything. . . Kiara," he began despite the fact that the life debt was already declared. Sevastyan had his moments where he'd nearly used her title instead of adhering to the personal preference of her given name. "You needed help, and I'm glad that I vos able to assist. Though..." he trailed off, not quite sure how to word the thought. A quick glance at the cadaver steeled his resolve to just come out with it as he'd thought it, "Ve vill need to do something vith the body......." Merlin, if that wasn't a line from some muggle film he'd seen with his ex-fiancee (and Sevastyan was pretty certain it was), then he'd be a hippogriff's uncle! Well, not literally...

Kiara nodded and simled when he said he was happy to assist her. She hoped he knew he had made a friend for life.

Kiara sighed at his last question, right... the part she didn't want think about.

"I will take care if it"

Silently she stood up and muttered a spell.

Danial's remains glowed blue, floated and vanished into thin air.

Then Kiara summoned a piece of paper and a quill. Quickly she wrote a letter to the ministry explaining what happened. One the last form she summoned a different form to prove who she was and summoned a blood quill, used for blood sighing only, and quickly sighed her name again.

"Saturn..." she said finally.. Saturn flashed to her side in a instant.

"Take these to the ministry, the will know what they mean"

Taking the letters Saturn vanished.

Turning back to Sevastyan she said "He will be buried in his families cemetery"

She didn't wish to tell him her Ex had remarried and had other children. No she would deal with that.

Then a though occurred to her something she should have asked earlier.

"You weren't hurt were you?"

It looked to Sevastyan as though his suggestion was one of the last things Kiara had wanted to deal with. He would have been willing to have taken care of it, though it was probably better that Kiara had done it in the end. Sevastyan couldn't promise that he would have been respectful toward the recently deceased Daniel...

He watched in silence as she filled out forms and drafted a letter in haste. Sevastyan couldn't help but feel responsible for the extra paperwork she needn't have had to deal with had he not been a bit too ... efficient, he supposed was the best word, though thought so with a sense of self-disgust. How could he think of this as having been efficient? True, it wouldn't have been exactly his first time in dispatching a foe, but his mind-voice could have not sounded so... gleeful? ... in regards to what had transpired.

Gray eyes became interested in the floor again at the mention of burial, though not with shame this time. Instead, it was with a kind of remorse. Though Sevastyan was not exactly the poster-boy for pacifism, death did effect him deeply. The side of him he'd unleashed in order to defeat Daniel would not have appeared so, but it would be dangerous to let "it" out to roam as it wished. Sevastyan didn't precisely have multiple personality disorder: it was just another facet of his character. Like the dark half of the moon...

He wanted to ask if Daniel had started another family after divorcing Kiara, but didn't want to bring up a potentially painful topic. On top of it, Sevastyan wasn't quite sure if he could live with himself if he realized the man had children that were now without a father.

'Sound like somevone you know?' came what sounded like his brother's voice from the back of his mind, again. Sevastyan gave the mocking voice another mental shove, hoping to bury it amidst memory. 'Like... oh, I dunno... Igor? At least he vos villing to take in his brother's kids ven both of their parents died!' Girgoriy's voice shouted before Sevastyan blocked out the thoughts again.

Sevastyan's initial response to her inquiry was to blink twice in a kind of mild surprise. He'd really given no thought to his physical well-being throughout the entire ordeal. "I suspect a bump here, a scratch there...." he shrugged, without indicating what or where. "Nothing serious. ... Vot about you? Are you all right?" Sevastyan asked, his gaze soft but critically observant. The question had been intended to include all areas of well-being, not just a standard physical analysis.

Eglantine hurried around the corner, her concern that Daniel might have attacked or still be loose planning to attack Kiara making her hurry.

She breathed a small sigh when she saw Kiara and Sevastyan standing out in the hallway. But then noticed that they both appeared to have been through something as their hair was mussed and they were both breathing heavily.

"Kiara?" Eglantine questioned approaching them carefully. Her hands were already beginning to shake slightly from the extreme worry and stress her mind was going through.

Kiara sighed in relief when Sevastyan said he was more or less fine. However she did wince when he asked her the same. She could ignore the pain for now, it was pain form the curciatus it would go away later, and the bruise on her neck would heal with a simple salve.

She was still in shock to really think about what really happened, she was still numb, like the calm before the storm... it would hit her later when she was alone.

"i will be fine....thank you" she tried to sound reassuring, she really did, she wasn't sure if she did though.

"Kiara?"

Kiara felt her heart speed up, Eglantine..... this would not go over well.

What could she tell her? How could she tell her what happened? Her mind went blank she didn't know...

"Y..yes Eglantine?"

Kiara's almost stammered reply told Eglantine all she needed to know. She lifted a hand to her mouth.
"I am so sorry. I forgot the apple on the table and when I returned it wasn't him anymore. Did you hurt you? Where is he?" she moved closer and began to cast several diagnosis charms on Kiara.

Her wince seemed to answer a part of his question, though he would wait for verbal confirmation. No need to jump to conclusions. He assumed she would need treatment for the symptoms left in the aftermath of being hit with the Cruciatus - that was a given.

Sevastyan nodded at her thanks, though his brows furrowed with concern. "You vill be fine?" he repeated curiously, emphasizing what sounded to him like a future tense of the verb. He didn't like the way that he had interpreted the simple answer. Sevastyan shook his head, deciding that he was looking far too much into wording than he should expect from someone that had just been attacked. It was most likely she was anything but fine - her ex-husband dead, on school property no less, and with having an Unforgivable Curse cast upon her twice in a short period of time? No, she wasn't fine. "If you need anything..." he'd begun to say shortly thereafter, when he'd heard Professor DeLanquar's voice from behind them.

Swiftly, the Russian professor practically whirled around to face the newest arrival upon the situation. Perhaps too swiftly, he noted silently as the room spun a bit before his eyes. Hoping no one would notice, Sevastyan squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the dizziness to pass but remained intently interested in the conversation.

The inquiry as to where the man known as Daniel Lestrange was made Sevastyan open his eyes despite the disorientation that still swam before his optical nerves. Carefully he avoided both of their gazes, and remained silent for a whole half a minute before he asked, "Shall I take my leave, Headmistress?" Sevastyan was slightly nervous about the impact his immediate presence would have upon the atmosphere in the room if and when Kiara divulged the whole story of what had transpired only minutes prior.

Kiara felt her self start to panic as Eglantine preformed the diagnosis spells, she knew what Eglantine would see. Two curcio's, a bruised wind pipe and of course she damaged lungs.

"No.."

She couldn't let her see that, "no no no I can't" she thought frantically.

In her panic a shield rose up in front her hoping to block Eglantines spells

Eglantine almost dropped her wand as the panic in Kiara's voice along with her shaking hands and the shield that rose before Kiara combined.
She slipped her wand back into her pocket.
Silently she extended her arms to comfort Kiara. "No spells, I swear." she murmured.

Kiara's mind was swimming how could she tell Eglantine what happened, it would devastate her no matter how she worded it, and Daniel Lestrange was now dead.

She allowed her shield to drop but she didn't know what to do. Eglantine was bound to notice the bruise on her neck and demand to now what happened and where Daniel was.

She looked over at Sevastyan, she desperately didn't want him to leave, but she imagined he probably wanted to...given his roll and method of her rescue.

How she wished she could go back in time and stop this from ever happening. If she could only have stunned Daniel at the start...it would have saved Sevastyan the trouble and pain in having to kill him... she wished this was just a nightmare she could wake up from.

Eglantines sudden appearance was forcing the blissful numbness out of her. And the reality over what happened started to set in and this was neither the place or time she wanted it to happened.

She gave a strangled breath, she couldn't do this, she was breaking down faster then she could calm her self.

She clenched her mouth shut and tried swallow the dump in her throat.

"Eglantine....." she said desperately, her voice was a whisper and and she could say no more. She brough a shaking hand up to mouth to block a sob that would have escaped if she hadn't.

Eglantine gently pulled Kiara closer to her, allowing the younger woman to all but sit on the wooden frame of her wheelchair. "You do not need to speak." she comforted, rubbing her back. Later she would find out what had happened, maybe from Sevastyan instead of Kiara.
She had already figured out that Daniel had attacked Kiara and that due to the lack of his presence... he was most likely either dead or very uncomfortable. She only hoped that Kiara had not killed him.

'It's only a matter of time...... only a matter of time..... keep vatch..... don't blink....' Sevastyan told himself, certain something was about to happen but wasn't sure what. He kept himself out of the conversation between the two witches deliberately, though the moment Kiara panicked and shielded herself his vision cleared and he was in a state of exhausted alertness... a paradox of physical states of being if Sevastyan had ever heard of one.

He had not received an answer, but the moment his eyes connected with Kiara's it seemed clear he wasn't going to be going anywhere. Not because she demanded he stay, but because it would be insensitive to leave. How could he think of such a thing, when she was likely on the brink? Sevastyan didn't really want to be there, but he would. As the saying goes: you can't always have your cake and eat it, too. Well, maybe that wasn't the best genre for the analogy...

The split second Sevastyan detected a break in Kiara's defenses, it was as if he'd moved and remained still all at once. It was clear she was severely distressed, but for which reason - or reasons - he couldn't pinpoint, so he assumed it was everything: the attack, the rescue, and the death... Was it really his place, as her ex-husband's killer, to comfort her? His hands were metaphorically stained with blood, after all he'd done to wash off past sins of a similar nature. It was at this moment that Sevastyan was grateful that Kiara and Professor DeLanquar seemed to be close, and that the latter had arrived when she did. Sevastyan didn't do well with emotional outbursts, preferring to internalize as much as possible.

"She needs some medical attention, but I think the vorst has been taken care of, vith a little help from Saturn," Sevastyan finally addressed Professor DeLanquar. His voice and expression were deliberately schooled into emotionlessness... his exhaustion only increased his ability to manage such a thing.

Eglantine nodded. "Come, Kiara. We will move into your office." She knew that Kiara would dislike the idea of falling apart in the middle of a hallway, where a student could happen upon them at any moment.

Kiara faintly heard Eglantines and nodded but when she heard Sevastyan she looked up, he sounded.... Tiered.......

"I am so sorry I did this to you Sevastyan... so sorry I failed, ooh I am useless" she thought out with her mind.

A massive amount of guilt started to push it's inside her, her past had come back to haunt her and it had harmed all of them. It wasn't fair to them to have to live with her past and now they were.

The guilt for some reason allowed her to calm her self at least temporarily. She pushed back her tears with a great amount of effort.

Sighing she said "I am... sorry about that, I will be fine i swear.... If you wish to leave Sevastyan you may... you sound tiered" her last words held worry.

"Do not apologize, Headmistress," Sevastyan attempted to soothe her, though wasn't sure how convincing the inflected emotion sounded. "A little tiredness never..." he paused abruptly, almost having said something insensitive, "... never bothered me," Sevastyan finished, unable to bring himself up to say the cliched 'never killed anyone'.

"And I think it vould be best if I stayed, despite my initial reqvest. That is, if the both of you vill allow it?" he added. "Perhaps ve should take Professor DeLanquar's advice and move this to somevhere slightly more... private?" Anywhere would be better than at the 'scene of the crime'. Or was it crimes?

Eglantine wandlessly opened the office door and steered her wheelchair to face it. Kiara more or less stood on her own two feet, but Eglantine was prepared in case the younger woman collapsed.

Kiara nodded " My Quarters are more private" she said quietly.

Slowly kiara walked over to the corner at the far end of the hall and tapped her wand on a brick.

The wall vanished and Kiara motioned for the other two to follow her.

((To Kiara's Quarters))

Eglantine closed the door and followed after Kiara. It did make sense to go to her chambers instead of the office...

Sevastyan followed the two women. He had to hand it to Kiara: her quarters were infinitely more private, what with the sentient portraits clustered about the office.

((To Kiara's Quarters))

Kiara walked out of her office having taken a pain reliving charm she felt a little better, not much, but a little.

Then something caught her eye, it was a wand laying of the floor.

Daniels wand.

Kiara walked over and picked it, she would keep it as evidence to what Daniel did just in case the Lestrange family decided otherwise.

She had a lot of work to do, any opposition would fear the day they took this case.

Kiara rushed out of her office the letter from the Casillas's in her hand.

"How the heck did they find out? I need to warn them"

(DIFFERENT TIMELINE)

Bruce ran soundlessly across the Hall. With the way his feet touched the floor in a noiseless, effortless manner, it wasn't farfetched to suggest that he could make a fine career in espionage. He strained his ears for a second before performing a hand gesture to communicate that everything was clear.

Cook and Dick followed suit. Cook had much less grace than Bruce but he managed not to make a sound. Cook performed the same hand gesture as Bruce did earlier to flag in the rest of their troops.

Darien nudged Rory, standing just to the right of him, and the two of them began to tiptoe forwards, joining the other three. Glancing behind him, Rory made an exasperated sound. "All clear!" He hissed, glowering as "the Baron" made his stately and incredibly reluctant way around the corner.

"This suit is new, I'll have you know-" Hector began to bluster, before being cut off sharply by Darien.

"Keep watch Baron. Keep watch." He turned back to the others and Hector stalked to the corner he had just vacated, a sulky expression on his face.

Rory rubbed his hands together for a moment, jerking his head in the direction of a bench. "Could be useful."

"This incredibly pointless and puerile!" The Baron snarled over his shoulder. "Purposeless vandalism-"