𝔟𝔲𝔯𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔬𝔴𝔰 | 𝔣. 𝔴𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔩𝔢𝔶

12.

When Elin discovered the letter hidden amongst her mail, her first reaction was to look around the apartment for any eyes on her, even though Skylar and Ambroos hidden away asleep with the early morning in their bedroom. Throughout the day, she continued to let the paranoia unravel any sense she had; searching through the crowds of London for the mysterious man, double-checking nobody was following her steps, feeling all six daggers scattered around her body.

        She refused to pick up the Chinese take-out for fear of what would happen, checked behind every corner whenever she entered a room and excused her peculiar behaviour as the rising war and fear of You-Know-Who and his followers, which Ambroos took in stride. He always was going on about how careless she was.

        The letter read, in near perfect cursive:

Ms Steinbock,

Your presence is requested at Hog's Head at midnight tonight. If you are any later, I will not be afraid to send a letter of your identity to the Head of the Auror Office, Gawain Roberds. You must come alone and failure to do so will also end with a letter of your identity to Roberds.

Yours sincerely,

The Half-Blood Prince

Although she was never introduced to the dark figure, she knew that it was him and the notion sent chills straight to her blood.

        Which was why, at half eleven on a Tuesday night in the middle of April, Elin paced the length of her room. Her college classwork lay discarded on her bed, fingers twirling her rings around and around and around, matching the pace of her silent footsteps to hide her being awake from the suspicious ears of her roommates.

        How had she gotten here? To a heavy stomach of anxiety as the time grew closer and closer for her to meet the mysterious man that had wrecked havoc on any sense of security that Elin had left. How had her life taken such a turn in only the space of a few months.

        She wore her usual outfit; black leggings, black boots, a black tank-top, black scarf to hide her face from passers-by, as was usual in Hog's Head. Most notably, Elin decided to leave the purple coat she had found security in, behind, for fear of it being recognised. The more vague she was in her appearance, the better.

        From beside her coursework, his letter lay, crumbled and strained from her tight clutches of apprehension. At first, she feared that, somehow, Skylar and Ambroos had read its contents and would question her of its meaning, despite its tight seal and lack of evidence that said otherwise. Paranoia crept into her mind with its false but alluring ideas.

        'What if it's a trap?' It hissed, rationality spreading through her with its words. 'What if it's only a tool of your death? Or better yet, what if it's simply an unmasking of your identity? Why trust a man you just met, already black-mailing you with information that you have yet to know how he acquired it?'

        So when Elin heard light rapping at her door, pausing her footsteps as well as the thumping of her heart, she couldn't help but follow its thoughts and bring out Artemis from where she was trapped in her bra straps. She closed her books tight around the letter and pressed forward to the door. The blade was tightened in her fist, fear spreading through her with shaky hands as she found the handle of her balcony door and pushed it open, ready for whatever was intended for her.

        "Jesus-" Fred yelped, jumping back.

        "What are you-" Elin's eyebrows furrowed, dropping the hand with her knife down to her side. Fred's eyes were wide, dressed in his usual casual gear and a broomstick in one hand, the culprit to his journey to her balcony. "Jesus Kristus, get inside."