November 24th, 1891 — Malfoy's Cottage in Cumbria

Raphael usually used the word terrible very liberally, describing everything from the décor at a socialite's debut ball to the performance of his team even when they won their matches, but this day was well and truly terrible.

He wasn't sure how many mediwizards had been on the scene when it had first happened, but it must have been anywhere between three and ten. He hadn't bothered to look them in the eye, but at the rate they seemed to come in and out of the sitting room he'd been brought to. It had been over an hour—or at least he'd thought so, having caught a glimpse at the clock a few minutes into being seated on the sofa. Between the spells that had been cast on him and the general commotion he couldn't remember what hour the little hand had been on, but it had either been forty-five minutes or nearly three hours. No in-between.

At least he felt better. At first it had hurt, and he remembered looking down at his hand and seeing what looked like black lightning snaking up his arm. Even now as he looked down he realized the unusual coloring was still there, but gone was the pain of its sting.

But it was quickly replaced by another pain, in the form of—"Yaxley," he said with a mix of surprise and disdain, which wasn't really directed at her but at the notion that someone he knew was here to witness this embarrassing moment.

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Rowan Yaxley

  

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set by lady <3

If this was a cottage, Rowan didn't want to know what the Malfoy clan's idea of a house was. Walking around the perimeter, while necessary, was her way of delaying the inevitable: seeing Raphael Malfoy inside. Thus far, she hadn't seen the tell-tale sign of his blonde figure but it was only a matter of time; this was his residence. When she first realized where she was headed, the thought crossed her mind that she might be able to avoid him. Perhaps her luck would turn around.

But there was no such luck for her today, and a quick scan over the preliminary report told her that the son had picked up the object, still yet to be described. She hadn't cared for the way her stomach had lurched when she read that the son had sustained a nasty injury. Perhaps it was cowardice that kept her outside to make sure the proper spells were in place on the structure in case the removal of the object caused stress on the structure. With the last spell cast, there was nothing to it but to head on in.

Brushing a lock of hair back into its place, Rowan walked into the front garden (impeccably kept) and under the iron arch sprinkled with the most intricate, delicate vines. It was easy to guess that the rest of the cottage would be just as beautiful, if not more so. She wove in between the various healers and investigators that had been called to the house, observing that there seemed to be more bodies here than a) was usual and b) was necessary. But she supposed when it came to the Malfoy family, the Ministry didn't pull any stops. It was with a slightly sour taste in her mouth that Rowan rounded the corner and walked into the room that most people seemed to be filing out of.

Her gaze would have moved in the direction of the figure sat on the chair, but the grandness of the room caught her eye first, and she took in her surroundings partially out of habit and also out of slight awe. Everything seemed to have been handpicked and placed in this room for a reason, from the marble and gold features to the beautifully carved furniture. The sound of her name broke through her musings, and Rowan's eyes tore away from the room to land on — "Malfoy."

She nodded tersely, taking in his form. He was in a mild state of undress - slacks as casual as they could come when part of a wealthy upper class family, with his jacket slung over the back of the chair as if it had been thrown off, and his shirt slightly mussed with the sleeves pushed up haphazardly to his elbows. What caused her to hesitate in her tracks was the sight of the spider-like lines crawling up his forearm and disappearing under his sleeve. She wanted to quip something potentially snarky, like how it seemed it was her turn to save him...but save usually implied free of marks or injury, and it seemed he'd already passed that point.

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It was her. His whole face scrunched up, the clearest expression possible of how he couldn't believe this was actually happening, because never in time knowing her had he ever considered what it would be like to have her in his home. Their relationship—whatever it may have been—existed so far outside his day-to-day life, that the mere thought of her standing inside his home made him recoil with something. It wasn't disgust, nor anger, but... intrigue. Slight confusion. A little dread. It seemed terribly silly given how little he had to be embarrassed of, but the image of her standing in the middle of his sitting room was met with an intense need to remove her from the environment so he could make sense of what was going on.

After looking at her his next instinct was to follow her gaze. His eyes dropped to his arms, which did prompt an actual, visible recoiling. The black marks up his arm were so strange and foreign and seemed to align with his veins. Like black ink, there was no missing them against his fair skin, and almost instantaneously he reached for his sleeve to cover them, and—

"Fuck," he hissed, the pain more obvious when he tried to grip the fabric of his sleeve with his fingers. The pain shot through his arm like a spark, ending around his elbow and leaving behind a numb, tingling sensation. "What—How—?" He went quiet, his brain clearly unable to handle everything. Her. His arm. The missing time between the moment his valet had handed him a package and now.

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set by lady <3

His reaction immediately put her on alert - what in Merlin's name did he expect, another healer? When magical catastrophes occured, it was usually protocol that the Magical Accidents & Catastrophes squad be deployed, which meant Rowan and her co-workers. As much as she wanted to scrunch her nose back at him, she had to remain professional. Any one of the healers there could report back to her superiors, which was something she certainly did not want.

But before she could figure out how to react to his reaction, Malfoy had flinched, cursing under his breath at what she supposed was the sudden pain shooting up his arm. After all, that was why one flinched and favored an obviously injured arm, right? A whippy response jumped to her lips, but she pressed them together instead of letting her reply escape, and continued to move forward towards him. "We received word of an artifact wreaking havoc on a cottage in London." She said, unsure of how to speak to him. The situation certainly didn't call for a smug grin on her face, but she found it awkward to maintain a professional facade around him.

"That's when we usually step in." She gestured around her quite lamely, her eyes quickly glancing over his scar again. "Have you had that tended to yet?" She knew he had, but it was rather out of courtesy that she asked.

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When she phrased it like that—"the artefact"—Raphael stared at her like she had three head, unsure what sort of "artefact" could have left him with such a profound injury. There were dark artefacts in his home, ones capable of doing damage to a witch or wizard if they went snooping where they shouldn't, but they were kept in places where nobody would touch them, and Raphael certainly hadn't been anywhere near one.

"I'm fine. I was just opening my mail," he argued, repositioning his arm so he was tucked against his side and in a stiff position. He could feel what felt like bandages under his shirt sleeves, but other parts were left uncovered. If he hadn't been still trying to decipher what had happened he might have yelled for another mediwizard. Everyone knew they were useless, though, and the only way to get proper healing was to see a proper healer.

"What sort of artefact is this anyways? I haven't a clue what you're talking about."

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set by lady <3

His confusion over what she was talking about only plastered her frown even more onto her face. Never mind the fact that he was arguing with her when she knew what she read in her directions. She watched him adjusting his position in his chair whilst grappling with potentially arguing with him, and ultimately decided upon keeping her metaphorical mouth shut. He looked in terrible pain, and Rowan - who usually knew what to do in this type of situation - found herself at a loss as to how to comfort him.

"Opening your mail...?" She repeated softly, her gaze drifting down to the floor as she thought. If he'd been opening his mail when it happened, perhaps that's how he'd gotten it. Though she liked to poke fun at him sometimes for his intellect, she knew Malfoy and the rest of the family at large couldn't be complete simpletons when it came to dark artifacts. From her position in the room alone she could pick out at least three.

She wanted to ask him to show her where he had been opening the mail, but words failed her again. It wasn't as if she could just ask him to get up and take her there. He was obviously in a great deal of pain. Biting her lip, Rowan asked. "Where were you opening your mail?" Hopefully he would be able to point in that direction and she could just go on her merry way and avoid this awkward encounter altogether.

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"Yes, opening my mail," he said, glaring up at her. He shouldn't have been so harsh and he knew it, but like a wounded puppy he was withdrawing into himself and barking at whoever came near him. Unfortunately for her he knew her intimately enough that he didn't feel guilty doing so like he might a stranger. "I was sitting right here, opening the letter, and then suddenly..." Well, something happened. He'd lost consciousness, he supposed, because it's the only reason he could think that he couldn't remember what came after.

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set by lady <3

His response may as well have cracked her spine into shape. She bristled and hardened her gaze at him before moving to their surroundings in mild alarm as he confirmed he was very much in this room when it had happened. Rowan swept her gaze towards the room just outside where she could see a few of the staff being tended to as well. She blinked. She must have completely sidestepped them on her way in. After she was finished talking to Malfoy she'd have to go question the staff. But for now...

She looked at his arm again, then back outside at the staff. "Do they have the same mark you do on your arm?" She asked, the wheels in her mind beginning to turn.

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Raphael stared at her blankly, trying to remember what happened in the immediate aftermath. He hadn't awoken until the mediwizards arrived, and by that point most of the staff members were being tended to.

"I don't think so," he said quietly, "My valet came over to make sure I was alright, and I know he'd been knocked out, but... He didn't have any marks that I saw."

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set by lady <3

That he saw....

Rowan turned to peer at the group of staff, who seemed shaken but alright besides. There were no other people aside from Malfoy who were holding their arms gingerly, or any other appendages for that matter. Which turned her gaze back to him, and she began walking around the room, keeping an eye out for anything that could have fallen. The floor was rather spotless, so the search was already fruitless. "Do you remember anything at all aside from opening your mail?"

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Raphael rolled his eyes. He didn't want to deal with her investigative work right now, which seemed silly; the thought of her prodding around his home and questioning him had him on edge, though, and he was already uneasy at the thought of her being in his home.

"Nothing," he grumbled impatiently, "I told you, I don't remember anything after that. I didn't even get to see my mail."

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set by lady <3

There was that eye roll again - such a small movement that sparked a surge of emotions in her: anger, frustration, annoyance. But giving him a clock upside the head would be a) unprofessional and b) rather rude seeing his current state of being. But oh, how she longed to swipe that look off his usually smug face.

So instead, Rowan grit her teeth and exhaled sharply. "Well fine." She said, letting her tone convey just how she was feeling before she stalked over to a particularly elegant looking cabinet where the mail was resting. With her wand pointed at the pieces of parchment, Rowan levitated them in the air, sifting through each one. Only a few of them were opened, but one looked like it had been a particularly bulky package. Before she could see who it had been addressed by, Rowan's foot hit something which clinked as if it was made of metal.

Peering down, she saw it. It was small but clearly sharp. Putting down the mail, Ro pointed her wand at the object and drew it towards her. There it glinted in the light, rotating slowly in the air encrusted in jewels. Obviously expensive, but there was something about it that looked familiar. "Is this in your family's inventory of objects, by any chance?" She nodded toward the object floating in the air: A emerald encrusted dagger.

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With her back turned, Raphael rolled his eyes so hard he could feel a dull pain in his eye sockets. She was being ridiculous—insufferable, even. Weren't the Ministry's employees supposed to be professional? Soothing, even? He was a victim after all. His gaze flickered up at her while she messed with something over by the cabinet, and then to his arm. Had it not been so painful he might have rolled up his sleeve to examine how far the scarring went. Absent-mindedly he wondered how long it would last; most magical effects were temporary, but there was no telling if this was a dark curse or an especially nasty hex.

Only when she spoke again did he look away from his arm, his eyes following the dagger as it floated in front of her. "Not mine," he said quietly, "But if someone sent it to me, I suppose it is now."

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set by lady <3

Not his...then it was likely the object he touched that sent the entire household into chaos. Rowan frowned as she levitated the object higher in front of her. It wasn't something she was able to decipher - that was to be handed over to the Department of Investigation, though Rowan knew she would be able to help in other ways. She had merely glanced over the stack of mail in search of a sheath for the dagger when something familiar caught her eye.

Horror built in her chest as she reached out and brushed the parchment aside to reveal the parcel that the dagger had come in. With the weapon still levitated, Rowan set it down before levitating the package instead. "Malfoy..." She said quietly, seriously and she rotated with the package at arms length. "Tell me this isn't what I think it is."

She made her way towards him so he could see the writing on the paper clearly.

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It was her lack of reaction to his comment—no, maybe the way her voice dropped into that tone of eerie calmness, devoid of all annoyance—that sent an jolt of cold discomfort down his spine. It lasted only a second before the anticipation set in and she began to cross the room, the floating parchment at her side. With magic she'd unfurled the edges and held it out in front of him to read, and for a second his good arm reached up to grab hold of it because logic kicked it and he dropped it back at his side.

He read the letters with squinted eyes and furrowed brows, the words sounding intentionally vague and... almost threatening. Almost as if the sender... His eyes widened at the realization, a few words in the letter sticking out to him. Jewels. Stolen. Threatening. None were written in a context that outright threatened him, but it only took a second glance (and Yaxley's presence, too) for it to click.

"I think it is," he said in all but a whisper, his blue glaze flickering up to meet her dark stare. "How very nice of them, don't you agree?"

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set by lady <3

Nice was only beginning to describe it. Rowan's eyes narrowed as she read the parchment, each word throwing another jab of guilt at her as she reached the bottom. So. It all came back to her - well, her and Malfoy yet again. It wasn't enough for them to be trapped on a bloody ship together, or for her to feel forever in his debt for what he did at the pawn shop because of her stupidity. No, she had to be responsible for death threats and attempts on his life, now.

"Quite lovely," She said sourly, suppressing the urge to set the entire parchment aflame and instead settling on snapping the roll of parchment closed with a flick of her wand. She pulled a long tube out of her bag and opened the top, slipping the roll of parchment into it. "It's spelled so we can handle it without worrying about being injured further." She added almost as an afterthought as she tucked it into her bag.

"And you're sure you didn't bring this anywhere else into the house?" Rowan asked again, looking up towards the cieling, knowing she should check upstairs anyways.

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