He dreaded the encounter already, but nevertheless he felt a tingle of peculiar excitement spreading throughout his body. It was invigorating, in a sense, much like a rush of adrenaline..
It was time to depart.
Exchanging a glance or two, as well as suggestive winks and snickering, Charles abandoned his clique of Slytherin year-mates and turned onto a side-route; that was, as soon as he had reassured himself of that no professors or potential blabbermouths was around to observe his sudden departure. The head boy himself, diverting from the crowds on his own.. That was plainly against the rules, no exceptions. At least he could be sure that his destination would be void of potential threats, however The Hogs Head being what it was, the Hogsmeade equivalence to the Manticore of Knockturn Alley, it was doubtful that any regular Hogwarteers would be brave enough to stop by the establishment. Besides, it was of no consequence if any other students were there Off limits as it was, or at least that time around, anyone else that spent his hours slumming at the pub would be likely value discretion to an equal degree. After all, any such fools would be far more concerned with keeping their criminal records clean to let slip that the head boy had been there. It was typical teenagers, after all, to put their own skin first; anything to avoid detention, anything to elude potential troubles with the Hogwarts administration. Especially so since he could as well as be around on patrol duty..
As for his Slytherin clique, they would not be telling tales. It was strange, how easy it was to manipulate your own comrades. Especially people in his own age; A simple cover story was apparently all that was needed to coax them into silence. His summer fling with Montrose had not gone unnoticed among his peers, and thus it was reasonably simple to give them more water on that mill. It required no skill to convince them into believing that, in fact, his reason for deserting them in order to head off to the Hogs Head concerned business of intimate nature. That Montrose was one of the students withdrawn from the ranks of the school due to the Diagon Alley disaster only simplified his task. After all, it was reasonable for a girl of her calibre (or rather, her fortune) to head off to Hogsmeade for a weekend in order to rendezvous with what could be considered a prospective boyfriend. And it was all the more reasonable, in fact, for them to rent a room and make productive use of what little time they had with each other. And the Three Broomsticks wasnt suitable for that purpose, given that discretion was advised She was betrothed, for heavens sake. Not to mention that the Montague name should be kept clean of scandals, if one took into account the huge blow it had taken following his unfortunate incident with the ministry that summer.
Never mind that the summer fling with Montrose had been nothing but that. It had been your typical upper-class tryst, ended accordingly after naught but a couple of weeks. Although that piece of information was conveniently kept secret from Derrick and Mulciber, as well as the rest of the Slytherin oafs that unwittingly would cover up what was labelled as a major offence. Hell, they would even provide him with an alibi, gracious as they were to divert any potential suspicion concerning his whereabouts. As far as they were concerned, the great head boy of Hogwarts had retreated to the castle early in order to nurse a splitting head-ache.
They were nothing if not fools. Useful fools, perhaps, easily exploited at ones leisure, but they were fools nonetheless. And speaking of nothing at all, what he wouldnt have done for a woollen cloak..
Although the density of the material he was currently wearing was of no practical relevance; nor was the imaginary Montrose that supposedly awaited him at the aforementioned establishment. In fact, the only thing that mattered was the mission at hand. Never mind that he took the whole ordeal in stages, taking into account the amount of things that could possibly go wrong. Sub-goals were the key to success in this particular case. And the first goal on the list would be to reach his first destination. After all, there was danger in even that small a venture He was defying the rules, after all, never mind that he doubted that the Hogwarts authorities had established a presence in the area. There was, of course, a chance that a small group of hit-wizards could be stationed in the near vicinity, but out of his uniform there was nothing but his age that suggested any ties to the school. Surely they wouldnt recognise him, so to speak.
Some find it would be if they did; the head boy disregarding the rules. At least it would be better, however, if it occurred at such an early stage The head boy sneaking about to steal himself a fire whisky in the local pub was nowhere near the severity of the next offence he would commit. He couldnt afford to get caught, he simply couldnt risk capture.. Not if he took into consideration what the penalty he risked for consorting with the enemy. Or rather, what penalty he would get if all aspects of his affiliation with the said enemy were to be uncovered.
Suffice to say, dementors had quite a taste for murderers..
The mere thought of it sent a shiver down his spine as he entered the pub. It felt as if it had taken ages to get there, but given the meagre distance he doubted that it had taken him more than a couple of minutes. Pleased to find the establishment suitably empty (there were a number of patrons about, but no one from Hogwarts), he went over to the bar-counter, eyes flickering over the person available as he muttered A shot of Ogdens, please, Suffice to say, alcohol was a necessary preparation for what was to come. He suspected he'd need it, suspected he'd require the comfortable numbness it brought in order to soothe his nerves properly. In a while, he'd order a room and proceed to the rendezvous point.. For the moment, however, he rather tapped his fingers toward the counter as he waited for his order, eyes repeatedly turning toward the entrance of the pub for some inexplicable reason.
He was not yet expected, and thus there were no need to act just yet.




