Dark is the Night (Open)

[Reniara Ashwar]

Reniara had just arrived back in London after wandering around fullfilling other peoples desires. She had heard rumors in her travels that the Dark Lord had fallen, and she came back to London mainly out of curiousity to who had remained, and who had risen as the new leader.

Reniara walked through empty backstreets, a slight smirk on her face. Her black pants were hidden partly in the darkness, though her white collared long sleeve shirt with a blood red tie stood out. She had just apperated back from a nice successful party, in which part she only was able to have a glass of wine while she watched her customer's victim die.

Of course she had come back for private reasons as well, and she was excited to begin. If felt that the assassinations were becoming too easy, she needed another challenge. "Oh, Tommy you better had a good plan, or your little followers are just going to be sitting around. How boring." Reniara said aloud as she smiled. Being as young as she was, she understood who the dead Dark Lord was, what he was like, still she enjoyed calling him Tommy. After all, he was just another person to her, even when he was alive.

Reniara tossed a rock in her hand. Soon, something would happen. It was one of the reasons why she was here. Only for a good reason would Reniara, or as those that knew her would call her, Night, would come back from her travels on such extreme short notice.

[Professor Severus Snape]

Snape decided to come to London, at least to see that his home here was fine but he also did it so as to see if there appeared to be any D.E. here. So far he had yet to see anyone so it was a good sign, after all with the way Jamie spoke he had expected there to be some D.E. around some where, perhaps she had other plains that was bigger then the idea to kill off the muggles so fast. So it was clear at the moment she was thinking of some other action to take before she set out to remove the muggles & likely after the half bloods.

His steeps where silent, after years as a D.E. & spy it was second nature to him, it was also good to have such a skill when he was at Hogwarts watching for students being out that should not be.

[Reniara Ashwar]

Reniara kept tossing the rock in her hand. She put the rock in her pocket, it would be useful if she became bored again, or if she needed to defend herself. Reaching into her other pocket, she pulled out a small bag. Opening the bag Reniara peered inside.

"I really need to get a new one of these, all my weapons keep getting tangled with my clothes." Reniara mumbled to herself as she pulled out her dress jacket. Only a tiny amount of blood was on the coat, from the assassination, something that could easily be fixed. Reniara reached into her bag again, pulling out a cloth with a bottle of stain remover.

Reniara placed her foot on the wall, so that she could use her leg to place the coat over, for easier cleaning. Her wand was sticking out of her pocket as she leaned over, rubbing the stain remover with the cloth over the blood stains. She sensed someone approaching , but continued with cleaning the coat.

[Professor Severus Snape]

Snape continued to move, though he always remained alert one could never even say that there was not a danger even here at least with the D.E. in strong force. Though he was still in that group even if he wanted to leave, he only would be able to do so with death or Jamie freeing him & he saw the first being the most likely. He was wearing his normal clothes excepted the cloak he wore was more a muggle style to keep un wanted attention form being on him.

Not that it would matter much, muggles & the wizarding world at times was not that different. If they saw some one they did not know, for the most part it gained there interested to some degree. But, he was not looking for it no, he just wanted to finish here before returning home, though he did have the option to go to his home in the muggle world to stay if need be. As he moved he though he saw some one, though it was not uncommon for such a thing to meet people here but, he was mindful just incase after all there was few he could trusted.

It also appeared that it was starting to get colder out, though it was not uncommon here ether so he gave little though to that other then to draw his cloak closer. His eyes watched for any sign of danger & he listened to things around him that would alert him of people. He moved to draw the hood of the cloak over his shoulders, as he keeps walking allowing his mind to wonder & yet keep, alert with things around him

[Reniara Ashwar]

Reniara looked up just as she saw someone in a cloak out of the corner of her eye. She turned looking at the person, narrowing her eyes. Strange to see someone out over here, and in a coat like that. From her travels the cloaks seemed to be diminishing in the muggle world, however it wasn't uncommon either.

She felt that they were both aware of each other, and her position was a little suspicious seeing how she had a blood-stained coat in one hand, and her wand sticking out of her pocket. Reniara stood up, examining the coat, while looking at the person before her. "How does the coat look? Think I could wear it again?" Reniara asked trying to invoke conversation out of the man. She really hated awkward positions, but she was a little curious about the person. What were they doing over here. True, they might be thinking the same of her, a nineteen year old girl who looked more androgynous than anything in a dark alley way.

[Professor Severus Snape]

Snape had come to a stop, as his eyes flickered to the person he had a feeling that they where not a muggle, though seeing a part of a wand was only a good clue to that. With her words, he had almost wanted to roll his eyes at the irony of such a question. “I do…not ..see a coat.. changing as… for wearing it again… that… would be you choose”

He was unsure why they had asked such a question & as he waited for an answer his arms folded over his chest, it would be interesting to see what she said after all it could not be any more off then by what she asked to start with of him.

Though even though his arms where over his chest he was ready to move if need be & reach for his wand, after all it was clear they where a witch, some one he could not say he knew right off & with that he could not say if he could trust them or not. So he waited & watched for any sign that would tell him the answer he was after.

[Reniara Ashwar]

Reniara listened to the mans words, and inside she felt the pieces connect. The voice she had just heard belonged to someone she had sat in a classroom with, her potions professor. Almost embarassed for asking him such a strange question Reniara tucked the cloth and stain remover back into the pouch.

"Professor? Professor Snape?" Reniara cocked her head a little as if trying to make out his face from beneath the hood. If she was wrong she could obviously pretend that she was delusional. He wouldn't really remember her seeing how she was gone for the most of the time and tried to blend in with the rest of the students. She had to keep her profession safe, and being a well known student and sneaking off to do her job wouldn't be a good combination.

"Sorry, about the strange question. I was trying to figure out if you were, well you know." Reniara said almost secretly motioning to her wand. "I was one of your students a couple years ago. You probably don't remember me."

[Professor Severus Snape]

Snape heard her words his eyebrow raised under the hood, as it knowing he had to know her form some where likely Hogwarts for her to know his name. He did not miss as she
Cocked her heard a little, as if unsure he was indeed who she though he was.

“Yes” Had been his only answer to her first question though with her other words he spoke “I cannot say I do” He looked at her more closely people but, not by a great deal at least when they left Hogwarts any way or he should say for the moment part. “Should I take it that with you last worse that you… did not strive to be… the best in… my class or should… I think more… along the lines… you where… not there… most the time?”

That was normally the reasons Snape did not remember a student but, if he had a name he likely would & he would have his answer to his own question. His eyes flickered a bit, as he waited for her answer to his words but, he also watched her for any sign of things he could learn about her with out her knowing.

[Reniara Ashwar]

Reniara laughed slightly, as she put the dress coat on. "Well, I did get good marks in your class, however I was gone a lot. You see, being an orphan and all, I had to earn my money to buy all my things for school through another resource."

Reniara smiled, not really knowing what Snape's position was. Albus always had trusted him, and he seemed like a nice a enough fellow. "I don't really know if my name will ring a bell or not, but, I'm Reniara Ashwar. People call me Ren, and the people who pay me call me Night. What's new with you. How did the whole thing with Tom....I mean the Dark Lord turn out?" Reniara wanted to get information out of Snape as well and she guessed that he was trying to do the same. Though she didn't know if he knew her real position as one against the Death Eaters, and he had the mark on him, though that didn't mean he agreeded with it.

[Professor Severus Snape]

Snape listened to her words he could guess, on what she meant by another resource. “You should have spoken with the Head Master, he would have seen to it you got your education with out worrying about other recourses to obtain it”

He did not miss as she told him his name but, he also did not miss her other nick name so to said “Dare I ask… what it is you do… that would have you… take on the name… of night?” He watched her, as if to read her he did not thing she would answer his first question & he had not really expected her to ether. “Yes,… I remember…. you though it would have been better….. had you been in class more,…. then you where”

Snape was surprised with her question on the Dark Lord, he assumed all knew & he wondered if she did not & was simply asking him any way. “The Dark Lord was, defeated… & many praised Harry… Potter for it &…. bring so called peace to the Wizarding World”

“As for what is new… with me… I cannot… say there is… I still teach at Hogwarts & the… students are the same….as years before”

[Reniara Ashwar]

Reniara frowned slightly. "I'm not one to ask for help. I've always taken care of myself, and true my job isn't the best in the industry so to say, but it pays for food and shelter."

Reniara paused, "Well, there really is no kind of nice way to say this of what my job is and why people call me Night, but I'm an assassin. I learned how to kill at an early age, and that was the only way I knew how to survive. Though....I'm not like other people, I study who my clients target are before I take them out. I make my own descions, I never kill someone without knowing why they should be kill."

Reniara looked at the ground, almost feeling ashamed and stupid that she was telling an old professor about it. "I don't know who you're allied to any more, but I know the new leader of the Death Eaters has a pretty tight leash. A leash that is getting to tight, and apparently they're planning on wipping out everyone. Something I won't let happen. My next mission is to protect the people, even if that means assassinating the new leader of the Death Eaters, and whoever gets in my way."

Reniara smiled, frankly she didn't really care what Snape did. She had been bored for way too long. "I don't care if you tell them or not, or if you are allined with them or maybe don't want to be. Though, everyone has a choice. A choice even if it means their own fall, or death." Reniara said to Snape. Every word was sincere, she had been in a poistion once before, when one assassin she had met was getting out of control, and she ended it while also taking care of Aldar's own problems.

[Professor Severus Snape]

Snape listened to her words, he could see that even with her being an assassin she was it appeared to him over confident to some degree. And it was a degree that, if done wrong could be the end to the person. “Yes, but to do your so called killing this so called new Leader of the D.E. means you have to know who they are first” It was a fact she could say she was going to kill them but, with out knowing who it was would not make it so simply as she spoke.

“Of course there is a choose but, tell me what makes you better then this new D.E. leader? Even with you knowing the crimes of those you kill & choosing that they should die, does not change the fact that they die by your hand” He wanted to know her reasons, he never said he was better then her & he would not for he had killed all the same but, he did not do if for money ether, there was no fame in it & it stained ones soul in the end or it was very likely to do so in the end”

[Reniara Ashwar]

Reniara looked at him, as if wondering if it was actually Snape in front of her. Even though she had rarley been to class, he seemed more deep, more concerned in a way. "I know I have to know who the leader is first, before I do anything. I know I'm talking big game here, I've been away for a couple of years now, and I....I just really...." Reniara bit her lip. Snape's words were making her uncomfortable, they were making her reflect on how she had lived her life.

"I know it seems the same to you and everything. I know I'm probably worse than the Death Eaters, the people I....kill. I just, I just never had anyone to tell me." Reniara turned away telling herself not to cry, something she had told herself every day, to not cry, because crying was a sign of weakness.

"I don't know Professor. I don't know where I've gone to. I guess this is the only way I know how to live." Reniara stepped closer to him, until she could see his eyes in the dark alley.

"I have never told anyone this, and if you tell anyone you know what will happen." Reniara said sternly, knowing that she probably could never do anything to Snape.

Reniara whispered to Snape, her voice quivering as if hearing them outloud for the first time, "I was abandoned as a baby, left in the some backstreet slum. The garbage man found and took me to an orphanage that was just hanging by a thread. Ever since I could remember.....I....I had to do their bidding." Reniara shivered, she hated her past, hated it so much.

"They beat me when I messed up, even if it was something little. They wouldn't feed me during those days either. I bled, I bled till I thought I would die. I finally got the guts to run away when I was just five years old. Then guess what happens. Some drunk man tries to....well just guess....that was what the world was like for me. A cruel place, one filled with hate, no love. The clients I take on are poor people most of the time. They have children working as slaves to their authority figure. I get rid of people like that. I get rid of people that steal others away in the night, that murder for worldly riches, that beat children behind closed doors."

Reniara paused, her hand clenched in a fist. She took a deep breath, trying to relax her muscles. "Yet, through it all, I knew I was the same. I'm the same as the people I kill. No, I'm worse than them. I so desperatly want to change, I search for my so called soul every night. I fight inner demons just to keep breathing. Yet, I can't find anything. All I can find of my soul is an empty dark pit with a river of blood....a river of my blood."

Reniara stepped away, turned around, the tears welling up in her eyes. "You don't know what it's like to be rejected. To fear and hate yourself. But, now you know everything there is to know about me, I hope you're happy." Reniara clenched her hands in a fist at her sides, her gaze directed down at the ground. She was worthless, the scum of the earth, she didn't even know why Aldar or Snape spent time in her prescence.

[Professor Severus Snape]

Snape listened to her words, well at least she got the point of finding the leader of the D.E. even when he knew who it was, he had not forgotten that Jamie had done well to keep her secreted & death to in shure it was not unheard of ether, in the end it was normally the out come. He did not miss her bit her lip & he knew she had to be thinking, of what he said perhaps his words where closer to home then he first though. For in the end he though his words would do nothing to her, for she likely heard them before perhaps he was wrong not that he was going to say that.

“Perhaps there is a difference in what you do compared to Death Eaters, perhaps your motives are better or more right in some way but perhaps your skills would serve you better else where, then sign your self out as a common thug” He had not missed that she had turned away, he knew that he must have made her think on something or rethink but, he already knew the kind of life she was leading it was not a fun one & it was a lonely one on top of it.

He had lost everything he had cared about, simply because he had joined the D.E. true he had tried to stop it but, if not for him joining the D.E. he would not of heard what he should not have & told the Dark Lord. He listened to more of her words, though as she moved closer he was alert he did not think she would try anything but, he was not one that trusted so lightly.

How ever with her threat to his life he smirked as he spoke “You will try” He could not say she was not good or he could not be beat but, the first thing when it came to fighting was knowing how to bluff & he did no fear death so it would give him an likely edge over her on top of his years more, then her at a life of shadows & death.

“I cannot say life is far, in many ways it is far form it. And one cannot be hated when they do what they can to save there lives or those they care for but, if you feel you must free the world form these kinds of people, perhaps you should seek out the law to deal with them or work for them, so you do not end up with a price on your head for your actions”

He watched her as he spoke on “And if or when you find one to love, your actions now could put them in danger. Are actions almost always have an out come, to take the path you lead means that you are like you will never trust one & you will never allow your self to find one to love you”

“If you want change then you first have to find forgiveness for your self, in what you have done & then leave the life behind you know & find a new one. Not something so simply but, what would need to be done” Snape watched her steep away & turn around “Ow but, I do know what it is like. You think the fall of the Dark Lord has changed peoples minds about me or there hate for me?” He could of gone more into detail but, he did not he did not think there was a point to. Though he figured his point would be made, he was the out case in many ways, during the time he worked with Albus he found he was questioned in his actions or what his motives where, just as his loyalty’s.

His eyes narrowed with her last words, he had been close to saying something about her actions, about how she spoke to him & yet he held back form doing so. “I think you wanted to tell me your story other wise, you would not have”

[Reniara Ashwar]

Reniara turned back around so that she was facing Snape. "I know people probably still think bad things of you. However, you were really the only person I trusted during school. Honestly, I think you had felt some of what I feel. I guess I picked you as my....as someone to look up to....to share the pain with. That's why I told you my story. Though I also needed to hear it as well, it's something I always ignore."

Reniara pulled her jacket around her, the cold finally creeping into her skin. Her eyes twinkled slightly, "The truth is Professor, I have found something. That's why I came back, and I know word will get out sooner or later, but the new Minister is hiring me. I'm going to work at the ministry of magic! I won't have to do my job...as much...it is an old habit, one that will be hard to break, but I have a feeling things will change." Reniara smiled. What Snape didn't know was that Aldar was hiring her for her assassination skills. He needed someone to help defend against the Death Eaters and she was, in his mind, the perfect person to do so.

Reniara knew that her actions had direct consequences on everyone and her future life. However, she wasn't one really for relationships, even though she wanted to be with someone. She really just needed to find someone to show her the way. So far, Reniara only had one person she trusted in the world and that was herself. She also trusted Aldar a little bit, but she would have to see if time had changed who he was. Snape, could be trusted, Albus had trusted him, and Reniara believed Albus to be a good man while he was alive. After all, he was the one who let her come to Hogwarts in the first place.