Salvation is only a prayer away...

Yemon's eyes rolled into the back of his head as the screeching of the alarm clock went off. Was it that time already? He yanked the pillow from under his head to place it over his face, hands pressing down in hopes that he'd wake up. He had no such luck. Slowly removing the pillow from his face he rolled to his side only to nearly touch noses with another person. His blue eyes grew wide and he fell backwards out of his bed with a loud yelp. The laughter and taunts of the other person as the left the room only angered Yemon.

"That shit isn't funny Hibiki!

He screamed as he tossed the limp pillow at the doorway that the male stood in. The dark haired cousin of his jut shrugged with his grin still plastered there. He didn't say a word, just tapped his wrist and wondered out. Yemon snorted and used the bed to pull himself up.

Did they always have to leave so early to go shopping for supplies?

Sure there was close eye on all things considered magical by the muggles now, but waking up at five am was just too much! He curled his fingers into the sheet wishing he could just lay himself back on them.With a loud sigh he simply raised his hands up, palms together and prayed out loud. His eyes closed and held tilted back as he spoke.

"Dear lord, forgive my sins of the night. Forgive any I may commit today..."

He heard a scoff from outside his door.

"Including murder in the first degree. Amen."

He cracked an eye open as he lowered his hands, but the annoying male had left again. Good.

Grumbling he stopped at his closet where he just glared at the clothing there. How did his cousin always get up before he did? No matter what time he rose, Hibiki was always awake first. Yemon silently wondered if the idiot slept at all.

Reaching in he just snagged the first thing his hands laid on and tossed it onto his unmade bed top. He didn't have to worry about his uniform, it was better to pack that and change after he left the muggle presence.Slamming his closet shut he strut to his bed and changed.

It was going to be one of those days.

The streets were nearly empty as the five family members stalked the streets. Yemon let out a bored yawn. He didn't see the point in his grandparents and his mother AND his cousin. Hibiki and he were perfectly capable of doing it all on their own. Still, he supposed they were only trying to be cautious with all the events that had been going on.

Yemon felt like a child.

A soft nudge on his cheek brought a smile to his face. He had almost forgotten Mary. Thankfully the dove always knew when he was off and about and would find him. She was truly magic. Though normal people did not walk around with white doves perched on their shoulders, no one actually ever questions Yemon about it. White doves were acceptable for a man of god. It helped some that she was name Mary, besides, Yemon usually called her Mother Mary. She was like a feathered mother sometimes.

"Mother Mary, dost thou really wish to endure such trepidation with me?"

The dove cooed as a sarcastic cough sounded from besides him. Yemon shot a death glare at Hibiki, but otherwise ignored him. He was just an idiot that did not deserve his time. Well, on the usual circumstances anyways. Truth was he would go insane without Hibiki to take his aggression out on. He was pretty sure Hibiki felt the same way.

The dove hopped the short distance from Yemon to nuzzle up against his mother. the dove made her rounds to everyone but his cousin. The poor bird had learned the hard way that the dark man did not like anything touching him without fair prior warning. Perhaps the dislike of contact ran in the family. It seemed everyone on his mother's side disliked being touched by anyone or anything. Yemon was no exception. People avoiding his bubble made him feel ill.

A smirk slid across his lips as he thought about it. That was a bit of a lie. He had gotten used to his friend Ziggy tossing herself on him unexpectedly. He still but on the ruse that he hated it, but in reality he had just grown immune to her touches. There was no stopping her, anyways. No matter how he felt about it, she'd still plaster herself to him to annoy him.

and it worked.

He let out another yawn while wondering what she and Ire were up to. He would have much rather been up at all hours of the morning with them. It would probably have been more fun. Or dangerous. Whichever it would be, it had to be better then this family outing. then again, he thought ANYthing would be better than this little family shopping time.

He wasn't a woman. He didn't enjoy shopping.

"Nan-ji desu ka?"

The complaint seemed to flow over everyone's ears, though no one responded. Seemed Yemon's grandfather wasn't exactly thrilled over the early hours either. Both Hibiki and he exchanged glances, smirks playing across their lips. It wasn't like Diagon alley had an early bird special. That was a muggle thing.

"Damette-yo!"

Were his grandparents going to start bickering already? Yemon curled up his lip is disgust. They drove him insane when they did it. Luckily god blessed him with silence after his grandfather muttered a word under his breathe, his grandmother just huffed and seemed not to pay him any more attention. Yemon allowed himself another yawn. How long was it going to be now?


The finally reached their destination as the sun peaked over the tops of buildings. They were rushed inside and before yemon knew it he was walking along the streets of london's little magic shoppe strip.

It was not like he had first remembered it. when he had first laid eyes on the alley is was a cheery place. Witches and wizards haggling and buying. The shops were filled with people bustling with coins ready to buy anything they needed. There were many sweet shops that Yemon had had a hard time figuring out which he liked best. There was always a hubbub of activity. Conversations and laughter. Students meeting up for summer news.

That wasn't the case anymore.

The alley was a desolate place now. Lots of the shops had closed down, and the ones that remained open were cautious to whom they sold goods. It seemed like the whole place was a black market scandal now, people nervously shifting around and paying as if they had just bought a rock of meth. It was a sad sight. But it was one Yemon had gotten all to familiar with. If anything it seemed to get worse as the years went on. The only time Diagon alley seemed to have a flicker of its old life was when school was about to start. Students and their families flocked to the few remaining stores, but it was not the same as the once happy days.

Because most families chose to live among muggles, like Yemon's family, they had to sneak into these places to get their supplies. The fear of getting caught was great and weighed heavy on many people, so even once inside they did business quickly and hushed. Students would meet up with each other, but even in those happy times and reunions their laughter and gleeful chatters seemed lost on a dead wind.

The magical community was falling apart.

Mary let out a soft coo before flapping her wings and heading off. Yemon assumed she would go back home. She didn't like to hang out with him in the alley, seemed the owls around thee had taking a liking to trying to eat her. Yemon gave a gruff grunt and waved up at her. He'd see her later, if he didn't die from this trip first.

Gathering his supplies hadn't been the hardest part of his time. That bit went by fairly quickly for him, as he took off without caring about his "party" yelling at him to come back. He didn't have time to goof off. He knew what he needed and he could get it on his own. He was slightly surprised to see that Hibiki had raced off in the other direction screaming over his shoulder.

"Pick up my shit from that end, and I'll get yours from this one."

Immediately afterwards the loud yelps echoed into his ears as his grandmother because to pummel their grandfather for teaching them such horrible language. It was all good to him, That would make this trip even shorter. As expected, Both he and Hibiki had gathered the good they needed. While Yemon chose to wait for everyone to finish he sat at a table at an abandonded ice cream shop. Hibiki had wondered off to trail some girl, Yemon assumed. He didn't care though. the solitude was nice. He began to thumb through his books scanning over a few of the pages. Didn't see like thee was going to be anything too challenging this year.

Then again there never was. Both he and Ire had never had problems with their curriculum. Her wasn't exactly sure about Ziggy, but from the looks of it [and she had many] she didn't have much of a problem either. Maybe the classes had gotten easier due to the fact they had to accommodate more students? He shrugged and leaned back in the chair, blue eyes watching a few puffy white clouds inch their way across the sky. It had to be past afternoon now and still his family as not done. He guessed they were searching for spell and potion ingredients. Seemed that somehow his grandmother was convinced that combining raw ingredients, potions and spells together that it made things more effective. Yemon had his doubts, but he let it slip. She was old and set in her ways, after all.

"Ichi...ni...san...shi...go...roku..."

One by one he counted the little pigeons and other feathered things that floated across his vision. His whole day had been ruined by sitting here on this little table with absolutely nothing to do but wait. As his eye rolled over to count the next flapping thing, he realized that it seemed to be diving right at him. Hacking as he pushed himself to stand and move he let out a tiny snarl as the owl elegantly landed on his pile of open books. It was Ire's owl, he realized. He squinted and noticed it was sitting impatiently with its leg stuck out for him.

"Another letter from Ire, I see. How'd you find me here? I don't suppose that matters does it? Thank you, and have a safe flight home."

He removed the letter from the owl's leg and bowed to her. The owl let out a lazy hoot, its head turning to the side looking a bit confused before silently taking off. As if he were a child receiving a Christmas gift he tore the letter open and read it.

"Wrath again? Oh how I wish she would pick something less...angry. Little Hangleton hmm? I believe I know exactly where she is planning to be. suppose it is better then...

"WHATCHA GOT!"

Greedy hands snatched the paper from his grasp and a giggling face buried itself into the letter. A few second later the glee died down and the paper was thrown back at him and a defeated Hibiki stalked off claiming he was going to find "the family".


Yemon caught the drifting letter and smoothed it out then pressed it into one of his books. Hibiki had been snagging all of his letters hoping to catch his "innocent" cousin with plans of a one night stand or something. Apparently this letter had not been what he needed for proof. As if Ire and he were like that! As if he and Ziggy were like that! There was nothing but friendship between them and that was the way they all liked it.

There was no question in any of their minds about that.

Finally the group appeared and Yemon scrambled picking up all of his things new and old and followed them along back to the house. It was much more dangerous now that they had magical proof on them, so the walk was quick and hard. There was no time to stop and goof off, they had to get home and quick. Yemon hated the walk, but his head swimmed with how much fun he'd have tomorrow.

If he could get home alive tonight.

Hibiki seemed careless as he walked. Yemon kept eying his cousin, secretly wanting to lash out at him. He really care if they were caught. Not he supposed Hibiki had much to lose if they were. He could always just transform and fly away. Yemon shot him a nasty glare as the Slythern boy lit up a cigarette and took a long, over-exaggerated drag. The evil dark haired man made it worse by letting the rings of smoke drift over to Yemon. He hated when he did that. Yemon chose to try and ignore him, his stomach turning in circles as the smell of the tobacco filled his nostrils. But he couldn't do it. He had to resist. He had to keep up appearances.

Hibiki got his though. Yemon's mother took one of the books from his arm and smacked him over the head. The boy hacked and his cigarette fell from his mouth and tumbled onto the ground and intot he street. Momo beamed and handed the book back to him, which Hibiki snatched away with a glare.

The streets were filled with muggles by the time they had reached the home stretch of their walk. Yemon had to admit that with the chatter and headlines of their papers, he felt uncomfortable around them. Shifting his books he tried to better hide what they said. He would have to be sure to invest in a moke bag at some point. This sneaking around stuff was driving him insane.

Back at the house tensions completely dropped and laughter could be heard from the kitchen area as the family assembled to cook their meal. By family it was meant the adults. Both Yemon and his cousin had dispersed into their rooms to pack their things. Yemon set aside a small hip bag which he packed with a few smaller things. He'd take that with him tomorrow and have his other things sent for later. No need to bring such a large case of things if he didn't need them. As expected, Mary had flown home, where she was now napping with her head tucked under her wing. Yemon smiled and ran his fingers softly over her. She had been the one to tell the owl where to find him, he was sure. Ire and Ziggy's owls had long since proven their disinterest in eating Mary, so she no longer felt threatened by them.

"Tomorrow we shall have a bit of fun. Don't tell anyone, but I suspect we'll be getting into a great deal of trouble. How do I ever let those girls talk me into such things, mother Mary?"

The dove lifted her head and let out a string of soft coos. The sound made Yemon feel sleepy so he decided it was time to call it a night. He didn't need dinner, he was too excited to eat anyways.

"Yes Mary. And I promise to look out for you too."

His soft murmurs seemed lost as he curled up on his bed between bags. Tomorrow would be a better day.


The next morning the day went as is always did. Yemon found himself feeling famished so he tore through three plates of breakfast before skipping to his room to prepare more efficiently then he had the night before.

It took longer then he had expected to pack, and though he was running early he decided to leave. He was like a cat as he stalked though the house and out the door. He didn't want Hibiki following him. He hopped onto his muggle bicycle and pedaled away. Sure his legs would burn by the time he got there, but there would be no question about his mode of transportation. As his house became a dot behind him, Mary fluttered down and perched herself on the tiny bag he had strapped around him. She nestled herself into on of the top pockets, only sticking her head out. she would travel with him tonight as she always did. Mary never missed out on the fun.

By the time he arrived night had fallen. He pushed his bike off into some bushes and began to strut up the side of the street. ahead of him the familiar pink hair of one of the girl's came into view. He remained quiet, taking his slow steady pace until he stood beside Ziggy, both in front of Ire.

"Hello girls. It is a pleasure to see you again."

He smiled and let his weight lean onto one leg. He was not in his prayer form. No, tonight Yemon was going to let his carefree side loose. It was owed.

Tonight, they were going to begin their trouble making early.

and he liked the idea.

All you need do, is fall to your
knees.

Slowly, the girls bright blue eyes turned, looking over the broken down house. Where was Ire? The girl that had invited them on this adventure and a half was nowhere to be found. Wait, there she was. The smirk on her lips grew as she spotted her dear friend, standing there by the dark house. Ah, such a fitting picture. Really, it should be framed and hung up on a wall in a house somewhere. Too bad she didn’t carry a camera around with her. Maybe she should though, because there was always those ‘kodak’ moments around the three of them when they were together. There was always chaos when the trio was together. The adventures were never boring, or not messy.

Speaking of messes..why did she bother taking a shower today? Now that she thought about it, it did seem rather pointless. Sure, now she didn’t smell or anything now, and her pits were shaved..but still. She was going to go crawl around in an old stinky house, with cob webs and dust everywhere. A scowl appeared on the girls lips at the thought of it. Crawling around the house with a Mohawk wasn’t the best idea. Sure, she’d probably get cob webs in her hair anyways but with a Mohawk it just seemed to draw the spider poop even more. Reaching up, the pink haired girl scratched her head with a small sigh. Ah well, if it got in the way she could always fix it. Ah the joy of being a metamorphmagus.

Taking a few steps foreword, Ziggy approached the other girl. At the same time, she dug her free hand into her pocket, pulling out her wand. Muttering, the girl tapped her broom with the wand. In a second flat, the broom shrunk to the point where it was merely the size of a small twig in her palm. She quickly shoved both her wand and miniature broom into a pocket of her jeans, and then returned her attention to Ire. ”Hey girly.” She greeted, lips once more returning into their usual smile.

Movement out of the corner of her eye suddenly caught her attention before she could say anything else. Turning her head slowly, she spied the familiar male by the name of Yemon. Quietly, she watched as he approached, a small laugh escaping her lips as he greeted them. ”The pleasure is always yours.” She muttered as a reply, though, it really was one of those answers that shot out of her mouth before she could figure out if it would make sense or not. Normally though, they didn’t.

Her attention once again drifted back towards Ire soon after she acknowledged Yemon’s appearance. ”Glad? I fancy you are.” Zig replied, folding her arms over her stomach as she stood in front of the other girl. Were they going to just sit there and talk, or actually take some action and go in? When it came to going on adventures, her patience wore thin, and fast. It was probably one of the main reasons she ended up in Gryffindor, aside from the fact that most of her family, for generations, was in Gryffindor. ”You think we’d miss out on this? This..is like..a once in a lifetime adventure. Sure, you could do it more than once, but that’d ruin the fun.” She continued on, waving a hand at the building. Besides, the building might not live through their adventure. Things always went boom wherever they went.

Zig glanced around the building, and then out towards the rest of the town. Was it safe to break into the house, even at this time of night? The town seemed rather dead, but that could be a good or bad thing. It could be good, because nobody will see them, what little people their was. Though, small towns were always nosey, and if they made too much noise..well..it’d be bad. Muggles were pestering just about everything weird that happened, now that they knew about magic. It was quite bothersome. Every witch and wizard had to be ten times more careful about where and when they used their magic.

Ire never was the one to jump the gun and star an adventure. It was usually Ziggy or Yemon that took charge and everyone else played follow the leader. Glancing over at Yemon, then to Ire, the girl lost her patience. Lifting a hand, the girl motioned foreword, and then began to walk towards the building. ”Last one in is a chicken shit squib.” She muttered as she walked towards the old house. First thing was first, and that was to find the door..or what was left of a door. Ziggy drifted around the side of the house, running her hand over the side of the house, feeling over the vines and other shit growing all over the walls of the house. Once again, she dug her fingers into her pocket, dragging out her wand. ”Lumos.” Sure, using a wand for a light probably wasn’t too smart, but they needed to find the door. Besides, if anyone saw, they’d probably think it was a flashlight. Stupid muggles.

”I founddd it.” Sliding her hand around the vines, she took hold of the door knob and wiggled it. Years of not being opened had taken its toll on the door, and the fact that there were vines and shit growing all over it probably helped the door stick shut. Scowling, the girl turned towards Yemon as she wiggled the door more. ”Ye-Ye, we needs a mannn to open that shit.” She giggled, moving back from the door.

Salvation is only a prayer away...

Yemon smiled as Ziggy the cheerleader clapped. It was a simple solution, but he still felt proud of himself for doing it. Besides, he'd of never of lived it down if one of the girls would of had to do it.

His blue eyes watched curiously as Draco too, acted crazy. The lines of worry stretched across his features as he watched the white ferret scramble into a tree, only to be joined by Mary on the limb. It bothered him that both Ziggy and his familiars acted so strange, but Ire's runespoor had not acted out, so he just shrugged.

Perhaps they just felt left over evil juju from the residence that were here before. If they were sensitive enough they'd not be able to realize the threat had long passed. He let his face relax, smile returning to his face.

"Ah. I would go first, wrath-hime but I am afraid Zi-chan would take it as an insult that she didn't get to go first."

He allowed himself a soft chuckle as he looked over at Ziggy whom was already marching through the door. Hot on her tail, he turned his body and followed behind, feet stepping in cautiously on the creaking floorboards. He looked over his shoulder at Ire who had taken the stance like a doberman on alert. His eyes scanned over the lawn out the door, and he saw nothing of interest. Turning back to Ziggy he pointed his glowing wand tip at his bag.

"I have thought of such things as that as well, Zi-chan. I packed a few snacks for us, as I assumed we would have a long night and surly grow famished before we headed home."

He jumped and spun as the door shut behind them, the glow of Ire's wand joining with theirs.

"Well then let us be off, ladies. Perhaps we may be lucky and a death eater will show up and teach us how to dance!"

He began to laugh as his hand slid into a pocked and pulled out a cigarette pack. Placing one of the white sticks into his mouth he slid the lighter from inside the same pack and lit it. Standing for a moment he inhaled the taste of the nicotine, eyes rolling into his head. Not wanting to fall too far behind he began to follow Ziggy. One hand with wand, the other with his cancer stick.

The floor was dusty and her curled his lip up at the fact that the natural color of the wood only came out in the spot where their feet had drug. He half heartedly wondered if it would suck all the magic out of his to scorgify the place. Though he realized it was a silly idea considering they'd never come back here. Feeling a bit evil he jumped and pointed his wand, his shriek echoing.

"OH NO! WHAT IS THAT!"

Bright light from his wand illuminated nothing but a blank wall besides Ziggy, though he was fairly certain she'd at least jump. He'd pay for it later, he knew, but he couldn't help himself. It was too perfectly set up. Taking another long drag from his tobacco he puffed out the smoke, his eyes scanning the nearly empty area.

"They didn't keep it very homey, did they? HEY! you think that the chair is still up there?"

He twirled around to look at Ire, his wand jutting into the air to point at the ceiling, thereby the upper floor. His mischievous grin spread wide across his face. If it were there, imagine sitting in that very chair. Ire would have the time of her life sitting there in the very chair her "hero" sat in.

All you need do, is fall to your
knees.

Ziggy blinked, for the first time noticing the bag that Ye had brought along with him. ”Ooh, you think the house would mind if we had a dinner picnic upstairs?” She questioned, tilting her head as she peered up at Yemon with a small smile. Of course, the house wouldn’t mind. Or she thought that much at least. ”I’m already famished and I ate right before coming here..” She finished, with a small shrug of her shoulders. As if that was a big surprise, the pink haired girl was always hungry.

A death eater? Oh my. Ziggy hadn’t heard of one of those in a long time, aside from the stories she had been told. She figured that most of them were long dead by now, aside from the pureblooded descendents that were still all evil and waiting for the dark lord to be revived. As if that would ever happen, those silly little purebloods with their dark arts and such. Bah, who needed those. “The death eaters are probably all dead, and the kids of them are probably all pansys.” She said, as she eyed the pack of cigarettes that Yemon suddenly took out. Wiggling her fingers at him, she watched as he put the pack away. So, she simply stole the one in his hand and took a drag off it.

A few seconds after that, Yemon decided to jump and scream at the top of his lungs about seeing something nearby. A scream escaped the female, causing her to fling the cigarette the she had stolen from Yemon off who knows where. Her blue eyes widened as well as they shot over to where he was pointing to. A blank fucking wall. Immediately the girl narrowed her eyes, shoving the male harshly. ”Bloody git, whats wrong with you?” She hissed at him dangerously. No doubt, she’d get some sort of revenge sooner or later on the stupid male. He knew she was easily scared, and yet he had to go and do stupid shit like that.

Ziggy glanced over at Ire, watching her attack a poor spider. Though, she probably would have done the same exact thing. Spiders were gross, and she had just as much dislike for them as the other girl. It was one of the few things they had in common. A small smirk curled onto her lips as she watched the spider burn to death. Score one for Ire, zero for the ashes left of a nasty spider. Her attention soon returned to Yemon, listening as Ire agreed to the idea of heading up towards the upstairs room. The room would definitely creep the hell out of her, and having that silly board with them would only make it that much more creepy. ”I suspect you want dibs on his chair, then?” Ah well, It really was her fault that they were on this adventure. After all, she was the storyteller.

Hopefully something did happen that was interesting, besides getting the shit scared out of her by Yemon. That hardly counted in her books. Holding out her wand, Ziggy continued moving around, easily finding the stairs. ”Good lord..these don’t look very safe..” She muttered as she headed towards them, wand held out in front of her and lowered so she could see where her foots were being placed. With each step, the boards creeked loudly, groaning under the girls weight. Yeah, this house was definitely ancient. Ziggy was scared the stairs would give out under her small weight, let alone adding on the two other bodies about to climb the stairs with her.

Ziggy rolled her eyes as the male started yelling at her over the stupid cigarette. "Well then, you shouldn't have scared the crud out of me." She retorted, scowling at her friend. How dare he sit there and yell at her when he was the one that thought it would be funny to scare her. "Serves you right." Then, she simply pushed the whole ordeal aside and didn't think one more second about it. What was the point anyways? What had happened was in the past, and she couldn't change it. "If you're so worried about it, get a time turner and go back five seconds and get it, or go find it right now. Stop whining." She honestly didn't see the big deal over the stupid thing, probably because she hadn't paid for it.

A small snicker escaped the female, her mind rolling in the gutter as Yemon spoke. Did he mean that to be perverted? Probably not, but in her little mind, it got labeled as such. Though, she decided against commenting on it, and simply laughed instead. Instead she turned her attention back to the stairs, watching where she stepped as she climbed them. God that really would suck if a stair gave out. "Yeah, you're right. She mumbled as a reply towards his next comment. Yet she still wouldn't trust the stairs. All things come to an end at some point, and the stairs should of had their ending long ago.

Her attention drifted back over to Yemon as he decided to take the lead, a protest flying from her lips a second afterwards. "HEY! Git!" Quickly she followed him, forgetting about watching her feet as she raced after him down the corridor. The corridor itself was eerie and creepy, but once they got into the room, the feeling got that much more worse. Ziggy narrowed her eyes slightly as she held out her wand, looking around the room. Though it was eerie, she wasn't having second thoughts about it. Not yet. This just had to be the most creepy adventure they had yet, though.

Turning back towards Yemon, she watched as the board was placed on the ground, and candy was dug out of the backpack. In an instant she was at his side, sitting on the ground and stealing some of the candys. Yes. she had quite the sweet tooth. In general she ate a lot, and most of which was quite unhealthy. Somehow she managed to stay fit though, though how, would remain a mystery to her and anyone else wondering about it. As she opened a candy, she turned and looked at Ire, lifting a brow as the other girl talked away in parselmouth to her dear pet. None of it ever made sense to her, though, so she quickly lost interest in it.

Ignoring the other girls taunting, she watched as Ire took the lead with the board. Though as daring as she was, she didn't like the feeling she was getting being by the board. In general, the whole house was giving off a bad vibe, and it was only getting worse as the seconds ticked by. The silence took hold of the room, well, that was until a door suddenly banged open from somewhere else in the house. The loud noise caused the pink haired girl to jump, and at the same time goosebumps rose on her arms. Her head jerked, looking back at the door to the room. "Shit." She hissed, gripping her wand tigher. What in the hell was that? Shifting, the girl moved closer to Yemon, her light blue eyes glancing at him, then to Ire, and back to the door. At that moment, she decided that she probably should have listened to the little ferret waiting outside, and not gone inside the house. Too late now.