Hair of the Dog (Cima)

With a distinct thump Ciar placed her bottle of butterbeer back on the table. She was dressed in emerald green robes emblazoned with the Whelan crest on the left breast and the front was held closed with an elegant snake clasp. She might have been sequestered in the darkest corner of the dingy pub with her table loaded with two dozen bottles of butterbeer, but Ciar always knew how to look good in any situation. The Whelan crest helped ensure he privacy except for those looking to make payments or alligences.

Her father may be head of the family but most political or finacial dealings went through fifteen year old Ciar now. She was cunning, intelliegent, and ruthless with her business dealings. She had taken over the position when she had saved her father money in a business deal by exposing certain attributes about the man he was dealing with. Running a finger along the edge of her bottle she wished she had something stronger. Bartender wouldn't serve her firewhiskey though. Ciar knew she would need it. Her father had arranged a meeting with the Head of the Black family that Ciar had to attend to during her school break and she would need all the strength she could muster for this meeting.

Normalcy.

That's what she needed. That was why she made no objection when Jet told her to go meet with someone as the Last of the Blacks. He wasn't a Black. As a Zambini, it wasn't his responsibility to deal with it.

It was her's.

So she'd taken the invitation, and walked into the Leaky Cauldron. She'd dressed up for the occasion, adding a golden necklace with the Black Family Crest on it that she'd found under a floorboard in Uncle Sirius's room. Other than that, she was dressed in a black tank top and black cacki pants, with trainers. She was not going to get all dressed up for a person who wasn't even a guy.

She slid into the seat across from the girl, not caring about the butterbeers or anything. She was already bored.

"Okay." She said. She looked down at her arm, which had writing on it. "Uh. Hi, I'm Karma Black, sole decendant of Regulus Black. I am here because I think that... partnership... with... the... Wh...whelan... clan... would be... beneficial... to.... Screw this." She looked up at the girl and shrugged. "I tried." She banged her fist on the table twice, amused when the barkeep almost ran to come to her.

"Two Firewhiskeys, please." She said. When he returned to the table and placed the alcohol in front of them, she waved him away dismissively. She looked over at the girl. "I tried. Anyway. I'm Karma Black. Regulus Black was my father. I'm already bored with this meeting. Why am I here?"

Ciar hid a smirk as the other girl stumbled her way through what was supposed to be proper protocol for any allegiance meeting. Ciar could care less. She was here because she had to be, not because she chose to be. She agreed that this girl could potentially be a powerful ally but if she was the last of the Blacks the bloodline would die out unless she blood adopted when she was older or produced a male heir.

Reaching across the table she plucked one of the Firewhiskies from in front of the other girl and brought it to her lips, revelling in the burn as it raced down her throat. "You're here because neither of us had much of a choice," Ciar commented as she placed the alcohol next to the half done bottle of Butterbeer. "I was told to be here or I'd be sorry. You're here because like it or not you are the last of the Blacks and legally the head of the family, whether you're of age or not."

She withdrew a scroll sealed with emerald green wax bearing the Whelan seal. Holding it out to the girl Ciar said, "This scroll gives details of a union between house Black and house Whelan. It includes financial support, potential business ties, overseas operations, etc. It is basically a renewment of the old allegiance from about a century ago, with some modern updates." Ciar wrinkled her nose. "The marriage contract was not taken out however, much to my distaste." Realizing she had not introduced herself she added, "You may call me Ciar if you wish."

"Marriage?" She demanded, snatching her Firewhiskey back from the girl. She chugged it and held her other one protectively, sipping it. "What marriage?" She took the scroll toward her, her eyes skimming through the information. "Break it down for me, Cici." She said, drinking the rest of her Firewhiskey in a few gulps. She felt no buzz at all yet, and it was saddening.

She leaned back in her seat, her eyes taking in the girl before her. "You a Durmy, Cici?" she asked, not even bothered by the contract in her hands. "You know anyone I know? Roman? Popov? Beneparte?" She listed the names easily, her voice adopting a slight accent so she pronounced the names right. "Or not?" She shrugged. "Anyway. Who's marrying who?"

Scowling Ciar knocked back the remnants of her butterbeer. Damn her father and his blockage of alcohol for her. And now she couldn't even steal a bottle. Setting the bottle back on the table she leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers in front of herself. "Roman Ritter is a Hrabrost like I am, since yes, I was sent to Durmstrang by my father. Beneparte is in my Transfiguration class though I've never interacted with him, and I've never heard of this Popov character. I tend to seek out those who are easily manipulated." Makes it more fun to play with them after they've sworn allegiance to me.

Pulling a scroll of parchment from an inner pocket of her robes Ciar unrolled it on the table after clearing a suitable area of her bottles. She then took a dagger from it's sheath and pinned the scroll at the top to the table with the writing facing Karma. Taking out her other dagger, this one with a green emerald studded pommel as opposed to the gold inlaid pommel of the first blade, she stuck it in the bottom of the parchment by the other girl. The writing was identical to the scroll Black held in her hands and she could follow along as Ciar pointed out key elements of the contract.

The Irish teen grabbed the 14 inch Bowie knife from the sheath at her waist and used it to point out passages and areas of the text. "The marriage part of the contract is here down at the bottom. It outlines that a male and female of the Black and Whelan lines must unite if they are of similar age. They must then produce an heir for each bloodline, preferably boys, with the children assuming the titles of one Bloodline each when they reach the age of majority."

"Here," Ciar moved to a spot further up the page, "is the paragraph that details the rules and regulations that each family must pay heed to when entering a partnership with the other, no matter what form it may be in. All profits are to be split equally, copyright clauses, and all that other legal jargon that I really hate discussing."

Touching her dagger to a paragraph at the top of the page she continued, "This peice here dictates that should either family be threatened of going bankrupt, which is very unlikely, the other family shall support them with a stipend not exceeding 2 million galleons per year until said family is able to support themselves again."

Leaning back Ciar ran her knife across her chin. "That all make sense to you, Karmz," she asked making a nickname for Black like the other had done her.

Karma had her own dagger out the second Cici pulled the first one, and she watched the girls movements with careful eyes before returning to the contract.

"Why on earth would I sign something that makes me have to marry someone?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. "Yes yes, business and all that, but I'm the only one left. Do you even have any brothers?" Her eyes flashed, and then she was smirking. "And if so, are they at least attractive?"

She flipped her dagger (one of the smallest on her, a stiletto blade in the fashion of all her others) between her fingers, thinking. "Why is this needed, though?" she asked. "What's wrong with the last one, other than it being old?"

She smiled, stowing away the stiletto and pulling out her biggest knife, from the sheath behind her back. "A contract for sex and money. Ha. I have to make one for myself." She leaned back, tossing the dagger easily up and down in the air. "What if I don't sign it?" she asked. "I don't feel like it. For you, however...."

She reached under the table they were at and plucked a rolled up peice of parchment from beneath it, with a wax seal proclaiming the Black Family Crest on it. "I actually came prepared for once. Unlike having to help our families, which we can, I guess, if you really want to, this one is singularly for you and me." She handed the contract over to Ciar, smirking.

"This contract contains the same legal spiel as yours does, however, this one states that only you and I are responsible for meeting it, not our entire families. A bit of a burden, I think, having a whole family in one contract, having to marry, when you can easily slip through loopholes with a bunch of them. Why be tied to everyone when only one person catches your eye?" She winked at Ciar, a small smirk on her lips. "What do you say, Ciar? Sign?"

Ciar smirked at the other girl, her devious side coming out as it often did in business meetings where she had to come out on top. So this girl liked to play games. Well, Ciar had a father to appease but she could play games too.

"To answer all your questions at once," she drawled in a bored tone, "You wouldn't have to marry anyone. As Head of the family you can make final call on who marries who, especially if you ever have any kids. I do have a little brother and he's about six or seven years old. A bit too young for you, even if he is a handsome little blighter." Ciar eyed the dagger between Karma's fingers watching the movements with a trained eye. "The only reason this is necessary as opposed the the old one that has been in place for the last hundred years is because my father is trying to manipulate you and I'm his scapegoat for business dealings and if things go wrong."

She plucked the scroll from Black's fingers and broke the seal as she unrolled it and skimmed the text. Giving it a more thorough reading Ciar nodded and muttered under her breath, almost sounding as if she were intoning a spell. Which she was, of course. It was an ancient legal spell that was undetectable by the Ministry and allowed her to see everything on the parchment to ensure there were no hidden clauses or ultra fine print that was invisible to the naked eye.

The teen nodded in satisfaction. "This seems agreeable enough. I think this could be the start to a very interesting partnership." From inside her robes Ciar drew a bottle of binding legal ink, the same type used by the goblins, and placed it on the table. She then secured Black's contract atop her own, turning both so the signature area at the bottom was between them. "Now, my father's contract is only activated by legal ink, but there are enchantments on it that if it isn't 'signed' then I could loose my magic. However I found out that if you sign through another peice of parchment the imprint of the signature is there, thereby protecting my magic, but it isn't legally binding." She opened the ink and stuck in an eagle feather quill she had hidden in her hair. "So if you sign in your spot. I'll sign in mine. Do we have an accord?"

Karma grinned at the girl across from her, relieved now that marriage was out of the question. "Sounds like a plan." She decided, taking the quill from her and dipping it into the ink. She signed her signature, a flowy, somewhat edgy scrawl, and smirked, passing the quill back to her companion. "I feel as if this is the beginning of a beautiful, slightly dangerous, partnership, Cici." she said with a wicked grin. "One that will be most hazardous to the people around us."

She smiled at the girl, her eyes sparkling with mischief as they darkened ever so slightly. "Let's be frank here, I get the feeling you aren't one to be messed with, and so this makes our partnership even better. We'd just need a person in France, and we'd be in the three most powerful wizarding schools." She smirked. "I'm sure you see the advantages of having someone at each school, and so, let us see each other at a later date... at a less crowded and public local, and we can discuss where exactly we want this thing to go. What do you say?"

Ciar took the quill with a malicious smirk and dipped the nib in the ink once more. "A dangerous partnership indeed if I can read you in any way," she responded. Signing her elegant, flowing signature on the parchment the magical bond of the contract settling over her like a settling wave.

"Another person in France sounds like an interesting idea," she mused, cleaning the nib of the quill and stoppering the ink bottle before tucking them both away. "Advantageous to whatever plans we can concoct. Next time perhaps a less known pub or maybe even somewhere outdoors if convenient. I say aye," Ciar said, sticking out her hand. "You find this agreeable then?"

Kama took the girl's hand firmly in hers, grinning from ear to ear. "I find this completely agreeable." She let go and stood, snapping twice in order to get two more firewhiskeys, both of which she placed in front of Cici. "It was nice to meet you, Cici." She said, before turning and leaving the pub.

Her plan was in motion.

Ciar shook Black's hand firmly as the agreement was made and then leaned back in her chair and brushed a finger over her lips in thought. She thought nothing about the snaps that followed until two firewhiskeys appeared in front of her, courtesy of Karma. Arching an eyebrow elegantly she looked up at the other girl as she turned and left the pub.

Raising one of the bottles after the retreating figure she murmured, "Cheers, to a long lasting partnership, Karma Black." Swigging down a hefty gulp of the alcohol she sighed in happiness as it burned down her throat. "Oh alcohol, how I have missed you." Taking another deep swallow Ciar allowed herself to semi relax and the stresses to flow from her body as the alcohol warmed her from the inside.


**FADE TO BLACK AS THE SCENE ENDS**