Discretion Is My Business((Dakota))

[Pyro Blackfire S5]

A cool breeze wafted through the air and played its way through his long blonde hair. The weather was started to turn nice once again, the sun was out and shining and the heat was beginning to rise. Luckily the breeze was keeping the temperature down to a bearable level. Pyro’s mind wandered as he quietly walked through the flower fields of the courtyard, a galleon traveled easily up and down his knuckles. He had started talking walks to clear his head lately, it helped to calm him sometimes even though it didn’t actually solve any of his problem. Running the Blackfire Organization was beginning to be a drain on his mental reserves. Inept employee’s turned to him for every decision, division were constantly draining money out of his coffers for new equipment, and new factories and labs were being built and shut down constantly. If the strain of running a business wasn’t enough school was worse. None of the teachers seemed to understand that Pyro didn’t need their education anymore, he had more money than all the Professors combined and his organization was thriving. Still the homework and exams were being piled on, especially during his 7th year.

Pyro looked up at the castle and it seemed to hit him for the first time. This was his last year at Hogwarts; this could well be the last time he looked up at the castle as a student. In a few short months he would graduate and no longer be considered a child but a fully functioning adult. Pyro flipped the Galleon into the air and grinned at the thought of this damned school finally getting off his back. He quickly caught the twirling coin as his thoughts became deeper. How would Hogwarts look after the movement? During Voldemort’s reign Hogwarts had been a huge advocator for the Muggle cause, would it do the same during the Lehane’s agenda? And if it did how would they handle the school? “Hey Blackfire!” The call interrupted Pyro’s thoughts and he turned around to view the oncoming group. Pyro didn’t recognize the group of boys, he had seen them around, but they weren’t in Slytherin and also weren’t important enough to know on a first name basis. The leader of the group appeared to be a rather large and burly boy. Suddenly it clicked in his brain, he had seen the boy before on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, a Beater.
The group advanced and stopped a few paces before Pyro. The large boy in front stepped forward, separating himself from the group, leaving his three friends to watch. “I’ve got a bone to pick with you Blackfire!” The large boy stated, puffing his large chest out in defiance. Pyro eyed him carefully; the boy was easily three times his size, despite looking younger than him. “I don’t even know you.” He stated easily, holding his arms out to the side in an unthreatening manner. His eyes continue to scan the boy and his group of friends for hostile acts. “Yea. Well I know you. You’re company owns the factory that my dad used to work at.” Pyro arched an eyebrow lazily and nearly sighed. “I’m afraid I own a lot of things, you’re going to have to be more specific.” Pyro nearly laughed as the boy swelled with anger. “ It’s the factory in North shire, you closed it down last week and now my dad’s out of a job.” Pyro smirked, “Ahhh, that factory. Well, its productivity level just wasn’t up to par, I had no choice but to close the place down.” Pyro grinned smugly, he hadn’t really thought about it, but a large chunk of the student body probably had parents that work in some way for the Blackfire Organization.

Still smirking Pyro rearranged the galleon in his hand and flicked it at the boy. “Here, take it. Consider it a pension until your dad finds a new job.” Pyro recognized the look in the boy’s eye telling him he had pushed him over the edge. The boy curled one hand into a large fist and let it fly toward Pyro’s face. Pyro was quicker than that and deftly stepped to the side and forward. Predictably the boy overbalanced when his punch missed and Pyro easily kicked him behind the knee sending him falling to his knees. Pyro continued his rounding step and ended up directly behind the boy and quickly kicked him square in the back. The boy fell face first into the ground and Pyro planted his foot into the back of the boy’s head holding him face first into the ground. In a flash Pyro turned and pulled out his wand and pointed it at the group of friends just as they were reaching for their own wands. “Hold it!” Pyro barked freezing them and keeping his wand trained on the group.

“You’re lucky that all I did was close down the factory. If your father is too pathetic to find another job than he was never worthy of starting a family in this life.” Pyro lifted his food and stepped away to allow the boy to stand. “Now get out of here before I decide that you haven’t been taught your lesson yet.” Pyro watched carefully as the boy picked himself up and solemnly rejoined his group. Never taking their eyes off Pyro the group moved back toward the castle. Once they were out of range and a safe distance away Pyro replaced his wand into its sheath. He glanced down and noticed the discarded galleon. Using his toe he flicked the coin to his waiting hand and looked back toward the gates of the castle, the group of boys were no longer in visual range. “Pathetic.” He mumbled.

[Dakota Fox S6]

((Set in January!))


"Miss Fox. Miss Fox?" ... "Miss Fox!"

"Yes?" Dakota jumped mildly at the sound of the nervous, raised voice, her own response both agitated and distant. Her eyes fell on one of her most loyal 'minions', a boy in his Third Year with the most intensely green eyes and a carefully styled head of black. He was currently staring at Dakota with confusion, surrounded by several other Slytherins who looked up to her like an idol; a guide to who and what they should be. Stop looking at me. Stop looking for answers from me! I know nothing! Nothing! Dakota's lips twitched into a forced smile, a hand sweeping back her limp hair. "Yes?" she repeated again with more conviction.

"Miss Fox, we were wondering what you would like us to do for you today?" the boy asked obediently. Dakota merely stared at him as though he had sprouted a second head, or like he had just questioned her on the reason of the universe's existence. It took several dazed blinks for her to regain her senses. She coughed to break the taut silence and turned away.

"Nothing. You don't need to do anything today."

The boy frowned. For a child of thirteen years old he was unreasonably mature - and unreasonably attached to the once-demanding Dakota Fox. "But, er, Miss Fox, we always do your laundry and--"

"I said you don't need to do anything," Dakota snapped irritably, interrupting the boy without acknowledging him. "I've had enough! Just leave me alone! I want to be alone! Go away, I don't need you! I don't need you now and I will not need you anymore!"

The younger Slytherins' eyes widened in shock at their 'mistress'' harsh reprimand. Moments later, they seemed to have received Dakota's message loud and clear, and emptied her dormitory one by one, not once turning back to look at the cowed figure of the idol they had worshipped. Dakota felt tears sting her eyes and burn her face. What was wrong with her? She couldn't do it anymore - couldn't face these children with their hopes and dreams and innocence, couldn't become the confident seductress she once was. She had completely changed; her self shoved into a closet and hidden forever, too scared to venture out again... lest she re-live that night.

Once the tears had dried, leaving invisible stains on her cheeks, Dakota gathered her cloak and threw it over her back. She stood to leave. She found herself wandering dazedly into the Courtyard, direction-less, aimless. There were no answers to her predicament anywhere. This was the person she had become, unable to face reality. Stephen. Dakota blinked away the horrifying image of a face peering into her soul, dipping closer to her, whispering the truth to her... Shaking her head, she tried to distract herself by wrapping her cloak closer to her cold body. It was still chilly; spring had not arrived yet. Dakota wondered if the weather reflected the frozen depths of her heart.

She was gliding ghost-like through the Courtyard, barely paying attention to her surroundings, but it was difficult to miss that length of golden-blonde hair, the piercing gaze of a man she knew well. "Pyro," Dakota acknowledged hesitantly, pausing to stop in front of him but keeping her distance. She was frightened. The old Dakota was rarely scared of anything or anyone, but Pyro scared her. His tall figure, his emanating power - she was afraid. Taking a deep breath, Dakota steeled her gaze against his, determined not to act different around a man who she knew could easily rip her apart and report her to her father. "How was your winter holiday?" She began easily with the pleasantries, but struggled to ignite her usual cocky charisma that was the root of her past conversations with Pyro Blackfire. Perhaps he would overlook her timidity today, but Dakota knew she could not run forever. Still... stubborn, strong-willed, fiery little Dakota would try.

[Pyro Blackfire S5]

Pyro stood rooted to the spot for a few more moments as he allowed the adrenaline from the situation to die down. Walking back to a body of students while your body was still pumping with adrenaline was a recipe for disaster, and now that Pyro was being scrutinized by the public eye he had to keep his outbursts down to a minimum. Still, he couldn’t deny how much fun it had been to make that kid eat dirt. He sighed and twirled the galleon once more along his knuckles before replacing it in his pocket and beginning his walk back toward the castle.

As he was walking back Pyro noticed a new figure exit the castle and begin its walk in his direction. He tensed slightly as he watched this newcomer carefully for any hostile movement, could the boy be sending some kind of reinforcements? As the two came closer though Pyro began to relax as he recognized Dakota Fox. He grinned as he thought back to their last conversation by the fountain. It had been quite an intriguing talk and he had admired her personality. She held a lot of strength in that small and beautiful frame and she would no doubt go quite far in life. Pyro was always quick to gain potentially powerful allies that could aid him in the future.

The two slowly began to approach one another on the path, Pyro wondered if she even saw him for she seemed to be quite distracted. Pyro merely shrugged, he knew that Dakota had quite a few minions that would be falling over her feet at any moment, but he was not one of them and if she didn’t want to speak to him than he wouldn’t fret over it. Pyro was quite prepared to walk past her and continue on his way but suddenly her eyes seemed to focus on the figure in front of her and recognition dawned on her features. Pyro paused and mentally prepared himself for the battle, Dakota was smart and quick witted, combined with her natural beauty and ability to use that beauty to her advantage is what made her such a deadly opponent.

Her statement caught him fully off guard. He nearly stumbled in surprise as she simply asked him how his holiday had gone. There was no cocky attitude, no lewd impressions, no assertion of her supposed dominance in her statement. She had merely asked a simple question in a simple tone. Highly out of character for her. Pyro shook the thought away, not everyone could keep up the character forever, perhaps she was merely tired this day. Pyro fumbled around for an answer, “Um. It went fine I suppose. It wasn’t much of a holiday since the moment I got home my idiot employees immediately began to bombard me with business decisions.” Pyro chuckled a little, “So instead of a holiday I think I received the equivalent of a business trip instead. How about you?” You seem a bit distracted, he thought but didn’t say it outloud.

[Dakota Fox S6]

Dakota barely noticed Pyro's confusion, too caught up in her own thoughts and attempts to cover them up. "Right." She gave a distracted nod at Pyro's reply, eyes darting around nervously, as though expecting someone to appear at any second. What would she do if she saw Stephen? She suppressed a shiver from her core. She would run away, like the child she was. Dakota couldn't handle Stephen's lesson in life, his attempt to force her to age ten years in one night. Rather, it had reduced her to a timid, useless wreck. And she hated him for it. If it was the last thing Dakota did in her meaningless life, she was going to kill Stephen - even if it killed her in the process. It didn't matter if she survived or not. Dakota didn't find any meaning in life anymore; there seemed no reason for her existence but to exact revenge on the one who had taken her innocence.

Dakota's eyes swivelled back to Pyro, her lips forcing into a twisted smile. "Such is the nature of lives led by the prestigious. It's all business, at the end of the day." She couldn't quite keep the bitterness from the throat of her voice, the flash of resentment and rage in her eyes. Memories of money thrown at her feet, like she was an object to be bought and used, crushed her dignity and enraged her blood more than anything in her life. Stephen's cruelty disgusted her; but his nonchalent, uncaring attitude to his deed was even more despicable. He really was the lowest of all men; the lowest of the low. Even she had not expected him to be so merciless. Yet, perhaps she should have seen it coming. She had offered nothing but heartlessness to those in her life... Perhaps this was karma. But Dakota didn't think about it like that. In her eyes, Stephen had taken something of hers by force, and because she could never take it back - could never forget - she would make sure he paid with something else - his life.

"Me?" Dakota blinked, looking blank and caught off guard, before she schooled her expression into yet another slight but fake smile she hoped Pyro would not see through as she attempted to answer his innocent question. She could not give an honest answer. She could not tell him. It would no doubt be the biggest scandal of the year and she would likely be expelled, right? Her father would disown her from the Fox family, her brothers would turn their backs on her, her mother would follow their lead. Dakota would be all alone in the world. Truly alone. And that concept frightened her more than anything. "I... I went skiing." She flashed an enthusiasic smile. "In... er, in Canada. We go often. Have you ever skiied before, Pyro? I'm sure you have." It was a rich man's sport, skiing, just like in the muggle world, but it was slightly different under wizard rules... Dakota had been skiing since she was five years old. She wouldn't have played a mudblood sport, that would have been against everything the Foxes stood for. But Dakota had never been particularly incensed about blood, though she did keep that to herself. People were all dispensible - whether they were pureblood, half-blood or mudblood. It didn't change anything; didn't change the fact that Stephen was a thief and Dakota his small, belittled victim.

She had barely given Pyro time to answer her query before she was already moving away. "My apologies, Mr Blackfire," she said as smoothly as she could, with a gracious smile and yet, could not meet his eyes. "I really must be on my way. I... I've just remembered I need to be elsewhere." She began to walk past Pyro, hoping she would not be stopped. She didn't want to fall to pieces in front of him; she did not want to be exposed. All Dakota wanted now was to hide within herself, fold her fears away and stand alone.

[Pyro Blackfire S5]

It was quite obvious that a major change had come over the girl, any idiot would be able to see that. During their last conversation Dakota’s full attention had been at him, and it wasn’t because he was handsome or that she was captivated by him. Dakota was a lot like him, she didn’t like to miss things, her advantage in any conversation came from her attention to detail. The fact that she seemed distant, distracted, glancing around and hardly meeting his eyes was an immediate red flag to Pyro. If Dakota wasn’t feeling well or just tired she wouldn’t continue a conversation that she wasn’t in charge off. Something definitely was odd about this situation.

Pyro continued to watch her carefully as her eyes swiveled back to meet his and a smile found its way on her lips. He registered the words she spoke but keyed in mostly to the way that she spoke them. Was there annoyance in her tone, or was it bitterness? Before Pyro could really identify what he had heard in her voice she moved on. Hardly anything escaped Pyro’s attention, but he was having a hard time keeping up with the ever changing shifts and inflections that were coming over the girl in front of him. Dakota seemed to be caught off guard by his simple question and this did disturb him. If anything Dakota was a pro at hiding her emotions and that momentary slip told Pyro much.

Skiing? It seemed a reasonable story, lots of people went skiing during the winter holidays, but she continued to hesitate in her answers, as if it required a lot of thought to come up with the story she was telling. Pyro hardly cared about other peoples lives, in essence he was a lot like Dakota. He used people for his own gains, but whereas Dakota would flash a cute smile and wiggle her hips to get her way. Pyro used more direct and powerful methods. He would use someone until they were no longer of use, than Pyro would drop them like a bad habit. He rarely felt sympathy or a need to protect and defend someone. Dakota had proven herself to be a strong individual worthy of Pyro’s time and efforts, but the girl standing before him now wasn’t Dakota Fox, and all his instincts told him to leave her behind before she dragged him down.

Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something terribly wrong had happened here and he needed to get involved. “Yes, I have skied before, didn’t much care for the two poles situation though. I much prefer the snowboarding method, much more thrilling.” No sooner had the words left his mouth that Dakota began to excuse herself. Mr. Blackfire? Immediately another red flag flew into his face. She had just referred to him earlier by his first name and now suddenly she shifted to his surname.

Pyro stood silently by as she began to make her way past him. Let her go Pyro, just let her go. Don’t get involved. She’s only useful to you when she’s strong. If she can’t handle things on her own she’ll only drag you down. Surprisingly the voice inside his head belonged to his father, and the voice was making sense. Dakota had just made it evenly to his side when Pyro came to a decision. “Dakota wait.” He said and quickly caught her arm. There was a moment of silence. Pyro didn’t turn to face her and didn’t pull her any further; they simply stood side by side facing in opposite directions.

“Your one of the few people that I regard as my equal, and trust me that list is very short. I meant what I said at the water fountain. No matter what happened or is happening, I’ll help. And trust me, living a prestigious life as mine, I know the meaning of the word discrete.” Pyro let go of Dakotas arm and let his arm drop to his side. He continued to stand in the same position. If Dakota chose to walk away that would be fine, she would come to him on her own time or not at all. Pyro had merely offered his helping hand.

[Dakota Fox S6]

Dakota processed Pyro's answer but thought little of it. She barely registered the mention of snowboarding - which she had never tried because it looked infinitely more dangerous than skiing. Skiing was rather risky already, but snowboarding more so. Dakota was no wimp - well, things had changed - but she'd been afraid of breaking bones that would keep her out of action. And that would not have done. Dakota didn't particularly care if Pyro Blackfire had skiied; didn't care if he preferred snowboarding. She just wanted to be away from him, away from everyone. She couldn't face looking at them, scared they'd see the truth through her eyes, the fear that was tangible in the atmosphere. Dakota Fox was not meant to be a coward.

When Pyro's hand clasped round her wrist, Dakota automatically flinched away. With an alarmed cry of fright and fear she pulled her hand from his grasp, lurching sideways like a drunk and folding into herself, shivering in Pyro's eyes like a little lost leaf. They stared at each other for a long, awkward silence, before Pyro began to speak. Dakota heard his words clearly, stemming the flow of fear that sparked at the mere touch of another person's skin - one of a man's. There was no doubt the swift rising of fright in her stomach, the desire to run away, to vomit. She swallowed thickly.

The old Dakota would likely have basked in glory at Pyro's complimentary words. He had told her that he saw her as an equal, and no doubt that would have elicited a reaction along the lines of, "Really, darling? I'm flattered, especially seeing as I am younger than you. I am honoured. But the children of pureblood, upper-class families certainly need to stick together. It's a given." Her arrogance, her selfishness - it would have all been displayed with pride in front of Pyro. However, Dakota was no longer so openly proud. She didn't need Pyro's mercy, sympathy, pity... She didn't need his help. He couldn't help her - he was too late! Much too late. Where was he a few weeks ago, during her winter holidays, when she had been left alone with a bottle of firewhiskey, an empty room with a bed and Stephen Donahue? Pyro had been nowhere, and Dakota had been alone. She'd suffered at the hands of Stephen alone, and she would suffer the consequences of her ordeal alone too.

Hearing Pyro's words of comfort and security, his offered help, Dakota felt the full injustice of Stephen's cruelty. If she didn't leave right now she would cry - shameful tears she would not be able to stop. Horrified at the thought of breaking in front of Pyro, who admired strength and power, Dakota scrunched her face up in an attempt to falter her emotions and keep her control over them steady. "I appreciate your offer," she said quietly, still keeping a good distance from Pyro. "But you are mistaken. There is nothing I need assistance for, nor is there anything about me that needs to be pitied." Finally she caught Pyro's eyes, a spark of her old flame of strength burning in their depths. "My battles are mine and mine alone. Now if you'll excuse me... I really do have to be elsewhere." Before Pyro could protest, Dakota drew away in all swiftness and hurried towards the castle - her sanctuary, her haven to hide in forever.