At home(Riwie)

[Melkor 'Alfie' Valenceus]

Alfie had not been home for weeks. He remembered the last time he had been here, he had only showed up to change his robes so that he could meet Rowena. Now, he only wanted to relax for a few days. He had sent an owl to Rowena telling her where he would be.

The small village he lived in was set apart from other magical dwellings. No other witch or wizard resided near Alfie's house. Only Muggles surrounded him. Alfie's home was quite modest for his budget. He only needed it from time to time. The log building was constructed much better and grander than the surrounding Muggle cabins however. Alfie approached the front door with unease. Unless he was accompanied by someone else, he was usually very cautious.

The door opened smoothly and stopped without crashing into the wall. As though it knew not to. Alfie's father would not have approved of such a dwelling. But the old man was not here. Alfie gazed around the sitting room that the door opened to for a moment. His father had been a very incompetent father. Alfie spent most of his time away from home, as company to aunts, uncles and older cousins. Merely a burden, it seemed. Even to his own father.

Alfie's hand moved so fluidly that his wand seemed to come from his pocket on its own. He aimed it at the fireplace and a flame erupted, dispelling the cold of the empty cabin almost instantly. Alfie returned his wand to his pocket and went to the table in a corner where four wooden chairs stood around it. Alfie tapped the bowl that stood on the table and an instant later a house elf materialised.

The creature greeted in a slow, proud voice. "You called, sir?"

Alfie did not immediately give sign that he noticed another presence in the room. But after a moment's silence he answered, "A loaf of bread will do for now. Thank you." Though he spoke, Alfie never looked at the house elf. Which gave an acknoledging grunt and disapparated. Alfie had kept his eyes intently in the direction of the fire. He hoped verily that Rowena would come tonight. He needed her to come to him.

[Rowena Ravenclaw]

Rowena sighed in annoyance, walking down the road which led to Hogsmeade. Apparation was indeed the easiest and fastest way of transportation, but in order to apparate one had to walk all the way down to Hogsmeade. The anti-apparition spell was Rowena's idea and quite a good one, but it made travelling from Hogwarts much more complicated. She could use the Floo-powder, of course, or a broom, but Rowena didn't want to ruin her clothes by travelling through her fireplace. She was also a bit scared of heights and unable to ride a broomstick.

After a long and somewhat exhausting walk, Rowena finally reached Hogsmeade. It was getting dark and she was getting more and more nervous. She had known Alfie for quite a while, he had gradually become an important part of her life. However, it was the first time that Alfie had invited her to his house. Rowena was trying to imagine what his house might look like and there was a small smile on her face when she turned on the spot and disappeared.

Rowena found herself standing in an empty street of some kind of a small village. She was a bit surprised how ordinary and non-magical it looked. Rowena looked around and her eyes stopped on a cosy, yet rather modest looking house. She had expected to see something more extravagant, but liked it nonetheless.

Rowena slowly crossed the street and stopped by the door. She wasn't quite sure whether she should knock or just open the door and walk inside. Rowena just shrugged and gently knocked on the door. She stopped for a moment and then she pushed the door open and walked inside. Rowena cleared her throat. "Alfie?" she called, looking around the room.

[Melkor 'Alfie' Valenceus]

Alfie did not hear the knock over the House elf's disapparation. He did hear Rowena call his name however. His expression lifted immediately. With a grin on his face, he stood up from his chair. He removed his cap and laid it upon the back of a chair. As he straightened his robes he approached the door and greeted Rowena happily. "Wonderful evening. I am delighted that you could make it."

Alfie looked around the room and nodded, "My home. Sadly, my elf-friend is usually the only occupant. It may as well be his house." Alfie chuckled at the idea as a loaf appeared in the bowl he had tapped a moment earlier. Alfie turned and took up the bread. Without his wand, he summoned a knife silently. He carved two slices from the bread and spread strawberry(that appeared next to him conveniently) over them. He turned back to Rowena and approached her with one slice outstretched toward her, the other already in his mouth. "Thrask makes the best bread of any house elf. And believe me, I've tasted many."

Alfie motioned toward a small, two-seat sofa that looked upon the fireplace he had lit earlier. "Would you sit with me?" Alfie knew he was protected quite well here, but could not shake the feeling that some head would be peering through the window everytime his glance past one of them. He spent so much time away, this house was wholly unfamiliar to him. It truly did feel as though he were someone else's guest.

[Rowena Ravenclaw]

A large grin appeared on Rowena's face when Alfie approached her. She just looked at him for a while and then leaned towards him and gently kissed his cheek. "It is a wonderful night, indeed." she replied, trying to look around the room as discretely as possible. It didn't look as she had expected, but she still found it quite charming. "You know I wouldn't have missed this for anything." she said with a smile. Rowena looked around the room, following Alfie's gaze. "I think it's beautiful." she whispered.

Rowena laughed in unison with Alfie. Suddenly, an image of a house-elf appeared in her mind. It was greeting guests, dressed in a small silky robe. Rowena was trying to shake the image from her head, quite unsuccessful unfortunately. She was a bit surprise when Alfie offered her the slice, she had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed it. "Mmmm... how did you know I loved strawberries?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. She was sure that she had never mentioned to him before. "You were right, this tastes wonderful." she said after taking a small bite.

Rowena nodded her head in response to his question. "Of course." Rowena walked towards the sofa and gracefully sat on it. Another smile appeared on her face, but it gone when she looked at him. "Is everything alright, darling? You look so nervous."

[Melkor 'Alfie' Valenceus]

Alfie nodded in affirmation at Rowena's compliment. Though he instantly felt it was undeserved. He took his seat next to her on the sofa and his mind had began to drift to the last time they had been together, at Morgana's house. Despite that it seemed the woman was dead now, her dwelling had still proved to be a deadly trap. Alfie knew of Brutus, though he could not place the woman or the boy. And the dementors could not have been there by coincidence. "I have searched all these weeks for answers and found nothing."

Alfie did not want to talk about the mysteries and darkness surrounding them tonight. So he changed the subject swiftly. "I just haven't been to this place in so long. My house elf really keeps the place looking great. Perhaps, I should raise his pay." Alfie nodded. "I think I shall." Alfie took another bite from his bread. "Ah. Thrask has a great respect for strawberries. He has told me that they are a great nutrients for elves. So I've made sure that he has plenty of space to grow his own. He owns the basement of this house. I tried to give him a room up here, but he insists on the basement. Strange creatures, those elves. He used to belong to my father. I had to pay alot to rescue him from another pureblood family at the auction."

[Rowena Ravenclaw]

Rowena just sat there next to Alfie, silently chewing her bread. It had been a while since the last time they'd been together and even more since the last time they'd been alone. Rowena just nodded her head at Alfie's words. She knew of course what he was talking about. Rowena bit her lip nervously, as she remembered that night at Morgana's house. She shivered a bit, thinking about Brutus Malfoy, Alfie's enemy and the strange boy whose presence had made her feel strange. And dementors, of course...

Rowena sighed and leaned towards Alfie. She put her head on his shoulder and smiled again. "I'm sure we'll find the answer soon. Don't worry about that." She gently caressed his cheek with her free hand. "You actually pay your house-elf? And he accepts it?" Rowena raised her eyebrows slightly. "You even want to give him a room?" she asked surprised, but gently. She had actually thought that Alfie couldn't surprise her anymore and that she couldn't possibly love him more than she already did. She was wrong. "We've brought dozens of house-elves... well, actually Helga brought them to Hogwarts. It was her idea, to give them a place to stay, where they wouldn't be abused." Rowena sighed as she looked at Alfie. Almost everybody who knew Alfie thought that he was a dark wizard, a cruel person. There were so many things about him they didn't know. "It was a wonderful thing to do, I'm glad that you saved him."

[Melkor 'Alfie' Valenceus]

Alfie nodded with a bleak expression when she praised his goodness. Alfie knew any praise he got was not well deserved. He did smile, however, to learn that some of his father's donations to the school must have went to giving house elves a better home. "Father would love to hear that!" Alfie added after she had told him of Helga Hufflepuff's moment of genius. He turned sombre again almost instantly and a pain in his chest gave him a start. She had praised him again.

His mind raced through all of the things he had done on his hunt for the Deathly Hallows. "I could blame the men I hired. But I would be ignoring the fact that I hired them because of the men that they were." Alfie put the bread in his hand to his lips. But found even the thought of eating it unbearable. So he put it down onto a table. A napkin appeared underneath it before it touched the small table in front of the sofa. "You see, when I was young, my favorite fable was the Tale of the Three Brothers. My aunt, bless her, recited the story for me. I saw myself in the brothers, my father was Death. I died once after my wife died. I fell into despair. Nothing seemed bright anymore. Not even my son, I left him. Abandoned him and joined my father. The Elder Wand made me strong. It made me think that my father's way was the correct way. So I joined Gordon and the others on the Council. The other members of the Council fed the growing darkness within me. For a time, my resolve was sound; I would find the Hallows at all costs." Alfie paused. He was not sure he could go on. Had he not confessed enough? Wasn't abandoning his own son the worst he had done? "I learned that an uncle of mine, of distant relation, had come into possession of the Cloak. Of course, he had gone into hiding. But he was a most unclever man. He had already showed me all of his properties years before. I sent men to get the cloak from him. I told them not to use force unless it was necessary. I never-" Alfie gave a groan and slouched forward. "It never occured to me that he would fight for it. They killed him and his wife. The kids, one was gone, my men captured the other one. I tried to be nice to him, but he always hated me. I taught him alot of the education he would miss from not having parents or schooling." Alfie wondered where the boy was now. "Brutus, Morgana's son, freed him. But I have not seen him since." Alfie did not dare look at Rowena. He could not bear to see her expression of loathing. Or worse, pity.

[Rowena Ravenclaw]

Rowena raised her eyes to Alfie's face. The thought that his father could be pleased with generosity or kindness of any kind was absurd to Rowena. Alphard was a cruel heartless man and obviously not someone who would care about house-elves. That was what Rowena thought, at least and Rowena Ravenclaw was rarely wrong.

When Alfie started to speak again, Rowena lifted her head from his shoulder and leaned back, giving him more space. She listened to his words patiently, in complete silence. He rarely spoke of his past and Rowena was wondering what made him open up that particular night. Rowena tried to keep her expression blank and not to show what she felt, knowing that Alfie couldn’t bear seeing pity, or even compassion on her face. And she felt sorry for Alfie’s son and cousin, poor boys whose lives had been completely changed, or even ruined by a foolish decision of a young man. She would never tell him that, but Rowena felt sorry for Alfie even more. She couldn’t blame him for his mistakes, though. There wasn’t a person in the world who had never made a mistake, Rowena was well aware of that, having made quite a lot herself. The greater the person was, the greater mistakes were, and Alfie was indeed a great man.

Rowena hadn’t spoken since he’d started to talk. She didn’t know what she should say, she couldn’t find adequate words to fill the silence that surrounded them. Rowena sighed and closed her eyes, sadly aware of the fact that she couldn’t always force her logical mind into doing what her heart was supposed to. Once again she was almost jealous of Helga, who possessed a talent of perfectly illogical thinking, but had the biggest heart in the world. She knew what to tell someone and make them feel better. Rowena didn’t.

Rowena opened her eyes. She slowly raised her hand to lay it on his shoulder. "You couldn’t help them." She whispered, a bit surprised with the sound of her own voice. It sounded strangely croaky. There was something that she had wanted to ask for a long time, ever since he had told her about his son. She had never managed to find a good moment, though. "Alfie, have you... have you ever looked for that cousin of yours and... and your son?" Rowena bit her lower lip, waiting for his answer in awkward silence. Then she remembered something else, one of her students, a boy who had the Cloak and had actually shown it to her once. Alfie’s men obviously hadn’t found the Cloak... Rowena was frowning slightly when she looked at Alfie again. "What happened to the Cloak?" she asked, trying to sound as innocent as she could manage.

[Melkor 'Alfie' Valenceus]

Alfie now tried to remember what had compelled him to attempt a confession now. It had not been his plan. He wanted to relax here, but spilling these secrets was hardly comforting. Rowena tried to comfort him. He had thought she would and hoped she wouldn't. After all, he had done all of the things he had done to make himself feel better. And he did not feel too badly right now. He was troubled by the loss of the Elder Wand and the constant moodiness. But he was certainly much better off than the orphaned Peverells or their dead parents.

Like his father, Alfie refused to break. Despite the admission of guilt, Alfie squared his shoulders. He began to move his head in Rowena's direction, but stopped suddenly as his gaze went to a far window. "I could've hid from my father better. I should have known he would bring ruin to our happiness. I could have continued to spurn his hand. I could have remained selfless and kept my greed at bay. There is no excuse for my behaviour. Gordon can tell that I am no longer in bondage to the Wand. That wand, you have no idea of its power, I felt as though I were one of the Pantheon."

Alfie finally stole enough confidence to regain his appetite. He took up the bread he had discarded earlier and bit it. "And that was the second time I died, after the Elder Wand was taken from me. Do you see? Cadmus died for his wife after the Stone provided him with more disappointment than pleasure. Antioch died after abusing the power of the Elder Wand and boasting about it. My third life is that of Ignotus. Long and healthy. Though I cannot see how I can deserve it, I would rather die before I cannot."

Alfie shook his head. "I honestly know nothing of the Cloak's whereabouts. Other than that the last Peverell child made off with it. But I have been re-born, the Hallows no longer draw me."

Alfie fell silent for a moment. He stole a glance toward Rowena and made a fake cough. "Unfortunately, Brutus and Sion still think they're chasing the same Alfie. I am not sure of their resolve, but they will chase for a long time. I can never satiate their desire for revenge. As much wrong as I've done to them, I cannot lead them down the path that I followed." Alfie finished his bread in a few more large bites.

[Rowena Ravenclaw]

Rowena sighed, slightly annoyed. She knew Alfie very well and it was quite obvious that he wasn't particularly satisfied with her words. She knew of course that he hadn't sought sympathy or comfort and that he would perhaps be happier if she had just yelled at him. Rowena rarely yelled at anyone, except Godric or more often Salazar, but they would always deserve it. Anyway, Rowena didn’t think it was her job to scold him for things that had happened many years ago. Living with yourself and your conscience was probably the hardest thing and the greatest punishment anyone could get.

Rowena noticed that Alfie had conveniently ignored her question about his son and cousin. It was understandable, though. If he wanted to look for them or just to talk about them, Rowena would be there to help him or simply listen. The dark haired witch kept her gaze focused on the man next to her. Her eyes suddenly flew to the window, following his gaze, but there was nobody out there. Had he seen something or was he getting paranoid because of his father and other people who wanted revenge? Rowena shrugged and turned to Alfie again.

There was a hint of pride in Rowena’s voice when she spoke again. "Well not even your father can touch us while we’re at Hogwarts. It is the safest place to be." A small involuntary smile appeared on Rowena’s face when she spoke. She had made sure that nobody could get into Hogwarts uninvited, no matter how powerful or dangerous they were. Rowena blinked and looked away, focusing her gaze on the fire. Days and month had passed since the night when Alfie had visited her in her office and offered her the wand. They had only been acquaintances then, nothing more than two business partners, working together for the good of the school. She had even considered, for a brief moment of foolishness, taking the wand in order to gain his trust and perhaps even love. Yet, her logical mind had stopped her from doing that, knowing what such immense power could do to a person. Hearing confession of a man who had been blinded with the power of the Elder wand was at the same time impressive and frightening.

Rowena remembered that she also had some food left after seeing Alfie taking his bread. Her bread lay on the table, completely forgotten. Rowena took it and bit it, looking at Alfie again. She had to smile at his words. "The death searched for Ignotus for many years, but was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that he took of the Cloak and greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life." she quoted and gave him another, this time wider smile. "You were given another chance for a reason and you ought to use it the best way that you can." Rowena gently placed an arm on his shoulder, suppressing the urge to hug him like a sad little child. She narrowed her eyes a bit before saying "We’ve come here to relax, not to worry about things that can’t be changed. Just let go of everything and relax." Rowena caressed his cheek with her free hand. "Please." she said, her Scottish accent becoming more pronounced.

[Melkor 'Alfie' Valenceus]

Alfie sighed to himself. It was pretty useless trying to figure out a way to change the past. If a chance at redemption was possible, it would reveal itself in time. The real question was; could Alfie prove brave enough to take it. He wanted it. But would he remember his strongest desire when it was time to act? Only time would tell, of course. And who knew just what tomorrow might bring?

"I love you, Rowena." Alfie turned to her. The room around them began to darken as the sun fell lower and less light shone through the window. The fire in front of them remained alit however. "Of all the uncertainties that lie ahead, that is one thing that I am sure of." He thought of his lost son and Helena. Though he did not care what they thought, he was sure that some awkwardness lay ahead. His attention came back to Rowena and her eyes once again and he immediately disregarded the darkness that threatened to envelop them now.

[Rowena Ravenclaw]

Rowena was blinking slowly as she sat next to Alfie. It was getting darker, but the fire in front of them provided enough light. Rowena enjoyed the dark, it made it more intime. She moved closer to Alfie and tilted her head to the side to look into his eyes. Nobody could know what tomorrow might bring and at that particular moment Rowena didn't even care about it. She was with Alfie and it was all she wanted to think about. There would be enough time for worries later.

A large smile appeared on Rowena's face. She was usually trying to hide her emotions, but Alfie always somehow managed to break the walls she'd built and knock her off her feet. Rowena moved closer to him and kissed him gently on the lips. "I love you too." she said, cuddling against his chest. "And I'm not going anywhere. I promise." Rowena raised her eyes to meet his once again.

[Melkor 'Alfie' Valenceus]

Alfie's thoughts threatened to drift back to the darkness that lay before the both of them. All possibilities of mortal danger left his mind when she planted a kiss upon his lip however. It took him a moment to recover from the sudden elation. He almost missed her return of her feelings, though she had already succeeded in getting that point across to him. Even as a Seeker of the Deathly Hallows, Alfie had been impulsive. That much of him, at least, he inherited from his father. Questions were always for later.

Alfie put his arms around Rowena and held her closely. He gazed down at her with an amused grin. "There are no words to express my happiness, darling." Alfie took Rowena's head in his hands and kissed her forehead. The recent confession seemed faroff where the trace of that memory held in Alfie's mind. The very back.

[Rowena Ravenclaw]

A small satisfied smirk appeared on Rowena's face when she noticed a sudden change in Alfie's expression. His face seemed to have darkened, but it quickly faded away after her kiss. They could be so similar sometimes, being so cold and arrogant with other people around, but so sweet and genle when they were alone. Rowena just closed her eyes and let her mind drift away, completely freeing herself from every thought. If only it could last forever...

Rowena opened her eyes and met Alfie's gaze. "You don't have to say anything." she replied with a smile. "Just don't leave me. Ever." She closed her eyes again when he kissed her forehead. His kisses and touches always made her shiver, he simply had strange effect on her, but it would be wrong to say that it bothered her. "You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier, either." She raised her hand and started playing with his hair. "Oh, I love you so much." she smiled and kissed him again.

[Melkor 'Alfie' Valenceus]

The fire began to die. Though Alfie took no notice of it. With an arm wrapped around Rowena's waist, he had no more use for light. For a moment, he sat quietly and still, running Rowena's words in his mind over and over again. He knew he had no intention of ever leaving her for good. But death was not unlikely for him. Even so, it was hard for him to feel any sort of sorrow. He had found his true self again and someone to share life with. The mix of feelings was strongly affecting him. But his joy was definately overcoming the formidable pain; how long that would last if he and Rowena were seperated in some way, he did not even dare to think on it.

"I understand." He lied, to himself more than Rowena however. His lips answered her display of love. Alfie held Rowena's cheek gently with his other hand. He had never thought he'd find another person just like him. Such intelligence and beauty. He counted himself very lucky.