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Who else had Amycus expected to be lurking around behind Agrippa's, she wondered, besides the proprietress herself? It wasn't an exactly glamorous -- or even mildly satisfactory -- backdrop for a casual stroll through Knockturn... That was, if you were the type who thought Knockturn itself was a suitable backdrop a casual stroll in the first place.

Well, if one looked at it like that, she supposed... Up until a couple of years ago, the Carrows had indeed run with a crowd that might feel quite at home in the midst of the grime and inadequate lighting.

Just the thought of several choice characters from their former escapades was enough to send a shiver or disgust up Alecto's spine. Such people were nothing more now than a part of their lives she was no less than thrilled to leave behind. Not having wanted her younger brother to be drug into the Dark Lord's ranks in the first place and then having been maliciously blackmailed into fighting beside him, the oldest Carrow had nothing but frigid bitterness and loathing for anything and everything to do with that snake Voldemort and his underlings. It had become little else to her than a game of survival, and she felt grateful to have made it out, with her brother, intact when that vile man's judgement day had finally come for him.

It was her gratefulness that had led her to sweep Amycus out of the country for so long, as she did her best to enjoy each day to its fullest now that she felt she could finally breathe again. Even now, years after the fighting had ended, the feeling of breathing was new and foreign.

Of course, she would never let him know any of that. Even if Alecto had been a more emotive personality, it would do no good to let Amycus know just how deeply the past few years of their lives had shaken her. She had always done her best to be there for him, look out for him, protect him; as his older sister, that was her duty, even when he hated and wanted to kill her for it. So instead, she had excused herself by saying they were going out for supplies, and they had roamed the globe until her money -- all of her stash of money provided by the Dark Lord as support for the work she had done -- had run out and they had been forced to come on.

At least, she thought, all of that was off her hands now. Now they could really start fresh, out from under the shadow of that psychotic monster.

"Your shift's not over."

Alecto pulled her light sweater tighter around her, an afterthought as she had spotted her brother walking outside from her room above the shop. It really was a pity they hadn't been able to stay in a country with warm weather for a few weeks longer. It seemed that ever since they had arrived back in England, the snow and frigid temperatures rarely let up.

"I don't let you live here for free, Amycus. Do your damn job once in a blue moon, for fuck's sake."