A plesant encounter... hopefully(wyst)

[Keaira O'Connell]

It wasn’t the best idea, meeting with a vampire, but Keaira had decided that it would be better this way. As much as she hated to think of it, Wysteria was one of them, and really if the two of them couldn’t get along because of their history it would be better to know now, then when it really counted. If they were in battle, and Wysteria chose to enact on some bit of stored hatred she held over the relationship between Zane and her….well Keaira felt pretty certain that she would lose, most likely pretty badly. Thus this meeting was needed. Alessandro’s death was still pretty recent, only two days had passed, the wound still fresh. But it didn’t matter. So long as she got through this in one piece she would know one thing for certain.

As part of a peace offering Keaira had someone procure a batch of blood pops from Honeydukes, and had taken the time to gather up some fresh blood for the vampire as well. Not her blood, but human nonetheless. So during her lunch break Keaira made her way to the room of requirements, and as she passed through the hall the requisite times, she thought of Wysteria, and the elemental meeting room. The door materialized, and tentatively Keaira knocked once before she opened the door, and closed it behind her. She wasn’t sure what to really expect other than an unfriendly welcoming. Still, as she closed the door, she smiled, and offered a short greeting.

“Hey. I brought you some snacks if you’re interested.”

As she spoke, she pulled the lollipops in a small jar out of a pocket in her cloak and offered them out to Wysteria, as well as a bag of blood. It wasn’t a feast, but it was at least something. And aside from the questions of how far she could trust the vampire, Keaira had been thinking about other things. There was a potion that with enough time and attention Keaira could brew, to transfigure Wysteria into a different person, one that could pass for a younger student, and return to classes. One of the things she had done to keep her mind occupied in the past few days was read, and a lot of it. The potion, would take some time to brew, about a month, but it would allow Wysteria to travel outside of the room, so long as she took a does every two hours of so. But the only way to ask if she would want that would be to tell her about it.

“I want to talk to you about some things, if you don’t mind.”

[Wysteria Edwin]

Wysteria tried to make the best use of her time in the Room of Requirement, a room which made just about any book imaginable materialize seemingly from thin air. She spent most of her days researching ways to bring Alessandro back, or at least to find out if he still existed somewhere in this realm. After all, D'rorah had noted that for losing an Elemental Master Wysteria had been very well-adjusted. That could be attributed to her vampire genes but Wysteria was hoping it meant more, hoping it was a sign that Darko was not lost forever and perhaps could be communicated with, or even still be her anchor. She knew this line of thought was at best wishful thinking and at worst a deluded fantasy from a grieving mind, but it did not stop her from research.

As Wysteria saw the door begin to materialize out of the corner of her eye, she turned her head to the self-"thought" peep hole installed about a foot from the end table on her bed (ironic that she bothered with it in the first place, since she only slept on the leather couch after reading to the point of exhaustion). She could see the petite, brown-haired Slytherin waiting patiently for the door to finish. Wyst's lip curled in annoyance as she began to organize and pack away her books, parchments, and various scrolls so Keaira would not ask questions. The last thing she wanted was to discuss her plans with anyone, save maybe for D'rorah, since she believed her research so advanced that at this point explaining her findings would take longer than any added brain power could provide. Additionally, her solitude was comforting. Most vampires are selfish, lone wolf-type creatures that rarely live with too many of their own kind unless it meant added protection and prestige.

By the time Keaira opened the door Wyst was sitting at her mahogany table, her back straight and her hands clasped in front of her. She raised an eyebrow at the blood lollipops. What was she, a pet in need of a treat for good behavior? The bag of blood she picked up and examined. She smelled it briefly, noting Keaira must have noticed or else asked D'rorah about her preference for A+ blood.

“I want to talk to you about some things, if you don’t mind.”

Wysteria turned her eyes slowly to Keiara, her face cold and blank, save for a small sparkle of dark curiosity in her green eyes. How could this girl possibly think the two had anything to discuss. At least, anything that would not end with Keaira being shoved out the door. Wyst did not want to hear anything close to "I'm sorry" or "I cared about Alessandro too" come out of her mouth. To her those words would be cheap and insulting, like placating an aggressive child. Wysteria decided to keep her response simple, hoping to avoid any possible hint of that sort of chat.

"Yes?"

[Keaira O'Connell]

The welcome was more or less what Keaira had expected. There was nothing warm and friendly about it, but then again Keaira wasn’t exactly friends with the vampire. However, Keaira did not come here for idle chit chat with a ‘friend’ if she wanted that she had other people she could turn to. No this was more of a business meeting. She would start by stating her purpose, letting Wysteria do with that knowledge what she pleased, and would end with an invitation. Short sweet and to the point.

The other female didn’t so much as offer Keaira a seat, and as such Keaira stood, just a few feet away. The look that Wysteria gave her was slightly unnerving, yet, Keaira knew better than to allow such feelings to show plainly on her face. With only the slightest of nods in response, Keaira responded to the girl, deciding to get straight onto the heart of the matter, after all, the least amount of time she spent with the other shadow warrior, the less likely it would end badly.

“Well, I’ve been doing a bit of research, and since you are a 6th year student, you might already know this, but I came across a potion called Polyjuice; it that allows you to take the form of another person for a limited time frame. Now from the research I’ve done, I’m not sure whether it would work on you, but if it does work, it would give you the opportunity to leave this room and get some fresh air. If you’re interested, it takes a while to get it ready, but it might be worth the effort.”

Keaira wasn’t entirely sure how Wysteria would take the idea, but she couldn’t really justify having the knowledge and not sharing it with one of the few people who could really benefit from it. If Wysteria could be changed into a human, then there was also the possibility that while she was changed she wouldn’t have the negative effects of vampirism, if only temporarily. That alone would be reason enough for Keaira to brew the potion and have the other girl test it out. Yet, she wouldn’t waste her efforts unless the other girl was going to try it.

[Wysteria Edwin]

Wysteria's brow furrowed at the mention of a polyjuice potion. She was annoyed that Keaira was so quick to take any action that might change or subdue "the vampire". Her eyes stared past Keaira, her mind quickly flipping through the possible consequences and advantages to the plan. True, she would be able to leave the Room of Requirement...but at what cost? Perhaps the shadows sprung an attack at a nearby village, what good would Wysteria be at small fraction of her strength and agility? But the idea of walking out in the sunshine was appealing to her, at least in theory. Wysteria would also be able to take advantage of the library, since some of the books in the restricted section were not able to materialize in the RoR. Drumming her fingernails on the mahogany table, the vampire tried to weigh these options in a timely enough manner so Keiara was not put off by the small pause in their conversation.

"The idea of walking freely does sound...nice. Don't want the vampire to scare the little kiddies." Wysteria raised an eyebrow but quickly went ahead with her response so Keaira could not offer a retort.

"But the notion of having a Light Fighter out of commission for several hours poses a serious security risk. I believe this outweighs the advantages for me. Unless all Lightfighters were in the castle, healthy and aware of my transformation...but even then I would not recommend being in disguise for more than an hour. But this may also be advantageous when I must leave the castle and travel for one reason or another. Plus when the first real battle presents itself where I am needed, my "secret" will not stay that way for long."

Wysteria tilted her head at Keaira, trying to decide if there was any hidden malfeasance in her proposition. She did not smell dying flesh or mold, usually a sign of betrayal or secret agendas. Vampires often kill on assumption of being a friendly human and seducing a muggle or wizard, which is why the trait most likely to be used by vampires smells like the dead (even though most full vampires have a somewhat pleasant odor; Wysteria smelled of jasmine with a very faint smell of beginning to brown).

"Let me know your progress with the potion. I'll only try a small amount at first, since we have no idea if my DNA will cause the effects to be longer or shorter than for living things." She smiled slightly at the last two words. Wysteria knew Keaira was uneasy in her presence, as were most of the other Lightfighters, and the dark part of her enjoyed the control she had over other people's emotions.

But this exercise in mild sadism quickly passed, and Wysteria resumed her stoic appearance. She did not feel the need to thank Keaira; so far she had done nothing for her except possibly give her false hope.

"Anything else?"

[Keaira O'Connell]

“Well one dose, about 2 oz, usually lasts about an hour from what I’ve surmised, so if we halved, or even quartered that I assume it would do much the same for the length you were transformed. And if you wished to remain transformed you would only need to take another dose before the time ran out. You could theoretically stay transformed for as long as we had some of the potion. At least this way you could get some air, and stretch your legs ever once in a while.”

Keaira finished her short response, and considering the way she was received to begin with by the other female she was tempted to let the conversation simply end there. Of course considering that wasn’t what she had intended on doing there seemed no point in stopping there, no matter how she was treated by her. Stepping back towards the door, Keaira reached towards the door handle, and paused.

“I started the potion earlier this week, it takes about 25 days or so, but it should be ready then.” A short pause for a breath occurred here, as Keaira decided that there was no point in being overt with the other female. “I’m going to Steam Boat Springs, Colorado, to spread Alessandro’s ashes. If you want to go with us, we can wait till the potion is finished before we leave, one last chance to say good bye. Think about it, if you want to give a message to Dee, and I’ll see you again when it’s finished.”

With that Keaira turned the handle and stepped out into the hallway knowing that there would be no one on the other side. Without a second thought Keaira closed the door, and continued down the hallway, headed down to her dorm, for a little bit of studying and preparing for classes.