Starter for: Emmeline Vance @notdelicatc Where: their business When: midday
It had been a slow morning, which was precisely what Rabastan had desired. He had taken to loitering in the workshop when finding himself at a rare loose end, happy to entertain himself with the simple bric-a-brac that was brought in. He was a diligent man and took care to devote enough time to this shared enterprise with Emmeline. But it was not difficult work, and he did not need it. Neither of them did. It was a selfish pleasure, permitted under the guise of something more profitable. He enjoyed it, and that was that.
So far, he'd uncursed a watch in the space of seconds, and had pretended to uncurse a harmless doll brought in by a little girl who swore blind that her brother was trying to kill her with it. He'd done the second job for free.
It wasn't until lunchtime that anything happened interesting enough to make him abandon his copy of the Daily Prophet. He now slid the paper to the far side of the counter, reaching instead for a hefty book brought in by a wizard. As the man explained what it was - an object deadly to anyone who was not pureblooded - Rabastan hovered his hands over the thick dragon-hide leather. He could feel the electric prickle of evil intent, flowing through parchment and bindings. Yet it wasn't threatening. He opened it, satisfied that nothing would happen, and was delighted by the contents.
"Emmeline, look at this." Calling the witch from the other room, he inclined the book towards her, revealing page upon page of names, blood status and dates of death, some of them not so long ago. The ink was red. He had no doubt it was blood. "It will lose its value without the curse," he warned the wizard, though he did not look up, far too engrossed in studying the book. It would be almost criminal to unravel this magic. If such an object were his, he would not change it. But that was irrelevant. He agreed to return it by the end of the day, and once the man had left, he followed Emmeline back into the workshop.
"I will do this one," he told her frankly, without skirting around the reason why. There was no point in being precious about it. They had known each other too long for that. "I know you are more than capable. But since it's no risk to me, there's no point in putting yourself within harm's reach."
