The Serpent and the Wolf

[vasco reyes]

Vasco Reyes was not usually a nervous man, but currently he was playing host to just about the only person he truly feared. Healthy paranoia wasn't new to him, at all but Fenrir Greyback provoked more than that. The man was a wild animal. It wasn't accurate to call him entirely unpredictable because Vasco was sure of a couple of things - or at least he thought so. He could rely on Greyback to predate himself upon humans. He could rely on Greyback to keep the cash flowing. After all, he did have a lot of werewolves behind him, including Barrows. The latter fact was far more important than the former, so long as the old werewolf could keep his perdition discreet, and Vasco assumed he wouldn't struggle with that, After all he'd stayed free for years. There was a reason, still, that Vasco found Fenrir a little uncomfortable. He knew that this was a man - if a man was still what you'd call him - that wouldn't be intimidated, and that would be capable of inflicting horrendous damage, at any given time. Vasco had heard the story of Bill Weasley, and even he would prefer not to suffer that.

Vasco had decided he was better off closing the place to the public for this particular client. Even some of his clients would probably consider the war criminal unsavoury company, Vasco was glad for the fact that he had magically soundproofed so many of the rooms individually. As much as he wasn't squeamish, he would rather not hear the sounds of whatever savagery was taking place up stairs.  Still, uneasy as he was he found himself lurking in the rafters of the bar, in the form of an enormous constrictor snake. Vasco had shown few people this form, but Greyback had seen it before, when Vasco had first begun working with Snatchers. La Aguja, at the time had been a place where muggleborns came to hide, and a place where Snatchers came to snatch them. Vasco never sold out a paying customer, but if one overstayed their welcome, or broke the rules, then he would get word to Fenrir, or one of the other snatchers. His own muggleborn status had, of course, been carefully concealed, as he claimed to be the relative of a minor wizarding family in Columbia. contacts he had made while he was still attending Castleobruxo.

Vasco's thoughts of the old days were interrupted by a scream. That chucho had let his victim get loose from the room... Or was he just stupid enough to think Vaco would tolerate their unpaying guest  running about the place? With a hiss that would have been a sigh if Vasco were in his native form he waited patiently, dropping from the rafters onto the victim who's screams of terror gave way to a gasp of shock and a grunt of pain, as they made impact with the hard wooden floor. The huge serpent that was Vasco began winding his way around them to hold them in place, his  body coiling maliciously, tightening slowly, dangerously. He was restraining though, not trying to kill. He delivered a couple of quick, instinctual bites none the less. but then his head darted up, as he saw the wolfish figure descending the stairs.

@fenrir

[Deleted]

A bit of fun. That was all this was. One would think being a more or less permanent fixture of the fight to have werewolves be the majority population of the wizarding world would mean the 70 year old werewolf would have quite a bit to do. But that was before the war and becoming a war criminal thought to be dead. Someone thinking he was dead would allow some freedom but only if he was able to be discrete enough to make people not realize he survived.

Now... It wasn't impossible to get some of his fun on the job. In fact his technique that served him well back in the 60s to the war still served him well for working for the cause without getting him caught and having some of his fun. Allowed him to be on the choosy side and not have to be involved in the stuff that just about any grunt could do. The bonus was he got to be a Patriarch in the wild packs. But when it came to digging his teeth into someone and tearing them with his claws....

Well... That was why he kept this service in mind. He had met the owner, Vasco, all the way back in the war. He always had a bit of a suspicion that the owner of the Inn had a business going for hiding the mudbloods. But the man was good at business. Giving him the occasional mudblood, which came with quite a payout at opportune moments, and he might look the other way. More than might...

People made the mistake of thinking Fenrir Greyback was stupid. But one didn't get to 70 years as an active and violent werewolf being stupid. Sure he aligned with the dark lord and wore the robes. That was mostly because helping him helped his cause. He knew in the end that one of them would discard the other and he'd have probably lost, though he'd have hopefully given enough of a fight that the dark lord would have to do it himself after losing men. He could've probably given Lucius a run for his money... though he never could get the upper hand on Bellatrix. Much as he wanted revenge on her.

But she was dead and this girl would do. The mudblood even kind of looked like her. Perhaps that was why he got a little too playful. Teasing just enough to give an opening for her to get out of the room and run through the inn. Although he didn't really rush after her. He knew the snake of an owner, so worried about his visit that he couldn't smell any recent scents of people, wouldn't let her escape. No... the problem was if he was going to be able to get some more time with her or not.

"Good to see you haven't lost your edge." Greyback said casually, as though he were a friend and it was just a thing of trying to let him enjoy the fun rather than him getting a little sloppy. "Haven't seen that form in quite a while." He licked at his claws, which still had blood on them, tilting his head the moment the woman had stopped screaming and fainted. He headed over to him and pointed with her with a yellowed claw.

"She fainted and I'm not stupid enough to think you didn't secure the place." Greyback commented "I shouldn't be finished the time I paid for." Though he couldn't really be sure of that. After a long enough time of living in the wild, you sort of lost your sense of time. But he was sure if she wasn't going to die right there on the floor, the animagus would be willing to increase the time a bit longer to make sure he got his fun. Well... Unless it bugged him enough to have to do this and have to hand back his victim he'd cut it short.

[vasco reyes]

The serpentine hotelier slithered away from around the body, slowly. He wondered exactly what Greyback was thinking What impression did he give the werewolf? He knew this one was volatile, predatory, and a lot more shrewd than he liked to display. Vasco making it to nearly 40 was a feat, in his line of work, but Greyback making it to seventy was something entirely more impressive. Of course he hadn't always been subtle. Once upon a time Greyback didn't have to hide. He was actively cooperating with the ministry-endorsed snatchers...

Vasco reflected that that was probably where he went wrong. Revealing himself to an ally that wouldn't last, and committing to assisting them. Though it was a mistake Vasco made as well, he had the fortune of dozens of muggleborns vouching for the fact he'd actually helped them, when they needed to be found. So he had escaped punishment from the Shacklebolt regime for the crimes that he had 'clearly' committed under the imperious curse. That said though. Vasco could hardly really call it a mistake. Voldemort had won the war and he had been too proud, to eager to take care of Harry Potter. He could instead, have made himself unassailable. He could have had the Carrows hand Dumbledore's Army to the dementors, but no. He'd trusted Snape's oversight, and he'd allowed Potter to dictate the terms of engagement. Vasco felt for one moment that he'd have made a far better Dark Lord. But he lacked the charisma, the energy, and the requisite death wish to try.

He retook human form with a motion that looked like he was striking at the air, so that he would assume his preferred shape already close to his feet. He stood, removing his wand from its holster. not aiming it per se but casually pointing down toward the unconscious woman. "Then have Barrows or someone bring around another night's worth of gold. You'll be welcome tomorrow as well." He said He wasn't going to play games with Greyback, not too much, but he also had a business to run, and this man may have been savage, but Vasco knew his surroundings. If it came to it, he could do plenty of damage, and escape. What was Greyback going to do, if things got bad?

"Of course I secured the place." He said, wiith a light smile. Almost as if Fenrir had made some silly, almost unecessary remark. "The only reason I haven't put it under the fidelius charm is because it would make things difficult for new customers... As much as I could run the business invite only, it's a logistical nightmare." Vasco said, hopefully disarmingly He'd still prefer to avoid trouble if he could, and so he confirmed the werewolf's faith in him, and took a tangent. "Do you need help getting the girl up stairs, ese?" Vasco offered. More out of a desire to guage Greyback's mentality. Would he demonstrate independence, and simply raise her off the ground and carry her, either physically or magically? Or would he be lazy and take help? Vasco supposed wolves were pack animals, and relying on help wasn't unlikely, but still. It would be interesting.