Worthy Of Magic

Part 63 - The Den

"In solitude, the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon itself." ~ Laurence Sterne

When Daphne stepped out of the veil, she was taken aback by the dramatic change in sight and sound. Loud thumping music and a deep bass blew away her senses for a minute and it took her a few seconds to take stock of her surroundings.

The flashing lights made it hard to see much and a mass of dancing bodies crowded her eyes.

"This way!" Draco shouted in her ears, leading her away from the dance floor towards another door that was lit green.

The moment they crossed the threshold of the door, the noise died down and changed to milder jazz and the environment more conducive for conversation.

Daphne took in the royal decor, blood-red recliners interspaced around golden round tables; a gleaming white bar counter with bronze high chairs; satin black curtains covering the walls and windows.

It all felt extremely luxurious.

Her eyes searched the floor above which seemed to be cloaked with a spell. She couldn't make anything out but the blur of bodies moving around. Nor could she see any stairs leading up.

"Okay," Draco muttered. "You hang around, spend some money and gather whatever info you want and try not to become vampire fodder. I'm gonna find some pockets to pick in the club." 'And snort some lines' he added in his mind with a chuckle.

Daphne gave him a look and Draco just shrugged with a grin and disappeared through the veil. She rolled her eyes and decided to head to the bar. She felt the need for a drink.

She glanced around as she walked, observing the conversing crowd wondering which were human and which vampire, but she couldn't make out. They were all well dressed, men and women alike, looking to be in the prime of health and full of wealth.

She took a seat at the bar and a stunning slender woman dressed in skin-tight leather pants coupled with a loosely tucked in white shirt walked over to her. She had black hair cropped neatly till her shoulders with a fringe kissing the eyelids of her dark eyes.

Her full lips, shaded dark with red made Daphne's heart skip a beat and she instinctively knew she was facing a vampire. Her beauty was unnatural.

"The name's Valerie. What's your poison?" She had a musical Italian accent.

Gorgeous. Daphne thought and after a moment, in which the vampire knew the human was gathering her wits, "Wine," Daphne replied breathily.

"Only the best for a pretty one like you," Valarie replied with a grin, revealing a sharp canine.

A few hundred yards away, Harry strolled down the pathway. The sand hardened by constant movement. He pulled a joint and lit it with the tip of his finger, took a deep drag and exhaled with a content sigh. "Potent," he muttered, feeling a wave of relaxation penetrate the cloud within his mind in a few seconds.

A building lit with faint lanterns came into sight with a wooden signboard that read 'The Den' swaying gently in the light breeze.

It was the magic that was bursting out of the building that caught Harry's attention. Layers of protection wards covered the building, and all with a simple core... which was to Trap. He could also sense the same magic he felt when he woke up in the streets.

Harry began to feel excited. It was going to be his first encounter with vampires. He tossed aside the spliff, drew up his hood and entered the Den.

Daphne was enjoying her wine. She was tapping her toes to the tune of the light music and was on her second glass, feeling a high build-up in her like a slow tide. She was content in observing the activities of the vampires and humans of the bar for the moment, learning all that she could before deciding to quiz Valerie about Bellatrix and Harry.