Seeing Things (Shendeth)

[Harry Potter]

'Merlin, it's chilly.' Harry tugged at his house scarf just a bit tighter as he walked down Diagon Alley. The other shopkeepers and some passerby people greeted him as he went by the various other places. It was regular to spot him as he made his way to open the shop in the afternoons as per his usual routine by now... To think about it, it came as a bit of a pleasant surprise when it turned out that Fortescue gave the ice cream parlor to Harry. Sure, he was one of the closest people to the older man considering that there was no immediate family the other had except some cousin who lived far away. But, still: Harry, an ice cream man? That came as a slight shocker and, even, joke to his classmates. Not that he minded much by now.

When he finally arrived at the door of the parlor, he fished out the key from his pocket and, with the slightest fumble, unlocked it before entering inside. Harry was grateful to feel the wave of warmth as he passed through the doors. 'I never was built for the cold weather. Glad to know fall's coming along just fine. Means that quidditch will start soon... Ah, tryouts.' Not even when he was running his shop did he really stop thinking about the wizarding pastime he was so devoted to loving and playing.

Harry went over to the counter and set down his coat, trying to keep his mind frozen on thinking about anything other than the war at the moment. He just had to keep his head up and above the mess this all way. And how it has taken its claim on his twin brother. It was bad enough that Dumbledore is dead and, now, Neville has disappeared to do whatever he has to in order to defeat the Dark Lord. But now it had to include the apparent "death" of Shen? Preposterous. There was no way that he would have gone down so easily. Harry knew better... He shook his head as he glumly thought: 'Or do I... ? I dunno what to think. Maybe the git just left.'

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OUTFIT: Owning The Place.
NOTES: Angsty time, here we go. Lol.

[Shendeth Potter]

It was in the shadows where Diagon Alley met Knockturn Alley that a solitary figure paused for a short moment, having come from the latter direction, fingertips resting on the rough stone wall. Today was an unusual day, if only because that while it was the middle of the afternoon and he had only recently woken up in one of the places behind him, Shen wasn't completely hung over. Joy.

He looked out at the bright but quiet street in front of him with hard dark green eyes. Absolutely nothing of interest could be seen, but of course that didn't mean anything, and he was always aware of the location of his wand in its sheath. Shendeth was dressed in full Death Eater robes, save for the mask and hood, so that his very long black hair could be seen to be as perfectly kept as ever. He didn't entirely want to be wearing this right now, when out during the day, but it was far too dangerous to chance being seen wearing Muggle clothes.

Banishing all unnecessary thoughts, he strode forward, continuing on his way down the familiar track. In all honesty he didn't have much reason to be here, other than that actually walking somewhere and letting the sun hit his pale skin would do him good, but there wasn't anywhere else he had to go. Nowadays there was no order to life at all. It was with his usual cold indifference that Shen looked at the newly boarded windows, and the few people that were still around, drawing back at the sight of a Death Eater and staring after him hatefully. Not even the literal cold appeared to bother him. Maybe he wasn't wearing a mask, but the figurative one could never be dropped. It just so happened that Shendeth wouldn't even admit to himself how much of a torn-up wreck he actually was.

All of a sudden an interruption came in the form of a fiery pain shooting up his left forearm. Shen clenched his teeth and cursed mentally, only now remembering that he had forgotten to wrap it and perform the freezing spells that he usually did to numb the area slightly. Instead he pushed up his sleeve, exposing the Dark Mark inked in sharp contrast with his skin, figuring the cold air would have to do. He was used to it by now, and had of course felt things a thousand times worse.

Looking up, he found that he had somewhat unconsciously stopped in his tracks, and so looked up further to see what he had stopped next to. The shop beside him was recognizable as Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Shendeth knew the fate of the man who had given the place its name, but not who was continuing to run it. Hopefully someone on their side, because maybe even Death Eaters had to like ice cream. The sight had brought up the idea that Shen was.. hungry. His new lifestyle left little room for eating healthy or regularly. In the past few months he had lost weight, making him look even smaller when also considering his unimpressive stature. With the Mark still blatantly exposed, Shen walked slowly up the steps and opened the door.