Next post!
It's a bit longer... to make up for the short one I posted last time.
Enjoy!

Ellouise couldn’t believe her eyes, she felt Xavier yanking on her arm, but she couldn’t move. She was frozen to the spot, every fibre in her body questioning the very thing that she saw, every fibre in her body telling her to take out her wand and curse him to hell. But then she had to wonder what the other wizard was doing in his company? Xavier had stopped pulling, his grip went rigid, Ellouise assumed he must have finally seen what she was looking at. Albus Dumbledore, one of the greatest wizards to date, sitting on an old park bench, in a ghost town with the man she only knew as Igor.
Ellouise felt her body tense as she remembered her two encounters with Igor. They had both occurred when she was on her reconnaissance mission, scouring the forest where an exchange was supposed to be held between a few death eaters and representatives of the Russian Ministry. The first time she saw him it had been an accident, they hadn’t been anticipating the arrival of three death eaters, these included Lucius Malfoy, Igor and of course Balthazar, the wizard that had captured Ellouise’s parents. The second encounter was of course the day of the exchange itself which had gone sour. Ellouise still remembered the pain she felt when she arrived back at Grimmauld Place. Shuddering Ellouise starred at Dumbledore and Igor’s exchange.

Both men sat on the park bench, not close to each other enough to look comfortable, but not far enough apart to consider each other strangers. Dumbledore sat with his hands folded in his lap, his shrivelled, blackened hand noticeable beneath his healthy one. He didn’t look particularly ill, Ellouise thought as she examined Dumbledore. She wondered why he had been absent from the Order Headquarters for so long. Was he hiding something? Why was he talking to Igor? Curiosity getting the better of Ellouise, she tugged gently at Xavier’s hand and edged a little bit closer, hoping to grasp some of the conversation. For the most part the two men just seemed to be sitting their enjoying the scenery, but on closer inspection their lips were moving very quickly, and their voices were very low.
“But surly that’s too obvious Albus”, said Igor in a rapid monotone.
“Perhaps, but what other options do we have?”
There was a brief moment of silence between them before Igor continued.
“I don’t know Albus, but I’m thinking the dark lord wouldn’t have made it so clear and obvious. He’s not a careless man.”
Dumbledore nodded, acknowledging the fact.
Ellouise’s mind was racing, what were they talking about? It obviously related to Voldemort, but none of it made sense. What was obvious? How would it be careless?
Dumbledore turned his gaze from a tree in the distance, to a patch of road in front of him.
Sighing, he turned back to Igor, “Keep me posted.”
Igor stood and faced Dumbledore, bowing his head low.
“I’ll see what I can find out”, he said before he disapparated.
Dumbledore sat there for a moment, almost like a statue or a monument.

Ellouise wasn’t sure what she just saw, but she wasn’t willing to stand there and pretend that nothing happened. No... Ellouise wanted some answers. After letting go of Xavier’s hand she tapped herself of the head with her wand, removing the disillusionment charm. Dumbledore flinched suddenly as she became visible.
“Miss Browne”, he said by way of greeting, “Very nice charm work, you had me fooled.”
Ellouise felt her chest fill with pride, though she was still sceptical about Dumbledore’s behaviour.
“Thank you”, she said politely before continuing, “Might I ask what you were doing conversing with Igor”, she said the name with distaste.
Dumbledore smiled ruefully, “Ahh, yes Igor Karkaroff”, he said as he removed his half moon spectacles and wiped them with the sleeve of his robes.
“He, like Severus Snape, is a death eater and is working against Lord Voldemort. Very valuable indeed.”
Ellouise processed this information. Snape, she wasn’t all that comfortable with, though he had proved his worth on occasions. Igor Karkaroff on the other hand has been an unknown. And though Dumbledore seemed to trust him, Ellouise could hear a faint nagging voice in the back of her head, telling her to stay away.
“And you believe him?” came Xavier’s voice loud and clear. Ellouise had almost forgotten he was there, following his voice she tapped him on the head also and he appeared before them.
“Ahh, bravo Miss Browne, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me”, he said merrily before responding to Xavier’s question.
“I do indeed Master Black, he has after all provided me with useful and highly confidential information.”
“What information is that? And where have you been?” asked Xavier, anger and disappointment present in his voice. Ellouise took his hand and gave it a squeeze. Dumbledore rose from his seat and peered around the town centre.
“Perhaps we should discuss this matter further at the Order”, he said in a bit of a whisper.
Before either of them could respond Dumbledore had placed a hand on Ellouise’s should and they were lurching forward through a haze of light and darkness.