When rivlary meet

[DANIEL MATTHEW VALENTINE]

Everyone knows that Daniel was the smartest kid in class, a teacher's pet like some would say or at least, he was one of them. There was however, another student with many similarity. A rivalry of a sort, although not a spiteful one but rather more friendlier. A battle of the fittest. It had been a while since he had seen that little rascal, Lyla and up until the war. He hadn't seen her in what felt like forever. Sometime he would wonder what she was up to, what next complicated puzzles she would be solving. He missed her company, the feeling of being challenged by someone with the same intellect as him or better. They rarely even spoke to each other, beside a casual hi's here and there and occasionally perhaps taunting each other before an exam. Either way, he felt he connected to her in a way that not even he could understand. What an odd relationship to have.

Daniel sat, nose deep into his files reading and rereading through the papers, careful not to miss any important details. While all the while, he was writing notes, absent mindedly. He was working on the murder of Felix Barker. Cause of death: Poisoned by the bartender. Amongst his files, he pulled out a rough sketch of the prosecuted. With one glance, it was easy to see that he looked like a young Jared Leto, minus the long hair. He sighed, running his hand through his hair. The thing was, he hadn't been able to solve this case and he had already been working on it for a three month already. It wasn't that he was incapable of solving a crime or that the bartender had outsmarted him. He shuddered at the thought of it, he dreaded the idea that someone was smarter than him out there. He was no Einstein, but he like to think he was brightest person in the pack. 

No sleep, he had a massive migraine and the thumping on the wall behind his cubicle hadn't help to alleviate his pounding headace. He growled, before peeking his head over to look at his co-worker. "Will you cut that out before I shove it up your arse?" he pratically roared and with that he grabbed his packet of cigarette and made his way outside. He was due for his break anyway. 


LYLA ROSE HAWTHORNE

[LYLA ROSE HAWTHORNE]

It was a well known fact that despite her sleek blonde hair, that Lyla Hawthorne was not a ditzy, pretty blonde girl at all. Ever since her childhood and well into and after Hogwarts, it was evident that she was well above the average witch or wizard in the areas of intelligence and dueling, as well as quidditch. There was another student she remembered clearly from her own house, Ravenclaw, who was the only one to challenge her and keep her on her toes: Daniel Valentine. They were in the same year, same house, and ultimately the same classes for their entire Hogwarts career and despite their rivarly to be the best of the best, they were friends as opposed to enemies. After Hogwarts, she had heard that he had become an auror (very fitting since she would sometimes refer to him as "Sherlock"), while she went off into the world of Quidditch.

After her...er...blunder which ended her Quidditch career, she went on to a new path: to be an auror, and that's exactly what she did. As an auror-in-training, she had impressed many of her superiors, especially when she found herself trapped in a dungeon of Vincent Veltrino's home and escaped virtually unscathed alongside two friends, despite drakons and acromantulas. Quickly after that, she earned the title of an auror, and she was given her first case today: the murder of Felix Baker, and coincidentally, it would be joint investigation with a coworker: none other than Daniel Valentine.

The quarter veela smirked as she read over the file, seeing the obvious: the bartender was familiar with crime and how to escape from authority, and he was excellent at staying out of the public eye. Inquiries spurred in her mind- perhaps he was foreign and had a record in another country- which would explain his skill in dodging arrest, or perhaps he was an unregistered animagus or metamorphagus. She scribbled these possibilities onto a parchment and rolled it up, deciding she would run them over with her new partner. Lyla's blue eyes scanned the cubicles as she passed, looking for his spot, but all she found was an empty chair and a rather annoying individual who was continuing to thump his hand upon a wall behind him. "Excuse me, you, Thumper...Merlin's beard, quit that!" she snapped as she stood on Daniel's empty chair and peered over the cubicle wall. "Where'd Valentine go?" she asked, and she was directed towards the door. "Thanks...and keep it down, people actually need to concentrate here." she gave a frank smile and lowered herself, heading out the door.

She was met with pleasant spring air as she exited the building and entered the outdoors. She quickly spotted Daniel Valentine ahead of her, holding onto a pack of cigarettes with an angry fist. "Why hello there, Sherlock," she smiled smoothly, catching up to his strides and looking up to him. She had the frame of a pixie but it was well known that she was a force to be reckoned with, wand or fist. "It's been a long time- almost ten year now, right? " she smiled, holding out her empty hand for a handshake. He looked well, extremely well, though he had always had a handsome face- but that didn't change their friendly rivalry. Lyla was never one to chase boys or men, partly because she had been stuck with feelings for one specific pain in her arse for ten years, but that was a whole other story.

DANIEL MATTHEW VALENTINE

[DANIEL MATTHEW VALENTINE]

The last he saw, Lyla was after the war and ever since then he got wind of her since. A co-worker recently told him that she was keeping herself busy by becoming a Qudditch player as a beater for Ballycastle bat. Daniel didn't think much about this particuular sport. To him it was merely a couple of meathead throwing the ball around, trying to score. Lyla pursuing a Qudditch career came to no surprise to him and despite their competition. He knew more about her than he did about himself. What an odd relationship to have!

The young detective stepped outside and immediately the smell of spring air filled his nose with pleasure. The warmth was nice for a change, no more cold nights, no more rushing home to turn on the heater or standing at the station shivering. He greeted spring with open arms. He let out a tired sigh, pulling out a candy stick before placing it between his lips and lighting it to fiery life. After one puff, a farmiliar voice called out to him and he spun his head around to see who it was. Only to find that it was the one and only, none other than the famous Lyla Hawthorn. His face lit up when he saw her, a grin playing on his face. "Lyla!" he said breathlessly, taking her hand without hesistation. "Yeah! Long time no see. What you've been up to?" he asked. He wasn't usually like this, but he made an exception for a certain somebody. His sudden chirpiness was enough to make lots of head turn.

[LYLA ROSE HAWTHORNE]

Daniel spun to face her, and Lyla smiled, tucking a blonde strand of hair behind her ear. She was honestly very shocked to see how happy he was to see her- she had always been fond of him, admiring his immense talent, intelligence, and resilience, but for some reason, she was worried that he might be annoyed with her working here. Though she was eager to prove herself and climb the ladder, she did not want to upset other deserving, hardworking aurors- especially Daniel. It was a relief that he was so happy to see her. She beamed at him, shaking his hand.

"I've been training hard, finally earned a spot as an auror! I'm still a bit new, so they stuck me with someone more experienced for a bit." she mentioned vaguely with a smirk forming upon her lips. She went ahead and took a seat on a bench behind them and patted the spot next to her. "Looks like we're partners." she raised an eyebrow, anticipating his response. Who would have ever thought that two school rivals would get paired together to be partners? She was both excited and even a bit nervous- she felt like she had a lot to live up to and still felt rather inexperienced. "I actually got locked in a dungeon with another auror and a hit wizard about a month ago." she grinned, proud of how she did her part to help in escaping. "How have you been? I hear you can be a bit of a grump around here." she nudged him with her arm gently, still holding the parchment.

"Oh! Here- the Felix Baker case... I thought of a few ideas. They may be a bit far-fetched, but I suppose they're better than none." she handed the rolled parchment to him, hoping he didn't think she was stupid or nuts for her ideas. "Do we have anyone we can talk to about him from the bar he worked at? Metamorphagi's features often change with strong emotions- maybe he got mad once and someone could have seen an appearance change. If not...well we can look at either unregistered Animagus or foreign ties." she said confidently, hoping that she wasn't making a complete fool of herself. She liked to think that she could do anything and solve anything, and most of all she liked to be seen as an equal and not a newbie.

DANIEL MATTHEW VALENTINE