Someone's fingers were running up and down her thigh softly. Magdalene let a soft sigh escape her lips, enjoying the feeling of the stranger's fingertips on her flesh. She smiled and rolled onto her back, looking up at the man who was lying next to her.
"Sirius," she whispered with a beaming smile.
"I didn't mean to wake you," he said softly as he leaned his head down and kissed her lips gently. Magdalene wrapped her arm around his shoulders as he lay over her. Her body was begging for him to touch her all over; to engulf her in his arms; and fill her with his love and desire. As if reading her mind, he moved his lips away from hers and kissed her chin, following the contour of her jaw line. He kissed her neck playfully causing her to moan delicately in his ear.
"I was worried about you," she said as he sat back, studying her face with his deep dark blue eyes. Magdalene couldn't help but stare at them. His midnight eyes made her think of the dark night sky. There was a certain pleasurable twinkle to his eyes that reminded her of stars. Like the night sky, Sirius was dark and mysterious holding more with in him then appeared at first glance.
"I was with James, just setting him and Lily up in their new flat," he said.
Magdalene nodded. "Of course."
She sat up on her elbows and stole a kiss from Sirius, tasting him in her mouth made her only want more. She smiled against his lips and moved her lip to his neck, kissing his flesh delicately. His body tensed slightly but Magdalene kept kissing him to help him relax.
"Relax Sirius," she whispered in his ear as she straddled him, switching their positions so she was on top of him. "It doesn't hurt."
"I didn't realize you'd be hungry," Sirius said softly as he lay back.
"I can't help it," Magdalene smiled holding his hands as her fangs slid forward in her mouth. "You always make me hungry."
Her eyes flashed grey as she bent her head to Sirius' neck. The smell of his blood filled her nostrils; the sound of his pulse filled her ears; her senses were heightened because of her hunger. She opened her mouth wide and made to sink her teeth into Sirius' neck—
"NO!"
Magdalene jumped in her bed, throwing her sheets away from her body. She had woken herself up from her own dream. Her body was shaking as she looked up at the pealing paint of the ceiling. She looked around the room and pinched herself, making sure she was back in her reality—alone in her own bedroom in her own house.
It had been three years, but Magdalene Markus was not used to her current situation. There wasn't really much way to adjust to her circumstances. Becoming a vampire hadn't changed much of her lifestyle, but now she could never turn off the hunger for blood. It consumed her. And she knew from past experiences that Sirius had wonderful tasting blood. That was probably why she was dreaming of him.
Before, being half vampire only meant that she had to have blood daily to avoid becoming an intolerable violent woman. Now, being a fully changed immortal vampire meant that she grew hungry for blood, had senses to hunt for blood, and fangs slid forward in her mouth when she was about to feed. In her eyes, she had lived the last three years as a cursed monster, burdened with the memories of her Grandmother Ariana Donovan, the most powerful vampire of the time—until Magdalene killed her.
Ariana was responsible for changing Magdalene, and shortly after the ritual, Magdalene killed Ariana in a violent rage. When Ariana changed Magdalene she made her into the most powerful vampire, passing on her knowledge, memories and power. Magdalene had been powerful before she was changed; she was half vampire and half witch. Her Mother, a natural born witch, had died when she was very young and her vampire Father Marius Markus never made her forget that she was a burden on him. Being turned to a full vampire only made Magdalene more powerful; she was had the physical powers of telekinesis, empathy, and conjuring. She also held deep wizarding magic from her Mother and her short lived magical education at Hogwarts.
The irony of it all was that Magdalene did not realize how powerful she was for sometime after Ariana's death. When she had killed her Grandmother, she had taken over all rights of three vampire clans in the country. She had destroyed one, her Father's clan—but the other two clans still remained with vengeance consuming them. It didn't take long for Magdalene to realize what she had done, and what power she now held. Melanie Thompson and Janson were the heads of the two clans, and both wanted Magdalene dead. About a month after her Grandmother's death, Magdalene took to hiding—she wasn't sure how she could defeat the vampires that kept coming after her.
Magdalene moaned and rubbed her head as her temples throbbed from the psychic connection that was forming between her and Sirius. That could be the other reason she was dreaming of Sirius. They shared a strong psychic and telekinetic connection because of a Covenant ritual that had been performed accidentally three years ago. The Covenant bond simply kept Sirius and Magdalene together—no matter where they went, how far away from each other they were, they would always sense the other. They would be called to the other if one was in danger; they could hear each other's thoughts and shared dreams. No doubt, Sirius just had the same dream as Magdalene.
Despite this bond, Sirius had yet to find Magdalene. After she left Hogwarts three years ago to return to her Father's home, Palazzo del Te, and then destroyed it, she never returned to Hogwarts. She felt like a monster and didn't wish to expose her wizarding friends to the horror that now consumed her. She was very much alone—she had abandoned her magical friends and her vampiric family. Of course she wanted to be with her wizarding friends, but she felt that just wasn't an option. She was being hunted by too many vampires—she wasn't safe.
As she made to get out of the bed, to get something to drink, a shocking sensation passed through her body. The feeling was nothing she had ever experienced before. It caused her vision to blur and go black and white. She blinked and rubbed her eyes as she saw a different scene in front of her. It was as if she was looking through someone else's eyes at that current moment. She didn't see her bedroom before her, but rather a lavished well decorated sitting room. She was on her knees in the room, sinking into the soft plush carpet. Across the room from her stood a tall man staring out a ten foot window at the rainy night. Magdalene made to move but someone's hands held her back, keeping her on her knees. Her hands were bond behind her back, so there was no way of escaping. When she looked over her shoulder she saw two men, obviously vampires because of the pale complexion and grey eyes, standing over her.
"It seems peculiar that my men should pick you up outside of my bar," said the man from the window. He turned to face her and had a crude smile on his face. "A wizard outside a vampire bar? You don't see that very often."
"Couldn't help myself," Magdalene said, but her voice was not her own. It was of a man.
"Tell me, Sirius Black," said the vampire standing before her. "Where I can find Magdalene Markus? I know very well who you are—if you're here then Magdalene must be too."
"Actually, I was hoping you could tell me where she was."
"If I knew where she was, I assure you'd she'd be dead as soon as I found her."
Magdalene sat up straight in her own bed and took a long gasping breath. She had never experienced a psychic connection like that before. Because of the connection she and Sirius shared, she had psychically connected to him. He was in great danger if he had been captured by a vampire and was being held by him. Magdalene stood up out of the bed immediately, looking for clothes to wear. She pulled on a pair of blue jeans with holes in the knees and a bra. She couldn't go into a situation that would probably end up in a fight braless. She pulled a sweatshirt over her head and found some chunky boots to wear. The boots went up to her shin, tying tight and hiding her blue jeans. Her chestnut wand was tucked safely in her right boot. She tossed her hair out of her face and without a second thought concentrated all of her energy and being on Sirius Black.
Magdalene felt a sharp pull on her entire body as the particles of her being separated, rushed through space frantically, and landed back together in the sitting room she had just witnessed in her vision. She caught her balance and took a deep breath.
"Well, that was fast," said the familiar voice of the vampire. She turned to him, smiling.
"Hi," she said holding out her hand. "Magdalene Markus. I'm assuming you are Janson. A pleasure."
Janson raised his eyebrows at her and did not take her hand. Magdalene shrugged and looked at Sirius, who was kneeling on the ground with his arms tied behind his back. Magdalene couldn't help but smile at him. He looked at her perplexed. His dark blue eyes were certainly happy to see her, but at the same time he was angry with her.
Magdalene thought he looked good considering; His eyes were just as intense as she remembered. His face was covered by a dark five o'clock shadow, his dark hair was long falling to his shoulders; he looked dirty and sexy—despite his jeans, tee-shirt, and leather jacket, Magdalene could make out the defined muscles underneath his clothes. She bit her bottom lip, still smiling at him.
"Maggie," he said with surprise. His lips formed a crooked smiled, which made Magdalene's stomach do a flip flop. "How'd you—"
"You're my Covenant," Magdalene said looking at Janson. "I have to protect you from other vampires."
Janson smirked. "Covenant? They still perform those rituals?"
"It was an accident," Magdalene said coolly. "I'd rather not have anyone attached to me. But I'm still obligated to save his ass if he gets into trouble. So, if you don't mind Janson, I'd appreciate it if you kept to the blood laws of our race and leave my property be."
"Property?" Sirius questioned. Magdalene turned to him, giving him a nasty look. Her grey eyes shined brightly, which only caused Sirius to glare back at her.
Let me handle this, she said to him telepathically. Thankfully, Sirius was a good enough player to keep a straight face when he heard her voice in his head.
Alright, but we have a lot to talk about.
Agreed.
Magdalene turned back to Janson with a forced smile. "So, will you let him go?"
"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Magdalene," said Janson. "Melanie and I have been looking for you for three years now."
"Everyone has, don't take it personally that you haven't been able to find me," Magdalene said softly. "What do you get for killing me first, Janson? Bragging rights? Or are you hoping to take my powers when you kill me?"
"You're not that powerful."
"Really?" Magdalene said with raised eyebrows. "Oh, how arrogant of me. I do apologize. I thought with every vampire coming after me these last three years that it meant I was kind of a big deal."
"We just want justice for Mother's death."
"Oh, Ariana," nodded Magdalene. "I suppose that makes sense. She just wanted justice for Marius' death; look what that got her."
"You're cockier then I remember, Magdalene," Janson said as he walked to her. He touched her cheek. "Do you remember meeting me? You were very young."
"I don't," Magdalene said honestly.
"I knew Elizabeth very well," Janson whispered in her ear. "If it weren't for me, Marius never would have met her."
Magdalene's eyes flashed at the mention of her Mother. She stepped away from Janson, but he wrapped his arm around her tightly, holding her close. Magdalene's hands pushed against Janson's chest, but he was a fully grown man with a muscular body and vampire strength.
"You look just like her," he said slowly. "Brings back old memories."
His free hand stroked her cheek. Magdalene grabbed his arm and threw it away from him. She proceeded to slap Janson across the face and shove him away from her body. Janson stepped back, laughing, not thrown by Magdalene's behavior for a moment.
"I'm not my Mother."
Janson laughed. "No, Marius and Ariana's blood festers in your veins taking away all the good your Mother's blood possessed. You're just as bad as me Magdalene."
Magdalene thought it was funny that Janson said this only because he had the reputation of being more merciful then Marius and Melanie combined. But he was still a vampire who had killed thousands in his lifetime. Magdalene had only killed three people, in self defense.
"I disagree," Magdalene said. "Stop stalling Janson, either kill me and my Covenant or let us go. It's not a difficult choice."
"Straight to the point," Janson smirked. "I like that in a woman."
Magdalene sighed with annoyance and turned on her heel. She pulled her wand from her boot and made a dagger appear in her hand as she walked towards Sirius. She flicked her wand effortlessly at the vampire on Sirius' right, sending him flying into the book case on the wall behind him. She did the same thing to the vampire on Sirius' other side and then dropped down to one knee, cutting his hands free of the ties that bound him.
Sirius stood up next to Magdalene as she pointed her wand at Janson.
"You know that won't stop me," he jeered at her.
Magdalene rolled her eyes. Where's your wand? She asked Sirius.
His desk, over there in the corner.
Wait for me to distract him.
Sirius pinched her elbow lightly to acknowledge her orders. Magdalene couldn't help but smile at his touch; it sent thrills through her body, like it had in her dream, just before she came here to save him.
With her free hand, she conjured a wooden stake behind her back. She clenched it in her hand and counted to three in her head. She threw the wooden stake at Janson who grabbed it out of the air. Magdalene rushed forward as he made to throw it back at her. When he released it, it flew straight for her chest. She ducked down and let the wooden stake sail across the room towards the oak doors. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sirius running for the desk in the far corner of the room.
Janson's eyes flashed grey, dilated and looked directly at Sirius. Magdalene jumped forward and tackled Janson around the middle, so he couldn't go after Sirius who had reached the desk. Janson grabbed Magdalene's throat and squeezed it tightly. She didn't hesitate, and thrust her bent elbow into his jugular. Janson chocked and coughed as he released her. Magdalene fell on top of his body—she had to admit he was very muscular. She could feel his ripped torso underneath her as she lay on him for a moment. She made to get up off of him, but he grabbed her, flipped her onto her back and grabbed her throat again.
A red beam shot across the room at Janson, hitting him in the shoulder. The stunning spell was ineffective though, it only caused Janson to turn his attention to Sirius. While he was distracted, Magdalene was able to lift her knee straight into his groin, which caused him to grunt in pain and roll off of her. Magdalene held out her hand and the stake that was lying on the floor at the front of the room slid across the floor to her open palm. She gripped it tightly and forced it down into Janson's chest. He screamed in agony and began to shake violently. Magdalene jumped back as Sirius came up a long side her. Janson's body burst into flames and burned until only ashes remained.
"Nice," Sirius said quietly.
"Come on," Magdalene said. "We have to get out of here. Can you Apparate? I can only teleport myself—"
"Hold tight," Sirius said wrapping his arms around her. Magdalene nodded and wrapped her arms around his wide shoulders. The most peculiar feeling took over her body as they Apparated. Magdalene felt like she was being squished through a small tube, pressure pushed down on her body from all sides and angles. Within moments her feet hit solid ground and her stomach turned upon the landing. She backed away from Sirius and turned, grabbing her knees as she bent over, about to be sick.
"You get used to it," Sirius said.
Magdalene stood up straight once her head stopped spinning and looked around the field they had appeared in. It was an empty country field, with long grass and wild flowers blooming. The summer night was refreshing to Magdalene; she was used to the cramped atmosphere of the city, where she had been hiding. She looked at Sirius and took in his full height and appearance, causing her heart to skip a beat. She threw her arms around him, happy to see someone she cared for from her past.
"It's so good to see you."
Sirius pulled away from her, looking cross, which caused Magdalene to frown.
"Where the bloody hell have you been?" he questioned.
"Hiding," she muttered. "Sirius, a lot has happened."
"Yea, yea it has," he said. "How could you just leave us? First of all with out saying good bye—and then to top it all off you don't come back after you kill your Grandmother!"
"How'd you know about that?" Magdalene asked.
"When you didn't write back to Lily, Dumbledore went to check on you," said Sirius. "Maybe a week and a half after you left. He found Palazzo del Te empty. We managed to do some investigating and found an old servant of yours—Martha. She told us what happened."
Magdalene nodded her head slowly. "Is everyone well?"
"Yea," Sirius nodded. "Dumbledore has been keeping up with news from the vampire world, along with his other work on the Order—he sent me to find you. We found out two months ago that you were still in the country and Melanie and Janson were hunting for you."
"Wow," Magdalene said with surprise. "I didn't realize you'd try and find me."
Sirius reached out and touched Magdalene's cheek. "I knew you were still alive because of our connection. It was just a matter of finding you."
Magdalene smiled at Sirius. She wished they could pick up right where they had left off—kissing in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, whispering sweet nothings in the other's ear, and smiling uncontrollably. Sirius still sent girlish rushes through Magdalene's body. Despite her desires she knew that things had changed. First of all, she had made love with Demetrius the night she left Hogwarts, just after she had finished kissing Sirius. Secondly, Demetrius had died saving Magdalene's life. And finally, she was a full vampire now, hardly worthy of mortal love.
"Why did Dumbledore want you to find me?" she asked as she bit her bottom lip.
"Magdalene, we're your family," he said breathlessly. "We love you and were worried. We want you to come home. You know Lily's been stir crazy to find you, and the pregnancy hormones don't help. She would be out for blood if I didn't find you."
"Wait, wait. Lily is pregnant?" Magdalene asked looking at Sirius in surprise.
"Yea," Sirius nodded. "I told you, a lot has happened in the last three years."
Magdalene bit her bottom lip, feeling suddenly ashamed. Perhaps hiding wasn't the best choice. Maybe she should have gone back to Hogwarts. The decision had not been an easy one. She mulled over going back and hiding for days before she made the ultimate decision to stay hidden in London.
"Where are we?" Magdalene asked.
Sirius sighed and motioned behind him. Magdalene looked and saw a small house in the distant. The moonlight shined on it; and from far away Magdalene thought it looked like a small happy country cottage.
"Order of the Phoenix Headquarters," said Sirius. "Remus' humble home. There's a meeting tonight, everyone should be there."
"Oh," Magdalene frowned slightly. She wasn't expecting to see people so soon. She was hoping that she could return to her home and disappear again. As happy as she was to see Sirius, and even though she thought she may have made the wrong choice by hiding, she was going to stick to it. She was not going to put her friends at risk, no matter what they said.
"Hey," Sirius said looking at her as if he could read her mind. He knew that she was thinking about how she wanted to disappear again. "I didn't drag my ass down to London, to get caught by Janson, to have you come save my ass and go home. No, you're coming to see everyone."
Magdalene looked at him sharply. "Don't tell me what to do Sirius. The last person who tried that ended up dead."
Sirius frowned and gave her his own nasty look. "You know that threatening me means nothing. You owe it to everyone to come in there. At least let them know you're alive—"
"You can do that for me," said Magdalene. "You can tell them you found me—"
"Lily will kill me," Sirius interjected. "She'll murder me if I tell her I found you and didn't bring you back. Frankly Maggie, I fear her more then I fear you."
"That doesn't seem reasonable," said Magdalene shaking her head.
"She's pregnant, you're not."
"Sirius," Magdalene said his name seriously. He looked at her and saw the dark look on her face. He frowned.
"What's the matter? Do you need blood?" he asked. Before she could even answer he pulled a switch blade from his boot.
"No," she said shaking her head. She took the blade and closed it, then tucked it gently in his front jean pocket. "Not yet anyways."
"Then why the dark serious look?"
"Sirius, you should fear me," she whispered. "I'm not—I'm not half vampire anymore. My Grandmother," Magdalene hesitated and looked at the ground. Sirius touched her chin and lifted it up, looking her in the eye. "Ariana changed me. I'm a full vampire now."
Sirius nodded his head slowly and spoke, "I don't think that changes very much Magdalene. Not to your friends."
Magdalene frowned and bit her bottom lip, nodding her head.
"Come on," he said taking her hand and leading her through the field. "Everyone will be happy to see you."
"Really? Because I feel like it's bittersweet. You're happy to see me, but Sirius I can feel your frustration also."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "I forgot how strong your empathetic powers are—"
"Stronger," Magdalene said. "I can feel Lily worrying from here."
Sirius laughed softly. "Maggie I'm frustrated because you're thinking about leaving us again."
"I'm sorry that my desires frustrate you," Magdalene said easily. Sirius stopped and pulled her against him. Magdalene's pulse jumped and heart skipped. He stroked her cheek and lowered his head close to hers. He was close enough to kiss her, but he didn't.
"You're lying through your teeth when you say your desires are to leave again," he said. We share a connection. I feel your every emotion and thought.
Magdalene rolled her eyes. Sirius had become good at channeling her and tapping into the connection they shared.
"You sure you're not a vampire?" Magdalene asked pulling away from him and stalking off towards the house. Sirius smiled and followed after her.
"Does that mean you're staying?"
"No promises," Magdalene said. Sirius grabbed her again, stopping her in her tracks. This time his face came so close that their noses touched. His hand rested on her neck, barely touching her.
"Can I persuade you?"
"No," Magdalene said pushing him away. She smiled slightly and turned, walking away. Sirius smiled and shook his head, loving her playfulness. As they crossed the field, Magdalene wondered if she'd ever be able to go into hiding again. Of course, she missed her friends, and staying with them would be a dream—but that was exactly it. It would be a dream. She was living in a very dangerous reality and she had to think realistically. If hiding kept her friends and their families' safe, then that was what she was going to do. Magdalene didn't want anymore blood on her hands.