I'm back with another chapter! It's longer than the last one too! This should wrap up the last chapter, and there will be more action in the chapters following this one...and not the naughty kind, although there will be more of that woven in secretly. Please review!
I hope you like it!
-Jenn
Hours later, they lay in each other's arms. Walburga was blissfully exhausted, all of the tension in her body eradicated by Brennan's magical fingers. "I love you." She whispered, brushing his blonde hair from his sleeping face.
He smiled, keeping his eyes closed, "Was there ever any doubt?"
She smiled softly, resting her head on his bare chest, "No, never."
He got up, pushing her off of him to kneel next to the bed. "That's good. That makes this simple. Marry me, Walburga."
"What?" She exclaimed, dumbfounded.
He chuckled, taking her hand in his, "I think it's pretty plain. I want to be your husband. I graduate this year, and I want to be certain that you're still mine, even when I'm not at school anymore. Yes, we're young and it might be stupid, but I don't care. This next year, Walburga, I'm going to work my butt off so I can support you when you get out of school. What I feel for you is more real than anything I've ever felt for anyone else. You wanted to leave all of this. I want to take you away from all your troubles. All I'm asking for now is an engagement, when you graduate, we'll follow whatever path we see fit."
"Okay." She said with a soft smile.
He grinned at her, kissing her hand and then her mouth, "I love it when you smile. Tears have no place on such a pretty face. When I take you away, you'll never cry again."
She giggled, "You're a nut."
"As long as I can be your nut, that's okay." He said, with his favorite cocky grin in place. "I have to go. I need to get to my divination exam."
Walburga arched a black eyebrow, "Why are you having a divination exam this time of night? Why do you take that class anyway."
He chuckled, smoothing her hair, "Teacher's orders. I don't know, it's actually kind of fun. Sort of like story telling, acting without a stage."
"I really don't see the point, but good luck." She said skeptically, watching him pull his trousers back on.
He winked at her as he got to the door, his shirt half buttoned and his tie loose, "Thanks, it shouldn't take long. In the mean time, you just stay right here so I can come back and ravish you some more."
She sighed, "Bren, I wish I could, but I should go apologize to Miranda. She's bound to be pretty angry. She didn't deserve that."
Brennan leaned over the bed and kissed her red lips, "Go make up with your friend. I'll see you later."
"She'll want me to stay the night." She said mournfully, "We'll just have to settle for meeting back here after breakfast."
He grinned, "That just means I'll have the honor of divesting you of your clothes again."
Walburga shook her head, "You're incorrigible."
He looked thoughtful, "Yes, yes, I suppose I am."
Once she was dressed, Walburga went by Floo to Miranda's home, a castle in Bulgaria owned by her father. The same father who was sitting in the living room next to the fire. "Miss. Black, what a lovely surprise." He said coldly.
She bowed to him, "Hello, sir."
"I suppose you're going to tell me why Miranda came home crying?" He said harshly. Anything that had anything to do with Miranda was his business, and he made sure to exercise all of his power to keep her happy.
Walburga was trembling in fear, the warm feelings she had gained from Brennan fleeing her body. "Yes, sir."
"Well, please, let me in on why my daughter seems like the world ended or are you going to keep shaking like a small child? Speak, don't waste my time." He was in a rather harsh mood, even for him, and his words made Walburga flinch.
"Forgive me, please. I've upset her; I said things I shouldn't have to her. I lost my temper and she was the victim of my razor tongue." She said quietly, his anger fueling hers. "I've come to apologize, with your permission."
"Look at me." He commanded. She lifted her eyes from the floor. He was handsome still, but he had always been good looking. His eyes were sharp, and she feared that he was looking straight into her. "Did you mention anything you shouldn't have?" He asked, looking like he was talking to a child.
She shook her head, "No, sir, it was just petty teenaged stuff. Nothing I said was anything you have forbidden me to speak of. I was harsh with her about Alphard."
He raised an eyebrow, "Alphard, you're brother? What does he have to do with my Miranda." She was tentative in answering and he was not patient enough to wait, "Miss. Black, please, I will not hurt you for anything your brother has done." He'd grown more patient over his years with Miranda it seemed, at least as far as where children were concerned, but he looked tired.
"They're friends, sir." He gave her an arch stare, and Walburga knew that she couldn't step around the truth so awfully. She made a clucking sound with her tongue, "Honestly, I simply warned her that they were getting a bit too close. I didn't mean to upset her. It's probably just that time, but I feel like I should make sure she's alright."
He nodded, "Go ahead then. I'd trust you to tell me if they are indeed too close."
Walburga smiled at him, and in her face, he saw her mother, "No, sir, I would not. I've not sworn my allegiance to you. My parents have, not me."
He laughed, "God, girl, you are a brave little thing, smart too. You'll do great things, I'm sure. I'd wish you'd do them for me. Any chance you'll reconsider? You'll be of age in just over a year."
She couldn't keep her upper lip from curling in disgust, "I refuse to swear myself to any master besides my future husband, and you shall not be him."
Gellert Grindelwald smiled at his daughter's best friend, a lovely brilliant girl. It was her, not her mother, who had helped her father hide Grimmauld Place from muggles. She was someone he wanted as a follower, but the only way she would submit to him was if he had something to hold over her. He inclined his head to her, "I respect your self authority, Miss Black. Go on, then, make up with Miranda. I expect her to be back to normal by morning." He leveled her with a dark gaze, "If not..."
She nodded, "Yes, sir, I understand."
She bolted when he waved a hand at her.
Walburga entered Miranda's room cautiously. "Randa?"
Miranda was sitting at her vanity, her house elf brushing her long dark hair. "I didn't say you could come in." She said, her sapphire blue eyes glaring back at Walburga from the ornate crystal mirror in front of her.
"I came to apologize. I shouldn't have snapped at you." Walburga said, fiddling with the silver bracelet on her wrist. "I'm sorry."
"You should be." Miranda said, her voice sharp, a voice that Walburga had heard echoed in the walls of Hogwarts, a voice that made her wince.
"I know." Walburga said, shifting uncomfortably in the door frame.
"I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am. Walburga, I know that I will never be able to marry your brother, but...I can't help but to dream. I want so badly for us to be normal. Even those dreams of the three of us scouring the countryside are far fetched. We could be great, the three of us, a real Silver Trio. We would be like the Hogwarts founders, start our own school, cure diseases. Anything we could want to do. We don't have that choice though, do we?" She said, flicking a hand at her elf, and in a display of magic that was beyond her years, forced him to apperrate away with a small squawk.
It always unnerved Walburga to see her do such things, and to make them look so easy as well. "I know you're not stupid, Miranda. Just...naive, but I guess you aren't as naive as I thought. I'm sorry." She just glared at Walburga, her jaw set and her arms crossed, "God, Miranda, how can I get you to understand how sorry I am? I was rude, and irrational, and I'm sorry."
Miranda smiled, "I know."
Walburga knew she'd been played for the last few minutes, and descended upon her friend, tackling her to the ground. "Why you little imp! Why I should beat you like a redheaded step child!"
Miranda was chortling like a small child as Walburga tickled her sides. "Maybe you should!"
After a few minutes, they collapsed on top of each other, both breathing heavily, "I am sorry, Randa. I shouldn't have been so harsh. Really."
Miranda sat up, "Walburga, I do know you better than you think I do. You're just worried about me hurting myself. I understand that." She stood, with a dancer's grace, and I stared at her, "You still need to be punished though!"
"Miranda, what have you done?" Her hair was red, a bright, ginger color.
"I told you! Punishment!" She said with a smile.
Walburga put her head in her hands, but still smiled at her friend's antics. "Come on, just the sight of that is enough to make me hurl. You look like a Weasley."
"A what?" Miranda asked, pulling her hair up into a ponytail.
"A Weasley, they're a pureblooded family. One of the most prolific family of breeders. It's sort of disgusting, they've each got about seven sons. I could never imagine having that many children, let alone all boys." Walburga said, shivering.
"Sounds awful." Miranda said, a hand on her locket, "But I kind of want a big family. I want a son who looks like his father, and a daughter that looks like me. One day, regardless of what my father says, I will have a family of my own. I won't abandon my children the way my mother did to my brother and I." She took Walburga's hands, her face full of hope. "We can raise our children together, Walburga. Wouldn't that be wonderful? We might not travel the world, but life can still be great. I want that for us."
Walburga hugged her younger friend, "I know, and it might happen. Just don't harbor false hopes. Be cautious, Miranda."
The newly redhead nodded, "I will, Burga. Just, don't yell anymore. It hurts my feelings."
"I won't."
"Good, now tell me more about this boy. I didn't really get the chance to say a proper hello." Miranda said, pulling her friend onto the lounge next to the window.
If anyone is wondering, yes, the locket Miranda is fiddiling with is the Horcrux locket.
Hope you enjoyed it!
Review!
-Jenn