Carmen Legacy's desk was a small closet size room. There was a desk, a chair and a trash can; no window, no lamp, no book shelf. I wasn't impressed by it—I'd rather have my cubicle, but maybe that's because I shared it with Gabriel. I took a seat in Legacy's chair, which was so wobbly I thought I was going to fall out of it backwards. I leaned back, carefully and put my feet up on the desk, getting comfortable. I had no idea how long I was going to be sitting in his desk, might as well be comfortable.
Legacy came stumbling into his office around three in the morning; hours after I had been sitting there waiting for him. He looked around his dark office as if I weren't there. It wasn't until he flicked his wand and lit the room that he saw me, sitting at his desk with my feet up. He paused and smiled with surprise.
"Hello Cadence," he said.
"Hello Carmen," I said pulling my feet off his desk. I leaned forward in his chair and gave him a smirk.
"What are you doing here?"
"You took over my office, why can't I take over yours?"
"It's three in the morning," he said looking at his magical wrist watch. "Shouldn't you be off catching bad guys?"
"I am," I nodded slowly. "Carmen, stop acting stupid, you know why I'm here."
"Yes," he nodded closing the door to the office. He pulled a red folder out of the inside of his cloak and held it up in the light. "This red folder I imagine."
"What is this all about?" I asked remaining in his chair. "Is this about me or Harry?"
"It's about both of you," he shrugged. "You both have wonderful stories to tell."
"We don't want them told," I said standing up. "Why do you want to tell them so bad?"
"Because the public deserve to know about them."
I glared at him once he answered my question. I didn't like what his response was. It was nobodies damn business what my happened in my personal life, or Harry Potter's personal life. We both lived very different lives and our secrets had to be kept secret—especially Harry's.
"No, they don't," I said. "You're messing with our lives, Carmen. You're threatening my life, my daughter's and Harry's—"
"You risk your life everyday," Legacy shrugged. "What's the difference if a story about you and Sirius Black is printed in the paper?"
"The difference is that people will start to talk," I said as I stood up. I stepped around his desk, glaring at him and speaking with a threatening tone. "Harry and Carrigan's safety is the most important thing to me right now. If you print anything, I will kill you myself."
"Well you can't stop me," he said shaking his head and stepping close to me. I crossed my arms over my chest and continued to glare, as if challenging him to come closer. "Threatening me only makes me want to do it more."
The dark look in his eyes was disgusting to me. He was trying to make sexual innuendos. It bothered me that Legacy would even try to look at me like that, like he even stood a chance of coming close to me, of touching me or kissing me. But it wasn't about that, it wasn't about the intimacy—it was about the sex. He was sexually attracted to me; and that frightened me a little. I didn't like it when I ended up in these situations. I didn't like it when a bad guy—any guy for that matter—tried to use my sexuality against me; tried to take advantage of me and seduce to his will…it was as if Legacy thought I'd give into him and if I had sex with him I wouldn't arrest him.
Before I could say anything he continued to speak, "People should hear your side, Cadence. Know the pain you've lived." He was leaning closer to me, making me more nervous. I realized very quickly that I could use his attraction to my benefit. I wasn't proud of what I was about to do, but if he was going to try and use my sexuality against me I was most certainly going to use it against him.
"You don't know anything about me," I whispered. He reached up and touched my cheek, very softly.
"Let me," he said. "Let me know you and let me tell your story."
I stared up at him for a few moments. "What does that have to do with Harry, and what is in that red folder?"
"Harry is part of your story," Legacy whispered. "If the public knew your tragedy and how they intertwine they would support you."
"You mean to say that you are going to write a piece that would benefit me? Not slander me?"
"Of course," he said cupping my cheeks. "I have your best interest in mind."
He leaned in and kissed me deeply as his finger tips traced down to my neck and collar bone. I let him kiss me and slowly, despite my better judgment, I kissed him in return. He pulled away slowly.
"Didn't think you'd let me kiss you," he whispered.
"I'm not really proud of it," I said grabbing his wrist and twisting it backwards, forcing him to turn around. I kicked his knees in, forcing him to the ground and grabbed the red folder from his hand. I tossed it on the desk and snapped my fingers, making it disappear.
"Is this what you consider foreplay?" he asked.
"Not really," I whispered in his ear.
He threw his elbow back into my stomach, catching me off guard. I stumbled backwards as he stood up and grabbed my waist, lifting me up and slamming me against the wall of his office.
"Funny," he said aggressively. "I do."
"That doesn't shock me," I punched him across the face and he released me, dropping me to the floor. Before I could stand up he grabbed my arms and kicked me in the stomach, knocking me back, crumbling over in pain. When I hit the floor he straddled me, pinning me down, and held my hands over my head. I wiggled under him, suddenly very aware that Legacy was a well trained opponent. I kicked my legs around frantically; he tried to maintain his power over me, holding me down with great strength. Fear sprang in my eyes, which brought life to his. He grinned at me, with a jeering dark eyes stare that frightened me even more.
Focus. Focus. I told myself. I had been in worse situations then this. If he thought he could take advantage of me, he was mistaken. I wasn't going to let him get that fair—I was going to over power him, erase his memory and maybe punch him severely in the balls.
After my private pep talk, I bucked my hips to the left violently, throwing him off of me. He crashed into the wall, groaning. I sat up and grabbed his head, shoving it back against the wall. He reached up and grabbed my shoulders, trying to fight back against me. I banged his head against the wall again as his hands found my throat. I let go of his face and grabbed his hands. I stood up and kneed his face as I held his wrist tightly in my hands.
"Is that enough foreplay for you?" I sighed releasing him and stepping back when he appeared to have enough. His nose and lips were bloody, and his eyes looked beat. I leaned against his desk to catch my breath. To my surprise, he lunged forward, grabbing my calves and pulled legs out from under me. The back of my head hit his desk and I groaned in severe pain. Blood started oozing from my skull immediately and my site became fuzzy.
"I've just begun," Legacy said over me as he took long breathes.
My eyes rolled back in my head as I sighed, unconsciousness was coming on. I looked at Legacy with an ugly glare, trying hard not to pass out underneath his body weight. He was not going to win this fight.
I lifted my arm, throwing it across my body violently and sent Legacy flying across the office with my mental powers. His body spun in the air and slammed against the wall. He slid to the floor in a pile of unconscious flesh. I gasped for bed and sat up, pulling my wand from my boot. I flicked it at Legacy, wiping his memory clean. I prayed as I sat up that he hadn't told anyone about the contents of the red folder.
There was no point hanging around in the office now that I had swiped Legacy's memory. Hopefully I had removed all thoughts and memories of me. If I had he wouldn't come after me anymore. Holding my stomach, that was throbbing, I groaned and laid back on the ground as tears filled my eyes. My head was still bleeding onto his office floor. Closing, my eyes tight, and trying to manage the pain, I focused all of my energy on home. I had to Apparate home. Concentrating was almost impossible to do as my head throbbed from hitting the desk…but I had to.
When I managed to concentrate enough to Apparate, I arrived in the kitchen of my house. My body slammed onto the kitchen table, making it break underneath my weight. The destruction of the table made a ruckus that caused Gabriel to come running into the kitchen, wand drawn, only in his jeans, which were unbuttoned like he had just thrown them on over his boxers.
"Cadence," he said surprised and with concern. He paused for a moment before asking me a security question. "How many Aurors arrested us before we went to Azkaban?"
"Two," I sighed after a deep breath. Gabriel came forward and pulled my body off the broken table.
"Where were you sleeping?" I muttered.
"That's your biggest concern?"
"You were in your boxers—"
"Mom?"
Gabriel looked away from me to the hall where I could see Carrigan in her baggy sweat pants and tee shirt.
"Carri, go upstairs," he said quickly.
"Merlin's beard!" Carrigan said entering to the kitchen. I was bleeding all over the broken kitchen table and floor. "Mom! You're head—"
"CARRIGAN UPSTAIRS!" Gabriel yelled. Carrigan gave him a nasty glare and turned to return to her room. He didn't watch her leave; instead he looked to me immediately and turned my head. His touch made me groan in pain. I felt his wand tapping against my head, with each tap my headache throbbed harder. I bit my bottom lip and clenched my hands into tight fist as I waited for the pain to end.
"Is Legacy dead?" Gabriel whispered once he had repaired my head. He was a handy man to have around. He had always been able to heal me, and if he couldn't he took me straight to St. Mungo's without hesitation. Gabriel handed me an ice pack as I sat in a kitchen chair. I pressed it against my still throbbing head and sighed as he went to clean up the blood and fix the kitchen table.
"No," I whispered. "I wiped his memory."
"How did this happen?" he asked still whispering. We both knew that Carrigan was sitting at the top of the stairs, waiting to be called back down once I was healed.
"I attacked him and he fought back," I shrugged holding the ice pack to the back of my head.
"I didn't expect him to fight back this well," Gabriel said glancing at me. "That was close Cadence."
"No, close is being stabbed in the stomach by your girlfriend," I said to him referring to an instant that happened a few months before Carrigan was born.
"She wasn't my girlfriend," Gabriel retorted. I couldn't help but smile at him. He came to me once the kitchen was neat and clean and leaned over me. "Are you going to let me kiss you since you scared me?"
"No," I said shoving him away. "Legacy must have been a Death Eater."
Gabriel sighed as he moved way. "I don't remember him being one, and he doesn't have a dark mark."
"Why is he so well trained then?"
"It is possible to be a well trained wizard without being a Death Eater."
"Gabriel," I sighed shaking my head. "He's dark and evil. You didn't see him. It was a game to him…he wanted to control me. He was aroused."
Gabriel looked at me sternly. "He didn't—"
"No," I whispered shaking my head and looking down. "No. I stopped him…"
Gabriel came to me, knelt down and touched my knees. His eyes were such a shade of midnight blue tonight that he could have pasted as Carrigan's Father. There was a stirring passion in his eyes, a fear of violation that made my heart skip a beat. He loved me to the point that it hurt him to see me hurt…if Legacy had sexually assaulted me and I didn't kill him, Gabriel would have.
"Just because he was evil doesn't mean he was a Death Eater," Gabriel finally whispered. "There are people out there who are simply dark and twisted."
"I know," I said. "I know."
"Mom?" It was Carrigan's voice, calling from the bottom of the stairs.
"I'm alright," I sighed with a frown to Gabriel, who stood up and kissed my forehead. "You can come in."
Carrigan entered the kitchen and rushed into my arms. I moaned with pain as she clung to me, putting her weight on my very sore torso.
"Carrigan, you have to be gentle with your Mother," Gabriel said pulling her back slowly. She looked at me sadly, distressed that I had been in such danger.
"What happened, Mom? Why were you bloodied up so bad?"
"I just got into a fight, sweets," I muttered. "I'm fine now."
"You got what you were looking for?" Gabriel asked.
I nodded my head, and then snapped my fingers. The red folder that Legacy had stolen appeared on the kitchen table. Gabriel nodded his head once then looked at the clock on the wall over the stove.
"It's almost five," he whispered. "I take it you're not coming into work today?"
"No," I shook my head. "I'm coming in. I'll just be late."
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "I don't think that's best."
"Okay, thanks for your opinion," I said giving him a stern look. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Well I am going to shower," he said. "Do you mind?"
"No," I whispered placing my head in my hands.
"Mom, do you want something to eat?" Carrigan asked going to the fridge.
"No, thank you darling," I said standing up. Gabriel was making to exit the kitchen, but I called for him to stop. "Gabriel, can you help me?"
He frowned and came back to me. I glanced at Carrigan who was pulling food for breakfast out. I smiled slightly, despite not wanting breakfast she would cook something for me anyways. She would make enough for all three of us. Gabriel wrapped his arm around my waist and held my arm over his shoulder. Together, we walked out of the kitchen; well Gabriel walked, I hobbled. He helped me up the stairs and into the bedroom. When he helped me sit down on the bed he hovered over me, and for a moment I thought he was going to kiss me.
"You need to be careful," he whispered in my ear. His hands were still on me; one on my hip the other on my bare arm. I looked up at him with raised eyebrows.
"I am being careful," I responded as his fingers lingered on me causing me to shiver from the sensation.
"What happens when I'm not here to fix you?" he asked looking me in the eye seriously. This question caught me off guard.
"Gabriel," I said touching his chest. "What are you saying?"
"Just stop being stupid," he said and kissed me deeply on the lips. His hands squeezed me tenderly as if he were afraid that I had slipped away from him, right through his fingers. His actions caught me off guard and I wasn't sure what to think of them. There had been plenty of times in our lives where one of us had nearly died. Why was Gabriel responding this way now? The fight with Legacy was not my worst—yes there was the threat of sexual violation, but I had the situation under control…I blinked at Gabriel's dark eyes, was that what this was about?
"Gabriel," I sighed, but before I could say anymore he kissed me again, holding me tightly against him. I let him interrupt me, only because I enjoyed the way his lips tasted against mine, but his actions still bothered me; they were so bittersweet.
"The thought of him," Gabriel stopped speaking and pulled away from me. I saw fury in his eyes; he was worried that Legacy had violated me, and that made his blood boil. He stood up and turned away, running his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry," he said shaking his head. He looked at me over his shoulder. "You're not mine to worry about."
"Gabriel," I said painfully, but he walked out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind him. I groaned as I laid back in the bed, throwing my hands to my head as I sighed with annoyance. Boys were too dramatic.
I pushed the romantic drama that was my relationship with Gabriel to the back of my head. Rolling on my stomach, which was incredibly painful because Legacy had kicked me in the stomach so many times, I crawled up the bed to my pillows. I laid my head down and pulled the quilts over my beaten body. I just needed to rest…maybe if I slept the worries that haunted my head would relax…maybe for a few hours I would be at peace. For now, all was well, I had stopped Legacy from printing private information concern Harry Potter and me; and hopefully I even veered him off the path of our pursuit. Hopefully he would not come back to bite me in the ass; hopefully, for now he was a threat that had been contained. So, for the next few hours I could sleep and only worry about Gabriel's feelings for me, and Carrigan leaving for Hogwarts in less then a week.