A/N: Yes. More action this chapter. Not THAT type... yet, anyway ;). Sorry to disappoint you all. But I hope that you like it anyway. Yes, we get to see what happens to Kimmie in this chapter, and also, as a bonus, we get to see C. Warrington again. All right, so that idea is more exciting to myself than anyone else. Oh well.
Disclaimer: Please tell me that after the scores upon scores of stories you have realized that I do not own ANY fandom...
~*~
Even as Kimmie ran towards the window to get a closer look at the green mark floating through the sky, Marcus sprang forward and caught onto the little girl, lifting her easily as he would a Quaffle and pushed her back. His face was pale. "Stay back, kid."
"But--"
"Listen to him, love," Penelope fought to keep her voice from shaking, "Didn't... you hear that explosion? Don't want anything to hit you by accident..."
Marcus looked outside the window, trying to shut out the distracting sound of screams while he attempted to see who the Death Eaters were, or at least how many there were. One, two, three...
"A good dozen. Penny, take her and go." He'd not used that tone of voice since he'd been captain, and he himself was surprised by how calm he sounded. "Soon they'll be barging in and levitating the Muggles into chimneys in the spirit of an early Christmas... get her out of here and..."
"What about you, Marcus?" Penelope hissed, staring at him with wide eyes, "Aren't you coming with us?"
"I'm buying you some time, you daft woman," he growled, "Now get her out. I won't let them do anything to me. If all fails, I'll surrender."
"You..."
"Go. Go NOW, or I'll Banishing Charm you both," he hissed, "Come ON, Penny... I'll meet you at Warrington's office."
Eyes wide, Penelope grabbed the confused Kimmie's hand and ran out of the building.
"Who is Marcus, Ms Lexa? And why did Mr Lexa call you Penny? And what are Muggles? And where are we going?" The child struggled to keep up with Penelope's steps as they dashed down the stairs of the fire escape.
"I'll answer later, Kimmie," Penny whispered, "Now follow me, stay behind me, and do not let go of me no matter WHAT, all right?"
There was a single Death Eater towards the back of the building, and his-or-her head, face hidden by mask, swivelled up when the redheaded woman, clutching the hand of a small brunette girl, scrambled down the steps of the fire escape. But that which looked like a young Muggle woman perhaps fleeing with her daughter reached into her pocket and before the Death Eater could see what was going on, the little slip of a redhead extracted something from her pocket and yelled out "STUPEFY!"
"WOW! That man just went FLYING!" Kimmie squeaked excitedly. "Did you just do MAGIC?!"
"You know what?" Penelope let go of the girl's hand and instead, lifted Kimmie up in her arms. "Yes it was. Now we have to get out of here."
A quickly whispered spell, and illegal or not, Penelope Apparated the two of them away.
~*~
"I need to see Cassius Warrington," a redhead, panting, holding a little girl in her arms, dashed into the building through the front door and ran towards the receptionist desk. "Where might I find him?"
The impeccably dressed witch at the counter looked at her questioningly. "Do you... have an appointment with Mr. Warrington?"
"No, Ms... Donley," Penelope glanced at the engraved name tag on the desk, "It's urgent. I was told to..."
"Who are you?" Angela Donley gave her a very skeptical look, green eyes narrowing under perfect brows.
She paused. Penelope Clearwater? Alexa Fasulo? What precisely was she to say? She didn't even know this woman.
"Mr. Warrington will be finished with work at six o'clock. Miss," Miss Donley dipped a quill delicately into an ink bottle, "I'll tell him that you were in." She gave a glance at the door. "Have a nice day, Miss..."
"I can't leave," Penelope said flatly. "You don't understand, ma'am. I... and Kimmie here, we were told to..."
"But I don't have a record of that," the secretary daintily flipped through her papers.
"Who's Mr. Warrington, Ms. Lexa?" Kimmie piped up curiously, "And what are Muggles? You didn't answer my questions."
Miss Donley's quill dropped out of her fingers, ink splattering on parchment. Her green eyes were extremely wide with a mix of shock and outrage.
"You... you're MUGGLES!?" the secretary's voice broke with horror, "How... what are you DOING here... Chauncey!"
A thin little wizard with unruly brown hair poked his head through a door. Angela Donley's face was reddening, her jaw clenched. "Er, yes?"
"Call an Obliviator over here," the furious secretary ordered. "I..."
"Bloody hell," heavy footsteps sounded down the hallway, and Cassius Warrington, the man himself, stalked in. "Can a man not finish a day's calculations in peace? Oh Pe-- ALEXA! What are YOU doing here?"
Penelope never thought that she'd be so glad to see that notably aggravating individual, and rushed forward, letting go of Kimmie and running forward, reaching her former fellow Prefect in an instant and throwing her arms around him. "I'm sorry, I need help, it's Marcus and he's..."
Warrington stumbled back slightly and gently moved her to arm's length away. "Now, now... relax. Let's go to my office. Calm down. And don't throw yourself at me again, you'll never be able to look me in the face again after you come to your senses."
"Mr. Warrington," Miss Donley cut in, "What about your five-thirty appointment?"
"It just got cancelled," Warrington cut in. "Thank you, Miss Donley. Follow me, please?" The last was addressed to Penny. "And... I suppose the child can come. Why, you and Flint got cozy rather fast," he joked, "When did SHE come along?"
"She's not ours..." Penelope flushed crimson.
"Just joking, just joking," Warrington grinned. "Now, where is Flint?"
"He told us to meet him here," Penelope whispered, an icy sensation filling her insides, as she glanced fearfully up at Cassius.
"Well, we'll wait for him to show, I suppose." Cassius pushed open the door to his office. "Now, let's wait. Er, I don't really have anything here to entertain the kid."
In an hour, though, as Kimmie ecstatically scribbled through sheets of spare parchment with colour-changing ink, child entertainment was the last thing on Penelope's mind.
"Stop pacing and sit down," Cassius said softly, "Neither of you are supposed to be here, especially her, my secretary is THIS close to calling the Ministry, and..."
"Change me back."
"What?"
It wasn't often that Cassius Warrington was shocked speechless, but Penelope didn't have the mind to commemorate this occasion. "Change me back. To Penelope Clearwater. A Death Eater saw me as Alexa Fasulo. Change me back."
"What!? You're DAFT. If you're thinking what... bloody HELL, Penelope, no. NO."
But before Cassius could protest further, Penelope grabbed his arm. "I got him into this mess in the first place. It's something I have to do."
"I don't know what is it about love that turns normally sensible people into Gryffindors; arrogance, recklessness and hero complexes included," Warrington muttered to himself.
"What?"
"Nothing," Warrington answered quickly, "Just... try not to get yourself in too much trouble trying to locate his ugly arse, all right?"
"Of course," Penelope replied. "Now, the spell?"
"Immuto authenticum," A blur, and then she'd changed back. Brown hair, slightly shorter than her disguised form was.
Kimmie looked up from her parchments, her big blue eyes wide with obvious confusion. "Ms... Lexa?"
"Call me Penelope," came the quiet reply, "I've got to go. I'll explain later."
The little girl gave her an astonishingly perceptive look. "Go find Mr. Lexa, I'll wait right here."
Penelope patted the girl's head and smiled with more confidence than she felt, before exiting the safety of Warrington's office and shutting the door behind her.
Disclaimer: Please tell me that after the scores upon scores of stories you have realized that I do not own ANY fandom...
~*~
Even as Kimmie ran towards the window to get a closer look at the green mark floating through the sky, Marcus sprang forward and caught onto the little girl, lifting her easily as he would a Quaffle and pushed her back. His face was pale. "Stay back, kid."
"But--"
"Listen to him, love," Penelope fought to keep her voice from shaking, "Didn't... you hear that explosion? Don't want anything to hit you by accident..."
Marcus looked outside the window, trying to shut out the distracting sound of screams while he attempted to see who the Death Eaters were, or at least how many there were. One, two, three...
"A good dozen. Penny, take her and go." He'd not used that tone of voice since he'd been captain, and he himself was surprised by how calm he sounded. "Soon they'll be barging in and levitating the Muggles into chimneys in the spirit of an early Christmas... get her out of here and..."
"What about you, Marcus?" Penelope hissed, staring at him with wide eyes, "Aren't you coming with us?"
"I'm buying you some time, you daft woman," he growled, "Now get her out. I won't let them do anything to me. If all fails, I'll surrender."
"You..."
"Go. Go NOW, or I'll Banishing Charm you both," he hissed, "Come ON, Penny... I'll meet you at Warrington's office."
Eyes wide, Penelope grabbed the confused Kimmie's hand and ran out of the building.
"Who is Marcus, Ms Lexa? And why did Mr Lexa call you Penny? And what are Muggles? And where are we going?" The child struggled to keep up with Penelope's steps as they dashed down the stairs of the fire escape.
"I'll answer later, Kimmie," Penny whispered, "Now follow me, stay behind me, and do not let go of me no matter WHAT, all right?"
There was a single Death Eater towards the back of the building, and his-or-her head, face hidden by mask, swivelled up when the redheaded woman, clutching the hand of a small brunette girl, scrambled down the steps of the fire escape. But that which looked like a young Muggle woman perhaps fleeing with her daughter reached into her pocket and before the Death Eater could see what was going on, the little slip of a redhead extracted something from her pocket and yelled out "STUPEFY!"
"WOW! That man just went FLYING!" Kimmie squeaked excitedly. "Did you just do MAGIC?!"
"You know what?" Penelope let go of the girl's hand and instead, lifted Kimmie up in her arms. "Yes it was. Now we have to get out of here."
A quickly whispered spell, and illegal or not, Penelope Apparated the two of them away.
~*~
"I need to see Cassius Warrington," a redhead, panting, holding a little girl in her arms, dashed into the building through the front door and ran towards the receptionist desk. "Where might I find him?"
The impeccably dressed witch at the counter looked at her questioningly. "Do you... have an appointment with Mr. Warrington?"
"No, Ms... Donley," Penelope glanced at the engraved name tag on the desk, "It's urgent. I was told to..."
"Who are you?" Angela Donley gave her a very skeptical look, green eyes narrowing under perfect brows.
She paused. Penelope Clearwater? Alexa Fasulo? What precisely was she to say? She didn't even know this woman.
"Mr. Warrington will be finished with work at six o'clock. Miss," Miss Donley dipped a quill delicately into an ink bottle, "I'll tell him that you were in." She gave a glance at the door. "Have a nice day, Miss..."
"I can't leave," Penelope said flatly. "You don't understand, ma'am. I... and Kimmie here, we were told to..."
"But I don't have a record of that," the secretary daintily flipped through her papers.
"Who's Mr. Warrington, Ms. Lexa?" Kimmie piped up curiously, "And what are Muggles? You didn't answer my questions."
Miss Donley's quill dropped out of her fingers, ink splattering on parchment. Her green eyes were extremely wide with a mix of shock and outrage.
"You... you're MUGGLES!?" the secretary's voice broke with horror, "How... what are you DOING here... Chauncey!"
A thin little wizard with unruly brown hair poked his head through a door. Angela Donley's face was reddening, her jaw clenched. "Er, yes?"
"Call an Obliviator over here," the furious secretary ordered. "I..."
"Bloody hell," heavy footsteps sounded down the hallway, and Cassius Warrington, the man himself, stalked in. "Can a man not finish a day's calculations in peace? Oh Pe-- ALEXA! What are YOU doing here?"
Penelope never thought that she'd be so glad to see that notably aggravating individual, and rushed forward, letting go of Kimmie and running forward, reaching her former fellow Prefect in an instant and throwing her arms around him. "I'm sorry, I need help, it's Marcus and he's..."
Warrington stumbled back slightly and gently moved her to arm's length away. "Now, now... relax. Let's go to my office. Calm down. And don't throw yourself at me again, you'll never be able to look me in the face again after you come to your senses."
"Mr. Warrington," Miss Donley cut in, "What about your five-thirty appointment?"
"It just got cancelled," Warrington cut in. "Thank you, Miss Donley. Follow me, please?" The last was addressed to Penny. "And... I suppose the child can come. Why, you and Flint got cozy rather fast," he joked, "When did SHE come along?"
"She's not ours..." Penelope flushed crimson.
"Just joking, just joking," Warrington grinned. "Now, where is Flint?"
"He told us to meet him here," Penelope whispered, an icy sensation filling her insides, as she glanced fearfully up at Cassius.
"Well, we'll wait for him to show, I suppose." Cassius pushed open the door to his office. "Now, let's wait. Er, I don't really have anything here to entertain the kid."
In an hour, though, as Kimmie ecstatically scribbled through sheets of spare parchment with colour-changing ink, child entertainment was the last thing on Penelope's mind.
"Stop pacing and sit down," Cassius said softly, "Neither of you are supposed to be here, especially her, my secretary is THIS close to calling the Ministry, and..."
"Change me back."
"What?"
It wasn't often that Cassius Warrington was shocked speechless, but Penelope didn't have the mind to commemorate this occasion. "Change me back. To Penelope Clearwater. A Death Eater saw me as Alexa Fasulo. Change me back."
"What!? You're DAFT. If you're thinking what... bloody HELL, Penelope, no. NO."
But before Cassius could protest further, Penelope grabbed his arm. "I got him into this mess in the first place. It's something I have to do."
"I don't know what is it about love that turns normally sensible people into Gryffindors; arrogance, recklessness and hero complexes included," Warrington muttered to himself.
"What?"
"Nothing," Warrington answered quickly, "Just... try not to get yourself in too much trouble trying to locate his ugly arse, all right?"
"Of course," Penelope replied. "Now, the spell?"
"Immuto authenticum," A blur, and then she'd changed back. Brown hair, slightly shorter than her disguised form was.
Kimmie looked up from her parchments, her big blue eyes wide with obvious confusion. "Ms... Lexa?"
"Call me Penelope," came the quiet reply, "I've got to go. I'll explain later."
The little girl gave her an astonishingly perceptive look. "Go find Mr. Lexa, I'll wait right here."
Penelope patted the girl's head and smiled with more confidence than she felt, before exiting the safety of Warrington's office and shutting the door behind her.
