I Dare You to Snatch My Heart
A Scabior Fanfiction
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing except for Cleo and the plot which I think of whenever I watch the DH part one
A/N: So here's another chapter! My sincere apologies for the late update but I was away at a summer writing workshop and didn't have time to work on this story. Please forgive me and I hope that this chapter will meet your expectations!
Chapter 11 The Christmas Calm Before the Storm
Song featured: Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller
Previously: Even when I opened my eyes and I saw his staring back at me with an emotion so intense, I thought he was a phantom, a desperate hoax of my imagination. But, I knew when his lips pressed hard against mine tasting of blood and ashes that he was real, and that I was his.
We walk hand in hand through the cold forest both of us not knowing what to say. We could have easily apparated but we both felt like taking the time to say words unspoken…that were still unspoken. After we kissed for who knows how long, he pulled back still holding me and made an odd expression, his eyebrows furrowing and his head tilted, as if he were trying to solve a puzzle or riddle. Now he won't look at me at all, gray eyes cool and determined to look into the forest ahead. I look horrible, my dress ruined, my face and legs cut and bruised, my makeup smeared, and my hair pixie short again.
The silence is a black cloud over our heads and I'm determined to dispel the negativity. I look to Scabior trying to find something to say when I notice the dark rings around his eyes.
"Scabior…is that eyeliner?" I say reaching up to brush a thumb under one of his eyes. For once he is at a loss of words as he turns to face me, one of my hands in one of his, one on his ashen cheek. The question was ridiculous of course but he seemed to forget it quickly, eyes darting to the hand on his face.
"Sorry," I mutter removing my hand, "I just don't know what to say."
"Do you want to know why I do what I do, blondie?" Scabior says suddenly, sitting down on a large hollowed log and patting the space besides him. I sit and smell the burning fire again, resting my head on his shoulder.
"I had a little brother named Faust, a soft hearted bloke; it was a surprise he got into Slytherin with me. He had a rather nasty hidden temper though and it cost him his life. One night while my mates and I were having a party o' sorts in our common room, a fight broke out in the halls including Faust and two Gryffindor mud- muggle borns." His eyes looked past me and I could tell that although he wasn't crying and wasn't about to, a deeper sadness grew in his soul telling me that his story had a most tragic ending. I put a shaking hand over his and he grasped it tightly as if it were life support.
"They killed him, Cleo, took his life and ran like cowards. Whenever a snatch a muggle born, I see their faces and after I've killed them, I see Faust's." His eyes refocused and were now on me and I didn't know what to say. What do you say to someone who had just told you of their own brother's death? Luckily he says something before I spit out something stupid, "But whenever I see you, love, I see somethin' better, I see…Christmas!" He sees Christmas?
"What?" I ask utterly confused.
"Today, beautiful, is Christmas eve," He says eyes glittering and hands clapping together, totally ditching his somber aura for a more cheerful one. I can tell he was just burying his emotions, but I wasn't going to force them out of him. I am surprised that he told me so much already. Standing up, I look up at the sky as tiny white dots begin to fall, the first snow. I feel a heavy hand run down my hip, breath against my bare neck. Leaning my head back against his chest and closing my eyes, I feel so tempted to turn and embrace him, to show him how I really feel. Instead I bite my lower lip and slide out of his reach, crossing my arms over my chest. Both of our emotions are running on high and we might end up saying something or doing something we could come to regret.
"Let's head back to camp," I say holding out a hand. Scabior takes out his wand and wraps one hand around my wrist. We apparate because we have said everything we had to say, our actions spoke loud and clear. For some reason my eyes sting and water, wet drops fall down my dirty cheeks. It's been a long night.
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The fire whiskey bottle hangs loosely between my fingers as I look into the flame of a candle, trying to ignore the blonde across from me. She is trying to fix the tears in her dress while sipping on a bottle of pumpkin juice. The whole situation is pretty awkward, I mean, with the whole I killed her old lover who tried to kill her but really killed her mum thing. I pinch the bridge of my nose and take another swig, trying to get rid of the pain in my head. A small tan hand darts out and grasps the glass bottle before I can take another sip.
"What?" I exclaim, turning to face the woman in front of me. Cleo's eyes are red rimmed and her nose is pink. I really hope she isn't going to start crying 'cause I really can't take crying women. Thankfully her brown eyes remain dry as she fingers my bottle and bites her lip. Cleo finally looks up to me, choppy blonde stands falling over her eyes.
"Got your attention," she starts awkwardly handing the fire whiskey back to me, "I don't regret kissing you Scabior, but I just found out my mother was murdered by someone I thought was a friend and my stress level is pretty damn high." Her voice was going shaky and her eyes were wild, "I don't know what to do anymore, my mum is gone and I'm alone."
Any other human being would comfort her, tell her that everything will be alright, and hug her until the pain went away. I can't do that because I cannot lie to her. I know that when you loose someone, it hurts, burns in your heart until you accept it. So instead I grasp her roughly by the shoulders and force her eyes onto mine.
"Cleo, we are in the middle of a war. People will die," I say through clenched teeth, "It will drop you to you knees and make you beg for mercy, but you have to keep living." My breath is ragged as we both just sit there in the crimson glow of the tent, holding each other. After a few minutes of silence, she stands and wipes her hands on her jeans.
"I'm going to take a bath out by the lake, may I use a wand," she asks holding out a hand. I toss her one from my pocket, not bothering to see whose it is and finish off the last drop of whiskey. Any other person would make her stay, tell her it's too dangerous to go into the forest at night, but I trust her and know that she could take on any danger in her way. I also know that if I were to hear her call that I could apparate to the very spot and kill anything in my way. She gives me a final nod, before slipping outside.
"Oh, and Cleo," I call smirking, "it's called guy-liner."
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As soon as I make it a few feet away from his tent, I burst out into a fit of giggles. Although he isn't a pro in the comfort department, Scabior sure can make me laugh. That's one of the things I love about him. Making my way through the foliage, I think over some of the other things I like about the snatcher. His smirk makes me angry but it's his thing, not to mention it's very hot. The whole bad boy vibe attracts a lot of girls but I like the side of him he doesn't show often. The Scabior that tickles, that smiles, that protects. When I reach the new lake I found two days ago, I have in mind a whole list of things I like about him… and a list of things that I don't, like the fact he's a murderer. I take a quick scan of the area, trees, bushes, water, rocks, and put up a few guards. Casting a heating charm on the surface of the small lake, I wait till I see steam to remove my shirt and jeans. As I wade into the warm water, I can hear the faint sound of bells chiming a carol somewhere far away. Somewhere there's a little girl, snug in her bed, with a mother and father leaning over to kiss her cheeks and tuck her into her sheets. Her thoughts would be filled with candy canes, Christmas trees, and shiny new toys. She has no idea what lies beyond her little muggle world, knows nothing of the dark forces building behind the surface. My voice, a low rasp, breaks the silence as I start to sing along to the haunting melody of the bells.
"We three kings of orient are, bearing gifts we traverse so far," I begin before humming along to the rest, splashing water onto my dirty face. I am about to drop under water to clean my hair, when I hear a sharp sound of a twig snapping. I pivot around to face the shore, my eyes growing wide. I can see his silhouette perfectly under the moonlight and I wade over to the shore, kneeling on the rocks so that the water covered my body. Scabior smirks as I cross my arms over my chest and flush with embarrassment.
"What are you doing here, didn't you trust me?" I ask, outraged but secretly happy to see him. He holds up his palms in front of his face as if to guard himself from my anger.
"Let me explain, love," he pleads, voice filled with mirth, "I couldn't bare to be apart any longer and I just needed to hear your sweet voice again." I roll my eyes and cover my smile with my palm.
"Or you just wanted to steal my clothes," I respond flicking my eyes to the pile of fabric to his left. He simply shrugs.
"That too." Pervert. I reach out my hand and extend my fingers, nodding towards the jeans and flannel. Scabior just smirks and pulls out something from behind his back. Under the light of the moon, I can make out a cascade of royal blue silk.
""ere, take this," he says putting the robe on the rocks and turning his back, "I promise I won't look…much."
"Scabior…"
"Fine, fine, just come out already," he whines. I quickly dart from out of the water and slip into the smooth material, tying the sash tightly around my waist.
"You can look now," I say primly, trying not to shiver. He turns around instantly, red streak hanging over his eager eyes. I pull the robe even closer and notice the silver butterfly embroidered above my heart. Funny, because that's my patronus, a small bluish butterfly.
"Where'd you get this, it's quite lovely," I say softly sliding my hands over the blue material.
"It's a gift, don't ask," he teases walking closer to put a hand on my shoulder. I feel guilty that I didn't get him anything but yet again; I didn't know it was Christmas Eve. He holds up a finger and lifts his dark brows.
"I almost forgot," he exclaims softly dashing into the bushes only to come out with three things: a mischievous grin, a thermos, and a little metal box.
"My radio! How…" I start rushing over to grab the device, holding it to my heart.
"After you left, Rachel dropped in to return it, little tipsy that one was," he explains with a faint shudder. My smile fades as soon as I hear her name. I tuck a short stand of hair behind my hair and pretend to look uninterested.
"Oh, Rachel, you two seemed pretty close," I mutter looking down at my feet. Scabior chuckles darkly, a sound that sends shivers down my spine.
"Rachel is… well, she's a lot of things, Cleo, but she's not you," he growls sounding almost ashamed to say something that holds emotion, an emotion called love.
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I am not her White Knight. I will always be a killer; the blood on my hands will always be there. She thinks that I can change just because I love her, but I will never change, not for my brother, not for her. Sweet nothings are not meant to be spoken from a dirty mouth that belongs to a dirty sinner. A hand on my arm startles me from my thoughts as I turn to face my pixie. The robe does look ravishing and I hardly notice as my hand curls into a fist as I try to restrain myself from doing something stupid.
"Hey," her full lips whisper, "let's enjoy our Christmas." Cleo sits down on a small patch of grass amongst the rocks and dips her feet into the water, patting the space next to her with one little hand. I follow and hand her the thermos.
"Hot butterbeer," I mumble staring into the waters. She takes a long sip and closes her eyes in pleasure, a small smile on her face.
"Mm, thanks," she says heartily taking another gulp before passing me the thermos. She fiddles with the little controls on the muggle machine before flipping a red switch. The radio lets out a harsh crackle before letting out a slow jazz bit.
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I nearly squeal with delight when I hear the old song, instead I grasp the thermos for another sip of Butterbeer.
"It's called Moonlit Serenade, an old muggle song," I explain to Scabior, whose eyes are closed and whose hand twitches slightly.
"My grandfather used to play these old songs when I was…" my words drift away and I take in a sharp gasp of breath as Scabior stands suddenly and offers me a hand, the slow sound of horns mesmerizing, as I stand to place my hand on his shoulder. He looks down, wraps an arm around my waist and pressing his rough cheek to mine.
"Compensating for never getting that dance tonight, love" he murmurs huskily. I close my eyes and let the warm feeling in my chest grow as it pleases, whether it is from the butterbeer or from the song. I smile and my brain goes a little fuzzy with delight but I make sure to clear it when I say what I have to say.
"I dare you," I whisper, my hand trembling slightly in his.
"What love," he responds burying his face into my neck and pulling me closer.
"I dare you to snatch my heart," I say a bit stronger. I care for Scabior, more than I've cared for any other man but he was going to have to convince me to allow myself to fall in love with him because I was admittedly afraid of being hurt again.
"I think I'm up to that challenge darling."
And then, we are kissing again, the faint sound of a jazz band echoing from the radio. My hands grasp the sides of his coat as he deepens the kiss, his hands in my hair and on the dangling blue sash at my waist. I was thoroughly convinced. We pull back, only for the sake of oxygen and he buries his face in my hair. His breath is ragged and my lips are swollen as he wraps his arms around my back and I rest my head on his chest.
"Happy Christmas, Scabior."
"Happy Christmas, beautiful."
A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed that installment. I have everything else planned out so the wait shouldn't be too long. Thanks for reading,
Thedreamerbehindthemask
Next time on IDYTSMH: The snatchers find the golden trio and the Malfoys find a hidden Cleo!
