The Moonlight Noon Chateau
By Hippy
Gypsy
Disclaimer: All of the Harry Potter characters belong to JK Rowling, who is my idol!
J As for the Moonlight Noon characters, they
belong to me! [Sammy: But Hippy! Aren't I your idol?] Ummm…no. [Sammy: Then who is?] [looks over at Oliver] [Oliver: Ha ha! I got a woman! You don't!] [Sammy: Yes I do. Little Rock, remember?] [Oliver: Oh yeah…] Anyways, back to the story! "Come What May" belongs to Moulin Rouge. I hope you like it so far. It's time to find out Carlotta's ever kept
secret! Dun dun dun… [Sammy and Oliver: Woohoo!]
For the rest of the night, everyone couldn't help noticing how edgy Carlotta was. She snapped at people (though not on purpose), dropped her tray of drinks (twice), and managed to accidentally cut her left hand with a knife (which Hagrid saw to right away, but it was healed quite quickly). At ten, which was early by Moonlight Noon standards, she had given up waiting on tables for the night sat at the bar, nursing a glass of white wine, courtesy of Oliver.
For the
longest time, Severus kept noticing her checking over her shoulder at the main
door of the club. It looked as if she
half expected some horrifying beast was going to bust through and terrorize
them all. But at a quarter to eleven,
she heaved a large and unsteady sigh and got up from her seat. Sensing something was wrong, Severus got up
and followed her.
Carlotta
headed behind the stage and climbed the staircase to the roof. She nearly sprinted as she reached the
top. And by the time she had made it to
the outside, she was crying her eyes out in the comfort of her hands.
Severus was
extremely confused. "Carlotta?" He tried to embrace her, but she shoved him
away. "Carlotta? What's wrong? What is it?"
"Just stay
away from me! You don't want me!" she
yelled.
He stood
there with his arms still wide open. "Ummm…what?"
"I'm
trouble for you…just don't…just…oh, just leave me and you won't get hurt…"
"Carlotta,"
he said in all seriousness, "I'm not going to leave until you tell me what's
going on."
She turned
to him and shivered as tears streamed down her face. He whispered softly, "What is it my angel?"
Her breath
was very unsteady, but she took a deep breath and said, "I haven't been honest
with you. Especially with this." She backed up as he stepped towards
her. "And after you hear the truth, you
won't want me."
Severus
stopped and realized what she was saying. She didn't want to hurt him by living a lie, and he too began to
shiver. His head dropped. "You wouldn't want me either," he whispered.
Carlotta
looked up at him through her tear stained eyes. "What do you mean?"
He looked
straight at her. "I haven't been honest
either…I have my secrets too."
"Yes,
maybe…but do yours concern the Dark Lord?"
Severus
chuckled. "We have more in common than
we think then."
Carlotta's
mouth dropped. "What?" They stared at each other.
"You
first," said Severus.
Carlotta
sat on the edge of the roof and sighed. "I was young when the Dark Lord rose to power. I had no understanding of it what so ever." She looked at Severus. "But my parents jumped on the band wagon
right away. They wanted power. They were in the inner circle, but when the
downfall came, they vanished. Passed
away most suspect. I was left
behind." She rose and started to
pace. "But last year, when the Dark
Lord began to rise again, the Death Eaters sought me out. At that time I was living in Italy. They found me though, and I fled to Paris,
to here at the Moonlight Noon. My great
aunt let me stay with her and hide out. I never imagined they'd find me here. I don't even know what they want me for! But now they're here, and I'm too connected to the Moonlight Noon
to leave! Everyone here is the family I
never had!" She wiped the tears out of
her eyes. "So if you stay, I'll be
trouble Severus. Plain and simple as
that."
Severus
watched her and his head dropped. Carlotta looked like she had lost him. "I'm sorry," she said.
"No. I'm sorry," he replied. "What I'm about to put you through is so much worse."
"Is it?"
she asked all too simply.
Severus
took a deep breath and spoke the words he wished he never had to say in his
life. "Carlotta, I killed an innocent
woman once."
Carlotta's
eyes went wide in confusion. "Wha…what?"
He looked
at her straight in the eyes so solemnly that one would have thought he was
about to cry. "I was a Death Eater when
I was younger."
She didn't
take a step back from him, but rather took a seat beside him and listened
without interruption.
"Carlotta,
I was an ignorant git when I was a boy. I maybe still today, but at least I know better about who people
are. I had joined Lord Voldemort with
the hunger for power and wealth. He
promised us everything our dreams were made of and more. I was instantly sucked in!…but…I became
brainwashed. I lost every sense of who
I was. I forgot the simple fact that I
was my own person, not a slave to the Dark Arts." His head dropped. "Voldemort
ordered me to kill a beautiful woman for him…I did it without question or
reason…I later found out her name was Fiona." He looked up into Carlotta's tear stained eyes. "I begged for forgiveness from Dumbledore, McGonagall,
God, and even the lost soul of Fiona herself. If there was anything I could change in my life, it would be that. All I ever wanted was forgiveness." He took Carlotta's hands into his. "Now you know my secret Carlotta. It's far more horrible than yours. I understand if you'd never want to speak to
me again, but all I ask is forgiveness. That's the only thing I ask of you before you leave."
Carlotta
shivered and sighed, but after a moment she smiled. "All is forgiven of you if you'd kindly forgive me Severus."
"Forever
and a day my angel." He gently held her
head and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. With that, Carlotta leaned into his face and kissed him.
When she
pulled back, Carlotta sang very softly for him.
"Come what may
Come what may
I will love you until
My dying day…"
Severus
smiled. "I love you Carlotta."
"I love you Severus."
Later that
night, Severus couldn't sleep in his room for that oddest reason. He felt as if he needed to be up, like the
night watchman of the group. He sat at
the window seat and looked up at the crescent moon, high above Paris. He took a deep breath and began to speak
into the darkness.
"Fiona? Are you there? Can you hear me?" He
shook his head. "I guess you could hear
me if you really wanted to, but…I've found her." He smiled. "Remember? Do you remember how when you laid there in
front of me I promised that if a woman loved me I'd return that love until the
day I died?" He softly chuckled. "I promised you Fiona. I'm not going to break that promise." He stared straight at the moon. "I'm in love Fiona, and I'm going to love
her forever in your name." He
sighed. "And she loves me."
Somewhere
from inside his heart, he heard Fiona whisper, Love her Severus. Got to sleep and dream.
With that,
Severus fell asleep in the window seat, staring at the crescent moon.
Note from Hippy Gypsy: Now you know! This comes
back to play in the story though. Be
ready! Hahaha! I love it! Next chapter…MARMALADE!!! Yeah
baby! Review and don't
flame!!!
