And you bleed much better than I bleed
And you've shown all that is so good
And your word, much better than my word
And you stand right where a hole should
---- "Deep" Nickelback
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 2
The warm afterglow of a satisfying
bout of lovemaking at faded into a heavy slumber for Talon.
Fiona shifted under the weight of the arm
draped casually across her midsection and looked over his features, memorizing
each one, knowing that soon she would be alone again. Nothing lasted for
her, no matter how wonderful it seemed she knew she had to hold a part of
herself back. She must always preserve a part of herself so that she
could start over again.
It had only been since the war that she and
Talon had been lovers. And, it had been a wondrous time, but part of the
gift of sight was more of a curse really. She knew the beginning and the
end but only in fragments whirling in a mist. She knew of her and Talons
relationship before it had come to pass and she also knew that it would be over
in less than a month. The how of it she did not know. Live in the
moment but preserve thyself was her mantra.
She felt the light fluttering low in her being
and took delight that a new life was forming within her. Placing a hand
over her stomach she saw her stomach move and bulge as if her child was
reaching out to her to comfort her.
A part of what she shared with Talon would go
on, even if they could not. This babe had been an unexpected joy, one she
clung to greedily. She had let no one know, nor had she let it show.
She was almost to full-term but to the outside world and even to Talon
she remained as she always had.
It seemed to her, not for the first time that
her life was all a glamour and she had lost herself somewhere along the way,
never knowing her true self anymore.
She had horrible nightmares, horrendous dreams,
things that she would not let anyone know. And, she often awoke paralyzed
or worse yet with markings on her body that had not been there when she slipped
into sleep. It was becoming hard to tell the truth and reality from the
dreams... But this, this tiny spark within her was surely real.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a flash of
green light in the fireplace. Twisting just enough to bring it into view
she saw the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore's, face. He nodded
curtly, acknowledging her position on the couch under the heavy arm of her
lover. Did he focus on her stomach? Did he see? Her glamour
slammed back over her.
She sat up quickly pulling her ruined robes
about her and dislodging a grumbling Talon.
"Yes, Albus, to what do I owe the, ah...
pleasure of your company?" She inquired a bit sarcastically.
Albus smiled warmly at her, "Surely, you heard the chimes of my knocking,
did you not? Or perhaps you were lost in thought?" He motioned
towards the awakening form behind her.
A slow smile spread over her face, "Well,
yes, yes, I suppose I was rather lost for a moment there. What did you need
Albus?"
It seemed he smiled sadly, some of his children
as he referred those close to him, were more lost than others.
"Fiona, could you please come to my office? I believe you may
have... found something that needs to be returned. Rather promptly if you don't
mind. I seem to have two rather panicked souls in my office."
Fiona had the decency to at least blush.
Found? Oh she hadn't found it, and she had a feeling not for the
first time that nothing slipped by the Headmaster.
"I'll be there directly, soon as I change
into some fresh robes," she arched her brow. She knew Alex was there with
him and would see it. Who else was there though?
No matter she would know soon enough and the
face in the fireplace smiled and slipped out of sight.
Fiona stood, stretched and stifled a groan.
A problem hiding her condition was that while no one would see her state,
she most definitely felt it. She bent to kiss her lover on the cheek and
pulled the gold and red blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over
his sleeping form before continuing on into their bedroom to change.
As she was leaving the room, Talon raised his
head and arched an eyebrow. "I thought that you were done with your
classes for the day, 'Ona?"
She tipped her head, "Oh I am, I just
forgot that I needed to see Albus about something." She smiled and was
gone out the door.
He shrugged. He couldn't put his finger
on it but something in the back of his brain hadn't failed to see that
something was amiss. He threw off the blanket and got dressed to go and
tend his creatures, it was where he thought best.
Meanwhile, Fiona was in the hall, making sure
her glamour was intact, she hadn't missed the brief look that fluttered over
his face. Once she was done, she placed her wand back in her robes and patted
the pocket to make sure the book was there. She'd had some difficulty
finding it, eventually locating it on the window ledge seeming about to fall
out of the window and onto the grounds below. Curious. And, a shame
she wouldn't get her chance to study it more.
She frowned as she felt it move in her pocket,
matching the movement in her womb.
Suddenly scared she began facing for the Headmaster's office. But, she
couldn't seem to outrun the icy hand on fear that had seemed to settle around
her heart.
She knew in a flash of sounds and images on the
back of mind's eye that this was the beginning of the end.
Caught up in her world of seeing present and
future overlap she almost flew past his office. She stopped, caught her
breath. And, noticed that once again her glamour had slipped. It was
getting harder and harder to maintain, it was as if something was fighting it
or her emotions were too strong and conflicting to keep it together. She
took out her wand and muttered the quick charm and spoke, "Gumdrops."
No sooner had she stepped into the office than
she felt the tension. She looked about her and every face in the myriad
of portraits lining Albus' office was staring at her. They seemed to see
straight through her. She heard a few gasps, and stun around to look at them
all. It was dizzing.
She heard Albus clear his throat and knew that
it was time to reveal herself in her true state. And, she hated him and
this place for it. She stepped further into the office deeper into the
whispering portraits to stop at the edge of the desk. She acknowledged
the presence of Alex and Severus. But, she could not look at them as
their eyes went wide, shocked. She kept her face steadfast on that of the
old man seated at the desk.
"Sir, I believe you were asking for
this." She reached into her now bulging robes to pull out the
ancient book.
It did not escape the notice of the two men how
the book seemed to refuse to leave Fiona's hand. Alex she noted was
looking anywhere but at her. For all her hardness she knew she had hurt her old
friend but not telling her of her impending motherhood.
Just then a pain raced across her abdomen as
her baby kicked and the book dropped to the desk with a resounding thud, a
small footprint still recognizable on the cover.
