Chapter Six: Death Upon Ears
"Get me Montague!" Angelina had slammed some first year Slytherin boy up against the wall. "Now!" she dropped the small boy and he went running towards the dungeon where the Slytherin's common room was located.
"Montague!" he yelled as soon as reached the common room.
"What is it?"Montague approached the wide-eyed frighten boy.
"Some crazy-ass Gryffindor girl has gone mad?" he explained at the top of his lungs. "And I'm glad I'm not you, cuz you're who she's looking for. And I'm sure if she doesn't find you soon, she'll put a hex on the whole Slytherin house for the hell of it."
"Sounds like Johnson," Draco Malfoy entered the conversation. "Damn boy," he turned to Montague. "Guess all that torment you dished out for all these years has finally gotten to her. Congratulations," he said with a smile.
"Doubtful. But then again, she does seem the psycho killer type." Montague went towards the common room door. "She may be pureblooded, but there is nothing Johnson can pull that I can't handle."
"You mean you're actually going to go confront her?" Malfoy looked at him oddly. "She's nothing more than a Gryffindor."
Montague turned around with one foot out the door. "Because unlike you Malfoy, I don't like to keep the ladies wanting," he smirked and disappeared.
What the hell is she thinking? Looking for me in the middle of the day? Threatening a Slytherin? Drawing so much attention to herself? I thought we went over this? He went to find her in the dark hall, but to his surprise she wasn't there. He went to other places they had met before, but still had no luck. Then he realized there was only one place she could be. But how did she get there in the middle of the day without being seen? He wondered.
Montague knew he wasn't as stealth in his movements as Angelina; she had years of experience because of her late night mischief with the Weasley boys, so he had to wait until night fall. It was about three in the morning when the Slytherin common room finally became deserted. Montague had pulled out his own personal supply of Floo Power and made his way to the fireplace in the common room. He took his position in the fireplace. "Montague Winter Cabin," he spoke clearly.
Within moments he had arrived at his family's winter home through the fireplace in the master bedroom. It was dark and cold in the room so he made his way to the door and down the hall. He went down the stairs and found himself getting warmer. A fire was burning in the living room fireplace and Angelina was on the couch fast asleep, wearing nothing more than a oversized sleeping shirt. The bruises on her legs were greatly highlighted by the fire's light. Montague sighed, for he knew the marks that marred her skin were because of his doing.
He then stood over her and noticed the dried tear tracks on her face, for some reason, the sight made his stomach tie in a knot and he wondered why. He then bent down to pick her up and she shivered the moment his skin touched hers. "David," she murmured softly in her sleep.
Montague knew that Angelina knew his touch anywhere as he remembered she never liked being touched by him. She had told him once that his skin always felt so cold. He carried her into the master bedroom and with his wand started a small fire. He then tucked her under the sheets before stripping down to a pair of boxers and a T-shirt and then climbing in on the other side.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and in a whisper, sung in her ear. "Laying beside you here in the dark, feeling your heartbeat with mine. Softy you whisper, you're so sincere, how could our love be so blind? We sailed off together, we drifted apart, and here you are by my side. So now I come to you with open arms, nothing to hide, believe what I say. So here I am with open arms hoping you'll see, what your love means to me. . . open arms," he kissed her shoulder before closing his eyes to sleep.
OoOoO
Angelina woke up the next morning and though the heavy blankets came up to her neck she found herself cold and soon realized why, Montague's arm was draped around her. She slipped out of bed and took a long shower before she made her way to the kitchen. She was still preparing breakfast, when Montague came down.
She was cutting up onions and green peppers for omelets, when Montague rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands to help. As he was doing so Montague heard the chopping come to an abrupt stop. He looked up to see Angelina looking at his forearm, she then went back to chopping the vegetables. "If it bothers you," he started to roll down his sleeve.
"No," she looked back up. "It's okay, but I don't appreciate you lying to me. You said we had a month until the ceremony. We were suppose to get out before then." She explained.
"Look Johnson, we were suppose to do this together, but there wasn't enough time. One of us had to take the next step, and face it I make a better candidate." Can't you see I'm only trying to keep you safe?
"Oh, hell no," she pointed her knife towards him. "You? The better candidate?" A smile appeared across Montague's face. Psycho killer type. How did I know? he thought. "You barely survived initiation."
"So I told a lie," he dried his hands. "Are you having regrets about coming to me?"
"No, of course not," she put the chopped vegetables in a bowl. "But I guess you did what you thought you had to do and I won't fault you for that."
"Don't do that," he turned around to get eggs out of the refrigerator. "Don't try to be so understanding."
"What else can I be? We've been through a lot these last few weeks and though they have been under the worst possible circumstances," she paused. "I'm glad I went through them with you."
"Don't get all sappy on me, Johnson," he cracked the eggs and beat them in a bowl. "It doesn't become you." Why are you always pushing her away?
"You're right," she nodded her head.
When breakfast was prepared they sat across from each other at the table. "So," Montague began. "What happened?" Picking up his fork and digging into his food.
They were only three little words, but Angelina knew exactly what he was talking about. "Fred and I got back together," Montague's eyes shoot up, but nothing gave away what he thought. "And broke up again within the hour."
"About?" he probed.
"Not important," she shook her head, knowing Montague wouldn't push for more than she was willing to share.
A few minutes had passed when Montague asked. "Are you sick?"
She had been staring out the window looking at the surrounding forest, remembering their winters here as children. Things used to be so simple back then. "What? No," she turned her head to answer him.
"Then how come in the last five minutes, you've only taken two bites?"
"Oh," she looked at her plate. "I hadn't noticed. Guess I'm not hungry," she put her fork down and put her hand on her stomach. "I'm going back to bed for awhile." She got up leaving her plate on the table.
She only walked a small way before losing her balance and catching herself with the counter. "Whoa!" Montague rushed over to her and put his arms around her for support. "Are you sure you're not sick?" as he asked the question, his grip tight, it trigger flashes of blurred bright, roaring fire which really wasn't.
But Montague grabbed her arm firmly and turned her back to him. "What the hell is wrong with you!" Montague asked furiously. He would not be pushed around by any woman, not even by the one he. . . considered his friend.
Angelina lowered her head as she brought her hand up to her temple. She closed her eyes as she shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said finally. "That wasn't meant for you." Montague looked at her strangely, not knowing what she meant. "Can you- can you let me go now?" she askedand Montague released her and she walked away.
Montague went back to the table to finish his breakfast. Afterwards he went to go check on Angelina. They couldn't stay here all day, they would be missed at school. He went to the bedroom to find it empty. He then heard strange sounds coming from the bathroom. He opened the already adjacent door to find Angelina huddled over the toilet. "Angelina Johnson," he crossed his arms and leaned on the doorway. "If I didn't know better, I would think you were pregnant," he smirked.
"Go to hell, David," she threwoffensive gesture.
"Tsk, tsk. Is that how a mother-to-be is suppose to act?" Angelina got up and shoved him out of the way so she could close the door on his face. As soon as the door closed the smiled dropped from Montague's face. He had only been playing about her being pregnant, but by her reaction, he realized that his comment had hit too close to home. He then let himself fall onto the unmade bed.
He sat up when he heard the bathroom door open. There was a look of concern in his eyes, that Angelina had never seen before, not even during the night of their initiation, as he watched her get beat by a dozen Death Eaters. When it was his turn his eyes never left Angelina, it was as if he was telling her to be strong. But his initiation lasted a lot longer than hers and she began to worry.
When he yelled out in pain, that's when she realized something was wrong. If they didn't stop soon, they were going to kill him and she couldn't let that happen. That's when she pushed passed the Death Eaters and threw herself on top of him, but they didn't stop and Angelina took the rest of the blows that were meant for Montague. The blows that would have surely killed him. Because of her defiance she was warned that next time she disobeyed she would be punished by losing someone she cared about; she looked at Montague, but immediately thought of Fred.
She said nothing about the look in his eyes as she made her way back to the kitchen, Montague followed. He sat at the kitchen table in a chair where he could see Angelina. She had gone to the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of milk.
"Weasley's?" he asked as she prepared dishwater.
"Of course, stupid."
"Which Weasley?" he asked seriously.
She sighed and looked at him in disbelief. "You should know better than anyone that the rumors about me and George aren't true," shetold himas she still preparing the water. "I have never cheated on Fred," she explained, knowing Montague didn't hold much, if any, respect for cheaters. Because when he was ten years old his mother had find out about his father's extramarital activities and it had torn his family apart. It had devastated not only his mother, but Montague himself.
"When?"
"A few days before our 'adventure.' We had been planning a little get away for awhile," she washed some dishes near by. "Just kind of snuck off one weekend, to be with each other, you know?"a weak smile appeared across her face. "It was fun at first, but it wasn't exactly what I thought it would be," she gave a little sigh.
Montague looked at her for a long time, replaying certain events in his head, and then it clicked. I'll kill him. "You said 'stop,' and he forced you anyway, didn't he?" he asked angrily.
"It wasn't like that!" she boomed, which startled Montague, but he showed no reaction. "Besides it isn't any of your business," she hissed.
"Fine," he said through gritted teeth. "But it is my business when you risk your life and your unborn child."
"How was I suppose to know I was pregnant then? Besides I had already accepted to this. But even if I did know," her voice became small as she looked down at the dishes in the sink. "I still would have done the same thing."
"Angelina. . ." why would you risk your life for me? It can't be what I think it is, right?
"Just pass me those plates on the table Montague."
He decided not to push the subject any further. So he stood up and picked up the plates about to make his way to the sink when, "Shit!" Montague dropped the plates and Angelina looked up and saw why, the Dark Mark upon his arm started to glow. A burning sensation ran through Montague's body, he was being summoned.
He tried not to react to the pain again as he did a simple spell to fix the broken plates and levitated them near the sink.
"Don't go," Angelina finally spoke as she walked around the counter. "Say you got stuck at school."
"On a Sunday Johnson? Yeah, they'll buy that," he said sarcastically.
"Tell them something, tell them anything, just don't go back," she pleaded.
"I'm in too deep to get out now and you know that," they stood face to face.
"This is my fault, I'm so sorry Montague," she reached for him, but hesitated and drew her hand back.
Why do I always make her second guess things when it comes to me? She never did that on the field, she always gave me one hundred percent, always the best of her. He reached out and took her arm and gently pulled her into his embrace. "Don't be sorry, I chose to do this," his voice was deep and calming as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm honored to do my part for the Order. I'm honored that after all these years you still trusted me enough to seek my help."
"David, you could have died."
"Yeah, and you could have too," she only embraced him tighter, fearing to let him go. "Go to Dumbledore, tell him I'll be coming to him with news as soon as I can."
"I'm coming with you."
"No. They're going to be looking for the people leaking information. The reason I lied about the ceremony is because I didn't want you coming back. Plus now you have a child to worry about. You're not marked, you can still get out, I can do the rest on my own." He felt her body shiver. "I have to go now," he whispered. "You have to let go, Angelina."
She shook her head on his shoulder. "Just a little while longer, please."
"Angelina," he lifted his hands and put them on her upper arms. "Let go."
"No."
"Ang-"
"No!" she said more forcibly.
"Angelina, let go," he was getting irritated. "Dammit, now!" He pushed her away harder then he intended to as he saw her stumble back. He saw her breathing heavily, trembling before him as he stared longingly into her chocolate brown eyes. What are you doing? For Merlin's sake, stop denying yourself and tell her you love her! That you have always loved her, hethought, but then sighed. What's the point? I know that bastard raped her, yet in her eyes he can still do no wrong. You'll always be second best to her.
Say something, Angelina. Tell him you need him, beg him to stay, just don't let him leave, she thought. Tell him you love. . . no, he'll only think you a fool. She had been fighting the tears, but had lost the battle.
Montague stepped closer, taking her face in his hands before kissing away her tears. Angelina blinked rapidly in confusion for a moment, before closing her eyes, praying she would never forget this exact moment, for it was the most tender thing she had ever witness him do. He then spoke,"So will you go to Dumbledore?" I love you.
"Of course." I need you.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." Just love me.
She only nodded her head. Just let him go. And she stepped away from his touch, only to watch him Apparate.
To Be Continued. . .
