So, here's chapter 8. Hope you'll enjoy it.
TriGemini: Wow, you really think about the chapters and what's been happening in them! But I'm sure, you'll understand that I can't really answer your questions. About George and Alicia, they'll find a solution in this chapter here.
Fallen Angel of Hell: Thank you! I like those Psychos too. :D
Calm Serene: oh, you thought about someone who was already dead? I would have expected mention of Lucius, but okay...
1. Yes, I hear them right now.
2. yes, obviously now, right?
3. Mhm... should they?
4. Well, they know Fred, and George... but that's it for the Weasleys. (because 1. Hermione doesn't really have contact to Ron or Harry anymore, 2. Fred doesn't have contact to his family but George.)
5. They came in ... wait... in the first chapter. The scene in the church, Herm and Draco are talking about them coming over for Sylvester. And yes, little Sean is their son.
6. Ah, it seems this part is really getting at you all, right. Well, just read on... and I always pictured George to be the twin who's more reasonable, so...
7. I would never kill her off. I love to write about her way too much (there are so many ideas for Angelina fics in my mind...)
8. Uhm, now!
9. okay,... so...
10. Well, this chapter is a bit longer, so...
AH! YES, I'll go to Draco-World!!! So, I already know what I'm doing next weekend...
SLytHeRiNcHiCk101: Ah, I didn't think it was that bad of a cliffi. I've had worse... oh, and again, the question about the mysterious Slytherin. Well, if you're lucky I'll solve it in the next chapter, if not... you'll have to wait a bit...
Chapter 8
Come stop your crying.
It will be all right.
Just take my hand.
Hold it tight.
I will protect you.
From all around you.
I will be here.
Don't you cry.
For one so small.
You seem so strong.
My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm.
This bond between us.
Can't be broken.
I will be here.
Don't you cry.
'Cause you'll be in my heart.
Yes, you'll be in my heart.
From this day on.
Now and forever more.
You'll be in my heart – Phil Collins
"I'm back soon." Alicia said and walked down the hall. George sighed and ran his hand through his hair. It was the most Alicia had said to him since they had left the restaurant. Now they were in St. Mungo's, because Alicia had received an urgent owl that her signature was needed for some reason, George hadn't really understood.
So now he was standing there in the hall of St. Mungo's and waited for his wife. He turned his head a bit and looked at the sign next to the door he was standing before.
'Angelina Winterborn'
He felt something tightening deep inside his stomach. Hurriedly he turned away from the door and took some steps to bring more space between himself and the door.
'What do you mean, 'where is Angie'? She told us you two knew already that she wouldn't come to your opening of the shop'
He heard Katie's words echoing in his mind. Saw the hurt and confused look on Fred's face. And felt the anger from all those years ago all over again.
'Her husband beat her up pretty bad. She almost died. There was blood everywhere, and not only on the outside...'
He ran his hand over his face. Couldn't Alicia just return and they would leave this building.
'Every time I had to mend her wounds in the past years it hurt me so bad I thought I would die along with her.'
"Fuck!" he cursed under his breath and went slowly to the door. 'Maybe it's locked'. But it opened without a sound.
The room was empty except for one bed near the window. He swallowed the lump in his throat and walked closer to the bed. And oddly enough, with each step he made the hurt face of Fred was replaced with Alicia's crying one.
He stopped right next to the bed. The rays of the setting sun being the only light in the room, but still light enough to see the signs of violence that had been inflicted on the woman in the bed.
He could only see her head, neck, shoulders and arms but that was already enough. Her left eye was swollen, a plaster was covering her right temple. Small clamps were on her right cheek, the cut, which they held together, still visible underneath. Her lip was burst open several times, dried blood sticking to it. Her neck was covered in red marks, as well as her shoulders. Her arms had all colours from light red over green and blue and even some black spots. Her left hand was bandaged, leaving only her fingertips bare.
"Angie." Later, he wouldn't be able to explain what exactly he had felt in this moment. He kneed down next to the bed and took her right hand carefully in his own. His left hand gently stroke a strand of her black hair out of her forehead.
'She's alone, George. And I won't leave her'
"Fred will understand it." George whispered to himself. "At least I hope so."
"George?" He heard Alicia's voice outside in the hall. He arose from his kneeling position and turned to make his way to the door. But Alicia had already reached the open door and looked confused at her husband.
"George...what..."
"This is what she looks like after she has been healed?" he asked silently. Alicia looked behind him at her sleeping friend and nodded silently.
"You'll let me help her?" Alicia asked him hopefully. George shook his head slowly then looked back into Alicia's eyes.
"We'll help her." He finally said.
CHANGE OF SCENE
Outside of wherever it was that they were he could hear an owl hooting. Leaves were rustling, probably in the same tree where the owl was sitting and waiting for its prey.
Sean was sitting against a wall. A cold, stone wall. Felicitas was sitting next to him, her arm around his waist, his own arm around her shoulder, keeping her close, trying to keep each other warm and to comfort each other. They still didn't know where they were. They had been alone all the time. At least their eyes had slowly got used to the darkness. They couldn't see much, but the contours of each other was already a lot for them.
They were talking the whole time. Telling each other jokes, or little stories. Neither of them talking about home. Both were too afraid to start this theme. Afraid that they might end up asking themselves if they made it home ever again.
"You knew that something would happen, right?" Sean asked her softly and tried to hide a yawn.
"Yes." Felicitas whispered against his shoulder. She felt cold, but she wasn't sure whether it was because there was another danger coming or because it was simply freezing.
"Why didn't you say something?"
"I...it was just a feeling." Felicitas tried to explain while she snuggled closer to Sean.
"I didn't know what it was. I just felt that something bad would happen."
"Do you have these feelings now too? That something bad is going to happen?"
"I'm not sure. I only feel cold. And I'm tired." Sean pulled her a bit closer and moved back down onto the ground.
"Let's try to get some sleep." He said and laid on his side, holding Felicitas close to him.
"But wake me up immediately if you feel it again, or if something else is happening, okay?"
"Okay." Felicitas yawned and closed her eyes. But as hard as she tried, she didn't fall asleep. There was just too much fear inside of her to sleep.
"Sean?" she asked after some time. "Are you already asleep?"
"No." Sean answered her.
"I can't sleep." Felicitas whispered. "I'm afraid." She confessed silently, trying to hold back the tears.
"Don't be. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you."
Felicitas sniffed slightly and swallowed the tears down angrily. She couldn't cry. It wouldn't help them. It wouldn't bring them back.
"I won't let anyone hurt you, Fee. I promise. No one will hurt you! Please don't cry." Sean whispered and pulled her closer to him, his chin resting on her head. Felicitas crabbed his sweatshirt through Sean's open jacket and buried her head in his chest. She didn't know why, but she felt as though nothing would happen to her if she just stayed like this. She had the feeling as though Sean would really be able to keep any harm away from her.
When her regular breathing told him that she had finally fallen asleep, Sean sighed deeply. He had this odd feeling from deep inside his heart, but he couldn't tell what it was. But he knew that he had meant what he had said, he wouldn't let anyone hurt her. Ever.
CHANGE OF SCENE
Aishleen gasped when she heard the door being opened. She looked around for a way to escape. If they found her, they would give her an injection and put her back into the bed.
But she didn't want to go back there. She was sharing the room with an old woman which was more than scary. She wished she had been allowed to go home with her father, but the doctor had wanted to keep her here over night.
Now she was standing barefooted in the hall of St. Mungo's and searched for a way to escape the nurse. When the door opened wider and she could hear the nurse coming out, Aishleen opened the next door and went into the room, closing the door silently behind her.
Angelina could hear a sound. She wasn't sure what it was, but the fact that she heard something at all was already more than she had expected. Shouldn't there be a light? Shouldn't she walk towards a light and there meet dead friends and relatives? Shouldn't there be an angel waiting for her to bring her to the other side?
But there was no light. No angel. There was just this sound. And pain. Oh yes, a lot of pain. She opened her eyes slowly. She was lying next to a window. She could see the moon shining into the room. She knew this smell. She was in St. Mungo's.
But how was it possible? James hadn't brought her here, she was sure about this. But whom else? A pain in her temples told her not to even try and think about this. She turned around slowly, so she didn't have the moon shining into her face the whole time.
"Hey." She whispered when she saw the child standing in the room. Her throat hurt when she spoke, but the girl looked too scared to let her standing there like this.
"Who are you?" Angelina tried again and lifted herself up on her elbows, biting down on her lip as the pain shot through her body.
"Aishleen." Came the whispered answer.
"That's a pretty name." Angelina smiled at the girl.
"You won't tell them that I'm here, will you?" Aishleen asked afraid. She looked with wide eyes at the dark woman in the bed by the window.
She could see the plaster and the clamps on her face, the with texture visible on the dark skin.
"Tell whom?" Angelina asked her.
"The nurse. I don't want an injection." Aishleen shivered at the thought of having another needle being pushed into her body. She hated needles!
"No, I won't tell her. But shouldn't you be in your bed?" Aishleen bit her lip and thought for a moment.
"There is this scary woman in my room. She looks so mean and I'm not allowed to talk, because it makes her head aches."
"But you can't stay awake all night. Especially not in only a nightgown." Angelina told her softly.
"But I don't want to go back to that room." Aishleen whispered sadly.
"Do you want to stay here? I'm sure we'd fit both in the bed." Angelina offered. Aishleen nibbled on her bottom lip.
"I don't know you. I don't even know your name." she whispered back.
"My name's Angelina." Aishleen smiled when she heard the name.
"It's a pretty name." she said. Angelina couldn't help but smile at the girl. She couldn't be more than six years old, the waist long, open hair and the white nightgown giving her a fragile appearance. Her right arm was bandaged. A sad smile crossed Angelina's face. She knew that kind of bandage. She herself had had more than one until she left Hogwarts. It was the kind of bandage you had to wear for a night after the doctors had healed a broken arm.
"You broke your arm." She half asked, half stated. Aishleen nodded and looked at the bandage.
"Have you had a broken arm?" she asked curiously.
"Yes, more than one actually." Aishleen's eyes went wide when she heard this. The pain she had felt had been more than enough and that woman, Angelina, had had this more than once.
"Why? Are you very clumsy?" She asked with the innocence of a five-year-old. Angelina had to suppress a laugh.
"No, I don't think you'd find someone who would say I've been clumsy. They were all due to my Quidditch playing." Now, Aishleen's face lit up and she walked over to Angelina's bed.
"You have played Quidditch?" she asked, her face shining.
"Yes. I have. When I was back in school." Angelina explained.
"Wow." Was all Aishleen could answer.
"My father was playing in school too. And my uncle. And my aunt." She said proudly.
"So, are you going to play too?" Aishleen shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm afraid of heights." She said, her blush hidden by the darkness. Then she tried to get her thoughts off of her fear and change the theme.
"Do you have children?" She asked the first think that came to her mind.
"No." Angelina replied sadly.
"Oh. Do you want to have?" Angelina had to chuckle at how easy the little girl was talking.
"Yes. I always wanted children." Aishleen finally found it way too cold, standing on the floor and sat onto the bed.
"Maybe... I think I would like to stay here. You're nice." Angelina pulled the blanket back and let Aishleen crawl underneath it.
"Thank you. You're nice too." Aishleen smiled and reached out her left hand to touch the plaster on Angelina's temple.
"Did you have an accident?" She asked with as much concern as a five year old girl could bring up.
"Yes." Replied Angelina silently. Aishleen looked at Angelina's face and pressed her lips together.
"You are pretty." She finally decided and yawned.
"Do you know any good night stories? My daddy always tells me some when I can't sleep."
Angelina stroke a strand of Aishleen's hair away from her forehead and laid back down on the bed.
"Yes, I know one my grandmother used to tell me when I was visiting her. Do you know the tale of Cinderella?" Aishleen nodded and snuggled up to Angelina, surprising the woman with this action.
"It's one of my favourites." And she listened while Angelina told her the story of Cinderella. But even before Cinderella went to the ball, Aishleen was already fast asleep. Angelina put the blanket a bit tighter around the small girl and slowly drifter herself off to sleep.
CHANGE OF SCENE
"It seems that a very old spell has been used. The lights Nathaniel and Aishleen described could belong to the Eripere charm. In former times it was often used. You can read it in several books that woman have been kidnapped with this charm, when their families didn't want to give them to one of the darker wizards."
Albus Dumbledore explained in his calm voice. He had arrived about half an hour ago. The owl he had received from his former students, telling him that two children had disappeared in an odd glowing light, had him searching through all the books in Hogwarts' library. A simple summoning spell and every book on spells with light and glowing had flown onto the table. An hour later he had found all useful information and had left Hogwarts to come here.
"And is there any way to find out who took them? And where the two are now? How to get them back?" Draco asked the old man. The past hours had been hell for him. He had been with Alexander, discussing some business matters when Hermione's owl had reached him, telling them that Felicitas and Sean had disappeared and to come immediately to St. Mungo's.
After they had heard what had happened, Draco had sent an owl to Dumbledore, asking for help. They were sitting in the living room since they had returned home, Hermione and Katerina absolutely refusing to take some calming potions in fear that their husbands would put some sleeping potion in it, what would probably have happened.
Nathaniel was sitting on his mother's lap, to afraid to go alone to his room. Katerina next to Hermione on the couch. Damon and History had come as soon as they had heard of what had happened as well as Narcissa. Fred had accompanied them home after he had been assured that his daughter was safe in St. Mungo's and that he could take her home the next morning.
Thora ran around between the kitchen and the living room, making new tea every time the pot was empty.
"No. It's dark magic. It's safe from any location charms. We can't find out who cast it or where the children have been brought to."
"We can't just sit around and wait for something to happen!" Alexander said while running his hand through his hair.
"Think about it. We need everyone whom you consider your enemy. Anyone who would gain something by kidnapping Sean and Felicitas?" Dumbledore asked them.
But they couldn't come up with anyone.
