Michelle Valenti watched as her son as he disappeared from view. She struggled not to cry, nor to chase him.
Suddenly she realized that she was fidgeting with the tear in her sleeve and took out her wand to repair it. Quietly she muttered a mending charm over the cloth
Only when she finished did she realize that the ache in her arm was not just a residue of her previous encounters with Kyle and Malfoy, she was being summoned.
She sighed with regret and defeat as she prepared to apparate to her master.
"Ah, here is Ms. LeFey now. So glad you could join us," the cold, calculating voice of Voldemort said.
Michelle knelt before him until he sent her flying across the room.
"Woman, do you know why you are being punished?"
She kept her mouth shut, knowing anything she said would only result in more pain.
"You tried to raise your prices on the supplies you provide. You also took far too long to get here and when you arrived you were not properly attired," he said then flicked his wand at her and once again she went flying.
But this time she was thrown against Lucius Malfoy, dislodging a vial of the dragon's venom from the pocket of his robes. It fell shattering as it hit the ground.
Angrily he kicked her away from him and she lay still in her agony hoping to not displease the Dark Lord again.
"Temper, Lucius, temper," Voldemort said in a tone that implied amusement. "We'll have her bring you some more venom. And this time it will be for free, since she caused that vial to be broken. In fact, she will bring you five vials for free to replace that one, won't you, my dear?"
"Yes, Master," she replied quietly.
"Excellent. You see, Lucius, all she needed was a little persuasion. Didn't you say you also needed some from a Southwestern Turquoise dragon?"
"Yes, Sir, I did," Malfoy oozed.
"Then Ms. LeFey, you will bring him 3 vials of the replacement venom and two of the Southwestern Turquoise. You need to bring it in ten days when you are summoned again and only then will your account be cleared of this debt. Now leave. You have work to do," he concluded.
She didn't have to be asked twice. She apparated back to her flat to try to soak out the aches and examine the bruises on her petite frame.
Two days later, Roswell, NM
Michelle glanced around at the city she'd left behind six years before. God, I hated this town, with its trashy, cheesy alien themes, all those tourists and the insufferable heat. Not to mention the almost scandalous lack of selections down the one magical alley in town and these ridiculous muggle clothes. Yet I wish I'd never left. I felt so safe then. She sighed heavily and walked forward remembering the past.
It had been almost eighteen years earlier when she'd arrived in Roswell for the first time. She had been after Southwestern Turquoise venom then as well. She had actually gotten the venom but had been injured by her mate when he had returned suddenly. She'd had barely enough strength to stash the venom before she collapsed beside of the road. A couple of hours later she'd been discovered and rushed to the hospital. Three days later when she'd woken up she'd met Jim Valenti for the first time. He wanted to know if it was her husband or boyfriend who had beaten her and left her for dead out in the desert. His pleas that she let him help her from "whatever seemingly hopeless situation she was in" were comforting to her tired soul. He had visited her daily throughout her recovery and they grew close. When she'd left to finally deliver the venom two months later, she was carrying his son. As soon as she had realized her expectant condition she returned to him and they were married. She had even learned to live as a muggle woman. Only after she had begun hearing the rumors of the return of the Dark Lord did she realize that if she stayed neither Jim nor Kyle would be safe, so she left to protect them from the perils of a world they knew nothing about, and hopefully never would.
The flashing blue lights ahead brought her thoughts back to the present as she saw the man who once was her husband at work clearing a traffic accident. She blended into the crowd and watched him working. He was still strong and handsome. She felt empty as she realized what she'd given up, all to protect him from the foolish decisions she'd made as a teenager.
She sighed and left going to collect the venom as she'd been ordered.
Two hours later, her vials full and her curiosity in control she returned to the house that had been her home for eleven years. She was looking over Kyle's room when she heard the door open.
Jim Valenti dragged himself through the door into the living room and then on into the kitchen. He paused long enough the drop his hat, gun and badge on the kitchen table before walking to the refrigerator for a soda.
He was taking a long gulp of the soda when he heard the swish of clothing behind him. He spun, fully expecting to see his favorite "firecracker" since she knew the location of his spare key and had met him just two nights before wearing red bow around her neck, and nothing but the bow.
What he saw instead caused the color to drain from his face.
"Hello, Jim," Michelle said stepping out from the shadows, her eyes cold and sad as she appeared in the robes she'd never worn in front of him.
"Michelle," he acknowledged a lot more calmly than he actually felt. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm not sure really," she admitted. "I saw Kyle the other day and then I was given an assignment in the area. Why didn't you tell me that Kyle is a wizard?"
"Where exactly would I have sent the message? Fallen off the face of the Earth is hardly an acceptable address. Hell, the only reason I even knew you were alive was the divorce papers arrived from Reno seven weeks after you left and half of the savings account was gone. And do you know what else? There is no record of a Cassandra Michelle Morgan from Buffalo or anywhere else in New York. So really the question I should be asking is who are you?" he ranted then paused. "Wait a minute, you ran into Kyle?! But he's…."
"At Hogwarts. Yes, I know. When did his abilities finally manifest themselves?" she asked.
"As far as we know he's only had the abilities since May," Jim answered calming down.
She sighed, relaxing only slightly.
"Why does it matter?"
She explained, "These are perilous times in the wizarding world, and frankly it would have been safer for him to be powerless than for him to be a wizard known as my son. I have enemies. And worse than that I have 'colleagues' that would love to recruit him or do worse to him just to torture me. I really don't want him to have to deal with either situation. If he'd shown any signs back then of having magical abilities, I would never have left. I would have stayed in hiding just to protect him and you."
"Is that all our marriage was? A hiding place for you?" Jim spat furiously.
"Not really. I did love you. I still do and if you think it was easy for me to just walk away then you really don't know me. I did it to protect you. I walk a dangerous rope everyday. If I had not have gone back when I did then they would have hunted me down. And finding me they would have killed you and then Kyle while I would be forced to watch and then, if I were lucky, they would kill me."
"Who are 'they'?"
"The Dark Lord and his followers. So I returned to them without giving them a reason to question my loyalty and they have never been told about either of you so you should be safe," she explained.
"So, are you a witch? And what is your real name?"
"Yes, I am. Cassandra Michelle LeFey," she answered quietly.
The clock on the wall struck the time. Seven o'clock.
Jim suddenly panicked. "Crap! I have a date tonight and she is going to be here in fifteen minutes. I need to get ready." He took off towards the bedroom.
An eyebrow raised she called down the hall, "Anyone I know?"
"Yeah, Amy Deluca," he voice answered back.
"What?!! That nutcase?"
"You lost the right to object the moment you divorced me," he replied.
"Honey, I gave a false name at the wedding, technically we were never married. I just got the divorce so that you wouldn't keep looking for me."
Ten minutes later he walked back in the room wearing fresh jeans and a clean shirt. He carried his boots and sat down to put on the clean socks first.
Damn, he still looks good, she thought as she took a step towards him.
"I'd better go, since she'll be here any minute," she said, leaning over and kissing him goodbye. She stepped back, noting the traces of lipstick she'd left and disapparated.