Chapter 5

Lucius gazed at the pendant hanging down between her breasts.

"Quite unusual, may I take a closer loo…"

He reached out to touch the pendant before she could stop him. A brilliant flash of violet light shot through the room and Lucius was thrown away from her. He landed with a thud that knocked the breath out of him at the other side of the room, still naked, with his usually impeccable hair in disarray.

"What on earth was that?" he gasped, trying to stand but finding he had no strength or control of his limbs.

"Sorry, I did try to tell you, but you moved too quickly for me to stop you." She sat up on the edge of the bed, wrapping the sheet around her.

Lucius attempted again to stand once more and found he could not move his limbs at all. "What have you done to me!" he hissed.

"It will wear off in a short while" she replied "and it was not me" taking the pendant from around her neck she enlarged it. Lucius blinked as he saw the tiny piece of jewellery grow into the final piece of the mirror he sought. "My mirror!" he whispered.

"I think that you will find that it is my mirror Lucius!" she replied calmly "or rather I belong to the mirror." She shrank it back down and re-fastened the chain around her neck.

"What do you mean?" he asked looking puzzled and still attempting to move.

"The mirror is part of me, as I am a part of it. I am the guardian of the mirror Lucius." She touched the pendant and smiled "we protect each other."

As she recalled a memory Lucius noticed she looked upset "is there a problem?" he asked her.

"Oh, only if you count the fact that my mother and father both died because of this mirror." She snapped at him.

"I am sorry to hear that" Lucius replied.

"Are you really Lucius? I doubt that somehow!"

Her tone was so vicious that Lucius was taken aback briefly. "What happened to them?" he asked.

"You need me to remind you?"

"Remind me? Are you inferring that I somehow had a hand in the demise of your parents?"

She laughed, although her laugh sounded brittle and cold. "A hand? Oh you had far more than that Lucius. My mother like me was a guardian to the mirror; she passed the mirror on to me and warned me that something was coming. Then I was then sent away, which is how I came to be in London and working for Madame Aelita." She glanced wistfully out of the window "less than two days later both she and my father were dead."

Lucius could see that she was obviously upset by this and was expecting to see some sign of remorse from him. But how could he show remorse when he could not remember any of the people he had killed – there were just so many of them – and he regretted none of them.

Seeing the look of thoughtfulness on Lucius face Tempest was not fooled. She knew this cold hearted bastard felt nothing; he was probably just planning what he would do when he had the mirror. But she continued with her tale regardless.

"My parents' home was attacked by death eaters, and you led that raid Lucius… You searched their home for the mirror. I found out afterwards that my mother had been targeted under the false claim that she was plotting against Voldemort."

"Ahh…" Lucius suddenly recalled the raid "you are correct, I did arrange that raid, I did it in order to mask my search for the mirror, but it was not there." He tried again to move, realising that he was now the one in danger.

"The mirror was already with me by then, as I said my mother knew you were coming for it."

"But how?" he asked.

"The mirror warned her. The guardian and the mirror are as one Lucius, which is why it defended itself tonight."

"I must have touched it earlier, why did it not attack me then?"

"It did not attack you Lucius, it defended itself. Earlier tonight you had your mind on seducing me and had no idea what it was. Once you had seen it you intended to take it so it stopped you."

"What if I just kill you now and take it?" He hissed.

Tempest laughed "that would be a problem as you cannot move and if I die the pendant would take me to my next life and it would go with me."

"Then why did your mother not do the same?" he asked, finally able to pull himself up so that he was sitting.

"My mother was at the end of her lives and so her legacy was to pass the pendant to the next guardian."

"Lives?" he asked "how many did she have?"

"Oh, a few" she replied and winked at him.

"You blame me for her death? I cannot say I don't blame you."

"No, Lucius, I used to blame you. But I am now at peace with it; I know it is all part of being cursed with the mirror."

"Cursed?"

"Yes both the guardian and the person attempting to put the mirror back together again are inextricably linked by a curse. I cannot get rid of the mirror and you cannot get all of the pieces."

"So there is no way I could ever get the mirror completed?" he asked with a resigned sigh, managing to drag himself unsteadily to his feet.

"That is part of the curse with the mirror and why it is so dangerous, the need to complete it consumes you, and leaves you unfulfilled. But there is a way to complete it…" she smiled.

"There is?"

"Yes, you would need a guardian to hand it to you."

"Right…" he responded smoothly "I suppose that is out of the question?" he turned and started fumbling for his clothes.

"Yes Lucius" she laughed "quite out of the question."

"Ahh, I thought you might say that" his voice calm and silky as he located his cane, slipping his wand from inside and turning fluidly he raised the wand "imperio…"

She was gone! Once again he realised she had slipped away. Before he even saw it a black cat dived at him, hissing and spitting the creature sank its claws into his chest and drew blood. Lucius was stunned for a moment and then tore the cat from him; all the while it was swinging its razor like claws at him. Lucius hurled the cat away, it hit the wall with a sickening thud and Lucius raised his wand, he was about to use the Avada curse on the beast when he sat it changing.

The cat grew and changed until he saw Tempest lying on the floor, a small trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth "oh damn!" Lucius hissed as he dashed over to her. Taking her head in his hands he said "you're an animagus? Why didn't you tell me?"

"All the guardians are" she gasped finding it hard to breathe.

"Let me help you" he whispered.

"It's too late Lucius…" she smiled weakly "I'll see you next time I guess."

"Next time?" he asked, but there was no reply.

A bright violet light once again emanated from the pendant and Lucius watched as it enveloped her entire body before rising into the air and exploding in an even brighter flash of light, he instinctively closed his eyes, when he opened them he saw her body still lying on the floor cold and lifeless, the pendant around her neck was gone.

Shaken, he cleaned himself up and dressed, looking again at the figure on the floor. Usually with a spell there was nothing left. But to see her lying there and knowing she had died by his hand and not by his wand … this was different somehow, this actually hurt. Shaking these thoughts from his head he closed his eyes and whispered "home."