The Vangardes
On Saturday, three figures arrived at Grimmauld Place on time. One wizard and one witch were dressed in protecteurs' uniforms, which consisted of a tight set of black robes, boots and a thick leather belt fastened around their waists.
The third one, however, appeared in long velvet purple robes, whose hood shadowed all of her face. It was obviously a woman since she was similarly wearing a delicate golden chain fastened around her slim waist, which made her curves very clear.
They were given a piece of paper to read so that they could find the number 12, and, once inside, Kingsley and I led them to the kitchen, where Dumbledore and Jane were already waiting, as well as Snape, who didn't seem very keen to leave his pregnant woman's side.
The three of them stood up when our troupe entered the room. I came to a halt beside Jane, and the two in black uniforms stopped one step behind their leader. The male guard announced, in a strong accent, 'Madam Marteau, chief of Vangardes'.
'Merci, Dupont, but this old man needs no introduction' unexpectedly, she had no accent 'Good to see you, professeur… I see you spared no efforts to convince me' she glanced at where me and Jane stood 'I shouldn't have expected less than that from you'.
Dumbledore walked to the hooded witch, beaming, and kissed her hand 'Ah, Jade… so pleased to have you here'.
She took off her hood. Jane gasped softly by my side. And I wondered if I had really got up this morning. Maybe this was just a dream.
'Yes, I came before your country let another war break on our frontière' she laughed. That laugh. I felt as if someone had just Stupefied me.
'Well, it is still your country too, Jade… do you want to say hello to your friends first, or would you prefer to discuss our matters right away?'
'Business first' she replied.
'Naturally' Dumbledore grinned 'please have a seat' he showed her the two armchairs that were placed in front of the fireplace, and threw us a look that clearly said hold yourselves until we're done.
Following his glance, the two guards in black that were now already more relaxed and had allowed themselves to look around the room, widened their eyes at the sight of Jane, hastily recomposing themselves. We beckoned them to sit at the long table with us and offered them tea. From the armchairs, we overheard a debate over how many guards Jade could offer, her conditions as how they should be hosted and treated and what tactics would be allowed on their duty. Everybody knew the French guard had a much more flexible view on the use of Dark Arts for defence purposes.
Half an hour later, they stood up, and so did we. Jade, for the first time, turned to us and opened a wide smile. Dumbledore nodded to Jane, who run to her cousin, and soon they looked like mirrored silhouettes hugging each other, talking loudly and shaking with the same hearty laughter. Snape and I exchanged awestruck looks.
'And you also remember Professor Snape and Mr. Adams, I suppose?' Dumbledore asked her, after introducing her to Kingsley.
'Of course I do' Jade walked to us and gave Snape one kiss on each cheek, murmuring 'Professeur head of the best house of Hogwarts' followed by a very charming smile and a wink, which made Snape flush like I'd never seen him do. Then she stopped in front of me and we stared at each other for a couple of seconds. Her eyes were caramel coloured as ever, but they didn't look melted like I remembered them. They had a fierce glint of steel, of obstinacy. 'So you became an Auror, Theo… that suits you well' and gave me one kiss on each cheek. My stupid self did nothing besides nodding. I felt frozen.
She turned around and swayed her hips away, walking with Jane out of the door, followed by the two guards in black.
…
I can't believe I didn't even talk to her. What is wrong with me?
Unsurprisingly, I was lying in bed later that day beating myself up over the latest events.
But the truth is, I didn't even know what I could have said. Hi, Jade, how are you doing? Remember that summer we fell in love and we almost kissed and then you left forever? Funny, isn't it? I believed we would one day get married and start a family, but clearly you thought that becoming the chief of a French mafia was the way of life for you.
Although I didn't expected it to be at the legendary Vangarde guard, I certainly wasn't surprised that Jade had reached so far. At the school, she was a shy but very ambitious girl. Apparently not so shy anymore.
She was so damn sexy now. I couldn't stop thinking about her hips when she walked away. I couldn't stop remembering her smile, her honey eyes and the way her waist-length shining brown mane moved when she laughed.
I was, helplessly, feeling myself sank in desperate love all over again.
Well, at least I get to update the girl in my dreams.
...
The next day, I was strolling around during my patrol shift, which would end just in time so that I could get to the Order's meeting, and the only thing I could think of was if she was going to be there. A bunch of uniform-clad protecteurs had already joined our schedule. I was having a hard time keeping alert for any threats, for my brain didn't seem interested in anything other than the image in my head of Jade wearing nothing but that golden chain on her waist.
Half an hour before I could leave, I heard a murmur spreading through the hall. One of the black figures in boots seemed to be checking up on each of the French guards. She then strode past by me, and I realized it was Jade, wearing the same uniform as all the others. And insanely hot in it. My heart started hammering against my chest.
'Good evening, Theodore' she grinned, pronouncing my name in French and making me groan inside at the sound of it. Wasn't she aware I didn't need anything else to fantasize about? Did I also had to think about she whispering that in my ear too, now?
'Good evening, Jade'.
Seriously? You couldn't say a word more than that?
…
Every Sunday, she would appear there around the same time and talk to her guards before changing into her purple robes and leaving for the meeting. For the two following weekends, I had not managed to exchange more than greetings with her. On the fourth Sunday, however, she stopped by my side at the hall and asked me a couple questions about how her guards had been doing around there, what tactics we were using and about the persistent attack threats we had been receiving.
Thankfully, I was able to answer her without making a fool out of myself for a change. After that, she would always come to a halt in front of me so I could fill her in on what was going on. Even though we discussed nothing other than professional matters, I caught myself anticipating every Sunday feverishly, and being ridiculous as to stop by a mirror before every shift to shave and make sure my hair looked nice in the short cut I wore, in addition to pick the robes I knew fitted me better and turned heads the most.
…
On the last Sunday of July, I took a chance on a subject other than work.
'So, are you going to Jane's wedding?'
'Of course I am' she grinned 'I'm the bridesmaid. That almost costed me a war. I had an important meeting this next Saturday. But Jane is very persistent'.
'Clearly she is, I don't see other way she would have melted Snape's heart'. We both laughed.
'I wasn't very surprised, to be honest, Jane always had a keen for the wise and powerful' she smiled.
'I know some of your friends from Hogwarts will be there…'
Her smile faded away.
'Well, we're not exactly friends anymore. But that's on me'.
'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it' I felt so stupid 'you probably don't like to talk about school, it was a long time ago…'
'It's not that I don't like it, it's just… painful' she raised her head, looked deep into my eyes and added, in a softer voice, 'it wasn't easy, you know, to give it all up'.
I knew she was talking about us. I stood there, my mouth agape, my heart pounding, staring for several seconds at those eyes. For a brief moment, they had turned back into those sparkling ones I had in my memories from ten years ago. A wave of longing drenched me while I remembered how I had loved her. How I still loved her.
I heard steps. A witch in long blue robes was approaching us, interrupting the commotion that was going on inside me. She wanted to talk to Jade, something that was odd since almost everybody avoided talking to her, or even looking directly at her – and Jade herself didn't seem to think there was any need to make people more comfortable around her. She liked being respected, being feared. Well, that's probably how she got where she was in the first place.
'Miss Havenock' Jade seemed annoyed 'I hope this isn't about signing any more commitments with the Ministry. One more and I will take my people back to where they belong'.
'It isn't, Madam Marteau' the witch simpered 'it's just an authorization of procedures in case any of your guards need healers' she handed Jade a parchment sheet and while she skimmed through it, Miss Havenock looked me up and down. I could tell Jade saw that with the corner of her eye, for she flared her nostrils in response. By the time the blue-clad witch let go a 'I see the Ministry is very well protected… such tall, strong wizards… I didn't know we had Aurors like that or I would visit the Department of Magical Law Enforcement more often…' Jade had already touched the parchment with her wand and thrusted it back to the witch with unnecessary strength 'here. You can go now'.
