shoutouts to:
Notwritten: Thank you for your kind review doll! this is for you ;) Keep smiling.
MissesE: Aww thank you! The Willy Wonka just came to mind lol XD don't worry you'll get to know more about him in this chapter. hope you like it! ;)
Chapter 15:Trouble in Paradise
CLAIRE Rollins was eating her breakfast, a simple porridge, alone, in big dining room at the Malfoy's manor.
A full week had passed since she'd moved into the manor again.
Claire had, to her great dismay and under Severus' advice, quit her two jobs a day after her meeting with Lucius and her encountered with the dangerous mysterious Wizard, to ensure that her own safety and the safety of others, will not be jeopardised by the hands of the said Wizard.
Her bosses, friends and colleagues hadn't been too happy to hear about her sudden resignation. But they'd understood nevertheless. Her best friend, Marina, had been most concerned when Claire had dropped the bomb on her before telling everyone else.
Marina kept questioning her whether the debts that she was in was a bit too much for her to handle, and she'd been generously enough to lend her some money despite knowing how proud and stubborn her best friend could be. Or that did Claire had family problems with her so called uncles.
When Claire had told her those weren't her problems and that she felt the needs to change her working environment, Marina had been reluctant to believe. But for the both of their sake, she accepted her reason.
Before letting Claire to run off to inform the others, Marina sneakily with a wide grin, had told her she was happy to know Claire finally found someone after Caleb's 'passing', a year ago. Claire denied it, of course. She'd asked the other woman what had made her thought that she has a new man in her life now?
Wordlessly, Marina pulled the red and green rose patterned Pashmina scarf Claire had wrapped around her neck and pointed out the obvious love-bite on her left neck.
"If this does not proof that you have a secret man, knowing the kind of girl that you are, then, I dunno what else to say." Marina had rose one perfectly eyebrow at her. She dared Claire to deny the obvious evidence.
Claire had been in panicked at being discovered! Her face's flushed as she had quickly wrapped the scarf back without any further explanation. Silently, she had cursed Lucius for leaving behind mark at such an obvious place! Claire had then wandered if that was the reason why Severus had looked at her rather oddly in the morning during breakfast earlier.
Speaking on the said man, Severus himself had been in shock when he learnt about the 'Tarot-card Wizard', as Claire kindly put it, upon his return from his teaching job that friday evening, two weeks ago.
After she had told him of Lucius' proposal that she should be staying at the manor until things have settled down, to her surprise, Severus Snape hadn't immediately agreed to the proposal like he would have done in a heart beat before. While Snape had agreed to the idea, he couldn't help but to feel more concerned about her own feelings while she was staying there － at the memories of the event that had almost ruined her.
Claire herself had admitted that thought she was scared to move in back there, she decided she wasn't going to let the unpleasant event to rule her life forever. The fact that both Lucius and herself had finally admitted and accepted their growing feelings toward each other had helped her a lot with the situation.
Claire had told the Malfoy Patriarch after their passionate kiss in his office a couple of weeks ago, she would like for them to take their time to get know each other better before they took that big step into their relationship, to which he had agreed. Lucius had stated himself that compare to Severus, he knew so little about her life in the past months they've been living together. That he too would like the chance to get to know her.
Claire had been happy, of course. She had also warned him that though they are together, there were rules that he needed to follow; such as, not rushing them into the act of intimacy. Claire had boldly stated that she was proud to still be a virgin, knowing most women of her group age had already lose theirs. She had told him she would hate him forever and gladly fight him tooth and nail should Lucius ever pressure her on it, regardless.
Claire was determined to save herself until her wedding night arrive. Not even a Malfoy could tempt her into doing such as losing her virginity for pleasure's sake.
Lucius hadn't got anything to say about that except that he might need to find another proper way to relief himself and full-fill his deep desire toward the young Muggle; such as leaving love bites on her neck.
Claire scooped the last spoon of porridge and put it into her mouth. Once she was done with her meal, Claire put the bowl away, finished her drink, and then she headed to the library to do some reading and researching.
The Malfoy manor was silence as the dead without the presence of it's owner. On the day Claire had moved in, Lucius received a distressful call from Draco stating there was a huge problem in Muggle Paris and that he needed Lucius to be there ASAP.
At first, Lucius hadn't wanted to go, because it would be rude to leave when his little minx had just arrived. Besides, he wanted to see just how well Draco could handle the situation.
Claire had insisted him to go nevertheless, with a promise that she would still be here at the manor to greet him back home with a smile. The unusual couple shared a long farewell kiss before Lucius had to rush to the Muggle airport via the Portkey to catch a plane.
Now that she was all alone, Severus would check on her from time to time and by all means necessarily by day. When night arrived, he would join her for dinner at the manor and would leave once she was ready to sleep.
Claire would not be left alone by herself in the manor. Someone other than Mimi, have to stay with her until she settled down and ready to sleep at night. Those were strict orders from Severus to her while Lucius was away a week.
Claire hadn't been too happy with the arrangement, though she understood the older man's concerned about her safety and her trauma of living in the manor. Still, she felt like a prisoner rather than a guest of the manor!
While Claire was reading on a book about the Wizarding World, she discovered an interesting topic that made her raised an eyebrow.
'Willy Wonka - 'A mad Man or a Brilliant Seer?'.
"How interesting." Claire commented as she flipped on the pages.
Willy Wonka was born into a Pure-Blood family, whose each generation had been blessed with a powerful Seer. Despite not possessed the 'Inner-Eye' like the Trelawneys, the Wonka was blessed by something somewhat similar to it －'Time-Stopper'－the ability to literally stopped the movement of time and space.
With the combination of their accurate prediction and the Time-Stopper, the Wonka was the only pure-blood family feared by even the Dark Lord himself. The Wonka, known to be very private about their personal lives and had remained on Neutral ground in politics for generations. They would only read necessarily predictions and would dismissed anyone who tried to take advantage of their gift. Willy Wonka however, was different from the rest of his family. While his family seek on Neutral grounds, Willy Wonka wanted to change the way of the world. He longed for freedom, peace and love amongst the people, including the Muggles.
Claire read the pages in fascinatingly. Who knew there was more of Willy Wonka in the Wizarding World than just a man who owned a chocolate factory?
As she flipped and read the pages, all the sudden, Claire heard the sound of a loud chiming noise reverberate throughout the manor. Followed by a minor shake around the manor.
Claire put down the book and stared at the door, her eyes widened. A single loud pop filled in the library before Mimi appeared, looking a bit distressed.
"Come quickly, Mistress! Mistress isn't expecting a visitor from anyone. Mimi is ordered by Master to keep Mistress safe should anything bad happen."
Taking her hand, The House-Elf yanked the young Muggle out from her seat and apparate from there.
A moment later, Claire found herself back in her own chamber, with Mimi beside her. The House-Elf handed her a metal baseball bat which had been cast with minor Dark Magic by both Severus and Lucius.
Mimi then urged her to hide under the bed.
"Don't make a noise, Mistress. If Mimi does not come back in ten minutes, Mistress MUST contact Mister Snape and leave at once!"
"Got it! Be careful, Mimi!"
The House-Elf apparate quickly.
Claire waited patiently under her bed, holding the metal bat closer to her and another hand was holding her phone. She had text Severus the situation and only needed to send to him. Her eyes observed the surrounding wildly, and her breathing starting to hitch.
Claire was reminded instantly the night when Lucius had almost violated her, it was the same situation as she was now. Quickly removing the memories from her thoughts, Claire decided to focus on the situation at hands. She looked at the digital clock on her phone: ten minutes had passed.
She pressed the sent button and waited for Severus to come. While praying desperately nothing bad happened downstairs and that Mimi was okay.
Just then, she heard it.
Footsteps climbing up the staircases and something whistling a tune.
Claire held on her breath and shut her eyes. She prayed even harder for Severus to come quickly.
The footsteps and the whistling grew louder as the person getting closer to her room. Claire heard the door being opened and she resisted the urge to yelp.
A pair of black shining male sized shoes at the entrance of her chamber was all that she could see from her view under the bed.
Claire held onto her iron bat even tightened. Even the time has come for which she would need to fight whoever the person was, she will without any hesitations. Even if it means killing the person.
The person stepped into the chamber and closed the door. He continuously to whistle an unknown tune as he wandered around the room, occasionally, he would checked out some stuff on her table, such as her bottle of perfume and her small bottle of facial moisturiser.
Sweat began to gathered on her forehead. Just then, she heard it; that same voice she'd heard back at the old building..
"I know where you are, My dear. There's no use hiding from me." The Tarot Wizard spoke calmly.
Claire kept quiet. Panicked began to fill within her but she forced to fight it. Where the hell is Severus? What's taking him so long to-
"I also know that you've summoned your friend to come and rescue you through the small Muggle gadget you're holding in your left hand. However, I assure you he won't be coming here any time soon. Want to know why? Have a look at your gadget!"
Claire looked down on her phone. This time, she let out a small gasp when her messaged had a 'failed to sent' notification on the screen. She pressed the retry button over and over again but nothing happened.
"It's no use, dear. Honestly, you're just wasting your time. Speaking of 'time', how ironic is this; the two of us are the only ones who are able to move around while in the influence of the Time-Stopper?"
Claire could tell the man was grinning.
The main question that ran through her head now was should she go out and deal with him face to face now that he knew where she was, or should she kept hiding?
Before Claire could find the answer, she felt the bed was floating above her. Widened eyes, she stared at the familiar face of the Wizard, pointed his wand at the floating bed while smiling at her.
"There you are!"
Claire stood up abruptly. No point of hiding at this stage. She slowly and very cautiously moved away to the side before the said Wizard dropped the bed down to the floor.
With the metal bat pointed at him, Claire said in a demanding tone, "What have you come here for?"
The Wizard shrugged. "I just felt like it. Just felt like seeing you, my dear."
"Quit it! Stop with affectionate terms! I don't want to see you nor do I want to be anywhere near you for that matter!"
The Wizard shook his head and dramatically fell back before he put one hand on his chest. "You wound me, Ma'am, with your words."
Claire wouldn't have any of it. "Who are you and what the hell do you want with me?"
The Wizard grinned. "A little reading, if you will."
"Wha-" because she could say anything else, he threw two tarot cards at her direction.
High Priestess and Wheel of Fortune cards stood up before her, like before.
"Ah. Interesting reading indeed." The Wizard exclaimed positively. "High Priestess, represents a link to the subconscious mind, which cannot be accessed through the everyday world but only through dreams and symbols. One must listen to one's inner voice as common Knowledge on how to fix things will not come through logic or intellect but through one's intuition."
He flipped another card before her, revealed the Wheel of Fortune.
"The Wheel of Fortune refers to the fact that things tend to go in cycles. There are good times and there are bad times. The lesson of the Wheel of Fortune is that one must accept that there are always ups and downs in life." He said nothing more and vanished the cards.
Claire looked at him rather strangely but kept her defence and guards up. "While I'm thrilled that you came all the way here just to give me a tarot reading, I suggest you leave and never bother me again!"
Instead of giving her a smirk or grin that he had on hi face, the Wizard looked at her with unreadable expression, between sadness and agony. He held up a card in his left hand before throwing it at her direction.
Claire looked at the card with her mouth agape in incredulity.
"The last card. Death." He spoke softly, almost whispering. He looked into her eyes and said with the most difficult tone he could mustered. "You aren't supposed to live. You shouldn't have survived that day."
"Get away from me." Claire backed away as the Wizard approached her.
"You shouldn't been alive. He'd used Crucio on you. You shouldn't be alive yet here you are, still breathing. Still standing. How extraordinary."
"I'm warning you. Get the hell out of here! GET OUT!" Claire shouted.
The Wizard smiled to himself. "This proves my theory was right all along. No matter how accurate my predictions of the future, there are some things that we beyond our control and whatnot. And some things, that thought it is predicted to happen badly, we are still able to control."
He reached out his hand to her and Claire had it. She swung the bat at him.
The Wizard deflected bat easily of course. He had seen it coming. Even when an electrical bolt mixed with fireball came out from the bat, with a quick swing of his wand, he deflected it easily as well.
"Miss Rollins. If you would just calm yourself down and hear me out, I can easily explain to you what's going on."
"Give me one very good reason why should I trust someone like you?"
This time, the Wizard smiled gleefully. "You're in love with one Lucius Malfoy. Even if your head is still trying to deny it and reluctantly wanted to accept the fact, the heart can't be fooled what the head wants."
Claire face turned bright red. She tightened her held on the bat. "What bullshit are you talking about? That's hardly a good reason of 'why I should trust someone like you' in the first place!"
"Ahh, but you're not denying it either." He smirk grew widened. "Miss Claire, may I call you Claire?"
"No!"
"Claire, you're a such sweetheart. From the moment I'd laid my eyes on you, I knew you are the most suitable person to change the way of the Wizarding world, by filling it with your big heart."
"Change it? Why on Earth do I want to change the way of the Wizarding world when it has nothing to do with me whatsoever!"
At this, the Wizard raised his finger. "That's when you're wrong, my dear. Though you are only a Muggle, however,I fear to say that you are not an ordinary one as you'd like to think. You are special, Claire. The fact that you encountered two highly influenced Wizards from the Wizarding World said it all. And the fact that you," He flipped the tarot cards in his hands. "Are able to see these tarot cards which no Muggle could, says it all."
"What do you want with me?" Claire asked for the last time.
"A little bit of your time would sufficient. But we can't talk here. It's too dangerous to be caught." Raising his wand, he cast a spell at Claire, causing her to black out before he took her in his arms nd apparate from the scene.
A moment after the wizard had fled, Claire's chamber door broke down by none other than Severus Snape.
"CLAIRE!" His eyes wandered all around the chamber. When he found there was no signs of her whatsoever, he swore aloud and pitched the bridge of his nose.
He was merely a few seconds too late.
SEVERUS Snape had just gotten back home after a long tiring hard day dealing with the insufferable brats from his new school when he'd sensed something went wrong - Claire's Iron bat that was hanging in the sitting room had gone missing.
Only one person had the permission to apparate back and forth from here and the Malfoy's manor; the House-Elf.
It peeked his curiosity at first as why would the House-Elf be stealing the bat in the first place, until he'd come to his senses and realised something bad was going on at the manor.
Without even changing his attire, Severus apparated to the Malfoy's manor.
When Severus had arrived, to his great horror, there was Dark Mark floating on Lucius' manor. He'd rushed to the door, all the while, he prayed so desperately nothing bad was happening to Miss Rollins. He couldn't bear to lose another important friend after Lily.
When he reached to the staircase, he heard Claire shouted from her room; telling whoever the person was to get out. Severus fastened his speed and just as he about to reach to the door, he felt a wave of magic surrounded him.
Time stopped.
By the time Severus was able to move again, with a wave of his wand he broke down the door and rushed in.
"CLAIRE!"
The place was empty. Claire was gone.
It didn't look like a case of kidnapping either as there was no traces of magic left behind.
Cursed his luck, Severus knew he had plenty of calls to make and people to explain. Shacklebolt wasn't going to be thrilled when he heard about this.
But first things first, Severus needed to an important call to Lucius and tell him the news.