Chapter 7
Embry's P.O.V.
"Hey, Arianna?" I started.
"Yeah?" she responded, looking up from her book.
"Do you have any idea where Madaline is?"
"You didn't hear? She's in the Hospital Wing..."
"What?"
I left my stuff at the table and rushed out of the library. I ran as fast as I could to the Hospital Wing, not stopping for anything. I ran up to Madame Pomfrey's desk and caught myself on the edge.
"Where is she?" I gasped, trying to steady my heartbeat, "Where's Madaline?"
"Calm down, boy..." she told me, "Now, what's your name?"
"Embry, Embry Call..."
"They've been expecting you... go on back."
"They?"
I went back and saw Professor Snape and some man in a trench coat standing next to Madaline's bed. The man in the trench coat was tall, pale, and had light brown hair that stopped just above his eyes. He knelt down next to her bed and held her right hand in between his, kissing her knuckles. I got a little closer and saw that Madaline had her whole torso, up to her armpits, wrapped in white bandages. Her right arm was the same way, bandages wrapped around her palm and a few inches past her wrist. I looked at the man holding her hand and recognized him... Bartemius Crouch Junior. I took one more step and their heads snapped in my direction, all but Madaline.
"Who the hell are you?" spat Barty as he stood up.
"I could ask you the same thing, sir," I spoke.
"I am Madaline's husband, and," he got a disgusted look on his face, "what are you?"
My heart constricted... husband? She's married?
"I'm Madaline's... friend..." I spoke, my shoulders slumped a little.
"I want your name, boy!" he growled.
"Eh-Embry, sir, Embry Call..."
His eyes widened and he grabbed me by the front of my uniform, pinning me to the wall,
"You! You did this to her!"
"What? Did what? What's wrong with her?"
"You saw the combined memory, correct?"
"Wha-"
"Did you, or did you not, see the night Madaline's mother was murdered?"
"I-I did..."
"And because of your foolishness," he dragged me over to Madaline and forced me to look at her, "my wife suffers!" He lifted the bandage on Madaline's hand and I saw, what looked like, pink and red splotches on her skin, "Her body is literally burning itself every time she remembers something. All because you saw something you weren't supposed to... Now her mind is forcing her to remember, causing her to burn!"
My imprint... I've caused my imprint indescribable pain, unintentionally. All because of Dumbledor! I could feel my anger building up towards the old man, more and more.
"I did nothing!" I spat through clenched teeth.
"Insolent boy!" he pushed me away and I whipped out my wand, he did, too, "I will make sure you suffer as my Madaline does!"
MY MADALINE!
"If you need someone to blame, blame Dumbledor," I hissed, "He's the one that showed me the memory."
Barty's eyes burned with the rage of a mad man and he growled as he stunned a wall, "I'm gonna bloody kill that daft oaf!"
"Bartemius..." we heard the whisper, and Crouch flew to Madaline's side, purposefully bumping my shoulder, roughly.
"I'm here, Darling..." he whispered as he held her bandaged hand up to his lips.
It should be me calling her 'darling', 'wife', and 'mine', not some 40 year old man!
"Are you in pain?" he asked as he smoothed the hair from her shoulders, that's when I noticed the scars.
The scars were just shiny, purple, brown, and pink markings that, as far as I could see, still adorned her shoulders, arms, chest, and neck. Her lower half had a blanket covering her up to her waist.
"I've endured worse..." she sighed as she and Crouch started at each other... lovingly.
That should be US! My thoughts were interrupted by a glass shattering scream; Madaline's back arched up as another scream ripped through her. She kicked off the blanket and grasped her, right, scarred thigh. I looked closer and saw one long burn, on the outside of her thigh, from her ankle to hip, start to form. Madame Pomfrey came rushing in with a cloth and cast a spell to stop Madaline's thrashing and screaming. Madaline whimpered and reached out to pull Barty closer to her. He got up on the hospital bed with her and she wrapped her arms around him.
"It's gonna be okay..." he told her, then missed the top of her head as he held her.
"It hurts..." she whimpered as Madame Pomfrey dabbed whatever was on the cloth, on her leg.
"Shh..." he shushed her as he stoked her hair, calming her, "You're safe... I've got you..."
After she was finished, Madame Pomfrey finished wrapping Madaline's leg and shooed Snape and I out. She left Barty so he could get her calmed down and, possibly, to sleep. I hid behind one of the curtains, telling Madame Pomfrey that I wanted to say goodbye. She nodded and Snape scowled at me as they walked away. I turned my attention to Barty and Madaline's conversation as I stayed hidden behind the curtain. I moved up a little more, till I was at the curtain separating me from Barty and Madaline.
"Do you wanna come home, with me?" he asked her, "Crouch manor's been fixed up..." I looked in between the curtain and peered at them, "We can have a bed that's indefinitely ours, an empty room so you can dance, and I have a grand piano an a harp-"
"I don't think I'll be dancing for a while," she sighed and put her hand against her bandaged thigh.
Barty put his hand on top of hers and slowly guided her hand up as he spoke in her ear, "I can help you with that..." I could see her chest rise and fall, rapidly, as he put her hand on his leg. He continued to run his hand across her body as he spoke, "I can help you get cleaned up..." he ran his hand across her exposed chest, "dress you..." he ran his hand across the edge of her underwear, "undress you..."
His hand slipped under her underwear and she moaned, "Bartemius..." she gripped his thigh as she arched her back, "n-not here... not here."
He removed his hand, grabbed hers that was on his thigh, and held it on her stomach, "Burns, scars, or not... you're still beautiful."
She looked up at him and gave him a smile so big, "I love you..."
"I love you..."
They met in a kiss and I wanted to cry or kick or scream, or something! She's so happy... I've never seen her smile so big, and the sincerity behind it and her words was too much for me to bear... as was watching him touch her. I could picture myself in his place... touching her, kissing her... loving her.
"Madaline?" Barty started, after breaking their kiss.
"Hmm?" she responded as she traced patterns on his chest.
"Are you happy?"
"Of course, I'm happy!" she looked up at him, "Why would you ask such a thing?"
"No reason..."
"Barty..." she had a warning tone to her voice.
She called him Bartemius earlier, and the other day... She must only call him 'Barty' when shes angry with him.
"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with," he assured her.
"We're married, Bartemius..." she laid back down against him, "it's about time you started trusting me."
"I do trust you, Madaline!"
"Obviously, not enough! Stop keeping me in the dark!" she was now sitting up and glaring at him, "What is it that you know, and I don't?"
"Madaline..." he sighed deeply, "I know about you and your father. I know you two do what your mother got executed for," Madaline looked terrified, "But I do the same for the Minisrty... that's why I didn't get the Dementor's Kiss."
"Frank and Alice?"
"Forced..."
"Harry?"
"Forced..."
"Your father?"
"Forced, but I already hated him, so I had no emotion when doing it."
She looked at him confused, "What are you getting on about? What does any of this have to do with my happiness?"
"What I mean is, when this is all over... are you going to leave?"
Shock crossed her face, "I would never leave you! That's absurd! Why would you think like that?"
"That Embry kid seems to like you more than a friend or tutor."
She curled back into his side, "Well, that's all he I am to him." she held him closer, "I only love you... Why are you so worried?"
"Because... I want to give you everything. I want us to live together, have a life, have children... and I want to give you a proper binding ceremony."
She sat back up and looked at him, smiling, "Are you asking me to marry you... properly?"
"Is that a 'yes'?"
"Yes..."
"Then..." he pulled something out of his pocket and I watched as he slipped a ring on her finger, "Madaline Lily Grace Snape..."
"Yes?"
"Will you marry me... again?"
She smiled brighter and threw her arms around him, "YES!"
I wanted to break down and bawl, but I couldn't. She's happy... that's all that matters. Madaline's happiness comes first... no matter how painful it maybe for me.
Author's Note:Aww, wasn't that proposal sweet? Poor, Embry! Review? :3