MOM!
I shoot up in the bed, throwing the sheets off my warm body. I looked around in full confusion, throwing pillows and blankets around while accidentally hitting Gabriel.
MOM!
I cried out and grabbed my head as I rolled out of the bed. I landed on my hands and knees on the wooden floor of the bedroom as I cried out again, my head aching in agony.
"Cadence?" Gabriel questioned concerned.
"Carri," I murmured as I pulled on my hair. "Go. She's crying out. Go, I'll be fine."
Gabriel ran his hand over my back as he moved past my crippling body to the bedroom door. I heard him leave and caught a glimpse of his half-naked body leaving. I slammed my hand against the floor, trying to relieve some of the pain. I cringed and sat up while taking a deep breath. Carrigan's voice had stopped echoing in my head but the pain remained. It throbbed as a migraine set in. As soon as the tears had stopped leaking from my eyes, I wiped them away with the back of my hand and carefully stood up.
Once I had caught my breath and balance, I started to move for the bedroom door. Carrigan's cries could be heard all the way downstairs. As I passed down the staircase, I saw Molly stunning the portrait of Sirius' mother. I moved straight past her without a word. Why was Carrigan downstairs screaming her head off?
I had first thought she was in her room, having a night terror of me dying. But when I arrived down in the kitchen I was bewildered to find Benjamin restraining Carrigan against the kitchen wall. She was pressing back against him, trying to break free of him, but he held her firmly, and told her to try and relax.
"I am relaxed!" she hissed.
Gabriel stood over a thin older looking man who sat in a chair. Sirius was standing next to him, looking at the man with a deep frown.
"I'm sorry Dung," he said lightly. "Carrigan is just…"
"Jumpy!" said the man who Sirius addressed as Dung.
"What is going on?" I questioned moving towards Carrigan who had just shoved Benjamin away from her. She came to me instantly and wrapped her arms around my waist while burying her head into my shoulder.
"He startled me," she whispered in my ear quietly as she clung to me. "I was getting some milk, and he was digging through the silverware drawer. I didn't know who he was—I thought he was stealing."
I rubbed her back carefully and brushed her hair as I tried to calm her. "It's alright," I whispered as I held her tightly against me.
"She attacked me!" the man yelled as he made to get up. Gabriel grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back into the chair, causing Dung to look up at Gabriel viciously. "Who the hell is this guy? Sirius, I thought this was your house."
"I'm sorry, Dung," Sirius said again apologetically. "You just got the jump on my daughter and her over-protective step-father isn't very trusting."
"You shouldn't trust him either," Carrigan said roughly as she turned away form my chest. "He was stealing!"
"Carrigan, enough!" Sirius yelled at her. Carrigan stepped back in shock. She turned and looked at me.
"I need to go for a run," she said.
"Hold on," Sirius said stepping towards her. "It's two in the morning! And you don't get to attack people and just walk away from it."
"Benjamin are you up for a run?" I asked ignoring Sirius.
Benjamin nodded his head. "Absolutely."
"Let's go," Carrigan said stomping out of the room. She marched up the stairs and Benjamin followed. He stopped next to me and leaned in close.
"I got down here just before Gabriel," he whispered. "She had that bastard pinned against the wall with his hand behind his back. He's lucky she didn't dislocate his shoulder."
I smiled lightly and nodded. "Thank you. Knock on my bedroom when you get back."
Benjamin bowed his head, his crystal blue eyes giving me a silent welcome and acknowledgement of my request. He marched up the stairs after Carrigan who I could see waiting for him at the top. I frowned and stepped farther into the kitchen.
Sirius was giving me the ugliest look he could muster. A hole opened in my heart while he glared at me, but I stood by what I did. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared back at him. He didn't understand that Carrigan had to get out. If she didn't, she'd fight harder then he was prepared for.
"She shouldn't be running—"
"Benjamin will keep her safe," I replied roughly to Sirius. "He has so far—"
"She's a thirteen year old girl!"
"Who just pinned your sneaky friend to a wall when he startled her," she retorted sharply. "I'm sure Benjamin and Carrigan can take care of themselves."
"That's besides the point, Cadence," Sirius yelled sharply. "You completely undermined my authority as Carrigan's father in my own home."
I could only glare at him. His words were so infuriating that if I opened my mouth to yell at him I'd bring down the house around us. I took a deep breath and turned away, ignoring his words again. It was easier to ignore him then confront him.
"She's thirteen?" Sirius' friend said in disbelief. "Damn, Sirius. You raised your girl right. She's a feisty little spitfire—"
"Stop talking about my daughter!" I said pointing at the man sitting in the chair.
"Everyone stop!" Arthur Weasley yelled. We all stopped bickering like children and looked at the ground with some guilt. I wasn't sure when Arthur and Molly had arrived, but they were standing at the base of the stairs looking around the kitchen at all of us.
"Mundungus, what are you doing here?" Arthur asked.
"I just thought I'd come here to see what you all needed me to do now," the man sitting in front of Gabriel moved uneasily. I rolled my eyes and turned away with uneasiness. I looked across the room at Gabriel who shook his head, causing me to frown deeply. This man, Mundungus, was a liar. It was like Carrigan had said, he was fishing around in the drawers probably looking for silver.
"I don't think we need you to do anything," Arthur said easily. "Check in with Dumbledore. I'm sure he'll want you to keep watching Harry."
"I would suggest being more careful when you stop by," Gabriel said patting Mundungus' shoulders, causing the fidgety man to jump. Gabriel moved past his chair to me, looking intimidating and sexy, as he only wore black pajama pants. His magnificently defined muscles flexed as he moved, making me smirk as I looked into his eyes.
"She's really thirteen?" Mundungus asked in a low whisper. His dark eyes were looking between Sirius and me quickly, as if he were afraid I was going to pounce on him for talking about Carrigan again.
"She is," Sirius nodded as he thumped Mundungus' back. "I'm sorry, Dung. She's well trained and on edge right now."
I crossed my arms over my chest and looked up at Gabriel who gave me a weak smile. "I'm going back to bed," he said.
"I'll be along in a moment," I whispered. Gabriel kissed my cheek affectionately and moved away from me. I gave him a weak smile as he walked away, then looked back to Sirius and his 'friend.'
"This is your daughter's Mother?" Mundungus asked Sirius.
"I'm standing right here," I hissed as I leaned against the kitchen table and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Must be," Mundungus said standing up as he extended his hand. "You have the same feisty personality, Ms?"
"Coleman," I said slowly not extending my hand to him as his dark greasy eyes looked me over. I was only wearing a pair of short shorts and a form-fitting tee shirt. I glared at him so harshly that when his eyes met mine he jumped and turned away.
"Well, Sirius, I suppose I should be going," Mundungus looked at Sirius with watery guilty eyes. "You're ex is quite intimidating."
"Yes," Sirius whispered. "She always has been."
"I know exactly why you screwed her—"
I slugged him sharply across the face while he was slightly turned away. It was a sucker-punch blow, but well deserved. I glared viciously with green eyes that could light a fire at Sirius, who was laughing at my swing. He was trying to help Mundungus up.
"You consider him a friend?" I snipped. I turned on my heel as both men laughed at me and left the basement kitchen. When I arrived upstairs, Gabriel was still awake. He was lying in the bed with his hands resting behind his head, showing off his massive tattooed arms.
He smiled at me as I entered the room and quietly closed the door. I walked across the cold wooden floor to the bed and crawled in next to Gabriel, my husband. I smiled when I thought of that. I laid my body on his softly, our skin rubbing against the others tenderly. I could not help but smile because Gabriel had removed his pants. My hands reached over his head and squeezed his hands tightly while I rubbed my body against his.
"What happened downstairs?" he asked.
"Nothing," I sighed as I laid my head in the crook of his neck. "Mundungus," I said his name with disgust. "Made a pass at me."
"Did he?" Gabriel started to sit up under me, causing me to slip off his body. I laughed at his reaction and threw my messy brown curls out of my face.
"Relax," I smiled. "I slugged him."
He grinned as he leaned forward to kiss me. "That's my woman."
Gabriel's lips were warm and tender against mine. His hands traveled down my body and pulled at the tee shirt I was wearing, desperately wanting me naked with him. I sat up, on him, and allowed him to remove my shirt. Gabriel sat up, wrapping his arms around me and kissed my neck gently. I moaned pleasurably in his ear, smiling, as my body tingled and skin shivered. Gabriel pulled the blankets over our bodies and rolled us over, so he was on top, making me grin with playfulness. His hands ran all over my skin while we kissed with passion.
About a few hours later, Gabriel and I were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. We nearly jumped apart from each other, pulling the sheets over our bodies as we tired to get as far from each other as possible.
"Yes?" Gabriel called as I laid on my back looking at he ceiling. The bedroom door opened a crack and Carrigan stuck her head into the room. She raised her eyebrows at us and smirked while taking in our appearance. I sat up on my elbows, holding the sheets over my chest, to look at her.
"Hey," she said mildly, still smirking. "Sorry to interrupt…"
"Don't be silly," I said. "You're not interrupting anything."
Carrigan laughed lightly. "Right," she smiled. "Well, Ben just said for me to knock on your door. Let you know we're back."
"How was your run?" Gabriel asked.
"Good," Carrigan beamed. "I feel better….I'll go…so you two can get back to…"
"Sleeping!" I snipped.
"Right…sleeping." Carrigan winked and left the doorframe, closing it tightly. I sighed with embarrassment and put my hands to my face. Gabriel leaned over me carefully and kissed the back of my hands. He kissed my wrists and down my arms, then slowly pulled my hands away from my face.
"I love you," he whispered with a bright smile. He stole a kiss from my lips then moved away to get out of the bed. "I'm afraid I have to go to work."
I rolled onto my side and watched as he moved around the room looking for something to wear to work. I smiled as he moved, admiring his handsome physique and many tattoos. He dressed quickly in black pants and a red button up shirt. He pulled a black waistcoat on and then a thin black necktie. He tucked it into the waistcoat before leaning over me and kissing me slowly as his fingers traced along my jaw.
"It's four in the morning," I whispered grabbing his tie so he could not get away from me. "Stay a little longer…"
"Cadence, you surprise me," he smiled before kissing me again.
"I try, Gabriel."
I kissed him slowly, with my soft tongue penetrating his mouth. He moaned with longing as his hand moved down my face and grazed against my breast.
"I'm sorry, my sweet," he said as he inhaled the smell of my lavender shampoo. "I have to meet my new partner today since you pulled me away from them yesterday."
"You have to meet them this early?"
"I have paper work to do as well," he smiled and took a seat next to me. He brushed my hair out of my face and kissed me again. "Just wait till you come back next week. Scrimgeour will have a mountain of paper work for you to do."
"Great," I sighed lying down on the pillows. "And watch Mitchell Scott? I don't know if I can do both. My partner is very illusive."
"I think it's in his family's nature," Gabriel said. "Considering who his father was."
I frowned and bit my bottom lip as I remembered Scott's father, Thomas Nix. That man was a nasty piece of work. He was a close follower of my Father, who was a trained assassin. Nix had trained Gabriel in all of his murderous ways.
Gabriel patted my side affectionately and got up off the bed. He picked up a black suit coat and pulled it on over his suit. He started to button it up as he smiled at me.
"I'll see you later today."
"Alright," I whispered. Despite my disappointment at him leaving, I couldn't help but smile at him. He was handsome, dressed smartly, and had a charming aura.
"Cadence," he said as he opened the bedroom door. "I love you."
"I love you too," I beamed. He gave me that charming half-cocked smile that always made me weak in the knees then made to leave. "Gabriel," I called him back. He paused and looked at me with raised eyebrows. "We didn't use a condom."
The words barely left my lips and my voice was so low I wasn't sure if he could hear me. Gabriel frowned and nodded his head.
"Don't worry about it," he advised. "Not until we have to."
I forced a smile. "Alright."
He gave me a nod and then left the bedroom. I sighed and laid back in the bed as he closed the door. I was not supposed to be able to have children anyways. I had a miscarriage a year ago, because of an accident, but also because Gabriel and I were not supposed to reproduce. Our child would be too powerful for me to carry full term.
The white paint was pealing off the ceiling. I wondered if Sirius intended to refurnish any of the rooms now that people would be living or visiting the house often. It didn't matter…no one cared what the ceiling looked like anyways.
Sleep didn't come easily for me. By the time I had finally started to doze off, Carrigan was knocking on my bedroom door again, asking me if I wanted breakfast. I was lying on my stomach, my arm hanging off the bed. I growled in annoyance as she opened the door.
"I'm sorry, did you not get a lot of sleep?" Carrigan asked with an amused tone. I picked up a pillow and tossed it at her. She caught it and threw it back at me. "You want something to eat?"
"No," I hissed.
"Hey, Mom," she said sitting on my bed. I sighed and rolled onto my back, keeping the sheets close to me so I wouldn't scar her with my nakedness.
"Yea, Carri? What's going on?"
"I'm sorry that I alarmed you this morning."
"Don't be sorry," I whispered. "That guy Mundungus is a dick. I slugged him clean across the face."
"Nice," Carrigan beamed. "Why is he friends with Dad?"
"Not sure. But I think you should stay away from him."
"No worries. He creeps me out."
"Alright," I nodded. "I'll be down in a little bit. What are you and Benjamin doing today?"
Carrigan's demeanor changed when I mentioned her Guardian's name. She looked at the floor of the bedroom with a deep frown. I saw that she was wearing a sports bra, loose fitting tank top, and athletic shorts. Her hair was back in a ponytail. I knew she was going to train or exercise by her appearance.
"What's the matter?" I asked carefully.
"I just don't like how Benjamin pushes me," she whispered. "I miss the way Gabriel taught me."
"Before Benjamin revealed that he was your Guardian you were crazy about him. I haven't seen you like that over a boy…well ever. What's changed?"
"He's just not the same Ben that I knew in the coffee shop."
This caught my attention, causing me to sit up.
"What do you mean?" I asked concerned.
"I don't mean that he's an imposter," Carrigan said quickly. "I know he's not an imposter. He's just not as gentle as he used to be. He is…sometimes…just not always."
"It's not his job to be gentle. It's his job to train and prepare you for the fights that are going to come soon."
"Mom," she said slowly. I waited for her to ask her question. I could see in her midnight blue eyes that something was burning deep inside of her. "Do you think Ben and I will end up together like you and Gabriel?"
I frowned deeply. "I don't know, Carrigan. Guardians aren't supposed to fall in love with their charges."
"Doesn't mean they don't."
I smiled. "Yea, I know. Go to breakfast, I'll meet you downstairs. I would really love to get dressed. This whole mother-daughter discussion while I'm naked is awkward."
Carrigan laughed. "Yea, it is. I was hoping you had underwear on under there." She stood up off the bed and picked up my pajamas off the floor. "I think I should start monitoring you and Gabriel—"
"We're married now," I yelled after her. "It's not inappropriate for us to have sex!"
She stopped at the door. "I thought you were just sleeping." I threw a pillow at her again for her cheek. She laughed as she dashed out of the room causing the pillow to thump against the door of the room. I sighed and got out of the bed to get dressed quickly.
When I arrived downstairs, everyone was sitting in the kitchen for breakfast; the Weasley's, Hermione, Sirius, Benjamin and Carrigan were surrounding the table. To my disappointment, Mundungus was also sitting at the table enjoying a bowl of oatmeal. I sighed as I entered the room while throwing my hair out of my face.
"Good morning," I said dryly to everyone.
I felt everyone's eyes on me as I moved around the table. I was thankful that I had put on jeans and a pull over, so I was not exposed to the prying eyes of Mundungus as I walked by. I took a seat between Carrigan and Sirius then began to serve myself some oatmeal. Carrigan was eating her oatmeal with berries and milk. I kept mine plain. I looked around the table wondering how it was possible that so many conversations could occur in a loud, crowded environment.
Ginny and Hermione were trying to have a conversation with Carrigan across the table. Fred, George and Ron were talking in detail with Mundungus, who was occasionally laughing with Sirius. Molly and Arthur were talking with each other quietly, which didn't seem possible. Benjamin was silent.
Suddenly, Arthur stood up. "I'm heading to work. Everyone have a fantastic day."
"Bye, sweetheart," Molly said standing up and kissing her husbands cheek. She walked with Arthur to the base of the staircase where they kissed each other's lips gently before separating. I smiled tenderly, thinking that Gabriel and I did something similar that morning.
Gabriel.
I frowned deeply thinking about the unsafe sex we had. It was irresponsible of us. We knew better and suddenly I was overwhelmed with concern. A few months ago, Persephone, a powerful Seer who was also my niece, had a vision that I would be responsible for a child without Gabriel if I did not learn to be independent of him. I sighed deeply as I placed my hands on my stomach without realizing it. While Persephone had foreseen Gabriel dying upon my father's return, she specifically said over the summer he would face his demise. There was still a month and a half left of summer. There was still a chance Gabriel could die…
"Mom, are you alright?" Carrigan's voice brought me back to reality.
"Yes, absolutely," I forced a smile. "What are you and Benjamin doing today?"
Carrigan rolled her eyes. "He thinks we're going to work on conjuring today," she whispered to me. "But I doubt it. I just don't get things done with him the way I did with Gabriel."
"I can hear you, Carrigan," Benjamin said with a bright smile. He ran his hand over his Mohawk and stood up from the table. Carrigan flushed and turned away from him. "Half hour, in the library?"
"Alright," Carrigan whispered with a sad frown. Benjamin stroked her cheek affectionately.
"Don't look so glum," he said. "I'm sure you'll get it today."
Carrigan snapped her jaw at Benjamin's fingers, trying to bite him. He laughed and picked up a banana as he walked away from the table.
"Thank you for breakfast, Mrs. Weasley," he said as he walked by her to the stairs. "Half hour, Carrigan."
Carrigan made a face at him as he walked away. Ginny laughed and shook her head, giving Carrigan a hard look, suggesting that she was being unfair to Benjamin.
"Carrigan," I said softly. "Please try."
"Yea," Carrigan said easily. "I will."
"Why does Carrigan have to take private lessons over the summer?" Ron asked from across the table.
"Because should could easily blow you up, just like Cadence," said one of the twins. "Ben keeps her in line."
"He doesn't keep me in line," Carrigan said aggressively. "No one keeps me in line."
She stood up from the table and moved away quickly without another word. George punched his twin in the shoulder as I gave him dirty looks across the table.
"Well done, mate," George said.
"You should apologize," Molly said.
"Yea, because she could easily kill you," Sirius smirked as he took a bite of his eggs. Mundungus laughed, which caused me to roll my eyes. I wondered how long he'd be there. I didn't like him. He reeked of distrust and betrayal. I didn't want him anywhere near Carrigan or the Order of the Phoenix. Obviously, Dumbledore saw some use in him, even if it was menial. He trusted Mundungus enough to send him to watch Harry Potter. But I didn't trust him, not even just to watch Harry.
"Well, I'd best be off too," he said as if on cue. "Have to go watch over the Potter boy…make sure he doesn't get into trouble."
"Alright, mate," Sirius said standing up to say good bye. He shook hands with Mundungus and then clapped him on the back. "Be safe."
Mundungus made his exit without another word. I stood up from my chair abruptly and went after him.
"Cadence!" Sirius called after me. I ignored him and marched up the stairs after Mundungus, calling out to him.
"Mundungus," I said in the foyer. Mundungus stopped at the door and looked at me with apprehensive grey eyes. "I wanted to apologize for last night. I'm sorry I was rather rude. I just get fired up when someone threatens my kid and talks about my sexual activities as if it's any of their business."
Mundungus bowed his head. "It's alright," he said slowly, but still with unsure eyes. I stepped closer to him.
"Be careful watching over Harry," I added. He bowed his head again and opened the door. "Oh, and Mundungus," I called. He stopped and looked at me with those watering grey eyes. "If you do anything stupid that allows for my godson to be hurt, I will kill you myself."
"I believe you," he said with a forced smile.
"Good," I retorted as I glared at him. "I'm happy that we have an understanding."
He bowed his head and dashed out the door, making me smile slightly.
"Don't you think that was a little unnecessary?" Sirius asked. I turned and looked at him as he stood at the top of the basement staircase. I frowned and dropped my hands uselessly to my sides.
"I was just being honest," I shrugged. "How did you meet that slime ball anyways?"
"Friend of a friend."
I rolled my eyes. "A friend of a friend from Azkaban?"
"That was unnecessary," he retorted.
I bit my bottom lip and shrugged again. "Excuse me," I whispered moving past Sirius to go back to the basement to finish breakfast with Carrigan. Everyone had mostly finished their breakfast. When I returned to the kitchen, their eyes followed me around the table again as I made my way back to my seat. I picked up my spoon and carefully finished my plain oatmeal, satisfied that I had told Mundungus to stick to his word when protecting Harry. Sirius entered the kitchen a few minutes later looking annoyed, causing me to sigh. Carrigan looked between us with raised eyebrows, then stood up and left without a word. I frowned, wondering if part of her unhappiness was because Sirius and I were always at each other's throats.