~A/N> I know that I said that I would update on Saturday, but I've decided to post this chapter today and
then chapter 4 will be posted Saturday instead. In this chapter, Sorcha is simply...well, Sorcha. I will be writing
about her life in this story, and more about her will be learnt (like why she's the way she is) starting in chapter
5. There's no Harry in this chapter (just mention of him), but there will be more H/Hr fluff in the next chapter.
The heavy angst is over for now, and won't be back for quite a while. Big hugs to Lisa for always being there for
me when I need her, and to all of you that have been reading and reviewing. The response has been fantastic
:)
Two months later...
"C'mon Granger, move it! Let's go!" Sorcha ordered as Hermione ran from one side of the enormous
ballroom to the other. She was tired, she was angry, and she had a stitch in her side that hurt like hell.
"I need to stop," she panted, coming to a halt next to her trainer.
"Like hell you do," Sorcha retorted, glaring at her. "Look at you. You're out of breath, and you've been training for five months. You should be in excellent shape by now."
"I am in shape," Hermione replied, her anger rising. "I'm just not feeling well today, that's all."
"D'you think that Damien will be easy on you the next time he attacks if he sees you're sick?" the woman replied. "Now keep running."
Cursing the evil Guardian trainer under her breath, Hermione resumed her running as ordered.
As Sorcha stood watching her, Jakob walked up behind her and said, "I told you that you shouldn't have trained outside last week. You've gotten her sick."
"She'll live," Sorcha replied. "It'll toughen her up some, maybe."
"Being tough isn't something one should strive to achieve," Jakob stated. "Toughness comes from the trials we have to face in life, it isn't forced upon us."
"You always were too philosophical for me," Sorcha said, smiling at him.
"As I recall, you didn't always find it annoying."
His comment garnered the reaction he was looking for, and he smiled back at her as her cheeks turned a bright pink. "I'm going to go start dinner."
Just as she was about to make a smart remark, Sorcha turned quickly as she heard Hermione retching. Closing her eyes in disgust as the girl got sick, she looked back to Jakob and said, "This is your department, not mine. Help her clean herself up and then send her to bed, would you?"
"Always the concerned one, aren't you?" he asked, but this time there was no amusement in his voice, just a hint of frustration.
Trying not to show how much his remark stung, Sorcha continued walking out of the room, not once looking back.
Sighing loudly, Jakob walked over to where Hermione stood bent over and with a wave of his hand the mess on the floor vanished. Reaching out, he lightly placed his hand upon her back and asked, "Are you okay?" When she looked up at him he could see the sheen of sweat upon her face, her very pale face, and the dark circles under her eyes concerned him. "Haven't you been sleeping?"
"No," she replied softly. Clearing her throat, she took a deep breath while standing upright and said, "I've been having nightmares and I haven't heard from Harry since my birthday. I just can't seem to turn my thoughts off once I lay down at night."
"Well, let's get you up to bed, and I'll get a sleeping drought for you," he said, rubbing his hand up and down her back soothingly.
"Thank you for taking care of me," she said quietly. "You're the only one that seems to give any thought to my well being anymore."
"Now I know that's not true," Jakob said, trying not to show that he felt a bit sorry for her. "I saw the way Harry acted when he was here, and it's obvious he cares for you."
"Then why hasn't he written?" she asked, her voice wavering.
When he saw the tears shining in her eyes he moved his hand up to her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "You're sick, and you need some rest. Let's get you upstairs so that you can get comfortable and enjoy the rest of the day by yourself."
"By myself," she repeated, hating how lonely it made her feel all of a sudden.
~*~
After sleeping the rest of the afternoon and night, Hermione woke the next morning feeling better than she had in a long time. Stretching lazily, she got up and dressed for the day. Heading downstairs, she walked into the kitchen to see Jakob at the stove, cooking their breakfast.
"Good morning," he said, smiling at her as she sat at the kitchen table.
"Morning," she replied, returning his smile.
"So are you feeling better today?" he asked, his attention on the food sizzling in the pan.
"I feel better than I have in a long time," she replied. "I actually feel like I want to train today, instead of forcing myself to do it."
"Sorry to disappoint you kiddo, but you and I are going into town today."
"We are?" she asked, surprised. "I haven't left this house in five months, why do I get to leave now?"
"Because I told Sorcha that you needed a break," he answered, turning and placing food on the plate in front of her. As she dug into it hungrily, he sat across from her and said, "She and I had a long talk about you last night, and I told her in no uncertain terms that you were going to take the next two days off. You shouldn't be training on weekends anyway. You need some time to relax, do things that you want to do."
"Let me guess, she argued that the fate of the world was my responsibility?"
"Using almost those exact words."
Sighing, she finished eating and stood up. "Well, if I get to leave this house today, I'm going to go fix my hair and maybe make myself look presentable."
"You look fine as you are right now," he stated, smiling as she blushed. "But I know that girls like to feel pretty, so if that's what you want, go ahead. We'll leave in one hour."
Smiling back at him, she said, "Okay," and left the room, feeling her spirits finally lift a bit at the possibility of some retail therapy. Her mum had always said it was the best way to destress.
One hour later, she came downstairs and met Jakob in the entry hall. "Ready to go?" he asked.
"All set," she replied happily. The cabin fever she had been feeling had become almost suffocating, and she could not wait to leave.
As they sat in the car, Jakob manuevering the snow covered street with expert ease, Hermione's mind wandered once again to Harry. Wondering what he was doing, she was surprised when Jakob announced they had arrived. She had thought the drive would be longer.
As they both got out and walked up to the store in whose lot they had just parked, he turned to her and said, "I need to go in here and stock up on groceries. I'll tell you what, if you promise not to tell Sorcha, you can 'sneak' away from me over to the bookstore that's two doors down."
The thought of immersing herself within numerous tomes of unimaginable knowledge brought the light back to her eyes, and Jakob smiled as he noticed. "How do you know my love of books?"
"Sorcha told me," he replied. "Which is a hobby that she can not seem to grasp, by the way. She said that she sometimes thinks it would just be best to make you read books to learn everything to do with Guardian history."
"That would actually be preferable," she said happily. "But since I know it'll never happen, I'll just 'sneak' off now."
"Here, let me give you some money..."
"I'm good," she interrupted. "My parents left me more than enough money to tide me over for years to come." Lowering her voice she added, "As long as they take muggle money I'll be fine. I have a few galleons on me, but that's about it."
"A few shopkeepers are like us, but most are muggles," he confirmed.
"Then I'm all set."
"Meet me back here in one hour, okay?"
"Okay."
Watching him walk into the store, Hermione's smile widened as she started to walk down the sidewalk to the shop he had indicated. Going inside, she breathed in deep and realized just how much she had missed the musty, bookish smell she always associated to libraries and bookshops.
"Can I help you?"
Turning her gaze to the older woman that stood behind the counter, she couldn't help but notice the strange clothes she wore, all but announcing to Hermione that she was most likely a witch as well. Smiling, she replied, "No, thank you. I'm just here to browse."
As the woman smiled back at her, Hermione started as she suddenly noticed that a shadow seemed to pass over the woman's face. Looking at the window behind her, she noted that there was no sun in the sky, only clouds heavy with more snow, so what had caused the shadow?
Berating herself for trying to find trouble where there was none, she turned and walked deep into the labrynth of bookcases arranged throughout the store. Starting in non-fiction, she perused the many titles and authors and eventually found herself in the fiction section. Reading over so many familiar author names, she stopped as one caught her eye- Mary Madeline Duvall.
Gasping as she recognized her far distant relative's name, she snatched the book from its' resting place and quickly thumbed through it, disbelieving what she was reading. It was a story about The Guardians, powerfully magical Guides that were assigned to humans that needed their protection from the evil Shadow Demons. Knowing that she had to have it, she walked up to where the woman still stood behind the register and placed the book down in front of her.
"Oh, what a fantastic choice," she replied after reading the title. As she punched in the price of the book, and without looking directly at Hermione, the old crone whispered, "They know you're here."
Alarmed, Hermione's gaze darted to her wrinkled, pale face and asked, "What?!"
"They smell your fear."
Becoming frightened by the hag's rantings, she quickly dropped the money onto the counter and picked up the book, dashing out of the book shop as quickly as she could. Once outside, she immediately turned to go back to the store that Jakob had entered, but before she could get there she saw movement out of the corner of her right eye. Gripping the book in her left hand tightly, she withdrew her wand and turned, her movement fluid and sure, and her eyes widened as she saw a Shadock moving down the sidewalk across the street from her. Like fog rolling off of the ocean, the demon seemed to move in much the same fashion, and obviously hadn't noticed her presence yet as it continued on it's way.
Lowering her wand for fear that someone might notice, she kept it tightly gripped in her hand at her side. Trying not to draw the Shadock's attention her way, she continued toward the grocery store in which Jakob shopped, praying that she'd make it without seeing anything else.
"You will not escape me."
Turning frantically to her right, Hermione's eyes darted here and there, trying to find the source of the voice that seemed to be whispering in her ear.
"I'll hunt you down one day."
Now she turned to her left, jumping as she was confronted by her own reflection, mirrored in the shops window behind her. Turning in a full circle, she could see no more signs of Shadocks or even a glimpse of Damien himself, and exhaling a shaky breath she turned and ran the rest of the way to the grocery. She had to warn Jakob.
Just as she got to the door of the grocery, Jakob came out at a dead run. As Hermione stopped as quickly as she could so as not to run straight into him, she opened her mouth to tell him about the Shadocks but he cut her off and said, "We have to go... now."
"But..."
"Hermione, they're here for you," he said, not letting her finish.
"You can see them?"
"Now's not the time for fucking questions!" he yelled, grabbing her arm so tightly that it hurt. But before they could go anywhere three Shadocks appeared and suddenly encircled them.
Before she could think about what she was doing, she shielded Jakob, and concentrating on the palm of her hand she conjured up a glowing white ball of magical energy. Throwing it in the direction of the Shadock closest to her, she quickly fired off two more and then removed the shield from Jakob. Grabbing his hand, she said, "I'll bring you back later to get the car," and apparated them out of there.
~*~
Apparating to the gates of Empyrean, Hermione let go of Jakob and looked around them slowly, praying that there wouldn't be any evil entities waiting to attack them there, too. Finding that they were safe, for the moment, she started to run up the long driveway as fast as she could, Jakob right behind her. The snow had started to fall while they had still been in town, and now it was sleet driven by strong winds, and it stung as it hit her face.
Reaching the front door, Hermione quickly took off her jacket and trainers, making her way quickly over to one of the fireplaces in the sitting room. As the heat replaced the cold that seemed to settle into her bones, she noticed that Jakob had made his way into the study where Sorcha liked to spend her time. When the two of them came out, the looks of seriousness on their faces made her suddenly feel more uneasy than she had already been feeling. When neither of them said anything right away she waited patiently, wondering what exactly was going on. Finally, she remembered what had happened in town, looked at Jakob and asked, "You saw the Shadocks, didn't you?"
Sorcha opened her mouth to answer, but before she could say anything Jakob replied, "Yes, I did."
"But, how?" she asked.
"Unbeknownst to Damien, I am the only living male Soul Guardian."
Hermione was shocked. "I knew you had abilities, but I never knew..."
"You weren't supposed to know," Sorcha cut in. "The more people that know, the more risk of Jakob being found out by Damien, putting him in more danger."
"So all the other times that you've gone into town, did you see the Shadocks around?"
"No, today was the first time I've seen them. What about you? Where did you see them first?"
"In the book shop," she replied, realizing her mistake too late.
"You let her go to the book shop?" Sorcha asked, her voice rising in anger as she glared at Jakob.
"Yes, I did," he answered calmly. "Hermione can take care of herself. She certainly proved that today."
"How?"
"When we were surrounded she shielded me and then took care of three of them on her own."
The older pair looked to her then and she said, "I just acted on instinct, the way you've both been teaching me to."
"It's about time your lessons paid off," Sorcha quipped. "And what exactly happened in the book shop?"
She met Sorcha's gaze and replied, "There was an old lady at the register when I walked in, and she seemed harmless enough. But when I went to check out..."
When she stayed quiet, Jakob walked over to the sofa she was sitting on and sat next to her. "What happened, Hermione?"
"She said...well, she said, 'They know your here' and 'They smell your fear'. "And there was something else," Hermione said quietly. When she was met with silence she continued, "When I was making my way back to the grocery store, I heard voices."
"Voices?" Sorcha asked, a tinge of worry to her words.
"It was like a whisper in my ear. It said, 'You will not escape me,' and 'I will hunt you down one day'. I didn't recognize the voice, but it was the exact same words that I heard during a nightmare I had on the train ride here five months ago."
"You don't think it could be Damien, do you?" Jakob asked, looking from Hermione to Sorcha.
"I have no idea," Sorcha answered. "But it doesn't bode well for us."