When she opened her eyes again the cold water hit her right on the face, but Lucy was too scared to yell at him.
She pushed Jake's chest not harshly but still making her point clear. She sat down on another chair, looking darkly at the parchement.
She turned her attention back at Jake.
"THere is something I need to tell you."

He smiled as he saw her waking up, but frowned when she pushed him away and stared at the suspicious blank parchment. Sighing as he heard her comment, he vanished away the glass and the cloth and made himself comfortable. "Ok. What is it?" he asked lightly, although he knew that this conversation was going to be anything but light.

Lucy was fighting inside. She knew she had to tell Jake because the man was in danger. She coudn't do that on her own. She took a deep breathe and started.
"You know I was married." a short pause. "I was 20 and absolutely no idea what I was doing. Nobody, unless my mother, knows about it. He managed to... isolate me from my few friends. Also, Chloe went to live in a muggle neighbourhood and my parents moved definetely to France."
She didn't know how to tell him the story of her life.
"I didn't have many friends since my sister.... passed away." it was the hardest thing to say. She continued. "I didn't want to have friends. Chloe remained next to me because she was Lisa's bestfriend and she.... somehow.... understand."

He took in the new information, fighting hard to keep from gasping in surprise. Lucy was married? At 20?? That doesn't sound like my Lucy... He nodded, understanding and listened to her until she stopped. He took in a deep breath and said, "I get the friends bit, and I can understand the fact that you married at 20. But what you haven't told me is, why are you using the past tense? What happened?" He looked at her, afraid of what he would hear.

Because it's the past. Or so she hoped.
"The first year was great, the second was okay, the last was a nightmare." she raised her head to face him and explained: "We've been married for three years."
But Lucy didn't have the strenght to explain him or even to say why the marriage had ended. Tears started rolling down her face, while she remembered.

Jake's expression turned to anger as Lucy continued. What had he done to her? He was just about to say something when she started crying. It broke his heart to see her cry like that. He got up and walked over to her, pulling her into a hug. "Shh... Lucy, just tell me if this is too much for you. We can talk another time, to give you some time to organise your thoughts. I'm not going anywhere," he said softly, trying to make her stop crying.

"You don't get it, Jake! We don't have time!" she replied, pulling back to loo him into his eyes, but not letting go from the hug.
"He'll kill us both." she said, resting her head on his chest. Jake's words comforted her and, for the second time, she felt like she belonged somewhere.
"My husband tried to kill me." she whispered.

He looked down at her, making a face when she said that they didn't have time. His eyebrows rose and disappeared in his hairline as she told him that her ex-husband will kill them. He put his hand on the back of her head as she leaned into his chest all the while thinking, I wonder what she's been through to make her say that?
His question was answered almost immediately when she said that her husband had tried to kill her. Kill... Lucy? As it sunk in, his face burned up in anger and his eyes flashed. He pulled out his wand and asked her in a low, controlled voice, "Lucy, what's his name and where is he?" That stupid idiot was not going to go threatening his Lucy while he was around! He held his wand with one hand, and hugged her waist protectively with the other as he scanned the room, looking for signs of movement. Well, I wasn't put into MLE for nothing, was I?

Lucy pushed Jake to see his face controlled but yet anger.
"Calm down. You didn't hear everything." she said. She wouldn't tell him she had tried that but her ex-husband was everything less stupid. Getting the divorce had been pure luck.
Instead, Lucy told him, the reasons why he had want to kill her.
"He practised dark arts. I started suspecting and one day I found out the hiding place was our basement. He and his friends were all there when I came in."

"But-" he objected, annoyed that she wouldn't tell him right away. Sighing, he lowered his wand and gazed at her, listening to every word. What he heard shocked him so much his eyes bulged slightly. Well, he certainly is not a good judge of character... What was she thinking, marrying a man like that? "When you found him, what did he do?" he asked, trying to not think too much about what he was saying.

Lucy blinked. Which part my-husband-wasn't-a-violent-man-but-practised-darks-arts-so-he-tried-to-kill-me didn't Jake understand?
Of course there were reasons that had lead him to the dark arts, but that was a totaly different story.
"Well, that's was when he tried to kill me." she said. To tell Jake what she was tellling him, Lucy had the need of steeping back and speak like if they weren't talking about her life.

He frowned again, the concept of someone trying to kill Lucy was... disturbing. "How did he do it? Was it on purpose? How did you get away? Did you notice anything different about him before you found out?" he asked, blurting out the questions in his mind. It took all of his self control not to run off and summon this husband of hers to a duel.

Lucy simply walked away.
It was the first time she was talking about this with someone and Jake asked her how her husband had tried to kill her?!
"What, you're planning on following his steps?" she was really disturbed by this and she wanted to go home. She approched her desk and began to collect her belongings.

His mouth dropped open and a seriously confused expression plastered itself on his face as Lucy walked away. "Wait!" he said, coming to his senses, "What did I say? Lucy, please listen! I need to know this stuff so that I know in how much danger you are. Lucy... I would never do that, you know me," he said, finishing the sentence with a slight pleading tone. Does she really think I would do that to her? I love her more than I've ever loved anyone, and she thinks I'm going to kill her? He raised his hand and placed it on her cheek. "Do you really think I would?" he concluded, his desperate eyes searching hers, "I really like you, too much in fact."

"Do I?" she asked with a slight teasing tone. "I barely know you." She paused. "I thought I known Ted and after three years of marriage and few others of dating, he reveladed himself!" she was now close from yelling, but refrained from doing it, knowing her boss was right next door.
She shut up when he said he liked her a lot. She would have like to say the same but she couldn't. Things were more dangerous than he thought.

"I told you this because.... because... Jake, if he wants to get to me..... he'll use you. He will hurt you." and that she couldn't allow that. This was also her way of saying she liked him too much to loose him.

"And yet, in this short time, I'd say that I've pretty much got you figured out," he said, smiling slightly even though the situation was anything but happy. At least she listened... He chose to ignore her comment about Ted. So that's his name... I don't like it. "Lucy, I can take care of myself, trust me. I've been doing it for as long as I've been me and I'm not going to let some stupid man come and ruin my life. You are the priority here, you are the one that needs protection," he said and flattered himself with the knowledge that she cared for him at least a little.

That was something she didn't like to know, Lucy liked to keep mystery around her.
"It's true that we kissed and I want to do it again but-t..." wait a second. That wasn't suppose to be said, was it?
"You don't know him!" Lucy exclaimed exaspherated with jake's stubborness. "I don't need protection! I've been doing this for three years and I did great so far. You, on the other hand, you don't know what he can do or how he does to get away!"

I asked her to stay but she wouldn't listen
She left before I had the chance to say
Oh
The words that would mend the things that were broken
But now it's far too late, she's gone away


"Every night you cry yourself to sleep
Thinking: 'Why does this happen to me?
Why does every moment have to be so hard?'
Hard to believe that

It's not over tonight
Just give me one more chance to make it right
I may not make it through the night
I won't go home without you"


Lucy sang to herself in a low voice.

The taste of your breath, I'll never get over
The noises that she made kept me awake
Oh
The weight of things that remained unspoken
Built up so much it crushed us everyday

Every night you cry yourself to sleep
Thinking: "Why does this happen to me?
Why does every moment have to be so hard?"
Hard to believe that

"It's not over tonight
Just give me one more chance to make it right
I may not make it through the night
I won't go home without you"

It's not over tonight
Just give me one more chance to make it right
I may not make it through the night
I won't go home without you

Of all the things I felt but never really shown
Perhaps the worst is that I ever let you go
I should not ever let you go, oh oh oh

It's not over tonight
Just give me one more chance to make it right
I may not make it through the night
I won't go home without you

It's not over tonight
Just give me one more chance to make it right
I may not make it through the night
I won't go home without you
And I won't go home without you
And I won't go home without you
And I won't go home without you

Cornelius was running down the hall. it was his first day at work and he was late.He was very frustrated because the education of young wizards lay in his hands

Lucy was too busy bothering about Jake and his stubborness but she noticed movement by the corner of her eye. She turned around carefully and sighed. It was just another co-worker.
"Good morning." she greeted politely, sitting behind her desk, pretending she was okay.

Jake was about to interrupt when she started singing. It was very tempting to raise his eyebrows mockingly, but he refrained himself due to the grave situation. Just as he was about to reply, a man came bursting into the room. Someone looks like they're in a hurry, Jake thought as he gave the man a polite smile and a nod. "Hey there," he said to the man after Lucy greeted him. "You new here?" he asked, for the sake of polite conversation.
He turned back to Lucy and was surprised to discover that she wasn't there anymore. He turned again and saw that she was sitting behind her desk, acting normal. What the- he thought as he walked over to her and sat on the tiny parchmentless place on her table.
"Lucy, having traveled the world, I picked up some things. These things can help me protect myself, so you don't need to worry about me." He thought for a moment and then continued, "But you need to tell me exactly what happened, so that I know what I'm facing. And I also need to know the amount of danger you're in."
He sighed. "Lucy, right now there are two things that I care about most in this world. They are you, and my niece, okay? So, I'm not prepared to lose you just because you are too stubborn to ask for protection." His face was set, determined and he was gazing straight at her, eyes locked. Suddenly, his expression changed to that of amazement and he smacked himself on the head.
"Of course," he whispered to himself. He quickly raised want and said, "Accio bracelet!" While he waited for the bracelet to arrive, he winked at Lucy. Oh no, he thought and his expression fell. I put a wards up around the box, I can't just summon it! He turned back to Lucy with a worried and speculative expression on his face. I can't leave her...

He didn't want to say that.
He didn't just said what I heard... Did he wanted to compare personal experiences.
"For your knowledge, I've travelled all around the world. Maybe not as much as you did, but I have a place where to go if I need to be alone or if I need support. What about you?" Lucy's voice was shaking when she spoke. She wanted to be under her sheets in her parents house, in France. Or in her grandmother's house, in a lovely small village of Ireland. She wanted her mother to tell her everything was going to be okay. Her mother had been the only person that had known everything.

Lucy admired her mother immensly. Born in France, Claire Belmontini had fell for an english man and moved country for love. Many years later, she had lost a daughter and her baby, the youngest sister, had left her home. Three years later, Lucy was crying with her mother next to her side because the person she trusted the most had tried to... murder her. Claire had almost lost another daughter. It was also in that moment Lucy realized the person she trusted the most was her mother; that had never judged her and had always been there for her.

She shook her head.
"This is my business." a short pause. "I should be the one handle it. You're in danger because you're with me. Or don't you get it?" there was a pleading tone in her voice, like if she was begging him to step back and leave her with her own problems. But her next words made her shut up and most important, to listen him.
"I'm not prepared to loose you, either." she whispered.

"A bracelet? Jake, what is yourt idea?" No, this wasn't good. "Jake... don't you even think about it!"

His eyes narrowed. She had just breached the red line. "Yes, I do actually. It's called home, and it's in Hogsmeade. Just because I don't have a Mummy and a Daddy to take care of me, doesn't mean I'm totally helpless." He clenched his hands into fists, and concentrated on keeping his breath regular. Jake, calm down. Remember, she just doesn't understand.
"Oh, I get it all right," he said darkly, "I get that you're worrying for all the wrong reasons." He raised his wand and muttered Accio something, but he said it too low for her to hear.
A small woden box came flying in through the door and he caught it deftly with his left hand as he opocketed his wand. Without looking at her, he carefully opened the box. In it was an assortment of boxes and packages, all wrapped or contained in white material which seemed to shimmer. He lifted a small bundle with his left hand, and removed a small parcel with his right. As he placed the unwanted package back in the box, the desired parcel shook slightly as he took it out of box, but then settled down as he put in between his palms. He unwrapped it slowly and gingerly, paying the utmost attention to it. Once it was unwrapped, he removed what ever was in the box and held it up for her to see, holding it carefully but securly with his hand.
In his hand was a beautiful intricate bracelet. It was shaped of two very thin bracelet, interwined with each other. It was very loose, and it glinted in the light.
From a closer look, it was possible to see that it was made from two types iof gold; white and yellow. The bands were set with tiny clear diamonds and that was what caused the shimmering effect. Upon closer inspection, the bracelet showed to have runes etched into the diamonds and the gold, so fine and so small that they weren't visible unless you put the bracelet right up to your eyes.
"Take it," he said, handing it to her. He knew that she would never accept it, but he was prepared to fight with her. This bracelet was one of the few things in the world that could actualy protect her. It was heavily charmed with protection spells, and it could block almost all of the strong curses except for the three Unforgivables.
He had gotten it from a friend in Switzerland, whom he had helped get rid of a troublesome creature. Jake had promised himself that if he ever found someone he really cared about, he would give the bracelet to her. Now he found Lucy.

"I didn't say that." she rplied. She didn't meant that. She was talking about a place where she felt safe. She was telling him she didn't want to risk his life to protect hers. That was what Jake didn't understand. "I said that I don't want you involve in this." yes, this sounded better. She had admitted she wouldn't loose him because of that, but what she couldn't put into words was that she had no right to ask him to protect her. And she was also trying to convince herself that he had no right of being in charge of her life.

"Wrong reasons? I should be worried about what, exactly?" she asked him. She didn't understand the meaning of his words.

Lucy shook her head.
"I can't take it." Oh Merlin, the bracelet was gorgeous. Simply... amazing. The fact that she couldn't take it didn't avoid Lucy from study it in a safe distance. She covered her mouth with her hand in amazement. She looked at him. "That is gold. it-it's..." she couldn't help it. Lucy kept studying it. She had enough knowledge to understand that was an extremely rar bracelet. Oh, my dear Merlin, the diamonds. The woman wasn't an expert, but she knew a couple things.

He decided to talk about that stuff later, and so concentrated on his argument. "Lucy, you said yourself that you don't want to loose me, so you know how it feels to be scared for someone you like. This is a protective bracelet, on of the more powerful of it's kind. See the runes?" he asked, pointing to the tiny intricate symbols. "The fact that it's pretty doesn't really matter. The point is, it's to keep you safe," he said, lowering the braelet down to her hand, waiting for her to take it and put it one.
Or I could just put a permanent sticking charm and attach it to her whether she likes it or not, he thought but then scratched it out. Not the best way to get on her good side...

"Jake, I can't take it." she repeat. She wasn't just being stubborn; but she need she just couldn't take the bracelet. Not to mention it worth a lot. She couldn't wonder around with something like that, could she?
She smiled weakly at him; kindly, problably for the first time they met.
"Try to understand me..."