Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat.
The rain fell like pebbles onto the roof of Sky's home. It was storming severely outside. The thunder was booming, lightning flashed, and the wind was terrible. It was just another summer thunderstorm, but Sky couldn't help but to worry about Jason. She was standing in the kitchen, glancing out the window every few minutes as she worked over the counter chopping lettuce for a salad. She decided she was going to make a home cooked meal. Without any magic. And to Sky's surprise, she didn't even burn the roast that was resting in the oven.
"Please tell me he's safe." Sky whispered. She heard the familiar jingle from Jake's collar as his head perked up. He had been snoozy on the kitchen floor, hoping to get some of the tender meat that was in the oven. Sky retrieved a bowl and filled it with lettuce and sliced vegetables. She set the table and brought out the roast, cutting it and putting it on a platter. She gave Jake a decent sized portion. He was young. He could run it off. She laid the roast out on the table with the salad, along with some bread she had sliced earlier. Finally, she added two candles and lit them before taking her place back at the counter, watching out the window.
"Sky?"
Jason called loudly as he opened the front door, then quickly shut it again. He had been outside for all of a minute and was soaked. His jeans and button-up shirt were dripping wet, as well as his hat and shoes. An umbrella lay by his feet, bent in the wrong direction with two holes ripped in it.
"Hey Jake, whatcha got there?" The chocolate lab was bounding towards him and he leaned down to pet him. He had a chunk of meat in his mouth, and that`s when Jason smelled the food. He straightened up and waved his hand over his front. There was a woosh sound and his clothes were prefectly dry. He moved towards the kitchen and the source of the good smell.
"Smells amazing in here, love."
Sky turned abruptly at the sound of Jason's voice. Here he was, safe and sound. She watched as he greeted Jake and dried his clothes.
"Jake, you're drooling everywhere." But Sky said it with a laugh. She walked up to Jason and put her arms around his neck, kissing him ever so lightly on the lips.
"Thank you." She said as she pulled away. "I thought tonight I'd tempt you with my amateur cooking skills." She went to a cabinet and retrieved two glasses, setting one down beside her and Jason's empty plates. Then she went and got a fancy bottle from the refrigerator. A bottle of champagne. She poured some in each glass and then set the bottle on the counter.
Jason returned the kiss and followed her to the table.
"Doesn`t smell amateur to me. What is this all for? Just trying something different?" He asked, watching her pour the bubbly liquid into the two glasses. "It`s really raining out there. Boss let me out a few minutes early, said it was going to get worse. I hope it doesn`t, though. Everything will be a huge mess in the morning." He added in a softer tone. He had never really liked rainstorms, and this one was really bad. It made him uneasy. Hearing and seeing things was harder when the weather was like this.
"But hey, maybe if it gets too bad I won`t have to work tomorrow. We could go into town or something."
((Eh.))
"I'm not really sure. I just felt like making a homecooked meal. I figured tonight we could just relax and enjoy ourselves." She smiled and watched her fiance as he spoke about the rain and work.
"That'd be great." She said. "You deserve a day off."
((Where did you plan on going with this?))
Jason nodded slowly and looked over the food. She had made a salad and everything. She must have worked for a while to get everything laid out.
"Wow, hun. It looks great. Relaxing-- that sounds good." He smiled at Sky and moved towards her, pulling her into a hug.
((So...I made 'Easy Mac' mac 'n' cheese and put a lot of shredded cheese in it. Now its uber cheesy. And stringy. =P))
Sky smiled as she was pulled into the embrace. "And I thought we could discuss the...you know. Wedding."
Wedding.
Wow. That was so odd to say. The word felt foreign as it rolled off Sky's tongue.
"Or the engagement rather."
Jason rested his chin on the top of her head and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. He was glad he was home-- he hated working. His job was okay and everything, but he hated being away from Sky. Not knowing if she was safe during the day, not being able to protect her... it killed him. Stacey had come over twice more to replace the safety spells around the house, and she had put up some pretty heavy stuff. Sky should be safe, but just the thought that something could happen when he wasn`t there was enough to set him on edge. He didn`t show it, though. She had left once to try to protect him and herself, he wasn`t going to let that happen again.
"Sounds wonderfull, love. You can plan it all, if you want." He squeezed her tightly then stepped back. It amazed him that they were actaully getting married. When he had asked her the first time she had left, and that had torn him apart. Now she was back to stay, and she would be his wife some day.
"We haven't set a date." She said, thinking. Sky had no idea how to plan a wedding. She didn't have any family to come and she didn't know if Jason had any. As far as she knew, she only had a few friends. And she'd invite some of the staff back at the school. She was going to be returning to work for the new school year.
"You pick the colors."
Jason made a face and leaned back onto the counter, watching Sky.
"I`m no good at colors. Shoot, if you let me pick the colors we might end up with black, white, and whiter." He smiled mischeviously and winked. "Oh no, wait, I think I`ll go with hot pink, orange, and olive green. That`ll look perfect." He shook his head, still grinning. Seriously, she wanted him to pick the colors? That was like asking a fish to take a hike.
Sky couldn't help but giggle.
"If that is what you want, then that is fine with me." She smiled, imagining people at the wedding dressed in those colors. "Well it'd certainly be a wedding to remember!"
Jason laughed as she giggled; it was such a happy sound, he could listen to her laugh for years and never get tired of it.
"I sure won`t forget it, but the guests might want to." He winked again and motioned to the table. "Shall we dine now on you rwonderfull supper, madam?" He asked.
"Oh, yeah. We might want to do that before it gets cold. But I'm not so sure it'll be wonderful." She took a seat at the table and lifted her glass.
"To us." She toasted.
Jason sat down opposite her, and Jake thumoed down between them. He chuckled softly and lifted his glass.
"To us, love," he agreed, taking a sip of the sweet, bubbly liquid.
It had been an hour since dinner had ended, and the couple had moved from the kitchen to the living room, the lights dimmed and nothing on but the sound of the rain. Sky had curled up on Jason's lap, her head tucked beneath his and pressed against his chest, listening to his heart. She smiled and took his hand, putting her fingers between the spaces of his hand. It felt warm. Probably because her hands were kind of cold. She only had on a white dress and the rain made the house feel cold. But maybe it was just Sky.
"I'm going to light some candles." She said finally. "I'm cold." She started across the living room, reaching for a candle by the window, when all of a sudden there was a loud snap and a flash of white light. Sky crumpled to the floor and one of four Death Eaters was suddenly above her, stomping on her and casting spells on her. She screamed and writhed in pain, unable to reach her wand.
Jason squeezed Sky`s hand before she stood up and follwed her to the fireplace.
"There`s some matches up here, love," he said, grabbing a pack that was sitting up there. Even as he turned, her could see the figure in the window. By the time he had his mouth open, the Death Eater was inside and standing above Sky. "NO!" He yelled.
With a huge lunge he pushed the man over and slammed him against the floor. With a quick twist of his neck the man was dead and gone. Jason stood and turned back to his fiance, wand in hand and pointed towards the windows. "Love, are you okay?" He asked now, crouching beside he and slowly waving his hand over her.
When you were a Death Eater by the age of eight then tried to separate yourself the the darkness, you learned a few healing spells. He used one now, hoping that whatever spell the man had used would go away.
"There's...three more." She said, not opening her eyes. She was in a lot of pain, grasping her stomach. Jason had healed the outside injuries. Any bruises and cuts were gone. But inside, there was a lot more going on.
The three Death Eaters had apparated into the house, each with a silver mask over their face and their wands drawn. Sky finally regained sense of the situation and sat up abruptly, despite the pain.
Please...no!
She retrieved her wand from where it was secured in the black fabric around her waist and pointed it at them, throwing spell after spell at them, even while on the floor.
"There`s... three more."
As she said it Jason turned and stood over her, protecting her from what was to come. The three popping into the room and his wand moved automatically, targeting them all. The one in the middle fell to the floor and disappeared, but the other two were more prepared. The blocked his spells with their own and he had to dodge a few flashes of green.
"You stay away from her!" He yelled as one of the Death Eaters tried to advance. He twisted his wand and there was a flash of green, then the one was gone. The last one back up a little bit, now using more sheilds than spells. As he reached the doorway there was a snap, and he too was gone.
"Sky, love?" He asked, twisting and falling to the floor beside her. There was a cut across his left hand and his right arm felt warm, but that didn`t matter now.
Sky was sobbing in her spot, her hair falling in front of her face. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sat there. She dropped her wand and gripped her stomach.
"Please...." She whispered. "Don't die."
"Love, what`s wrong? Are you alright? Are you hurt?" He asked, leaning over her and looking for wounds or anything. There was nothing that he could see, but that didn`t mean something hadn`t hit her.
"Sky, talk to me, please." Jason`s ice blue eyes tried to meet hers. He gently tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, but she was crying so hard. Finally he just put one hand on her cheek and waited until she spoke.
"I...need to see a doctor." She said after several minutes. She inhaled and exhaled slowly and then brought herself to her feet, but almost fell. The only thing was that Sky had no idea where the closest doctor was and she couldn't go to a muggle hospital. She wouldn't be able to explain the injuries.
Jason watched Sky for a short moment, his mouth hanging open slightly in confusion.
"Okay love, okay. Let`s stand up and I can Apparate us there. Come on." He got her stood and and watched her for a moment, wondering if she was strong enough to Apparate.
-Oh, love, what`s wrong?- He thought as they left the house.
"I'm going to go get your fiance, Miss Mason. And we can discuss things from there." The doctor, who Sky hadn't even paid attention to his name, was standing by the door. He was tall, mid fourties, salt and pepper hair. No ring but he was married. He had Sky sitting on a table covered in paper. She merely nodded, her right hand over her stomach.
The doctor left the room and entered the waiting area.
"Excuse me," he said, walking over to Jason, "Jason? Can you please come into the room?"
Jason ran his hand through his hair and looked up at the doctor. There were shadows under his eyes and they were red. Some nurse had made him go into a room and get his wounds cleaned. White bandages were wrapped around his palm and forearm. He had been waiting in the silent waiting room for almost an hour now, not being allowed into whatever toom Sky was in. He had paced for a while, then started cursing loudly. Finally another nurse had come out and gave him a small glass of water to drink. It must of had a very slight dose of sedatives, because he had calmed down after that.
"Is she okay?" he asked the man who had adressed him. He was standing instantly and already walking past him. Wherever they had put Sky, he would find her.
Hospitals weren`t really his thing. They seemed so closed off and secretive, like they were hiding the patients from you. All of the disease and sickness, even the fact that there were so many walls made Jason uneasy. The sooner they got out of here, the better.
The doctor closed the door behind him once Jason entered and nodded toward a vacant chair.
"I'm sorry to be the one to bear this horrible news to the two of you, but I'm afraid due to severe trauma, the embryo has died."
Sky's fingers dug into the cushion of the table, holding back her tears. She had chosen to wait for Jason to be in here to find out the answer, but now she regretted it. She couldn't look at him.
As soon as Jason was in the room he moved toward`s Sky`s side. He put his hand over hers and watched her face. It took a moment for the doctor`s words to sink in, and even then in was more Sky`s reaction than the actual words.
"Wait, the... embryo.... died?" His mouth opened slightly in confusiong again and he looked at the doctor then her. "You were... pregnant?"
"I was trying to tell you over dinner, but I couldn't. I was scared. We're not married yet." Her voiced cracked at weird times. Her throat ached as much as her stomach did.
"Yes I...was...pregnant."
There was a weird feeling inside of Jason, deep in his stomach. She had been pregnant. There had been a living thing inside of her that had been half his.
"Oh, love. I`m so sorry. This was my fault. I should have asked Stacey to come over again and redo the spells. They were getting weak." He leaned over and buried his head in her shoulder. "I`m so sorry, love."
Sky didn't move, didn't say a thing. She was still fighting back tears. She finally took his hand and squeezed it. She didn't know what to feel. It was only like...8 weeks. But she already loved the thing. And now it was gone. She didn't even know if it was a boy or girl.
"I'm very sorry for your loss." The doctor said with a practiced expression. He put his hand on Jason's shoulder, and then left the room so that they could be alone.
-Sorry for our loss my a$$,- He thought to himself, but didn`r dare say it outloud. The door clicking shut seemed loud in the quiet room and Jason flinched.
"Sky, I-- are you okay? I mean, hell, you aren`t okay." He pulled away, shaking his head, and started pacing around the room. Whatever was in the water the nurse gave him, it had worn off now.
"I'm...fine." She whispered. She wasn't fine. In fact, she was devastated. She just wanted to lay in bed forever. The Death Eater's killed their baby. They killed it. Killed it and fled. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine what their baby would have looked like.
Her eyes, and nose. Jason's hair, mouth, ears, jaw.
Sky began to cry.
Jason turned back to her when he spoke. No, she was obviously not fine, and he wasn`t being kind. She had just lost her child, and she had a better connection to it than she did.
"Love, I`m sorry," he said softly, quickly moving beside her again. He wanted to get up on the bed and lay beside her, but he didn`t know if he could. He didn`t want to hurt her, and he wasn`t exacly sure what had happened. He didn`t exactly know that much about babies and how they were made beyond the first step.
Sky stepped onto the ground and turned the door handled, pulling the heavy wooden door open with lethargic energy.
"I want to go home." She said in a whisper. Her eyes seemed hollow, pale, empty. She didn't look at Jason, but at the hallway where patients walked back and forth.
Jason slowly followed Sky to the door and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Okay, love. I`ll take you home. Is there anything you need before we go?" He asked softly. He was almost afraid to touch her now. She suddenly seemed so fragile and soft, so breakable. The life she had inside her had been lost so easily, and he hadn`t even know it was there. He had never known what would have become his son or daughter.
((Hey, is she in a hospital gown?))
Sky only shook her head. Could he bring back what she lost? That's what she needed. Those Death Eater's ambushed them and killed her baby. She wanted them dead. She wanted them to pay. But then a more thoughtful voice told her it wasn't worth it. Their time would come.