A Surprise for Angelique

[Alastor Domino]

Alastor walked up to the hospital wing with Angelique right behind him. He knocked lightly on the door. He hoped Athena felt better.

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique stopped at the door and waited as Alastor knocked. She still had no idea what was going on, and she found it a bit odd to be knocking on the door. But she didn't say anything, she just waited.

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley heard a knock on the door, and, seeing that Natalie was still sleeping, got up to answer it. He knew that Alastor had gone out for an errand, so he figured it was just him. He opened the door and spotted Alastor first. "Hi, Alastor, and..." he paused, seeing the young woman behind Alastor. "Angelique?" It had been many years since he had seen his half-sister, but there was something unmistakable about her.

[Alastor Domino]

Alastor stepped back so the two of them could see each other fully. He didn't want to intrude quite yet.

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique stared at him. Wesley hadn't changed much since she had last seen him. "Wesley?" she gasped. "But... I thought you were dead..."

[Alastor Domino]

"So did I." Alastor said to Angelique. "I found out only a couple of days ago."

"How's Athena?" He asked Wesley.

[Wesley St. Clare]

"It's a long story," Wesley said. "Come in, both of you, and we'll talk." He stepped aside and let them in. "Athena is sleeping right now, but I think she's doing better," he said to Alastor.

[Alastor Domino]

Alastor walked in first and over to Athena where she was sleeping. He gave her a light kiss on her forehead.

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley walked over to a corner of the room and indicated for Angelique to sit down in one of the chairs, while he sat in the other. "So it is you, then?" he said. "I haven't seen you in ages! What are you doing here?"

[Angelique St. Clare]

"Yeah, it's me. I came to get a job as an auror, after I quit my job in America," Angelique said, sitting down on the chair. "I just happened to run into Alastor while I was walking around. Now, explain to me how it is that you're alive? I got a letter saying you had died. What happened?"

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley sighed and looked at her for a long moment. "The truth is, I... I faked my own death. I found out I was being targeted, and I decided to make it appear that I was dead, so I would be able to protect my daughters. Not that it did much good in the long run," he added, looking past her to Sabrina.

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique nodded slowly. "So basically, instead of trying to fight back, you decided to take the wussy way out?"

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley stared at her, confused. He wasn't exactly sure what "wussy" meant, but he had a feeling it wasn't good. "I'm sorry... what?" he said.

[Angelique St. Clare]

"Oh, right, I'm sorry. Just my American-speak again. What I mean is, you took the wimpy way out." When he still looked blank, she shook her head. "And I thought you were the smart one. You know, uh... cowardly? Seriously, why didn't you fight back?"

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley sighed. "I'm not exactly proud of how I handled it, but I've never been a fighter. You know, I've always been a reader, more into research than fighting. If I had tried to fight back, I would surely be dead right now. I did what I thought I had to do to survive so that I could be here for my children." His eyes teared up as he looked over at Sabrina. "Not that it did much good after all..."

[Angelique St. Clare]

"You know, I don't know if you remember how I was when I last came out here, but I was just a spoiled little princess who always wanted everything to be her way and never wanted to do anything myself. But I learned how to take care of myself, and to fight back. I became an auror, and in fact, I was one of the toughest. I brought in 25 dark wizards with suspected ties to your Lord Voldemort guy in the last year alone. That was twice as many as everyone else in my group. The thing is Wesley, you don't really know what you're capable of until you give it a try." She gave him a smile. "Anyway, I'm glad you're not dead. How are your daughters?"

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley gave a heavy sigh. "Well... not great, actually," he said. "For all my attempts to protect them... I've failed. My oldest, Sabrina... is dead." He looked over at her body again and wiped at his face. "She was killed yesterday, in fact. By a death eater. And my youngest, Natalie... that's her right there." He pointed to the sleeping child. "She's an empath, with terrible visions that haunt her day and night. She witnessed her sister's death... both in her visions and in person. She's a beautiful and troubled girl and I don't know how to help her."

[Angelique St. Clare]

"Oh, Wesley.... I'm so sorry," Angelique said. She felt a little awkward, but she leaned over and gave him a little hug. "Alastor mentioned a family tragedy... I didn't think... I never even got to meet your daughter," she said softly.