Love In Translation

Chapter 11. FLORENCE

Everything happened in a fraction of a second: Angy was falling right between the rails. In that moment, she stared at me directly in the eyes with a horrified look I'll never forget.

I desperately shouted at her, raising my hands to my mouth, when suddenly, I realized that two invisible arms had just grabbed Angy and were pulling her up on the platform. She fell face down, appearing like she was on an invisible mattress.

I ran toward her as fast as I could and kneeled next to her, exhausted.

"Are you all right?" I asked breathlessly, but she didn't reply. She was staring, astonished, at her savior.

Marco was lying below her, still holding her tight in his arms, completely terrified. Even though he wasn't fully visible under Angy, I managed to distinguish the outlines of his face.

I stood up immediately and used the counterspell to release Angy's legs. Then I grabbed them both by the arms and lifted them up.

"Come on! We must leave this place! Death Eaters are still looking for us."

Holding them by the hands, I headed to the exit, and shortly, we found ourselves running through the streets of Florence.

When we were sure we were far enough from the station, we entered a gloomy alley and threw ourselves on the ground, exhausted by running and fear.

"I can't believe that we managed to escape," I said, after I caught my breath, then I turned to Angy and Marco.

Angy was sitting on the ground with her back leaned against the wall and was still panting heavily, while Marco was lying on the sidewalk with his arms wide open, surrounded by all our luggage and Crookshanks' basket, which he let fall after we stopped.

I thought it was better to regain our usual appearance. I stood up and got closer to Marco, and then I gave him a light tap on the head with my wand. Suddenly, he became visible again, and I did the same to myself.

"For Merlin's beard, Marco! You are wounded!" I told him, worried, after noticing the trickle of blood descending from his forehead to his cheek.

"No. It's nothing. Check if Angy's all right!" he replied, wiping the blood off with his jacket sleeve.

I turned to my mate and was really surprised to notice that she was still sitting, staring into space.

"Are you OK?" I asked softly. She shook her head without looking at me.

"Do you know where we're going now?" Marco asked abruptly, standing up.

"Not at all! I think it isn't safe to take another train to Rome since the Death Eaters already know about our plan. Maybe we should try to find a hotel and spend the night in Florence. Maybe we can find a good way to reach our destination by tomorrow morning," I said gloomily.

"I've got an idea! I know where we'll be able to find a good place to hide and spend the night. My friend Maria lives not far away from here, and I'm sure that she'll be happy to see me again and let us stay," he replied satisfied.

"Are you sure that your friend is going to agree?" I asked doubtfully.

"Of course! Maria is a really nice person, you'll see! Let's go, we haven't got any time to lose." He got closer to Angy and stretched out a hand to help her stand up, but she seemed to be completely weak. She stared at Marco's hand and then raised her head to look at him directly in the eyes.

"May I help you?" he whispered to her, and without waiting for a reply, he slowly bent toward her and gently grabbed her arms to lift her up. Then he held her hand and started to walk along the street; she followed him docilely without saying a word.

I was really surprised by her behavior, especially by the way she was looking at him now. There wasn't any scorn or hate in her eyes, just an endless fragility.

We walked along the narrow alleys. It was lunchtime, and many shops were already closed, but the streets were still crowded with tourists, who were entering churches and museums. I was struck by the sober beauty of Florence, its ancient and austere palaces.

Shortly, we reached St. Mary Flower's Cathedral, which is the Dome of the city, and I was dazzled by its garish colors and its marble embroidered like an antique lace. We passed along Via Tornabuoni, the street where you can find the most famous fashion shops, and finally we reached the Ancient Bridge, which led to the opposite side of the river Arno.

After a few minutes, we turned down a semi-hidden alley surrounded by high palaces and stopped in front of a small wooden door. Marco rang the bell, and a nice girl with short black hair leaned out of a window on the first floor.

"Marco! Sei proprio tu? (It's really you)?" she asked, smiling.

"Ma come, non mi riconosci più? Mi fai entrare? (You don't recognize me anymore? Are you going to let me in?)" he asked.

"Vieni pure, la porta è aperta! (Come upstairs, the door's open!)" Even though Marco was speaking in Italian with his friend, I understood the feeling of his words.

At Maria's invitation, we entered by the small wooden door and climbed the narrow ancient marble stairs. We reached the first floor and found Maria waiting for us with her arms wide open.

The Italian girl gave us a warm welcome, hugging all three of us in turn. We then entered her comfortable living room: the place was small but really nice. Small frames with pictures of cats hung on the yellow walls, dried flowers were hanging from the ceiling, two small orange sofas and a blue armchair were graciously placed by the lit fireplace, and a huge green carpet lay on the cottony floor.

"Accomodatevi pure, sembrate molto stanchi. Come mai da queste parti? (Please take a seat since you look really tired. What's the reason for your visit?)" our guest asked politely.

We took a seat on the sofa.

"Intanto ti presento le mie amiche. Sono Hermione ed Angy, e vengono dall'Inghilterra! ( Let me introduce you to my friends. Hermione and Angy they are from England!)"

Maria looked really surprised but wanted to show her perfect knowledge of English.

"How do you do?" she asked, and I smiled at her.

"We wanted to ask your hospitality for the night, and tomorrow morning, we're going to leave very early, heading for Rome." Marco explained in English so that we could understand as well.

"I'm really happy to welcome you to my house. It isn't big, but there is enough room for everyone. Regarding your trip to Rome, there is a friend of mine who is going there tomorrow morning by car, and I'm sure that he will be pleased to give you a ride."

"That's great! Maria, you are a pure genius!" Marco exulted and hugged his friend tightly giving her a big kiss on the forehead.

"Hey, stop it! Otherwise I'm going to like your kisses!" laughed Maria.

I was feeling much better. Thanks to Marco, we had managed to escape the Death Eaters' trap and had also found a safe place to spend the night. I thought that the Italian people were really wonderful always ready to help, and were nice and friendly to everyone.

I turned to Angy, who was staring out of the window absentmindedly.

"Angy? Are you all right?" I whispered, deeply worried, but she didn't answer.

"Now I'm going to show you to your room. Let's go girls, follow me upstairs!" Maria said. We stood up and followed her to the second floor.

When we finally found ourselves alone in the room, I decided to confront Angy openly.

"Can you tell me what is happening with you? Ever since we left the train station, you've been behaving so oddly," I asked her abruptly, but she just went to the window and leaned her forehead on the glass, silent.

I moved in front of her and looked at her in the eyes.

"Do I have to worry?"

Angy turned to me and sighed deeply. "Nothing to worry about," she replied, annoyed.

"Are you maybe hiding something important from me?" I threw the question out there, and she lost her temper.

"What do you think I'm hiding from you?Your accusation doesn't make any sense!" she answered.

"There is no need to react that way, it was just a question! Besides, you could show a little bit more gratitude toward Marco since he risked his life to save yours and brought us here!" I was starting to lose my temper, but Angy didn't carel.

"I would have done it just fine by myself. That muggle had no right to rescue me. He's just, just a stupid muggle!" Angy had completely lost control.

"What you're saying is nonsense!" I was furious with her; she was proving for the thousandth time to be an arrogant, despotic, spoiled girl.

Knock! Knock!

Someone knocking at the door cut off our quarrel.

"Sorry to bother you, but, there is something wrong?" Marco's happy voice resounded in the room.

"No. Everything is perfectly all right!" I replied, choosing to end my conversation with Angy there. I turned around and headed to the bathroom to have a cold shower.

***O***

"They managed to escape, then." The Dark Lord was furious.

"Yes, my Lord, we've been searching for them everywhere, but they have completely disappeared." The Death Eater dared to raise his fearful gaze to his master.

"This is bad, very bad. I'm going to punish you for your incompetence," said the Dark Lord with a cold voice.

"No, please my Lord. Give me another chance."

This time, the Dark Lord didn't reply; he just raised his wand toward the Death Eater.

"Crucio!"

The Death Eater fell on the ground, his body twisted like that of a wounded animal from the unbearable pain. Then suddenly the pain was over, and the poor servant raised a trembling hand to his devilish master.

"Please, have mercy, my Lord. I promise you that I won't fail again," he implored.

"I shouldn't give you another chance, but today I'm feeling generous, and if you succeed in killing the mudblood and bringing Dumbledore to me, then I'm going to spare your life. But if you fail again, you know what to expect!" the Dark Lord spoke in a terrifying voice.

"Yes, my Lord. I thank you, my Lord." the Death Eater replied, hurriedly standing up.

"My faithful servant isn't behaving as I ordered her to. It means that she's going to pay for her mistakes."

"Yes, my Lord, as you wish."

"And now go, before I change my mind!" At his master's command, the Death Eater silently crawled out of the room.

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