Summary: The world rejoices at the defeat of the much hated Lord Voldemort. But among those that are delighted, his most loyal followers are in agony. However, Dumbledore was not the only one who could plan further ahead. The Dark Lord's final card comes into play, as his daughter, Ava awakens from a five year sleep to take her place as his successor. Suddenly, the Malfoy's are on call again as yet another great war rests on the horizon. But what of the Dark Mistress and Draco? Why does she find her eyes drawn to him?
Pairings: DracoxAva (Eventually), HarryxGinny, RonxHermione, GeorgexAngelina, and NevillexLuna
Disclaimer: All belongs to J.K. Rowling, besides my few characters. As I am placing them in her world though, I won't much care to claim them as mine. They were inspired by her amazing writing anyway.
One week before the Deaths of Lily and James Potter:
Dumbledore paced his office, beard swishing against his robes as he turned sharply. He glanced routinely at the clock on his mantel. The fire was roaring below, tossing long shadows into his office. The old man sighed, forcing his feet to cease the repetitive motion. He was not usually an impatient man by any means, but something was very wrong tonight. He glanced at the fireplace again, then drifted over to the window. A harvest moon hung above, bathing the grounds in silvery light. There was an eerie silence. Surely every student was asleep by now.
The old man sighed again, placing his head on the windowsill, but quickly jerked himself upright when he heard the faint POP.
Remus Lupin's face appeared in the fire, eyes dancing with the flames. He appeared to be furious.
"What is this Dumbledore? You must be joking."
The old man slowly removed his half-moon spectacles and rubbed them clean with his robe.
"I'm afraid not," he said gravely.
He pulled forth the chair from behind his desk and paced it near the fire. The face of Lupin had become quite haggard in the past few years. The war with Voldemort had been wearing on all the witches and wizards. Even the goblins, in all their hatred for the wizards, seemed to grow tired of the neverending battle. Hopefully it would stop soon. If all went right.
"Dumbledore. You owe me this explanation!"
"I do, Remus. I do."
The old man was silent for a moment, and in this sliver of silence, Fawkes melted out of the flames above Lupin's head and settled on his master's shoulder. The reassuring warmth revived the tired headmaster enough to start the explanation.
"You are aware that your cousin, Delilah Harrington, was killed by Voldemort almost a year ago?"
There was a grinding of teeth from the figure in the fire.
"I am very much so aware, Albus."
"There were...complications."
Lupin slowly narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean...sir?"
Outside, rain began to fall.
The headmaster opened his mouth to tell the gruesome tale.
Delilah Harrington's death did not occur as one might expect. It was not her first encounter with the Dark Lord, but her second that ended her life. Although many over the years would strongly disagree, the first encounter brought life. Although Voldemort usually did not stoop himself so low, Delilah Harrington was a beautiful woman by all means and some men cannot help themselves.
For the first time, Voldemort did something that brought no reward to him. Not yet, anyway. The night Delilah was raped was the same night her husband was killed in the war. By Bellatrix Lestrange, if you must know. And while she lay weeping on her kitchen floor, she knew that the Dark Lord had come to kill her husband, Darius Harrington who had posed a huge threat to the outcome of Voldemort's plans. The Dark Lord did not know his most trusted servant had already taken care of him.
The news did, however draw him away from her and back to Malfoy Manor to celebrate. Delilah knew not what grew inside of her for a long while. She had been excited at first, hoping there was a part of Darius alive within her. As the months passed by, she knitted clothes for her baby and sang her (for she was very much convinced it was a she) songs about life and love.
She believed that she survived the Dark Lord's assault for good reason. When the month of her birth arrived, the world changed abruptly. It was a total eclipse. She was very sure that it was not Darius's son. The fact just seemed to slap her in the face, and her whole attitude towards the still growing form changed her world.
She was torn to keep it, because this was the creature that she had knitted the clothes for and sang to every night. But how could she? This was the Dark Lord's daughter!
Delilah thought back once more to the weeks following Darius's death. They had not had time to spend a romantic evening in such a long while...
Yet her brain seemed to cling to the fact that it was his child so stubbornly anything else was lost in the distance. But that morning that she felt something sickening within her, she layed down and cried, cursing whoever had made her life such a hell.
When the darling girl came, Delilah truly tried to love her, but he had seen pictures of Voldemort in his younger years, and she was such haunting reminded of that terrible night, she eventually decided to leave her at a nearby orphanage. Out of sight, out of mind. Her nerves were far too shot to continue caring for the girl.
Three days later, Voldemort paid her his final visit. Upon learning he had a daughter, a window of opportunity lay ahead. When Delilah stuttered that the orphanage had been moving and she did not know where, he killed her quickly, then turned his eyes to the east, where a now deserted building could offer clues.
"You do not know where she is?"
"No. We only just discovered her existence. But rest assured, we will find her before her murderous father may fill her head with his dark thoughts."
Remus squeezed his eyes shut, trying to imagine such a monstrosity.
"Her name?"
Dumbledore turned his head back to face the grounds outside. Something very evil was amiss. What would come to pass if Voldemort played a role in this girl's life?
"Albus?"
"Her name is Ava."
