A/N: This fan fiction is eventually going to lead into an alternate universe but currently is a minefield of OC characters. Forgive me for rusty writing.

Chapter One – Porridge and Politics

5th October 1980

Damocles rustled open his Daily Prophet at the breakfast table. His shovel-like hands dwarfing its headlines and moving photographs. His daughter, Eris, was sluggishly spooning porridge into her mouth while staring absent-mindedly into the distance.

Damocles cleared his throat and his eyes darted onto one article, His daughter rubbed her eyes and scouted her father's interest.

"Daddy, what is it?" Eris squeaked, clanging her spoon into her half-empty bowl.

Damocles dropped his newspaper on top of his buttered toast, "That Longbottom couple have gone missing."

"Oh, you mean, Alice? Last I heard of her, she was pregnant," Eris took another spoonful of porridge.

"Well, surprisingly enough, Eris, childbirth occurs after pregnancy. Their newborn son is missing as well."

Eris lowered her head before uttering, "I think we've lost count of how many wizards have disappeared since this war thing started happening…"

"You know full well why those blood traitor Longbottoms went missing. The Dark Lord does not spill our sort of blood unless provoked, Eris."

"Yes… but you know that our blood might not be-"

Bang! Damocles bashed his fist on the oak table in protest, "I don't care about these allegations of adultery those kids in Hogwarts have been spitting out about my beloved mother! There's no way that my father was a filthy muggle." Damocles' nostrils flared in rage before he continued, "Why does you always bring it up, Eris? We all know those vile lies and rumours have pissed all over our family name!"

Eris grasped her spoon tighter, "But-"

"There's no need to be stupid, girl! We all know why you can't marry a good pureblooded boy is due to scandal and gossip. No matter how many bloody potions I create, no matter how many times you look good in ballgowns – we're not one of… them anymore."

Eris traced her spoon around the edge of her bowl in silence while she drowned out another early morning rant by her cantankerous father. She seemed to infuriate her father, no matter what. From being sorted into Ravenclaw like her estranged uncle, to only getting an Exceeds Expectations in her Potions O.W.L; whatever she did was met with a tirade of disapproval. She followed her father's command in social climbing out of his mother's illicit scandal but failed at each turn. Sleeping with Regulus Black was not the same as marrying him. Having a coveted Ministry of Magic interview next week was not the same as being beckoned by the Dark Lord into his inner circle. Her freckled arm remained just as free of black ink as her father's.

"-Are you listening to me, Eris?!" Her father barked through the haze of his daydreaming daughter.

Eris shook her head, her messy curls bouncing, "Yes? Erm… pardon?"

Damocles moved the newspaper away from him before asking, "Have you tried, you know… getting in contact with…" he lowered his voice, "you-know-who recently?"

She folded her arms, "You don't just waltz in and make an appointment with the Dark Lord! You must know!"

"There's no need to patronise me, Eris. I'm well aware that I can't get called… again. An old moribund man like myself can't fight wars."

"Daddy, you're not moribund! The Healer told you it was years… not months."

Damocles raised a single eyebrow, "You come to learn one thing in this life, Eris….it should be to never trust a Healer." He punctuated his point by taking a loud bite into his burnt buttered toast.

Eris sighed and picked up the abandoned newspaper. The butter and grease from lying on the toast bled through the first three pages. She brushed off the crumbs and started reading in silence on page four.

"AURORS HUNT DOWN DARK WIZARD EVADING ARREST," Eris' brow furrowed, "Jonathan Wilkes was suspected of being associated with He Who Must Not Be Named and evaded detection from aurors until the 29th of October where he was successfully detained. However, after resisting arrest and seriously maiming his captors, he was killed in self-defence."

She whimpered, "Wilkes…. Is dead?"

Damocles huffed, "You really are ignorant, girl."