AN: For some unknown reason, this took forever to get up But now it's up! And I'm super excited! Please enjoy!^_^!
1
"Aw, man! That was some party, eh?" said Ron. He flopped down on his bed with a big, goofy smile on his face.
"I don't know how you would know that, mate, considering the only thing you saw the whole night was Lavender's big face!" Harry dodged the pillow Ron chucked at him and started laughing. He fell back on his bed and covered his head as Ron launched another pillow.
"At least I have a girlfriend!" Ron sniped.
"Well I haven't met the right girl yet," Harry stated as he sat up.
"But what about Cho? You thought she was the right girl once."
"Yeah, and that ended horribly. I'm not going through that again."
"Well then, how are you gonna know when Miss Right comes by?" Ron asked. "You just gonna look around one day, see her and say, 'Now there's the girl I'm going to spend the rest of my life with?'"
"I'll just know, okay?" huffed Harry.
"Fine, fine. But don't come crying to me when you're eighty and lonely." Now Ron was the victim of a vicious pillow beating. "Alright! Alright! I'll shut up! Jeez!" yelled Ron. Harry tossed back Ron's pillows and slid into his bed. He took his glasses off and placed them on the bedside table, then flipped onto his back and lay starring at the ceiling. He was quiet for a long time.
"What's on your mind, Harry?" Ron asked from his own bed.
"I don't know, really," replied Harry while still studying the ceiling. "I guess… I just have this feeling."
"Really," Ron stated as he turned on his side and propped his head on his hand.
"Yeah. Like something's going to happen."
"Good or bad, mate. I want to be ready if dementors are going to knock down the door."
"I don't know. It's just a feeling." Harry waved his left hand in the air as if brushing away Ron's words. "It probably means nothing anyway. I'll see you in the morning."
"Oh, alright then," Ron sighed as he turned onto his back. "'Night, Harry."
"'Night." They both pulled their drapes closed and drifted off to sleep.
Thunder rumbled outside and I was certain there was lightning, too, but I couldn't see it, caged up in a dungeon like I am. The door at the top of the stairs opened and footsteps started echoing off the stone walls. Three very familiar faces came into view as the figures rounded the wall blocking the stairs and headed for my cell. Peter Pettigrew, a stupid, little, runt of a man, stepped forward and unlocked the door to my cell. Now that the door was open, I could access my magic and reached for it immediately, but Tom was always faster. He waved his wand and bottled up my power before I could summon it. I was no better than a Muggle again.
"Hello, guys. Come to check up on poor, old me?" My voice sounded tired despite my bravado. "You shouldn't have. I mean, it's only been three days since I've had any food. That's not long at all! Usually, you let me go five, six…"
"Shut up, you little monster!" Bellatrix wore a mask of disgust as she glared down at me.
"Oh, Bella, did you come to visit me again? I've said before I'm not interested. Tell Draco he should stop wasting his time!" Sarcasm was my only constant companion. Bella twitched, her expression full of rage, but a long, pale hand rested on her shoulder, warning her not to say another word.
"Oh, why hello, Tom! It's always so nice to see you!" Lord Voldemort's expression didn't waver in the slightest at the mention of his hated childhood name. His blood-red eyes showed no emotion.
"Now, Maxine," he said in his cold, high voice. "You know I despise that name."
"Yeah, I do," I told him. "That's precisely the reason I use it." I glared at him, my gaze full of venom. Pettigrew cowered, but the ice blue color of my eyes had quit being effective on Tom a long time ago. The fear Voldemort usually induced had also vanished. I'd been forced into this man's presence often enough that he could no longer scare me. He wasn't going to kill me no matter what I did. He needed me.
Ha! He needs a sixteen year-old girl to help him kill a sixteen year-old boy. Every time I think about it, it makes me laugh.
"Now," I continued, "to what do I owe this visit, hmm?" I looked at all three of them in turn, a questioning look on my face.
"We are setting you free," said Tom.
My jaw dropped. That was a set of words I'd never heard in that order before. There was usually a "not" or "never" in the middle somewhere. They were setting me free? After nearly one-and-a-half years of torture that did them no good, they were setting me free?
"Yes, child, free." Tom had read the surprise on my face correctly. "But…"
Ah. There's the "but". There's always a catch. I closed my mouth and a look of angry curiosity replaced my bewilderment. All three of them were smiling now. When Voldemort smiles, I've found that what follows is generally painful and doesn't bode well for me.
"But not before you do something for me."
"Tom, why would I have any reason to do you a favor?" I asked in the sweetest voice I could muster.
"Because I'm going to force you to do this," he replied.
"Good reason," I grumbled. Pettigrew and Bella marched into my cell and dragged me to the high-backed chair I've come to know so well. Once they shoved me into the chair, the chains on the floor sprang to life and secured my arms, legs, ankles, and wrists. Tom leaned down until his nasty, reptilian face was a mere foot from me. "What do you want me to do, Tom," I said resignedly, my eyes not leaving his.
"I want you to join my army," he said coolly, that grin still firmly in place.
"You've already asked me that a million other times and I've already told you no. What makes you think this time's any different?" I kept my demeanor calm and disinterested just to annoy him. He hated it. But the smile didn't even waver.
"I know who you are, Maxine. You're not just the stray little mage the Malfoy's so kindly located for me over a year ago. You had a family before. You, my dear, have a weakness." I put on a mask of indifference as he spoke. The ones I cared about were out of his reach. They were safe. He had no weapon to use against me.
"That was a long time ago," I told him.
"Yes, but I'm sure I'll change your mind, Miss Weasley." I paled. "Bring him in!"
Oh no. I could feel fear begin to show on my face. Please no. Please, don't - But it wasn't. As soon as I saw him and he saw me, years of no contact didn't matter. Our faces contorted in rage.
"What is she doing here!" yelled Percy Weasley. "She's working for you, isn't she! I always knew you were nothing but trouble! That you'd turn on us!"
"Yes, Percy, you pompous, arrogant prat. I'm working for this joker. That's why I'm chained to a chair, you scum sucking, prejudiced idiot." Tom's smug expression faded. This clearly wasn't going as he had expected it to.
"Why aren't the two of you terrified?" he asked in a hard, cold tone.
"Oh, Perce is terrified, alright. He's about to piss his pants, aren't you, you sheep biting dope."
"Shut up, you cold-hearted bitch! Look at you! Not even a touch of fear for the life of a brother!"
"As if you even call yourself my brother!"
"And why should I? You're just-"
"Crucio," said Tom calmly. "I've had enough of this." Percy fell to the floor howling in pain. I kept my expression under control, but I knew I had to get Perce out of here. How could I stop Tom? My magic was bottled up inside me and unreachable. How could I-… Wait. That just might work! I composed my expression so that it looked eager and slightly hopeful.
"Ooh, Tom! Think you could let me try that?" I asked. Tom's concentration broke and Percy stared hatefully up at me from his place on the floor, gasping for air. Tom turned to me.
"What did you say?" he asked, his expression confused and a bit skeptical.
"I asked if you would let me have a go. You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do something like that to Perce. For so long… Please?" I threw in the "please" for good measure. He thought it over for a minute, measuring the sincerity on my face.
"Fine," he said. Tom pointed his wand at me and the chains that bound me fell limp to the ground. I kept my shock hidden as I got up and walked forward so that I stood at the right hand of the most feared wizard in the world. The contrast between his pristine darkness and my tattered, scarred, half-starved self was borderline hilarious.
"The incantation is 'Crucio'," Tom told me as he handed me his wand. I didn't take it even though both Pettigrew's and Bella's eyes were bugging out of their skulls in shock.
"Now, Tom," I told him with the tone of a mother refreshing her child's memory, "You know I can't use a wand. They burst into flames when I touch them."
"Yes, right." He stood for a moment, contemplating again. Then he muttered a few words, flicked his wand, and the bottle around my power disappeared. Merlin, he actually did it! I reached within me for my magic and felt it flowing through my veins. I could reach my magic! I had power, but not a lot. I was too weak to pull off much at the moment.
"I warn you, don't try anything. Just inflict as much pain as possible without killing him," ordered Tom.
"I think I know something that will work brilliantly for this," I replied with a sadistic smile. I held out my hand, palm facing Perce, and thought of what I wanted.
'Impenetrable shields. The Burrow. Send Perce back to the Burrow. And where do I go? Some place safe. Albus. Hogwarts. I go to Hogwarts. Please let me have strength enough for this!'
Everything happened in a matter of seconds. Silvery domes ringed in my trademark black flames formed around me and Perce. First Perce disappeared. There wasn't even a crack like you get with wizarding apparition. He was just gone.
"What?" Tom, Pettigrew, and Bella were staring at the place where Perce had just been. "No!" Tom raised his wand, but then I too, was gone. The sensation of being squeezed into a tuna can was never pleasant, but then I was on the front lawn of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry being drenched by the rain that had caused the thunder I'd heard earlier.
I ran through the night, my mind creating shadows within the shadows. When I reached the stairs and ran up to the large, heavy oak doors, they wouldn't budge. Resting my hands on the old, worn wood, I let my magic seep in.
Stranger. I was a stranger. Not a student, not a teacher. They wouldn't let me in.
"Look, guys," I told them, "my brother is in there. My sister, too. And I need to talk to Dumbledore. Please let me in. I'm a good girl, trust me." The doors took a moment to deliberate, then swung open and permitted me to enter their school. I took a few steps into the huge front hall and then gathered what power I had left.
"RON!"
Ron's eyes snapped open and he leapt out of bed, tearing down his curtains in the process. He stood in the middle of the dorm room, curtains draped over his shoulder and strewn across the floor, listening to the sound of his name bouncing off the walls. All of his roommates were staring at him.
"RON! COME ON RON! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!"
"Oh my god," whispered Ron. "It couldn't be her."
"Ron? What's going on? Hey! Ron, wait!" Harry's words were lost on Ron as he sprinted out the door and through the hallways.
"RON, PLEASE, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!" the amplified voice called again.
"Max! It's actually Max!" Ron whispered to himself as he hurtled out the portrait hole, the Fat Lady staring after him. "I'm coming!" he shouted into the halls. Ron dashed down flight after flight of stairs until he finally reached the top of the main staircase leading down to the entry hall. At the bottom of the stairs was a very weary looking girl in nothing more than rags.
Her usually short, deep red hair was long and straggly. She was piteously thin and pale, and had large, dark circles under her pale, crystal blue eyes. Hundreds of scars marked her arms and legs.
"Max," Ron whispered, his eyes wide with shock and dimmed with sadness over her current condition. "What happened to you?" He walked down the stairs and enveloped his twin sister in a hug.
"Ron," I said as I hugged my big brother. "What the hell took you so long?" I pulled back and glared angrily at him.
"I had to run all the way down from the dorm, Max! Give a guy a break!" he said, no smile on his face despite his joking. "What happened to you? You look terrible."
"Oh, well, thanks for the compliment." Sarcasm. Again. And while he's worried sick. Should've left that behind as well.
"Max, seriously."
"Well," I looked over Ron's shoulder as I tried to avoid the worry in his eyes. "Oh crap. I'll tell you later." A crowd had begun gathering at the top of the main staircase.
"What? Max, that's not-" I spun Ron around so that he could see the people, too. "Oh." He grabbed my hand and we started running towards another set of stairs that wasn't crowded by prying eyes. We were almost there when a shriveled, black hand caught my shoulder and I was brought to a stop. Ron looked back, confused by my sudden halt.
"It's been a while, Maxine. I see fate has not been very kind to you." Albus Dumbledore's calm tone resonated through the halls. I dropped Ron's hand and turned to look at the man who had introduced me to my mentor and who had done so much for me and my family.
"No, sir, fate has not been terribly kind to me at all," I replied.
"Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore turned his blue gaze to Ron who stood just ahead of me. "Why don't you go and fetch your younger sister and meet Maxine and I up in my office, hmm?" he stated. Ron paused a second before answering, reluctant to leave.
"Yes, sir." He shot me one last worried and confused look before he sprinted off to go find Ginny.
"Come, Maxine. Let's get you some dry clothes and ginger snaps." Dumbledore smiled kindly at me as the hand that wasn't on my shoulder gestured towards a nearby hallway.
"Thank you, Albus," I said. The past year or so was catching up quick and I was suddenly looking forward to sitting down. With that, Albus led me away from the eyes of curious onlookers and off towards his office.
Right before we slipped around the corner, though, I caught sight of a pair of bright green eyes. Green like emerald.
And familiar as hell.
Ron dashed up the main stairs as Dumbledore led the red-headed girl away. Harry stood immobile, watching the retreating figures of his mentor and the tattered stranger. When Ron reached the top of the stairs he searched the crowd quickly with his eyes and, not seeing who he was looking for, he got ready to take off again. Harry caught Ron's elbow and finally pulled his eyes from the corner where the girl had disappeared with Dumbledore.
"Ron, what's going on?" he asked.
"Not now, Harry," Ron replied in a rushed, breathless voice, eyes still scanning the crowd. "You seen Ginny?"
"No, mate. Sorry." Ron struggled to get out of Harry's grip, but Harry held firm. "Who was she? How does she know you?" Harry wasn't letting go.
"Harry, I've got to go get Ginny. I'll tell you later, okay?" Ron looked at his friend with eyes that were bright with excitement and darkened by worry. Harry finally let go.
"Fine." Harry's hand dropped back to his side and Ron bolted off down the halls just as Hermione pushed her way through the crowd to Harry's side.
"What's going on, Harry? Who was that girl? How did she get in here? And why is Ron in a panic?" she asked, the worry in her voice only barely hidden.
"I don't know," Harry replied as he turned his attention back to the corner Dumbledore had led the girl around. He pulled his Invisibility Cloak out of his shirt. "But we'll find out."
The crowd began to dissipate as sleepy students went back to their dorms. Prefects gathered up the stragglers and soon the halls were empty. Harry and Hermione sat on the floor near the stone gargoyle that led to Dumbledore's office and watched curiously from under the Invisibility Cloak as Ron pulled Ginny down the hall and up the spiral stairs. As the gargoyle began to slide back into place, Ginny's voice echoed back down to the hallway.
"It's really Max? Really?" Then there was a gasp and squeals of delight before the sound of a door closing and the stone gargoyle resumed its post.
Harry and Hermione sat back and waited.
"Max! Oh Merlin, it's really you! What happened to you?" Ginny released her sister and looked her over, her smile lapsing into worry. Max was, most noticeably, rail thin and covered in scars. The rags she wore were filthy and bloodstained, tattered, torn and practically falling off her skeletal frame. Her usually deep red hair was sick-looking, long and tangled. Her cheeks were hollowed and there were large, dark circles under her eyes, which were the only part of her that didn't look beaten and broken. "You look like hell! What on earth happened to you? Didn't Aberforth teach you self-defense or something?"
Max's eyes teared up and she looked at the floor. "Abby… Albus," she said as she looked up at the older Dumbledore brother. "Abby's-"
"Working down at the Hog's Head and doing just fine. You can visit him once you recover a bit." Max's tear-filled eyes widened in disbelief and met Albus's twinkling blue ones as he sat back in his chair, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"But he-"
"Just barely managed to escape." The small smile vanished as Dumbledore leaned forward in his chair and twined his hands, elbows on his desk. "I've been aware of your situation since day one, Maxine, and I am very sorry that we couldn't do anything to help. It seems Voldemort was keeping a personal watch over you the whole time."
"What?" Ron stared at Max, shock in every line of his face. Ginny's narrowed eyes darted between Dumbledore and her sister, confused and afraid.
"You told us she'd been captured by Death Eaters, Professor, but you forgot to mention this! Is it true Max?" Gin was furious. And Ron was working his way into a rage as well.
"Well," began Max, but Dumbledore cut across her again.
"Before you launch into your story, Maxine, I believe that your siblings were followed here."
"Wait, wait! Explain why you hid Max's situation from us!"
"Ron, hush up! It was to keep you from worrying more than you already were!" Max stated in what normally would have been a firm tone.
"Max," he started to argue, but Dumbledore intervened.
"If you go downstairs, I think you will find two children about your age down in the hall," he stated as if the interruption never happened. "Would you mind bringing them up with you when you return?"
"Uh," Max looked confused, but obliged. "Sure," she said.
I opened the door to Albus's office and descended the spiral stairs, the stone gargoyle leaping aside and allowing me into the hall. At first my tired eyes saw nothing but the empty, dark stone hallway, but then - there. By the corner. Movement. But there was nothing where the movement had been. Stone walls don't move… usually. I watched the corner, trying to pick up some sign of magic or people and then the movement came again. The corner shimmered like water flowing over land. It was a soft, liquid appearance.
The Invisibility Cloak. It must be. I could see through Disillusionment Charms. I walked towards the corner of the hallway and just as I reached down to pull back the Invisibility Cloak, two figures jumped out from under it and stood facing me.
"How could you see us?" asked the boy. He was skinny with messy black hair and emerald eyes. Those same familiar green eyes.
"Have we met before?" I asked the boy.
"What? No! How could you see us under the cloak?" he asked, flustered.
"I couldn't see you," I responded. My voice sounded so tired in this hall. "I just saw the magic. Even I can't see through an Invisibility Cloak."
"You saw the magic?" the boy asked skeptically. The girl's expression turned thoughtful.
"Yes. It looks like water. You two are supposed to come up, too. Albus says it's alright." I turned back towards the spiral staircase, but I heard no footsteps other than mine echo off the stone. I looked back around and saw the two teens still standing by the corner of the hall watching me curiously.
"You said you could see the magic. How?" That was the bushy-haired girl. She had a nice, smooth voice not unlike Ginny's but less rough.
"I just could," I replied shrugging.
"Even the greatest wizards in history could only sense concealed magic, but you said you saw it. You said it looked like water?" she paused, her expression showing she expected a reasonable answer.
"Yes. I saw the ripple of movement made by your fidgeting," I sighed tiredly. "Now, please, I'd like-"
"How did you get here?"
"Hermione." The boy's familiar green eyes flicked to the girl momentarily. "She's tired. Stop pushing."
"But Harry, I want to find out what she is!"
"Is that all?" I asked loudly. Getting my volume up took some effort. I was swaying where I stood.
"What? Yes, yes, that's all," said the girl, Hermione.
"I'm a mage. Can we go up now?" I asked.
"A what?" They both said simultaneously; the boy Harry, in confusion, and Hermione in shock.
"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Hermione, her eyes lighting up with questions.
"Yes, I am," I replied in a deadpan.
"What's a mage?" asked Harry.
"Enough questions, just climb the stairs!" came Ron's voice shouting from Albus's office. I turned away from the direction of Ron's shout and looked back at Harry and Hermione.
"Shall we?" I asked. The two obediently followed Ron's instructions and ascended the stairs in silence, Harry folding his Invisibility Cloak under his arm. As I walked back through the office door I asked, "Are Hermione Granger and Harry Potter the two you wished me to bring?"
"Yes, they are. Thank you, Maxine," Albus replied with a smile.
"But… How do you know our names? We never told you." Harry was watching me with great suspicion.
"Ron tells me everything," I said matter-of-factly. Harry's suspicion changed to puzzlement.
"Why?" came Hermione's impending question.
"Cause she's his twin and my older sister. Now could we please stop the interrogation for a bit so that I can find out why she's half dead and been under Voldemort's personal guard?" Ginny raged.
"Miss Weasley has a point. However, I believe there is one more matter that needs clearing up before we launch into that tale. Harry?" Albus looked over at Harry with his bright blue eyes that seemed to see deep inside a person. I couldn't blame Harry for fidgeting slightly.
"Uh… I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say, Sir."
"Miss Maxine, why not clarify for Harry just what it is you are, hmm?" The blue gaze flicked to me as realization dawned on Harry's face.
"Oh," he said.
"Right. I'm a mage," I began. Wow, did I sound beat. "A mage is basically-"
"-a person who wields magic without a wand. But the main difference between a mage and a witch or wizard is that their powers are influenced by their mental and physical strength." The room was starring at Hermione. "Sorry," she ducked her head a bit. "You just seemed so…" She trailed off not wanting to say the word.
"Damaged," I finished for her.
"Well, yeah," she said, blushing. She was bold. I liked that.
"Is that enough clarification for you?" Ron asked, his panic finally showing through.
"No wands?" asked Harry.
"Merlin's-" Ron threw his hands in the air and fell into the closest chair, agitation written in every line of his body. I placed my hand on his shoulder to calm him.
"No wands," I replied. "No incantations either. My magic does my will up to my limits."
"And you're Ron's twin sister?" asked Hermione, remembering Ginny's outburst.
"Yeah." I pulled another chair over next to Ron's and sank into it with a small wince. The number Fenrir had done on my ribs hadn't healed up all the way, yet.
"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Harry quietly. He seemed slightly disappointed that Ron had kept this hushed up. "How come nobody said anything? And why were you never at the Burrow?" His last question was pointed towards me.
Though both Ron and Ginny opened their mouths to answer, it was Albus who explained this time.
"You've never heard of Maxine Weasley because it was under my advice that she be kept secret from the world. Even the Ministry doesn't know she exists-"
"But You-Know-Who does so that plan's shot to hell, anyway," Ron angrily interjected.
"Yes, well," Albus continued. "It was for the sake of keeping her safe while she trained with my brother, Aberforth. But, as Mr. Weasley pointed out," Albus gave a small nod in Ron's direction, "that plan fell through and what we were trying to avoid ended up occurring anyway. She was never at the Burrow when you were for the same reason and also because she has been traveling with Aberforth, learning how to harness, control, and hone her powers. Does that answer your questions, Harry?" It was obvious from Albus's tone and pointed glance that the game of twenty questions was over.
"Yes, Sir. Thank you," Harry said, looking a bit stunned.
"Now, Maxine," Albus said, turning his blue gaze to me. "Aberforth has told me that about a month after Voldemort regained his body, he found and attacked the two of you with a large band of Death Eaters and stole you away. Correct?" I nodded my head weakly. The fact that I no longer had to fear going to sleep was making my eyelids droop. "Aberforth also mentioned that you were unable to use your powers. Is this true?" I nodded again.
"Tom created a spell that forms a barrier around my magic. It's not a barrier around me, 'cause I could break that. I'd still be able to reach my magic. He's developed a barrier that forms inside me around the core of my powers. It keeps my magic in and me out." I said objectively. Albus's face showed his worry. He didn't have to voice his thoughts. "It's got a long incantation that I've only heard a handful of times. He can perform it silently now and I'm no kind of Legilimens. I've been trying to pick apart the spell in my head and figure out what needs to be done to prevent it. There's no way I'd be able to break it." I lapsed into a contemplative silence.
Albus seemed just as deep in thought as I had been for the past year-and-a-half. Hermione looked shocked, Harry confused, and Ron and Ginny were watching me, fear plain on their faces.
"That could be quite a problem," muttered Albus. Ron's head whipped around.
"'Could be'?"
"Ron," I warned.
"No! This is a problem!" Ron shouted as he rose from his chair. "He can block her powers! Turn her into a Muggle! This is a huge problem!"
"Ron, sit down!" Ginny and I both shouted together. Our family always marveled at how alike its women were. Gin and I had on our best Molly Weasley glares. Ron shut his mouth and sat down obediently, but he wasn't happy about doing so.
"I'll figure out a counter attack, don't worry," I told him. "I'll be fine."
"This is all going way over my head," Harry said. "I've got no clue what you mean about barrier spells and counter attacks. What I do understand is that you," he looked pointedly at me, his green eyes bright with anxious excitement, "…just ran away from Voldemort. If he kept you alive, he must really need you, and now that you're gone he's going to search for you. Professor," he turned to Albus now. "Death Eaters or dementors are going to show up here any minute. We've got to-"
"We do not have to do anything but listen to Miss Maxine's tale. No forces of darkness are going to show up on our doorstep, I assure you. We are perfectly safe." I couldn't tell if Harry's face relaxed with relief or a slight disappointment. "Now, Maxine, if you would kindly enlighten us as to your situation these past sixteen months I would be most grateful," Albus finished.
"Yes, Sir." I sighed as I pulled my legs up onto the chair and hugged my knees to my chest. This was going to be a painful walk through the past.
AN: Please review! I would love to know how I could make the next chapter even better than the first!^_^ So yes, criticism is welcome! You will not be hated for your opinions.^_^ Thank you for reading!
