Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling's books/characters, but my story. In addition, I have my own characters in this story.
Spoilers: 3rd book and beyond.
Rating: PG-13 for adult themes and language. Pairings: None so far (as of the first chapter). There will be later on, though what they'll be I'm not certain of yet. ;) Genre: Drama/SuspenseA/N: This story contains original characters in addition to familiar faces of the Harry Potter universe. I know that many people are opposed to the use of them, so I thought that I would give a fair warning. So, basically, what I'm trying to say is that if you don't like original characters in Harry Potter fanfics don't read this story. Or, if you choose to read it, don't be angry with me for it. I would like to think that I am using them in an original way. In no way do I mean for them to appear as "Mary Sues" or better than canon characters. In fact, as the story progresses, canon characters will become more of a focus than the original characters (but I won't be eliminating them completely). Besides, introducing other new characters is fun and it helps my story develop in a different way. (Hopefully, in a good way.) With that said, I give you the first chapter. Please review so that I know if I'm taking a good or bad direction for this. Mainly, I'm just going along randomly with this and not really taking this very seriously.
Also: I am still working on Oh Dreaded Night! As of right now, another chapter is in the process of being written (in addition to this story) and will be added soon. I'm happy about the response I got from that. I'm just nervous about this because it is such a departure from my first story. But, we'll see where this goes, won't we? ;)
Here At Dark Corners
(Introduction)
Chaldea promised her sister that she would be home for Christmas. This was said at a time when Tarea could still consider her sister close enough to let her in on everything that was going on in her life. Shortly after she made this promise, however, things started to change. Chaldea was no longer writing as often to Tarea as she once had. The letters that came by owl almost every week dwindled down to once every other week and then there came a time when Tarea would be lucky if she got one during the entire month. She asked her parents what was wrong with Chaldea, and the only way they could explain things to Tarea was that perhaps as her sister grew older her interests would separate from the family's… not entirely… but just enough so that Tarea would notice. Notice, she did. She sent an angry letter to her sister at school demanding to know why she didn't write and why she wasn't coming home for the holiday. (Without letting her parents know this, of course)
When Chaldea responded, she didn't even sound upset… in fact, she apologized that she couldn't come home, but a lot of students in her class decided to stay at Hogwarts during the vacation to catch up on their studies. Studies my arse. Tarea knew better than that. She knew her sister was smart and concerned for her studies, but never enough to spend Christmas time away from her family. Christmas was always their favourite time of the year. Something was wrong. The fact that Chaldea didn't even get angry at the vicious words that Tarea sent her was enough to give off signals that something was wrong. But no matter how much Tarea attempted to prove this to her mother and father she was shushed away. Either my parents are idiots or they're just too liberal. Either way, Tarea was upset with each and every one of her family members and threatened to stay locked up in her room for the entire Christmas vacation. No one even blinked at her threats.
Tarea knew her sister enough to know that there was something just not right. Chaldea might be a few years older than her, but she felt as if they were on the same level. It wasn't just some teenage crisis or whatever it was her parents called it, it was something different. Something strange. Didn't her parents read the Daily Prophet? There were things going on in the wizard world that were out of the ordinary. Tarea chose not to ignore the articles and essays being written about the dark phenomenon. She kept up on her news, after all, someone in the family had to. Tarea knew what her sister was up to. Her sister Chaldea had joined the dark forces of the wizard world. Unfortunate for her, when she told this to her parents they had to stifle a laugh. But she knew that it was true. There was no way that her sister would act this way otherwise. Not even if she was growing older. Her sister Chaldea could have a dozen boyfriends or school assignments on a list as long as five kilometers… she would not ignore Tarea as she did now. But Tarea could never be taken seriously. Not by anyone in her family. Not by anyone at all.
Chapter One – The Stalker.Tarea
There was someone following her. That she was sure of. He… she was positive it was a he… had been following her for days. She would have been pleasantly surprised if it was someone following her because they admired her and was too shy to say hello. All right, she would have been creeped out just the same, but it would be a lot less worrying on her part. As of this moment, she did not know the reason behind her pursuer. All she knew was that everything she did to get him off of her trail failed. There would be this presence. It came known to Tarea when she arrived in London and hasn't left her since.
He only got closer. Were she to walk in circles around the city she would not tire him. He would only continue. It was as if he had some sort of tracking device, some type of Tarea-compass. She went about her business, though. The purchase of supplies for school was the only thing that kept her moving. It was the only thing keeping her sane. It was the only thing that was keeping her life normal.
If her stalker wished to do something to her, she wished he would just come and do it already. No use in driving her crazy for days on end… or was that the plan? Whatever the plan was, she hoped the man would take some action soon. There was nothing she could do, after all. She considered for a moment telling the police about it, but decided against it. She took into mind that it might not be anything that Muggle police could do. She might contact the Ministry of Magic but it wasn't certain that this was magic-related and even if it were, why would someone like her know about it? They were likely to keep her and erase her memory afterwards. But, wouldn't that be a good thing, after all? No. She liked her mind the way it was, just fine.
She liked the way her life was going just fine, as well. Besides the fact that her sister was a known Death Eater and the fact that she (herself) had chosen to turn down an education at Hogwarts (School of Wizardry) after she received the acceptance letter, therefore out casting herself from the society she had grown into. Oh, had her parents thrown a fit! But that was not up for thought right now. It was getting rid of this stalker of hers. She just wanted to turn in for the day and go to bed, resting knowing that there wasn't any person out there to harm her. But all of that seemed far away. She knew if she went home now there would only be danger to her. Maybe she was only prolonging her suffering, but she just had to go through the motions of her life had there not been magic involved.
Tarea had not seen her sister Chaldea for two years, now. She didn't bother coming back home after completing her last term at Hogwarts. This ultimately broke the family apart. Their parents stopped talking to each other, once the believers that Chaldea was the perfect child, now blaming one another for the disappearance of their daughter. They never used the phrase "Death Eater" but knew that was what their eldest daughter was now. It had gone against everything that they stood for. All the values they tried to teach their daughters… all went down the drain. After all, one decided not to use magicks and the other one preferred the Darkest Arts. In their eyes, they were failures. They found reason to blame each other though; creating a miserable household that was no longer for anyone else but the two to reside in. Tarea stepped up and announced she would go away to school, but not to Hogwarts as she was supposed to, but to London where she would pursue her interests in art. Her family never actually said the word "disown" but it was implied. For a split second, Tarea did not blame her older sister for leaving, no matter what reason.
It would be easier if she weren't so alone. Being alone in school was something that she was accustomed to, because there, ultimately, she wasn't always alone. It was the breaks in between terms that were the most lonesome and at this moment, when she could use some one the most (even if it was for company or to keep her sane or something), there was no one at all. No one at all to calm her confusion or frustrations over this thing. No one to say, "Tarea, you're not crazy, indeed someone is following you..." Some one just needed to say those words to her. She would feel so much better, even if they couldn't do anything about that phantom.
She would have to give up eventually, and go home. Tiring them didn't seem to be working, as she initially knew. They knew where she lived, they had to... how else would they have tracked her all day? They couldn't have been waiting at random points in the city for her. They couldn't have known where she was going from point to point, because she wasn't exactly on her daily routine unless of course they were tracking her magically. It was times like these (had there ever been a similar time?) that she wished she had indeed trained at Hogwarts. Surely she would be able to cloak her identity from one of these tracking spells, but she had no way of even beginning to understand what this involved. Things like this could take years and years of training. She had had none.
It came to the point that maybe she should talk to her parents, or go back to their house for some sort of protection. They might know how to handle this. But the thought of leading them back to her parent's house seemed like the wrong way to go about things if she wanted to keep them safe. Isolate herself, instead. That might be better. No use in her entire family being harmed because of her what ever it was that she might have done. She had been tracing her steps back over the past couple of days, thinking about who she might have crossed, but no such examples existed. She kept to herself. She had very little friends and even less enemies (if she could even call them friends or enemies, the words seemed a little strong). Or perhaps it wasn't directly related to her, but maybe to her parents. They had no high place in the wizard world, but they were well respected, nonetheless. Or perhaps it was because of her sister.
Chaldea, Chaldea. She had not the words. This could be ugly Death Eater business and her sister had dragged them all in. That's what it could be. There was no telling what these Wizards were capable of. It was that kind of doubt and fear that left her to decide to stay away from the wizard world. There had been so many people affected by that man, that man who was running this group. That man who had been doing things to Wizards and Muggles alike. That man they called Voldemort. That man whose name people could never speak, lest they should call upon him and call upon their deaths. Tarea, although young, knew the impact he was having. She heard her parents say that there was no one to trust any more. They didn't seem to even trust each other. Any one could be affected, even those who did not follow him... they were the worst off, even. He could control your actions against your own heart. He could make doing something evil feel pleasant to you. The thought of it made young Tarea shiver. She vowed never to practice magic. Never to go near that place Hogwarts. It was there that Chaldea had turned her life for the worse. Tarea wondered if she would be as susceptible. She wouldn't even give it a chance to.
Tarea sighed. The bags that she carried were heavy. She no longer wanted to be surrounded by so many people; she wanted to go back to her flat. She wanted to lie down in bed, close her eyes, and let what ever was going to come, come. Luckily she wouldn't have to walk far to get home (as taking the Underground seemed to depressing right now). Also, she was going to work her stalker for every last bit of energy he had. After all, she had been drained of most of hers.
Luckily, today was the sky was clear of clouds and of rain. She picked today to go for her supplies, although it was a bit early, because of the weather. She preferred to stay above ground for most of her travels. She did not mind the walk; in fact she would be enjoying this much more if not for her follower. She laughed, although nervously, at the thought of perhaps giving this person a nickname, but right now she didn't know enough or couldn't think clear enough to give him one. That was the only time she smiled today (if slightly), although now that she thought about it, she did smile at the clerk in the bookshop to be friendly... but that was about it. He responded by saying, "You should smile more often." That had been the first time he had actually addressed her in a way other than "Hello" or "Find everything you were looking for today?" She thought he was quite handsome, if in a bookish sort of way. Following that thought she blushed. It was nice to have something to think about other than her stalker; even if it was temporarily.
Halfway through her walk home she had wished she had taken a train. Her bags were too heavy to carry that long of a distance alone. She kept walking, though. When she got home she would just throw this all to the floor and collapse on her bed. Whoever this stalker was could just come take her for all she cared, as long as she had a minute to lie down on her bed and close her eyes. No, scratch that, perhaps after she had a cup of tea as well. That would provide her with a few extra minutes at least.
Once she arrived, she did just that. Her books and other supplies were released from her grip by the door. She locked her door behind her, as always, but this time perhaps with extra care (she looked down the hall, left to right, to make sure there was no one there). She immediately turned the water on for tea and collapsed on her bed until she heard the kettle whistle. It felt so good to be home. So good in fact, she didn't bother with taking off her shoes before she jumped onto her bed. She left them on almost as if she was expecting to be leaving her flat again soon.
She closed her eyes and faded, only to be wakened by the kettle whistling. She bounced off the bed and hurried to the kettle, not wanting to hear the high piercing sound any longer. As she was pouring water into her pot, she heard a loud "POP!" come from behind her. Thinking something may have dropped or come through the window by her bed, (or even a mystery balloon) she turned around and saw Chaldea sitting at her bed.
"Afternoon, sis."
Tarea dropped the kettle at her feet.
Benjamin
Stalking that Tarea girl was rather boring, but someone had to do the dirt work. He had to prove himself able to perform even the most tedious task. It was all out of loyalty, Lucius (his direct superior) had suggested, all out of loyalty to Voldemort. (Who had yet to speak to). He had been on other similar missions, but none so dreary as this. He wished that he could be more on the front lines where all the exciting things like torture or killings went on. But, he was not ready for that yet. Or, so they said. He was getting rather impatient though, and this did not help in living out this task day to day.
The girl never did anything. Well, she would leave her flat daily, but she didn't go to work (at least these past three days she hasn't) and she never went anywhere more exciting than a bookshop or the library. She was supposed to be seventeen years old, but she looked younger than that. She wasn't as attractive as her sister, Chaldea, he knew that much. But, they looked very much alike and if one didn't know them that well, they might even be mistaken for each other. Perhaps she would grow more attractive in time. Seventeen could be an awkward age for most girls. Chaldea had to be twenty years old. Maybe twenty-one, he didn't ask. Benjamin had never asked a woman's age, or anyone else's for that matter as he was taught that that was bad manners. Yes, he had wonderful manners up until this point. In fact, this thing... this stalking thing... could be attributed to the only impolite thing he's done in his entire life. He thought that it might be more exciting, doing something that was different, but right now, he felt bored. Not only did he feel bored, he felt lonely.
It would only be a little while longer before he could tell Chaldea that it was safe to see her sister. She had been planning this for quite some time, but with all that was going on in the wizard world, she had to take precautions. There was that little problem with her sister, that she was a witch, but a non-practicing one. The ministry kept their eyes on such people, as it was most peculiar that one would choose not to practice magic especially with the potential. Seeing that Chaldea was on a list of wizards wanted by the Ministry of Magic herself, she couldn't just appear on her family's doorstep without knowing the coast was clear, so to speak.
They had found that Tarea was no living with her family, after all. She had a flat in London, where she was attending school; magic-free. (Benjamin still could not get over that fact) All they needed to do was make sure she was in contact with no one from the Ministry or from the Order opposing them and they were good to go.
Ben did not know the reason behind Chaldea wanting to visit her sister. He knew that it had been a while since they've seen each other. (Chaldea has been with the Dark Lord for a few years, now) Members of this order were still allowed to keep contact with their families, but for some reason, Chaldea gave up those privileges willingly and kept a life away from her family. Perhaps she missed them. It wouldn't be surprising if she did. She seemed like a caring person, as it were.
He stayed with his own family. He was still at home, in fact, but he was at his last year at Hogwarts. His term would be starting in a few weeks, but this summer he had given up his free time to serve the Dark Lord. He had pledged his allegiance, but he still had to prove it. He had yet to receive his dark mark. He was dispensable, as far as he was concerned, even more so to the others. But because of being unbranded as a follower, he was also capable of being a great spy. He hoped to do spying. He hoped to be doing something other than this. He'd rather be in History of Magic class listening to Professor Binns drone on all day... and that was saying a lot.
Instead, he was stuck here with Tarea. He didn't like her name much, either. There was nothing to it. Chaldea was much nicer sounding. He'd rather be looking at Chaldea as well. At least she was animate. At least she spoke from time to time. If you didn't follow Tarea around as he did, you might think the girl was a mute with all the non-talking she did. It was rather peculiar. He didn't like this quiet, he didn't like it at all. If it wasn't for the noise of the city, he thought he might go mad from all the quiet.
He could speak to her, although he was told not to. Perhaps passing her on the train to find a seat, he could bump into her. Say "hello" or "excuse me". Perhaps she would return with a greeting or a pardon of her own. The girl did not take the Underground, however, and made him walk all around the city. She liked to walk, from what he could see. She walked long distances to his dismay. He kept up with her, though. He was not unfit. He would walk far behind her. Sometimes so far that she wouldn't be able to see him. Sometimes he felt that he was being obvious in following her, but she did not notice. He wondered if she knew about him at all. She was a witch, after all, training or not, witches sensed things. But, if she lived life for the most part as a Muggle, she may have learned to block these feelings already.
He wanted to connect to her. He wanted to make this stalking thing interesting for himself. Perhaps by scaring her it would make things a bit more interesting for her as well. She seemed to be extremely bored. But perhaps he was just imposing his own feelings onto her. This life could be perfectly fine for her. Maybe that's why she chose this over one as a witch. Maybe she was just boring. But he wouldn't. She did have a nervous look on her face at one point, though. Perhaps he did get through to her. She looked over her shoulder quite a few times going in and out of shops, walking home. She spoke to no one other than the clerk at the bookstore. He was obviously flirting with her and she seemed clueless. She looked around at the counter when she was leaving. She didn't notice me though. I was standing at the shop window and she didn't notice me. He would do as he was told, and nothing more. He would clear the way for Chaldea.
He was smitten with Chaldea. Seeing and following this girl, this sister of hers (who reminded him often of her) only made him like Chaldea even more. She had yet to make her feelings known to him, but he liked to think that they were mutual. But it was hard to tell with Chaldea, though. She wasn't one to give her feelings out freely, especially when it came to romantic feelings. In fact, he never heard her speak on romance at all and wondered if she actually entertained the thought. (With him, most of all) But he wasn't here with Chaldea. He had her to deal with: the girl who only stopped for books. No, she had gone to a record shop yesterday, hadn't she? She hadn't purchased anything, though. If she did, he might have been mildly interested in what she had. He could have gone in the shop himself and she might not have noticed him. Muggle music interested him, quite a bit. At least it could have killed some time. But no, he was to remain unseen. He was to remain "in the shadows". How utterly dull. But he was willing to do this work. He was willing to do anything; anything for his leader, anything for Chaldea. What ever was fit for them was fit for him. At this point, it was all over, though. No more following that dull girl. He had nothing left to do now that it was over. He could wait for his next assignment. He could wait to see Chaldea again (he had the chance to speak to her before she left to see Tarea). Until then, what would he do with his time in London?Sirius
In his canine form, it was much easier to tolerate long distance by foot. He praised himself for thinking up the idea of changing in the first place. Not only did it give him an extra cover, it helped his human legs and feet from becoming sore. He would be doing a lot of walking, otherwise. The wizard he was keeping an eye on, the future Death Eater, was on the trail of a young lady who happened to think that walking was the most suitable form of transportation. The Death Eater was probably cursing his place in the order, by now, wishing that he could be doing something a little more interesting like torturing or killing someone… whatever it was that Death Eaters do. He didn't know a lot about the steps to initiation for this group, but he imagined that boring work like this was one step closer. Or, that's what they were led to believe by Voldemort or other senior members.
He couldn't figure out what the interest in the girl was. When he finally got a closer look at her he hadn't noticed anything extraordinary. She did bare resemblance to someone in the same year as him in school, though. Could be her sister. There could be a possibility that it wasn't. The girl didn't give away anything that might have made Sirius believe that she was a witch. And this girl he knew, came from a pureblood wizard family. He remembered, vaguely, that it was rumoured that Chaldea's sister was a little odd. The discussion never went further than that, though. Chaldea made sure not to mention her "weird" sister ever again and it was, for the most part, forgotten about. But there wasn't anything weird about this girl. She was a young girl, walking around London as if she didn't have another care in the world. She stopped into Muggle book and record stores. She was dressed as any other Muggle her age would; not like a wizard trying to imitate a Muggle. (That he left up to Benjamin.) And she walked long distances when she could have very well flooed or apparrated anywhere she chose. He almost wanted to tell Benjamin that he was following the wrong person. From what Sirius could see, he was, unless, of course, Benjamin was stalking her for personal reasons. He didn't put it past the man… but the possibility of Ben taking romantic interest in a Muggle was slim to none.
Once the girl entered a building that looked to be her residence, Benjamin disappeared. He most likely reappeared to a group of Death Eaters, if not Voldemort himself, to report his findings. Sirius thought that he might report back to the Order, but it was too soon. Somewhere inside that building was that girl and perhaps she would reemerge soon. He considered going into the building, but he wasn't sure if this was her residency. Even if it was, what was he supposed to do? Try to find her apartment? Well, that wasn't bad for starters…
He found an alleyway nearby and once again became his human self through the transformation that he seemed to be getting better at. He walked back to the building he saw her go into and entered without any problem. So much for security, he thought. Just inside the lobby he found mailboxes. He skimmed through them quickly and came upon a familiar name --- Hanepher. T S Hanepher. That was Chaldea's last name as he remembered it. It wasn't her first initial, though. But he didn't know any of her family's first names to be able to match it. It seemed more than a coincidence that he should think about Chaldea before and now see her last name written in neat script and taped above a mailbox. T S Hanepher, 4E. Whoever was in that apartment, if they were related to Chaldea, could be involved with Voldemort as well. Going up to this fourth floor flat could be dangerous, but curiosity was definitely taking over. The way that Benjamin handled this all made it seem as if he had been stalking the girl for days. That reason alone was enough to treat this as a special case.
Without further consultation Sirius Black found the staircase that would lead him to the fourth floor. He walked up the stairs quickly, but quietly, often looking above him to make aware anyone he might be running into. The staircase area was quiet as was the rest of the building. He was anxious to see what he could find out about this place, though. He was anxious to see what he could find out about this girl, especially. He didn't put much thought into what he'd do if he bumped into the girl or another Death Eater – he would know what to do when and if the time came that he did have a confrontation. Until then, he thought it very unlikely that he would have one. Of course, this could all be a trap that Sirius was walking into but Sirius found it (again) very unlikely. It was Benjamin that was in question here and Sirius couldn't take the bloke too seriously… even if he belonged to the future Death Eaters club.
When he reached the fourth floor, he immediately looked for an "E" on the door and found one towards the end of a short hallway. From the outside, the flats on this floor did not appear to be very large. The hallway he was standing in wasn't very clean and it seemed that the carpet had seen better days and lighter traffic. The lamp above him gave off a very dim light, as if one of the light bulbs had blown or gone missing. The paint on the doors had long since seen a fresh coat. All in all it was better than some other places he had seen in London. He could even call it a bit cozy and homey in comparison to some of the shit holes he's seen in his time. Even including his own. He knew how difficult it was to find a decent flat in London with very little money. But, this place had things going for it. It didn't smell like a blend of cabbages and beef stew. It was in a fairly decent neighborhood, as well. A girl might be safe here on her own… but what was that young girl doing on her own if this was indeed her apartment? Didn't she have a family? Didn't she have friends?
He shook his head and leaned in towards the wall that might make up 4E. He pressed his ear against the wall and tapped his wand lightly against the wall and began to listen to a conversation between two girls that was already in progress.