I do NOT own Harry Potter or any of it's characters but just and FYI this fanfic takes place AFTER Harry's time but he's still in it if that makes any sense at all. Still using J. K. 's world and pretty much everything she had in the series but I'm adding a lot of my own characters that I made with the help of some friends. Hope you all like it and don't forget to Review, review, review!!
God, where was everybody? Arista had called for the meeting to be at five and yet the shop was empty. At least as empty as a Dark Arts shop could be. Floating white skulls in jars lined the shelves close to the only person in the dark and dusty shop on Knockturn Alley. Jewelry glinted lightly from various shelves, shoppers unaware that they had long been cursed before entering the shop. Thick potions in translucent jars, claiming to do foul things to enemies rested within arms length of a child. And in the front window various mid-evil, magical items used for torture were on display, way out of price for most of the people who stared longingly at them.
She let out a small sigh, and shifted her gaze from the window to the heavy wooden door to her right as muffled footsteps echoed from the room beneath her. "Colloportus," she whispered, pointing her wand at the front door, which had not opened in hours. A soft click told her that the charm had worked as she slipped gracefully off of her wooden stool, walked to the door, and then descended the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs she walked into a dimly lit room. As she made her way to her chair at a long wooden table in the middle of the room she saw her companion seated to the left of the head of the table.
"No business today Dakota?" he asked as she sat down next to him. A small smirk formed on her face at his question.
"Oh please Gabe. You know how the crowds form and the queues start when people hear that I'm working," Dakota said with a slight roll of her eyes. She was lucky people didn't send for aurors when they discovered that she was a West. For as long as she could remember her family had always been sorted into every house except for Slytherin. Then she, her brother and sister broke the tradition and were the first Wests to ever join the Slytherin ranks.
Shortly after her brother was sorted their father was seriously cursed while he was working, he was an auror, and was sent to a permanent ward at Saint Mungo's. That was when her sister started dabbling in the Dark Arts with her two best friends, Braeden Coleman and Gabriel Sanders. Together they planned to reform the Death Eaters and finish what the Dark Lord had never accomplished those many years ago. In fact it was under her sister's orders that her brother got sent to Azkaban for murder, performing underage magic outside of school, and for having the Dark Mark on his arm. It was then that their mother disowned them from the family by leaving them, and the family immediately gained one of the worst reputations in the Wizarding world.
Because both her parents had left, it was up to Dakota and her siblings to make money and because her siblings were busy all the time, it was left to Dakota to run the family's shop, West's Witchcraft, during the summer as a way to get some extra money. Not that they needed it. Today was just like every other day she had worked that summer: dead as the people her brother killed four years ago.
Gabriel smiled and was about to speak when another couple of people arrived in a small cloud of blackness. After they took their seats across from Dakota, Gabriel spoke again.
"Alecks, Consuela," he greeted with a small nod then turned to Dakota, "just make sure none of your adoring fans are Order Members. We don't need them crawling about here."
Dakota was about to reply when the young man named Alecks cut her off.
"Since when does my darling little sister have 'adoring fans' ?" he smirked, placing his arm around the woman to his right.
"You mean you don't know about your sister's new friends?" the woman asked Alecks sweetly with a sly smile on her face.
Dakota shot Consuela a threatening look but was saved any questions from her brother by the arrival of three more people. The tallest of the three took his place on Alecks' left, across from Gabriel and flashed Dakota a dazzling smile; the youngest sat next to Dakota, his eyes on the floor and a sour look on his face. The remaining man sat at the end of the table quietly looking at each person as though trying to read their thoughts.
"Gabe, how's Christy? Still think you're one of them?" the man next to Alecks asked, a charming smile enhancing the look of his already handsome features.
"She's great. Too busy planning the wedding to even notice I'm missing," Gabe replied, casually ignoring the second question.
As Dakota raised her eyebrows questioningly yet another figure appeared out of nowhere. Unlike the others, this person walked with grace and authority, her black cloak billowing behind her. As she sat at the head of the table her eyes swept over her seven companions. Her gaze lingered momentarily on Dakota and Alecks before resting on the boy next to Dakota.
"Consuela, would you kindly tell me what the matter with your brother is?" she asked her voice icy and her face expressionless.
When Consuela didn't answer, the icy voice spoke again, "Dakota?"
Dakota glanced at Tobias before turning back to their leader. "He's upset because I have a boyfriend that is not him."
After watching Tobias' bitter glance at Dakota, the woman spoke again. "I see. But will he be of any use to me in this state?"
Tobias nodded quickly as though eager to prove his usefulness but unable to hide the bitter look on his face.
"Good, now on to more important matters. Gabe has informed me that the Order is starting to recruit over age students. Dakota, Tobias, Consuela, I want you to find out who these students are and gain their trust. I don't want any Order students finding you out before we know who they are.
"Alecks, the ministry currently believes you to be in South America but I still want you to stay low key. I don't want you to be put in Azkaban again. Next time I may not feel like breaking you out.
"Braeden, while you're on the move if you wouldn't mind making a couple of stops in Brazil and help keep the aurors on their toes with a reason to keep searching the country for Alecks, it would be greatly appreciated.
"Severus, I'll need you in my office as soon as you finish what we discussed earlier. Now," she paused, smiling twistedly around the table, "anything interesting happening that I should be aware of?"
A small cloud of uncomfortable silence fell over the table at this unexpected question. Arista had been known to be spontaneous but this wasn't like her at all, and Dakota was slightly frightened by the manic glitter in her eye.
Suddenly Tobias spoke, almost too quiet for anybody to hear.
"Dakota's dating a mudblood," he hissed bitterly, avoiding the death glare Dakota was giving him.
"Is this true?" Arista demanded, anger filling her voice. Dakota clenched her teeth, fighting the urge to hex Tobias.
"Cody is not a mudblood. His blood is as pure as everyone else is here. You're just jealous that I chose him over you," she said after a moment's silence. She fought to keep her voice cool but there was no hiding the forced calmness that she spoke with.
Arista studied Dakota for a few minutes before she spoke, a questioning look on her face.
"Cody Benson? The Hufflepuff?"
Instead of nodding like a smart person would have done Dakota hissed, "Yes, do you have a problem with that?"
"No," Arista replied coolly, but the look to Alecks and his nod of understanding proved otherwise. "Dakota you know that your personal life is no care of mine as long as it does not interfere with the work you have yet to do."
Silent minutes passed before Gabriel glanced at his watch then stood up, fastening the buttons on his dark traveling cloak as he did so.
"Excuse me Arista, but Christy will be expecting me home soon. I doubt there will be another meeting before the term starts so I shall send you an owl as soon as I learn more."
After seeing Arista's small nod of approval the rest of the table began to disperse, hushed conversations starting around the room.
"Lessons to plan, but perhaps a drink soon?" Severus asked on his way to the door, clearly hoping for a yes in response.
"Perhaps," was his only answer.
Dakota stood, hoping to make her way out unnoticed but once she reached the shop level, out of earshot of Arista, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see the brilliant smile of Braeden.
"Don't worry about Arista. If you really like this Cody then I'm sure he can't be that bad," he winked, "Just be sure that you don't let anything slip if you two become serious. We don't want anybody who shouldn't know about you knowing about you."
Unable to help it a smile formed on Dakota's face. Braeden always seemed able to cheer her up when her siblings decided to team up on her and make her life harder.
"Don't worry. Nothing important will leave these lips in Hufflepuff presence."
"Good girl. And don't forget to study for your Newts. We don't want you to end up like you're brother down there." Dakota laughed, then after assuring Braeden she would study hard she made her way outside of the shop and into the dark confines of Knockturn Alley. Without a glance at her surroundings or back at the shop, she turned on the spot and disapparated, worry finally starting to settle over her.
With a small pop, Dakota appeared in another slightly darker alley. Pulling her black sweater closer around her she made her way out of the alley and into the dimly lit main road of the Village of Hogsmede. Barely visible at the end of the winding road, was the huge, elegant castle of Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry. Ignoring the view, she made her way into the Three Broomsticks. Normally during the school year it would be relatively quiet, but during the summer vacation the place was usually crawling with activity. Wizarding tourists from all over flooded to the village mainly for the view of the school.
Fortunately, the bar wasn't that busy and the barmaid, Madame Rosmerta, brought her her regular drink at her regular table near the front window by herself. After handing her a couple of Galleons, Dakota reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bit of scrap parchment, a bent quill and a small bottle of ink. Those were the ruminants of her afternoon of work.
Thoughts poured into her mind with her first mouthful of Mead. Dakota knew that she needed to write to somebody, but she had no idea who. Halfway through her mug of Mead, she finally started her short letter. By the time the last bit of Mead was gone from her mug her letter was finished. Leaning back in her chair she reread her scribbled thoughts.
James,
Sorry I haven't sent a letter before now, I don't really have any excuse at the moment but I should have one ready by the time I get your reply. I'm mainly writing to see if you wanted to come for a visit sometime. I'd love the company. Just send your reply back with Scorpius.
- Dakota.
Getting out of her seat, she shoved the letter, ink and quill back into her pocket. With a small nod to the barmaid, Dakota made her way into the night and once more, turned on her foot and disappeared again.
The small house was nestled cozily amongst the trees of a young forest a few miles from West Manor. The walls were made of stone and had the look of an outcast. The shades were drawn inside, blocking the view into the house, but the smoke billowing from the brick chimney told Dakota that her brother was indeed home. Blending in with her dark surroundings she climbed the two steps to the front door. She knocked gently three times, hoping that Consuela wasn't there. She really didn't want to have to endure questions about Cody; she just wanted to talk to her brother.
The door opened a crack and Dakota saw a tiny house elf glance up at her in fear before hastily opening the door. Dakota stepped into the hallway and looked around. It felt like she hadn't been here in ages. After closing and locking the door, the house elf ran off but not before squeaking, "Master is in his bedroom, Miss."
Rolling her eyes slightly Dakota made her way down the hall to Alecks' room. The door was open, revealing a fairly messy, dark room. Black curtains were pulled across the window making the room a little bit darker even though the lights were on. Finally her eyes fell on the figure sitting at a desk writing a letter. She hadn't had a close look at her brother for a while: his black hair was messy and unkempt, stubble starting to form on his jaw, his face serious as his hand scribbled words across the parchment. He finished his letter before turning to face Dakota. It was then that she was reminded of how Azkaban had ruined her brother. His eyes were sunken in, his face a tinged yellow and his arms covered in tattoos.
"Dakota, what a surprise," he drawled, standing up. Dakota rolled her eyes at his white t-shirt and blue boxers. Trust Alecks to never be dressed.
"Well, I can always go and talk to somebody else about my boy problems," she said turning around, a smile forming on her face.
"Wait a minute. Which boy is it that's causing the problems 'cause if you want me to curse him, I will," he started angrily, grabbing Dakota's wrist and pulling her onto his knee as he sat down on his bed.
"Tobias," she hissed, resting her head on her brother's shoulder. They hadn't sat like that since she was a little girl, screaming from nightmares while their parents were at work. Arista had never really cared so Alecks had always been there to comfort her when she needed it.
"That slimeball? He's just jealous. Everybody should be jealous of your boyfriend."
"Jealous I understand but why does he need to rat me out to Arista? That's just pure evil."
"He's probably just trying to get her to break you and Cody up so he can get in. Not that I wouldn't mind if you broke up with him and started dating a pureblood Slytherin."
Dakota punched her brother in a teasing way, "Too bad. So you don't think he's being a git because he wants me in trouble?"
"Nah, it's just out of affection."
Feeling slightly better, she let the wave of tiredness she'd been fighting off since the meeting crash over her and let a yawn escape. Hearing it Alecks glanced down at her.
"You should get some rest. You wanna stay here?"
"No thanks, I'm waiting for Scorpius to get back. Plus I don't want to listen to your snoring," Dakota said, getting up, "I'll see you soon." With that she made her way to the living room fireplace. She reached into the pot on top of the mantel, pulled out a handful of floo powder. She threw it into the fire, causing it to grow and turn emerald green. Stepping into the flames she said clearly, "West Manor."
Almost immediately after, Dakota found herself stepping out of the fireplace at her own home where she lived with Arista, who was never there, which is why Dakota almost jumped when she saw a figure sleeping on her couch.
"James?"