Mirror Image
Prologue
Matthew Chinc apparated in front of his home. He had a long day at the Ministry of Magic. As the head of the Committee of Experimental Charms, he'd been having a rough week. They were working on every charm possible to stop Voldemort and his followers, but so far they had only come up with a charm that would make pumpkin plants produce larger pumpkins - that would make several black cats appear when they were cut into. Shaking his head of the thoughts of work, he looked up at his home, perhaps his dear Marjorie would have dinner waiting for him.
But what he saw, as he looked as his home struck fear into his very soul. The Dark Mark was rising above the household, the empty sockets of the skull seemed to be staring straight at him, taunting him as the serpent twining from it's mouth seemed to glare towards his smoldering home.
"Marjorie! Christy! Samantha!" He screamed, tears running down his cheeks as she burst into his ruined abode. Marjorie, his beloved wife lay there, mouth open in shock, yet her deep brown eyes looking fearless. Her blonde hair streamed out under her body, one pale, delicate hand clenched on her wand. Next to her there seemed to be a bloodstain, in the shape of a small girl. Matthew choked, frantically looking for his twins. If that stain was of his Sammie or Christy…But then he heard a whimpering sob. Hiding in a cabinet sat a small, crying figure. Her dark brown hair was put back into a ponytail, with a few curled strands free from the rest, in the style only his darling Samantha would have it. Matthew scooped his tiny daughter up, quietly asking what happened. The one and half year old explained the best she could,
Matthew rocked his daughter, closing his eyes. His wife, and one of his precious daughters had killed, taken away from him forever. Slumping down in a slightly charred chair, he continued to rock his daughter, mumbling soft words as he let tears make their way down his cheeks.
The Ministry did all they could that night, but couldn't do anything about what occurred. No one could, until the following day. The day a boy about Samantha's age witnessed his own parents ruthlessly slaughtered, then prevented his own death and the death of thousands more with a miracle.
This boy, was the famous Harry Potter, destroyer of Lord Voldemort.
Samantha Chinc skipped through the streets of Diagon Alley, giggling at her father to hurry up. She wanted to look at the brooms, and she wanted to look at them now. Sure, she wouldn't be able to be in Quidditch till her second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but that wouldn't stop her from trying. Matthew staggered up alongside his only daughter, panting for breath,
"Dear, you have to stop wearing me out like this! I'm an old man, you know."
Samantha just shook her head as she stared at a beautiful Nimbus 2000. The tail was finely made, perfectly aerodynamic while the handle shone, perfectly polished and made of only the finest wood.
"Pop, you reckon I have this broom?" She asked, her voice pleading.
Matthew shook his head sadly, "Not today, Sammie. Maybe next year, now lets go to Flourish and Blotts. You need your books." He walked off, his daughter reluctantly following behind. At least he doesn't still try and hold my hand…She thought to herself. She had let him up to a year or two ago, after she turned eleven that drew the line. She knew all about what had happened the night her mother and twin died, and was seemingly fine. She could stand her father's smothering attitude, being the only thing he had.
As soon as they entered Flourish and Blotts the man at the counter seemed very ready for what the girl was going to ask for.
"Hogwarts I gather? First year? The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1… The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection…Hmm." He stacked her down with all the books on her lists, while she grumbled for her dad in protest. After paying the man, Matthew helped relieve Sammie of some of the books. After leaving, Sammie dragged her father over to the Eeylops Owl Emporium, intent on finding herself her own owl. Matthew elbowed her gently, pointing over at what appeared to be either a short giant, or huge man and next to him was a scraggly looking boy, with taped up glasses and wild hair. She giggled, wandering a little closer, acting like she was looking at a tiny owl. She peeked behind her, suddenly noticing a scar the boy had. It was lightning shaped! That meant this boy was…Harry Potter! He stood beside her, looking at big snowy owl.
"Hi," she said, looking over a little red screech owl.
"Hey," Harry Potter mumbled, holding out his hand to stroke the owl he was interested in.
"Hogwarts?"
"Yep.."
Sammie nodded a little, stroking the little owl's head. The famous Harry Potter wasn't much of a talker, was he? "Name's Sammie Chinc."
"I'm er.." He paused. She suspected he must not want everyone knowing who he was, "Harry – " Just then his giant-like friend came over, dragging him and his owl off.
Sammie shook her head, hitting up her father to buy her the owl and telling her the boy was Harry Potter. He seemed quite interested at this, listening to what his daughter had to say, then bringing her back home with all the school supplies they had gotten.
******
It seemed like barely any time passed before Sammie went through Platform
Nine and Three Quarters and was boarding the Hogwarts Express. She dragged trunk and other things onto the scarlet steam engine, waving good-bye to her father, who was swelling up with pride at seeing his daughter go. The trip seemed short, as she talked with other girls, and wandered from compartment to compartment peeking at the inhabitants of each. She even managed to stumble upon Harry Potter's compartment. She listened in a little, trying not to be too obtrusive. She returned to her own compartment, grinning. She sat down next to one of her newly found friends, giggling about one of the boys with Harry Potter.
"Ron Weasley?! You like one of the Weasley boys?" One of her friends, Joyce Mariners, asked, falling over in her seat, laughing.
"What's wrong with that? He's a cutie!"
"Oh if you say so…Odd taste in boys you have. I hear his older brothers are complete riots at times…I reckon Ron might be like that."
Sammie furrowed her brow, shaking her head a little. Ron Weasley didn't seem like much of a troublemaker, then again, she just saw him for a minute or so…She got herself ready for her arrival at Hogwarts, daydreaming about the red haired, freckled boy she just became obsessed with.
******
The next few hours were interesting. She was herded off the bus with the rest of the first years, and onto a small fleet of boats, by the giant person that was with Harry Potter in the Owl Emporium – Hagrid. When the group reached the towering, majestic castle, Sammie couldn't believe her eyes. Hogwarts was huge, and one of the most beautiful places she'd ever seen. The group of first years was lead into the Great Hall of the castle, which was beautifully decorated and included an enchanted ceiling that showed the slightly clouded sky. The minutes inched by as the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, addressed everyone, then brought out the Sorting Hat. After it sang a little song, a stern looking woman, Professor McGonagall, began calling out names to put on the hat, which in turn called out the house they'd be in.
Barely any time passed before "Chinc, Samantha" was called. She sat down on the stool, and the hat was settled onto her head.
"Interesting, interesting. You could always qualify for Slytherin…You'd have relations in that one…"
Oh God…Not Slytherin, She thought to herself, not realizing the last part of what the hat said.
"Hmm. No Slytherin. In that case, you have potential for Ravenclaw…Quite an interesting girl you are…So I suppose you should go into GRYFFINDOR!"
Sammie blinked slightly, taking the hat off her head and scuttling over to the Gryffindor table and sitting down. She was fairly shaking through the rest of the sorting, grinning as Harry Potter was chosen to be in Gryffindor, and almost faintly when Ron Weasley became one as well. Hogwarts, was going to be great fun as far as she could tell.
******
To some, it would appear Sammie was living a double life in Romania. A girl, identical to Sammie lived in a small hut, deep in a dark forest with a fairly dark family. She was once Christy Chinc, the twin of young Samantha. But now, she was mere Christy, raised by stern followers of Voldemort and experts in the Dark Arts. To them, Hogwarts was for weaklings, and they taught Christy themselves as well as prepared her fully for the rise of Voldemort from what he had become since his meeting with Harry Potter. Nowadays, she was already using the Unforgivable Curses on people in nearby villages. Though, she was still killing insects and small rats with the Avada Kedavra curse, much to her disappointment.
She looked much paler, and certainly much more sullen looking. Her hair was cropped short, up to her ears. She had lived in a strict household all her life, and was very silent and never expected much, except attack and more learning of the Dark Arts. She got very little, other than food, the cloaks she wore and the magic supplies she was given. To some, a dreary life, but for her, it was full of discovery. The more evil she learned, the more exhilarated she felt. Christy bided her time, leaning as much about the Dark Arts as was possible, awaiting the return of the all mighty Lord Voldemort.
******
Five years skipped by for Samantha, who was a bustling honor student at Hogwarts. She excelled at most of her studies, even Potions by some miracle. Professor Snape seemed to become even more ornery after losing Defense Against the Dark Arts to someone else the fifth year in a row. Professor Lupin had returned, making all the students tremendously happy to have him back; though some parents weren't all that excited. Hogwarts had managed to operate quite smoothly, even with Voldemort beginning his rise back to power. Sammie still had a, rather large, crush on Ron, and was even gathering up the nerve to ask him to upcoming Easter Ball. The only trick was getting him away from Harry Potter and Hermione Granger…
"Ron! Er…Can you come here for a sec?" Sammie called, while he was on his way to Divination with Harry. She breathed a sigh of relief when he came, without Harry.
"Yeah?" Ron asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Er…" She mumbled, trying to think of something to say, "Going to the Easter Ball with anybody?"
"Well…no…Not yet…"
"You reckon you might want to go with me?"
"Alright…Why not?"
Sammie could barely suppress the wide grin that was inching its way across her face, "See ya then!"
She waited a little while after Ron started going to Divination, before she followed after. Maybe she should've asked at lunch. Then she could hide around her friends…
******
The day of the ball quickly approached, and the overly excited Sammie was sitting in her room with her friends, all overly thrilled to be going to a ball.
"I still can't believe you asked Ron Weasley to the ball!" Roxie Jenkins said, eagerness filling her hushed voice, "He's like, Harry Potter's, best friend! His best friend!"
Sammie herself hadn't overlooked that fact, but wasn't entirely interested in it, "Yeah…I guess he's good friends with Harry.."
"You guess?! The best guy that asked me out William Quill from Hufflepuff!" Sammie's old friend Joyce Mariners almost shouted. The room was beginning to become a big bustle of four, much to excited for their own good, girls.
"Ha! At least you got asked out! I had to ask Seamus Finnigan myself!" Harrietta Bimbler squeaked. She was still just getting over the fact that Seamus said yes.
"I had to ask Ron…" Sammie mumbled, trying to fix her hair right.
The girls continued to talk as they got ready, which would've made for an interesting scene if anyone happened to be listening in.
******
Sammie stepped slowly down the steps into the Common Room, peeking for Ron and desperately trying not to trip over her slightly long dress robes. She smiled as soon as she saw him, giggling a little bit. He still had his maroon dress robes, only the collar and other places where lace had once been looked slightly less frayed than the last time he wore them. He looked slightly stunned when he saw Sammie. She had worked for hours to get her hair and robes perfect.
Chocolate brown hair had been set in a ponytail looking style, set at the top of her head and tweaked so the hair would fall in every direction on her head, while ringlets of left out strands bobbed softly against her cheeks. She put just a bit of bluish lavender glitter just above her eyelids, giving her a fairly like appearance. Long, dark lavender robes were wrapped around her, looking faintly similar to a gown.
Harry Potter followed them out, meeting his own date (Cho Chang from Ravenclaw), at the Great Hall.
The ball started out perfectly, the decorations were stunning, live rabbits hopping out here and there, giant flowers, pastel colored banners…To only mention a few. The Weird Sisters had managed to attend this gathering, leaving Harry, Cho, Ron and Sammie to dance for an hour without stopping. Sammie and Ron decided to sit out a few songs and sat a table just talking. She began to feel like they'd really hit off when something disastrous happened.
******
Christy sped through the night on a broomstick, surrounded by many other cloaked, masked figures. The Death Eaters were out tonight, and they were going to break up the party at Hogwarts no matter what. It took very little spellwork to get into the grounds, then zoom right into the castle itself. All of this brigade were young, and very few could kill more something larger than a cat or dog with just a curse, Christy included. At first the students and staff thought the beginning of the attack was just some prank, but as soon as several of the wizards and witches in the group started using the Cruciatus and Imperious curses on the Muggle-born students, the staff and prefects started to take action. Students screamed and broke into sheer panic as the Death Eaters went on. Cold laughs erupted from the cloaked figures, some of which making a small group of Muggle boys and girls break into a fistfight.
"Take that Mudbloods!" One of them shouted, cackling wildly, "You like your head in the punchbowl? Have more!"
The terror ensued for ten more minutes, before the staff became quite intent on getting the troublemakers. Calling the rest of her Death Eaters to break what they were doing with the Mudbloods, and lead them, quite quickly off the Hogwarts grounds were they apparated into the night without a single trace.
Back in her small home deep in the Romanian forests, Christy lay awake, recalling all the events of the day. Oh the young Death Eaters weren't supposed to go out and wreak havoc, especially not on Hogwarts. But the opportunity was just too tempting. A ball…with less protection than normal, more than a good target. It worked all too well! She recalled some of the hexes she used on those slobbering Mudbloods. The looks on their were hilarious! She lay back, savoring each memory.
******
The end of Sammie's seventh year at Hogwarts was beginning of a hard, but good life. She was working as hard as she could to become an Auror, along with many of the other seventh years. Most of her professors wondered what in the world she was doing, taking one of the most dangerous jobs out there, when she could even have been someone even greater and more important in the Ministry. Cornelius Fudge even wanted her as an assistant to him, but she turned him down. She was set on being an Auror. Ron on the other hand, managed to squeeze by his father's department, and land a job in the Bureau of Muggle Protection and Avoidance. It wasn't the top job, and it wasn't a far cry from his father's job, but it was definitely bustling at this time.
Sammie was upset to have to leave Hogwarts, and leave all of her friends behind; unless she went to visit the majority of them at the Ministry. She made up her mind while on the Hogwarts Express, that after she was through with being an Auror, she'd take up a teaching job at Hogwarts. She had always liked that idea.
"Hey, Sam?" Her thoughts, and half-hearted conversation with Hermione and Joyce were interrupted by Ron's voice. Of course, she had to answer.
"Yeah?" Best answer she could come up with.
"Think you could come back here for a sec?"
She stood up, mumbling a small 'be right back' to her friends before inching her way into car Ron was in. She raised an eyebrow, noticing that he seemed to be in rather good robes, and considerably pale.
"Oh! Sam. Sit down, will you?"
Sammie sat down on command, looking curiously at her beau. He was definitely on edge today.
"We've, well we've known each other for a long time. And, I've kinda liked you ever since you were put into Gryffindor…"
"Yeah, I reckon we've known each other for a while."
He gave her a 'look' to be quiet. "Yeah. Since we've been going out a while and all, I think we have something special…" He paused, and, to Sammie's surprise, dropped onto one knee, holding out a very nice looking ring. "I love you Sam, and I want you to marry me."
She could've fainted right about then, but managed to choke back the sensation and shout a 'I will!' before almost squeezing the life out of Ron with a hug. So, maybe her Auror years weren't going to be so lonely. Not with Ron around…
******
A few years skipped by, and the fighting with the Death Eaters had definitely escalated. Sammie managed to become one of the top Aurors, almost a Mad Eye Moody of her time. She was bringing in Death Eaters left and right, usually with as little of a fight as possible. Best of all, she and Ron were happy, even with his protests that she should quit her dangerous occupation.
A short while after Sammie and Ron were married came the startling news she was pregnant. And, not too long after that, she had a baby girl, and a baby boy. Much to her dismay, she had to take time off her constant rounding up of evil wizards, to spend time with the babies Kaitlyn and Chase. But then she shot off back to work, without a second thought.
She never thought that within the next several years, she'd meet the sister she had thought was dead for the last twenty years of her life. The sister that was lying in waiting, never having launched an attack since the Easter Ball. She was Voldemort's right-hand woman, learning all she could to come into the world with a startling attack of spells and curses.
The time would be soon, and neither Sammie nor Christy's life would ever be the same again.
Part 2: The Mirror Image
Sammie was on one of her usual patrols, looking around for any sort of unusual activity. Nine years she had been an Auror, and she was starting to get tired of the occupation. She gathered, that in the next year, she'd quit and take up that always-open Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position over at Hogwarts. Dumbledore had already said the she could take if she wanted to. She thought that it would be a perfect job, and she'd get to see her two children as soon as they were old enough to attend. Those maternal instincts had finally started to kick in with her, which Ron was certainly thankful for.
She snapped out of her daze when she heard screams and laughing from a small mostly Muggle village below. Her eyes caught the sparks and flashes of someone using a considerable amount of, no doubt Dark, magic. She spurred her broom into action, diving down into the area below. By then, the screams had all…stopped.
Sammie couldn't believe the sight before her. All of the villagers that were there were now simply burned, mutilated crisps of the bodies they once were. Their homes were smoldering, ruined clumps of brick and wood. She glanced around hurriedly for the one responsible.
"Well, looks like I've find one of the Aurors…" Sammie's eyes shot up to the cloaked figure, hovering in the air above the decimated village. That voice…It sounded so familiar. She knew it was that of someone close to her.
"If you get down now, I won't have to harm you. I'll take you back to the Ministry, and you'll get a fair trial."
The figure paused, either thinking, or having the same familiarity with the voice below. She inched forward, staring at the Auror. And suddenly, Sammie realized that face was hers.
"Who are you?" The Death Eater hissed, "You look like me."
"The feeling's quite mutual, thank you very much." Then, it dawned her. Unless this woman was using some kind of potion, she had to be her sister. The one that her father said was dead. "Christy," her voice was a hushed whisper. "Come with me."
"How do you know my name? Have you been tracking me?" The sister's wand raised, ready to take action.
But Sammie was prepared, her own wand up and ready, "It's simple really, you're my twin sister. Isn't it obvious? We don't have to kill each other." She'd hate to turn her lost sister in. Watch her put in Azkaban because of her. It would be heartbreaking.
"No, that's not true. You're lying," Christy hissed, before shouting a spell Sammie didn't know. The Auror dived, shouting a counter-curse, and another spell. She pushed from her mind the fact that she had finally found her sister. That notion couldn't stop her from fighting, if it did, she'd be dead. And her sister wouldn't have a second thought about the person she killed. She was engaged in a battle that would end if the death of one of them, she knew it.
"Stop it! Christy, stop it!" Sammie screamed between curses and hexes. But Christy wouldn't listen. She had never had a sister, and never would. It was all a lie, and she had to get rid of that lie. She fired curse after curse at the Auror, only to have more spells shot back at her.
******
The battle went on for who knows how many hours, before Christy finally tumbled from her broom, surges of blue shooting through her, draining her energy. Sammie charged forward, the remembrance that the Death Eater was her sister finally flooding back into her mind.
"Christy? Are you alright? I can just take you back to the Ministry. I'm sure they won't do too much!" Sammie couldn't believe what she had done. Who would almost kill her sister, then turn her into a place that would drain her soul then kill her slowly? It was unbelievable, unthinkable.
Then, a small grin crossed Christy's face. "So, you really are my sister, eh?" She paused, a look on her face as if she was straining for the memory. "Samantha's right? Had a thing for ponytails?"
Sammie cried out with delight, hugging her sister as tightly as she could. She remembered her! Oh, god, she remembered her! "Yes! Yesyesyes!" She almost broke down sobbing with happiness, before she saw the glint in Christy's eyes.
"Well then, I'm sorry Sam," Christy whispered, before drawing up the hand still clutching her wand. "Avada Kedavra."
Sammie gasped, before the bright green light engulfed her. She collapsed with dull thud next to her sister, who was already breathing her last breaths. Christy was almost ashamed that she killed her sister, but in her dying moments, didn't care. She just turned to grunt at the still body, before closing her own eyes. Her last fleeting thought was to say she was sorry, but that was extinguished with the dimming of her mind.
******
It would be days before a search party found the two, in the destroyed village. Samantha with a shocked look embedded on her face. Her sullen, short-haired double lay next to her, looking pained, showing her final thoughts. Ron kept his own children away as he stared at his wife, and the twin she had said was dead. If he had only known that Sammie had trusted her dark twin before she was killed, he would've proud.
But instead, he stared mournfully, never to know the heartbreaking happenings between the two separated sisters when they met on their final day. The mirror, was shattered, and piece together, before it was hurriedly shattered again.