A/N: Hello every one! Welcome to Darkness Dwells. I hope you will enjoy this story and if you don't, well there's no pleasing every one. –shrugs-

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. –sob- Meh. J. K. Rowling is an amazing author!

Warnings: Well, dark!Harry to begin with, Lily and James are alive, and Sirius is not in Azkaban. Oh, and strong language, if that bothers you. And gore in later chapters (probably).

Enjoy the story!

"My apologies, my Prince! I-I meant no disrespect! Please, be merciful! I beg of you!" the simpering Death Eater clutched at the hem of Harry's robes. Harry scoffed, disgusted. He kicked the Death Eater off him and raised his wand. "Well, I must say this 'chat' has been…pleasant…however. I have a job to do. Such a fool you've been, Coal. Betraying Father's trust? Avada-"

"WAIT!" the doomed man proclaimed, attempting to stall. Wards had gone off mere moments ago and the Ministry Aurors would be arriving soon.

"Please!" he crawled over to Lydia, as a last ditch attempt to be saved. "Please Princess! I-I will do anything! I'll infiltrate the Ministry! I'll-"

Harry hissed angrily. "You dare to speak to the Princess that way? You insignificant, insubordinate little-"

The girl held her hand up, cutting Harry off. "It's okay brother."

Harry nodded once. "Lydia, you can do it, if you like. Since he had the audacity to beg you for anything."

Unknown to Harry, Lydia smiled sadly behind her mask. Keeping the emotion out of her voice she answered, "Yes brother. Thank you."

"Avada Kedavra." The spell was spoken so quietly that Coal barely caught it before the green light hit his chest.

Lydia turned to Harry. "Job done. Time to tell our Lord." And with that the two teens walked out the warehouse and into the woods to Disapparate.

XXX

Sirius growled angrily, pacing the kitchen of number 12 Grimmauld Place. James looked at him warily "Sirius it's okay. We'll catch whoever it is that's killing all those Death Eaters. Just relax; sit down."

Tonks spoke up, "Wait James, is it really a bad thing that all those Death Eaters are being killed? I mean, whoever is doing it is obviously helping the Order. Is that really such a bad thing?"

A few other Order members murmured their agreement. Sirius shook his head, "It's not that. What I'm upset about is the fact that we just missed them. We were so close but they had Apparated just moments before we got there! Also, I mean think about it. You-Know-Who hasn't done anything. Wouldn't you think he'd be furious that his Death Eaters are just dropping like flies? By a masked assassin no less!"

Moody nodded his agreement, "Black is right. He's been too quiet."

"And I mean, you've got to figure He knows what's happening."

Moody growled in agitation and slammed his fist on the table, "Of course He knows Potter! We just have to figure out why He hasn't done anything about it."

The pink-haired Auror bent her head, mulling things over. "But…what if You-Know-Who is the one ordering the attacks? What if He's the one who sent the assassin?"

The kitchen got deathly silent. The thought had pasted through the minds of the older Aurors, but they hadn't wanted to consider that option. If it was true, that just made everything so much more complicated.

Tonks noticed the silence and quickly attempted to make amends, "Ah-never mind! You know me, just blabbing whatever pops into my head! Um, just pretend I didn't say anything! I'm probably wrong so-"

"Nymphadora you're not incorrect, I'm afraid. I believe that you have indeed 'hit the nail on the head' as Muggles would say."

James looked to the white-haired Hogwarts headmaster, "Dumbledore…you're saying she's…right? But…shit."

"Shit is right…" breathed Sirius. He ran his fingers though his shoulder length hair. "Now how the hell are we going to catch the assassin?"

Dumbledore stared at him calmly, "The way we would usually catch him."

"Or her!" cried Tonks in protest.

Dumbledore smiled kindly at the younger Auror. "Or her." He amended lightly.

"Oh and how is that? Hm? If You-Know-Who is the one sending the assassin, then He probably has a very close watch on him or her. Or what if He's using the Imperious Curse? He or she might not even know what they're doing!"

"Sirius! It's okay. Sit down and we'll just talk this out like intelligent adults." Remus said softly.

Sirius nodded slowly and sat down dejectedly. He felt and looked much older and grave in that one moment, but it quickly passed. "Sorry. So how are we going to do this?"

XXX

Alex sighed for the umpteenth time in the last 14 minuets. Nikolai knew; he'd been counting.

"Guys, I'm bored. Let's play a game!" Jennifer bounced up excitedly.

Nikolai perked up a little; his little sister usually had pretty decent ideas for games to play.

Alex nodded, "Alright, as long as it's not hide-and-seek."

Jennifer immediately deflated, "Oh…okay! How about…a card game? Nikolai, do you have the deck on you? We could play Mao!"

Nikolai shook his head, "Sorry, Jenn. I forgot them at home."

"Hey Nikolai. Suck it!" Alex stuck out her tongue as she produced a deck from her enormous purse. Jennifer always joked that Alex could fit all of Hogsmead in there.

"Hey Alex, why don't you just go to hell?"

Jennifer rolled her eyes as Nikolai and Alex started arguing. Even from when they were little, Alex and Nikolai fought like cats and dogs. Not that Jennifer never had skirmishes with either of them but…no wait. She never got into it with Nikolai. Only Alex.

"Come on Nikolai! Deal the cards!" Jennifer smiled excitedly.

"Yeah Nikolai. Deal the cards."

Nikolai glowered at Alex. "You; shut up." He snapped pointing at her. He dealt the cards quickly, giving them all seven cards each.

Alex quickly gathered her cards not noticing Jennifer grinning, holding back from taking her cards. "Oh, touching the cards before the dealer!" Nikolai mockingly gasped giving her another card.

"Shit! Every time!" Alex groaned, slapping her forehead. Jennifer laughed placing a seven on the pile, "Seven of Spades; have a nice day."

Alex searched her cards and grinned, "Ah-hah! Ace of Spades; get pooped on!"

"Damn it." Nikolai growled.

"Um…ooh, here you go Nikolai! Eight of Spades."

Nikolai grinned. "Sucker!" he hissed, placing another eight on the pile.

Jennifer frowned for a few moments then a blank look fell on her face. She placed a four down.

Alex placed a five of Spades down and knocked on the table twice. Nikolai waited a beat then smirked, "Oh, failure to say five of Spades." He gave her another card.

Alex groaned again while Jennifer snickered. Nikolai placed another five on the pile and knocked four times on the table.

Jennifer absent-mindedly placed a seven on the growing pile, "Have a very nice day. Oh shit! Wait that's not what I meant!" It was Jennifer's turn to groan while Nikolai dealt her another card.

"Excessive use of the word 'very'." The game continued as such for some time before the door opened and four Weasleys walked in. The three Potters stood up to greet their friends.

Jennifer went straight to Fred and George. "Hey guys! Do you have any new prototypes?"

Fred started, "Well we've been-"

George took over, "-Busy working on this-"

"-Project. But we think that-"

"-You're really going to like it."

Jennifer grinned. "Cool! So what is it? Books that bite? Toffee that makes your hair change color? Oh oh! Stuffed animals that eat your homework?"

This time George started, "Actually, it's none-"

"-Of those. But the-"

"-Toffee's a good idea"

"What we've been working on-"

"-Is this."

George (or was it Fred?) proceeded to pull something out of his pocket. A palm sized gryffin to be precise. It was just slightly bigger than the deck of cards the Potter children had been playing with.

"Whoa. That is majorly cool guys. How'd you do it?" Jennifer asked, awed, as she gently took the small creature into her hands.

"Well, you remember-"

"-When we told you-"

"-About the Triwizard Tournament?"

They waited for her to nod before continuing. They knew she'd remember; she only had an excellent memory if she heard something. If she didn't hear it, she didn't remember it. Then again, she had to be giving her full attention to whoever was talking.

"Well we talked to Cedric Diggory-"

"-After the Second Task-"

"-And we asked if we-"

"-Could have the miniature dragon he got."

"He gave it to us with no problem-"

"-So we started running…tests, if you will."

Jennifer frowned, "You didn't hurt the poor thing did you?" she pet the gryffin's head carefully so as not to frighten or hurt him.

The twins chuckled, "No don't worry-"

"-We didn't hurt her."

"We only needed to know-"

"-What dragons that size ate. Also-"

"-We needed to know what spells they-"

"-Used to make her so-"

"-Small. So we could use the same spells-"

"-And know that we wouldn't hurt any-"

"-Other animals we tried it on."

"Because we're just so sensitive to you."

Jennifer smiled. The twins can actually be nice even if they cover it up with jabs towards me.

"Aw, thanks! You two are just so sweet. I just can't seem to figure why you two can't land girlfriends. Or boyfriends. Anyone would just be so lucky to have either of you." Jennifer said with a grin, sarcasm dripping from her words.

Fred grasped his chest over his heart dramatically, "Not even eleven years old yet and already her words stab my very soul!"

George laughed, "Heh, can't wait for her to get older and get a boyfriend. She won't even need us to threaten him into treating her right! She'll be able to castrate him with her words alone!"

Jennifer nodded "Damn straight."

George gasped exaggeratedly while Fred looked scandalized. They spoke simultaneously, "Watch your fucking language! There are children in this room, goddamnit!"

While Jennifer had gone over to talk with the twins, Alex had greeted the youngest Weasley boy.

"Hey Ron, how's your summer been so far? Did your mum make you de-gnome the garden again?"

Ron glowered in memory. "Yeah, five bit me this year." He muttered angrily. Alex bit back a snicker knowing her best friend would not appreciate it.

"I'm sorry to hear." She commented off handedly, before not too subtlety switching the subject to Quidditch. "So, about those Chudley Cannons!" Alex said excitedly as Ron's face lit up. Nikolai scoffed from where he was, two steps away, effectively inserting himself into the conversation.

"Chudley Cannons? Bullshit. Puddlemere United will wipe the floor with them, no sweat. You guys don't stand a chance." Nikolai sneered in his older sister's direction.

Ginny quickly and sneakily entered herself into the conversation, mimicking Nikolai's actions. "That's a laugh! We all know that the Holyhead Harpies will be the ones beating everyone else down." She smirked arrogantly.

Alex glowered at Nikolai, "Yeah? What about you Jenny? Who do you think will win?" Jennifer looked up surprised.

"What? Oh, Quidditch? You know I don't particularly like that sport…" the youngest Potter trailed off slowly. She knew better than to side with either of her two siblings. The fights usually got very messy, what with all the pranks and hexes.

Ginny smiled at the younger girl, "Oh, come off it! You still have a team preference, right? Every body does!"

"I'm not every body." Jennifer mumbled darkly. Slightly louder she said calmly, "Oh, I don't know. I like Viktor Krum. What team does he play for?"

"Well, it seems our little sister does indeed possess an aptitude for sniffing out talent!" Alex grinned approvingly.

Nikolai snorted, "Yeah she does. Now quit trying to sound all 'smart' and drop the posh vocabulary act."

Alex frowned, "I am not 'acting' smart! Which one of us is in Ravenclaw, hm?"

Jennifer quickly began edging away, she got sick of listening to them argue. Not because she hated loud noises (which, coincidentally, she did), but because they were always at each other's throats.

The twins watched the shortest Potter escape through the slightly ajar door. They shrugged and left her to her own devices; every one knew she could only take so much- of people and their bickering. She was an introvert through and through. They turned back to the almost-fight starting in front of them.

"Look here! Just because our Potions tutor said I was stupider than she thought, does not mean that I belong in Hufflepuff! At least I'm not a Snake in Lion's clothing!"

Nikolai hissed and pulled out his wand angrily, "You stuck up bitch! Stupefy!"

Alex dodged, pulling her own wand out, "What the hell? Expelliarmus!"

"Protego! Expelliarmus! Stupefy!"

Alex blocked the first and dodged the other. She sent back a stinging hex just as the door burst open.

"Alexandra Ann Potter! Nikolai Michael Potter! What in Merlin's name are you two doing? You put your wands away now or I will ground you both for a month! That means no Hogsmead for you Alex and no flying, except for Quidditch matches, for you Nikolai. Do not test me!"

The eldest Potter children winced and quickly stowed their wands. "Sorry Mum."

Lily glowered at both of them and pointed, "Do not- do not!- make me come back up here! Understood?"

"Yes!" they quickly agreed. Lily had been quite tense over the last few weeks and had just begun to loosen up. They hated having to tip-toe around their mother when it was July 31. She sent them each one more glare then spun on her heel and exited.

Alex and Nikolai sighed slowly. They looked at each other and smiled.

Ginny and Ron crawled out from under the bed. Ginny groaned, brushing dust from her jumper, "Ick, Disgusting! So, no more hexes?"

Nikolai shook his head, "Nah, we're good. For now." He smiled a little and nudged Alex.

"Oh good!" exclaimed two dusty Weasleys, climbing out of a wardrobe. "Ow, Gred, you jabbed me in the stomach while we were in there."

The other twin turned, "What? Oh sorry Forge. Bit of a tight squeeze in there though wasn't it?"

Ginny looked around, "Hey, where's Jenny? She was just here."

Alex shrugged, "In her room. You know she gets tired of us sometimes, she's probably just reading."

Fred and George glanced at each other, "You know-"

"-She does prefer-"

"-The drawing room."

Ron wrinkled his nose, "Why? It's so dusty in there! And it's got curses placed on almost everything!"

The other five gave him 'are-you-stupid?' looks. Alex spoke up, "You know mate, there is a whole room full of Aurors downstairs. Jenn's not stupid; she would ask for the curses to be lifted or she'd find a way to do it herself."

"Oh, right." Ron mumbled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Fred and George grinned, "So what house will she be in?"

Alex and Nikolai looked at each other. "We…we don't know. She's got traits for all of them. The only thing we know for certain is that she won't be a Gryffindor. She might even be in Slytherin."

The twins shrugged while the other two Weasleys looked shocked.

Ron started first, "What? A Potter in Slytherin? Why do you think she'd be in Slytherin, that's impossible?"

Fred and George quickly hit Ron on the head, "Shut up! Do you want the Jennifer to know we're talking about her? The entire house probably heard you!"

Ron rubbed his neck again, his ears getting red, "Er- right. Anyways, why'd you think she'd be in Slytherin?"

"Well," Alex started slowly, "She's cunning. And she's good at turning the situation around to benefit her. Besides she's not really all that well suited for the other houses. She's loyal, but she hates hard work. Jenn's a worse procrastinator than I am!"

Fred chuckled, "Hufflepuff's out. And she hates people-"

"-So Gryffindor's out too."

Ginny looked confused, "How so?"

"Well, Gryffindor's all about loyalty and bravery, right?" Ginny nodded and Nikolai continued, "If Jennifer's loyal to you, she'll stick her neck on the line for you."

George spoke up before Ginny got a chance to ask again, "Gryffindor's tend to trust each other right away."

Fred nodded, "But Jenn's not like that. You need to earn her trust."

"Oh! And with how loud it is on any given day in the common room-"

George interrupted Ginny, "Exactly. She'd Avada Kedavra someone before the first week was out."

Ron nodded, "She could potentially be a Ravenclaw though. She's pretty smart."

"Well, yeah but-"

"-We won't know until she get's sorted."

Alex smiled, "It's kinda fitting though, isn't it? I mean, my favorite colour has always been blue, Nikolai's has always been red, and Jenn's has always been green. I personally think she'd be perfect for Slytherin. But Mum's convinced that she'll end up being a Ravenclaw."

Alex turned to Ginny, "By the way, did you complete your Potions homework yet? I can't seem to find that much information on Belladonna."

The two girls settled down to discuss their homework while the boys returned to their conversation on Quidditch.

XXX

Jennifer slipped from the room unnoticed and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

The youngest Potter looked at the door and began talking to it, "Um, hullo? Are the wards still up? Because I really need to speak to one of you. Hello? Oh!"

Lily ran past her and up the stairs angrily. Jennifer watched surprised, shook off her shock, and poked her head inside the room, "Um, excuse me. Could one of you possibly help me? Uncle Siri, Dad? Anyone?" Snape, who was closest to the door, heard her while the others were still engrossed in their conversation.

Snape turned around and glowered at her. She shrank back a tad then glared back. "What do you want?"

Jennifer cleared her throat and stood a little straighter. She looked Snape directly in the eye. "Well, I need help in the drawing room. Would you please help me? Er- Sir."

As soon as Jennifer gained eye contact, Snape legilimized her. No way in hell is he going to intimidate me! Bastard. filled his mind. His glare darkened.

"Need? No, you want help you arrogant child." He hissed. Jennifer bit the inside of her bottom lip to keep from laughing.

Another thought not belonging to Snape flitted through his mind, Oh Merlin! He's just like a temperamental cat! Fur standing on end and everything! Snape's eye twitched.

Jennifer rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes, I'm an insolent brat and a horrible child and you're going to give me as many detentions as possible when we get to school. Will you please help me Professor? Pretty please?"

Snape's eye twitched again.

Jennifer chuckled nervously, "On second thought, I'm sure Miss Tonks would be much more willing to help me out. I'll just ask her then shall I?" Jennifer began inching her way around the Potions Master.

"Wait. If I help you what will you do for me?"

She gave him a calculating look. "Well, I don't know about you, but I know some people would kill to know what places to avoid when the twins are on a pranking rampage."

He raised an eyebrow. "You'd sell them out? Just like that?"

"No. But you have to admit that you are a favorite target for anyone. Except your Snakes of course. I'm just offering a chance to not have to worry about changing hair colour, charmed robes, or random inanimate objects growing fangs and trying to bite you. Or, better yet, I can get you a solid two or three months of immunity."

Snape hesitated. It would be nice to enjoy a few moments of uninterrupted 'me' time.

"Where's the drawing room?"

Jennifer grinned. The two walked out the door just as Lily came back in still looking irritated and muttering about teenagers with wands.

As they were walking by the room the other Potters and Weasleys were in, they overheard the conversation inside. "…only thing we know for certain is that she won't be a Gryffindor. She might even be in Slytherin."

Jennifer stopped; they were definitely talking about her. Ron's loud voice came next sounding shocked, "What? A Potter in Slytherin? Why do you think she'd be in Slytherin, that's impossible?"

The two black-haired eavesdroppers heard the sound of someone being hit. "Shut up! Do you want the Jennifer to know we're talking about her? The entire house probably heard you!"

"Er- right. Anyways, why'd you think she'd be in Slytherin?"

"Well, she's cunning. And she's good at turning the situation around to benefit her. Besides she's not really all that well suited for the other houses. She's loyal, but she hates hard work. Jenn's a worse procrastinator than I am!"

"Hufflepuff's out. And she hates people-"

"-So Gryffindor's out too."

"How so?" it was Ginny, she sounded confused.

"Well, Gryffindor's all about loyalty and bravery, right?" There was a pause. "If Jennifer's loyal to you, she'll stick her neck on the line for you."

"Gryffindor's tend to trust each other right away."

"But Jenn's not like that. You need to earn her trust."

"Oh! And with how loud it is on any given day in the common room-"

"Exactly. She'd Avada Kedavra someone before the first week was out."

"She could potentially be a Ravenclaw though. She's pretty smart."

"Well, yeah but-"

"-We won't know until she get's sorted."

"It's kinda fitting though, isn't it? I mean, my favorite colour has always been blue, Nikolai's has always been red, and Jenn's has always been green. I personally think she'd be perfect for Slytherin. But Mum's convinced that she'll end up being a Ravenclaw."

Their conversation tampered off and Jennifer stood there mulling things over. Snape raised an eyebrow at her, "So you may be one of mine then Potter?"

Jennifer shook herself out of her thoughts, "Yeah I guess. Pretty weird though right? I mean, Ron's right; a Potter in Slytherin? That's pretty out there."

Snape nodded and the two of them started toward the drawing room again. "You know Potter, I don't like procrastinators in my House. If you do end up in Slytherin, you will not put anything to the last minute."

Jennifer shrugged, "That's okay. Wouldn't expect anything less from you, to be honest. Besides, I stole some of Alex's old text books before Nikolai dug his claws in. They're really interesting. Except the ones by that Lockhart bloke, he sounded like a right pri- arrogant. He sounded very arrogant."

Snape raised his eyebrow but did not comment. "And you're completely okay with being a Slytherin? Even though we're 'evil'?"

She hesitated, "Well, Slytherin is all about being ambitious and cunning and that's actually good. But…well I don't want to disappoint Dad, you know? He's really 'Gryffindor Rules' and I don't know what he'd say if I were a Slytherin."

Snape nodded slowly, "Yes, your father isn't exactly pro-Slytherin." He looked disgusted.

Jennifer frowned, "Um, Sir? What…what exactly, um, happened between the two of you? All I know is that you and Mum were friends and you and Dad didn't get along."

Snape twitched slightly and hesitated. Jennifer noticed, "Never mind Sir. It's none of my business, sorry."

He nodded stiffly. He opened the drawing room door and sweep in quickly. Jennifer followed wincing slightly, silently berating herself for being so nosy.

Snape turned to her expectantly, "What do I have to do to get my three months free of those infuriating Weasley twins?"

Her head snapped up sharply, "Three? Well in that case, I need several somethings." Snape glowered.

"Now Potter! What do you want?"

She rolled her eyes and grumbled to herself, "Pushy." She straightened her spine and pointed to the top shelf of a dusty, beat up bookshelf. "I need your help getting some books down."

He stared at her incredulously, "You asked for my help because you're too short? You insufferable brat! Pull a step stool over!"

She huffed, upset, "It's not that simple! I've tried everything I know! I tried a step stool, but the books kept moving out of my reach. I tried Accio. I tried levitating it into my hands. I even looked up different creatures who might do something like that. I couldn't find anything."

Snape calmed down, "I see. Sounds like there are spells keeping the books inaccessible to you. I will do what I can for you."

Jennifer smiled, "Than you Sir."

Snape brandished his wand and began running detection spells. After about a half hour of diligent spell casting, he finally managed to get the books for the littlest Potter. He silently summoned the four books to himself and curiously peered at the covers. Snape looked at Jennifer and pierced her with a questioning glare.

She chuckled nervously, "Erm, I'm just really interested in the Dark Arts. I swear I won't try any of the stuff in the books, I'm not stupid. Um…Sir, could you, uh, you know, keep this from Mum and Dad? Please?"

Snape opened his mouth to retort (and probably lecture her) when an alarm sounded through out the house. Snape paled slightly and shoved the books into her arms. "We'll talk about this later." He rushed from the room and Jennifer frowned worried. "The masked assassin." She whispered softly. "I hope Dad and Uncle Siri will be safe."

A/N: Well, that's it for now. I didn't really get a chance to proof read all of it, so if any of you see a typo, I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me know. I didn't really talk about Harry or Lydia this chapter. –laughs- Next chapter should be all about them. And Diagon Alley for the Potter brats.

Thanks for reading, if you've got the time, a review would be nice! :D

With Love, ScarletBooth 3