Chapter 1: So… That Happened
In Brussels, Belgium a pub was tucked away between a post office and an inn. Staying at that inn was a woman with dark, curly hair and a fair face and her daughter. The daughter had similar hair, unless she was feeling particularly emotional, yet their nature and demeanors were quite different.
One was harsh and cold, with a sharp tongue. The other confident, albeit quick-tempered, and amiable.
It was a brisk summer night and the mother was meeting a group of old friends. They were planning a surprise for the Ministry of Magic and the daughter quickly left the room as smelly, horrid people began to pour into the room.
She looked at the tattoo on one man's forearm that matched hers, when she was not hiding it. She smiled to herself. Most mothers would never let their daughters get a tattoo much less force it upon them. It hadn't hurt as much as she was expecting what with it being dark magic.
Thirty minutes later the daughter found herself standing outside the door of the room.
"My mother broke out of Azkaban at the height of the war." The mother hissed.
"Shit… this ain't 30 years ago when we 'ad the ministry run'n scared, is it? Saint Potter's put everyone 'way and those he ain't, are too scared to do anythin' bout it." A man with a heavy cockney accent, and an even heavier stench, snarled back.
"Which is exactly why we must do this." A man said in a proper voice. "Our friends, our family, all locked away in Azkaban. It is time to put mudbloods in their place and take back what belongs to us." There were some agitated grunts of agreement and some murmurs.
And then an explosion.
"Expelliarmus!" "Avada Kadavra!"
"Stupefy!" "Sectumsempra!"
It was clear who the Aurors were and who the death eaters were just from the spells they cast. The daughter ran down stairs, wand in hand as other wizards were trying to escape as well. Some more people, clearly death eaters, were battling a couple of witches and wizards in the pub. There was a dead woman lying on the floor and no blood.
The girl ran across the street where people were literally fleeing for their lives because the death eaters began targeting anyone who got in their way. As more death eaters were captures by Aurors, some stated to Aparate. In a few minutes there were no more spells being cast and all death eaters were subdued or unconscious.
She saw her mother being taken and felt guilty when relief seeped into her emotions.
"Hey, you there!"
She jumped about two feet in the air when a voice shouted to her.
"Ron! Don't yell at her! She's obviously terrified." Another man berated the red haired Auror. They walked a bit closer to her, so they could speak without yelling.
"Are you alright?" The man with an Irish accent asked.
"Yes…who are you?" The girl asked.
"My name is Seamus Finnegan and this is Ronald Weasley." He motioned to the red haired man.
"What's going to happen to me?" Her lip quivered as she did not realize they didn't know her mother was a death eater.
"Are you parents here?" Mr. Weasley asked. Her lips parted in surprise.
"I don't have parents." She replied, looking at the ground.
Technically not a lie, she thought to herself.
The two men looked at each other and then a woman called to them.
"We'll be right there." Mr. Finnegan shouted back to her. "What's your name?" He asked the girl.
"Atria," She responded slowly, "Atria Williams."
"Do you remember anything that happened? Any details that might help us?" Mr. Weasley asked with a slightly interrogative tone.
It occurred to her than they thought she was a muggle.
"You won't have to obliviate me, if that's what you mean. I'm not a muggle." She responded indignantly. Mr. Finnegan laughed while Mr. Weasley turned slightly pink in the ears. Atria pressed her lips together as if she thought better of insulting an Auror.
"How old are you?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Fourteen." Atria replied, a bit coldly. She was frustrated by the fact that they were treating her like a child.
"Where do you go to school?" Mr. Finnegan asked curiously. His tone was not as babying as Mr. Weasley's had been.
"Nowhere." She whispered. Are they going to ship me off to school? Atria wondered.
"Would you come with us Ms. Williams?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Are you going to make me go to school?" Atria chewed on her lip.
"Not right now. You know, since its summer." Mr. Weasley chuckled at his little joke and Mr. Finnegan and Atria glanced at him.
The woman who had been calling their name previously came over and pulled the two men aside. Perfect chance to escape, Atria thought. They returned a moment later though and the woman began speaking to her.
"Ms. Williams we would like you to return to the Ministry of Magic with us so that you can relay details of what happened before our Aurors infiltrated the inn." The woman said is a soft, yet commanding voice. She seemed more put together than either of the men.
"Uh… sure. Not like I have anything better to do." Atria muttered.
A little while later, although it felt like forever to Atria, she took Mr. Finnegan's hand and he told her to brace herself. She had Aparated before so the puking sensation was not entirely new.
"So what are we going to do with her?" Harry asked Ron.
"Don't know mate." Ron shrugged. "Figured the first step was to get her back here and find out what happened before we attacked." They both glanced at the door where Atria Williams was being questioned.
"It seemed like they knew we were watching. The other death eaters were waiting for us to attack the ones in the inn, and then they snuck up on us." Harry said, deep in thought.
There were very few death eaters left and it wasn't a huge deal that they were gathering but it still didn't sit right with Harry.
"Yeah, and they had the place charmed so that we couldn't pick anything up with the Extendable ears. It happened so quick we didn't even see who the other death eaters that bolted were." Ron said as Seamus came out of the room where Atria was.
"Guess what?" He said excitedly.
"She saw all of their faces and named every death eater, so now we can go get them and lock 'em in Azkaban?" Ron said hopefully.
"Eh… no." Seamus said in a rather comical tone. "She's a metamorphagus."
"What?" Ron and Harry gaped at the same time.
"Yea, so I was asking her about the death eaters and—"
"Are you lot calling them 'death eaters' again?" A commanding voice said.
"'Mione, just because they haven't formally announced themselves—"
"Ronald, you know very well we have no proof they are connected to Voldemort, or any of his followers." Hermione Weasley scolded. Harry rolled his eyes, not believing they weren't death eaters. "All we know is that they are magical radical extremists connected to several violent crimes across Europe."
"Of course, Hermione, but it takes so much time to say 'magical radical extremists'." Harry said with a straight face.
"Children, please." Seamus put his hands out in a calming motion. "As I was saying – I was taking her through the evenings events and her hair turned bright red—"
"What?" Hermione gasped, "Whose hair?"
Seamus sighed impatiently. "If I could just get through the bleeding story"
He paused to wait for anymore interruptions.
"So I was taking Atria, the girl we picked up from the scene, through today's events and her hair turns bright red, I looked shocked I'm sure, and she says 'yea that happens sometimes'." He finished in a rush.
"Where are her parents?" Hermione asks, rubbing her hands together worriedly.
"She says she doesn't have any. Must've been given up or orphaned." Harry said.
"Well, not everyone is cut out for parenthood." Hermione sighed.
"'Ey, Dad!" I loud voice of a teenage boy called from down the hall.
"Speaking of failed attempts at parenthood." Ron muttered comically. Harry glared, Seamus grinned, and Hermione elbowed her husband.
Harry's oldest son James came running down the long corridor.
"Mum's waiting for us. She sent me to find you. Said to tell you that we're leaving without you and if you weren't home in five minutes there would be anti-apparition spells up on the house." James grinned at his father. With his auburn hair and green eyes he was a mix of both parents.
"I'm gonna get Atria out of the interrogation box." Seamus says, already walking backward before turning around to open the big black door. A second later a redhead followed him out in place of a girl with black hair. Harry and Ron looked surprised, as if they expected Seamus to be twisting their wands about the metamorphosing.
Before anyone could say anything James was in front of Atria with his hand outstretched.
"Hey, I'm James." He smirked, running his hands through his hair.
She looked at him for a second.
Then her eyes went completely black, she opened her mouth and had fangs and then a snakes tongue slither out. It happened in less than a second and James snapped his hand back and proceeded to trip over his own feet, falling on his butt.
The next second her regular face was back and her hair was blue and she was laughing as though she hadn't seen numerous people murdered.
"What the blood hell." James said in a rush of a breath. He was still on the ground as though he didn't have the strength to get up at the moment. He looked up at her and she smirked and flipped her long black hair, imitating him.
"Sorry, it was just too fun to resist." She grinned and offered him a hand. Ron and Seamus were cracking up in the back and Hermione looked disappointed.
James stared at her hand for a moment, just to make sure it wouldn't hurt him, and then took her hand. She pulled him up with a surprising amount of force.
"Hi, I'm Atria."
"James."
"You said that already." She smirked once more.
"What the bloody hell is taking so long?" James shrunk back and Harry winced and looked fond all at the same time.
"Sorry, Ginny, we just had some last minute details to discuss." Harry said formally as if they had been doing something serious.
Hermione snorted.
"So who's taking the girl?" Seamus asked suddenly. Everyone looked at Atria.
"Me? What, I don't need to be taken anywhere." She said defensively.
"Dad, we'll take her." James jumped in. Ginny gave him a warning look and then Harry a questioning look.
"She doesn't have any parents, no school, and was at the attack today." Harry explained seeing his wife's look.
"Well then we'll take her. Send her to Hogwarts with the rest of the kids in a month." Ginny said with no hesitation.
"Wait a pixie," Atria interjected, "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself—"
"Absolutely not." Ginny said with a certain finality. James was inching closer to Atria.
"You really should be going to school. To find a job these days you need at least 4 N.E.W.T.'s." Hermione said and Ron rolled his eyes.
"And fourteen is not a proper age to live alone." Seamus agreed. Atria looked around for support but found none.
"Don't worry you'll love the Manor."
I cannot go home with the Potter's, Atria though, panicked. James winked at her.
"Wait until you meet the rest of the family."