MORNING
"Chelly, wake up or I swear to God I will use brute force," Ebony threatened as she prodded at Chelly still passed out in the lounge chair.
"Yeah yeah," she mumbled and burrowed deeper into her blankets. "Do your worst."
"Have it your way," Ebony signed and brushed her hand as if bored. The diamonds turned red on her ring, "Aquamentia."
Chelly let out a gasp as a bucket of water rushed down on her. She spurted and coughed before glaring up at Ebony through her soaked hair. Her friend smiled back. "You said go ahead."
"I didn't say drop a bucket of water on my head!" she growled and ran her fingers through the wet locks to move them from her face.
"Well at least you're up and somewhat showered. We're heading to Hogwarts today. Thought you might need to finish packing so we can leave," she shrugged and turned to lead the way up the stairs to her bedroom. Chelly mumbled under her breath and followed her friend up, taking over the shower while Ebony finished packing her clothes.
Chelly stepped out of the bathroom twenty minutes later, brushing her hair as she sat on the couch, her suitcases near her. She pulled her wand out of her purse and swiveled it. Her clothes started packing themselves in neat order. Days like this she loved being a witch. "So now we only get there three days earlier?"
"Yup, Dumbledore says there's no reason to be there so early this year. No tournaments or new appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers from hell."
"What about Voldermort?" Chelly asked and placed her barrettes in her hair to keep her bangs out of her face. They were little smiley faces that changed color and sparkled. Luna had made them for her for her birthday.
"What about him?" Ebony asked, still occupying herself with applying her eyeliner.
"Isn't he an issue to worry about?"
"Yes…and no," she sighed.
"What do you mean?" asked Chelly, completely puzzled.
Ebony put her makeup back in her makeup purse and levitated it to her suitcase. "Voldermort has always been and will continue to be a problem. Nothing can change that until he's dead but why live in that fear? We at least have the advantage of knowing what he's planning, due to...well you know," she said. She didn't trust the walls not to speak, didn't want the wrong people finding out about her father spying.
"Yeah, I know," Chelly nodded fully getting it. "It's just…it's scary is all."
"It'll be scary. It usually is but you learn to live with it. There's no reason to be more cautious than usual. Let them think we're not afraid that we aren't prepared for them. We don't want to give them any more reason than necessary though I can guarantee we'll be watching Harry more closely this time around. Who knows what they'll be planning…especially Draco since his father is in Azkaban?"
Chelly thought back to her dream at the mention of Draco. He had been mentioned in her dream as well. It had been weird. Bellatrix was there with Narcissa and she was begging Severus to help Draco with a task Voldermort had given him that seemed to Chelly, due to Narcissa's pleading, to be a suicide mission. And Snape had agreed to it, even took an Unbreakable Vow…but Narcissa had placed the consequence on Ebony's life. She remembered seeing that red cloud hovering over Ebony as she slept in the dream
"Are you feeling okay, Eb?" Chelly asked her.
"Yeah, I feel fine. Why?" she frowned in the middle of zipping up her bag after putting the black box and her Pensive in it. "Do I look bad or something?"
"No, I just had a really weird dream."
"You always have weird dreams. You had one about kitchen appliances chasing you around the house. What else is new?"
"This one seemed real," she argued through clenched teeth.
Ebony gave Wilson, her pet Fly Trap – though it was more of a meat eater now at three feet tall – a piece of chicken. It snapped it out of the air and rubbed its head against her hand, purring affectionately. "Yeah, you said that one seemed real too and you wouldn't watch Beauty and the Beast for a month."
"Whatever," she huffed and finished packing her clothes before moving to Fidget's cage where her gray owl twitched every few minutes. It was a side effect of her older brother having given him coffee when he was a baby. He never quite recovered from it. He even twitched a little in his sleep; it made flying for him to be a pain since he'd lose his balance in the air at times. She fed him a snack and covered his cage with a red cloth.
Meanwhile, Ebony had shrunk Wilson down to a reasonable size to transport so she could carry him through the fire place into the other chambers. She bent down to pick him up and a wave of dizziness swept over her as rushed words flew past her ears. Whispers that were too low to hear and seemed to echo in a distance as if from a long hallway. She braced her hand against the wall, leaning against it and shut her eyes to keep the room from spinning.
"Are you okay?" she heard Chelly ask from behind her. Her voice seemed distant at first but came into clear focus at the end.
Ebony nodded her head and opened her eyes. The whispers had disappeared and the room was set into place, no longer spinning. She ran a hand over her forehead and stood without support from the wall. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just bent down too fast to pick him up." She knelt a little more slowly and lifted Wilson up with no other ill effects. "We better get going before my dad starts complaining about how slow we are."
Her father's voice from down stairs right on time. "Are you two ready yet? I'd like to get there before the new semester starts."
Chelly rolled her eyes this time. "Sheesh, we move ten minutes behind schedule and the world ends. School doesn't even start for another few days."
Ebony shrugged as she levitated her suitcase down the stairs to meet her dad in the living room where he stood arms folded, looking peeved on their tardiness. "Are you finished?"
"For the most part," Chelly said and felt the emptiness in her stomach that reminded her about her skipped meal. "I didn't get breakfast though."
"You should have woken up earlier then. You can wait til we get to the castle," he threw the flo powder into the fireplace turning it green. "Hogwarts."
Chelly's stomach grumbled in response to her feelings on no food. She stared at the green flames and grimaced, she hated this part. She stepped into it right behind her friend and felt the familiar tug and pull as she spun out into Hogwarts taking a much needed deep breath and fell upon the couch in the dungeon chambers. The room was still spinning and her insides were settling back into place. No matter how many times she did that it never got any easier. She still felt like throwing up and was glad she had missed breakfast for once.
"You two can go on and do what you need to. I have some things I need to see to," Snape addressed the two of them. His lip twitched into a smile as he spotted Chelly, still looking green around the edges as she sat bent forward on the couch. "Maybe you should go get some breakfast. I'm sure the house elves can cook you some bacon or sausage."
Chelly let out a groan and rested her head on her knees. Ebony shot her dad a look and he smiled in response with a dark gleam in his eyes. "Just a suggestion. On second thought, Ms. Murillo may need a bit of fresh air. She is looking a little peaky."
"I'll give you peaky," she mumbled from her bent over position.
Snape ignored the comment. "I believe you two can stay out of trouble for the time being. Be careful and don't wander off too far."
"Yes, father," Ebony said sarcastically. "We'll try our best. No guarantees"
He sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, mumbling to himself about children as he left the room. Chelly managed to sit up, still lacking color but the room had stopped spinning. "Okay…let's go outside. Fresh air sounds great."
Ten minutes later they were walking towards Hogsmeade having decided a trip to the Three Brooms would be a good idea for some food and drinks, maybe a little shopping as well. And Ebony was betting on George working at the Weasley store since business had been booming with their products and the money had come raking in.
"Is Oliver working here this year?" Ebony asked.
"Yup, he comes in tomorrow," she nodded and stuck her hands inside her jacket pocket. "He's minoring with the Ireland team. I'm betting he'll be on the actual team in two years tops."
"Least your boyfriend's doing something," she mumbled.
"Hey, George and Fred are doing great with the Weasley products."
"I know…it just seems so…normal to me."
"Normal makes them happy. What's wrong with normal?"
"Nothing I suppose. I'm just not used to things being so…mundane."
She nudged her friend. "The way things go around here you could use a little normal in your life. It's been hell from the start."
Ebony couldn't argue. From the time she was born it had been anything but normal. Her mother had been a dark Death Eater and she was hidden from the world when she was found to have the Death Royalty mark since her biological father came from a string of devoted Death Eaters as well but had never been one himself. Then, Sirius was framed for the murder of the Potters and Ebony was adopted by Severus Snape, her father by heart. It didn't help that he too had been a Death Eater and she had to feign an allegiance all her life and grow up with everyone knowing or suspecting her dad's allegiance to Voldermort. It didn't help either that her dad was spying for Dumbledore on Voldermort. And she now found herself dragged into it. It just got deeper as the years went on.
When she was sixteen Harry Potter had started going to Hogwarts. She hadn't seen him since he was a baby and, to make matters worse, he looked like James, his father, which only succeeded in pissing off Snape. She then found herself looking out for Harry with each passing year and subsequently dragging her best friend Chelly into it all the following year that resulted in her being petrified by a Baslik and herself getting flung into a not so soft brick wall.
The following year only got worse. Sirius Black escaped Azkaban and was coveting a reunion with his long lost daughter who he felt was being raised unjustifiably by his worst enemy as a pawn in a game. It had caused Ebony to have second thoughts about Snape's intentions, spreading the seed in her mind that maybe she was just a revenge scheme and nothing more, that maybe Snape couldn't love anyone else. Sirius was also after Harry, his godson. But Harry was unaware of that bit of information. He was under the impression that Sirius had killed his parents. No one knew the truth about anything…and then Chelly had found out by looking into Ebony's Pensive and disclosing the memory of the day Ebony was adopted by Snape. They had made Chelly do an Unbreakable Vow, that she would never reveal that Ebony was in fact Sirius Black's biological daughter. And she did swear and never told. Ebony was convinced Chelly all but forgot completely that Snape wasn't her father by blood. That day had grown long. They then found themselves in a heated argument with Ebony as a shield between Snape and Sirius and Wormtail, the actual murderer of Harry's parents and Snape's beloved Lily, was found to be the culprit, revealing that information to the trio and Chelly as well…again it got worse. Her Uncle Lupin, her very own godfather had forgotten to take his potion and it was a full moon…meaning he would turn into a werewolf…it caused Wormtail to get away…and Sirius to be caught. Chelly, Ebony, Hermione, and Harry then had to go back in time to save Sirius and got chased by a werewolf Lupin through the woods, as Ebony recalled it was one of Chelly's "favorite moments". They managed to save Sirius and help him escape but neither she nor Harry could go with him with Wormtail still on the loose.
The next year should have been better…but proved otherwise. The Triwizard tournament was being held at Hogwart's. And not even the housing of Viktor "Yumm" Krum could expunge the dark dawning of Harry's name from the cup that was an impossibility viewed by everyone as a darker force behind it. So Ebony was forced to keep an eye on him while Chelly found ways to keep her eyes on Krum for other reasons than espionage, more of a drooling glazed over school girl crush while she had to work at swatting Cedric and his pinning look for her away and ignore her boyfriend's eye rolling huffs. It wasn't hard for her to watch Harry when it was found she was the thing he treasured most for the second task to retrieve, yet poor Chelly was found to be what Cedric treasured most…and a angry ball of fury towards Hermione who was what Krum treasured most. That year was also the year her Dark Mark was revealed as it was burning and hurting throughout the year starting with the Quidditch game she attended. Dumbledore and Snape both revealed its meaning. She was Death Royalty, above and beyond any Death Eater ranking and if it were found out she would immediately be recruited to that side of the dark war and Voldermort would surely want her. It meant she could never reveal it for fear of what would happen. Only under dire emergencies she was told it could be disclosed. That time had not come yet, thank God. But it was found out to be that Mad Eye Moody wasn't who he was. He was a Death Eater taking Poly Juice Potion and was actually Barty Crouch Jr. He had spelled the Cup to take Harry to the cemetery where Voldermort could be raised. Due to Harry's nobility, he and Cedric decided to both take the cup. They had no use for Cedric…he was killed. She'd never forget hearing Cedric's father's cries as he held his dead son's body in his arms once returned…nor would she ever forget that saddened look in her father's eyes as Snape couldn't bear the thought of ever losing her…the only good thing that had come of that year was the Yule Ball where she danced with her love, George; was rescued from Draco's pawing hands by Harry, and got to dance with her father to Vienna Tang's Harbor.
Last year was no better than the previous four. The only difference was more people got dragged into it including their best friend Luis and Chelly's cousin Luna. In fact, the devil was on campus and she wore bright pink, not prada. Umbridge, the biggest bitch known to history and Chelly's newest enemy. Umbridge's idea of punishment was a quill that would etch into the back of your hand whatever you had to write…Ebony had one…Chelly had a collection. If that wasn't bad enough the Grand Canyon seemed to be dividing her and Snape. That seed of suspicion she had had planted in her brain seemed to reawaken that year with Sirius at Grimmauld place and she found herself in the middle of a long childhood battle that she had to take care of while Chelly helped with Dumbledore's Army, helping Harry teach charms and spells to fight off Death Eater's with those who believed Voldermort was back. Eventually things were patched and stronger than ever between her and Snape as it dawned on both of them that they belonged with each other as a family and blood relations had nothing to do with anything, it had to do with love. And in her heart she knew Snape was her father, she belonged with him. She had the Kodak moment picture Chelly had taken with her damn camera to prove it.
But again, the nights grew darker and she found herself in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic fighting off Death Eaters with Chelly, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Oliver, Luis, Neville, and Luna as they were there to rescue Sirius but found it to be a trap. Each ended up nabbed by a Death Eater after a lengthy fall through an enchanted door to a deadly archway that only people who had seen death could hear the voices behind the whispery arch. Ebony had been held by none other than Lucius Malfoy…and Sirius had knocked him into letting her go – literally – as Orders of the Phoenix showed up to battle the Death Eaters there. Chelly had taken the opportunity to get Luna to safety with Luis and save Oliver from nearly being killed…but her vision had come true as she saw Bellatrix kill Surius Black and he fell through the archway disappearing into it. Harry and Ebony had gone after her dark cousin and they had found themselves face to face with Voldermort. He had tortured Ebony with the Crucio Curse and Dumbledore had saved them both, but she had saved Harry with memories of their friendship and their friends after Voldermort possessed his mind. With Sirius dead she had grown closer to Snape as had Chelly as they all had a moment on the couch in their chambers after they had gotten back, beaten and bloody from battle to see him worried sick over them and he had promised everything would be okay.
Ebony hoped this year would be better…but judging on the ascension of each year…she was more scared than relieved with it. She looked up to see the Shrieking Shack in the distance behind the wooden fence where flowers were still strung around it with everlasting candles and few photos. The memorial for Sirius.
"You all right?" Chelly asked as they paused to look at it.
She nodded her head. "Yeah…I'm good…it's Harry I wonder about…I still have a family. I have Lupin and Tonks and my dad…he lost his last hope at a happy life with a father figure and someone who truly loved him."
"He's a strong kid," she reassured her and grabbed her arm dragging her along. The Shrieking Shack put a bad feeling in her she couldn't shake. The vision she had received a year before from Snape was foggy, but she remembered that Shack and didn't like it. "Come on, let's go see if your boy has anything worth buying."
They didn't have to go very far before it seemed her boyfriend and his twin found them. At least their Flabbergasting Fireworks did as sparks of blue and green and streams of glittering red and gold exploded around them. Most people would have been dumbfounded or taken aback by all the spectacles, however they were just too used to this by now to be anything more than amused.
The two walked right up to Fred and George who were standing just outside their shop with grins on. Ebony moved into George's arms and gave him a kiss. "Hey Georgie."
"How do you know I'm not George?" his twin asked.
"Because George is the cuter of the two of you," she answered and led her boyfriend and best friend inside.
"Hey!" Fred exclaimed and followed them into the store. "I resent that."
"Not only that but George is the only one who looks at me the way he does," she said and looked over a couple of Spell Correct Pens.
Fred moved behind the counter. "Like what? Like you're a girl or something?"
"Like he's a love sick puppy," Chelly snorted and shook one of the Glitter Glowing Globes.
George leaned against the table next to Ebony. "Like I'm undressing you in my mind," he wiggled his eyebrows.
Without looking up, Ebony smacked him across the back of the head nearly knocking him over from the surprise impact. "No, like I'm his girlfriend."
"Well because you are," Fred said.
She rolled her eyes. "And that's exactly why I can tell you two apart."
"I take it business is going well," Chelly said as she picked through the products of what she wanted to buy. She already had Mood Lipstick and Ever Changing Hair Spray that would change your hair colors and last for three hours or until washed out. And a few decoy detonators, she never knew when those would come in handy in their line of work it was bound to be useful. A couple trick wands wouldn't hurt…maybe Luis later but not her. Some Darkness Powder to make areas go black might be handy, she saw Ebony had picked up a few of those as well as other things in her basket.
"Very well. When we aren't here we are in our shop in Diagon Alley," Fred said. "Jordan runs it for now. We'll be leaving to there later to take over since business will be booming over there more than here and Jordan will take over here until school break when it'll get busy here."
"What about you two?" George asked.
Ebony sat her basket of items near the register for Fred to ring up. "Working as usual."
"In potions again, what another exciting year," Fred mumbled.
Chelly and Ebony glanced at each other. "Not exactly in potions this year…well I am," Ebony said.
"But…not completely."
George blinked. "Don't you help your Dad in his class?"
"Yea…"
"So you're gonna be in potions."
"Yes…I'll be helping in potions for one or two classes…but I'm helping my Dad as well."
"I don't get it. You're helping in potions."
Fred took over the rest of the thought as twins do. "But you're helping your Dad's class as well. That would mean-,"
Both of the twin's eyes widened and they spoke together. "Snape teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Yup," Chelly nodded and set her basket on the table. "Snape got the job this year."
"Good for him."
"Bad for Luis," Chelly snorted.
"Why?" Fred asked and started ringing her items up.
"Because he thinks he's done with Snape's class. All he has left really is Defense Against…he has no idea Snape is teaching it."
"He's gonna throw a fit," Ebony nodded and held her goodie bag that cost her less than half of what it originally would have.
"To put it mildly," Chelly added and frowned at the total on the reg screen. "Don't I get a discount?"
"Why?" Fred asked with a sneer.
"Cuz I'm your friend."
"And?" George added.
"And I'm your friend."
"And?"
"And I helped you with the Triwizard Tournament betting.
"And?" George asked.
"And I never snitched you out for sneaking off with Ebony to Snape."
"And?" Fred asked.
"And I never ratted you out to Umbridge about the fireworks or swamp in her office."
"And?" George questioned.
"And," she spoke through gritted teeth and pointed her wand at him. "You sleep with Ebony and if you want to continue getting sex you better give me the discount or you're gonna find out how good I am at Transfiguration."
George pursued his lips as he stared at her wand dangerously close to his crotch. He stepped back from her and nodded at Fred. "Give her a discount…and a few free chocolate frogs at that."
Chelly brightened up and tucked her wand away. "I knew we could come to an agreement."
Ebony rolled her eyes at her friend's ability to change personalities at the drop of a pen…or in this case a chocolate frog.
"What are you two doing the next few days?" Fred asked.
"Nothing really. Just relaxing til utter chaos ensues. We should be getting out results from our Auror test sometime today," Chelly shrugged. "Least I should be. Ebony just had to re up hers."
"Magine that," she snorted with a shake of her head. "Voldermort comes back, I'm at the scene of the crime and suddenly I'm forced to retake it."
"Like you didn't pass."
"Doesn't matter. It's just bull that I had to take it again."
"Speaking of tests, our little Ronny got his OWL results in," George said.
"How'd he do?" Chelly asked as she munched on a chocolate frog.
"He got seven OWLs, better than we did," Fred chuckled.
"Really? I got an O in Care of Magical Creatures and Transfiguration. An E in Defense Against and Divination. An A in Charms, Runes, Potions and Herbology. And a P in math and History of Magic."
"Lemme guess," George looked sideways at Ebony. "You passed everything."
She snorted. "No. Just because my father is Snape doesn't mean I'm great at everything. I got a P in arithmetic, Divination, and Runes. I got eight OWLs out of eleven. But I kicked ass in Potions and Defense Against on my NEWTs."
"I wonder how Harry did," said Chelly as she undid another frog.
"Don't know," Ebony shrugged. "But knowing my father, Harry didn't score high enough to become an Auror. He demands an O to take the NEWT potions class."
Fred frowned and glanced at Chelly. "Then how is she an Auror."
She glared at him, munching on her candy. "You're lucky I'm eatin'."
Ebony answered for her. "She excels in Transfiguration and she makes one hell of a confusing potion. Not to mention her psychic ability."
"Psychic ability?" the twins said at the same time.
"Her premonitions," Ebony nodded. "Sometimes Chelly can see things before they happen."
"Really?" Fred asked in wide eyed wonder. "What do you see?"
"An idiot."
"She can't call it on command," Ebony warned them. "She just can see things sometimes."
"But I'm having a hard time remembering it all and by the time I remember to put it in my Pensive its missing a bunch of pieces. So I'm meeting up with Trelawny this year to hone in on this crap."
"Sounds exciting," Fred mumbled.
"It is," Chelly glanced at her watch. "We better get going. We have to meet up with Dumbledore before seeing your Dad for lunch."
Ebony nodded and gave George a goodbye kiss and let him get away with pinching her ass as she passed him though the glare she shot him told him not to do it again and the grin he shot her said he would.
Fifteen minutes later they reached the gargoyle staircase. "Snickerdoodle," Chelly said to it and it creaked open taking them up to the spacious office. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk looking old around his tired eyes. He smiled weakly as the girl's entered. "Ebony, Chelly, do come in."
Chelly noticed Dumbledore's hand then and paused in mid step. He smiled at her despite it. "Of course you would notice. It's part of the reason I called you both into my office. I figured you should know the truth of the matters at hand." He gestured at his hand. "This happened from collecting Horcruxs."
"Horcruxs?" Chelly repeated having never heard the word before though to Ebony it sounded familiar.
"Yes, they are articles or objects that someone stores pieces of their soul into after committing the most terrible of acts: murder. It rips the soul apart and allows a wizard to store it into an object. A dangerous thing to go about. It is a way of staying immortal. One cannot die until all are destroyed."
"I take it that happened to your hand while hunting for Voldermort's Horcuxs," Ebony ventured a guess. "He must guard them pretty well."
"Yes indeed, my dear," Dumbledore smiled.
"How many are there?" Chelly asked.
"Seven. He has seven…and two have been destroyed."
"Horcruxs…is this what you needed to tell us about?" Ebony asked.
"Yes, you both need to know of this because I feel this will be needed in the near future and it is the only way of destroying Voldermort, I trust you both to keep this confidential and in the utmost secret."
"Yes," Chelly nodded.
"Of course," Ebony agreed.
"Do not, under any circumstances, tell Harry. I will do that on my own, this information as of now in his mind would be dangerous for him. But I feel you need to hear this, you need to know how these things can be put to an end."
"So where are the other five?"
Dumbledore paused for a moment, deep in thought and the two could only wait. "One, I believe is in the cave off the coast…Salazar Slytherin's locket…the others are related to the other two Houses."
"And the remaining?" Ebony asked and again she saw the dark look pass over Dumbledore's eyes. It had to be bad for that kind of a reaction.
"Something Voldermort would keep close to him at all times, no matter what. Just in case of an emergency it could not be taken from him."
"I hate riddles," Chelly mumbled and shook her head.
"And the last one…"
His blue eyes met her, piercing right into her. "You already know, Ebony…you were there the night you heard about it. You've always known, it's something you protect."
Ebony frowned. She was starting to hate riddles as well. Dumbledore smiled. "It'll come to the two of you."
"So you want us to locate these things and destroy them?" Chelly asked and cracked her knuckles.
"No. That will be Harry's job."
They frowned and Chelly asked the question, "Then why tell us?"
"Because you need to know. Because your jobs are to watch out for Harry, but also to watch out for yourselves. Darker times lay ahead and you both need to be discreet and alert to everything. It will only get worse before it can get better."
They nodded.
"Please remember that. Not everything is as it seems," he said and moved his eyes to Ebony as he said it. "There is always a veil of illusion in the way of reality and sometimes you must search to find it."
"O…k," Chelly nodded, her head buzzing.
He switched to her. "And not everything you foresee is as it will be, but with that, you can't change everything…but the truth is always clear, no matter how jumbled it may be."
She nodded still perplexed by it all.
He sighed with a smile, "You two may go and remember my words, you will need them later."
The two left his office in a daze and stood at the bottom of the staircase frowning. Chelly opened her mouth and shut it trying to find the right words, "Did- did you understand any of that?"
"Not a whole lot."
"Will it make sense later?"
"I hope so."
"Can we go eat?"
"Lets," she nodded and the two walked back to their chambers, pondering the words of wisdom they had yet to understand.