Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything else created by JK Rowling.
This chapter is slightly shorter and less... thrilling than others, but it is very important to understand what is going on. It has information on Miranda's parentage.
Again, thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing.
Severus and Miranda ended up in Muggle London and entered a small café. There weren't any other customers so they ordered coffee and sat in the back.
"So what do we have to talk about?" Miranda asked.
"Not exactly subtle, hmm?" At this, Miranda blushed. "Well, I suppose the first thing I should do is make sure you won't tell anyone what I am about to disclose to you."
Miranda took a wizard's oath that she would not repeat a word of it. "Good," said Severus. "Now, one thing you need to know is that I am a spy for the Order of the Phoenix. I became a Death Eater when I was only a teenager. Now, it is one of the biggest regrets of my life."
"Why do you regret it?"
"Because the Dark Lord murdered someone that I cared about very much," he replied with a scowl.
"You must have really loved her," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
"How do you know it was a 'her'?" he asked.
"Well, only someone that you loved on a romantic level could give you that look in your eye when you think of them, and I hope you're not gay because that would be a loss for women everywhere so I'm thinking it was a her, but if I'm wrong don't worry, your secret's safe with me."
"No, you're right. I'm just surprised by how intuitive you are. There aren't many people your age that know so much about life." He appeared to be having an internal conflict with himself. Finally, he added, "Her name was Lily by the way. Lily Evans." The last two words were whispered so quietly, Miranda had to strain her ears to hear it.
Miranda nodded, then decided to change the subject for Severus' sake. "So you're a spy?" It was the first thing that popped into her mind. "That sounds really dangerous, especially considering who you are spying on."
"Yes, I suppose it is. I have to be extremely careful, even more so now that Wormtail is living in my house, which is why I brought you here to talk. I feel I must warn you though. Don't put your complete trust in Albus Dumbledore."
"Why not?"
"While he has everyone's best interests at heart, he sometimes puts others in danger. He is a person that believes in many cases that the 'ends justify the means to get there'."
"Oh, I see," she said, biting her bottom lip.
Severus glanced at a clock on the wall. "We still have another hour." He stared at her for a moment. "Which of your parents is the Darks Lord's child?"
Miranda looked only slightly uncomfortable. She had learned long ago that if people knew she was Voldemort's granddaughter, they would either interrogate her about it or do the only other logical thing and run away screaming. At least when people chose the latter she didn't need to worry about them attempting to burn her at the stake, sometimes literally.
"My father," she answered calmly. "My grandfather once had a fiancé. Can you believe it? Anyway, that was just after he became power-hungry. She panicked, begged him to stop, and when he refused, she went into hiding. Two months later, she found out she was pregnant. He only found out ten years later. She died in a supposed accident. Of course, nothing could be proven, but she had told her sister whose child it was and, well, Voldemort found out. He never attempted to find his child, just sent money to enroll him in school, and never contacted him again."
"And your mother?"
"She was a year younger than my father. They met when she started attending Hogwarts. Her childhood was pretty much your typical, everyday, suburban life. I haven't seen my father since I was eleven. My parents got a divorce and she was granted full custody."
Severus looked somewhat confused. "I was unaware that marriages in the wizarding world allowed for divorce."
"They weren't in the wizarding world. They were living as muggles. We were just your average upper-middle class family until my father started getting to stressed. He would have anger spells that would last for days. Finally they realized that they just weren't meant to be together anymore and gave up on trying to make it work."
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said with a grimace. He seemed completely clueless as to how to comfort her. Fortunately, he didn't have to.
"Don't be. It worked out for the best in the end. Besides, it gave me a lot of wisdom and knowledge. I never had to look up a single term in my psychology class," she added with a grin.
He returned a smirk and said, " We better be going. The other Order members will want to meet you."
Next chapter is in the Order Headquarters.