Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the other characters except for Wren. J. K. Rowling has the awesome privilege of claiming their ownership.
Chapter 6: Assassin
The wooden beam creaked softly from age as Wren inched her way along it. The rafters that she stealthily moved through belonged to an extremely old church. To Wren it seemed silly to still have a hundred year old building still in use but she shouldn't really say anything when she was several thousand years old and she was still young.
She turned her attention away from her thoughts and focused on her mission. Voldemort had told her to assassinate all members of the Carson family and procure a certain artifact from their home. The family consisted of two parents a teenage boy and a three year old girl. Her thoughts turned unpleasantly to a mission that she had pulled one and thirty-one years age. In that mission she had failed to assassinate the whole family. For some reason she could not bring herself to kill the small child. So she ran and fled the scene, of course her boss or more along the line of master, had not been pleased.
God, what was wrong with her this evening? She couldn't keep her thoughts from straying to memories that she didn't need right now! Settling herself against the wall on one of the rafters, she listened to the priest talk about God, and right and wrong.
She scoffed quietly. Her life had been so screwed up it was hard for her to tell what the difference was between the two so she stopped trying. To her there was no right or wrong; there was only the mission and what she wanted to do. She would never let anything so little as right or wrong rule how she was supposed to act or behave; she would never let anything rule her again!
She let her thoughts drift and was only brought back to the present when she heard loud murmurings and many people moving about. Pushing herself away from the wall she leaned over the beam to look down. She smirked as she saw that the occupants of the church were finally leaving to go home and sleep in their safe beds.
"Think that while you still can; you're nothing more than little sheep being herded into the pen for the night. Completely unaware that you're being watched by the hungry wolf." She whispered softly as if she were speaking to someone in their ear.
She watched in delight when the mother of the family she was watching in particular shivered and drew her three year old closer to her. She felt strange now that she was killing again. That had been the whole reason of why she had left Harry alone eleven years back. Her old "master" had caught up with her and if she hadn't left Harry that night she would have dragged him into her nightmarish world.
Slowly she made her way through the shadows as she nimbly leaped from one rafter to another. Moving to the back of the church she found her point of entry; a small old window that was covered in a thick layer of dust. Easing it open (she winced when it creaked in protest) she slipped through into the night beyond.
Moving along the six-inch ledge, she flattened herself against the wall. When she finally reached the ancient oak (although it was young to her) she slipped onto a gnarled branch and true to her Elvin heritage; made her way down the tree in seconds. Still moving through the shadows as though she were part of them, she made her way back to the front of the church. She watched around the corner as the church goers said their evening good-byes and walked in the direction to their respective homes.
Catching sight once again of the Carson family she stuck to the shadows and followed them down the dark street. It was about ten minutes later when they finally reached their house. She watched under the cover of a nearby tree as they entered the house. She would have to wait until they went to sleep before she could brake in.
While she waited she gave a thorough examination of the house. She moved along the sides, looking at windows and ledges and doors; planning an entry and escape route. When she was done she settled herself against the back wall of the carport satisfied. She had found her entryway. Up at the top of the house was a window that led to the attic. It was old and weak; an easy way to get in the house.
The night passed slowly as all the lights on the street went out one by one. She let her thoughts drift from one thing to another and it was two hours later when she was startled out of her revere by an owl hooting. She jerked her head up and looked around. She found the culprit of the hoot in a tree off to her left and glared at it. The owl, shocked by such a glare, ruffled its feathers and gave an indignant hoot before it took flight.
She stood up away from the wall and dusted herself off. She carefully moved around the house noting that all the lights were out before she made her move. Crouching down by the car port wall she lunged up in a single fluid motion and grabbed hold of the roof of the port. If there were any passer-byers (which she made sure there weren't) they would have stared in awe at the feat she had just done. It wasn't every day that somebody jumped up fifteen feet and climbed onto a car port to break into a house.
Moving swiftly and not making a single sound she grabbed hold of a ledge on the second story and hauled herself onto it. Leaning back against the wall she did as she had done at the church and inched her way around to the back of the house where the window was located. Holding a piece of cloth over her nose and mouth she held her breath as she pulled a can of W-D-40 out of her supply pouch on the back of her leather black pants and proceeded to spray around the edges of the window to prevent it from squeaking.
When she was done she slipped the cloth and can back into her pouch, and pulled out a pair of leather gloves. Slipping them on she clenched her fists a few times to get her fingers comfortable. Grabbing the crowbar that she had tied to the back of her pants she squeezed it into the space between the bottom of the window and the seal. Pushing down hard she felt the old metal lock give and then finally snap with nothing but a soft ping.
She chuckled as she pulled the crowbar back and tossed it to the ground behind her (not cement), she pushed open the reluctant window all the way before she slinked into the attic. Moving guardedly throughout the attic; she relied on her Elvin sight to see any boxes or furniture in her way. She found the door easily enough and pressed her ear to it to listen for any noises outside.
Hearing none she opened the door and almost laughed when she found out the people had been stupid enough not to lock it. She moved down the stairs with quick measured steps. She looked around and found herself at the end of the second floor hallway. Moving hastily she made her way to what she hoped to be the master bedroom.
It wasn't; she had opened the door to the three year olds room. She closed the door again but before she did she made sure to lock it from the inside. She would not be returning to kill the child single handedly; no she didn't think she could if she tried. She had a different plan, and hopefully God would forgive her transgressions when it came time to face him. Hopefully he would just send her to hell and give her the mercy of not facing all the people she had killed and were going to kill.
Moving to another door in the hallway she hoped again that it was the master bedroom. She had always gone with the plan to kill the adults first, sense they were the ones who could actually fight back. She struck luck when she opened the door into the parents' room. With only a small sense of guilt she pulled out a knife and made quick work of the two peacefully sleeping adults.
Whipping the blood on the cloth she had used earlier she turned to leave to find the young teenage boy pointing a wand at her. Tears streamed down his face as he aimed it straight at her chest. Not wasting any time, she moved in a blur of color to behind him and slit his young throat. He slumped to the floor as she made her way out of the room.
Not wanting to think about how he had known she was there, she jogged down the stairs no longer worried about the noise she made even though it was still very little. The three year old would not be able to figure out that the door was locked when the fire started. Before she set the rest of her plan into motion though, there was one thing that she had to retrieve at Voldemorts request.
Hurrying through the houses many rooms on the lower level she finally found the Mr. Carson's' study. Going through his desk she didn't find the file of papers that she was looking for. Seeing a file cabinet in the corner she walked over to it. She shook her head when she saw that it was locked. That didn't even faze her though; she just grabbed the handle and wrenched it open. The lock braking with a loud clang.
Going through all the cabinets the same way she at last found the file she was looking for. It was extremely thick and was sealed in a flap that had two pieces of string tied around the corners. Smirking she picked it up and left the room heading for the living room. As she had thought every wizard had candles and a fire place. She picked up a set of matches and a few candles. Grabbing the WD-40 can from her pouch she took the stairs two at a time and moved to the three year olds door.
Grabbing some paintings and curtains she lit the candles and used them to light the curtains and paintings. They burst into flames and she set them in a pile outside the door. She put the can in the middle of the pile and raced down the stairs and kicked the door open forcefully.
Sometimes she just loved her inhuman strength. Just as she was walking down the sidewalk nonchalantly with the file under her arm, an explosion sounded from behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see pieces of wood flying through the air and fire raining down all over the house. Just as she had planned the can had exploded like a bomb and sent fire all over the house. By the time the fire-fighters arrived the house would be nothing but a pile of cinders.
She melted into the woods behind the other houses when she heard screams coming from the neighbors of the Carson's. She smirked as she took one last look at the large glow over the houses before she disappeared in a black wisp of smoke. She had not apparated; just disappeared. It wasn't to be until almost twenty minutes later that a faint siren rose up into the air. It would be another fifteen minutes before they arrived to find the house burned down.
Wren walked through the front doors of the castle as though she owned the place. The torches along the walls seemed to flicker a welcome to her as she walked by them. She noticed that not many Death Eaters were seen around even though this was Voldemorts main base of operations.
The castle was rather large, she noted with intrigue. It was about one-third the size of Hogwarts. Even though she knew that she would never explore the whole thing; she decided that one day when she had time she would set out to try and explore at least most of it.
She climbed two staircases, heading for Voldemorts and now Harry's office (she'd found that out early this morning) which was located on the second floor. All the spare bedrooms were located on the fourth floor while Hers, Voldemorts, and Harry's bedrooms were located on the fifth floor.
She had asked Voldemort the location of the training room if the castle had one, and he had told her that the basement level (which was just above the dungeons) was entirely created for any kind of training. It held weight rooms, training rooms, arenas, training equipment, and a room filled with ancient melee weapons.
She pushed her excited thoughts of checking out the basement level away when she reached the office doors. She knocked and waited for someone to call her in. She had expected to hear Voldemort call her in but instead she heard Harry's voice.
She opened the door a crack and poked her head in. Curiously looking around she found that Harry was completely alone with the exception of the blonde haired Death Eater who had followed them around the other day. She narrowed her eyes at him. If he was to be Harry's body guard like she thought he was then she was going to have to test him one of these days.
Harry looked up from a pile of papers he had been consulting the blonde boy about when he heard her open the door the rest of the way. Her mood bumped up from neutral to joy when she saw him smile brightly at her. She walked over and ruffled his hair affectionately before she plopped down in a leather chair that was in front of his desk.
"What's up?" she asked as she smiled back at him.
"Oh, not much. It turns out that Voldemort wants me to handle all the intelligence information like the number of new recrutes we have, the number of allies we have, how many magical creatures are against us and who they are, their powers, their weaknesses, all the little skirmishes, and future battles that are to take place. I thought I was going to be working on something simple; not planning battle tactics." Harry pouted as he ran a hand through his hair to try and fix it.
"Well Harry, if you need help I'll be glad to give you all kinds of ideas for battle tactics. I used to be the leader of an army a few thousand years ago. That may be a long time to you but to me it's like the blink of an eye so all the information is still vivid in my mind." She said soothingly as she leaned forward on his desk. She noticed that he looked a little frazzled and when she had told him that little bit of information a look of relief passed over his face.
"Oh, that's great Wren! Maybe you could also teach me how to plan out a battle also since it appears that I'll be doing this until the war ends." He said as he leaned back in his chair and yawned. It was rather late she thought as she looked at the magical clock on his desk. It showed 11:42 p.m. She scowled at him from her relaxed position.
"Harry James Potter what are you still doing working this late? You should be in bed mister!" she playfully growled out. He scowled right back at her.
"Well, I've been waiting for you to get back, and I need to give Voldemort these papers that I've finished." Just as he finished talking the door opened and the three occupants of the room looked over to it. Voldemort walked in looking a regal as ever in dark black pants and cloak with an emerald green silk shirt. His bangs were splayed across his red eyes as he read a memo.
He looked up when he felt many eyes watching him and nodded in their direction, but Wren didn't miss the look that passed between her young charge, who she thought more of a younger brother now, and Voldemort.
"I see you've returned from you're mission Miss. Catrin." He said in a velvet voice. She also didn't miss the small shiver that passed over Harry when he heard him talk. She turned her attention back to the powerful wizard who was walking to his desk. She stood from her chair and followed him, when she remembered the file she carried with her. She waited in front of his desk as he seated himself and sat the memo down before she spoke.
"The mission was a success and I retrieved the item of which you requested." She said in her formal tone. She handed over the document and waited as he flipped through it before he nodded in approval.
"Very good, I hope you did not have any trouble?" he asked in a voice that held a slight curious tone to it. She knew what he was talking about. The family she had attacked had been an underground family that worked for the order of the phoenix. He was asking her if anyone saw her or had shown up; someone like another order member.
"No trouble at all, it went smoothly.
She waited until he nodded again before she leaned over his desk and put her lips near his ear so that only he could hear what she was about to say. She felt him stiffen when started to speak.
"If you hurt him, in any way, even emotionally, if you use him, I will kill you understand? He is like my little brother, and if you don't mean what you say to him or do to him, I'll make you suffer. Otherwise I don't mind you being with him." She whispered harshly. She pulled back from him and looked into his eyes to prove that she meant it.
She smirked when she saw him nod in acknowledgement. She turned around and saw Harry looking at her in confusion and curiosity. She chuckled to herself; that boys' curiosity would never be satisfied.
"Come on Harry I think it's time for you to go to bed do you agree Voldemort?" she asked lightly as if she hadn't just threatened him with his life.
"Yes, Harry it's far past the time you were supposed to stop working. Go on to bed I'll take care of the rest of today's work." He said as he stood up from his chair. He walked over to Harry's desk and picked up the stack of papers Harry had been working on. As Harry stood up Wren noticed that they brushed up against each other as they went their separate ways; Harry towards her and Voldemort towards his desk again.
She smiled at the thought of them together; they would make the perfect couple! When Harry reached her they turned and headed out the door. The blonde boy she noticed, walked a few feet behind them, but always stayed close. As they were walking up the stairs both had several questions they wanted to ask each other so Wren went first.
"Harry, how do you feel about working this intelligence job? I mean, you are planning battles against your former allies and friends, does that not upset you?" she asked gently. She didn't want to bring it up because she knew that it would be a sore spot for him, but she had to know. If it turned out to be such a big deal for him she would ask Voldemort to move him to something else. He stayed silent for a few minutes as they made their way to their rooms.
"Well, it does if I think about it, but I try to think of it as something else like a strategy for chess or I may think of it as a real battle but I just don't think about it concerning people I know. You can call it denial, but it's an easy way to get around me feeling guilty." He said while he stared down at the steps they were walking up.
She smiled softly at him and put her arm around his shoulders. She didn't say anything but she didn't have to. She agreed with his view on how to handle it and she was proud that he knew could handle it in such a way. It was in fact denial, but sometimes you had to use denial to help you get through life; it wasn't always a bad thing as long as you really knew what was going on. She knew it was his turn to ask a question but she wasn't sure she could answer it.
"Wren, what was the mission Voldemort sent you on?" Ah! There it was, the question she knew he would ask and the question she did not want to answer. She could tell him the whole truth or just an edited version. She went with the edited.
"Harry, you've heard him acknowledge me as an assassin right? Well I am one. I was raised to be an assassin and with thousands of years in my pocket, I've been labeled as the best there ever was and will ever be. Many people fear my name, but not as badly as Voldemort's because a few hundred years ago I escaped my old Master or slave owner, who was the one who trained me. When I escaped I went into hiding, I quit killing so my name and the fear it brought slowly dwindled away into a legend.
I met your parents and their friends on one occasion and quickly befriended them. Then when you were born I was named your guardian and would be given custody over you if your parents and Sirius somehow died. Well I did come for you, you may not remember but for a few years I took care of you. Then when you were five my old master who was half-Elvin (so he's still alive), caught on to my whereabouts. I had to leave you or he would have trained you to be just like me and I didn't want that kind of life for you."
Harry cut her off with a bemused expression on his face.
"Uh Wren? I only asked about your mission not your whole life story."
"Yes well, you'd ask me about it sometime or other I might as well get it out now." By this time they had reached their rooms so Wren stopped just outside her room and leaned up against the wall.
"Now back to where I was; it won't take to much longer.
She assured him patiently before she continued.
"I went back into hiding and eluded him; taking him in little goose chases around the world so at the moment he probably thinks I'm somewhere in Peru. When word got out about Sirius Black being killed at the ministry (I knew he was innocent) and that you had been involved in the incident. I panicked thinking you were hurt, when I had heard it was only in small bits of information so I didn't know the whole story until I came to London. So that's when I decided that I had been out of your life to long and that now was the time when you needed me the most.
Anyway the mission I went on was an assassination for Voldemort. I won't explain the details, but he also wanted me to retrieve a file they had in their possession. I don't know what it is specifically but he told me it had information on the order so that's what I looked for and what I brought back to him. Does that satisfy your curiosity?" She asked teasingly.
Harry stared at her a moment trying to comprehend her enormous speech.
"Ya, did you really go all over the world?" he asked in amazement. She laughed at him and gave him a quick hug and kiss on the forehead. He was getting taller than she was, but she was only 5'8 (I know that's tall for a girl but remember she's an elf) and men did tend to get close to 6 foot.
"Go to sleep Harry, if there's anything you need I'm only a few doors down. Good night." She said as she turned and entered her room. They were much like Harry's. Very expansive upholstery, huge bed, lovely furniture, everything she could ever want. Also her room was magicked to where all she had to do was walk up to any part of the wall and think about a bathroom and it led to Voldemort's private bathroom. It would also warn her if someone was already in there. She wasn't sure if Harry knew about this fact seeing as she had only found out by mistake but she could ask him that tomorrow.
It was beginning to seem like she was going to have an exciting and worrisome life with all these battles and wars going on but she would take it all in stride just as she had always done in history.
Author's Note: Whew! Another long chapter I hope this makes up for my short chapter in Ultimate Betrayal! I love all the reviews and I would like to thank every single one of my reviewers for their support! Next chapter is Chapter 7: Training Harry asks Wren to train him in martial arts and weaponry. Let the pain and ouchies begin! Mwhahaha:p!