Chapter 9

The Truth

Kali woke up four days after her fall in the dungeons. Draco and Snape were both beginning to worry after she hadn't woken up the third day but the next morning she had woken up and Madam Pomfrey let them both know immediately so they would stop worrying about her. Kali started to experience some severe headaches and could hardly think through the pain. Madam Pomfrey had considered giving her a potion to stop them but was worried that it would interfere with her abilities as an Ermist.

So that evening she decided to leave it up to Kali. She approached her with a small bottle containing a smooth blue liquid. She took the seat next to her, "How are you feeling, my dear?"

"I would be great if it wasn't for these headaches," Kali said quietly. It had hurt more if she talked loud or if she heard loud noises.

"Well, this potion would help with the headaches," Madam Pomfrey said. "But, it may cause some side effects with your Ermist abilities. Or, it could cause you to lose them all together."

Kali considered this. Then headaches were causing her so much pain, at times she wanted to just break down in tears. But Dumbledore seemed to be really glad that she had this power. It was obviously a good thing and would work for their side. She thought about it for a few minutes before making her decision.

"I'm not gonna take it. I don't want to lose my abilities," Kali said almost regretting her decision.

Madam Pomfrey nodded. "Very well. I can give you some dreamless sleeping potion if you want. That'll help with the pain some."

Kali nodded as she watched Madam Pomfrey get up and return to her office where she rummaged through her potions. She returned with a bottle of dreamless sleeping potion. She handing some to Kali and Kali drank it as fast as she could trying not to taste it. It slowly went down her throat and she coughed and gagged at the horrible taste.

"It was a double dosage so it should work rather quickly," Madam Pomfrey said.

And sure enough Kali felt her eye lids become heavy and soon enough she was in a deep sleep.

Draco and Snape had both been to see her several times and it was getting to a point where Madam Pomfrey was ready to just allow Kali to leave so she wouldn't have to deal with it. But she decided to keep Kali the whole week plus another couple of days since she had woken up so much later then she had expected her to.

Draco hurried out of his last class on Friday and rushed to the infirmary. As he ran in Madam Pomfrey gave him a look and he quickly slowed his pace to a walk. Kali smiled as he entered.

"Are you ready to get out of here?" Draco asked as he sat in the chair next to her bed.

"More then you could ever know," Kali said smiling. She had been feeling much better except for the occasional headache.

Madam Pomfrey strolled over to them and handed Kali a small bottle. "Take one if you get a headache. It should help with the pain. And if you feel like the pain is getting worse and not better then come straight back here to me. Understood?"

"Yes Madam Pomfrey, I will," she said happily. She climbed out of her bed and went to change into her weekend clothes. As she came out of the changing area she noticed her father walk in. She didn't know what to say or do. She hadn't really talked to him about what happened. She was still angry with him and she wasn't exactly ready to make up.

"I'm guessing you've been released?" Snape said in his usual tone.

"Yes," she said quietly.

"Good, let's go," Snape said taking her out of the infirmary.

Draco looked at him confused. "Umm… Kali I'll talk to you later in the common room I guess."

Kali looked at him sadly and nodded. She had wanted to spend some time with him but she had guessed her father wanted to talk about everything. She followed him as they went down to the dungeons to his office. Once they entered his office she noticed how cold it was. The dungeons had always been cold but his office was usually warm. She had wished she had brought her cloak to keep her warm. She turned her attention to her father, he was starting a fire for the floo network.

"Where are we going?" Kali asked in confusion.

"You're going to see the Dark Lord," he said quietly.

"Why?"

"Because he wanted to see you when you got out of the hospital wing," Snape said.

Kali looked at him like he was crazy. "I can't go see him."

"And why is that?" he said angrily.

"The gash on my head," she said obviously.

"And what about it?" he said seeming to not care much.

"Well how am I supposed to explain why it isn't healed? I can't tell him I'm an Ermist," Kali said.

Snape hadn't thought of that. He was too worried on what the Dark Lord was going to say to Kali. "In didn't think of that. Umm… just tell him it was a medical reason. That you're not exactly sure because Madam Pomfrey explained it difficultly."

Kali continued to look at him like he was crazy. She sighed, "Fine, if you think he'll believe that."

"I hope he does."

Kali took a pinch of floo powder and stepped into the fire. "Riddle House."

She was whisked away in a whirlwind and before she knew it she was in Riddle House. She went into the living room where she knew Voldemort would be. She rounded the corner and sure enough he was sitting in his chair.

"Come in, my dear," he said waving his hand toward the chair across from him.

"How do you always know when it's me?" she asked curiously as she sat down.

Voldemort smiled. "You have a very powerful presence and I can feel it when you come in." Kali nodded in understanding. "So how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I have an occasional headache but other then that I'm fine," she said smiling.

"Well no wonder you still have headaches. Why didn't Pomfrey heal that cut on your head?"

"Honestly, I'm not really sure. She said it was some medical reason. That the cut is to close to something or something like that. I'm not exactly sure," she lied.

Voldemort nodded. "I understand why."

"You do?" she said in shock.

"Yes, I'm sure Dumbledore told her you were an Ermist and she was afraid to damage your abilities by directing a healing spell to close to your head," he said smoothly.

Kali looked at him in shock. How did he know? Did her father tell him? She decided to just play dumb and act like she didn't know anything. "An Ermist?"

"It means you can feel emotions within power," he said simply. She gave him a confused look so that he would explain it further, and he did. He went on about it and didn't give her much more information then Dumbledore did.

"So why didn't Dumbledore tell me?" she asked.

"Because I'm sure he knows that you have loyalty towards me and he figured if you knew then you would tell me," Voldemort said.

"But it didn't matter because you already knew," she said.

"Yes, Dumbledore is becoming old and senile and he doesn't realize that I know a lot more then he does when it comes to people," he said smiling. He sighed and returned a more serious look to his face. "There is something else he has not told you. Your father hasn't either. But I feel that you should know."

Kali looked at him confused. She was sure that it was something she already knew. Her father told her everything and he wouldn't keep something from her unless it was small and meaningless. "What is it?"

"Kali, do you know what your mother's maiden name was?" Voldemort inquired.

Kali thought about it for a moment. She didn't know what it was. But it was weird, she should have known. "No I don't," she said slowly.

Voldemort sighed. "I figured he didn't tell you because he didn't want you telling him."

"Telling who?"

"Kali your mother's maiden name was… Potter," he said quietly.

Kali sat in shock. "Potter? But that means I'm related to…"

"Yes, you are related to Harry Potter. He is your cousin," he said slowly as not to shock her anymore.

Kali had a million questions running through her and she didn't know what to do with them.

Voldemort felt this and relieved her a bit. "You can ask as many questions as you like and I'll answer them the best I can."

Kali sighed. "Ok, Harry grew up with his horrible muggle Aunt and Uncle. Why didn't my dad just take him in?"

"Because your father hated James and he was so utterly jealous of him. James didn't want your mother and father to be together so he made your father's life a living hell. He didn't want James's son anywhere near you. Even though your mother begged him that they be allowed to raise him."

Kali nodded. At least her mother had wanted to raise him. "Why didn't my father tell me this to begin with?"

"He doesn't like to admit that he's related to James at all. And especially not to Harry. He felt there would be too many questions as to why he didn't take him in in the first place."

Anger rushed through her at her father's stupidity. How could he be so selfish? There was just one more question she wanted to ask him. But she was a little afraid to hear his answer. "Do you still want to kill him?"

Voldemort seemed to think about this for a moment. "No. I can see know that killing him isn't the right thing to do. He needs to see how selfish and power hungry Dumbledore really is. Then he can join me and we can all take the Ministry and fix it."

"Fix it?" she asked in confusion.

"The Ministry is full of traitorous, selfish, power hungry politicians and it needs to come to an end. The Ministry is there to serve the magical community and they haven't done that in several years."

Kali thought about this for a moment. It made sense. The only thing that didn't make sense was how Voldemort had changed. It was really weird; she had a hard time seeing him for the monster her father and Dumbledore had made him out to be. Kali looked at her watch, it was getting late. Voldemort noticed this as well.

"You should get going back to the castle. Feel free to tell your father that I told you. If he doesn't like it then too bad. You deserved to know," Voldemort said.

"Thank you," she said meaning it.

The left the house and returned to her father's office. He was grading potions as usual. He stood up as she entered the room. "Well how did it go?"

She shot him a dirty look. "Don't talk to me," she said as she left the room.

He went after her and placed a hand on her shoulder and spun her around. "What happened?" he almost yelled.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she said feeling a bit hurt that her father had never told her about Harry.

"Tell you what?"

"About Harry!" she yelled.

Snape's eyes widened. "He told you?"

"Yes, he said I deserved to know and he was right. I can't believe you would keep something like that from me," she yelled at him.

"I was protecting you," he yelled back.

"No you were covering your own arse," she spat at him.

"What did he say about your head?" he asked trying to change the subject.

Kali wasn't stupid so she noticed he didn't want to talk about it anymore. But she could have cared less. All she wanted to do was go to the Great Hall for dinner and find Harry and tell him the truth. She decided that if anyone in their family was going to be the truthful one it would be her. "He knows."

"He knows about you being an Ermist? How?"

"He knew all along. I played stupid so he thinks that Dumbledore just never told me," she said. "I'm going to the Great Hall for dinner."

"Don't tell Harry," he yelled as she ran down the corridor. "And don't run."

Kali quickly entered the Great Hall. She noticed Draco sitting at the Slytherin table but she didn't see Harry, Ron, or Hermione. She went over to sit by Draco and decided that when she saw him she would take him out of the Hall and tell him everything. She sat next to Draco with an angry expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'll tell you later," she said. She kept her eyes on the Gryffindor table as she ate. She was almost done eating when she noticed Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny enter the Hall. She kissed Draco on the cheek and rushed off over towards Harry.

"Hey," she said to Harry.

Harry turned around to face her. "Hi…"

"Umm… can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked him.

"Sure," he said. He waited there for a minute waiting for her to say something but she didn't. "Well?"

"I need to talk to you alone," she said quietly.

"Ooooh," Ron said.

"Shut up Ron," Ginny said obviously annoyed.

"Umm… sure. I'll be right back guys," he said before leaving the Great Hall with Kali.

Once they got outside the doors and no one was around she let out a big sigh. "Ok. I found out something today. Something big that involves you. And even though my father doesn't want you to know I think you deserve to know."

"Ok…" he said in confusion. "What is it? Does it have to do with Voldemort?"

"Only that he was the one who told me," she said. She was racing through her mind trying to figure out how to tell him, gradually, or just blurt it out. "Ok, I found out today what my mother's maiden name is."

"What does that have to do with me?" he asked in confusion.

"Her maiden name is Potter," she said slowly.

Harry's mouth dropped in shock. That was the last thing he was expecting. "But, how?"

"She was your dad's younger sister," she said. "Trust me I was just as shocked as you were."

"So that means we're…"

"…Cousins," Kali finished. "My dad says he was protecting me. But Voldemort said it was just because he hated your dad so much and he didn't want to be related to him and if he was related to you then he was related to him. Which doesn't make much sense now that I think about it because he was related to my mum and she's related to your dad so…?"

Harry sighed. This was a lot to take in. He had a living relative that was magical. He was happy about it but at the same time upset that Dumbledore never told him. Once again Dumbledore had not told him something important. What if this secret had lead to a death.

Harry was still angry with Dumbledore towards Sirius' death. He hated blaming the old wizard but he felt like he needed to blame someone and Dumbledore had made a lot of bad choices throughout the year that caused a lot of horrible things to happen. "Voldemort told you this?"

"Yeah and he told me something else," she said.

"What?"

"Harry he doesn't want to kill you. Don't tell anyone I told you this, but, I'm starting to think that Dumbledore isn't the greatest wizard that everyone thinks he is."

Harry nodded. She had a point.

AN: ok guys… as you can tell Voldemort is trying to manipulate Kali and through her maybe even Harry… so yeah I need an opinion… should I make this one story… or should I add more and make it two… I kinda wanna do two… because I have A LOT of ideas and they can't all fit in just their 6th year… so I need to know if I should do a year 7 too… so yeah "A Reader" this is why I didn't make a love triangle between Kali, Harry, and Draco… incest is wrong… lol… ok… PLEASE REVIEW!