Chapter Twenty One
A/N: Thank you to .7 and likethewordish for reviewing the last chapter.
It had truly begun. With the spell that had ended the life of Albus Dumbledore, the division between the Order and the Death Eaters had truly been cast in iron. Some may say that it was the line that could not be crossed, the line between good and evil, but Scarlette did not want to think on it like that. If that truly was the nature of the separation, she knew what side her family had chosen long ago, and what side her friends were on as well. She herself remained tiptoeing along it, wondering whether she would ever be able to be herself, without the threat of rejection hanging over her head.
For the majority of her life, Scarlette realised, she had been trying to please someone. Whether it had been her parents, Andromeda, Dora, Dumbledore or even Draco, she had always had the opinions of others at the centre of everything she did. 'Perhaps it's time for that to change. Perhaps it's time for me to finally put myself before the rest of the world, like I should have done before. It's time for everything to change.'
The end of June had come, far more swiftly than she had expected, and a plan had been set in motion to destroy Harry Potter once and for all. Naturally, with the Dark Lord at the helm of the strategies, that was the main aim of the operation and, though each and every Death Eater for miles around knew of the idea, only a select few that were most trusted in the ranks were trusted with the details of the plot. To her surprise, though not to her pleasure, she, along with her mother and father, had been included in these ranks, among the most highly trusted no less, but the fact that the Malfoys had also been included made this a little less of an honour, as it meant that their leader would most likely trust anyone, even those who had been humiliated and tortured for the sin of betraying their master.
The plan was to attack the boy on his seventeenth birthday, the time when the protection charm that was placed on him would break, due to his coming of age. As the Order did not know of this plan, it was fool proof, but still, Scarlette was uncomfortable with it. After all, in her first year, she had once been friends with Harry Potter. He had sheltered her from the teasing of the Slytherins in that year, he had taught her to fight, and he was the love of Ginny's life, the girl who had been her own best friend. She couldn't betray him now. She couldn't.
It had been only then that the young woman had decided to do the unthinkable, to do what had gotten many a person before her executed for treachery. She was going to go to Grimmauld Place, and tell them of the plan.
When she reached the door of the building, it was a strange feeling that she could not quite describe. The house had been an important part of her life for the four years that had passed since Sirius' escape, and she had not returned there since his death, by her own mother's wand, no less. If the man was haunting the house, then she may be in more danger than she had been before her discovery of her parentage. In truth, she did not know that she was not better off with Andromeda, that she would have had a much better life in an environment where she had a choice as to who she wanted to be in the world, rather than being expected to be a murderer. However much she may have loved her mother, and still did with all her heart, life had been much easier for her as the daughter of a Blood Traitor, as opposed to the daughter of the most notorious Death Eater in the world.
But she could not afford to linger in the doorway, and so the young woman knocked at it, taking deep breaths to calm herself, though it had no effect whatsoever, particularly not when the door was opened to reveal the worst person she could have expected to see. Severus Snape.
Scarlette did not know how she had felt at that particularly moment, as she only knew of the unbridled joy and relief when the man let her past without comment. She was safe, as Snape would not tell tales to her mother to save his own life, due to the fact that he hated her with such a passion that he could not stand to be in the same room as her for any period of time that was not a necessary one.
However, when she had entered the dining room, where everyone was sat, though Harry was noticeably absent, she noted, she did not receive such a joyous welcome. Then again, she had not expected one. After all, she had not seen any of them in a year, in which time her mother had withdrawn her from Hogwarts, for the purposes of teaching her the Dark Arts, something that she had tried her level best to practice as rarely as possible, and only when she was directly instructed to do so. This had not been her fault, though.
"What are you doing here?" asked Ron, a sneer on his face that could have rivalled one of Draco's finest ones, though the younger boy had done so to the redhead so many times that the other must have picked it up. "Shouldn't you be off with your Death Eaters pals, coming up with a plan to do Harry in?"
There was no mistaking the accusation in his tone, and that was what made the brunette so desperate to prove herself to them. Once again, she was trying to please someone, but for once, she did not care. Even if they still hated her, she would have saved Harry, and that was all she needed to know. After opening her mouth and taking in a great gulp of air, she let it out again and spoke.
"I'm here to tell you the plan."
A/N: Scarlette's gone traitor? How will she cope? Please review!