Rip Out The Wings

DaggersBloodPain

Chapter Twenty-One

One Girl Revolution

Lilah woke up the next morning with bleary eyes and a satisfied smile on her face, the warm body beginning to stir next to her own adding to the contentment of the moment. A luxurious stretch and a lazy casting of Tempus later and she was scrambling out of bed. For the first time since her training started she had slept in for Narcissa's lesson. Even with the time turner she knew she was going to be a few minutes late. She could not go back the extra hour, too much danger of waking herself or Bellatrix up.

After a quick shower and dressing, making sure her time turner was once again secure around her neck, she took the time for one last smile at the still slumbering figure burrowed into the blankets before rushing out of the room. She strode quickly through the manor, after her debut the night before she decided to go without her trademark black cloak, the few death eaters roaming around at this hour met her presence with startled glances and hurried bows of varying degrees of sincerity.

She finally reached the only connected floo in the manor, tossing in a handful of the waiting powder she shouted the coordinates for Malfoy manor. She managed to remain on her feet on the other side only through weeks of painful practice with both Bellatrix and Narcissa, she needed to be agile for fighting and graceful for formal occasions.

She rushed to the sitting room, where most of their lessons began even if they didn't stay there. Narcissa was waiting for her there, and only years of working closely with her told Lilah she was irritated with the waiting. "Do you have any excuse worth hearing to explain your lateness?" She asked coolly.

Lilah couldn't help but blush slightly before answering, "I overslept, it won't happen again."

"Alright, but because of this you will be worked much harder than planned today, make sure this is not repeated, a lady is never late to any appointment." Narcissa reprimanded, but let it go more easily than expected, she had honestly expected a girl of Lilah's age to be late far more often than once in all the time they had been practicing, a time turner could only do so much without risking paradox.

"Seems fair," Lilah agreed with the punishment. Not voicing her relief at the result not being much worse.

Narcissa was good at reading people. She knew her student was not in the best state of mind, if she felt relief at the assignment of extra work, how was she punished in the past? She found herself groping towards the same truth Lilah had willingly told Bellatrix the night before. She would observe Lilah for the rest of the time they were together, no matter what got in her way.

"Alright Lilah, now that you have been revealed as the dark Heir it is now more important than ever that you act like it. Today we will be reviewing everything I have taught you about how to act in front of others. Your father is much to visible to go out into the world and collect information or followers, you will be the perfect choice for those missions. Act your part well and you will truly earn your place. This will be a double length lesson for you, I hope the extra sleep serves you well." Narcissa informed Lilah as she lead the young woman to the formal dinning hall of the manor, where a lavish dinner was placed on the fine china, Lilah would have to host the meal without making a single mistake.

It took hours of going over everything again and again, Lilah was tired and frustrated with Narcissa picking out mistakes that seemed microscopic to Lilah, but Narcissa was quick to remind if she could tell Lilah was making mistakes than any other properly educated lady could tell as well.

Lilah was more than ready to escape when she was finally dismissed from Malfoy manor. She was almost back to the floo room when she heard a familiar voice call out to her, "Who are you and why are you here?" Draco Malfoy was right behind her with his wand out and pointed at her back.

Lilah turned around slowly and graced the pale boy with a disarming smile as she replied, "I am Lilah Riddle, I have been taking lessons from Lady Malfoy for the past few months, and you are?" She remembered to ask who he was, because as Lilah she shouldn't know.

"I am Draco Malfoy, Narcissa is my mother, you are the new Heir are you not?" Draco asked recognizing her name, he had hastily lowered his wand once he realized just who he had threatened.

"Yes I am, I take it you are not Marked yet?" She inquired remembering she had not seen him at her debut.

"No my parents wanted me to wait until this summer, for me to be a legal adult." He explained quickly.

"I will be seeing you at your Marking ceremony then," Lilah excused herself smoothly and was finally able to leave the manor. She had not been expecting to see Draco this soon, though she should have known it was coming with her coming to his house for lessons every day.

She found Bellatrix still in bed after she returned and flipped her time turner back to just after she had left before. Stripping down to her undergarments she collapsed back onto the bed and curled up against the older woman's chest and felt the warm arms snaking around her waist, snuggling into the warm embrace she easily dropped off into sleep. Assuming the next 'night' would be spent in Bellatrix' room as the bed was empty next to the older witch.

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Time passed for Lilah growing in ever increasing comfort with her role as heir. Her place was hard won as her authority was questioned every meeting, and with every challenge she won she confirmed her position even more. The training she had been undertaking was truly paying off as she surpassed every one of her teachers expectations, and for her first mission she was assigned to attend a ministry charity event, her escort for the night was Walden Macnair, the ministry's executioner for the control of dangerous creatures department. He was a powerful inner circle member that was trusted enough by her father's to be her bodyguard for the night, it helped that Lucius and Narcissa would also be there.

As she stood in the decorated atrium of the Ministry dressed to the nines and on the arm of the only slightly familiar wizard, she couldn't help but miss her Bellatrix. She easily fell into her training though and adopted the haughty, but serene mask of a society witch. The intricate dance of politics was one she still had trouble with, but she would do her best to make her teacher proud. It was no coincidence her first mission was also one that at least one of her teachers could closely monitor.

She was to make as many connections as possible with these wizards tonight, under the assumed name of Leto Rayne for the benefit of the Light wizards that may have gotten information about her from a spy, not likely but possible. It was simply not safe for Lilah to go to a purely Light function baring her true name. Her disguise was further protected by a thorough back story, completely valid if anyone got curious enough to check. Leto Rayne was a pureblood from a small family that migrated to Britain in her mother's time but they ancestrally attended Durmstrag institute, which is where she had graduated from. She had graduated with moderate scores in her core classes, and was as of yet unbetrothed. The information had been planted in all the right spots by well placed Death Eaters. The Dark Lord had been working on his daughter's Light disguise since he knew she was still alive, Lilah had been completely unaware of these plans until she was assigned this mission. Her acting skills were being put to the test, and she was happy to admit even her lover would be proud of her performance.

She spoke to the right people, laughed at just the right times, and used her unusual good looks to get just the right amount of attention. It went against everything Harry Potter had learned, but in this life Leto Rayne was the belle of the ball, she easily spoke to the minister without giving away a single thing of importance, and had him wrapped around her little finger with just a few moments of conversation.

Then she looked up and realized she knew the wizard who had just entered the hall, and was making a beeline towards the spot where she stood talking to the minister, Macnair staying quiet in the background as the Dark Heir worked the room with all the charisma of her father.

"Hello, Cornelius what a delightful turn out this year, and who is this lovely young lady you are talking to?" Lilah heard the edge of danger in Dumbledore's voice, so he had recognized the features she inherited from Tom Riddle.

"This is Miss Leto Rayne, who has been entertaining me with her charming wit, Lady Rayne this is Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, he runs Hogwarts school." Cornelius Fudge introduced, fully believing she had graduated from Durmstrag and therefor would not know Dumbledore outside of papers.

"There is no need to introduce him minister, I have read a great deal about him in the papers." Lilah replied politely before turning towards Dumbledore and extending her hand. "I am interested in your fine school headmaster, Hogwarts truly does seem exceptional, though I have noticed your unusual amount of bad luck with Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. How goes the search this year?"

Dumbledore did not wish to make a scene by calling her out on her identity instead he took the offered hand and replied in his customary kind voice. "It is lovely to meet you Miss. Rayne, thank you for your kind words about my humble school, and I have to confess we have not yet found a Defense teacher for the upcoming year. I am sorry to pry but I am curious about your accent. You speak like you are from Britain but yet you did not attend Hogwarts, how is that possible?"

Lilah laughed softly before answering, "I was wondering if you would notice. I was raised in Britain by my mother, but my family has always attended Durmstrang, I attended that school on account of my familie's wishes. I graduated three years ago." She gave him as much information as she could that would keep Leto Rayne and Lilah Riddle separate. Lilah did not have a mother, and would have willingly attended Durmstrag, not protested like she had implied. It was hard to wrap her mind around the fact it had only been a few months in the real world, but it had been three years for her.

"May I inquire who your parents were? You just seem very familiar to me?" It seemed like Dumbledore just couldn't hold himself back.

"My mother is Natasha Rayne, and my father was killed when I was a small child. Mother does not like to speak about him, it hurts her too much, I do not even know his name." Lilah lied once again, it was better for her father to be dead, then for her to be illegitimate in pureblood society.

Dumbledore just silently relaxed his posture, he truly believed Lilah was telling the truth, and that for her to look so much like Tom Riddle she might just be his daughter and not know it. It would explain her mother's pain and silence, and Voldemort was banished when she would have been four, right around the time Leto's father died. She was too old to be Harry coming back to him, and no time turners had been reported stolen or missing for ten years. That gave him an idea that if Harry was out of his reach, this unknown daughter might just be the missing key to destroying Voldemort. "Well would you be interested enough in Hogwarts to consider teaching for me? The Defense post is getting hard enough to fill that if you even achieved an Exceeds expectations on your Defense NEWTS I would be able to hire you on the spot." Dumbledore offered, taking the bait Voldemort and Lilah had laid out in her story.

They had honestly been hoping it would take him longer to figure out the false truth they had placed in Leto's story. She was not quite ready, but with two months real time for her to continue training, it would be close enough to the planned four years of tutoring that Lilah felt confidant enough to accept Dumbledore's offer. "I would be honored to teach at your school, and as for test scores I managed to achieve an Outstanding in Defense." Of course both of them glossed over the fact that at Durmstrag Defense was grouped into a larger class just labeled Dark Arts. Dumbledore was so concerned about a possible new fighter for his side he was willing to gamble with the safety of the children in his care, it was positively sickening to Lilah.

"Very well, I will double check your records but I see no reason not to welcome you to the Hogwarts staff, I expect you to arrive at Hogwarts one week before September 1st to set up your classroom. Please have a set of lesson plans outlined before that date for years first through seventh." Dumbledore ordered, beaming at his newest staff member unaware of the murderous thoughts running through the dark woman's mind.