Author's note: And now begins my tentative plans for twice a week uploads! I'm going to try to make it Tuesdays and Fridays, but who knows? xD Hope you guys enjoy, anywho!
End of AN!
Daisy woke up feeling really...confused.
She wasn't at Hogwarts - and nor was she at that familiar old Riddle Manor.
She was somewhere entirely new, and different.
Her eyes scanned the room, taking in the shelves and the bookcase, and the nightstand, and a chest of drawers, and...the window. She blinked, and she began taking in the actual contents of them: the little enchanted baby duck clock ticking away on the nightstand, tall and thin books, wide ones, and a whole array of stuffed animals and magical creatures...
Hers. Her things.
All of it was here, they were all here...
Daisy threw off her covers and made to sit up in this weird smelling bed. She hissed as something poked her right in the butt. She twisted and reached down to find her wand there - she had slept on it. She took it up, sitting there a minute. Something else was still bothering her - oh, right. She pulled her trunk out of her pocket and set it right down on the carpet in front of herself. The nice blue carpet. She really did like blue.
She flicked her wand at it, casting a quick and silent Finite; her trunk shuddered, and it grew back to its normal size again.
Daisy pushed it aside, snug to the nightstand, and dropped her own self down in front of it. She opened it and stared inside, pain panging in her heart. She reached in to touch the black fabric of the long dress. She moved it aside to reveal the sheathed dagger, and the flaming bird necklace of gold chain, both items sitting right atop the haphazardly put-together album. Daisy reached for it...and she stopped, as her trunk shifted, and a scuffled dark wand brushed against her hand. She slammed her trunk shut and leaped to her feet, whirling away.
She crossed the floor, light and quiet, and she reached for the bookcase instead.
Her fingers touched the spines. Her eyes slid left to right, and locked onto the one that always stood out in her memory. Her favorite...
She took it out carefully, staring at the cover.
The Midnight Mirror.
Daisy hesitated, then, feeling really stupid and flushed despite the fact she was the only one around, she brought the book to her own face and gave it a long, hard sniff.
She gasped, and immediately felt like crying again.
She backed away from the bookcase, holding Midnight Mirror to her chest.
Daisy fell back onto her bed, closing her eyes and clutching the book tighter in her arms.
She was home, she was back, she was here, she was with daddy again...
This is real. It's not just...
Wasn't just a dream, or a memory, or a fantasy - like so many she had had over the years past. Innumerable!
She was going to be free, she was going to be safe, she was going to be okay again!
Everything was going to be okay again!
It was all going to be-
A noise!
Below.
Footsteps, coming up the stairs. Down the hall...
Stopping right in front of her door.
Daisy sat bolt upright, tossing the book aside and thrusting her wand out at the door.
You won't take this from me, you won't take me from this, you won't take daddy from me again, you won't get me, I won't, I won't ever let you again-!
"Daisy?"
Daisy stood, and flicked her wand at the door. It shuddered, and then it swung open.
There was daddy, right in front of her again. Real, flesh and blood, and alive and safe and sound and...
He looked at her. He took in the sight of her wand. He raised his hands to chest height. "I'm sorry, sweetie - I just heard some noise and...wanted to see who was up and about so early."
Daisy dropped her wand to her side, and then dropped her head, screwing up her eyes. "I'm sorry, daddy! I shouldn't have done that, I was wrong and-"
"No, Daisy - it's okay. It's alright. It's fine. Don't worry about it, sweetie. Please?"
Daisy opened her eyes, raised her head. Daddy was right there, looking at her and so- so- she choked.
He grasped at her arms, pulling her into a hug.
When he let her go, he gave her a once over. "Do you...?"
"What?"
"Do you have clothes?" he asked, indicating.
Daisy shrugged. "Just these and my Hogwarts robes in my trunk."
"I thought so." Daddy smiled so wonderfully. "We'll need to go and fix that later today for you; we'll take a trip into the muggle world and do a nice shopping spree. I'll have to take your measurements, of course - it's obviously been- a while since we last did that."
"Okay."
Daddy gazed at her. He hesitated. "Erm, Daisy, when we do go today, would you...would you want it to just be an us thing, or- or me and your mum, and-"
"And my sister?"
Daddy winced a little at her tone. He drew a breath and nodded, watching her closely. "Yes."
"I want it to be just us."
"Alright," he said easily. "You and me will go get you a whole bunch of clothes, and your mum will stay home with your sister."
Daisy nodded. She relaxed a little.
"So, would you-" Daddy started, then stopped.
"What?"
"Do you want some breakfast? I could go make you something. I don't know if you..."
"We're supposed to eat meals as a family," Daisy spoke the adage from distant memories. "We always tried to eat meals together. At least, we did after mummy started trying to be a mummy..."
"That's right, yeah. Well, erm, breakfast is still the same time, so - are you all right with waiting for that, then?"
"Yes."
"Alright." Daddy shifted. "Do you want me to let you get back to bed, or are you just- ready to be up and about? You always did used to love being just about the first one up on any day of the week - ready to go," he laughed softly.
Daisy stared at her daddy. Yes, she did used to like doing that, didn't she? But in a place full of Death Eaters, the safest thing to ever do was to just stay locked up in her room as long as possible. To avoid- She pressed her lips and looked down at her feet. "Could you..."
"Could I what, sweetie?"
"Could you just...just stay here with me a while? Just..." Daisy gestured to her bed, her cheeks burning. "I don't think I want to do that today."
"Of course."
Daisy glanced at daddy. He smiled at her. She returned to bed, and he joined her. He pulled her right into his arms, and he started stroking her hair like he always used to - like nothing had ever changed after all these years, like there hadn't even been any years missing between them. Like it was just...
"I can hardly believe how big you are now," daddy breathed. "In just a couple months you'll be turning twelve."
Daisy didn't respond. She just shut her eyes and buried her face in her daddy's chest, clinging to him. She guessed daddy got the hint, because he didn't talk again. They just stayed like this for a long time. How she wanted to. The minutes went by, on to an hour, and a second...until Daisy did find herself falling asleep again.
She reawoke to daddy telling her it was time to eat breakfast. She yawned and climbed off him, and then followed him out of her room. They moved down the stairs, down the hall, following sounds and scents. They found mummy there in the kitchen, waving her wand about and keeping a close eye on the stove.
"I'm still garbage at these household spells," mummy said with a small grin, her eyes cheerful as could be. "Harry can fire and forget - not me..."
"It all looks to be going well enough to me," daddy assured her.
"Sure, until something decides to explode," mummy laughed.
"I believe in you," daddy told her, with a little grin of his own.
"So, hey, are you going to give me my morning snog before I keel over this time?"
"Thought you said you liked it that way?" Daddy said, teasing. "You said it was 'more romantic if I kissed you after I caught you', or some such..."
"Tch! Yeah - doesn't mean it's worth doing it a second time!" Mummy said, laughing harder now.
"If you say so." Daddy leaned down and kissed her on the mouth.
Daisy flushed and looked away.
Mummy broke away from daddy and flashed a grin Daisy's way. She gestured to the table. "Why don't you get set up here and wait for your food, honey? It'll either be ready for you in another few minutes, or...or it will be a huge stain on the walls - we're not certain yet. It still could go either way at this point!"
Daisy obeyed, finding herself giggling as she did.
Mummy and daddy exchanged looks that she didn't miss: mummy looked really pleased with herself, and daddy looked proud and grateful to her.
A few minutes later, and she had a serviceable meal in front of her. Daddy sat down next to her. Mummy brought her hover chair in under the table, lowering its height with a little tap of her finger to a symbol on the arm, easy as could be.
Then Daisy heard the footsteps. Light, quick, coming down the stairs. Down the hall - nearer and nearer...
And then the girl appeared.
She looked a lot like mummy, that was for sure: light brown skin, a head of short-cut, thick, curly dark hair, and green eyes.
Daddy's eyes!
Daisy's daddy's eyes!
The girl stared at Daisy, excitement dawning on her face, in those eyes, a smile coming to her lips - and then she stole a glance at Daisy's parents and it all went away. She stifled it all and moved around the table to seat herself on the other side of mummy.
There was a really long, really strained silence at the table now.
"Erm-" Daddy cleared his throat loudly.
"Daisy, meet your sister Leila - Leila, meet your sister Daisy," mummy spoke glibly. "Now that we're all here, let's eat."
Daisy stared at the girl, who was still staring at her. Neither girl said a word.
Daisy narrowed her eyes, clenching her hands in her lap. "Stop looking at me," she said coldly.
The girl frowned, ducking her head.
Daddy cleared his throat again, very quickly. And very loudly. "Err - Leila - you know that it's rude to stare. And you know we- we did talk about how- how she was going to need her space for a while after we...after we got her back. You remember...?"
The girl nodded into her plate, picking up a utensil in a carefree (or maybe clumsy) hand and beginning to eat. "Sorry..." she murmured out. Though, whether that was aimed at daddy or at Daisy...Daisy herself couldn't be sure. She wasn't sure she cared, anyway.
"So you were awake pretty early, weren't you?" Mummy said to Daisy, cheery and casual. "I- um- I'd forgotten how you liked to do that. Start the day early, wide awake and ready to go. Long before us. Leila here, on the other hand, she's always had trouble getting out of bed on schedule." Mummy gave a little laugh that sounded so damn forced.
"But she's been a whole lot better about it the past few months," daddy spoke up, giving mummy a look.
"Oh yeah, yeah - she's been great about it!" Mummy went on quickly. "No question about that. She's improving on that front. I'm proud of her for it - but she still has some work to do..."
Daddy shook his head, but said nothing.
The girl laughed for some reason.
Mummy enlightened Daisy a moment later. "Little Leila thinks it's hilarious when she makes us have to literally drag her out of her bed," she told Daisy, with a small grin on her face like she thought it was funny too. She probably did (if Daisy knew her mummy - and she did!). "I've got no idea how we ended up with two obnoxiously stubborn kids; it must just have been luck of the draw."
Despite how tensed up she was feeling inside, Daisy managed a smile. She bowed her head and started to eat, burning a hole in her plate behind the safety of her long dark hair.
Thankfully, a thought did pop into her head in the middle of her meal that could distract her from acknowledging the girl sitting at the same table as herself.
Daisy lifted her head and met her daddy's gaze. And she held it, resolute. "I need to talk to the Order - sometime today. There's a lot of stuff I know that could really help everyone. Important stuff. And - Andromeda Tonks has to be there, too."
Daddy gazed at her, then he nodded. "Okay."
"Really?"
Daddy smiled at her. "Of course, sweetie. If it's something you think is that important, then okay. I'll make it happen for you. If you have important things the Order should hear, we'll make sure they hear it."
The way daddy was looking at her, the way he just said it so casually, the way he just...
There was no need to come up with a lie, or an excuse, no need to try to convince or...or twist a bit of arm as much as she could while knowing if she went even a hair too far she'd suffer for it...
Daisy burst into hated tears, right then and there.
God no, why here, why now? Why in front of her?!
Daisy felt her face burning, as much as her eyes stung. She threw down her utensils and jumped from the table. She whirled away and fled the kitchen, her lips pressed tight and her hand slashing at her eyes.
She stopped at the base of the stairs, and chose another way instead. She crossed into the sitting room and pulled open the front door, bursting out into cool morning air. Daisy dropped down onto the bottommost step, her feet touching cold, wet grass, and she threw her arms around her head as she bent forward.
She couldn't take this, she couldn't take this feeling in her, this tightness, this pressure, this-
That girl, those damn eyes she got to have, these years with her parents she had gotten to have while Daisy got nothing but torture and lies and punishment and-
Daisy couldn't keep herself from crying outright, no matter how hard she shut her eyes. Or from whimpering like an idiot, no matter how hard she tried to keep the sounds from escaping her burning throat.
She let herself cry and cry, not really caring anymore who heard or saw her. She was past that, resigned to letting it happen.
And someone did see her at it - someone that Daisy didn't realize was even there. There were no footsteps, of course, and she hadn't heard the door.
Mummy was right behind her.
"Are you- no, stupid, of course you're not doing okay out here, are you?" Mummy started in a murmur. "That was horribly insensitive to the obvious..."
Daisy nodded.
Mummy sighed. She came floating down off the side of the stoop, moving right in front of Daisy. She lowered herself down so that her feet in the stirrups were touching the grass. Her hands clasped together in her lap.
Daisy glanced at her, then away again.
Mummy let out a long breath, and she raised a hand to her head. "Yeah, okay - listen, honey, do you want me to try my hand at the whole comforting speech thing, or would you rather I just let it be? We can sit here all awkward for a few hours if you like. I'm a master of sitting."
Daisy smiled. Just a little. Then it vanished. There was just- anger again, in all the sludge of crap in her chest. "You'd really try? You weren't big on trying anything with me, as far as I remember." Mummy winced. But it wasn't hurt this time - it was guilt.
"Yeah, that's what you said last night, too," mummy spoke quietly. "You said it, and I can't refute any of it."
Daisy looked at her mummy. "What?"
"Everything you said was spot on, honey," mummy continued. "Back then, I was an absolutely horrible mum to you. Hell, I couldn't even hardly be called a mum, could I? Just some...some lady who lived with you and Harry. I didn't try for you until way later than I ever should have. Back then, I was young, and I was afraid and doubting and anxious - and I didn't even fully comprehend what it meant I had to do. What I had to be for you. And if I did, I only wanted the easy part - the fun part. Playing games and making faces at you. Telling jokes and...encouraging you to get up to bad behavior. But I skipped out on the hard parts - changing nappies and cleaning up puke, teaching you how to speak and how to read - and just left all of that to your dad. I let it all fall on Harry's shoulders, and I never should have. He took it all, he bore it all, for you - but he never should have had to."
"Right from the start, from the get-go, I should have been trying. I should have been an equal parent and partner with Harry. I should have been the mum you deserved, I should have given you everything you deserved - no, needed. I was neglectful of you, and I was awful, and...and if I could go back and redo it all, I would! I would do it all so much better for you. I'd give it more than half my arse cheek, than a measly little half of an attempt. Because you deserved so much better than that from me."
"I did start to try, far too late, and then we lost you. And I was left wondering all these years whether I would ever get the chance to say any of this to you - to tell you just how ashamed and disgusted with myself I am, and how hard I failed you. How much I wronged you. How much you honestly deserved but didn't get. And I wondered...if we could only get you back...if you would give me the chance to give it my all. To give you everything you deserved out of me. To give me a chance to be that mum you deserved in your life."
"Now, I may not have put in much of an effort at being what you needed, but that's not the same as saying I never cared about you - or loved you," mummy finished, tearful and raspy. "I did care - I did love you - and I did so- so much more than I ever could have realized before, when I lost you. And I wondered if I would ever have the chance to tell you that as well...'cause it's clearly something you needed to hear."
Daisy shut her eyes, holding back a sob. She nodded. "I-" She stopped. "Dammit, mummy, I want to keep being pissed at you!" she choked.
"I can't blame you, honey. Be as pissed as you like with me, as long as you need to be. That's probably healthy - to get that out. To get this all out in the open between us, after all these years."
"But I also don't want to be!" Daisy cried. "I just want to- I don't know what I want! I'm h-home, I'm b-back, you and daddy are back, and- and- I should be so happy, I should be so relieved and g-glad and I just- I still feel so...I don't know. I'm cold, I'm- it's all empty still. But it shouldn't be. It should have gone away now! And when I don't feel that way, I'm just mad at you and even at daddy, and- and- and that's all wrong! Because it's all okay now..."
"Sorry to break it to you, hon, but a change of scenery alone can't change how you're feeling inside. Not necessarily. Yeah, you're home, safe and sound - but anything you...you ever went through...of course that was going to affect you. And anything you've ever thought about us - like we were terrible parents who abandoned you, who never cared to look for you - that's all still going to be there, too. And maybe it should be there. They're your feelings. But, in the spirit of being that mum you should have had, your dad and I are going to do everything we can to help you work through it. Okay? I promise you that."
"Okay," Daisy agreed. "Thanks," she added, not wanting to sound ungrateful.
In truth, she thought she did feel a tiny bit better already.
When Daisy had walked back inside her house, she had come across her daddy making a Floo call. He had told her that he had just talked to the Order - from their secret Headquarters. Told her that they had all agreed to hear what she had to say, and that they were all excited to see her again (though, Daisy doubted that last part).
He had told her they would have to wait a half hour or so for everyone to be rounded up, and that Daisy could do whatever she liked in the meantime.
Daisy hesitated, then she asked if there were any enchanted, expanded space bags around that she could use - "I have a lot of stuff I need to bring with me for the meeting."
Daddy had waved his wand and popped a bag up from nothing, seemingly, and handed it right over to her. Daisy took it and returned to her bedroom upstairs (closed and locked the door behind her), and then she opened up her trunk and began to drop things into the bag. Not all of it was for the whole Order; some of it was for only one specific member of the Order who was going to be there. Who she at least hoped would show up.
Daisy spent a while in her room after, just reading through all her old storybooks and relaxing on her strange new bed she still wasn't sure she even liked.
Then, daddy knocked at her door and told her it was time to go.
She clutched the space expanded bag in hand, her wand in the other, and she joined her daddy out in the hall. They descended those stairs again, and she watched him grab a handful of Floo Powder and toss it into the sitting room fireplace. The word he said wasn't a destination - it almost sounded like a spell incantation, strangely: Occultissime Place.
The green flames of the Floo burst and shifted into blue, and then daddy took her hand and stepped on through, as was normal.
The world spun in closeness, suffocating and dizzying, until it ended, and daddy stepped out of the fire with Daisy. He steadied her as she wobbled (more like almost fell over completely).
Daisy brushed herself off, fixed her hair meticulously, and straightened herself tall as she looked around herself. Truthfully, there wasn't much to see - it was hard, cold stone, a barren sort of room with nothing but a fireplace in it. An old wooden door lay before them. Daddy went right to it, opening it up and stepping out into a similar corridor of dark stone.
They didn't go too far down the hall before daddy stopped at a new door. He took a very audible, nervous kind of breath before he pulled it open and stepped through.
Daisy let go of his hand, clutching her wand tight at her side as she followed him in.
It was a large stone room with torches lining the walls. There were nice portraits of landscapes scattered about. The only furniture in the room was a long meeting table with way too many chairs around it.
Most of these chairs were occupied.
A plethora of familiar faces and figures! People who had passed in and out of her life before, people who...
People who knew, now...
Daisy's eyes found her uncle Remus, first and foremost. And then there was Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Mad-Eye Moody, and Nymphadora Tonks, and...
Daisy could have either screamed or bawled, when her gaze landed on the woman seated beside Tonks.
Her wand hand trembled horribly. She sucked in a sharp breath, clenching her mouth shut tight. She tore her eyes away and hurried after her daddy as he found himself a seat at the table.
Daisy sat in her chair, ducking her head to hide in her hair as she tried to get herself under control. Occlumency, breathe - focus. Relax, in and out, in...and out. After she was sure she had herself well in hand, she raised her head and sat up straight again.
Everyone was looking at her. Some looked...really happy, and glad. Others just looked curious, or expectant.
"Okay, now that everybody's here," Daisy began loudly. "I have some really important stuff to say - so listen up! And you better all make sure it never leaves this room, because the second it does, once it gets back to Tom, he's going to go absolutely nuts and try to slaughter everyone over it, and we'll also lose the advantage - the element of surprise. The fact that he doesn't know that you all know about it. So don't ruin that!"
Most everyone gave her looks like they were just humoring her.
But at least they didn't look to be despising her very existence - for the identity and blood they knew now was in her veins...
Daisy basked in it a moment, then drew a breath. She opened her mouth, and she began to speak. "Tom Riddle is immortal - after a fashion. He keeps hanging around because his soul is anchored to the living world. By his Horcruxes. He made six. It means he ripped off pieces of his own soul and then bound them to separate objects - to other things. So even if he loses his body, his main soul won't move on to the next world. It stays here, kept in place by the other pieces of his soul still bound to a material object."
"One of them - that Diary from your adventures, daddy - it's already destroyed, so that's one less link tethering him here. I think that another was that old Locket of Salazar Slytherin's you were looking for, the one Regulus died for, and gave to Kreacher to destroy. I think he figured out what it was. And...I think I know where and what a third one is. Just like fa- Tom gave the Diary Horcrux to Lucius to look after, but never told him what it really was...I know he gave something to- Bellatrix, and never told her what it was either. But he said it was important, and secret, and she had to look after it for him. It was a special Cup belonging to Helga Hufflepuff. It's in her vault at Gringotts - I went there and saw it myself last Christmas. He likes to play to his own ego by using important or historically valuable objects as Horcruxes - it's his pattern - so I think for the others, the three I've got no idea about, you should look at any historic objects belonging to Ravenclaw and Gryffindor."
She was not going to tell any of these people that Nagini was a Horcrux too. If they went and just tried to kill her, not knowing she was a person...or even if they did know - even if she told them - what if they chose to do it anyway? Called it a necessary sacrifice or something? Decided that the innocent life of a mentally incapacitated woman was worth less than the end of the whole war? Than the end of Voldemort?
Daisy wasn't going to risk that. Not until she found a way to make Nagini human and healthy again, and found a way to remove the Horcrux from her body (she figured if there was a spell to extract the soul shard from your own body in the first place and place it into a vessel, then there might be a way to reverse engineer that same spell to come up with a new one to rip it right back out of its new container). Only after Nagini was human and free of Tom's soul would Daisy tell anybody about it - when nobody would have to make a choice to go and try to make a sacrifice out of her.
"Oh, and I have this, too," Daisy concluded, flicking her wand to summon a sheet of parchment out of her enchanted handbag. She slid it over to daddy, who passed it on to the next, and so on and so forth. "That's a list of every spell and enchantment that Tom used to protect his Horcruxes. So, even if we don't know what all of them are, we can still figure out how they're being protected by going down the list and checking each spell to see if they match with any of the ones we do know or not. Process of elimination."
Everyone stared at her, a mixture of shock and horror on their faces. And, well...a lot more of them were looking mighty impressed with her now.
"Well then, if the cat's out of the bag..." Nymphadora Tonks spoke up in a stunned murmur, after having just read the list over. She glanced at Mad-Eye Moody, passing him the parchment. He scanned it over quickly, then gave a tight nod back to Tonks.
"We can all cross two more off that list for known and destroyed Horcruxes," Moody spoke loudly. "A family heirloom, a ring that belonged to the Gaunt family - You-Know-Who- eh, Riddle's grandfather. Albus took care of it a long time ago. And that Locket Regulus stole; we tracked the real one down years ago, destroyed it properly."
"That is what you have been doing for all this time?" Kingsley spoke. "Your secret mission for Albus?"
Moody nodded. "That's right. I hope you can all understand why we had to keep it so secret - even from the Order. Though, now that's gone to hell...You-Know-Who's got plenty of chances to take the information out of our heads should he capture any one of us."
"Sorry..." Daisy muttered. "I didn't know any of you knew anything about it."
"What's done is done - and you've brought a hell of a treasure trove of critical information we didn't have before tonight," Moody said to her, in an almost kindly tone - gentle, for him. Even comforting. "So, we're three for three, are we? We've got a Cup in Lestrange's vault to go after, and two unknowns. We'd best leave that Cup for last - we'll know where it is, and if it goes missing chances are You-Know-Who will realize we know about his Horcruxes, and move to secure the others that we still don't know about. Can't risk our advantage, as you said; smart girl."
"That still leaves two that we have no idea about," Tonks sighed.
Daisy eyed the thirty-something woman, pretty and colorful as she was, with those blue eyes and that orange and purple hair of hers, and those lips and her-
Anyway, she was Andromeda's daughter. Which made her Daisy's cousin, she realized for the first time, really! Tonks caught her eye. She smiled and gave a little wave. Daisy flushed and looked away quickly, shifting in her seat uncomfortably. She thought that the woman had to have had the same thought herself already - and didn't seem to mind!
"Thank you for what you have been able to tell us," Kingsley said kindly to her.
"Was that everything?" Daddy spoke quietly beside her.
"Almost." Daisy looked around the meeting table. She drew herself up to full height. "I need someone to train me in dueling magic; I want to do it every day, for a few hours at least."
Daddy looked surprised for a moment, beside her. Then he grinned, nodding. "Of course you'd want to continue with that, wouldn't you?"
Daisy stared straight ahead. "I only had a few months learning with you and mummy before - but I've had daily, five years of training with Tom and- Bellatrix, since then. I need someone here to keep training with. And don't baby me; treat me like any adult witch wanting to train for the Order - because, trust me, I'm already used to that. I'm used to more than anything you could even think to throw at me and still go to sleep at night thinking you're a good person."
Daddy lost his grin. He looked sick, and upset - with himself? Or with her? "Daisy, I-"
"Tell them I can do this, daddy. Tell me I can do this. Please."
Daddy gazed around at the Order members. He nodded. "All right. Yeah - you've got my permission to do this. We'll have to do Portkeys or Floo trips over, whichever would be easier for everyone. And- erm, Daisy, do you have anybody in particular you're wanting to have train you?"
Daisy scrutinized everyone, herself. She pointed. "I want him to - and- and maybe Tonks too?" she added hastily, glancing at the woman again nervously, a certain hotness coming to her face then.
Mad-Eye Moody looked to daddy. "You sure she's up for it, Potter? Sure you'd trust her with me - when dueling magic is involved?"
"Yeah, I would," daddy replied, with only a tiny hint of reluctance. "You're an Auror and all; I'd trust you to know how to hold back, how to teach people right. It's not like you're beating people into submission, are you, Mad-Eye? You have trained other Aurors before - and newer Order members over the years."
"That I have," Moody said. His eyes found Daisy again. "When would you be looking to start, eh, girl?"
"A week from today," Daisy stated. "And I mean it - don't hold out on me because I'm a kid. It won't help me keep getting better."
Again, Moody looked to daddy, uncertain.
Daddy looked conflicted. Worried. He sighed, and he nodded. "Treat her like any other Order member training under you. Like I said: I trust you to know how far to take it, and when to let up. I trust you not to hurt her on purpose. If there are accidents...that's what you've got to accept when it comes to learning dangerous combat magic. I won't hold- any of it against you, Moody. I swear it. And if she wants this, then I trust her to know what she wants."
"Alright, then," Moody agreed. "A week from today," he confirmed, giving Daisy a small smile that was almost reassuring. Or even comforting.
Daisy felt really pleased with herself. But there was still one more thing to take care of while she had everyone here. Everyone relevant...
Her eyes found Andromeda Tonks again, in full and in whole. Pain ripped through Daisy immediately. The woman looked so strikingly like mother...except the eyes. This woman's eyes were so much wider, and kinder than mother's had ever been, even on her best days. Even in their most intimate moments...
Mother's sister. Daisy's aunt. Daisy did have good family, she thought to herself. Non-terrorist, non-dark-lord family. Good, kind, wonderful people.
She stood from her seat, grasping her expandable bag in her hands as she moved down the table for the woman. She stopped before her, looking her in the face for a long moment. Andromeda gazed back at her, with nothing but patience and kindness and...knowing. Like she'd expected Daisy to do this all along, from the very start. Like maybe she had been expecting this to happen for years now already...if she knew...
Daisy started to tear up again. She couldn't speak. She couldn't keep looking at that face anymore. She...she...just... She dropped her head, plunging her hand into her bag, feeling around. She grasped the heavy book and pulled it out with a huff, holding it easier in two hands. She bent forward and set it down on the table, and then she opened it quickly to the first page.
Andromeda gave a small gasp, staring down with wide eyes at the moving photos. She looked up at Daisy, her own eyes glistening, holding so much conflicting feelings and-She quickly placed her hand over Daisy's, and she closed the album. She held her gaze still. "How...did you get all of this?" she spoke gently.
"M-mother kept it - all of it," Daisy said back, choked. "She- she said she wanted to burn it someday, but...she never got around to it, so I think that was just bullshit on her part. She- she made this for me. Last Christmas. Before she...I gave her a dress, and a knife, and jewelry, and she- she gave me this as a present. She said it was so I didn't keep asking her millions of stupid questions all the time about her life," she giggled.
Andromeda gave a tight, polite smile. But her eyes shone with real surprise. And a surprising bit of compassion. "I see..." she whispered. She looked down at the album again, and lifted her hand from Daisy's. "Are you giving this to me now, then?"
Daisy nodded. "From...from her, you could think of it as, really. I- she- she really missed you, she really loved you, she still did, she just- she was so-" She found she couldn't speak again, and put her hands over her face as she sucked in a long and shuddering breath.
Andromeda moved, and she suddenly pulled Daisy right into her arms. "You clearly have quite a lot you want to talk about - and I'd be...glad to help how I can, dear. If you ever want to visit - to talk - get in touch with the Order, and it can be arranged." She paused. "I'd rather like to see you again, honestly - I've always wanted a niece to spoil."
Daisy nodded through her sniffles, flushing. "Having a not-evil aunt could be nice too," she replied thickly. "M-mother, she- she made us play cards all the time - Whist - so I got her a board game for Christmas too. But we- we only got to play it a few times before she..."
Andromeda gave a small chuckle. "Yes, she- she did always enjoy that one..." she murmured, trailing off into silence. Lost in her own memories and struggles with them, so evident in her voice.
In this moment of warmth and closeness and vulnerability, Daisy's mind whispered to her again. Speaking up in her weakest moment, taking total advantage of her state.
On the other other hand...
It invaded Daisy's mind, a thought rising up. A voice speaking up. The voice that had been her companion the past several years. The voice that had made sure she had always tried to be good, to never lie, to stick to what daddy had taught her. How he'd taught her to be.
That little voice told her that, if she hid Nagini from the Order, the truth about her, wouldn't that mean someone might well just kill her out of hand, thinking her nothing but Voldemort's pet? And if she told them all, maybe...maybe they could help? Maybe they'd agree not to? Maybe...
Daisy couldn't do this. She couldn't just keep in another lie. She couldn't keep lying like this, deceiving, manipulating. She had thought she wanted to be through with it, wanted to be back home in her simple, happy world of truths at least. Of justice. It would kill her inside if she tried to keep going with this, she realized. The thing she'd been trying to get away from so desperately. It was a lock, a chain, it burned her inside - she wasn't father, father was wrong, she had told him he was wrong! That it was good to trust, that it was better to...
Did Daisy herself not really believe that anymore, or at all? Or- no! No, she was just- she just-
She had to do this, she had to trust, they were friends and family and...she had to tell them.
Daisy took in a big breath, and let it out again. She pulled away from Andromeda, and turned again to face the Order. "Actually, there's one more thing I have to tell everyone - it's about the Horcruxes. I- I'm sorry, but I- I lied about not knowing what one of the last two are. I..." She flushed, she struggled. Shame rose in her from just a glance at daddy, at the look on his face! "I had a good reason!" she burst out, furious. "You- you can make living beings into Horcruxes! You can shove a piece of your soul into another living person's body! And- and Tom did that to a person - a woman! Her name is- she's a Maledictus, and she's confused, and she's mentally deficient, and she's been trapped in her form for at least a decade! Her name is Nagini. I don't know her last name, I didn't know she was human until I talked to her last Christmas. She told me...and I confronted father about it, and I realized it from him what he'd done to her!"
"I didn't want to tell any of you because I was scared that if I did you'd all just go off and murder her for it! One life for the world? For the war? For Tom? What is that, really? Right?! But- but I'm telling you that if any of you people try to go after her, I'll fucking kill you first! Because I know there has to be a way to save her, to get that thing out of her without having to hurt her - we just have to try! We can reverse engineer the same spell that placed it into her to begin with, or create a new ritual to draw it out, or something! We have all the time in the world to do it, as long as she's alive and at his side we can try for her! We can even get her away from him, bring her somewhere safe, keep her hidden until we can help her! She deserves some fucking effort, not execution!"
Daisy was breathing hard, staring wildly around the table.
Daddy made a sudden noise. He was looking at her in shock, pale-faced. Those green eyes of his wide. "You can make living things into Horcruxes, Daisy?"
"Yes," Daisy said harshly, gasping for air. "I just- I just said that, weren't you listening, daddy?"
"D-Daisy...did Riddle...did he ever say anything about- about putting a piece of him into me?"
Daisy stared. "No! Why would you think that, daddy?!"
Daddy raised a hand and touched his famous scar, looking around the table. "It's obvious now, isn't it? For all my life I've had this connection to him. To his mind. I've always been able to sense him when he's close, feel his emotions, and even...look into his head. His thoughts, his plans. The whole Prophecy fiasco, the thing that started it all...at least for him...'Either must die at the hands of the other, for neither can live while the other survives.' What if it's all so blindingly, stupidly literal? That it means I'm...I'm a part of what's tethering him to life - just like this Nagini woman you mentioned? Why else do I have a literal connection to his- not his mind. To his...his soul? What his soul feels?"
"No!" Daisy shrieked. "That's just stupid, daddy, that's not even true, it doesn't make sense, it's- none of you people fucking hurt him, I swear it, I'll kill every last one of you if you try to-"
"Daisy!" Daddy said loudly, shaking his head. "Daisy, sweetie, it's okay! Honestly, I doubt that anyone in this room is just going to smite me on the spot," he went on, with a little grin. But it was a shaky one. "Am I right, guys?"
"Think you've spent too long among the enemy, little Miss Potter," Mad-Eye spoke suddenly, eyeing Daisy. "That is not how we do things. Not in Potter's case, and not in this Nagini's case. Not even Albus, in all his planning, would have gone that far to rid your dad of his shard. I don't doubt he considered it, but he discarded it as soon as he was able to."
Little Miss Potter? It struck Daisy so completely, so deeply that she just couldn't speak again. Did that mean he...? That they...? They really didn't think of her as...?
"Dumbledore knew?" Daddy said, aghast. "You knew? This whole time?"
"We were hoping to find a way to get rid of it without having to off you," Tonks said uncomfortably. "We're happy to be able to say now that we didn't have to do anything - and we'll never have to. Riddle did that for us about five and a half years ago."
"What?" Daddy looked about to faint from the shock of these revelations. "Tonks, you...? What do you mean...?"
"Dumbledore had his suspicions - thought it was incredibly likely - that if Riddle were to replicate the events of the night the soul shard entered your body, and tried to kill you, that it would fail again," Moody spoke roughly. "He explained it all to us. Magic and concepts on a level we never could grasp, not entirely. He said that it was due to Riddle taking your mother's blood and sacrifice into his regenerated body. That it tied you to life as much as he was - that it could allow you to come back again. And we know you did. He also said that if Riddle himself were to do this, it would likely destroy the Horcrux inside you. Make no mistake, Potter, it should have been the end for both of you - you and that Horcrux - but because you were still tied to life, only the Horcrux went on. You still had something keeping your soul here."
Daddy gave a glance at Daisy, gave her a warm smile.
"So- we don't have to worry about daddy like that?" Daisy said, struggling. "But there's still Nagini we have to figure out how to help!" she continued fiercely.
"Aye, and we will," Moody said firmly. "As you said, girl - long as that woman is at Riddle's side, she's at least alive and protected. If we can get her away from him, we'll get right to work on the issue. That idea on reverse-engineering the spell was a good one - you know it, then, I presume?"
"Yes, I know it," Daisy said. She hesitated, and then she spoke the incantation. "That's it. The one that pulls the broken piece of soul off from the whole, out of your own body, and lets you move it over into a new vessel. The container."
Moody nodded, looking grateful. "We'll get to work on the spell, at least - but there won't be any way to test it, obviously, until we get Nagini out of Riddle's hands."
"Thank you," Daisy choked out.
Moody waved a hand. "No need to thank me. We should all be thanking you."
"I think," Remus spoke quietly. "that I can safely speak for everyone, Daisy, when I say this: Welcome home. We're all so glad to have you here with us again."
Goddammit, Daisy didn't want to cry again in front of these people!
When the meeting ended, Daisy talked to Remus for a few minutes, but he said he had to get back to Christina.
So Daisy went to Tonks, next, to talk to her.
Tonks indulged her for a while, before saying she, too, had a wife to get back to at home - and some "important Order business".
Daisy tried to cling to Andromeda, but the woman patted her head and told her she would see her again soon. Andromeda had the photo album in her arm, and she didn't seem keen to let it go again. She seemed eager to get a moment alone with it, honestly.
Daisy understood that, really - so she let her go without much of a fuss.
Daddy suggested they should go back home again, too. So they did. Back down the stone hall, back into that empty room, and through the blue fireplace.
Back into this new, unfamiliar sitting room of a still-unfamiliar house.
Daddy sat down on the sofa, and he pulled Daisy along with him. Daisy crawled onto his lap and clung to him, burying her face in his chest as tears spilled again.
"Daisy, what's the matter?" he asked her gently, holding her and stroking her hair.
"You're mad at me for lying today, aren't you?" Daisy replied. "For keeping all of that from everybody?"
"No, I'm not, sweetie. You had a good reason - you were worried about a woman's life and health - and you did end up telling the truth anyway. I'm not upset with you: I'm proud of you." As daddy hugged her close on the sofa, it was then that Daisy thought maybe she could get used to this new place - as long as she had her parents here with her in it. "Honestly, the number of lies and secrets I kept when I was your age, just because I thought I was protecting my friends - doing the right thing - it'd shock you, Daisy. I know you call them adventures, but...I wasn't some big hero or anything. I was actually...well, your mum would call me a clever little shit," he chortled. "I kept things from teachers, from Dumbledore himself, and I threw myself into all that danger thinking I was the only one who could do it right. Do a thing about it. But I was wrong, Daisy. If I'd just done what you did today, and gone to the right people and spilled my heart out to them...everything would've turned out so much better. So different. Sirius wouldn't have died, most of all. It was brave of you, and it was right of you, and I couldn't be more proud of you for it. I mean it!"
Well, when he put it that way...
Daisy hugged him harder than ever!
After a nice few hours just being together, Daisy went out on a really fun clothes shopping trip with her daddy.
She was happy to get back into the muggle world - and to get to forget everything she had ever been through, while she was there.
While she was there, it was just her and daddy. Just a girl and her daddy, and nothing else.
They smiled and laughed - Daisy got daddy to blush a few times when she showed him some of the items she wanted to wear - and they even went and got food afterward!
It reminded Daisy a little too much of the last times she had ever spent with her mother, though, so she ended up crying in the middle of a restaurant full of people (which was terrible!). Daddy took her home right away, for which Daisy was so grateful!
Daisy had tried on all her clothes, mixing and matching and showing it all off to her daddy. He'd complimented her on every one, telling her she looked so great in them. She had felt so good inside that she really could have just started flying again. Mummy gave her approval too - which was nice! And Leila, her sister - which Daisy ignored (at least until daddy gave her a look, which prompted her to at least say thank you to the girl through her teeth).
All in all, Daisy went to bed that night feeling really content with herself. With her life now, as it was. She thought she could adapt, accept it, maybe get better. With her parents there to help every step of the way.
Of course, she woke up in bed later that night feeling like she wanted to just die!
Daisy's eyes shot open as something was squeezing in her gut - and then a deep stabbing pain! It washed through her like a wave. She rolled out of bed and stumbled immediately. She raised a hand to push sweating hair out of her face, and another burst of pain dug into her abdomen. It was like someone had stabbed her and started twisting the knife!
Daisy let out a groan of pain and fell back onto her bed. She wormed her way to the center and drew her legs in, curling her body in on itself. She reached for her wand and focused with all her might; a loud bang split the silence as a puff of smoke erupted. She heard the fast, frantic footsteps through the house. Coming up the stairs.
"Daddy!" she called, as fresh agony hit her.
Her door flew open and the lights turned on. Daddy was there with his wand in hand, looking alert and flat out terrified. "I'm here, sweetie, I'm here - what's wrong? Are you hurt, did you-"
"Fuck." she hissed, screwing up her eyes and pressing her hand to her stomach. "Fucking shite, what the-"
Daddy's eyes took her in in her entirety, roaming over her to find some sign of horrific injury or curse. Then they locked in on her lower half and widened.
Daisy followed his gaze to find blood smeared on her thigh. Down her leg. Really dark blood. Oh...that was supposed to be a thing that happens at some point...right...
"Do you think it's my period?" she gritted out, really hoping it just wasn't. Maybe someone had cursed her behind her back, or maybe it was mummy's terrible food!
"Err- well- why don't you- you know, check, to...be sure...?" Daddy replied, in a calm voice as he turned right around, lowering his wand.
"Check...Oh...right..." Daisy did as asked, and confirmed her worst suspicions about the source of the blood. And the pain. "Okay, it is my fucking period. Does mum have any-" She stopped as a wave of intense nausea rolled through her, along with new pain, and she threw herself over the side of her bed and hurled all over the floor.
Daddy waved his wand to clean it up, getting down beside her bed and helping her back onto it. He turned to flick his wand at the doorway, and a large box flew in. Followed by several more items. "Okay, err, right, sweetie, uh- so we need to start with this - drink it every three or four hours; it'll help with the pain and nausea." He pulled a small potions vial out of a box and handed it to her; she tore the cork off and downed it immediately. He reached for another box. He took out a thin, oval shaped cloth from the box full of them and held it out to her. "Now, this, you need to- this side facing inward, you're supposed to just uh- lay it flat over your- erm- in your underwear, your- you know-"
"My vulva?"
"Yes...that's- right, you just- press it there, and it should just- stick there. Right, erm, over the- entrance...and any- bleeding you have- it'll just...make it vanish when it hits it. There are instructions here, you see? These pictures for how to do it..."
Daisy scrutinized the images. She nodded. "Okay. Got it."
"Err, it's- only got low level Sticking and Absorbing Charms on it, so it'll lose effectiveness every six to eight hours. So you'll need to replace it with a new one after that. There's a lot in here, so you shouldn't run out any time soon. But if you do, we can get more."
"Okay."
"And this-" He held out a long, fluffy roll of dull red cloth, like a rolled up towel. "This is enchanted to keep warm, hot, really. You- you're supposed to just- keep it on your stomach. Err, abdomen, and it'll help with things too. Muscle contraction, blood vessels - it should really help there."
"Thanks, daddy..."
"And last but not least..." Daddy turned her alarm clock into a bucket, and set a large stack of chocolate bars on her nightstand. "Your mum really likes these when she has her - cycle - so... But if you want something else, I've read that different women like different things...so if you want something like fruits, or vegetables, or even meat, just ask and I'll get you what you want."
"Okay." She put a hand over her mouth as she felt a fresh urge to hurl. She clutched the heating cloth to her stomach. "Every single time I ever thought I wanted to start puberty already was a terrible mistake..." she moaned. "Why am I so sweaty, why is it so hot? I can't stop shaking either. I want to go back to being a late bloomer a little longer..."
"I- I don't think you're a late bloomer, sweetie. Not entirely, anyway. In very stressful, terrible situations, puberty can be - delayed."
Well, that part actually makes sense! What was more stressful than living with a Dark Lord for a father, surrounded by psycho terrorists?
"But," daddy went on, still in that calm voice. "it's happening now, and it must be awful, but it is normal, sweetie. And this is...everything we can do. Do you want me to stay with you? I could read to you..."
"No. I just want - quiet..." Daisy murmured. "Please."
"Okay, sweetie. But if you need anything else, just yell for me."
"M'kay...Now go away..."
The pain had gone down from a stabbing knife to two stones grinding together in her uterus. Which wasn't much of an improvement! Why was her body trying to murder her over a distinct lack of baby inside itself?! Babies sucked, bodies sucked - this sucked!
The menstrual cycle could go to hell!