Part 5: The finishing end to the beginning

"Amber, wake up, Amber," the voice over me whispered.

Slowly, I began to open my eyes.

"What the-" I said as I sat straight up, looking around the room. "Where am I? Where are Voldemort and Lucius?" I asked.

"We'll explain everything later on, but for now, you rest," Madame Pomfrey said, speaking calmly.

The next morning, the light shown in through the window by my bed in the infirmary.

"Well well, looks like you are really coming around now. How are you feeling?" She asked me.

I blinked a few times and rubbed my arm. "I feel alright. How long have I been asleep?"

"Oh, about a week now. You must be about ready to get up again."

I paused, looking around again. "Ma'am, how exactly did I get to Hogwarts?"

"You fought the battle here, don't you remember?"

"No, we were in the Green room."

"And, don't you know what that is?"

"Its an indoor quidditch field." I responded. "So I guess I was at Hogwarts. I just never really considered the Green room part of Hogwarts because it was only Slytherins who knew about it."

"Wrong." She replied, looking down on me. "Of all people, I figured you would know the answer to this one."

I looked at Madame Pomfrey confused. "Well then, what is it?"

"Amber, a long time ago, Voldemort had a lot of power, as you know. Many people at Hogwarts tried to follow him, so those followers created their own room of worship, so to speak. It moved locations so that anybody who wasn't a member could get in. Nobody really knew who the members were, either. It was all very secretive."

"This may be beside the point, but was Snape a death eater?" I asked.

"Oh dear, yes he was, but no longer, of course. He was back in the days. Snape has told us that he was just going along with the crowd, so its nothing to worry about."

I remembered back to the beginning of the year when I had been given the room. I remembered who had given me the room. It was Snape. It was slowly coming together in my mind. "Oh, alright. Thank you, Madame."

"Say, do you feel up to taking a trip?" She asked me.

"Yes I do." I was ready to see some friends, and I was ready to have some questions answered. I was escorted into the Great Hall where the school was seated, eating their meal.

"Go on, Amber, go have some fun." I turned around at her and smiled as she walked away.

I approached the Slytherin table timidly. A couple of the kids saw me and smiled, while others frowned. I pulled out my usual chair next to Kirbin and Trev, and across from Shayna, Spencer, Marc, and Mindy.

"Hey guys, is this seat taken?" I smiled.

"Amber! Mindy shrieked. She jumped up out of her seat and hugged me, followed by Kirbin and the guys. Shayna stood up and left our part of the table. She pulled out a chair next to Draco and started talking, not even noticing that I was back. It hurt me that she wasn't excited at all to see me. Among all the people who jumped up to see me, I managed to slip out and ran up to the Slytherin entrance, my face streaked with tears. I ran up to our room and pulled out a chair close to the fireplace. I started thinking to myself that maybe I was supposed to die. Maybe I was supposed to have let Voldemort kill me. I still didn't even understand how I had lived. Where had those strange men gone? Who were they in the first place? I buried my head in my hands and cried.

"Ammie," a voice said as a hand touched my shoulder.

I slowly turned around. "What do you want, Shayna??" I snapped back.

"I came to welcome you home." She said, quietly while pulling up a chair.

"Why? I was supposed to die out there, and you know it!"

"Do you even know what you did?" She asked me, eyes wide and amazed.

"I guess I don't know." I replied.

"Well let's see… Somehow you managed to come up with all this energy and power and you just released it all on Voldemort and Lucius." She replied.

"Are they dead?" I said, jumping out of my seat.

"There's no proof that they are alive, but I seriously doubt that you could kill Voldemort. Even Harry hasn't done that yet."

"What? So what happened?" I was so confused.

"Amber, they disappeared and we don't know where to."

"Draco-" I started.

"Draco is fine. He was way more worried about you than that nimrod uncle of yours." She smiled.

"Did I- Did I kill anybody?" I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes.

Shayna opened her arms and gave me a hug. "We really don't know. Everyone that was there managed to disappear someplace, and we just don't know. Now, let me tell you about a few other things."

"Well, alright." I said, sobbing. "How about we start with those strange large guys that were at my house."

Shayna went on to explain to me about their occupation and why they were sent to our house. I just sat there, nodding. I never really knew how important we really were.

"Amber, we were more important than we ever knew. They were investigating your family when they got wind of who you really were, and from there, they worked more like bodyguards than like agents."

"But where did they go when I asked you guys to leave?" I asked.

"That's just another thing that we are unsure of. I think that they moved on because we could handle the rest on our own."

I stared blankly at the floor. "You know he wouldn't have killed you, Shayna. You're his daughter."

"No. He knew you were strong, so he targeted you to test your strength. Amber, you're the first person that's ever done that crazy little power thing you did. That's another reason why he probably didn't kill me."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused yet again.

"Besides being his heir, I am his daughter. If I needed to protect myself, I would, like I did, but there would be something holding me back from creating an earth-shattering explosion. I don't know why I feel this way, as much as I'd love to kick his-"

I interrupted, "Yeah, but I don't even know how I did it! People think I'm going to be the next dark lord! I heard a few of the Slytherins mentioning it at lunch today." I looked at her, disbelieving everything that had happened in the last few weeks.

"Okay, now, seriously, do you want to take over for him now that you've actually seen his wrath?"

"Honestly, if he came back, I still feel like I would join." I nodded my head. "Don't ask me why, but there's still something in me that wants that."

Shayna threw her hands down to her side. "Amber, did you not learn anything?"

"I'm not interested in creating a new dark lord, if that is what you are asking. I'm still very confused. Its hard to be in this position."

"Yeah, I think I do understand you, completely."

The rest of the fifth year sped by. We took the OWLS, got the results, made our summer plans, and kissed yet another memorable year goodbye. There was just one more thing to get finished with…

"Amber!" A voice called out as I boarded the train. "An owl just came for you."

"Now?" I asked.

"Here you go."

"Thanks, Harry."

I smiled at the boy who lived. He was the boy who saved my life. We had almost become friends. I placed the owl in my pocket and boarded the train. All of my friends sat squished, like usual, together in one tiny compartment. It was the yearly reflection hour. I entered right as Kirbin started the first "Remember when?" moment.

"Remember when Mindy fell down the stairs in front of Peeves, in a skirt? He couldn't shut up for weeks." She said.

"Kirbin, that's mean." Mindy muttered, her face burning. "But now, its my turn. Remember when Kirbin got her first kiss, and who it was from?" She smiled from the revenge. "Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't it Neville Longbottom, the Gryffindor? You do remember, right, Kirby?"

She sat moping. "It was a dare!"

"Well I've got one!" Trev spoke up.

"Go for it." Shayna smiled and looked at me.

He spoke directly to me. "Amber, do you remember when I fell in love with you but got too scared to tell you?" He grabbed my hand and continued on. "Oh, that's right, looks like we've already got the first one for next year."

I gave his hand a little squeeze. Shayna gave me the "Thumbs up." Somehow I could tell that she had set this up.

The train ride went on with more memories and laughs. Finally, it was time to leave. With tear-stricken faces, we headed off in our different directions. I was going to Draco's again, but this time, Uncle Lucius would not be there.

It was then that I remembered the owl that was given to me before I boarded the train. I reached in my pocket and pulled it out. Unfolding it, I began to sense a small fear.

Amber-

You may think you've won. Think again. I know where you'll live this summer.

-but wouldn't you like to know where I'll live this summer?

-Anonymous

*~I folded the note up and shoved it into my pocket. For now I am going to have to disregard it, but what can I do about it anyway? I learned this year that if there's something that I set my mind to do, I will do it. This was the good part about being the perfect death eater's granddaughter, and now I even have the perfect boyfriend. Power and Happiness… But still I wonder… Who was that note from? And just where did those bad guys go after all?

I stood out on my balcony that evening for quite some time. The sun was just beginning to set over the hills. The orange-pinkish light outlined the tall oak forests that went on beyond our yard. The moments like these made me think of my dad, and even my mom. Now that everything had solved itself, I felt better about my family. I felt them closer to me than ever before. I had met my dad's family, and now even my mother's father and sister. The dark lord is gone, and I will live each day as it hits me, never letting go of a perfect moment, like the moment like I feel right now as I look out over the trees. My fifth year is over, and it's almost my 16th birthday. Wherever my life decides to go, I'm ready for it. This summer and next year are going to be great. I feel like there are no more hidden secrets to uncover and a weight is lifted from my back. Now is my time to live, because I've been given another chance.

Tomorrow I think that I will send Shanya an owl and tell her what this crazy owl said to me. I'll see what she says from her safe American home. Until then, I think I will just sit around and enjoy all the beauty around me.~*

-Amber Quen Malfoy