JKR owns the people and places, I own Karista, Julia, Amaia, Vanessa, some chick named Jolene, Callidus and the dream...

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Chapter 21: Lily

It must already be light outside, Lily thought to herself as she could feel the light caressing her skin. She knew immediately she wasn't in the dungeon where she had been tossed previously, yet it still felt like a cold, stony place. She slowly raised her hand in front of her, to hear a gasp in return. Then another hand reached out and took hers while squeezing gently. Lily smiled. She slowly opened her eyes and saw James smiling back at her.

"James," she whispered before James gently lifted her into his arms. She was trembling and cold, but didn't care. "My James."

The room around her came into clearer focus, and the Great Hall appeared in front of her, as well as many familiar faces came clearer. She closed her eyes and rested her head on James' shoulder.

***

"Potter, if you don't bring me up to Gryffindor tower, I am going to strangle you with my bare hands," Karista said hoarsely from below Harry. They were almost to the stairwell to Gryffindor and at the end of the hall was the infirmary. Harry stopped, being caught off guard by this, and turned up the stairs to the last corridor before the fat lady portrait and stopped.

"What's wrong, Karista?" he asked her before resuming his usual pace down the corridor towards the portrait. "Why did you blank out? What happened that made you scream like that?"

Karista thought for a moment then shook her head. "I don't know, Harry."

Harry nodded his head, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get the truth out of her unless she was willing to give it. They made their way through the common room before Harry stopped at the foot of the girl's stairs.

"First thing tomorrow you are going to go and see Pomfrey, you hear?" Harry said, a faint smile flicking his lips.

"Yes Doctor Potter," Karista smiled warmly before hobbling her way up the stairs and into her room. She tossed herself on her bed before stripping off her torn robes and slipping on pajamas. She lifted back the covers and slipped into a gentle sleep.


The room was cold, almost as if she was stuck in a glacier. Pale firelight danced across the walls, casting eerie shadows on the ceiling. That wasn't what caught Karista's senses. It was the voice screaming, a merciless cackling from the corner of the room.

"Lucius, you failed me…not once, not twice, but three times now," Voldemort seethed, raising his wand towards the trembling ball on the floor known as Lucius Malfoy. "As they say in muggle baseball, three strikes, you are out."

Lucius began heaving dry sobs into the air. Voldemort simply sneered, raising his wand merely an inch from Lucius' face. "Crucio."

Lucius' wails pierced the air as he clawed at anything he could get his hands on to get away from the pain. His eyes were still squinted shut when Voldemort lifted his wand.

"Say your final words, Lucius," Voldemort spat. Karista, beyond impulses of her own lunged herself in front of Voldemort's wand before he could finish with the curse.

"No," Karista whispered, gently placing a hand on Voldemort's wand. "You will not kill him."

"And why is that, niecey-poo?" Voldemort cooed, his voice a cacophony of sarcasm and sing-songliness.

"Because," Karista said, causing Voldemort to look at her with mild curiosity.

"Strange Karista…very strange. And here I am thinking that you don't like Lucius Malfoy," Voldemort said solemnly.

"Still. It is no reason to kill someone."

Voldemort's eyebrows grew higher on his forehead. "You are the niece of a self-proclaimed murdering lunatic who speaks parselmouth and is the second to last Heir of Slytherin…I would have expected something of myself in you."

Now it was Karista's turn to look surprised. It seemed a bit of her Uncle was seeping into her and it was becoming out of control.

"Why me?" she moaned, slapping her hand against her forehead before slumping back into an armchair. "Why does everything bad seem to happen because of or by me?"

Voldemort simply chuckled to himself. "Why don't I kill you now even though I have an idea of how I can? Because you are too much like your Mother. Believe it or not, I knew her at Hogwarts…two years ahead of me and in Gryffindor. Nicest woman I have ever met…that was of course before I knew who she really was."

Karista gawked at Voldemort. He, a man feared by almost ninety nine percent of the wizarding population, was having a normal trip down memory lane with his niece.

"Wait…slow down. You must understand comprehension amongst blondes is typically slower," Karista gasped as she slowly sifted through everything she was hearing.

"I am not always an evil person…put me with the right people and I can be rather…charming."

Karista almost choked. Voldemort? Charming? Caring? Those were two of the possibly worst adjectives to describe him.

"I don't believe I am hearing this," Karista muttered, an eerie sickness filling her gut.

"Well, you are," Voldemort said quietly, staring at the flames flicking at the walls of the fireplace. "And I am telling you to leave London."

Karista turned to face Voldemort fully at that point. He was asking her to leave a place she called her own and she would have none of it.

"No," Karista said simply, curling a piece of hair between her fingers. "I think not."

Voldemort removed his stare from the fire and placed them on her. "Very well then. Latito Serpentosa."

Karista was taken by surprise at the words that came from Voldemort's mouth. From the tip of his wand sprung a small garden snake, a beautiful fiery red and orange speckled pattern across its' back. Its eyes were almost golden while its tongue was black.

"My gift to you, Karista," Voldemort said through a sneer. Before Karista could even reply, the room spun viciously around her until she could only see black.


Karista sat up, rubbing her eyes furiously. She the dream had really happened, being that she had experience with it. She could feel something new about her, almost a new sense of power in the form of a foreign body. She looked down onto her stomach to see the same snake from her 'experience' staring back up at her.

"You know why I am here, don't you?" the snake asked, a low hissing sound escaping from its mouth.

"Um…no, but if you would gladly fill me in," Karista began, but the snake held up its tail to stop her.

"I am the unbreakable spy…basically an immortal snake," the snake hissed, its tongue flicking back and forth. "Basically, I am attached to you whether you like it or not."

Karista reeled back in shock. She was bound to this snake? Why?

"Why?" she asked, her voice making the same hissing noise as the snake.

"Because, your uncle fears that you may be…using him," the snake answered, its tone a monotonous sliver in her brain.

Realization hit Karista like a ton of bricks. She was now an unofficial spy for Voldemort.

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A/N: I owe a great heapful of thanks and gratitude towards Wolf550e @ HPC. Through email-guidance, he helped me sort out the kinks in this chapter, as well as what is soon to come. What originally was thought to be at least 25 chapters may be more...hmmm, should get interesting...

Also, for a little ficcy about Snape, visit my profile and look up 'Redemption'. I am currently in the process of writing chapter two, yet 'Redemption' is intertwined with SoA and BA.

Kryssy