{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter world is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers, Scholastic Books, and a few other people which does not include me.  Therefore, I am not to be held responsible for anything that happens to the characters, except for Andy, who is mine.}

Chapter 14

Doom

**There goes my pain/ There goes my chains/ Did you see them falling?/ Because this feeling/That has no meaning/ There goes the world/ Off of my shoulders/ There goes the world/ Off of my back/ You can't change me/ You can't break me/ There goes the world "Quasimodo" Lifehouse**

Andy approached the stand unwillingly.  There were still holes in her memory that had not been opened yet.  She wasn't certain if what she did was what actually happened.  'Well,' she mused to herself.  'I'm going to find out, aren't I?'

"May I use Veritaserum, Your Honor?"

"Yes, you may."

Andy felt three drops of sweet liquid on her tongue.  A shiver ran though her body.  She would like to know the truth as well as everyone else would.

"Name?" the Auror asked.

"Andromeda Josephine McGee," Andy heard herself answer.  At least she knew that was true.

"Did you escape from Azkaban?"

"I did not."

"Then how did you get out of Azkaban?"

"I was rescued by servants of Lord Voldemort." Most of the people in the courtroom shuddered at the name.

"How did you end up in Sade Correctional Facility?"

"I was attempting to rescue Severus Snape before he got himself killed."

"And Sirius Black was assisting you?"

"Yes, he was."  Andy didn't want to tell them why he was helping her.  She didn't have to by the laws of the serum.  She didn't want to get Dumbledore in trouble.

That cleared up a few things for the Auror.  "Why were you imprisoned in Azkaban?"

Andy froze.  A metal picture of the men that she thought that she had killed flashed through her mind.  It wasn't true.  She didn't kill them.  "I don't know."

"Why not?"

"Something was done to my memory just before I was imprisoned."

"Your Honor, may I try something?" the Auror turned to the judge.

"You have my permission to do anything you wish to solve this case."

"Thank you, sir," the Auror turned back to where Andy was seated on the bench.  "I am going to perform a charm on you that will project the blocked memory of you arrest on to the wall.  The charm will go past the blocks placed upon you."

"Fine," Andy agreed.

The Auror pointed his wand at her and spoke a few unintelligible words.  Andy's eyes became unfocused.  A projection of her mind appeared on the wall behind her.

Andy was shoved roughly into what looked like a Muggle police car.  "Get your hands off me!" she squirmed to struggle out of their grip but was pushed inside the car any way.

Sirius Black stood supported by the shoulders of James Potter and Remus Lupin.  Peter Pettigrew and Lily Evans-Potter stood near by.  One of the "Policemen" pointed a wand at the group.  "STUPEFY!"  Those standing slumped to the ground.  The two men leapt into the car and drove away.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" Andy snapped.

"Don't worry, hon," the man in the shotgun seat spoke with a drawl.  "You're only going to meet Lord Voldemort."

"Lord Voldemort?"

"Yes," the man decided not to answer any more questions.

Andy sat in silence, thinking to herself.  What had she done to upset this Lord Voldemort?  She knew who he was and she knew he was evil, but what had she done to get on his bad side?  "May I ask why?"

"No, you may not."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

"That's not a good enough answer," Andy told him sharply.  "What gives you authority over me?"

"I have orders directly from my master stating that I am not to tell you anything save that you are going to meet with him."

"Okay, now we are getting somewhere.  That is exactly what I wanted to know.  So you guys know nothing?"

"Correct."

"Really?"

"Shut up."  The man cast a quick shielding spell between the front and back seats of the car so they wouldn't have to deal with her incessant chattering.

Andy realized that they were purposely ignoring her.  She promptly curled up and went to sleep with her head against the window.  She slept soundly, dreaming of Sirius.

A few moments later, two rough hands pulled her out of the dream world.  She was forced out of the car.  "No rest for the weary," she murmured to herself.  "So now what happens?" Andy asked her captors brightly.  She had taken it upon herself to annoy the hell out of them just to get on their bad sides.  They had pissed her off and they were going to pay.

The new guard said nothing.  Either he had been warned not to talk with her or was purposely picked since he was a deaf-mute.  Andy was grabbed roughly by her shoulders and forced up a rocky pathway.  The dark house loomed eerily in front of them.  "Creepy," she muttered to no one in particular.

Two more guards dragged her, stumbling, down a poorly lit hallway.  A wooden door creaked open, puddles of light spilling on to the floor.  The guards pushed her inside.  Andy tripped over her feet and fell to the ground.

"Welcome, Miss McGee.  Worshipping me already?" a sardonic voice cut through the still air.

Andy picked herself up off the plush green carpet.  "I would never worship you."

"Pity."  A man dressed in complete black sat upon a stone dais.  Andy noticed that it was caved in relief of serpents.  The man flipped down his hood, revealing a lined face that looked older than he actually was.  Light brown hair was tinged with gray at the temples and deep set eyes shone with vibrancy and intelligence.  He might have been considered handsome once, save for the evilness that emanated from him.  "It would make life so much easier if you did."

"Never," she repeated.  "What the hell do you want with me?"

"Patience, my dear girl, is a virtue."

"Since when do evil warlords have virtues?  And I'm not your girl."

Voldemort grinned wickedly.  "We shall see about that.  You are wondering why I have summoned you to be brought here.  It is necessary that you understand completely everything.

"I have been gaining power in the wizarding world over the last decade.  I have followers and I have enemies.  What more can I need, you ask?" Voldemort paused slightly, answering his own question.  "I want to be omnipotent, Miss McGee.  I need to be invincible.  And you are one of the few people that can assist me in becoming what I want to be."

"I don't understand."

"I don't understand," he laughed mockingly.  "The genius Gryffindor of Hogwarts doesn't understand.  That will be the day.  You know exactly what I want.  I know you do.  You are too intelligent not to know."

Andy kept her face completely placid.  Any sign of emotion would give it all away.  She did know exactly what he was after and she would never give it to him.

Voldemort stepped down from his throne.  Andy stared straight ahead, unflinching and unwilling to meet his gaze.  "You know exactly what I want, Miss McGee."

She held her position, immoveable as a rock.  'Ignore him,' she told herself.  'Just ignore him and everything will be fine.'

He stopped in front of her, lifting her chin to force eye contact.  "You found the Merlin's Potion.  I want it and you will give it to me."

Andy held his steely gaze.  "No."

"That's all you have to say to me?  No?"

"I never completed the potion.  It never worked."  Andy lied through her teeth.

"And pigs can fly.  I know you better than you think I do, Miss McGee.  I know you found the potion.  We saw you make it.  We saw you write it down and erase it.  We know you have it.  Hand it over."

"Never.  Not to a traitor like you."

"You are wrong, Miss McGee, eventually the good will die and evil will conquer.  This is your chance to rise above everyone who cast you into their shadows.  This is your chance to soar, with me."

"Never!" Andy screamed defiantly.  "How many times do I have to say it to get it through your thick skull?  I will not side with you and you will never get the potion."

Voldemort sighed, dropping her chin.  "Your stubbornness will get you killed."

"And your faith in yourself will cause your demise.  You can be beaten and you will fall."

Lord Voldemort raised his hand and slapped her across the face.  "I will not fail!  The world will be mine!  It doesn't matter what you think!"

Andy shrugged.  She didn't care.  She knew it irked people when she stayed completely calm in the face of a heated argument.  It was something she did on purpose.

"The question still remains open, Miss McGee.  Will you join me?"

"No, I already told you that I never would and never will."

Voldemort shook his head.  "You're going to regret saying that, but I did give you a choice."  He depressed a button on the arm of his throne.  The floor underneath her slid open.  Andy let herself fall.  Struggling was futile.  It would only serve to quicken her death.  She flew downward, plummeting to where ever she was headed.  Another door slid open at the bottom of the chute, dropping her into a cell.

Andy stood up, dusting herself off and peering around into the depths of her cell.  She ended up in a tiny room beneath Voldemort's fortress.  It reminded her of a typical cell that someone evil would have: dark, dreary, brick walled, no windows, and a thick wooden door.  She leaned against the far wall, arms crossed over her chest.  Never turn your back on an enemy.  It was one of the first rules of survival.  Andy let her eyes close and slid down the wall.  It would be best to sleep when she could.  Who knows what they would do to her later?

The door creaked open hours later.  Andy didn't bother opening her eyes.  She wouldn't be able to see with all the light anyway.  "Your fate has been decided by the Master.  Follow me."

Andy stood up from the cold uncomfortable floor.  She squinted to get used to the brightness.  The guard led her up a set of stairs to the same room she had been in before.

"Miss McGee, I will give one last chance.  Join me or suffer a fate worse than death."

"I've told you numerous times already.  I refuse to join you."

"I have then decided that death is too good for one who defies me.  You are going to become a nonentity."

Andy raised an eyebrow.  "You're going to erase my entire existence?"

"Exactly.  Then just to be safe, you get to spend the rest of your miserable life in Azkaban."

Andy leapt at the Dark Lord, arms extended, intent on strangling him.  He raised his hand and before she was even close to him, she flew into the opposite wall with a sickening thud.  Voldemort continued as if nothing had happened.  "I shall cast the spell.  Slowly memories, photographs, and writings of you will disintegrate.  No one shall remember that you were ever born."  Voldemort pointed his wand at her.  "Obliviate Andromeda Josephine McGee."  A ripple shot out of the wand, spreading across the entire earth.  Sooner or later, Andy would cease to exist.

"Will I forget who I am as well?"

"Oh, yes, of course you will.  I can't have you leaking out who you are."

"Just out of curiosity, is there any reversal to your spell?"

"No."

Andy shrugged.  There goes that idea, even though it wasn't likely that she would be told if there was one.

The guards grabbed a hold of her and Apparated.  They dragged her into the corridors of Azkaban.  Andy could feel the darkness of this place.  She was thrown into another cell that would be her home until eternity came to pass.  She heard the key click in the lock, closing her inside forever .

"Good-bye, cruel world.  I shall never see you again except in my dreams.  If I survive, you will never be the same again.  Parts of me will disappear."  She paused looking up at the stone ceiling.  "Good-bye, Peter.  You'll get your chance in the spotlight eventually.  Good-bye, Remus, and good luck.  They'll find a cure for you, I know they will.  Good-bye, James and Lily.  May your life be happy together.  Good-bye Sirius, my love.  Good-bye, cruel world.  Andromeda McGee is gone forever now."  She chuckled quietly to herself.  It was the laughter of the hopeless.

{Author's Note:  Oh, boy…  That chapter was mostly written long handed on paper around midnight.  The remainder of the trial will be the next chapter.  It felt like a good stopping point.  Hope you enjoyed it.  Carpe Carpem, Nataly Ravenlock}