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A TOP SECRET MISSION
BY MARINA
A/N: I really hope you are enjoying the story. I'd just like to say that in the previous chappie, the bit that says:
"Ravenston, Kestrel!" McGonagall read out. Kestrel stepped forward, anxious. She'd been waiting all her life to be chosen into Ravenclaw; after all, she didn't wish to disgrace her family by being in any other House. She was Rowena Ravenclaw's descendent. She HAD to be in Ravenclaw. So, she sat on the stool, and jammed the Hat over her head. It was a good thing she couldn't see; though, she wished she could block out the noise of the students who she feared would laugh at her.
"Hello, Kestrel. Yet another Heir of Ravenclaw! I guess this is going to be an easy job; you're Rowena reincarnated! Heck, you look more like her than everyone else in your family. Any way, onto business. There's not much competition in you - RAVENCLAW!" Kestrel sighed a sigh of relief, then sat down at her table.
It's meant to be a flashback, on my computer it's in italics, but it didn't go in italics on the Internet, at least not when I last checked.
Disclaimer: You know that what I don't own, which is quite a lot more than some of my other fanfics, belongs to Jo Ro. The rest is mine, all mine!
A Top Secret Mission: Chapter three- Adjusting
Lily and Kestrel soon became the best of friends, though Kestrel, or "Elaine" was also just as close to her "cousin", James, Sirius and Remus. She felt bad, though, because it seemed to her that every word she spoke was a lie. Lily and the Marauders trusted her, and yet she wasn't Elaine for a start. But then again, she was saving Lily and James until that night when.
She didn't want to think about it. She would willingly save them, when the time came, no matter what the consequences. And if the Death Eater's were allowed to attempt to change time, why couldn't she?
Still, there was plenty of time before then. She had to make sure she gained their trust, and she had to make sure that they'd survive to have Harry, or she wouldn't have Harry to be one of her dearest friends. "Stop thinking about those things," She always told herself forcefully. "Stop it; relax, have a little fun."
Kestrel always knew where to go for lessons, which made the Marauders and Lily a bit suspicious, until she shrugged it off saying, "I have a great sense of direction!" Luckily, they took her word for it.
The seventies was a strange decade to her, which had no logical explanation. The strange sayings, such as "Psychedelic," seemed to Kestrel to make no sense. It seemed like a very backwards decade; it had hardly changed much from the sixties that she had envisioned. There were hippies, beatniks and a strange social crowd. Every day, in the morning, at lunch, at dinner, they would all break into song; the hippies singing peace-type songs, the beatniks singing jazzy songs, and some singing Disco tunes. Lily seemed to be a mixture of all groups, and it turned out, was a feminist. Kestrel readily agreed with her on feminism, and every Saturday, Lily and Kestrel went to Feminist meetings, held by one fifth year Ravenclaw.Elisabeth Campbell, Kestrel's mother. She was so strong, and wilful, determined, intelligent, beautiful, totally the opposite from the weak, frail, quiet, bedraggled woman who looked too old for her years, that had been Kestrel's mother. It depressed Kestrel to see her as a young, resourceful teenager, who, though was a very wilful Feminist, was strongly attracted to Graham Ravenston, who was two years her Senior. Graham would undo her youth, her beauty, her determination, ambition and wilfulness, until she was a quiet frail slightly ugly doll, probably her worst nightmare. Kestrel resented her father more than ever.
Kestrel and Lily stayed behind, while Elisabeth packed up some books after one meeting.
"Hi, I'm Lily Evans," Lily breathed, shining with enthusiasm. "That speech, it really made me think!" Kestrel remained quiet, trying to hide behind Lily, who was slightly taller, which made her stand out even more.
"Oh hello Lily, I'm Elisabeth Campbell; you can call me Tizzy." Elisabeth turned to Kestrel, and smiled warmly. "Hello, what's your name?"
Kestrel looked up. Her mother was young, clever, pretty.and would grow up to be weak and depressed. "I'm Elaine Potter. I-" Kestrel was at a loss for words, and her eyes brimmed with tears. Graham will kill you! She wanted to shout. She just suddenly hugged Elisabeth, clung onto her mother, and smelt her familiar freshness she hadn't smelt for over a year since her mother had walked out, to never be seen again.
Elisabeth looked shocked, and looked down at the girl. She had strange, glossy black hair, which had a single, solitary violet streak on the right side of her middle parting, and when she looked up, Elaine (or rather, Kestrel) had strange grey eyes that had violet specks near the pupils. 'Strange,' Elisabeth thought, 'for someone to have violet in their hair and in their eyes.'
"I'm s-sorry!" Kestrel sobbed, straightening up, and smiling somewhat awkwardly, a few solitary tears flowing from her eyes.
"Oh, no, that's alright," Elisabeth smiled; Kestrel smiled back. Her mother had always been a very understanding person. "Why do you have a violet streak in your hair? Is it dyed? And your eyes also have violet specks in, too." Lily, too, stared, and suddenly looked as if she'd never seen Kestrel before. Sometimes the streak and the specks were so faint, you could barely see them.
"Oh, it's all natural," Kestrel replied. "I just have Rowena Ravenclaw's blood in me. I was once told I was Rowena Ravenclaw reincarnated-"
"Then why are you in Gryffindor?" Elisabeth asked. "I would've thought that if you were Ravenclaw's heir, and if you were so like her, you'd be in Ravenclaw house."
Kestrel shook her head. She couldn't tell Lily or Elisabeth that she'd asked to be put in Gryffindor especially so she could carry out her mission easier. So, she said, "I also have Gryffindor's blood in me. It's all very confusing, and the Hat can't be wrong, can it?" They both nodded. "But I'm not Gryffindor's heir; I'm more Ravenclaw than Gryffindor."
***
Graham Ravenston seemed to be very friendly, helping lost first year girls around, and generally friendly to all girls. He was the heartthrob, a bit like Cedric Diggory, back in Kestrel's own time. Kestrel had been just as upset as anyone else when Diggory had died, though she had barely known him; he'd seemed to be such a nice, thoughtful guy. However, she knew all too well, her father was not a nice, thoughtful guy. However, the other girls didn't know him like Kestrel did, and never had to wake up having nightmares about her childhood before he'd been put in Azkaban. They all seemed infatuated by him; including Lily, sadly.
"Isn't he dreamy?" Lily breathed once, after seeing Graham pass her in a corridor.
"Who?" Kestrel asked sullenly.
"Graham Ravenston," Lily sighed, causing Kestrel, Remus, Sirius and James to roll their eyes. "He's so nice. Guess what he did earlier today!"
James answered scathingly, ""He said hello?" Lily glared at him for a second before answering:
"No! But he smiled at me," then she was caught up in a dream world, while Kestrel and the Marauders rolled their eyes. (A/N: Peter isn't in this bit yet, he's some weak, pathetic guy who comes in when they're in second year. DIE! DIE!)
"Did he really? Oh my god, you know, this means he really likes you! You can just tell by the way he's now making out with that Hufflepuff sixth year! He's teasing you Lily! He's saying: 'Come save me from these tarts!'" Kestrel answered sarcastically.
Sirius joined in. "Lily! Lily! I love you!" He shouted as he walked right past her, not looking at her. "Hey Lils! I don't need no girl.I need a real woman! Lily, you're my kinda woman!"
"Ooh, Lily, you're eyes are as pretty as emeralds, and your hair is like glossy! Marry me Lily! Oh wait a minute, there's a tart over there! Wait while I just smooch all over, then I'll be back for you, and we can kiss and hug and-" James began.
Lily shoved past them, her head held high, while they sniggered at her. Kestrel followed her, thinking: "Oh God! I'm not supposed to upset her, I'm totally screwing up this mission!"
"Lily, I'm so sorry!" Kestrel cried. "I didn't mean to hurt you, it's just I don't like Graham-"
"Why?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"Well, no!" Kestrel exclaimed, not wanting Lily to know that he was her father, but then, seeing Lily's dubious face, she hesitated before saying, "yes, yes I do."
"Oh, you do, do you? Then why don't you like him?"
"Because Lily, I can't tell you. I wish I could, to warn you, protect you, save you from him, but I can't. I can't tell you why, because you won't believe me-"
"Try me."
Kestrel thought. She knew that Lily would never believe her, and besides, Graham wasn't even married to her mother, and if she did tell the truth, then that would be telling Lily that she was an Auror from the future. And people got panicked around Aurors; they felt that if an Auror was within 10 miles of them, then that meant Voldemort or a Death Eater was coming to kill them, and the Auror was there, like Kestrel, to protect them.
"Er. Er." Kestrel faltered, hesitating, trying to think. "I went to a fortune teller over the summer, and she told me to beware of someone called Graham Ravenston." She invented, then, she decided she could at least give Lily a hint of what evil things Graham could do, and would do. "She said that he would marry a feminist, and would abuse her, and make her frail and ill, and submissive, and he will quash her spirit and strength, and then when he and the feminist has a daughter, he will also abuse, not only the feminist, but the daughter, and he will go off with other women, and one day, one of his mistresses will threaten to tell his wife about his affair, and so he starts to abuse this girlfriend, though she is pregnant, and when she has the daughter, she dies cos she's so weak, and then the illegitimate daughter is looked after by the wife and real daughter, and then, in the end, when Graham goes out on a "business trip" the wife will walk out, and then, when he comes back, he will abuse his daughters, then he will leave them until he hunts down the wife and kill her and-" Kestrel was talking rapidly, and had started to cry. She hadn't stopped for breath, but Lily still looked doubtful.
"Yeah, right, fortune tellers are just frauds and fakes, and besides- hey! Elaine, why are you crying?"
"I am?"
"Yeah, you're crying really badly. Don't believe what those fortune tellers say, hmm? It's just a bunch of lies."
"No, no it's not!" Kestrel croaked; she wished that it wasn't true, but there hadn't been a fortune-teller in the first place, and Kestrel had actually been telling Lily what had happened. But Lily wasn't listening, she'd just stridden off and started talking to Graham, Kestrel stared in horror, then rushed off behind Graham.
"Hi Graham," Lily batted her eyelashes, and smiled flirtatiously, making Kestrel feel sick. She could almost see her father's leering expression, which made her feel even more ill.
"Hi, Lily," he answered, in his deep, sexy voice, that Kestrel had grown to hate and fear. "Hey, you wanna go to the Hollow with me, tonight?" Kestrel's heart skipped a beat; the Hollow was a place in Hogsmeade where she'd been often with Seamus; it was a make-out place! She felt sick, and then, suddenly, instinctively, she put one arm around her father's neck, the other holding his arm behind his back, so he was in a neck-and-arm lock, which she's learnt when she was training to be an Auror. She was very tempted to get her knife out of her bag, and poke it so he could see it just near his throat, but, no, he wasn't a Death Eater, just a future murderer, though he'd never had anything to do with Voldemort.
"Oy! Creep! Leave my mate alone! Go make-out with tarts your own age!" Kestrel growled threateningly, her eyes shining with hatred. The Marauders stared at her, and the bustling crowd in the corridor, had turned silent, all were staring, gob-smacked.
"What do you say to my mate?" She growled. "Say: Lily, I'm sorry for trying to convince you to sink to the level of a tart!" He refused to speak. "Say: Lily I'm sorry for trying to use you for my own lusty desires!"
Graham remained quiet, and by this point, Kestrel was getting madder, and she got her knife out of her bag, and held it at his throat, by sheer mind force. He gulped, and nervously eyed the knife, as everyone else stared, and shifted their weights nervously.
"Lily- I'm- sorry- for- trying- to- convince- you- to- sink- to- the- level- of- a- tart," Graham gulped. Kestrel took the knife away.
"Good, now, you haven't yet finished."
"Lily- I'm- sorry- for- trying- to- use- you- for- my- own- lusty- desires!"
"Good," Kestrel growled, and let him go abruptly so he collapsed to the floor in a heap. She watched him get up with hatred blazing in her eyes. He stood up, slowly and shakily, and when he was standing to his full height, Kestrel kneed him in the groin, and walked off, head held high, deaf to his groans of pain, and blind to the seas of astonished faces of both pupils and teachers.
A/N: I really hope you are enjoying the story. I'd just like to say that in the previous chappie, the bit that says:
"Ravenston, Kestrel!" McGonagall read out. Kestrel stepped forward, anxious. She'd been waiting all her life to be chosen into Ravenclaw; after all, she didn't wish to disgrace her family by being in any other House. She was Rowena Ravenclaw's descendent. She HAD to be in Ravenclaw. So, she sat on the stool, and jammed the Hat over her head. It was a good thing she couldn't see; though, she wished she could block out the noise of the students who she feared would laugh at her.
"Hello, Kestrel. Yet another Heir of Ravenclaw! I guess this is going to be an easy job; you're Rowena reincarnated! Heck, you look more like her than everyone else in your family. Any way, onto business. There's not much competition in you - RAVENCLAW!" Kestrel sighed a sigh of relief, then sat down at her table.
It's meant to be a flashback, on my computer it's in italics, but it didn't go in italics on the Internet, at least not when I last checked.
Disclaimer: You know that what I don't own, which is quite a lot more than some of my other fanfics, belongs to Jo Ro. The rest is mine, all mine!
A Top Secret Mission: Chapter three- Adjusting
Lily and Kestrel soon became the best of friends, though Kestrel, or "Elaine" was also just as close to her "cousin", James, Sirius and Remus. She felt bad, though, because it seemed to her that every word she spoke was a lie. Lily and the Marauders trusted her, and yet she wasn't Elaine for a start. But then again, she was saving Lily and James until that night when.
She didn't want to think about it. She would willingly save them, when the time came, no matter what the consequences. And if the Death Eater's were allowed to attempt to change time, why couldn't she?
Still, there was plenty of time before then. She had to make sure she gained their trust, and she had to make sure that they'd survive to have Harry, or she wouldn't have Harry to be one of her dearest friends. "Stop thinking about those things," She always told herself forcefully. "Stop it; relax, have a little fun."
Kestrel always knew where to go for lessons, which made the Marauders and Lily a bit suspicious, until she shrugged it off saying, "I have a great sense of direction!" Luckily, they took her word for it.
The seventies was a strange decade to her, which had no logical explanation. The strange sayings, such as "Psychedelic," seemed to Kestrel to make no sense. It seemed like a very backwards decade; it had hardly changed much from the sixties that she had envisioned. There were hippies, beatniks and a strange social crowd. Every day, in the morning, at lunch, at dinner, they would all break into song; the hippies singing peace-type songs, the beatniks singing jazzy songs, and some singing Disco tunes. Lily seemed to be a mixture of all groups, and it turned out, was a feminist. Kestrel readily agreed with her on feminism, and every Saturday, Lily and Kestrel went to Feminist meetings, held by one fifth year Ravenclaw.Elisabeth Campbell, Kestrel's mother. She was so strong, and wilful, determined, intelligent, beautiful, totally the opposite from the weak, frail, quiet, bedraggled woman who looked too old for her years, that had been Kestrel's mother. It depressed Kestrel to see her as a young, resourceful teenager, who, though was a very wilful Feminist, was strongly attracted to Graham Ravenston, who was two years her Senior. Graham would undo her youth, her beauty, her determination, ambition and wilfulness, until she was a quiet frail slightly ugly doll, probably her worst nightmare. Kestrel resented her father more than ever.
Kestrel and Lily stayed behind, while Elisabeth packed up some books after one meeting.
"Hi, I'm Lily Evans," Lily breathed, shining with enthusiasm. "That speech, it really made me think!" Kestrel remained quiet, trying to hide behind Lily, who was slightly taller, which made her stand out even more.
"Oh hello Lily, I'm Elisabeth Campbell; you can call me Tizzy." Elisabeth turned to Kestrel, and smiled warmly. "Hello, what's your name?"
Kestrel looked up. Her mother was young, clever, pretty.and would grow up to be weak and depressed. "I'm Elaine Potter. I-" Kestrel was at a loss for words, and her eyes brimmed with tears. Graham will kill you! She wanted to shout. She just suddenly hugged Elisabeth, clung onto her mother, and smelt her familiar freshness she hadn't smelt for over a year since her mother had walked out, to never be seen again.
Elisabeth looked shocked, and looked down at the girl. She had strange, glossy black hair, which had a single, solitary violet streak on the right side of her middle parting, and when she looked up, Elaine (or rather, Kestrel) had strange grey eyes that had violet specks near the pupils. 'Strange,' Elisabeth thought, 'for someone to have violet in their hair and in their eyes.'
"I'm s-sorry!" Kestrel sobbed, straightening up, and smiling somewhat awkwardly, a few solitary tears flowing from her eyes.
"Oh, no, that's alright," Elisabeth smiled; Kestrel smiled back. Her mother had always been a very understanding person. "Why do you have a violet streak in your hair? Is it dyed? And your eyes also have violet specks in, too." Lily, too, stared, and suddenly looked as if she'd never seen Kestrel before. Sometimes the streak and the specks were so faint, you could barely see them.
"Oh, it's all natural," Kestrel replied. "I just have Rowena Ravenclaw's blood in me. I was once told I was Rowena Ravenclaw reincarnated-"
"Then why are you in Gryffindor?" Elisabeth asked. "I would've thought that if you were Ravenclaw's heir, and if you were so like her, you'd be in Ravenclaw house."
Kestrel shook her head. She couldn't tell Lily or Elisabeth that she'd asked to be put in Gryffindor especially so she could carry out her mission easier. So, she said, "I also have Gryffindor's blood in me. It's all very confusing, and the Hat can't be wrong, can it?" They both nodded. "But I'm not Gryffindor's heir; I'm more Ravenclaw than Gryffindor."
***
Graham Ravenston seemed to be very friendly, helping lost first year girls around, and generally friendly to all girls. He was the heartthrob, a bit like Cedric Diggory, back in Kestrel's own time. Kestrel had been just as upset as anyone else when Diggory had died, though she had barely known him; he'd seemed to be such a nice, thoughtful guy. However, she knew all too well, her father was not a nice, thoughtful guy. However, the other girls didn't know him like Kestrel did, and never had to wake up having nightmares about her childhood before he'd been put in Azkaban. They all seemed infatuated by him; including Lily, sadly.
"Isn't he dreamy?" Lily breathed once, after seeing Graham pass her in a corridor.
"Who?" Kestrel asked sullenly.
"Graham Ravenston," Lily sighed, causing Kestrel, Remus, Sirius and James to roll their eyes. "He's so nice. Guess what he did earlier today!"
James answered scathingly, ""He said hello?" Lily glared at him for a second before answering:
"No! But he smiled at me," then she was caught up in a dream world, while Kestrel and the Marauders rolled their eyes. (A/N: Peter isn't in this bit yet, he's some weak, pathetic guy who comes in when they're in second year. DIE! DIE!)
"Did he really? Oh my god, you know, this means he really likes you! You can just tell by the way he's now making out with that Hufflepuff sixth year! He's teasing you Lily! He's saying: 'Come save me from these tarts!'" Kestrel answered sarcastically.
Sirius joined in. "Lily! Lily! I love you!" He shouted as he walked right past her, not looking at her. "Hey Lils! I don't need no girl.I need a real woman! Lily, you're my kinda woman!"
"Ooh, Lily, you're eyes are as pretty as emeralds, and your hair is like glossy! Marry me Lily! Oh wait a minute, there's a tart over there! Wait while I just smooch all over, then I'll be back for you, and we can kiss and hug and-" James began.
Lily shoved past them, her head held high, while they sniggered at her. Kestrel followed her, thinking: "Oh God! I'm not supposed to upset her, I'm totally screwing up this mission!"
"Lily, I'm so sorry!" Kestrel cried. "I didn't mean to hurt you, it's just I don't like Graham-"
"Why?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"Well, no!" Kestrel exclaimed, not wanting Lily to know that he was her father, but then, seeing Lily's dubious face, she hesitated before saying, "yes, yes I do."
"Oh, you do, do you? Then why don't you like him?"
"Because Lily, I can't tell you. I wish I could, to warn you, protect you, save you from him, but I can't. I can't tell you why, because you won't believe me-"
"Try me."
Kestrel thought. She knew that Lily would never believe her, and besides, Graham wasn't even married to her mother, and if she did tell the truth, then that would be telling Lily that she was an Auror from the future. And people got panicked around Aurors; they felt that if an Auror was within 10 miles of them, then that meant Voldemort or a Death Eater was coming to kill them, and the Auror was there, like Kestrel, to protect them.
"Er. Er." Kestrel faltered, hesitating, trying to think. "I went to a fortune teller over the summer, and she told me to beware of someone called Graham Ravenston." She invented, then, she decided she could at least give Lily a hint of what evil things Graham could do, and would do. "She said that he would marry a feminist, and would abuse her, and make her frail and ill, and submissive, and he will quash her spirit and strength, and then when he and the feminist has a daughter, he will also abuse, not only the feminist, but the daughter, and he will go off with other women, and one day, one of his mistresses will threaten to tell his wife about his affair, and so he starts to abuse this girlfriend, though she is pregnant, and when she has the daughter, she dies cos she's so weak, and then the illegitimate daughter is looked after by the wife and real daughter, and then, in the end, when Graham goes out on a "business trip" the wife will walk out, and then, when he comes back, he will abuse his daughters, then he will leave them until he hunts down the wife and kill her and-" Kestrel was talking rapidly, and had started to cry. She hadn't stopped for breath, but Lily still looked doubtful.
"Yeah, right, fortune tellers are just frauds and fakes, and besides- hey! Elaine, why are you crying?"
"I am?"
"Yeah, you're crying really badly. Don't believe what those fortune tellers say, hmm? It's just a bunch of lies."
"No, no it's not!" Kestrel croaked; she wished that it wasn't true, but there hadn't been a fortune-teller in the first place, and Kestrel had actually been telling Lily what had happened. But Lily wasn't listening, she'd just stridden off and started talking to Graham, Kestrel stared in horror, then rushed off behind Graham.
"Hi Graham," Lily batted her eyelashes, and smiled flirtatiously, making Kestrel feel sick. She could almost see her father's leering expression, which made her feel even more ill.
"Hi, Lily," he answered, in his deep, sexy voice, that Kestrel had grown to hate and fear. "Hey, you wanna go to the Hollow with me, tonight?" Kestrel's heart skipped a beat; the Hollow was a place in Hogsmeade where she'd been often with Seamus; it was a make-out place! She felt sick, and then, suddenly, instinctively, she put one arm around her father's neck, the other holding his arm behind his back, so he was in a neck-and-arm lock, which she's learnt when she was training to be an Auror. She was very tempted to get her knife out of her bag, and poke it so he could see it just near his throat, but, no, he wasn't a Death Eater, just a future murderer, though he'd never had anything to do with Voldemort.
"Oy! Creep! Leave my mate alone! Go make-out with tarts your own age!" Kestrel growled threateningly, her eyes shining with hatred. The Marauders stared at her, and the bustling crowd in the corridor, had turned silent, all were staring, gob-smacked.
"What do you say to my mate?" She growled. "Say: Lily, I'm sorry for trying to convince you to sink to the level of a tart!" He refused to speak. "Say: Lily I'm sorry for trying to use you for my own lusty desires!"
Graham remained quiet, and by this point, Kestrel was getting madder, and she got her knife out of her bag, and held it at his throat, by sheer mind force. He gulped, and nervously eyed the knife, as everyone else stared, and shifted their weights nervously.
"Lily- I'm- sorry- for- trying- to- convince- you- to- sink- to- the- level- of- a- tart," Graham gulped. Kestrel took the knife away.
"Good, now, you haven't yet finished."
"Lily- I'm- sorry- for- trying- to- use- you- for- my- own- lusty- desires!"
"Good," Kestrel growled, and let him go abruptly so he collapsed to the floor in a heap. She watched him get up with hatred blazing in her eyes. He stood up, slowly and shakily, and when he was standing to his full height, Kestrel kneed him in the groin, and walked off, head held high, deaf to his groans of pain, and blind to the seas of astonished faces of both pupils and teachers.