Sorry this took me so long - I was gone from my computer for a few days.
So, anyway, I'm giving you a nice long chapter to make up for it. Heck, I
even tell you who "Bryan" is. Bon Appetite.
Erin walked quickly down the long staircase to the dungeons. Things were getting too deep for her. She needed to tell Severus about Bryan.
He wasn't in his classroom. Suddenly panicked, Erin wheeled and nearly ran to her guardian's office. She flung open the door.
"Sever - " she started, but a steely hand clamped over her mouth. Erin found herself looking straight into Lucius Malfoy's cold gray eyes.
"We've been waiting for you," he whispered into her ear.
"Sorry, Professor, we haven't seen Erin anywhere," said Calvin, looking up from his chess game with Sara. Severus nodded curtly and left the common room, trying to ignore the panicked fluttering in his heart. His daughter wasn't in the common room, in the Great Hall, or with the Gryffindors. Outside was a howling blizzard. Where could she be?
"Severus," said Dumbledore quietly behind him. Severus jumped and turned, annoyed that the Headmaster had interrupted his search. His annoyance quickly changed into concern. Dumbledore looked more shaken than he had ever seen him.
"What?" Severus half-whispered, his heart beating quickly.
"Erin has been captured by Lord Voldemort."
Severus studied his office. His desk was overturned, the chairs scattered and broken. Parchment littered the floor. Scorch marks on the wall indicated that Erin had put up a fight.
"How did they leave?" McGonagall was asking Dumbledore. She sounded very far away.
Severus kneeled down and picked up a shred of black cloth from the floor as Dumbledore answered. "They must have used a Portkey. She will be beyond our reach by now."
Severus clutched at the cloth. It was a scrap torn from a Death Eater's mask. He tossed it to the floor, shouldered roughly past Dumbledore and McGonagall, and walked quickly down the hall. He heard McGonagall calling after him and walked faster, then broke into a run. He flew up the stairs and burst into the Great Hall. He shoved his way past the students and entered the little anteroom that led to Hogwarts' grounds.
"Severus!" called Dumbledore.
Severus pulled out his wand as Dumbledore came closer. "I lost Angelina to him," he said hoarsely. His black eyes glittered strangely. "I'm not going to lose Erin." And without another word he stepped out into the driving snow.
Erin awoke slowly. To her great surprise, she wasn't tied up. Gently she stood, wincing at her various injuries, and looked around. She was in a large cloth tent lit only by a few levitating lamps. Behind Erin, a section of the cloth was pushed back silently, and another person entered.
"Well," he whispered, and Erin whipped around, startled. "We meet at last."
Erin could only stare in numb horror. The man before her wasn't, couldn't be human - he was too thin, too pale, his fingers were too long. No human had eyes like that, such a gleaming red, or such snake-like nostrils either. No, not human. But he had been. Once.
"What?" asked the creature. His voice was high and cold; there was a faint hissing quality to it reminiscent of Parselmouth. He spread his arms wide. "No welcoming hug for your father? Not even a simple greeting?"
Erin was shaking from head to toe. There was no way this man - thing - could be her father. She shook her head wildly.
Voldemort laughed, a high, cold, mirthless laugh. "Don't wish to claim me? I suppose I cannot blame you - I had no wish to claim my father, either."
"You're no father of mine," spat Erin, suddenly finding her voice.
Voldemort, to her surprise, merely shrugged. "Have it your way, then. I am not your father. Therefore, we will come to business." He walked over and lifted Erin's chin with one finger. She stood still, suddenly unable to move. "You will join me."
Severus had long given up struggling through the snow as a human and had switched to mongoose form. The fur of a mongoose was not meant for British weather, but no matter; this was of little importance to him now.
Suddenly one small paw sank into past the crust than enabled him to walk on the surface. Severus shivered and pulled it out, then cautiously explored the broken patch. Just as he had thought - something had recently passed by and left a footprint. Or, rather, a hoofprint. A unicorn's hoofprint.
A hoofprint wasn't much to follow, but they small broken patches would at least keep him in a straight line. And they were heading to where Severus thought Voldemort might be camping.
Valiantly, the mongoose bounded onward.
"No," said Erin fiercely. She jerked her head out of Voldemort's grasp. "Never."
Voldemort laughed again. "Oh, I can see why so many doubted that you were a Slytherin. Such a brave little heart, so defiant." Voldemort leaned forward, thrusting his face close to Erin's. "But I know why you were chosen. Would you like to see?" And, stepping over to one cloth wall, he yanked the blanket off a tall object. An ornate mirror gleamed in the lamplight.
Curious despite her dire situation, Erin stepped closer. She stared into the mirror's depths. It began to show her things. Events. People. What she had always, really wanted more than anything.
"You see," Voldemort whispered into her ear. "Why did you think you were put in Slytherin? The Sorting Hat saw it, you know. It is the gift of our family. Power. Power and the lust for more. Why were you so eager to learn magic from Harry Potter? Because you wanted that power."
"I can give you power, more than you've ever dreamed of. Together, we could do great things."
Erin turned her face away from the mirror, her shoulders shaking. She knew it was the truth. Oh, what would Harry say if he could see what she saw in this cursed mirror?
Harry's face suddenly swam before her. What she wouldn't give to see him now, broken glasses, untidy hair, knobbly knees and all. Oh, Harry -
As she thought this, the scenes in the mirror began to change. Subtly, delicately. Began to include a certain dark-haired boy. And Erin, seeing this, felt a sudden flash of hope. The mirror was not a dictator of her fate. She could still choose.
She turned, looked her father in the eye, and said what she knew to be her last words. "Never."
Voldemort's face tightened in rage. His red eyes suddenly blazed as he drew himself up. "So be it," he whispered. Erin turned to run, but he caught her and tossed her to the floor. "Die, as your mother did. AVADA KEDAVRA!"
There was a flash of green light and the rush of speeding death. The spell caught Erin in the head, just left of her left eye. It hurt. She collapsed backwards.
Darkness. Darkness, darkness, and more darkness. But then the darkness was fading. She could hear again. Someone was shouting, and there was a - a horse? - neighing. Someone scooped her up, and at that point Erin once more lost consciousness. But she had time for one last coherent thought.
I'm alive.
The snow exploded to Severus' right. The mongoose whirled and immediately tensed into a fighting position as a huge cobra reared out of the snow. Not Voldemort's snake, thank goodness. Lucius Malfoy's Animagi.
Even if Severus had wanted to stop it, the mongoose in him had fully taken over. With a rattling war cry, he leaped and caught his teeth in the snake's hood. The snake shook him off, and Severus landed in the snow and leaped up just in time to avoid Malfoy's strike. Suddenly there were pounding hoofbeats, and the snake slithered rapidly away as a shimmering unicorn pounded up.
Panting from the short battle, Severus sprang back into his human self. There were two people riding the unicorn, a cowled man and an unconscious girl. With a cry Severus pulled Erin off the unicorn and held her closely. She was alive - she was breathing. Gently he brushed her hair back - and his breath caught as he glimpsed the lightning scar next to her eye. He looked up into the face of the man astride the unicorn. He tensed.
"I thought you were dead," he said tersely.
"We need to get her to Hogwarts," said the man. "Can you Apparate to the edge of the grounds and prepare them for her?"
Severus nodded. Reluctantly he let his daughter go, and without another word he Apparated to the edges of the grounds. Five minutes later he staggered inside. McGonagall gave a little scream.
"Severus - are you - is Erin - "
"Erin is coming," Severus said, brushing himself off. "Prof - a man is bringing her."
"Is she alive?"
"Yes. Why, I don't know," said Severus. He was only beginning to numbly realize what all of this meant. McGonagall's eyes widened.
"Do - do you mean?"
"I think," said Dumbledore firmly, "that Madame Pomfrey needs to prepare a bed for Miss Kristoff."
The teachers left to inform Madame Pomfrey. It was late, and all of the other students were in bed. A few minutes later, a robed and cowled figure carrying an unconscious Erin walked to the hospital wing.
As the man entered, Severus leaped up and retrieved his daughter. Gently he laid her down on the bed. She stirred and murmured, the lightning scar clearly visible. As the teachers watched her, the man pulled off his hood.
McGonagall turned and saw him. She gasped, but Dumbledore did not seem so surprised. Severus simply ignored his presence. The man said nothing, his eyes fixed on Erin. None of the teachers noticed three small figures slip into the hospital wing.
"But how could this have happened?" McGonagall whispered. "There's only been ever been one who lived."
"But now there are two," said Dumbledore. A faint gasp from the door was quickly muffled.
The man spoke for the first time. "I don't know what happened. I came into the tent to find her unconsciou - "
"YOU!" screeched the voice from the door. All of the adults turned to see Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger staring at the man in unparalleled horror. "It's YOU!" Ron shouted.
Instinctively the man threw his arm up in front of his scarred face, but it was too late. Hermione turned and screamed down the corridor. "Harry! Harry! It's Quirrell!"
Erin walked quickly down the long staircase to the dungeons. Things were getting too deep for her. She needed to tell Severus about Bryan.
He wasn't in his classroom. Suddenly panicked, Erin wheeled and nearly ran to her guardian's office. She flung open the door.
"Sever - " she started, but a steely hand clamped over her mouth. Erin found herself looking straight into Lucius Malfoy's cold gray eyes.
"We've been waiting for you," he whispered into her ear.
"Sorry, Professor, we haven't seen Erin anywhere," said Calvin, looking up from his chess game with Sara. Severus nodded curtly and left the common room, trying to ignore the panicked fluttering in his heart. His daughter wasn't in the common room, in the Great Hall, or with the Gryffindors. Outside was a howling blizzard. Where could she be?
"Severus," said Dumbledore quietly behind him. Severus jumped and turned, annoyed that the Headmaster had interrupted his search. His annoyance quickly changed into concern. Dumbledore looked more shaken than he had ever seen him.
"What?" Severus half-whispered, his heart beating quickly.
"Erin has been captured by Lord Voldemort."
Severus studied his office. His desk was overturned, the chairs scattered and broken. Parchment littered the floor. Scorch marks on the wall indicated that Erin had put up a fight.
"How did they leave?" McGonagall was asking Dumbledore. She sounded very far away.
Severus kneeled down and picked up a shred of black cloth from the floor as Dumbledore answered. "They must have used a Portkey. She will be beyond our reach by now."
Severus clutched at the cloth. It was a scrap torn from a Death Eater's mask. He tossed it to the floor, shouldered roughly past Dumbledore and McGonagall, and walked quickly down the hall. He heard McGonagall calling after him and walked faster, then broke into a run. He flew up the stairs and burst into the Great Hall. He shoved his way past the students and entered the little anteroom that led to Hogwarts' grounds.
"Severus!" called Dumbledore.
Severus pulled out his wand as Dumbledore came closer. "I lost Angelina to him," he said hoarsely. His black eyes glittered strangely. "I'm not going to lose Erin." And without another word he stepped out into the driving snow.
Erin awoke slowly. To her great surprise, she wasn't tied up. Gently she stood, wincing at her various injuries, and looked around. She was in a large cloth tent lit only by a few levitating lamps. Behind Erin, a section of the cloth was pushed back silently, and another person entered.
"Well," he whispered, and Erin whipped around, startled. "We meet at last."
Erin could only stare in numb horror. The man before her wasn't, couldn't be human - he was too thin, too pale, his fingers were too long. No human had eyes like that, such a gleaming red, or such snake-like nostrils either. No, not human. But he had been. Once.
"What?" asked the creature. His voice was high and cold; there was a faint hissing quality to it reminiscent of Parselmouth. He spread his arms wide. "No welcoming hug for your father? Not even a simple greeting?"
Erin was shaking from head to toe. There was no way this man - thing - could be her father. She shook her head wildly.
Voldemort laughed, a high, cold, mirthless laugh. "Don't wish to claim me? I suppose I cannot blame you - I had no wish to claim my father, either."
"You're no father of mine," spat Erin, suddenly finding her voice.
Voldemort, to her surprise, merely shrugged. "Have it your way, then. I am not your father. Therefore, we will come to business." He walked over and lifted Erin's chin with one finger. She stood still, suddenly unable to move. "You will join me."
Severus had long given up struggling through the snow as a human and had switched to mongoose form. The fur of a mongoose was not meant for British weather, but no matter; this was of little importance to him now.
Suddenly one small paw sank into past the crust than enabled him to walk on the surface. Severus shivered and pulled it out, then cautiously explored the broken patch. Just as he had thought - something had recently passed by and left a footprint. Or, rather, a hoofprint. A unicorn's hoofprint.
A hoofprint wasn't much to follow, but they small broken patches would at least keep him in a straight line. And they were heading to where Severus thought Voldemort might be camping.
Valiantly, the mongoose bounded onward.
"No," said Erin fiercely. She jerked her head out of Voldemort's grasp. "Never."
Voldemort laughed again. "Oh, I can see why so many doubted that you were a Slytherin. Such a brave little heart, so defiant." Voldemort leaned forward, thrusting his face close to Erin's. "But I know why you were chosen. Would you like to see?" And, stepping over to one cloth wall, he yanked the blanket off a tall object. An ornate mirror gleamed in the lamplight.
Curious despite her dire situation, Erin stepped closer. She stared into the mirror's depths. It began to show her things. Events. People. What she had always, really wanted more than anything.
"You see," Voldemort whispered into her ear. "Why did you think you were put in Slytherin? The Sorting Hat saw it, you know. It is the gift of our family. Power. Power and the lust for more. Why were you so eager to learn magic from Harry Potter? Because you wanted that power."
"I can give you power, more than you've ever dreamed of. Together, we could do great things."
Erin turned her face away from the mirror, her shoulders shaking. She knew it was the truth. Oh, what would Harry say if he could see what she saw in this cursed mirror?
Harry's face suddenly swam before her. What she wouldn't give to see him now, broken glasses, untidy hair, knobbly knees and all. Oh, Harry -
As she thought this, the scenes in the mirror began to change. Subtly, delicately. Began to include a certain dark-haired boy. And Erin, seeing this, felt a sudden flash of hope. The mirror was not a dictator of her fate. She could still choose.
She turned, looked her father in the eye, and said what she knew to be her last words. "Never."
Voldemort's face tightened in rage. His red eyes suddenly blazed as he drew himself up. "So be it," he whispered. Erin turned to run, but he caught her and tossed her to the floor. "Die, as your mother did. AVADA KEDAVRA!"
There was a flash of green light and the rush of speeding death. The spell caught Erin in the head, just left of her left eye. It hurt. She collapsed backwards.
Darkness. Darkness, darkness, and more darkness. But then the darkness was fading. She could hear again. Someone was shouting, and there was a - a horse? - neighing. Someone scooped her up, and at that point Erin once more lost consciousness. But she had time for one last coherent thought.
I'm alive.
The snow exploded to Severus' right. The mongoose whirled and immediately tensed into a fighting position as a huge cobra reared out of the snow. Not Voldemort's snake, thank goodness. Lucius Malfoy's Animagi.
Even if Severus had wanted to stop it, the mongoose in him had fully taken over. With a rattling war cry, he leaped and caught his teeth in the snake's hood. The snake shook him off, and Severus landed in the snow and leaped up just in time to avoid Malfoy's strike. Suddenly there were pounding hoofbeats, and the snake slithered rapidly away as a shimmering unicorn pounded up.
Panting from the short battle, Severus sprang back into his human self. There were two people riding the unicorn, a cowled man and an unconscious girl. With a cry Severus pulled Erin off the unicorn and held her closely. She was alive - she was breathing. Gently he brushed her hair back - and his breath caught as he glimpsed the lightning scar next to her eye. He looked up into the face of the man astride the unicorn. He tensed.
"I thought you were dead," he said tersely.
"We need to get her to Hogwarts," said the man. "Can you Apparate to the edge of the grounds and prepare them for her?"
Severus nodded. Reluctantly he let his daughter go, and without another word he Apparated to the edges of the grounds. Five minutes later he staggered inside. McGonagall gave a little scream.
"Severus - are you - is Erin - "
"Erin is coming," Severus said, brushing himself off. "Prof - a man is bringing her."
"Is she alive?"
"Yes. Why, I don't know," said Severus. He was only beginning to numbly realize what all of this meant. McGonagall's eyes widened.
"Do - do you mean?"
"I think," said Dumbledore firmly, "that Madame Pomfrey needs to prepare a bed for Miss Kristoff."
The teachers left to inform Madame Pomfrey. It was late, and all of the other students were in bed. A few minutes later, a robed and cowled figure carrying an unconscious Erin walked to the hospital wing.
As the man entered, Severus leaped up and retrieved his daughter. Gently he laid her down on the bed. She stirred and murmured, the lightning scar clearly visible. As the teachers watched her, the man pulled off his hood.
McGonagall turned and saw him. She gasped, but Dumbledore did not seem so surprised. Severus simply ignored his presence. The man said nothing, his eyes fixed on Erin. None of the teachers noticed three small figures slip into the hospital wing.
"But how could this have happened?" McGonagall whispered. "There's only been ever been one who lived."
"But now there are two," said Dumbledore. A faint gasp from the door was quickly muffled.
The man spoke for the first time. "I don't know what happened. I came into the tent to find her unconsciou - "
"YOU!" screeched the voice from the door. All of the adults turned to see Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger staring at the man in unparalleled horror. "It's YOU!" Ron shouted.
Instinctively the man threw his arm up in front of his scarred face, but it was too late. Hermione turned and screamed down the corridor. "Harry! Harry! It's Quirrell!"