Chapter thirty four
The difficult decision
/
Angela was one of the last to arrive at breakfast on Saturday, just like Harry. A least, he had better luck returning to his dorm than she did. Thanks to the Cloak of Invisibility, no one realized that he got into his bed only in the morning.
As soon as Angela sat down at the table, Draco, who had been eating two seats from her, scowled, got up and walked away from the Great Hall with a haughty expression. Ignoring him, she poured herself a large mug of hot black coffee and sipped it slowly. She was still terribly tired, so that she did not even think about food. Although she could feel Harry's gaze on her from the direction of Gryffindor table, she did not dare to look at him. Her head was too full of thoughts and impressions to even smile at him.
She gently rubbed her right temple, steadily going over the events of the previous night. Tons of questions swirled inside her head.
Who was Elessandra and what was that huge unicorn talking about? Her descendant? She would have to know something about the woman, wouldn´t she? Mother never mentioned anything like that. Could it be that she was her ancestor from the unknown father's side? And what about those vampires? Why did they suddenly feel like killing unicorns, who usually got along with any other beast or creature in peace?
Angela knew that the vampire clan was in some sort of connection with the Dark Lord, but nothing more than that. She was damn lucky to be able to stop them during that crazy night. If there would be just a few more of them, she would have probably collapsed before destroying them all. Not to mention she was amazed she did not screw up that damn difficult portable version of the Anti-vampire Shield. It had been the most difficult witchcraft stuff, which she managed to accomplish on her own.
Just another bug in her head was the tall vampire leading the angry group of bloodsuckers. As if, he knew exactly who she was and knew her predecessor. Not to mention, he dared to threaten her with death, even though he himself was dying in that moment...
That unicorn could surely answer many of these questions for her, but how in the hell was she supposed to call him? He said ´you know how´. Did all magical creatures with ability to understand the human language have to speak in riddles?
However, somewhere deep inside she knew that with all these thoughts, she was just trying to cover up what she had experienced with Harry. Every time she thought about what happened between the two of them after they managed to get back to Hogwarts, her mind started to float somewhere above the ground again. It excited and scared her at the same time.
Spending that loving night with Harry was truly the most beautiful thing she had ever experienced. She did not lie to him in that. Yet, the more she thought about it, the more she began to blame herself for such a huge mistake. She should have controlled herself and not let it happen. Their relationship only deepened. He even confessed his love to her in such a lovely, honest way… At that moment, she was the happiest girl under the sun, but her happiness was marred by the thought of how easily someone could take advantage of their relationship.
Well, someone… At least I should be honest with myself. If the Dark Lord ever finds out about this…
Black guilt flooded Angela´s whole body, realizing that she was exposing Harry to such a great danger without him even knowing about it. She knew Draco was right. She should break up with him while there was still time. She just did not have the courage…
What could she say to him? Sorry, but you´re the Boy-Who-Lived while I´m supposed to became a Death Eater and I just realized it´s not such a good match? Or any other bullshit like that?
Her gloomy pondering was suddenly interrupted by an ice-cold voice: "Rosier," someone addressed her loudly.
Angela turned and looked up at the pale face with a hooked nose and, as always, with dark greasy hair falling along it.
"Come with me to my office," Snape hissed.
"But why, sir…" she protested weakly.
"Instantly!" snapped the Potions´ professor, turning on his heel.
Angela drank up the rest of her coffee with a sigh and stood up. She was about to follow Snape's disappearing back when she caught a mischievous look from Claire Nott. She eyed her and started to have a bad feeling. She slowly walked away, subconsciously preparing for the interrogation, which was quite probably awaiting her.
/
"Sit down," Snape hissed as they reached his underground lair and the door slammed behind Angela.
She obeyed, mobilized her Occlumency and calmly looked at her professor. Snape gave her a look that could turn milk sour, but she kept facing him and waited.
"So," Snape began in a low but dangerous tone. "Where were you last night?"
"In bed, Professor," Angela replied coldly.
"Stop lying to me!" he snapped. "I know you've been out of your bedroom all night. Explain it to me at once!"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"So, you don't know," Snape drawled, his eyes narrowing. "One of your roommates reported it to me and is willing to testify again. What do you say now?"
"Someone is probably trying to slander me, sir," Angela said, casually crossing her legs.
Snape took a sharp, short breath. For a moment it looked like he was going to yell, but he controlled himself and stood up.
"In that case, I am forced to report everything to the headmaster. And you'll come with me," decided Snape through gritted teeth, walked around the table, painfully grabbed Angela's arm and dragged her up to her feet.
Before she could muster any resistance, they were already in the corridor and Snape was pulling her along.
"Let me go," she protested.
When the professor did not respond, Angela jerked away from him with all her might.
"I'm not running away," she snapped gruffly as Snape turned to her.
He glared, but then walked on, and Angela followed him sullenly.
/
Dumbledore was pacing his office, a worried frown between his brows. He knew from Miss Rosier that their second test was to be held that night. He was worried about how this all could turn out…
There was a quick knock on the door and it flew open without prompting. Sullen Severus floated in, followed by pale Angela Rosier with dark circles under her eyes.
"Headmaster, I have a minor problem here," Snape hissed.
"What's going on, Severus?" the Headmaster asked calmly, heading to his chair.
"Rosier was not in her bed all night. She's been hanging around somewhere and she refuses to admit it."
Dumbledore sat up and looked at Angela over his glasses. She stared fixedly at the ground.
"And how do you know that, Severus?"
"A student from her bedroom came to me early this morning. Not long after Rosier returned to the dorm," Snape replied, still angry.
Dumbledore turned to Angela: "Is that true?" he asked simply.
The girl looked into his eyes and was silent for a long time. Just as Snape took a breath for another remark, she replied: "I would like to speak to you privately about this, Headmaster."
Snape shut his mouth with almost audible sound. Dumbledore leaned back thoughtfully and connected his fingers together in a typical gesture.
"Please, leave us, Severus."
"But, Headmaster…" Snape tried again.
"I'm asking you for it. I'll call you later," Dumbledore cut him off.
Snape one more time stabbed Angela with his eyes like knives and walked away from the headmaster's office with an icy expression.
"Have a seat," Dumbledore motioned to a chair.
Angela sat down tiredly. She knew that Dumbledore was the only one she could safely tell about that night outside the castle without being expelled right away.
"So, what happened?" prompted her the headmaster.
"When I was eleven years old, I started having strange dreams..." she stared her story once again.
/
Dumbledore stared at her motionless for a few seconds after Angela had finished describing her trip to the night blizzard, omitting the small detail that Harry Potter was involved in it as well.
She felt a little nervous, when he kept quiet like that.
"Professor, I know I probably should have told you about those dreams earlier, but I usually don't speak about it much, since..."
"No, it's all right," Dumbledore interrupted her. "That's not what I'm wondering about. It´s not your duty to tell me everything about yourself just… Did that unicorn really tell you that you were Elessandra´s successor?"
"Yes, sir. The name is terrible, but I remembered it easily. Do you know who that was?"
"Just cursorily," Dumbledore replied. "In the 18th century, she was very famous for her accurate predictions of various events. People thought she was just an excellent Seer with a greatly developed Inner Eye and she did not contradict them. However, now it seems that she also had the same ability as you—"
"Foreseeing dreams," Angela finished for him.
"Exactly," Dumbledore nodded.
"Does that make me a Seer as well?"
"Maybe partially," Dumbledore admitted. "True Seers are very rare and they usually make very specific prophecies or dreams interpretations. According to what you told me, your dreams come quite at random and you cannot control them."
"That´s right…"
"Anyway, you must be related to Elessandra somehow in this case. Do you know your family tree on your mother's side in details?"
"Unfortunately, no."
"And your mother never spoke to you about your ability?"
"No, she… well… she doesn't know about that," Angela said quietly.
"Oh, really?" the headmaster raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I've only met her a year ago," Angela muttered unwillingly. "It's not my fault that she doesn't know much about me. She actually doesn't know me at all; otherwise she wouldn't have forced me into an alliance with Voldemort."
"Yes, that´s understandable," Dumbledore nodded. "Well, you might look Elessandra´s name up in the library, but at this moment, the most reliable source of information for you will definitely be that mysterious unicorn."
"Yes, but how will I call him?" Angela asked helplessly.
"Unfortunately, I have no idea."
For a moment, there was deafening silence in the headmaster´s office.
"Are you all right, Angela?" Dumbledore observed her sharply. "After the night you've just had, I wouldn't be surprised if you needed to go to the infirmary."
"No, I'm fine," she shook her head. "I'm just tired."
"You're going to another test today, aren't you?"
Angela nodded solemnly: "Yes…"
"You'll definitely go over the protective border in the Forbidden Forest, I suppose, so look out. It's not likely that the other vampires would find out who killed their companions, but still…" Dumbledore trailed off significantly.
"I'll be careful. And Draco's coming with me," answered Angela, who paled even more at the mention of the evening.
"Come and tell me as soon as possible how it turned out."
"Of course. And Headmaster, as for Professor Snape…"
"I'll deal with him."
"Thank you, sir."
/
Dressed all in black, Draco stood impatiently by the window in the Slytherin common room, constantly glancing toward the corridor leading to the girls' bedrooms. It was half past twelve at night and Angela should have been here fifteen minutes ago.
Finally, the brisk footsteps were heard and the disheveled girl appeared in the room, buttoning up a warm black coat.
"Well, it was about time," Draco noted grumpily.
"Sorry, I fell asleep," Angela hummed apologetically.
"That's what you get from hanging around at night," Draco snapped and headed for the exit.
Angela rather gritted her teeth, stopping herself from reacting and followed him quietly.
/
Through the layer of fresh snow, they were approaching the border beyond which it was already possible to apparate. Big snowflakes were falling slowly down from the night sky. After the wind and the recent furious blizzard, there was a strange silence in the forest.
They did not say a word the whole way. First, Draco was pissed at Angela, and second, they both did not have much to talk about when they knew what was coming.
Angela suddenly stopped. She felt someone's gaze on her. She looked around intently through the woods, but saw nothing.
Draco, not hearing her footsteps, turned back to her.
"What is it?" he hummed inquiringly.
"Nothing... I hope," Angela replied, speeding up her pace.
/
In two minutes, with a quiet puff, they found themselves directly under the dark outline of the castle towering above them. Mary was waiting for them at the wrought iron gate.
"Where have you been loitering?" she greeted them in an angry whisper.
"Nice to see you too, Mum," Angela replied calmly.
Mary Rosier mumbled something annoyed and led them inside the stone corridors.
/
"Today is the important day of your second test," Voldemort announced haughtily to Draco and Angela, piercing the kneeling figures in front of him with his gaze. "I sincerely hope that you will be at least as successful with it as with the first one. Get up," he motioned coldly.
Both Angela and Draco rose from the icy ground, but both stared blankly ahead.
"Lucius, the addresses and pictures," the Dark Lord instructed his servant.
Malfoy handed them small scraps of parchment with addresses and photos of houses on them. Angela barely memorized it, and the parchments started burning already. She dropped them to the ground where they crumbled to ash just like Draco's.
Voldemort smiled contentedly with narrow lips, sending chills down Angela's spine.
"So," he said coldly, standing up from his black chair. "You have one hour to bring the youngest family member from the house at this address to me. Alive, unharmed and conscious. I don't want to see any bundled packages here. How you do it, that´s up to you," the Dark Lord explained with the same strange smile still on his face. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir," both Angela and Draco answered in unison.
"We will see. You're running out of time," Voldemort added, settling back down.
They bowed, turned around, and in a flash, they were both out of the Chamber. In order to be able to apparate to the given address, they had to leave the castle, which was secured against Apparition except for a designated place used by Lord Voldemort himself.
"May I ask, Master?" Mary Rosier said as the door shut behind them.
Voldemort nodded graciously.
"You sent them to houses that are being watched by the Ministry, didn't you?"
"Yes. Any objections, Mary?"
"Of course not, Master."
/
The youngest member of the family! I might bring a hamster in that case, Angela sneered to herself as she looked around the rather large multi-storey house on the outskirts of London. However, she could not shake off the nervousness that was gnawing at her.
There was no light in any of the windows, and the surrounding area was completely quiet. Angela quickly ran across the snowy road and reached the gate. With a simple spell, she discovered that there was only a faint border around the house to warn the occupants of the intruder. She broke the spell without much thought and remembered that she had to renew it again on the way back.
In a few seconds, she disappeared into the house unnoticed.
/
Draco, hidden in the shadows without moving, carefully surveyed the villa, surrounded by a snowy hedge. A dim light still shone in one of the upper windows. Finally, after a few cold minutes it went off. Draco made sure there was nothing protecting the house beyond the control alarm boundary. He quietly pulled himself up and swung over the meter-high gateway.
/
"They don't have much time left," Mary remarked as she looked at the hourglass hanging on its own in the air in front of them.
"I'm confident that with the training they've received so far they'll be able to do it in time," Voldemort hissed, his crimson eyes glinting mockingly.
At that moment, the door of the Chamber flew open and Angela walked in with her hair flowing behind, pulling a little girl of about six years old in a pink bathrobe by the hand. She stopped right in front of the Dark Lord, knelt down on one knee in front of him, and violently pushed the trembling girl in front of her.
The Dark Lord nodded in satisfaction and Angela stood up.
"You seem somewhat upset, Angela," Voldemort pierced her with his eyes. "Did something happen?" he asked with an icy smile. For the moment, he did not pay attention to the blue-eyed little girl, who was looking around scared.
"Yes, it did, sir," Angela replied, trying to keep her anger supressed. "As soon as I got this brat out of the house, the new alarm that the Ministry came up with to watch the houses of important people went off. I had barely time to hide and at least six Hit Wizards already appeared. Why didn't I know about that alarm device?"
Voldemort stared at her for one endless moment. Angela looked directly in his terrifying eyes and then retreated, frightened to her bones. In her excitement, she completely forgot about guarding her mind… Voldemort watched her with interest, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. However, he immediately looked normal again, if that can be even said about the Dark Lord.
"I figured it would be better to test your reactions that way. Therefore, you shouldn't have known about it, Angela," Voldemort spoke slowly and coldly.
Young Rosier imperceptibly clenched her fists and lowered her head: "Forgive me, my lord. I was too blunt."
"It's alright. I expected such a reaction," Voldemort replied condescendingly.
"Thank you, my lord," Angela said quietly, placing her hand on the shoulder of the little girl who had been looking like she wanted to run away.
Right after that, the door opened again. Draco walked in with the exact same angry expression as Angela a moment ago, dragging the struggling nine-year-old black haired boy behind him. He angrily threw him in front of the Dark Lord, knelt down, but immediately stood up again. He was about to say something, but Voldemort stopped him sharply with a raised hand.
"Yes, I know, Draco. I expect you're as indignant as Angela that you didn't know about the new alarm," the Dark Lord hissed with a smile that made him look like he was torturing someone and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Draco just nodded slowly.
"I already explained to Angela that this was my intention. That should be enough for you."
"Yes, sir," Draco replied coldly, grabbed the boy's hair tightly and pulled him to his feet.
"So… I have to say," Voldemort said after glancing over the blonde girl and the rebellious boy. "That I am satisfied for now. Bringing the two of them here, however, was only the first half of your test."
Angela and Draco exchanged worried glances.
"What's the other part, sir?" Angela asked with a tight throat.
Voldemort let her question fade into a terrible silence. After a while, he got up and walked slowly in front of them. The boy stopped struggling and the same tears of fear as the little girl had appeared in his eyes.
Both Angela and Draco waited tensely.
"You will lead them back," the Dark Lord informed them.
They looked at each other in amazement. A huge stone fell from Angela´s heart.
"However, you must modify their memory, then switch them between the two of you and lead them back to their homes."
"Master," Mary dared to speak. "At this moment, there is a complete ruckus around those houses. How are they supposed to get past all those Aurors and Hit Wizards?"
"That's the point, Mary," Voldemort replied coldly. "If you can get them back safely and they don't remember anything, so they can't give you away and no one sees you, you've passed the second test."
The young disciples stared at him in disbelief for a moment, before Angela spoke up.
"How much time do we have, sir?" she asked quietly.
"An hour," Voldemort said in a tone as if he had given them all day. "And don't think you'll get rid of them somewhere along the way. I'll know if they got home."
Both Angela and Draco nodded. Voldemort waved his wand and the clock in the air above them began to bite off their time again.
Angela dragged the girl to one corner and Draco headed to the other with the boy. They needed a lot of concentration to change their memories. If they messed this up, the kids would never be normal again.
After that, both of them used Imperius curse on the children, which turned them into obedient dolls, oblivious to anything around them, they exchanged them and left the Chamber together.
Voldemort turned to Mary and Lucius who were silently staring at the closed door.
"Hope they don't get caught," Voldemort hissed. "Otherwise you'll pay for it as well."
Outside the castle, Angela and Draco told each other their addresses and apparated to them with the children in tow.
/
It was really a very difficult task, but in the end, they both managed it.
Draco got into the house through the only unguarded place – through the roof light. Using a Levitation charm and an Invisibility potion that he was able to get on Knockturn Alley, even though it cost him thirty galleons, he and the little girl got to the attic and went down the stairs. The residents of the house were talking excitedly down the hall, so all he had to do was find her room, put her to bed, and disappear as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, he bumped into some stupid vase in the dark, which shattered into a thousand pieces, and he had to disappear back to the attic before the Aurors showed up. He could not risk being caught in front of the house, so he apparated straight from the roof back to the front of the Dark Castle.
At first, Angela stared indecisively at the crowd of Hit Wizards in front of the entrance of the glowing villa. Then she finally thought of something. She made the boy as dirty as possible, put him to sleep and charmed him so that he looked like a sleepwalker. She then sent him toward the wizards in front of the house and gracefully climbed a tree like a cat. There she waited until she was sure they had taken him inside the house and the others had stopped snooping around her immediate area and steamed away.
When the Dark Lord finally released them at half past three in the morning and they apparated to the Forbidden Forest, they wearily made their way toward the school. They were silent and dully trampled new tracks through the snow. Even though they were exhausted physically and mentally, their hearts were filled with relief. The children were fine at their homes and the last test awaited them just before initiation to Voldemort´s ranks.
After three o'clock, they slipped into the castle and made their way to the common room. Draco wanted to continue to his bedroom, but Angela's shaky voice stopped him.
"Draco, can I talk to you for a second?"
He turned to her and lit the nearest candlestick. There was fear all over her face.
"What's going on?" he asked with a bad hunch.
Angela tiredly sat down in the nearest armchair.
"I… I was... Sit down, please," she gestured to the seat across from her.
Draco sat up confused and looked at her inquisitively.
"Before you arrived with that boy, the Dark Lord happened to look at me, inside my mind and…"
"And what?" he prompted impatiently.
"I was so mad I didn't focused on Occlumency precautions and he almost found what he wasn't supposed to," Angela muttered, looking at the ground.
Draco hold his breath: "What it was?"
"Me… with Harry."
"Angela, you're driving me crazy," he growled, leaning back in his chair. "Did you consider anything from what I told you on the train at all?"
"Yeah, I did."
"That's all you're going to say?" he blurted out.
"No. I… What is that proven method you were talking about?" Angela asked extremely quietly.
"What?" Draco's eyes widened at her.
"I've already made up my mind. I want to end it. I cannot continue to threaten him like this without him knowing."
"So, you finally realized?" Draco said elatedly.
"Stop making fun of me!" Angela bristled. "Do you even know how I feel?"
"No," Draco replied after a moment of silence.
"What's that method?" she asked again.
"Infidelity, Angela. Infidelity will hit him the hardest. He might even hate you," he said quietly. "If you pick the right one to do it with," he added significantly.
Angela paled even more. "Okay," she hummed dejectedly then. "I know what you mean."
"When do you want to do it?"
"Soon."
"Good. I'll arrange for him to come… Where do you hang out most often anyway?"
"In the Room of Requirement."
"Of course, where else," Draco rolled his eyes. "Then let me know which day."
Angela nodded absently and stood up. "I'd better go to sleep," she hummed softly.
"Angela?" Draco called after her quietly.
She turned back questioningly. Her companion had a strange look on his face.
"You probably won't believe me, but… I'm sorry that it has to end like this between you two. Because of you."
Angela sighed bitterly. "Me too," she replied quietly and left.