12:12 AM, December 26, 2009
Aubrey hadn't said a word since she, Toni, Midas, and Justine had left the Great Hall over an hour ago. The little ones-all fifteen of them-had been so exhausted that they hadn't been much for troubLumaking. They barely noticed the moving portraits which were, by now, buzzing with excitement about the turn up of these seemingly abandoned children. When they reached Dumbledore's office the gargoyle guarding the entrance, which seemed to expect their arrival, swiveled down to reveal a staircase without need of a password. Tiredly and without complaint the children trooped up the staircase and into the oval office. One or two of them perked up upon seeing all the whirling magical gadgets, but for the most part they climbed into the fifteen pairs of pajamas that had been laid out and climbed into the small cots that were scattered around the office.
Most of Dumbledore's furniture had been removed from his office, but a scarlet half-circle couch remained up against one of the oval walls. Aubrey had slumped on it and staid like that for a long time. She looked so miserable and desolate that only Toni dared to venture over and comfort the small redhead, utmost concern written on her face. Aubrey rested her head on Toni's shoulder and Midas had slunk over to a corner, followed closely by Justine. The two siblings had watched the two friends until the silence had grown to a breaking point.
"So, who are these kids?" Midas asked. Toni shot up, glaring at Midas, but Aubrey held up a hand to stop her friend from laying in to the Gryffindor fourth year.
She smiled a little before pointing to a small girl lying on the cot nearest to her, sleeping peacefully in a bright pink sleeping bag. Midas recognized the little girl as the one McGonagall had picked up in the Great Hall. "This is Iris McGonagall-Brinks. She's Prof. McGonagall's youngest daughter."
"McGonagall has a daughter?" Midas asked, an amazed look on his face.
"Three," Aubrey corrected. "Atlanta and Calypso, well.Who knows where they are. Their dad and my dad fought in the war together. Their dad was my dad's commander." Midas nodded and Aubrey continued, pointing next to the scrawny boy who had led the children into Hogwarts, the one Aubrey had called Sirius. "This little guy is my baby brother, Sirius, named after my dad's godfather, Sirius Black. The fellow beside him," Aubrey pointed to the little boy called Remus, "is my other little brother present. His name is Remus, after my dad's good, good friend and my grandfather's best friend, Remus Lupin. That sweet little thing beside little Remus is my cousin, Luna. She belongs to my uncle Fred-his youngest child. Beside her is her big sister, Gina, and our cousin Tommy. You all with me so far?"
Aubrey looked up from her child tally and received four nods. "Alright, then. Next comes Terrance Malfoy, Kevin's little brother, and then Olivia, Angel's little sister. Then comes two more Malfoys-Fiona and Roderick-and after them is another of my cousins, Kimberly. Then comes two of Jessica's little siblings, Luther and Joey. And then, lastly, there's Romulus Lupin and Mandy Black. And that's the lot of them." Aubrey smiled sadly. "Fifteen kids," she muttered. "That means that there's.let's see.thirty-five children missing."
Justine gasped in horror and Midas covered his mouth. Thirty-five children missing? He had known that the Potters generally had a lot of friends, but thirty-five children unaccounted for? That was horrible!
"What will you do?" Midas asked.
Aubrey could only shrug. "Well, my uncles Charlie and Bill weren't with us this Christmas so we should have a place to stay if." She trailed off but the unsaid words still hung ominously in the air.
"So we should have a place to stay if my parents are dead."
Aubrey was suddenly very interested in the material that the couch was made out of. She picked absentmindedly at the fabric and hummed a soft tune. After a few minutes had gone by Aubrey went very still. "They should have been here by now," she whispered, though, with the silence of the room, everyone heard.
"Aubrey?" Justine asked. "Are you feeling all right?"
But Aubrey wasn't listening. She was extremely pale and her hands had begun to shake. "They should have been here by now!" she cried, waking Luther and Iris. "Oh, Merlin! Where are all of them? Honestly-They were just going to go set something up for a prank out by the lake but it shouldn't have taken them this long!" Luther began to cry softly and Justine swooped down to pick him up and cuddle him while Aubrey talked to herself, a mad look in her eyes. "Something's wrong, Toni. I can feel it-see it!-but something's terribly wrong."
Toni looked wildly at Midas and Justine, pleading silently for help with her distressed friend. "Brey," she said in a soothing voice, but Aubrey cut her off.
"Where are Jessica, Angel, and Kevin? They should have been here by now! Oh, Toni, I think something big and horrid is going on right under our noses!"
***
12:15 AM, December 26, 2009
"What do you mean, no remains were found?" McGonagall sounded near hysterical. "What about my daughters and my husband?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am," the young Ministry official said, looking highly uncomfortable, "but we couldn't find any human remains. The house was totally demolished-some flattened it into the ground. No bodies were found, living or otherwise."
McGonagall began to sob loud, heart-wrenching sobs of despair, and she flew flung herself on Snape. The Ministry official looked at Dumbledore, who nodded to young man. "Please, go and fetch the Minister of Magic again. I'd like another word with her," he said. The young man nodded and left posthaste, looking all too happy to get out of the office that Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape had been waiting in for the past two hours.
Right after dispensing everyone to their own their duties at the ball, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape had all taken one of the school's carriages down to Hogsmeade, where they had apparated to the Ministry of Magic headquarters. After being told to wait for an hour the three Hogwarts professors had been shown into the office of the Minister of Magic, Jaclyn Hall. Just two years ago Cornelius Fudge had suffered a major heart attack and had died within the month. After a panic filled week of trying to find a replacement for Fudge Jaclyn Hall had surfaced. Young-only twenty-seven at the time-female, and too pretty to be taken seriously, many had thought Hall to be a horrible mistake, but Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter had pushed for her to be put into office, and so far no one had been disappointed.
The moment Hall had entered her office Dumbledore could tell that she knew about the Potters. She was pale, and though she had not shed any tears her eyes held a deep sadness. She had only had time to stay and talk for a few moments-she had to go to the scene of the Potter's home again-she had hugged McGonagall, expressed her concerns to Dumbledore, and nodded at Snape. They had waited in Hall's office for another hour before Hall's personal secretary came and herded them all into another office just down the hall and promising that someone would be with them 'very soon.' Ten minutes later the Ministry official had shown up.
"What could have happened to the bodies, Albus?" McGonagall asked, gripping her head and making an effort to stop crying. "Might they still be alive?" She looked to the Headmaster of Hogwarts, but he, for once, couldn't meet her eyes.
"I'm not sure, Minerva. I need to know more information before I can truly say. Ah! Ms. Hall!" Dumbledore stood to greet the Minister of Magic, though his extended hand was not shaken.
"Oh, Prof. Dumbledore! My secretary told me you were still here. I would have thought that you'd have gone back to Hogwarts and awaited further information." Hall smiled lightly, but both her voice and her smile were laced with venom. "Don't you want to get back to your students?" Her suggestion was obviously a command, or at least a blatant wish.
"I will," Dumbledore assured Hall, "as soon as we talk. I'd like to ask a few questions, if you don't mind."
Hall's eyes widened only slightly and she cast a cool glance at McGonagall and Snape. "Whatever you want," she said, motioning to the door. "My office is free. Let's go."
Dumbledore and Hall swept out of the office, murmuring to each other in hushed voices, and leaving McGonagall and Snape alone. Dumbledore and Hall had only been gone a few minutes before McGonagall began to speak, though she sounded dazed and she wasn't looking directly at Snape. "Keith was my world, you know. We met at the Potter's wedding, and he asked me to dance.You remember, don't you? Oh, he was always so sweet, so loving.And then I got pregnant, even though I was so old.Keith couldn't have been happier the day I told him."
Snape nodded. He had never really met Keith Brinks-he had not attended the wedding-and McGonagall had never mentioned him, so he had always wondered what the man was like. McGonagall was silent after her speech about her husband, and she stared vacantly into space, her eyes glazed over, as if to block out the pain. It had been twenty minutes or so when the door to the office flew open again and Dumbledore rushed back in, a letter clutched in his hand and Hall trialing after him.
"Quickly, Severus!" Dumbledore cried, his eyes filled with a wild terror. "Something's gone wrong! Some first and forth year children have gone missing!" Dumbledore paused and locked eyes with the Potions Master. "One of the first years was Whitney. I'm sorry, Severus, but Whitney has disappeared."
***
12:34 AM, December 26th, 2009
It was all Kevin's fault.
Jessica may not have known who had hit her over the head, or who had stashed her in this cave, or even where she was, but she did know that it was Kevin's fault that she was here. After all, hadn't it been his idea to pull a prank and make their mark? Hadn't it been his idea to send Angel and her outside that night to gather the necessary materials from Hagrid's hut? It just figured that a Malfoy would send someone else to do a dangerous job, or at least that's what her father muttered whenever he was upset with Draco.
It was pitch black in the room Jessica was in and she had only just woken up but already she had been able to discern three things. The first was that she was not alone. She had been bound magically to someone else. The second thing she could tell was that she was tied to Thomas Philbrin. She could smell his cheesy cologne over the strong scent of mildew, which she betrayed that they were most likely being kept in a basement. Jessica had always been smart, just like her mother. She knew exactly how to analyze and overall determine who had kidnapped her and how to escape.
The last thing she remembered was striding towards Hagrid's hut, listening to Angel ramble on about how great their prank was going to be and how the second generation of the Marauders would be known all throughout Hogwarts. Actually, they weren't going to call themselves the Marauders-they would be forever known as the Raiders-but it was the same sort of thing. And really, the prank wasn't that brilliant, but it was all they had been able to come up with, and it was sure to make the Slytherins seethe with anger.
All they needed do was get the house-elves to pour a new invention Jessica's uncles' into the drinks of every Slytherin present and a few others that had gotten on the newly christened Raiders' nerves (namely Toni's exes). The liquid, which was only activated when added to wizarding drinks such as butterbeer, was meant to turn its drinker's skin and hair different colors. Jessica had written her uncle George for a whole boxful of the liquid packets, and they had been owled to Hagrid's hut, so as not to be discovered by Whitney or Joyelle, both of whom were starting to get suspicious. Kevin and Tina were lurking outside the entrance to the Hogwarts kitchens, and Aubrey and Toni were inside the ball, jotting down the positions of all the Slytherins to slip to the house-elves. Now all they needed to do was to obtain the package and they'd be set.
Suddenly, though, Jessica had stopped dead. Angel noticed that and turned around. "Jess, what's the matter? Are you-Ah!" He jumped back in surprise and horror.
Jessica's deep brown eyes had rolled up in her head so that her irises had disappeared. Her skin had gone almost as white the snow around her arms were crossed over her chest in the shape of an 'X'. She looked bloody terrifying, and Angel subdued his extinct to turn on his heel and run.
"Innocent blood has been spilled tonight. Children's blood has been spilled tonight. Much more blood will be spilled tonight, starting with yours."
It took Angel few moments to realize that the voice that had just spoken belonged to Jessica. Her voice had been deep, eerie, and it had chilled his blood. And then there was what she had said.That his blood would be spilled? Jessica had let out a terrified scream when a tall man sheathed in black garb stepped out from behind a tree. He had been carrying what her mother had once told her was a gun and his face was covered in an intricate mask, also black. The only piece of color in his whole ensemble was a large red insignia directly over his heart.
The only thing that the mask had showed was the man's eyes. They were golden and beautifully so. Large and almond shaped the man's eyes were a deep golden, flecked with leafy green and amber brown. They were piercing, and like a wolf's eyes in that they were feral and hungry. Jessica felt herself returning to normal and watched in horror as the man raised his gun and pointed it at Angel. Without any visible emotion betrayed in the man's eyes he pulled the trigger. Jessica screamed as Angel's body hit the ground, red blood staining the snow around him.
The man looked up at Jessica. "It would be a shame to harm a pretty one like you," he said, and his voice was just as feral as his eyes were. "I'll just have you to knock you out another way." Jessica just barely remembered the man reaching towards her, his gun raised up high. And now she was waking in this room. And what did Thomas Philbrin have to do with any of this? So many things about the past night seemed hazy.But she knew one thing.It was all Kevin's fault.
***
1:30 AM, December 26th, 2009
Lumaren Kaverne hated the world, and the world hated her. Maybe the only thing she didn't hate was her twin brother, Leonard, but even then she didn't love him. Lumaren had once been pure, sweet, kind, the youngest of five children. Her family had been poor and simple, but they had been happy and that had filled Lumaren-then she was just plain Luma Kaver-with a peaceful satisfaction. Luma had been only twelve when Voldemort had taken his second rise. She had been so innocent and naive then that she had believed that his wrath would completely pass over her small, remote wizarding village, filled mostly with squibs and muggle-borns. Luma's family was one of the only three pureblood families living there.
One day, when Luma was just fifteen, she and her twin Leonard-they had been very close then-had gone berry harvesting in the woods surrounding their village. They had left in the morning, when the sun was barely up, but near noon Leonard had looked up to see smoke billowing in curls over the treetops. With panic rising in their chests the two teenagers had run through the woods and back to their village. The scene they found was one Luma would never forget. The village had been utterly and completely flattened; all the houses had been destroyed and there was no sign of any life. Luma's eyes had flown to the sky where the Dark Mark had burned bright. The panic in her stomach turned to despair. Luma fell to the ground in misery, and Leonard gazed at her with concern. The two twins hadn't noticed the tall, handsome, pale man striding towards them until he spoke.
"You're even prettier in real life than in my dreams," the man said, and though the words might have been sweet and romantic the untamed look of lustful ferocity in his eyes destroyed any sentimentality. Luma had gasped and scuffled away from the man. Though he was handsome, terribly so, all his beauty was of a dangerous sort, the kind that made your knees weak and your blood run cold at the same time. Hair black as midnight, eyes as green and perilous as anything, lips chiseled by the hands of the gods, and a perfect, slender nose. The man saw her gaze and grinned roguishly. "So my little charm worked," he had murmured. "I shall reward Nott very generously for creating this charm."
"Charm?" Leonard had asked, and Luma had heard disgust in his voice. "What are you? Who are you?"
The man had ignored Leonard's questions and bent down to Luma. "For the past two years you have haunted my dreams, Luma Renée Kaver, and I do mean haunt. I have searched the world twice over to find you, Luma, and now that I've found you there's no chance in hell I'll let you go. You can come with me willingly, Luma, and see me as a god, or I can force you to come and you can see me as a demon."
Luma had been frightened of course, but at the same time she had been enchanted. "Come where?" she asked. "Where do you want me to come?"
The man had smiled. "With me, Luma, with me. I'm a powerful man with a growing empire. I need an heir, and you're the only woman who can give me a strong enough one."
"But who are you? Do you work with You-Know-Who?"
This time the man had paid attention to Leonard's question. "Voldemort?" he had asked, causing both Leonard and Luma to start. "Voldemort is my past, present, and future. Voldemort is anything and everything I have ever done or ever will do for I am Voldemort."
The next two years had been like a blurry dream for Luma. She left with Voldemort-he always told her to call him Tom-and Leonard went with them. Luma lengthened her name to Lumaren Kavern while Leonard shortened his name to Leo Kav. Lumaren forgot being poor, pure, and sweet and began to exist only for her new husband, Tom. She never saw 'Tom' as he really was, only as she wanted to. She never understood the disgusted looks Leo sent 'Tom's' way. Lumaren was pregnant with a baby boy eight months after meeting 'Tom' and they named the boy Serpens. Two months later Lumaren was pregnant again, this time with a girl, but Voldemort was killed by the Potter brat two months before Angelina was born.
The story Lumaren always told her children was that one. She didn't mention their father's violent side, or his many hookers, or even the incredible hate she had felt towards the Potter brat for killing her most beloved. Despite whatever 'Tom'-Voldemort-had done, she had loved him, and losing him had almost killed her. She had thrown every atom of her being into planning the Potters' destruction, and it had cost her everything: eleven years of her life, her twin brother's love, her children's admiration.But now she was ready.And now her plan was in motion. Leo, of course, had aided her-he always did-and though the plan would take the next five years to really pick up, but it was in motion.And then there would be all hell to pay.
Aubrey hadn't said a word since she, Toni, Midas, and Justine had left the Great Hall over an hour ago. The little ones-all fifteen of them-had been so exhausted that they hadn't been much for troubLumaking. They barely noticed the moving portraits which were, by now, buzzing with excitement about the turn up of these seemingly abandoned children. When they reached Dumbledore's office the gargoyle guarding the entrance, which seemed to expect their arrival, swiveled down to reveal a staircase without need of a password. Tiredly and without complaint the children trooped up the staircase and into the oval office. One or two of them perked up upon seeing all the whirling magical gadgets, but for the most part they climbed into the fifteen pairs of pajamas that had been laid out and climbed into the small cots that were scattered around the office.
Most of Dumbledore's furniture had been removed from his office, but a scarlet half-circle couch remained up against one of the oval walls. Aubrey had slumped on it and staid like that for a long time. She looked so miserable and desolate that only Toni dared to venture over and comfort the small redhead, utmost concern written on her face. Aubrey rested her head on Toni's shoulder and Midas had slunk over to a corner, followed closely by Justine. The two siblings had watched the two friends until the silence had grown to a breaking point.
"So, who are these kids?" Midas asked. Toni shot up, glaring at Midas, but Aubrey held up a hand to stop her friend from laying in to the Gryffindor fourth year.
She smiled a little before pointing to a small girl lying on the cot nearest to her, sleeping peacefully in a bright pink sleeping bag. Midas recognized the little girl as the one McGonagall had picked up in the Great Hall. "This is Iris McGonagall-Brinks. She's Prof. McGonagall's youngest daughter."
"McGonagall has a daughter?" Midas asked, an amazed look on his face.
"Three," Aubrey corrected. "Atlanta and Calypso, well.Who knows where they are. Their dad and my dad fought in the war together. Their dad was my dad's commander." Midas nodded and Aubrey continued, pointing next to the scrawny boy who had led the children into Hogwarts, the one Aubrey had called Sirius. "This little guy is my baby brother, Sirius, named after my dad's godfather, Sirius Black. The fellow beside him," Aubrey pointed to the little boy called Remus, "is my other little brother present. His name is Remus, after my dad's good, good friend and my grandfather's best friend, Remus Lupin. That sweet little thing beside little Remus is my cousin, Luna. She belongs to my uncle Fred-his youngest child. Beside her is her big sister, Gina, and our cousin Tommy. You all with me so far?"
Aubrey looked up from her child tally and received four nods. "Alright, then. Next comes Terrance Malfoy, Kevin's little brother, and then Olivia, Angel's little sister. Then comes two more Malfoys-Fiona and Roderick-and after them is another of my cousins, Kimberly. Then comes two of Jessica's little siblings, Luther and Joey. And then, lastly, there's Romulus Lupin and Mandy Black. And that's the lot of them." Aubrey smiled sadly. "Fifteen kids," she muttered. "That means that there's.let's see.thirty-five children missing."
Justine gasped in horror and Midas covered his mouth. Thirty-five children missing? He had known that the Potters generally had a lot of friends, but thirty-five children unaccounted for? That was horrible!
"What will you do?" Midas asked.
Aubrey could only shrug. "Well, my uncles Charlie and Bill weren't with us this Christmas so we should have a place to stay if." She trailed off but the unsaid words still hung ominously in the air.
"So we should have a place to stay if my parents are dead."
Aubrey was suddenly very interested in the material that the couch was made out of. She picked absentmindedly at the fabric and hummed a soft tune. After a few minutes had gone by Aubrey went very still. "They should have been here by now," she whispered, though, with the silence of the room, everyone heard.
"Aubrey?" Justine asked. "Are you feeling all right?"
But Aubrey wasn't listening. She was extremely pale and her hands had begun to shake. "They should have been here by now!" she cried, waking Luther and Iris. "Oh, Merlin! Where are all of them? Honestly-They were just going to go set something up for a prank out by the lake but it shouldn't have taken them this long!" Luther began to cry softly and Justine swooped down to pick him up and cuddle him while Aubrey talked to herself, a mad look in her eyes. "Something's wrong, Toni. I can feel it-see it!-but something's terribly wrong."
Toni looked wildly at Midas and Justine, pleading silently for help with her distressed friend. "Brey," she said in a soothing voice, but Aubrey cut her off.
"Where are Jessica, Angel, and Kevin? They should have been here by now! Oh, Toni, I think something big and horrid is going on right under our noses!"
***
12:15 AM, December 26, 2009
"What do you mean, no remains were found?" McGonagall sounded near hysterical. "What about my daughters and my husband?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am," the young Ministry official said, looking highly uncomfortable, "but we couldn't find any human remains. The house was totally demolished-some flattened it into the ground. No bodies were found, living or otherwise."
McGonagall began to sob loud, heart-wrenching sobs of despair, and she flew flung herself on Snape. The Ministry official looked at Dumbledore, who nodded to young man. "Please, go and fetch the Minister of Magic again. I'd like another word with her," he said. The young man nodded and left posthaste, looking all too happy to get out of the office that Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape had been waiting in for the past two hours.
Right after dispensing everyone to their own their duties at the ball, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape had all taken one of the school's carriages down to Hogsmeade, where they had apparated to the Ministry of Magic headquarters. After being told to wait for an hour the three Hogwarts professors had been shown into the office of the Minister of Magic, Jaclyn Hall. Just two years ago Cornelius Fudge had suffered a major heart attack and had died within the month. After a panic filled week of trying to find a replacement for Fudge Jaclyn Hall had surfaced. Young-only twenty-seven at the time-female, and too pretty to be taken seriously, many had thought Hall to be a horrible mistake, but Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter had pushed for her to be put into office, and so far no one had been disappointed.
The moment Hall had entered her office Dumbledore could tell that she knew about the Potters. She was pale, and though she had not shed any tears her eyes held a deep sadness. She had only had time to stay and talk for a few moments-she had to go to the scene of the Potter's home again-she had hugged McGonagall, expressed her concerns to Dumbledore, and nodded at Snape. They had waited in Hall's office for another hour before Hall's personal secretary came and herded them all into another office just down the hall and promising that someone would be with them 'very soon.' Ten minutes later the Ministry official had shown up.
"What could have happened to the bodies, Albus?" McGonagall asked, gripping her head and making an effort to stop crying. "Might they still be alive?" She looked to the Headmaster of Hogwarts, but he, for once, couldn't meet her eyes.
"I'm not sure, Minerva. I need to know more information before I can truly say. Ah! Ms. Hall!" Dumbledore stood to greet the Minister of Magic, though his extended hand was not shaken.
"Oh, Prof. Dumbledore! My secretary told me you were still here. I would have thought that you'd have gone back to Hogwarts and awaited further information." Hall smiled lightly, but both her voice and her smile were laced with venom. "Don't you want to get back to your students?" Her suggestion was obviously a command, or at least a blatant wish.
"I will," Dumbledore assured Hall, "as soon as we talk. I'd like to ask a few questions, if you don't mind."
Hall's eyes widened only slightly and she cast a cool glance at McGonagall and Snape. "Whatever you want," she said, motioning to the door. "My office is free. Let's go."
Dumbledore and Hall swept out of the office, murmuring to each other in hushed voices, and leaving McGonagall and Snape alone. Dumbledore and Hall had only been gone a few minutes before McGonagall began to speak, though she sounded dazed and she wasn't looking directly at Snape. "Keith was my world, you know. We met at the Potter's wedding, and he asked me to dance.You remember, don't you? Oh, he was always so sweet, so loving.And then I got pregnant, even though I was so old.Keith couldn't have been happier the day I told him."
Snape nodded. He had never really met Keith Brinks-he had not attended the wedding-and McGonagall had never mentioned him, so he had always wondered what the man was like. McGonagall was silent after her speech about her husband, and she stared vacantly into space, her eyes glazed over, as if to block out the pain. It had been twenty minutes or so when the door to the office flew open again and Dumbledore rushed back in, a letter clutched in his hand and Hall trialing after him.
"Quickly, Severus!" Dumbledore cried, his eyes filled with a wild terror. "Something's gone wrong! Some first and forth year children have gone missing!" Dumbledore paused and locked eyes with the Potions Master. "One of the first years was Whitney. I'm sorry, Severus, but Whitney has disappeared."
***
12:34 AM, December 26th, 2009
It was all Kevin's fault.
Jessica may not have known who had hit her over the head, or who had stashed her in this cave, or even where she was, but she did know that it was Kevin's fault that she was here. After all, hadn't it been his idea to pull a prank and make their mark? Hadn't it been his idea to send Angel and her outside that night to gather the necessary materials from Hagrid's hut? It just figured that a Malfoy would send someone else to do a dangerous job, or at least that's what her father muttered whenever he was upset with Draco.
It was pitch black in the room Jessica was in and she had only just woken up but already she had been able to discern three things. The first was that she was not alone. She had been bound magically to someone else. The second thing she could tell was that she was tied to Thomas Philbrin. She could smell his cheesy cologne over the strong scent of mildew, which she betrayed that they were most likely being kept in a basement. Jessica had always been smart, just like her mother. She knew exactly how to analyze and overall determine who had kidnapped her and how to escape.
The last thing she remembered was striding towards Hagrid's hut, listening to Angel ramble on about how great their prank was going to be and how the second generation of the Marauders would be known all throughout Hogwarts. Actually, they weren't going to call themselves the Marauders-they would be forever known as the Raiders-but it was the same sort of thing. And really, the prank wasn't that brilliant, but it was all they had been able to come up with, and it was sure to make the Slytherins seethe with anger.
All they needed do was get the house-elves to pour a new invention Jessica's uncles' into the drinks of every Slytherin present and a few others that had gotten on the newly christened Raiders' nerves (namely Toni's exes). The liquid, which was only activated when added to wizarding drinks such as butterbeer, was meant to turn its drinker's skin and hair different colors. Jessica had written her uncle George for a whole boxful of the liquid packets, and they had been owled to Hagrid's hut, so as not to be discovered by Whitney or Joyelle, both of whom were starting to get suspicious. Kevin and Tina were lurking outside the entrance to the Hogwarts kitchens, and Aubrey and Toni were inside the ball, jotting down the positions of all the Slytherins to slip to the house-elves. Now all they needed to do was to obtain the package and they'd be set.
Suddenly, though, Jessica had stopped dead. Angel noticed that and turned around. "Jess, what's the matter? Are you-Ah!" He jumped back in surprise and horror.
Jessica's deep brown eyes had rolled up in her head so that her irises had disappeared. Her skin had gone almost as white the snow around her arms were crossed over her chest in the shape of an 'X'. She looked bloody terrifying, and Angel subdued his extinct to turn on his heel and run.
"Innocent blood has been spilled tonight. Children's blood has been spilled tonight. Much more blood will be spilled tonight, starting with yours."
It took Angel few moments to realize that the voice that had just spoken belonged to Jessica. Her voice had been deep, eerie, and it had chilled his blood. And then there was what she had said.That his blood would be spilled? Jessica had let out a terrified scream when a tall man sheathed in black garb stepped out from behind a tree. He had been carrying what her mother had once told her was a gun and his face was covered in an intricate mask, also black. The only piece of color in his whole ensemble was a large red insignia directly over his heart.
The only thing that the mask had showed was the man's eyes. They were golden and beautifully so. Large and almond shaped the man's eyes were a deep golden, flecked with leafy green and amber brown. They were piercing, and like a wolf's eyes in that they were feral and hungry. Jessica felt herself returning to normal and watched in horror as the man raised his gun and pointed it at Angel. Without any visible emotion betrayed in the man's eyes he pulled the trigger. Jessica screamed as Angel's body hit the ground, red blood staining the snow around him.
The man looked up at Jessica. "It would be a shame to harm a pretty one like you," he said, and his voice was just as feral as his eyes were. "I'll just have you to knock you out another way." Jessica just barely remembered the man reaching towards her, his gun raised up high. And now she was waking in this room. And what did Thomas Philbrin have to do with any of this? So many things about the past night seemed hazy.But she knew one thing.It was all Kevin's fault.
***
1:30 AM, December 26th, 2009
Lumaren Kaverne hated the world, and the world hated her. Maybe the only thing she didn't hate was her twin brother, Leonard, but even then she didn't love him. Lumaren had once been pure, sweet, kind, the youngest of five children. Her family had been poor and simple, but they had been happy and that had filled Lumaren-then she was just plain Luma Kaver-with a peaceful satisfaction. Luma had been only twelve when Voldemort had taken his second rise. She had been so innocent and naive then that she had believed that his wrath would completely pass over her small, remote wizarding village, filled mostly with squibs and muggle-borns. Luma's family was one of the only three pureblood families living there.
One day, when Luma was just fifteen, she and her twin Leonard-they had been very close then-had gone berry harvesting in the woods surrounding their village. They had left in the morning, when the sun was barely up, but near noon Leonard had looked up to see smoke billowing in curls over the treetops. With panic rising in their chests the two teenagers had run through the woods and back to their village. The scene they found was one Luma would never forget. The village had been utterly and completely flattened; all the houses had been destroyed and there was no sign of any life. Luma's eyes had flown to the sky where the Dark Mark had burned bright. The panic in her stomach turned to despair. Luma fell to the ground in misery, and Leonard gazed at her with concern. The two twins hadn't noticed the tall, handsome, pale man striding towards them until he spoke.
"You're even prettier in real life than in my dreams," the man said, and though the words might have been sweet and romantic the untamed look of lustful ferocity in his eyes destroyed any sentimentality. Luma had gasped and scuffled away from the man. Though he was handsome, terribly so, all his beauty was of a dangerous sort, the kind that made your knees weak and your blood run cold at the same time. Hair black as midnight, eyes as green and perilous as anything, lips chiseled by the hands of the gods, and a perfect, slender nose. The man saw her gaze and grinned roguishly. "So my little charm worked," he had murmured. "I shall reward Nott very generously for creating this charm."
"Charm?" Leonard had asked, and Luma had heard disgust in his voice. "What are you? Who are you?"
The man had ignored Leonard's questions and bent down to Luma. "For the past two years you have haunted my dreams, Luma Renée Kaver, and I do mean haunt. I have searched the world twice over to find you, Luma, and now that I've found you there's no chance in hell I'll let you go. You can come with me willingly, Luma, and see me as a god, or I can force you to come and you can see me as a demon."
Luma had been frightened of course, but at the same time she had been enchanted. "Come where?" she asked. "Where do you want me to come?"
The man had smiled. "With me, Luma, with me. I'm a powerful man with a growing empire. I need an heir, and you're the only woman who can give me a strong enough one."
"But who are you? Do you work with You-Know-Who?"
This time the man had paid attention to Leonard's question. "Voldemort?" he had asked, causing both Leonard and Luma to start. "Voldemort is my past, present, and future. Voldemort is anything and everything I have ever done or ever will do for I am Voldemort."
The next two years had been like a blurry dream for Luma. She left with Voldemort-he always told her to call him Tom-and Leonard went with them. Luma lengthened her name to Lumaren Kavern while Leonard shortened his name to Leo Kav. Lumaren forgot being poor, pure, and sweet and began to exist only for her new husband, Tom. She never saw 'Tom' as he really was, only as she wanted to. She never understood the disgusted looks Leo sent 'Tom's' way. Lumaren was pregnant with a baby boy eight months after meeting 'Tom' and they named the boy Serpens. Two months later Lumaren was pregnant again, this time with a girl, but Voldemort was killed by the Potter brat two months before Angelina was born.
The story Lumaren always told her children was that one. She didn't mention their father's violent side, or his many hookers, or even the incredible hate she had felt towards the Potter brat for killing her most beloved. Despite whatever 'Tom'-Voldemort-had done, she had loved him, and losing him had almost killed her. She had thrown every atom of her being into planning the Potters' destruction, and it had cost her everything: eleven years of her life, her twin brother's love, her children's admiration.But now she was ready.And now her plan was in motion. Leo, of course, had aided her-he always did-and though the plan would take the next five years to really pick up, but it was in motion.And then there would be all hell to pay.