Chapter 1: In Love and War.
A/N: My new D/H story. Completely and utterly different from Seamus is Seamus... this is a serious, angsty and hopefully dramatic story. But I hope you like it!
PROLOGUE.
***
It is Harry Potter's Sixth Year. Open warfare has started, is still happening, and there is no sign of any end.
The Light Side is not winning.
Many things have happened in the two years since Harry Potter witnessed the rebirth of the Dark Lord. More, many more have died. Albus Dumbledore, convinced that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had indeed returned, rallied his own supporters secretly and reformed the Order of the Phoenix. Their plan was to stop Voldemort before his hold on the magical community became too great.
They failed.
Meanwhile Fudge, frightened of mass panic, played down the concern that there was any threat at all. Some believed him. Others did not. But soon his lies were no good to anyone. Fudge was killed in a Dark raid at the Ministry, and it was finally, officially admitted that Voldemort had indeed returned.
A power struggle within the Ministry soon began in the attempt to find a new leader. Albus Dumbledore was wanted by many; but a witch by the name of Infina Worren stepped into the breach. Known for her hard hitting, sometimes brutal methods, she earned much support from those frightened and wanting a no-nonsense approach to defeating Voldemort. Others were nervous about this outcome- Infina didn't exactly have a sterling reputation. In the end, a compromise was reached; the Ministry and the now not-so-secret Phoenix Order were merged, with Dumbledore and Worren in dual control. This Order's only concern was to defeat Voldemort.
Infina had always been an ambitious woman. And although not a Dark Arts supporter, she was not about to let the war stand in the way of her goals. She was soon manipulating the Order, and before a year had passed, had the majority of its members under her thumb. Although some stayed loyal to Dumbledore, he himself was in no position to fight. Although nobody would admit it openly, Albus Dumbledore was very old; old and weakened. He was fast becoming a powerless figurehead in an internally controlled Order.
Infina had no problem implementing questionable methods in order to get results. Nobody really complained. Voldemort was a very real, very frightening enemy. And the Light side was not winning, was not even close to doing so.
One night in early November, in his Sixth Year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Draco Malfoy was taken from forcibly from his bed. A heavy sleeping charm was cast on his dorm-mates. Roughly an hour later, he was returned. A very powerful memory spell had been placed on him. It was like nothing had happened at all.
But, of course, it *had.*
***
"The entire incident was ridiculous! You cannot order such a thing, Worren, without informing the Council first! I, for one, will simply not allow it!" Minerva McGonagall was visibly furious. She was standing up from her place at the table, cheeks pink and hands balled up into fists.
Infina looked dismissively at her. "We have no time to discuss every detail of all that we do here," she answered. "If we did we would never get anywhere at all."
"That doesn't excuse-" began Minerva.
"The information we got out of him excuses everything," answered Infina coldly. "His memory was wiped of the incident afterwards. He will be of no threat to our current operations."
"That's not the point!" snapped Minerva. "The boy is a student here. He is under our protection. You cannot simply kidnap him from his bed-"
"He was returned soon afterwards," drawled Infina. "And in any case, he does not deserve protection. His father is a Death Eater- a high-ranking one, and, though he's yet to take the Mark, I doubt that he is much better. I need not remind you, Minerva, of what is at stake. He is no loss either way. And he was not lost."
Minerva, sensing that there was absolutely no point in arguing with the cool, ramrod figure of their leader, sat down slowly, biting her tongue.
"It was hardly ethical, Infina," ventured Arabella Figg. Then she sighed. "But what done is done, I suppose. I don't doubt that is the tables were reversed... however, it makes no difference now. Will you tell us what was got out of the boy?"
Infina gave everyone a lightning-sharp smile- if it could be called a smile. "I'm extraordinarily glad you asked that question, Arabella," she said. "The results were... surprising, to say the very least..."
***
Hmmm. Very mysterious. Please review if you have time! Thanks!
A/N: My new D/H story. Completely and utterly different from Seamus is Seamus... this is a serious, angsty and hopefully dramatic story. But I hope you like it!
PROLOGUE.
***
It is Harry Potter's Sixth Year. Open warfare has started, is still happening, and there is no sign of any end.
The Light Side is not winning.
Many things have happened in the two years since Harry Potter witnessed the rebirth of the Dark Lord. More, many more have died. Albus Dumbledore, convinced that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had indeed returned, rallied his own supporters secretly and reformed the Order of the Phoenix. Their plan was to stop Voldemort before his hold on the magical community became too great.
They failed.
Meanwhile Fudge, frightened of mass panic, played down the concern that there was any threat at all. Some believed him. Others did not. But soon his lies were no good to anyone. Fudge was killed in a Dark raid at the Ministry, and it was finally, officially admitted that Voldemort had indeed returned.
A power struggle within the Ministry soon began in the attempt to find a new leader. Albus Dumbledore was wanted by many; but a witch by the name of Infina Worren stepped into the breach. Known for her hard hitting, sometimes brutal methods, she earned much support from those frightened and wanting a no-nonsense approach to defeating Voldemort. Others were nervous about this outcome- Infina didn't exactly have a sterling reputation. In the end, a compromise was reached; the Ministry and the now not-so-secret Phoenix Order were merged, with Dumbledore and Worren in dual control. This Order's only concern was to defeat Voldemort.
Infina had always been an ambitious woman. And although not a Dark Arts supporter, she was not about to let the war stand in the way of her goals. She was soon manipulating the Order, and before a year had passed, had the majority of its members under her thumb. Although some stayed loyal to Dumbledore, he himself was in no position to fight. Although nobody would admit it openly, Albus Dumbledore was very old; old and weakened. He was fast becoming a powerless figurehead in an internally controlled Order.
Infina had no problem implementing questionable methods in order to get results. Nobody really complained. Voldemort was a very real, very frightening enemy. And the Light side was not winning, was not even close to doing so.
One night in early November, in his Sixth Year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Draco Malfoy was taken from forcibly from his bed. A heavy sleeping charm was cast on his dorm-mates. Roughly an hour later, he was returned. A very powerful memory spell had been placed on him. It was like nothing had happened at all.
But, of course, it *had.*
***
"The entire incident was ridiculous! You cannot order such a thing, Worren, without informing the Council first! I, for one, will simply not allow it!" Minerva McGonagall was visibly furious. She was standing up from her place at the table, cheeks pink and hands balled up into fists.
Infina looked dismissively at her. "We have no time to discuss every detail of all that we do here," she answered. "If we did we would never get anywhere at all."
"That doesn't excuse-" began Minerva.
"The information we got out of him excuses everything," answered Infina coldly. "His memory was wiped of the incident afterwards. He will be of no threat to our current operations."
"That's not the point!" snapped Minerva. "The boy is a student here. He is under our protection. You cannot simply kidnap him from his bed-"
"He was returned soon afterwards," drawled Infina. "And in any case, he does not deserve protection. His father is a Death Eater- a high-ranking one, and, though he's yet to take the Mark, I doubt that he is much better. I need not remind you, Minerva, of what is at stake. He is no loss either way. And he was not lost."
Minerva, sensing that there was absolutely no point in arguing with the cool, ramrod figure of their leader, sat down slowly, biting her tongue.
"It was hardly ethical, Infina," ventured Arabella Figg. Then she sighed. "But what done is done, I suppose. I don't doubt that is the tables were reversed... however, it makes no difference now. Will you tell us what was got out of the boy?"
Infina gave everyone a lightning-sharp smile- if it could be called a smile. "I'm extraordinarily glad you asked that question, Arabella," she said. "The results were... surprising, to say the very least..."
***
Hmmm. Very mysterious. Please review if you have time! Thanks!