Voldemort's Amnesia Jewel Little Bird Chapter Two

Fleur made sure Lily was secure in the back seat before getting into the passenger side seat in the front of the Ford crew cab. Nicole Takewitha was already in the driver's seat, revving up the engine. "Yah ought to lahn how to drive," Nicole muttered. "Yah can cahtainly afford it."

"Buckle up," Fleur replied, taking her own advice. "I don't want you to go flying through the windshield if you have to stop fast."

"'Buckle up'," Nicole mimicked sarcastically in a voice similar to that of Minni Mouse. "'I don' want yah to go flyin' through the windshield if yah have to stop fast'." She buckled up.

Lily giggled. "Again!"

Nicole proceeded to entertain Lily by making voices (Sonic the Hedgehog, Scooby-Doo, Johnny Bravo, and Sid the Sloth were only a few); Fleur looked out the window, feeling a slight touch of depression.

She missed Severus Snape. God only knew why. He was a creep, sadistic, and not very open about his emotions. Maybe it was because he was honest.

She had written to him every week for the past four years, just as she had promised him she would. Even after all this time, she set aside a few minutes to write to him. And he always wrote back, telling her what was happening with the threat of Voldemort in England.

The last letter from him she had needed to read ten times before she had believed it. Voldemort was dead. Finally. Harry had utterly and completely destroyed him... but in doing so, destroyed himself.

With the help of Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, Harry had created a spell that would reduce the physical age of someone and, likewise, reduce their magical powers. He had used it on Voldemort until he was once again just seventeen, and then used Avada Kedavra... but something had gone wrong. Very wrong.

Voldemort had tried Avada Kedavra at the same time. The two wands had connected like they did just after the Triwizard Tournament, creating an impenetrable opaque shield around the two. Whatever happened inside the shield was anyone's guess. When it disappeared, all that was left were two piles of ashes, each topped with a wand.

Voldemort was at last gone... but so was Harry Potter.

Fleur was both excited and sad. Excited, because Voldemort would never return now and Snape had said he'd come for her once the whole mess was over. Sad, because she had known Harry, and knew that no matter what he had done in his life, he didn't deserve death.

"Earth to Fleuh. Come in, Fleuh."

She blinked. Nicole had driven the truck into Fleur's driveway and was waiting for her to make a move. "I'm sorry; I was woolgathering."

"So I figyahhed. I thought I could smell a sheep."

Fleur unbuckled her seatbelt with a smile. "Thank you for the ride, Neecole. I appreciate it." She got out of the truck, opened the backdoor, and released Lily from her restrants. It never failed to amaze her how much her daughter looked like Snape; she had his black hair and his facial expressions, as well as his terribly nasty temper and tendency to hold grudges for extended periods of time.

"I say again: get a lisence and then a cah."

"I'll think about it, Neecole." Fleur held Lily in her arms and shut the truck door with her hip. Lily let go of her Barbie lunch box with her right hand and waved good-bye as Nicole drove off. "Would Lily like some pasta shells for supper?" Fleur asked her daughter.

"Yay!"

Fleur put Lily down and walked to the front door, pulling out her keys. "And for dessert, you can have some chocolate chip cookies that I made earlier today."

Lily followed, practically bouncing with joy. Before Fleur could open the door, however, the door next to it opened, revealing Walter Smith.

Fleur lived in the upper two stories of the house while Walter lived in the bottom story. The two apartments were not connected at all except by a staircase in the back, but even the doors leading in could be locked from the inside of the apartments.

Fleur did not much like Walkter, but she felt sorry for him; it was only this one little fact that allowed her to tolerate him. He had moved in only a month ago, claiming that he was looking for his son, Tom. He was a chubby bald man who seemed very twitchy, as if he expected someone to put a knife to his throat any second. He always dressed in a black sweatshirt and blue jeans, complimented by brown leather hiking boots and a pair of thick white gloves. She once asked him why he wore the gloves; he'd gotten very nervous and told her had had burned his hands terribly in an accident.

"Ah, Fleur!" he said, wringing his hands. "So nice to see you!" He smiled at Lily, who glared back. "And how is the little lady doing today?"

Lily stuck her tongue out at him.

"Lily, behave!" Fleur snapped at her daughter. She smiled at Walter. "Forgive her, she had a bad morning."

Walter looked at Lily's knees, both of which were bandaged. "I see. That's all right. That's all right." Lily had discovered that morning why she wasn't supposed to run around the apartment.

"Did you have any luck while looking for Tom today?"

"No, no. Still missing. I'll find him, though. I'll find him." Walter chuckled nervously, as if a bit terrified at the idea. "I found him once before, didn't I? Took me a few years, but I did it. It shouldn't be long now." Fleur had a feeling that Tom belonged in jail.

She nodded. "Of course." She opened the door to her apartment and pushed Lily inside. "I have to entertain Lily for the next four hours before I'm able to put her to bed. I wish you luck, Walter."

"Thank you, my dear. Have a wonderful evening." He locked his door and strolled off, his eyes twitching every once in a while.

Fleur shrugged and walked in. After locking the door behind her, she walked up the stairs and entered her living room. It wasn't sparkling clean, but it wasn't exactly a total and complete mess, either. Filch would have grudgingly approved of it. Fleur took a moment to fantasize his reaction if he saw Nicole's house. She burst out laughing.

"What's funny, Mama?" Lily asked from the dining room. She poked her head around the door.

"Nothing," Fleur replied, setting her purse on a lamptable.

"May I play Sonic the Hedgehog?"

"Sure, but only for an hour."

@

She watched with anger running through her veins as he walked down the street. Her tail lashed furiously; didn't the woman know what that creature was? The child knew; but then, she'd told the child.

He was hunting again, and SHE was hunting HIM. He would pay for murdering her master.

She'd had a successful capture this afternoon. The mouse made a perfect meal; she wouldn't have to beg the child for a scrap of food this evening. All the better.

She didn't want to lose sight of her real prey.

@

Fleur sat in the kitchen, a glass of wine in her hand. She sipped it, slowly, savoring the taste. It was eight o'clock. Lily had been fed and put to bed an hour ago. Now was when the apartment was completely silent. Now was when Fleur spent time by herself.

It was almost like a weekly ritual. Sunday night was spent writing a letter to Snape. Tuesday night was reserved for reading. Wednesday night was a "mature audience" movie night. Thursday night Fleur played Super Mario Bros. 3 just for something to do. Friday and Saturday night Fleur let Lily stay up two hours later so that they could do thing together.

Monday night was the worst.

Fleur spent Monday night sitting in the kitchen and drinking wine for a half-hour before sneaking into Lily's room to just look at her daughter as she slept. It was the night when Fleur allowed herself to dwell on the sad memories of her past. It was the only time she allowed herself to do so.

Thinking it had been about a half-hour, she dumped the rest of the wine down the sink, then tiptoed upstairs and quietly opened Lily's door. In the dark of the room, Fleur stood by Lily's bed, gazing down at her as she slept. She was beautiful in her mother's eyes. Absolutely perfect.

Someone knocked on the door.

Fleur frowned. Who would be calling on her at this time of night? Making sure Lily was properly covered, Fleur left the room and closed the door behind her.

Again, the person knocked, a bit more insistently this time.

She grabbed her wand from the hall table on the second floor as she continued on her way to the front entrance. She peeked out a window, but only saw that the man at the door was wearing black. Preparing to curse him into oblivion if he turned out to be a troublemaker, she opened the door. Her jaw dropped as her wand fell to the floor.

"Severus!"

@

End of Chapter Two