Title: Lady of the Night
Author Name: Saerry Snape
Rating: PG-13, may be R in later chapters
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Inspired by Lady Erised's wonderful Snapefics (specifically The Prince Returns, When the Past Comes Back, and Betrayal), Constantine1453's Harry Potter and the Trials and of His Life, and my Snapefic Nothing But the Rain. The Dark Prince officially belongs to Lady Erised; I use him with her permission. Lady of the Night is the sequel to my fic The Dark Prince.
Summary: Sixteen years after Hermione Granger gave birth to a dark-haired, green-eyed little girl, the past has returned to haunt the victims of a time in September of 2002. The year is 2019 and The Dark Prince has been released…
Run and tell all of the angelsThis could take all night
I think I need a little time
To help me get things right
Hook me up a new revolution
'Cause this one is a lie
Foo Fighters – Learn to Fly
Chapter 15
…new revolution…
Helena, after a particularly grueling practice with her godfather, was strolling idly across the grounds. They'd been practicing for two months now and were getting rather worried. There had been no movement from Voldemort or his Prince as of yet.
It gave Helena shivers to think of what they might be plotting.
She knew her godfather was worried as well so she didn't weigh him down with her own thoughts. Although she wasn't worried about one thing that he was.
Kidnapping.
Helena did not know that her godfather had strengthened the wards as much as he could. She hadn't even considered the thought of her father or a loyal Death Eater coming to kidnap her.
At least…she hadn't yet.
She was walking back towards the castle when she felt it. A sense of something dark and slimy that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
Her godfather gave her that sort of feeling when he was angry.
Sudden realization hit and she slowly turned around. Emerald eyes met emerald and five feet away from his daughter Harry Potter smirked.
"Hello, pet," he purred.
Helena shivered at the sounds of his voice. A voice she'd only ever heard before in her dreams.
A voice that called her home.
Home to the darkness from which she'd come.
But her mother had been of the light. And between the dark and the light there is a gray area.
Helena was that gray area.
She was a soul of the light with a dark gift.
And she would not allow this man who had sired her to drag her off into the dark without a fight.
"Hello, Father," she replied, earning a raised eyebrow from him.
"How surprising. I would have thought that you wouldn't know me. Seems your mother was just as brilliant as she seemed." He paused and laughed before adding, "Well, except for when she believe I have crossed back over. That was rather stupid of her."
Helena bristled at that remark. She'd never imagined a happy existence between her parents but she had hoped that her father had at least loved his mother. From his words it didn't seem possible.
"What do you want?"
Harry smiled coldly and replied, "I want my daughter at my side. You could have the world with me, Helena."
"I don't want the world," hissed Helena. "And I don't want you in my life."
"I'm your father."
"No. Your just the monster that sired me. My godfather is more of a father to me than you'll ever be."
Harry's face twisted into a snarl and he spat, "You mean the Traitor. The Death Eater's own Judas Iscariot."
"He's no Judas," growled Helena.
"'No Judas?'" repeated Harry. "You'd better get your facts straight, pet. He's my predecessor, the first Prince. He was loyal once upon a time. And part of him still is. Evil like us doesn't just go away."
"I can make it go away."
Harry smiled slightly and shook his head.
"Just like your mother. Thinking you can do anything. You can't deny his darker nature anymore than you can deny your own."
"I can damn well try," growled Helena.
"You will try," said Harry, "and you will fail. Darkness is in your blood, my sweet."
"So it light."
"Perhaps. Ah – hello, Severus."
Helena blinked as her godfather's hand came down on her shoulder all of a sudden. She hadn't even sensed his approach through the feeling exuding from her father. But up close she could feel his magic rolling over her, like it had a life of its own. It made her feel like she was covered in mud with their two powers combined rattling at her senses.
"Potter," growled Severus, eyes narrowed. "I was wondering when you would show up."
Harry extended his arms with a smile and said, "And here I am. Such lovely wards you have now. I've been trying to get through them for days."
"You won't. No one bearing the Dark Mark may enter these grounds nor anyone under the control of one bearing the Mark."
"How…ingenious of you. I hope you don't accidentally step out of them." Harry grinned ferally as he added, "I would have so much fun tearing you apart."
"You would try," said Severus stonily.
"And succeed. You've been in the light too long, old man. You've gotten soft."
"And you are just the same as before. Tell me, did you rage when you found out that your own precious Death Eater's murdered Hermione?"
Something akin to anger flashed in those cold emerald eyes and was gone a moment later. But Severus had seen it and he smirked.
Harry snarled, "A simple little Mudblood doesn't matter to me."
"Oh, I think she did. Any witch of Muggle birth would have been ample. But you wanted Hermione." Severus paused and tilted his head to the side.
"How long have you loved her?" he asked, quick as a striking snake.
"You are treading on dangerous grounds," growled Harry.
"On the contrary. I'm curious. Were you the one to suggest Hermione? Or did Voldemort?"
"She meant nothing."
"No. No, I think she meant something to you. I know you, Potter. I know you quite well. You are me all over again."
"I'm not you," sneered Harry.
"Oh, but you are," purred Severus, taking a step forward. "You turned to the darkness because it was the only option left for you. You became what you are because you got tired of the struggle, tired of all the pain. You locked what's left of your morality in a box and threw it down the deepest well of your mind. But your feelings for Hermione leaked out. They made their way back into you and thawed a little of that icy heart…"
A fireball exploding against the wards made Helena jump. The wards themselves burned for a moment before they slowly faded from sight again.
Harry stood right up close to them now, nearly touching the invisible wall. His eyes locked with Helena's as he said, "Hermione meant nothing to me. The Harry Potter that the wizarding world knew has been long dead. Only the Dark Prince remains. And I want my daughter."
Severus pulled Helena close to him and growled, "Its her choice which side she chooses, Potter."
"Wrong. She's dark. Even if she fights for Dumbledore, she's dark. As are you."
Severus frowned and said, "We all have the right to choose our destinies. You cannot cheat your daughter of that"
Harry scowled at them through the wards.
"My Lord wants her by the ends of the school year. If she does not come to us, Hogwarts shall fall before the train even leaves Hogsmeade."
With that, he was gone.
Helena stared at the spot where he'd been before eh wrenched herself out of her godfather's grasp and ran towards the castle. Severus let her go, following her with an empty-eyed gaze.
Midnight
Lock all the doors
And turn out the lights
Feels like the end of the world
This Sunday night
There's not a sound
Outside the snow's coming down
Somehow I can't seem to find
The quiet inside my mind
John Mayer – Midnight
Chapter 16
…inside my mind…
Midnight found Helena curled up on one of the beanbags in the Gryffindor common room. She had torn her comforter from her bed again and was covered with it. Hekate curled at her feet, his tongue flicking out every few seconds.
"Hel?"
Helena lifted her weary head to look at Evan, who was staring at her with sleepy eyes."
"Hi, Ev."
"How'd you get in?"
"Password?"
Evan blinked.
"One of the seventh years tried to kill me," explained Helena.
"What?" exclaimed Evan, rushing down the stairs. He knelt hurriedly down beside her and asked, "Are you alright?"
"A little shaken. Hek saved me. Nearly got himself killed too."
Helena reached out to lovingly stroke the sleeping asp where his body met his head. A white bandage was wound tight about the spot like a badge of honor.
Evan silently blessed the Weasley twins gift then growled, "Who was it? I'll kill them for trying to hurt you."
"Damian."
"Malfoy?"
Helena slowly nodded.
"But," began Evan, "I thought you two got along. I thought he was a good guy!"
"So did I," whispered Helena. "He's going to be lucky to live through the night. Hek put all of his venom into him."
"If he dies, you know…"
"Cadius. Yeah, I know."
They fell silent for a few moments and then Helena said, "Y'know, I'd like to have known him."
"Who?"
"My father. Before he became the Prince. He must have been a good man for my mother to have loved him."
Evan smiled and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her off the bean bag and onto the floor beside him.
"If she was anything like you, he'd had to have been."
"Mmm," mumbled Helena, curling up against his side. She waved a bit of the comforter at him and said, "Cover?"
Evan's yellow eyes lit up and he replied, "No. I have a better idea."
There was a soft pop! and then a dark-furred wolf sat in Evan's place, its yellow eyes twinkling. Helena smirked and stroked its furry ears, earning a contented growl.
If there was one thing she envied her best friend of more than the fact that he had his father, it was the fact that he was a born Metamorphmagus.
The wolf gave a little shake then laid down in front of the fire, head on its paws. Helena scooted close to it and curled up with her head pillowed on its side. She could hear the wolf's heartbeat resounding loudly through her head, the sound gently lulling he to sleep.
She just prayed that no dreams would come to haunt her.
And they didn't.