Chapter 1: The Mission Begins
Maeve Phoenix took a deep breath as she studied her reflection in the mirror. She couldn't believe what she was about to do, what they had asked her to do. No, they hadn't asked her, they would never have asked her to do something this dangerous. Her normally brown, curly hair had become straight, longer, and jet black with streaks of red. Her eyes had also changed color; going from a pretty sea-green to a deep, dark brown, so that they were almost black, although the light of laughter hadn't been completely extinguished from them. She smiled coldly at the mirror. She certainly did look the part! This was good, because half the plan depended on her looks, which was a total fun thing for a girl! But this time, more than a date with a hot guy depended on how she looked. If anything went wrong, she could lose her life, or worse...the boy could lose his, and then everything would be lost. That's what Dumbledore had told her when she first volunteered. And repeated a zillion times a day ever since.
It was amazing that just two months ago she hadn't ever heard of any of this. That she hadn't known she could change what she looked like whenever she wanted. That the whole future of the wizarding world, and maybe even the Muggle world, depended on what she did now. She took another deep breath, checked the mirror one last time, and stepped out into the brightly lit kitchen of number 12 Grimwold place.
"So, how do I look? Evil and skanky enough?" Maeve asked, playing with her low-cut Goth top, which just showed from under her robes.
"This is no time for jokes, Missy! You seem to forget the grave danger of what you are about to do!" Mad Eye Moody growled.
"Chill, dude, I'm cool with it all. Don't worry, Mister Cloudy, you chose the right girl...witch...thing..." she said in her practiced disguised voice.
"Sides, the big bad evil guy doesn't even know I exist, right? No one in England, and very few outside it does, except for our happy little party!"
"Yes, but it is still one of the most dangerous undertakings yet, Lux," Dumbledore said, stressing the final word, her new name, "No matter how prepared you think you are, there will always be unseen surprises... normally bad ones," he added, seeing she was about to comment on surprises, "He is very powerful, never forget that."
"I know, I know, I'll be careful, I promise!" she said, "I don't see the big deal. Snape's doing the same thing, isn't he?"
"But he is and adult, and a fully qualified wizard! You are only a child, for Merlin's sake! Why don't you just go home, Maeve? Or enroll at Hogwarts? You would do well there," Mrs. Weasley said in that annoyingly motherly way she had.
Maeve's eyes flashed with anger at being called a child, and the idea of going home; after what they had done to her there! But it died quickly as she heard the caring worry in the motherly voice. Pain filled her eyes as she remembered her own mother, how she had loved her once...
"Molly, don't you remember when you were young? You too longed for adventure and had something to prove once. Or was that so long ago you have forgotten?" Dumbledore smiled at Molly and Maeve, "And you should get going, Maeve."
Maeve nodded and hugged the old man. She went around shaking hands, exchanging "Good-byes" and "Good Lucks," and even earned a tearful hug from Mrs. W. as she whispered "Take care." Maeve looked back at the warm little happy kitchen, looked back at safety, one last time, and stepped out into the dark of the night. And without a backward glance, she disappeared in the dark.
((Hi! This is your author speaking! Just so ya know, I'll put all Author's Notes in Comic Sans font and parentheses so you know its me! This is my first attempt at a fanfic, and I started it more because I was super bored because my computer was in the shop than anything, but after the first chapter I kind of got into it. My friends all loved it and said I should put it here, so here goes nothin'! Hope you like it! Hugs and Sloppy Kisses-CrazyChloe))