Demorior Mori Mortuus Amaris
To die for love
By Silver Sparklze

CHAPTER 12

See chapter 1 for disclaimer

Remus frowned, tapping his foot. Ada should have been here by now; she was hardly ever late. He took out the Map, and tapped it gently. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He said softly. He searched the map quickly, but while he found an Adelaide Chastise, an Abigail Collins, and an Adrielle Cinder, he found no Adeline Chandler. He decided to go talk to the terrible two; Harry and Ginny. They knew the castle as well, and, sometimes Remus suspected, better, than he.

Luckily, he had Luna Lovegood for DADA next, so she could pass on a message to Ginny for him. He headed to his classroom, and was pleased to see Luna already there, reading the latest Quibbler upside down. "Miss Lovegood?" He prompted.

"Hmm?" The blonde haired girl raised dreamy silver eyes to his amber ones; she didn't quite look like she was on planet Earth.

"I was wondering if you could pass on a message to your friend Ginny?"

"Whatever."

Remus took that for a yes.

"Fantastic. Tell her the wolf hunts the fox and the collie for his midday meal."

"Righto. So you want Ginny and Harry to meet you at lunch?" Luna asked.

"How did you know?" Remus asked, astonished.

"Rather obvious." Luna rolled her eyes, and returned to her magazine.

"Ok. Well, going to come in?" Remus asked, opening the door.

"Whatever." Luna walked in, nose still stuck in her upside down rag.

Adeline groaned as she awoke. She had a terrible headache. Closing her eyes, she let herself free from her body, something that she'd practiced almost obsessively until it was perfect.

She focused on remaining unseen, and felt the almost imperceptible ripple in the air that was her usually latent magic helping her, the magic which she could only control while out of her body.

She gagged as she hit a particularly pungent wisp of magic that not only had a disgusting odour but a rotten colour as well. A dark khaki green mixed with black-blue and green-purple, it repelled Adeline completely.

Still, it was drawing her nearer, wrapping around her soul like an affectionate kitten. She struggled to get rid of the clammy foul smelling tendrils, but to no avail. In fact, it was practically purring. She ceased her struggle, and was at once in another room.

A man with chalky skin and glowing red eyes was sitting on a throne idly caressing a lime green snake as a woman with shifty heavy lidded dark eyes spoke to him reverently.

"The plan is in place, Master," She said, "All that must be done now is to bring the beast. I think we should wait another hour or two, until just before the moon rises."

"No, Bellatrix." The man said, a slow smirk spreading across his features, "I believe we should get him now. After all, the poor, poor man must be absolutely frantic about his little Karickin girl. This way he can rest easy, knowing she's in our capable hands."

"My lord, not to question you or anything, but what happens if the wolf kills the mudblood?"

"Don't worry, he won't. I put wards on the chit while she was unconscious; when the werewolf's transformed he won't be able to touch her."

"Very good, M'lord. You thought of everything." Bellatrix grovelled.

Adeline snorted. "Oh, please." She muttered, then froze, drawing back into the shadows as the man and Bellatrix looked up.

"Did you hear that, M'lord?" She asked in a quavering voice.

"Yes, I did, Bellatrix. There's someone here. Nagini, go find them."

The snake slithered around the room, eventually coming to a halt in front of Adeline.

"Is there something there, my precious?" The man asked.

Adeline stifled a snort, remembering a particular phrase from her favourite trilogy. She knelt down until she was at eye level with the snake, then reached out, and poked it in the eyes.

Hissing indignantly, it moved away.

"What happened, my dear?" The man asked, waving his wand at the same time. A strange hissing voice filled the room

Sssomthing isss not right/good/correct. It said. There isss sssomthing sstrange/odd/different here/there/everwhere. Sssomthing hurt my eyessss…but it isss not vissssible/notisssiable/ssseen.

Very well. The man said, a hissing sound coming out of his mouth, before being translated by whatever spell he'd cast. You must search/look/find the source of the strangeness/oddness/difference. I will see you later.

Nagini nodded her had, and slithered out of the room.

At that moment, Adeline felt something akin to a vacuum cleaner being placed against her forehead, and she opened her eyes to find herself back in her body.

"Wake up, my dear." The man's voice said.

Adeline sat up slowly. "Wh-who a-are y-you?" She stammered, although she had some inkling.

"Why, how can it be that you do not know me?" His red eyes gleamed sinisterly. "I, my dear, am Lord Voldemort."

"Oh. Ok. Nice to meet you. Say, your name's kinda long, do you have a nickname or something?" She asked, trying to sound totally oblivious. She felt rather like throwing up with how phony she sounded.

"Did you not hear me?" Voldemort asked, "I am Lord Voldemort."

"Yeah, I heard." Adeline gazed at her nails in a rather bored manner, although she was trembling inside. She'd become a rather good actor over the years.

"Well, doesn't that mean something to you?" Voldemort said, sounding rather stunned and upset.

"Sorry, no. I do remember Albus and Remus talking about some dude named Tom who was supposed to be evil, but the way they spoke about him put me in mind of a little kid stealing sweets, so I didn't really worry about it."

"WHAT?!" Voldemort bellowed.

"Jeez, dude, can you go easy on the yelling? My ears are rather sensitive you know." Adeline complained in a whiny voice.

"Well," Voldemort said, struggling to control himself, something that amused Adeline greatly. She'd already figured out that Voldemort pretty much relied on the fear he could strike in witches and wizards.

He relished it, and lived on it as much as he did food and air. But because she'd been raised as a muggle, and, was, in fact, one, she didn't feel more than a vague sense of fear, and an overwhelming hatred. Therefore, she could be a brat as much as she liked. Her defence mechanism, of sorts.

"Well," Voldemort repeated, "Since you don't know who I am, you should have no qualms about telling me what I want to know."

"Oops. Sorry dude, can't. Love to, but can't. Ya see, Albus pressed upon me the importance of revealing nothing, so..." She trailed off, shrugging.

"Well, if you won't give it willingly, you'll give it unwillingly. Imperio."

Adeline looked at him in confusion. "What's that supposed to do?" She asked. She'd felt something rather like a niggle at the back of her mind, but it was gone now.

"Tell me how to get past the defence wards at Hogwarts." Voldemort commanded.

"You know I can't, dude. I already told you I can't." Adeline said.

"What?! How can Imperius have no effect?!" Voldemort asked.

"I dunno. What is it and I'll tell you?"

"Fine," Voldemort said through clenched teeth. "Fine. I'll do it another way. Crucio!"

Adeline opened her mouth and screamed. Her soul struggled to be free of the confines of painful flesh, and easily did so, the pain too much for it to bear.

Soul-Adeline watched in interest as her body writhed on the ground, no sound coming from her mouth, open in a silent shriek. The pale skin was flushed, sweat pouring down her face, and Soul-Adeline couldn't help but wonder why she had to stay. She could see the fine silvery thread connecting her soul to her body, but why not sever it, and drift away to do what she willed? It would not take much.

"No, child." A soft voice said.

Astonished, Soul-Adeline turned around, and saw Lily and James. "What? What do you want? What do you mean?" Soul-Adeline asked.

"You mustn't break the connection." James said, "You can't die."

"Who said anything about dying? I just want to be free. Why should I have to deal with this? This isn't even my world!"

"Addie, you're wrong," Lily said, "This is your world."

"I'm a muggle!"

"No you're not. You're a Karickin. And though your magical power is latent, it is still there. And one day you will be able to tap into it. But you have to fight. You're needed to win the war."

Soul-Adeline felt a sharp pull, almost as if someone had grabbed her silver-thread, and jerked on it. "What was that?!" She cried.

"That was the pull of your soul-mate. He cannot live without you. You mustn't die, if only to save his life."

"But why can't I leave?" Soul-Adeline wailed.

"Because you are still needed." Lily said firmly, coming over to the younger girl and hugging her gently. "You're growing up," She said, "Soon you will be older than James and I. The last time I saw you, you were only three."

"You remember?!" Soul-Adeline asked in surprise.

"Of course. At first, well, when I started to think again, I thought it had been an illusion. But then I met your Ma, your Grandmama, and your Great-Grandmama, going back many generations. They told me everything. That's another reason why you can't die, Addie; you have to continue on the Karickin Line. Your family will never forgive you if you don't."

"Fine." Soul-Adeline said sulkily, "Fine."

"Oh, and Addie?"

Soul-Adeline looked up into Lily's sad eyes, full of tears, and Lily backed away to stand next to James, the latter putting his arm around the former comfortingly. "Yeah?" Soul-Adeline asked.

"Tell Harry that we love him." Lily whispered, tears falling down her face.

"Alright."

Soul-Adeline flew back into her body, just in time for Voldemort to take the spell off.

"That was interesting." Voldemort said musingly, "You seem to have lost your voice."

Adeline glared up at him from her place on the floor, russet hair falling over her grey eyes. She didn't speak.

"Well, must leave. Need to welcome your werewolf friend." He laughed as Adeline's eyes widened in horror at the word 'werewolf'. "Yes, indeed. And you know this particular werewolf. I'm sure you two will have a wonderful time this evening." He swept out. "Oh, and just so you know? I did place a charm on you so the wolf could not touch you, but since you refuse to tell me what I need to know...Finite Incantatum." He chuckled, "Hope you and Lupin have a lovely date." He swept out just as Remus was thrown in.

Evil Penguin Slayer: This soon enough for you? Thanks for the review.

JamieBell: Here's the update. I know last chapter was rather short, but I'm in a rush to finish this before Christmas as a Chrissy present.