Chapter 51
"What the bloody hell are those kids doing here" a hoarsely voice spoke.
Kelsey walked in the direction where the voice had been coming from and found a portrait totally covered in dust.
He wiped some of the filth off the painting and two green eyes were glowing at him.
With his sleeve he dusted the rest of the portrait and looked in the face of an old hag.
"Who are you?" the Gryffindor spoke.
"Who are you to ask me such a question? You invade my home and start inquiring, you midget" the hag growled.
She's not related to Snape..by accident? he wondered.
"We are some of Professor Dumbledore's students." Kelsey explained. "We just stumbled over this room when we were trying to find a way to meet a friend"
"What friend is that?" the old hag's voice sounded a lot more sweetly all of a sudden.
"A friend who desperately needs our help" the boy said simply, not willing to give out any information as long as he not knew who he was dealing with.
The hag leaned forward in her frame and the green of her eyes turned into a blood red.
Kelsey felt his head hurting as the witch's eyes locked with his.
"I see, you want to see James! How do you know about him" she asked.
"How do you know about James." the student gasped.
"He's my flesh and blood. Why shouldn't I know about him?"
Kayla walked up to the picture now and asked "When you are related to James, why are you in Professor Dumbledore's house then?"
"James is not my only descendant. I have hundreds and one of them is Albus, my dear"
"Do you have an idea how we can get to James. It's really important. We are cousins of James' wife and we might have a way to help her"
"Oh I know a way, but how do I know I can trust you?" the witch hissed.
Now Kayla just exploded.
She walked up to the painting and shouted "Do you want to be responsible for Lily's death? Do you? Huh? Professor Dumbledore invited us into his house to keep us safe from the deatheaters. Do you really think he would have done that if we couldn't be trusted? My brother here has met James before and we put so much effort and hard work into this potion. We're not going to back off now and let it be ruined by an old hag. Do you hear me?"
Kelsey stared flabbergasted at his twin, whose nose was about an inch away from the painting, with her hands on her hips.
The eyes of the old hag were flickering red and green and it seemed that she was undecided if she should be upset or amused.
"I see you have Lily's temper" the hag snickered. "Is her son in this house as well?"
"You mean Harry? Yes he came with us last night" Kelsey replied.
"So are you going to show us the way or not?" Kayla said impatiently. "We're running out of time"
"Hold your horses, young lady" the hag said slightly annoyed. "You need to go to Albus bathroom"
"His bathroom? When you think you can play a stupid game with us then..." Kayla flared up.
"Just let her explain sis. I'm sure she knows what she's doing" Kelsey appeased her. At least I hope she does, he thought to himself.
"Thank you, young lad. So when you cooled your temper missy, I might be allowed to continue with my explanation. I'm sure you'll appreciate this when you're in such a hurry" the hag sneered.
The twins looked at her expectantly as she continued.
"As I afore mentioned, you need to go to Albus' bathroom. To get there you need to enter the bedroom at the end of the corridor you just came from. You will find a large mirror with a frame shaped as a lion's head and you need to tickle its left ear. The lion will roar and a secret passage will open up"
"Ok then we're in the bathroom and what are we going to do then?" Kayla questioned.
"Oh there's one of my paintings. I will meet you there and give you further instructions."
Kelsey watched the hag disappearing from the painting.
He tagged his sister's sleeve and beckoned her to follow him. They went down the staircase and returned to Dumbledore's bedroom. When Kelsey tickled the ear of the lion-mirror, it roared and its open mouth revealed a door knob. The Gryffindor turned it and the mirror swung aside.
When they entered the bathroom, Kayla looked over the room to find the picture of the old hag, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"Can you see her somewhere?" she asked her brother. "She should've arrived here long before us"
"I have..."
Kelsey turned towards the voice and gasped.
The melodious voice didn't fit to the old hag, but it most definitely fit to the beautiful young woman on the painting in front of him.
Her eyes were as dark as the raven-black hair that fell over her shoulders and revealed a twisted sense of humor.
"Who are you?" Kelsey inquired.
"I'm Lady Tanya" she snickered. "I told you I would give you further instructions in here, so don't behave as you weren't expecting me"
"We weren't" Kayla whispered. "I would've never recognized you. You're the hag, aren't you?"
"What you've seen up there was the curse that has been inflicted on me many centuries ago." Lady Tanya sighed.
"My story is a very sad one. My father was a knight and brother of Richard Lionheart. He was a very powerful wizard and loved my mother with all his heart. Unfortunately she died when I was a little girl and my father followed her not long after, murdered by his best friend over a horse.
So I was raised by my uncle who was deeply involved in the Dark Arts. He never cared much about me, so he sold me to one of his cronies and I had to marry him. I was just 13 years old then and had no idea what my life would be like. I went through 3 years of rape and brutality before my husband followed the king into the crusades.
The day he left, I took an oath that no man will ever violate me again. I lived alone in my castle and prayed night and day that he wouldn't return. After 5 years alone, I finally found love. The man I chose was caring and loving, loyal and brave. We spend 10 wonderful years together and had 6 beautiful children. I was the happiest woman on earth when my life took a really nasty turn.
Fortunately one of my servants informed us in time that my husband had returned after 15 years. I knew it was the worst that could have happened and I feared for my family so I sent them away. The man I hated almost my entire life thought he could pick up where he had left off all those years ago, but he was wrong. I wasn't the intimidated little girl that he knew. I had grown up to be an independent woman.
I stood up to him and told him that I never considered him as my husband and that I would not take him back. He tried to duel me but I was a lot more powerful than him, so he cursed me behind my back and I had to spend the rest of my life as the old hag that you've seen up there. In his point of view, my beauty was the reason that another man took me away from him. Foolish idiot!"
Kayla had tears brimming in her eyes, but she blinked them away when she saw Lady Tanya smiling at her.
"Little miss, don't pity me. He wasn't the only one who can cheat. Believe me, he took his punishment not even half as well as I took mine" she grinned.
"May I ask you a question, Lady Tanya?" Kelsey asked.
"Go ahead"
"Tanya was a very unusual name in the 12th century..."
Lady Tanya laughed heartily "My mother was a very strange woman and she had a liking for deceased pets... that's all I'm going to say about that"
Kelsey mused if Professor Dumbledore might have gotten his wicked sense of humor from her when Lady Tanya spoke again.
"I think it's high time for you to get to James and do the best you can to save dear Lily" she urged.
"What do we have to do?" Kayla asked.
"Oh yeah...I haven't told you how to get there yet, have I?"
When she saw the twins shaking their heads, she continued "Walk into the closet, there you will find a picture of the Vitruvian Man of Leonardo Da Vinci. Place your hands on his hands and you will be sent right into James' fireplace"
"I wish you the best of luck"
Kelsey and Kayla said good bye to Lady Tanya and entered the
closet. It actually was a huge
storage room of white marble just as the rest of the bathroom.
They spotted the afore mentioned picture and placed their hands on
the right spots.
The feeling they experienced then was a mixture between travelling by floo powder and by port key and it was worse than both.
They stumbled out of the fireplace with the sudden urge to vomit. Kayla looked around the cosy sitting room for a sign of James.
"He might be with Lily" Kelsey mused and led the way to the bedroom.
When they entered, they found James sitting next to Lily, dabbing sweat from her forehead.
Kayla was shocked. When she looked at the man in front of her, who had aged before his time, it seemed to her that she was looking at a grown up Harry.
"James" Kelsey whispered. The man turned around and looked at them with such a tired face that strangely resembled the one of Sirius Black.
James got up from the bed and led them back into the sitting room.
"Kelsey, what are you doing here?"
"James we did it" Kelsey beamed.
The older wizard looked thunderstruck.
"You might want to sit down first" Kayla suggested and grabbed James' arm. After she had gently pushed him into one of the armchairs, Kelsey took the vial out of his pocket and handed it to James.
He looked at the little glass bottle from different angles and then at the two students in front of him.
"This is the Muscail potion, James. We can wake up Lilly now." Kelsey said softly.
A single tear trickled down the older wizards' cheek. "I never thought I would live to see that day"
"Is there a specific incantation that goes with the application of the potion or anything else we need to do?" Kayla asked.
"No all we need to do is to make sure that she drinks all of it and wait. It will take a little while to take effect."
Without another word James rose from the armchair and returned to the bedroom, while the twins followed him quietly.
"Lily, my love, you need to drink this" James cooed as he trickled the potion slowly into his wife's mouth.
The following minutes seemed to be endless, but finally the vial was empty and they were sure that nothing had been wasted.
"While we are waiting, why don't you tell me what happened lately. It's been a long time since I had a chance to see Harry" James suggested.
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Draco Malfoy tried to appear as cool and confident as possible, while he felt the Dark Lord's gaze on him.
"Come with me young Malfoy; I wish to question you privately."
Draco felt his father grabbing his collar and pushing him forward. As slowly as he could dare, he followed Voldemort, making sure he was walking normally.
The Dark Lord entered a reception room and sat down in a throne-like armchair.
Draco was a little bit unsure about what to do and so he kneeled in front of the wizard.
"It is very pleasant to see that you have been taught some manners" Voldemort sneered.
Draco bowed his head and said "How can I serve you my Lord?"
"I wish to know, why you didn't inform me that the school was about to be evacuated"
"I'm truly sorry master, but we didn't know. Potter collapsed during the Yule Ball, but that is nothing new. He is a weak excuse of a wizard and faints all the time. Everybody got used to his seizures, so the party went on as if nothing had happened. A little later, Professor Snape came to see us in the common room and told us that the school has to be evacuated. Dumbledore, the old fool, made sure that everybody else had been sent away before us Slytherins, so that none of us could warn you, my Lord."
"I see" the Dark Lord growled. "Did anybody tell you where the students have been sent?"
"No unfortunately not, my Lord. We were sent to an old mansion, that I've never seen before and then our parents have been informed to come and pick us up or we were sent home by floo powder."
"When was the last time you have seen Severus Snape?"
"I haven't seen him since he gave us the portkeys. When we waited at the mansion, his substitute, Professor Wells, told us what to do"
"Draco... tell me... do you want to join my service when you're of age?" the Dark Lord said almost friendly.
Malfoy shuddered. This was what he had been trained for since he had been old enough to carry a wand.
"Yes my Lord. It would be the greatest honor for me" he said humbly.
"Then you need to know something that is crucial when you want to serve me. I never, under any circumstances, tolerate failure. When I tell you to do something, you do it ... if it cost your life you'll die happily for a greater purpose, but I never want to hear excuses. There are no excuses! You are young and still learning, so you will receive your first lesson from me today"
Draco's eyes grew wide when the Dark Lord pointed his wand at him. "You are no use as a spy, so I will think if I have any more use for you ... until then....CRUCIO"
Voldemort moved towards the door and just when he was about to leave the room, he lifted the curse. Draco remained on the cold stone floor, cursing his parents, Voldemort, Snape, Potter and everybody he could think of before he passed out from the pain that raged through his body.
Leaving the whimpering boy behind, Voldemort stepped out of the reception room and back into the large sitting room.
"Unfortunately, the attack on the Hogwarts Express did not bring the desired effect, due to lack of competence of Mr Malfoy here" he growled.
"Lucius...Lucius" Voldemort wandered casually towards the pale wizard, his eyes glinting maliciously.
"I told you earlier today that you will be given a second chance. You have proved that you are one of my most loyal servants and this is the only reason why I do not get rid of you right away. You are not allowed to inform your son about any of your activities and you are going to work under the supervision of the one person who has never failed me. She was working on a secret mission for me in the past weeks and is now ready to takeover the lead in planning this attack"
At this moment, one of the deatheaters lifted the hood and Bellatrix Lestrange walked up to the Dark Lord. She didn't even flinch when Voldemort stroked her cheek with his skeleton fingers.
"Bella, you're going to meet with Malfoy at his mansion to discuss the next attack. As soon as you have a working plan, report back to me immediately so that we can include our guests"
"As you wish my Lord; I'm here to serve you" she replied eagerly-
Malfoy was clever enough not to be offended by being placed under Lestrange's command. He surely wasn't happy about it but right now he would rather eat his own food before he would allow losing anymore of the Dark Lord's grace.
After that, Voldemort dismissed his followers and returned to his private quarters.
Just as he entered he heard footsteps behind him.
Without turning around, he said "My dear Severus. You are late!"
Snape was mildly surprised that he was still alive. He had expected that he would not even make it past the other deatheaters, but all the years as a "double-agent" had skilled him in stealth and disguise. He had managed to stay out of side until the deatheaters had been dismissed and to follow the Dark Lord to his private quarters. Although he was everything but an optimist, a little bit of hope started to rise within him.
"My Lord, I desired to speak with you alone, so I stayed hidden, but I have attended the whole meeting." Severus said humbly.
However, inside of him fury was raging. This man had to die and if he had the power to do so he would do it at this very moment. He would feel satisfaction in putting his hands around Voldemort's neck and squeeze until his eyes pop out and he's gasping for breath, in vain.
"You failed and betrayed me, Severus and you know what the consequences are." Voldemort said almost sadly, while he moved further into his private sitting room and stood next to the window.
Severus followed him inside, yet stayed close to the door.
"Trust me, my Lord. I have never failed you. I had to give Dumbledore information of some kind. Lestrange's little antic in the school disturbed the old fool seriously and I couldn't risk that he evacuates the school before we were ready. Malfoy took things too far and interpreted the facts wrong. He has always been envious that you, my Lord, seemed to favour me over him. Lucius thought he could get in my place if he could malign me."
Voldemort remained at the window and didn't look at Snape during his little speech.
Severus knew it was his only chance to convince the Dark Lord and save his life once again.