Chapter 23: Fates Sealed
No one really paid much attention to the fact that the size of the group had doubled in mere seconds, that is until Ron gazed upon the face of Tara and began to babble incessantly.
"BBBBllllloooody hell, but…but…but…"
Once everyone turned their attention to the newcomer of the group, they instantly noticed what had Ron so up in arms. Ron, Hermione and Draco knew that they were looking at Tara but it was the visual of Ginny's face that had them baffled.
"You're not dead." Hermione exclaimed as she embraced the confused young woman.
"Why…would I be?" she managed to ask after Hermione finally broke the hug.
"This…" Hermione explained as she shoved the parchment in her face.
Tara read the note and passed it to the others as her brow furrowed with the confusion that was playing through all their minds. "How could this be?"
"Obviously they made a mistake. I mean you'd think that the muggles would be more through but somehow they've identified the wrong person." Draco quipped as this confirmed all his beliefs of the incompetence of non magical folk.
"Then who is she?" Molly asked with relief pouring from her.
"Parisa?" Draco offered.
"But she's in Tara's body." Harry countered.
"Yes but then do look somewhat alike." Sapphire pointed out.
With this statement, everyone turned to take a closer look at Tara as if to try to see it for themselves but it wasn't until Tara pulled out her ID that they saw just how close a resemblance there really was. While they were all looking at it and commenting on the uncanny nature of it all, Tara leaned down to check on Ginny who opened her eyes at last only to shriek and fade away again.
Faintly in the background, Ginny could hear the jumbled voices carrying on an impossible conversation.
"The hair is the only real difference."
"No the face is a little rounder."
"And she's a bit tanner."
I must be dead for real, she considered for deep within her mind, so much for being treated like royalty.
"Oh give it a rest, Drama Queen." Tara spat angrily at her. "You're not the one with the real problem."
ooooooooooooooooooo
The hours since the gruesome discovery of his daughter's so-called body had passed with crushing agony. Once the police arrived, he had to explain his discovery without admitting to the fact that it was his daughter and yet had to also account for his demeanor and extreme distress. The only way to do that was to give them the excuse that the girl was actually a friend of his daughter, which in turn gave him no alternative but to also give a name, Ginerva Weasley.
The memory of his daughter's lifeless body being taken away and him staying behind would be something that would haunt this man for the rest of his life. Admittedly, he had been avoiding going home yet he was running out of places to go and that's when he Jacq popped back in his head.
Oh no, the poor gent, I didn't make it back to the table but surely he heard the commotion. If he did, then why wouldn't he have come to my aid? Furthermore, how was it that she made it to the restaurant but not inside?
With each question another one followed and none had answers that made any sense to him. Yes, it was possible that someone drew her attention away and lured her outside but why hadn't the driver noticed? And what would be so enticing that she would go under the cover of darkness to attend to it? It was every parent's worst nightmare come true and still he was alone.
In was in that moment of isolation and despair that the pieces of the puzzle began to take a different and far more deadly or rather sinister shape so now, what was her first to start, became his fight to end. As he shut the door to the limo and instructed the driver where to head, he began a timeline of the last days of his daughter's life but instead of going back to the beginning, he started at the end. He started with the weakest link, Ginvera Weasley.
ooooooooooooooooo
Nicholas pulled Dumbledore off to the side for a chat after this dramatic change of events. The simple reality of it was that Ginny could get her body back but Tara would not and he just wasn't sure how to approach the poor girl with this or even if he should be the one to do so.
"I'm afraid this poses a problem for my earlier solution." He explained in hush tones to the Headmaster.
"I understand but I'm sure that with the ministry's help we can help Miss Balistery adjust to her new circumstances."
"Yes, perhaps that's true, but there's more to it also." Being a man of deep moral conviction, Flamel had seen what can happen to the young with such a life altering change and in the short time that he had been around this particular group, he realized that they had all been through much too much.
"Yes and what is that?"
"Well we all now know that Miss Sauniere is one half of the necessary formula for the supreme birth and that Mister Malfoy is the other but what is not so widely known is that in the event that the dark heir is unable to procreate an alternate can be used."
"Alternate? What or who do you mean?" Dumbledore wasn't sure he like where this was going but he had to know.
"Consider this; the main goal is to unite light and dark with an heir that will pick the side of the ultimate winner. But what if the heir of Lucifer wasn't used but someone who possessed the same sort of evil within him?" Flamel eluded.
"Are referring to someone in particular?"
"Albus, everyone's familiar with Mister Potter history and the effect that Voldemort had upon him. Miss Thomas told me that he fancies her and if they were to marry….well, I'm sure you can see where this going."
"Are you telling me that if we switch the bodies, Parisa will never be allowed to have children for fear that it will be with the wrong kind of man?" Dumbledore replied just in time to see Tara freeze where she was standing. Her welled with tears as she looked from Harry to Dumbledore and back again. This day just got a whole lot longer but that wasn't the last bombshell that was to be dropped in that room…..
ooooooooooooooooo
Marcus was headed back to the hotel lost in his thoughts and, sadly for Ginny, she was not one of them. Step by step, he drew closer to his destination wondering whether or not to go Gringotts in the morning. The inevitable questions swirled through his mind about who want Parisa dead. Although he was not mourning the loss, his previous conversation with Jacq had left him wondering if Parisa's time was limited and now it seemed that it in fact was.
Would it be wise to tempt such a man with his plan or was it better to just take Ginny away until they a package to exchange? He had been raised around men capable of this and much more, so the danger of the situation was not lost upon him but would she agree? Well actually, the bigger question was did she really have a choice?
Outside of the hotel, Marcus caught wind of loud arguing taking place inside the broke down palace but it never entered his mind that the commotion was coming from his room until it was too late. It wasn't until he was standing in the hall with a wand at his throat that he realized the error of his nonchalance.
"Greetings Marcus." Draco seethed.
"What are you doing here?" He returned angrily.
"Looking for Parisa but we found something more interesting along the way. Care to explain?"
"Do you mean outside of the obvious?" Marcus teased while trying to stall just a bit longer.
"Parisa's dead but that really doesn't matter to you, does it?" Hermione added and the sight of her walking free while his old pal held him at wand point was disturbing to say the least.
"Mudblood, what is she doing here? Ah, I see, the rumors are true then?" He replied to Draco but that was an unwise choice of words as he saw a certain recognition pour over the blonde's face.
"Rumors?" Draco questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, not rumors exactly…I just…saw the way you looked when you warned me to stay away from her…because of the plot." He added the last part in a whisper as if it were a forbidden secret between cohorts.
"Really? So then tell me, how is Jacq these days?" Draco retorted not falling for the ploy.
"Jacq? I'm not sure that I know anyone by that name." Marcus lied and his face was betraying him.
"You did it, didn't you?" Ginny screamed as she caught a glimpse of him standing there. "Part of that damn plan of yours?"
Marcus's eyes darted between Ginny and Draco, his mind spinning under the weight of his lies and deceptions but like a blessing in disguise, several owls began to arrive and gave him the chance he'd begged for. The pieces of parchment began falling down like a rain storm and as their eyes involuntarily looked towards the ceiling, Marcus turned and took off in a dead sprint for the staircase. Green and Red bolts shot from every directions and as the smoke began to clear, the streaming images of destruction unmasked a consequence previously hidden from them….another body was found but it wasn't the one that they expected.
Author's Notes:
Sorry for the wait again but I got sick and couldn't get out of bed long enough to download anything….
Thanks to my returning faithful: HarryPotterLover242, thatonechic, kat6528, Blood-Red-Pen-Tip, darktwistedpoet, slyswn28, Gentileschi, prin69, Harrena Potter and Lady of the Realm (formly That othergirl). Welcome to the new readers: Devil love101894 and Draco-severus-mmm.
HarryPotterLover242: nope can't save the body as it is but only time will tell…glad that I could brighten your day…does the heart good.
Thatonechic…congrats…you were the only one that caught that (or at least that said anything about it)…I'm trying to stay true to the characters but still have a little fun.
Kat6528…here we go…
Blood-Red-Pen-Tip…thanks…hope that you like this cliffy as well…because it will be quite the surprise…
Darktwistedpoet…glad to hear that you reconnected and back to checking on everyone's stuff…you can miss a lot with some writers in just a few days.
Slyswn28…you are far to kind…but I do try to write everything so that its something that I would want to read and not just filler for 100 chapters…
Devil love101894…thank you and hope you enjoy the rest.
Gentileschi…in my opinion, the soul never really dies but the real question is can she do anything without a body? Have to wait to find out.
Draco-severus-mmm…thanks Sam and keep reading…this is not your average d/hr fic.
Prin69…the bombshells that we drop when trapped have always fascinated me…people really will say or do anything to protect themselves…
HarrenaPotter…lol…good thing that she's not trapped in that body, eh?
Lady of the Realm…good to see you back Kat…glad to see you're enjoying it and I get to something that I've wanted to do for so long in the next chapter…and it's about time too.
And in closing…thanks for all the reviews…it makes my day to see them. Special thanks to Dracolov for sponsoring the contest and happy reading to all…Review, Review, Review…not that I need to remind any of you but I like to.
