Hey I'm back! Sorry for taking so long to post this.. Well actually it's not that long. It's only been a week. But sorry for leaving you hanging at this point of the story anyhow.
Once again, I want to thank everyone who had supported my story so far. Hope I won't disappoint you.
Er, also to address the review posted by. If you're still reading this, though I very much doubt so, thank you for pointing out a mistake I made. I went to check the Order of the Pheonix and indeed Voldemort had taken Bella with him out of the Ministry of Magic. I must have read it wrongly before so sorry about that. As for your second review, well I just want to ask you a question first. Have you ever written a fan fic? Coz if you have, you should know that it's not easy to add a new character into an existing story. All you can do is exploit all the loopholes in the original story and try to fit your plot in. It may seem a little weird for you now that Janieve is actually placed in 6th year without any prior knowledge of magic but trust me, I have a reason for that. Or rather, Dumbledore has a reason for that. I'm not really sure what you meant in some of the things you said but if you're implying (correct me if I'm wrong) that I'm doing an injustice to JKR, then well I'm sorry you feel that way but I'm not a genius like her and I never claimed that I was. If I even have half her talent, I would be writing my own story wouldn't I?
Now to the rest of you who had the decency to respect someone else's work: enjoy the story!
Chapter 30: His Hideout
"Hermione!"
Janieve rushed to the stationary form of her friend. "Hermione!" she called, shaking her friend by the arms. Hermione's eyes snapped open.
"Oh god Janny!" she croaked.
"We need to get out of here quickly. Can you walk?" Janieve asked hurriedly. She felt a tingling feeling at the back of her neck. They were inconspicuous at first but the tingle began to spread to her shoulders.
"Jan! Be careful!" Hermione choked in a strangled voice.
Janieve transformed into a Killet. She sprang on Hermione and knocked her backwards against the ground, the two missing the jet of red light narrowly.
Janieve went back to human form and stood up, slightly crouching, with her wand pointed at her attacker.
What met her eyes, however, nearly made her recoil in disgust. She heard Hermione let out a short gasp.
A tall hooded figure stood before them. Beyond the hood, though, there was no face, or nothing that resembled a face. The space which supposedly held his head appeared black and hollow. The only sign of life was a pair of long scarlet slits for eyes.
"Janieve Lestrange," he said in a cold raspy voice.
"Wh-what do you want from me?" Janieve said, her voice trembling slightly.
He laughed and it surprised Janieve that the creature before her was actually capable of laughing.
"I have to admit killing you wasn't easy," he said, "but not nearly as hard as it was killing Harry Potter. It's such a shame that he almost always nearly escaped unscathed. But not for long though. As soon as I finished you off, he'll be joining you shortly."
"Puntio!"
A jet of blue light emitted from the tip of Janieve's pearly white wand. The light hit Voldemort squarely on the chest and he stumbled back a few steps but that was as much as it did.
Voldemort laughed even harder now. "And I thought you were a threat," he mocked.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione shouted in the midst of his maniacal laughter. The spell hit and bounced off his head.
"I could have let you die an almost painless death," he hissed fiercely, while circling the girls slowly. "But your defiance is disappointing." His black cloak contacted against Janieve's bare flesh and she shivered involuntarily. He was circling them very slowly but the aura of fear and respect he commanded from them was intoxicating it made Janieve nauseous. No, not respect, just fear, Janieve corrected herself, filth like him did not deserve any respect.
"Really?" he spoke, pausing next to Janieve. "You will respect me whether you like it or not," he snarled. "Crucio!"
Both Hermione and Janieve collapsed on the floor and writhed in pain. The excruciating pain lasted for a whole five minutes though it felt like a lifetime to the girls. They shivered uncontrollably on the floor while the effects of the spell slowly wear off.
"You are so much like your parents," Voldemort said almost sadly. "Such loyalty to your subject. A pity though, you're not as wise as they are. Both of whom had the hindsight of the greater power."
"But since you've chosen your path," Voldemort went on, "you'll have to pay for it. Shall I grant you your death wish, dear Janieve? How about meeting your parents for the first…" he laughed, "and final time?"
"Rodolphus! Bellatrix!"
An attractive couple stepped into the room. It was then that Janieve noticed the presence of at least two dozens Death Eaters crowding the passage beyond the room. Janieve sneaked a backward glance and her heart sank at the sight of the boarded windows.
There was no way out.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The ride on the magic carpet was unexpectedly enjoyable. It had more than enough space to accommodate the six of them. The only difficulty they encountered was manoeuvring it. They spent some fifteen minutes getting it to fly and yet another twenty to learn how to direct it.
"I think we're near," Ginny said, "maybe we should land."
They landed on a narrow, deserted road. A sign ahead read "Little Hangleton."
"There it is," said Seamus.
They trudged down the meandering track and into the village. The strong breeze caused resistance to their movements and their robes flapped wildly behind them. The wind whispered in their ears eerily. A cemetery was spotted a few miles down.
"I know this place!" Harry shouted suddenly.
How could he ever forget this place? The place where he had witnessed the resurrection of Voldemort two years ago? The very cemetery where Cedric Diggory's life ended?
"The cemetery ahead is where Tom Riddle was buried," Harry explained when the others looked at him questioningly. "I was brought here during the third task."
All of them nodded knowingly.
"So any idea where the girls are?" asked Ron, "This place is big."
"I'm not sure," Harry replied, "It looked like they were in a house or something."
"Well, let's just keep walking," Ginny said.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"How wonderful indeed," Voldemort said in a snakelike voice, "The child reunites with her parents at long last!" He laughed cynically.
Janieve looked at the man and woman she knew were her parents. Mixed feelings boiled within her. Here are the two persons who gave life to her, yet she found it hard to garner any sense of goodwill towards them. If they had any conscience at all, they should be trying to protect their daughter from the villain before them. But all they did was to look on without any trace of emotion.
"Janieve," Rodolphus said, "my beloved daughter. Such a ravishing beauty. I see you at least inherit something good from your mother."
"Don't blame us, Janieve," Bellatrix said gloomily, "We had to do this. For the greater good."
"Greater good?" Janieve asked in disbelief. "You're actually going let this evil vile kill your daughter just because you're too cowardly to stand up against him?" she spat angrily.
Slap.
"No one speaks of the Dark Lord like this," Bellatrix fumed.
The slap stung her face but it could not have come at a better time. It was sort of a reality call for Janieve. It somehow made her realised the precarious situation she was in. She knew she had to do something and she had to do it fast. If she failed to act wisely, she could land both her and Hermione in jeopardy. There was no counting on her so-called parents to help her.
"I am your daughter!" Janieve cried, bidding time. She gripped her wand tightly by her side.
"Trust us," Bellatrix said, "if we had a choice. The purification had to be done…"
At that moment, Janieve transfigured both her and Hermione into Killets.
"Hermione run!" Janieve yelled as she began scurrying through the legs of at least twenty Death Eaters. There was no room for turning back and Janieve could only pray that Hermione was right behind her. She leapt down the entire flight of stairs and landed gracefully. The kitchen was only a few feet away.
"Ahhh!"
Janieve stopped and turned back. A jet of light had hit Hermione and she was transformed back into human. The pause allowed the same spell to hit Janieve and she too, turned back into human.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione shouted. One of the hooded figure's limbs snapped together and toppled backward stiffly.
Another spell went flying in Janieve's direction and she ducked. "Expelliarmus!" she shouted. Three wands of her attackers flew in random path.
"Stupefy!" The spell hit one of the Death Eaters. Janieve spun around to see the source of the spell.
"Harry!" she shouted.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Harry heard noise coming from a run-down house and immediately sprinted towards it, his friends following tightly behind. He tried kicking the front door down but it refused to budge.
"Let's go by the back," Dean suggested.
Through the kitchen window, Harry could see Janieve and Hermione fighting off at least twenty Death Eaters.
"Stupefy!" he shouted as he jinxed one of the Death Eaters about to attack Janieve from her side.
"Harry!" Janieve shouted.
The Death Eaters stopped attacking momentarily and the noise ceased.
"Harry Potter!" someone squealed and Harry saw that it was Peter Pettigrew. He let out a horrible cry and ran out of the kitchen back into the house.
"No master! Harry Potter is here!" Harry heard him saying. There was some mumbling and then the rat said, "No! It's dangerous! Master please! We'll take care of him!"
More mumblings and suddenly…
"Expelliarmus!" Janieve yelled. There was a loud explosive sound and the wand belonging to Lucius Malfoy flew out of his grip. The spell meant for Neville was released from Malfoy's wand and it narrowly missed Neville's head. It struck the tap and caused water to spurt in all directions.
"Thanks Jan," said Neville.
Janieve smiled at him genuinely. "You're welcomed," she mouthed.
There were a few more exchange of curses and the water continued spraying down on them from everywhere. It seemed to Harry that for every one Death Eaters they struck down, another two would come along.
Suddenly, a thin sheet of wall made of liquid formed between them and the Death Eaters. Janieve smiled at her companions.
"Quick, let's get out of here," she said. They escaped out of the house and ran towards the street. The road out of the village seemed longer than on the way in to Harry.
"Harry, where's the magic carpet?" Ginny shouted over the wind.
Before Harry could react, Ginny was struck down by a spell from behind. Harry whirled around and the first thing he saw was Bellatrix aiming her wand at Janieve. And Janieve, still running towards Harry, was not aware of it.
