Awakening
Chapter Thirteen: The Storm
By Stardust
A/N:
Well, this chapter turned out to be a normal length rather than the insanely and depressingly short previous few chapters. So, I hope you enjoy this one.
SUMMARY: Guess what? Angie's pregnant…the only problem is Sirius has just decided that he can't see her any more because it's too much too handle. Angie is left with a depressing letter declaring these sentiments. Could it be that Harry Potter is the heir of Slytherin? Vernon Dursley did give Harry the necessary knowledge of human nature at the appropriate time. Remus has inherited some money and he and Holly Mischel are engaged! Let's not forget about December Seventeenth… Bill's famous plan is finally being carried out…but what went wrong, and what the hell WAS it? And, oh yeah, two minor things, Angie has gone missing and Sirius Black is dead.
I'm really angry! Fanfiction.net is being very annoying. It won't let me have my asterisks so my name looks really messed up! (You know, they already did that to me once! On August 2nd they changed their policy and somehow I got landed with the stupid number three! I felt that move was unjustified, and so that's why my name is ANNOYED W/ AUG. 2nd. Just in case you were wondering.) Now I can't be Stardust with an asterisk, I'm just Stardust, with no asterisk and that pisses me off. Not only that, I have to go through and add in my breaks between sections because they took my asterisks off my uploaded documents. This is really pissing me off. So, I'm sorry if the format of this chapter is majorly screwed up. It's not me! I swear!
Have fun!
Sirius dreamed that he could hear birds chirping and warm sun on his cheek. This was rather preposterous as he was in Nikki's apartment in the middle of Paris. His eyes flew open and he realized those birds were the snores of other people passed out in the room around him. And with an involuntary start he realized that warm sun was Nikki's hot breath.
She stirred a little, picking her head up off of his shoulder and he wriggled his way into a sitting position. His mind was slow to start as he tried to remember what exactly had happened last night.
Nikki yawned without opening her eyes. "Don't get up, love," She muttered, her head dropping again. Sirius ignored her as slowly the thoughts came to him. He shakily stood up, ignoring the wild pounding in his head and carefully stepping over one of the Weasley twins who was sprawled unattractively across the floor.
He had a vague recollection of many people laughing, being loud, and drinking. With that thought he placed a hand on his forehead. Sierra's worried and lined face suddenly swam into view as he remembered the agonizing hours they'd spent…waiting…
Slowly Bill's crew trickled into Nikki's apartment. And finally, just before dawn Bill appeared and loudly declared "Mission accomplished". That was when the details got fuzzy.
He opened his eyes and realized that he wasn't the only person awake. Sierra and Bill were standing in Nikki's little kitchenette and by the smell of it, they had very recently been making coffee. At the moment they thought they were quite alone.
"Still think I'm crazy?" Bill murmured, his lips brushing against Sierra's ear.
"Do you have to even ask that question?" Sierra replied with a laugh which quickly turned to a frown. "I'm never drinking again," She moaned.
"Ha, ha," Bill replied sarcastically. "You only live once anyway."
"Twice," Sirius corrected. Sierra started slightly and Bill smirked.
"Well, in your case, yes. How's the new man this morning…afternoon…what the hell time is it anyway…?"
"I dunno…" Sierra replied looking around for a clock. Sirius severely doubted she'd find one.
"That coffee ready yet?" He asked. Bill poured him a cup. "We really trashed the place," Sirius said absently taking in the scenery of empty bottles and sleeping people.
"You're a rich man, I'm sure you can take care of it now," Bill replied with a grin.
"Not exactly. Next step: Prevent my unfortunate sibling from inheriting all my bloody money. Unfortunate that she's my sibling, that is."
"I'm definitely all for helping you screw Vanessa," Sierra replied. "So long as you help me make sure she doesn't inherit my money." Bill raised an eye brow but quickly lowered it again.
"Never mind. I'm in no condition to hear about complicated plots." All three seemed to be in agreement with that sentiment and drank their coffee. Their quiet was, of course, disrupted by an owl who dropped off "Le Journal".
"Wonderful, read it to me," Sierra commanded, tossing the French newspaper onto the counter.
"Oh…no problem," Bill said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"I speak very little French and I read even less," Sirius replied, eyeing the newspaper suspiciously.
"Look 'je m'appelle'! I recognize that."
"Somebody wake up Nikki," Sierra suggested.
"You must be insane," Sirius replied. "She won't be up until four, five o'clock in the afternoon. Actually, considering that her hangover is most probably severe it could be more like eight or nine o'clock."
"It must be nice to be able to sleep all day," Sierra said absently. "I should probably head back to the school…Dumbledore and Remus should know what is going on—" She broke off with a loud yawn.
"It's a Saturday and a day of celebration! We'll send a letter along. They know what's going on anyway…" Bill said looking at her, his eyes sparkling. Sirius feeling out of place let his eyes fall to his coffee cup. He wondered what Angie was doing.
"But they didn't know you were going to stage Sirius' murder last night," Sierra pointed out.
"Whatever," Bill replied, with a yawn of his own. "I need to go sleep off this hang-over anyway."
"Don't be mad," Sierra said.
"Not mad…just…tired." Sierra laughed and quickly regretted it. Her head was not equipped to handle that kind of noise, or emotion, just yet.
"Ugh. I'm ready to see Madame Pomprey, even if it means my job."
The three fell silent as they could hear a far off pounding. It was the pounding of heavy footfalls on the steps outside the door--! Bill had barely moved before it burst open. "Felicitations! You made the front page!"
Jacques Valier, refined and impeccably dressed as always shoved the Daily Prophet, in English, in Sirius's face. Sirius gave a violent start as he saw his own dead body and a grisly picture from Azkaban next to it. It was a very eerie feeling to see the headline "SIRIUS BLACK FOUND DEAD".
Sierra swore loudly, not only because of the headline but because Jacques had been incredibly loud, banging doors and shouting. Several others who had been blissfully snoring were now waking up and adding to the general confusion.
"Damn it! I'm off to Scotland then. The Daily Prophet must have nearly killed itself getting that paper ready so soon!" Sierra said, abandoning her mug and searching wildly for her traveling cloak.
"The body must have been discovered almost immediately," Bill agreed, locating and offering Sierra her cloak. "That means it will be vaporizing soon." He added, his eyes locking with Sirius's.
"Get over your hang-overs, we've got work to do." Sierra declared and promptly disapparated.
Several hours later, as the evening was settling in, Hermione, Kirsten, Ron and Harry were still trying to swallow this preposterous story. They were all sitting in Gryffindor common room trying their best to ignore their classmates. Harry hadn't moved in the past fifteen minutes. He'd forgotten even to blink.
Kirsten was pacing back and forth nervously wringing her hands. Hermione was thoughtlessly flipping through the pages in her book and Ron was drumming on the table with a pawn from his chess set.
"Can't we do something!?" Kirsten burst out. She'd been saying things like this all afternoon. Mostly, the other three had just ignored her until she did find something to do that would occupy her for a few minutes.
"What do you want us to do, Kirsten!?" Ron countered, his temper flaring up. His nerves were just as shot as hers.
"I don't know…I don't know…" She muttered. Hermione gave Ron a reproachful look. She'd lost both her parents suddenly. Hermione knew what that felt like. "My necklace!" Kirsten shouted at the top of her lungs so suddenly that Harry started violently and Hermione dropped her book.
"I can't believe I forgot!" Kirsten exclaimed, rather violently yanking her chain out from under her robes. "My necklace is connected to my mother. It's a spell she put on it when I was really little. This will lead us to her!" Kirsten continued rapidly.
"Why didn't you think of this before!?" Hermione practically cried. The thought at the back of her head was…now we might be too late But she didn't dare voice that sentiment aloud.
Kirsten muttered something and the four hastily exited the common room in pursuit of the missing Angela Star. Instead of leading them outside somewhere the necklace kept them in the school heading up the stairs.
"She can't be in her room. We've been there a dozen times!" Kirsten said, as they headed closer to the teachers quarters. The necklace suddenly glowed bright red…they must be very close.
"Not only that, she wasn't on the Marauder's Map," Harry continued.
"Well, I'm no map, but I am a marauder," A voice said from the air in front of them. They started suddenly. Kirsten shrieked and someone gasped as Sirius pulled off his invisibility cloak.
"In here," He said, opening a door next to them. The four filed in looking very confused.
"You're not my mother," Kirsten said stupidly. Sirius raised an eye brow.
"I apologize…?" He replied uncertainly.
"Kirsten's necklace…it's supposed to be linked to Professor Star…" Ron explained. Sirius frowned as he glanced at the necklace.
"That doesn't look like the same necklace I charmed all those years ago…" Sirius said, taking a step closer, in order to better see Kirsten's necklace.
"No, it's not. Look at this 'Z'," Kirsten said. "I tried to explain to Dumbledore about it…but…"
"Hang on," Sirius said suddenly. "Maybe the spell was connected to Angie's ring?" He asked hopefully. He pulled the thin chain out from under his robes. Her small ring hung, quivering slightly.
"Oh no…no…no…" Kirsten started to sob into Ron's shoulder.
"Why on earth do you have Professor Star's ring?" Hermione questioned Sirius.
"Isn't that Professor Star's wedding ring…the one you gave to her?" Harry asked, squinting to get a better look.
"What? Wait…how do you know about that?" Hermione demanded
"Hold on a minute!" Sirius said, holding up his hand. "Kirsten, what is wrong? Why do need to see Angie so badly?"
"She's gone! When they went to the house she was gone and the Daily Prophet was crumpled up on the floor…with your picture all over the front page! And now, the necklace was my last hope of locating her and you've got her ring!!" Sirius's eyes grew wider and wider and panic shown in them as he fully grasped the meaning of Kirsten's hysterical rant. He grabbed her by the shoulders and got right in her face.
"Did they go to the cave? The cave, in Hogsmeade?" He cried, shaking her involuntarily. He dropped Kirsten's shoulders as he realized she would be no help. The other three were looking helpless at Sirius. "Jesus Christ! Why didn't somebody tell her what was going on! You know she's suicidal!" Sirius snapped, rather unfairly, at Kirsten who was sobbing uncontrollably. Sirius hastily wrapped himself in the invisibility cloak and started at a run for the door.
"Somebody go with him, for God sakes!" Hermione cried. "He's going to get caught!" Harry immediately followed his frantic god father. "And if she is there…" Hermione looked at Ron and shuddered violently. "We'd better go find Dumbledore and Professor Lupin and tell them Sirius has arrived. I think we need to have a council of war. And you can explain about your necklace…" Hermione said to Kirsten who was still sobbing, but at least now the sobs were controlled.
It wasn't until he was nearly out on the lawn that Sirius realized he ought not have mentioned suicide to Kirsten. He was supposed to be the level-headed adult.
An hour or more later a small group of grave faces and heavy hearts all locked themselves in the transfiguration classroom. Dumbledore, Lupin, Sierra, McGonagall, Harry, Kirsten, Hermione, Ron, and Sirius made up the little group.
Most of the students of Hogwarts had gathered in the Great Hall where the WWN had been set up and they could listen to Fudge giving a live speech on the progress of the investigation concerning Sirius Black.
"I've just returned from the ministry in London and I've filed a missing persons report for Angela Star," Dumbledore explained solemnly. "They will send an official out as soon as possible. Sadly, however, the Ministry is in a right state of chaos since the discovery and consequent vaporization of your….er…shall I say "body," Sirius, so it will take some time before someone can get away."
Sirius was radiating anger and frustration and no one could blame him. Sierra sat down beside him and absentmindedly rubbed his back in an attempt to comfort him in some way.
It wasn't supposed to have happened like this. This was Sirius's chance at freedom. The world thought he was dead….he wasn't going to have to worry so much anymore. He could start his life over again… Angie was supposed to know what was going on before she ever saw that fateful headline.
There had been an operational problem the night before and the job hadn't been finished until nearly dawn. Even though Bill and the others hid the fixed up "Sirius" in a nasty back alley it was discovered shortly thereafter and immediately identified.
The process had been complicated. It had involved polyjuice potion and a couple of newly invented charms to complete the task. They had literally altered the body's DNA to match Sirius's and then, using a charm worked out and invented by Fred and George, they had bewitched the body to vaporize in eight hours. Before the officials had even moved the body it had vaporized right under their noses.
There was already talk of the Dark Lord or the mysterious new group of terrorists inventing a new kind of dark magic. At any rate, everything had gone beautifully.
The problem laid in the fact that the news of Sirius Black's "death" had spread within two to three hours of the body's discovery. The Alliance originally had not planned on this happening. In fact, they didn't even realize what had happened for several hours as they had all celebrated intensely as soon as the job had been completed.
When they did discover that the body had already been discovered and that the morning papers had managed to publish a story about it they tried to act immediately. Most of them were still asleep, or badly hung-over.
Sierra had gone to Hogwarts immediately, despite the fact that she was still hung-over and was running on very little sleep. By that time the news had reached the entire world and had descended upon Sirius's unsuspecting friends and relatives.
Sirius came as soon as he woke up…still hung-over as well. But, how could they not have celebrated? They were counting on at least a ten-hour grace period before the news spread… They never expected something like this would happen.
The room had fallen into heavy silence broken only by Kirsten's sniffles. Dumbledore took a long look at each person in the room before he drew a heavy breath and spoke. "I see no point in avoiding the subject," He said, rather as if he did see a point. "We need to decide for sure. Is Angela capable of taking her own life?"
Kirsten literally stopped breathing…as did most people in the room. Sirius locked unblinking eyes with Dumbledore for a split second and then turned slowly to Sierra. Sierra gulped, desperately trying to stop the rise of emotion in her throat. She was the psychiatrist and she'd have to give an answer.
Fighting to keep her voice level, she spoke, "Angie was disturbed but she never did anything specifically that would indicate that she was capable of trying…that…again. Considering her history and her most likely thought process…" She trailed off, biting on her lip fiercely. She made eye contact with Sirius and then shouted at him, "Did you have to leave her that god damn letter!?" She was breaking down now to the horrification of all present. Sirius's eyes slowly closed and he gulped several times, feeling like he was going to be sick.
"If driven to a point of hysteria…anything's possible," Sierra choked out and Sirius winced, his hands slowly rising to cover his face. Kirsten gave a yelp and her face disappeared into Ron's shoulder.
"If Angie did…It's not your fault Sirius," Sierra told him, gaining control of her voice out of the desperate need to voice certain thoughts. "I shouldn't have said that. It wasn't the letter…" she reached for him, but he avoided her comforting touch in a fit of anger…not at her, but at himself.
"To hell it wasn't! You're right, you're all bloody right! The blame is solely on me and I know it!" he shouted, his hands flying away from his face and his eyes opening and blazing furiously.
"That's not true Sirius. Her mind was damaged from years of alcoholism and an addiction to sleeping pills! You know that," Sierra argued helplessly. The four kids stared, horrified, and felt extremely out of place.
"And she would have continued on just fine if I hadn't showed up and confused her…messed her up…it's entirely my fault!"
"Stop it, god damn it!" Sierra screamed, forcefully grasping his wrists. She was completely hysterical. "Her sister was murdered. Her parents were murdered! Her best friends were murdered. You did not mess up Angie, OK? You were the best thing that ever happened to her! Look at me! Sirius!" She desperately held on to him, tears pouring down her face.
He looked up, his eyes bloodshot. "It's not your fault," Sierra whispered. They held eye contact for what seemed like an eternity before Sirius broke down and started crying himself.
Kirsten was still sobbing into Ron's shoulder. The couple desperately held on to each other. Hermione's countenance was ghostlike in appearance and her eyes were huge and unblinking. She was gripping Harry's hand with such force both their knuckles were pure white. Harry wasn't reacting at all…he felt that he was trapped in a surreal nightmare.
Professor McGonagall had begun to silently tear up and Remus felt as if he were going to be sick if this continued any longer. The drama and emotion in the room were unreal. "There's no reason to assume Angie did something drastic…" Remus said, desperately, attempting to rise over the sobs and his own surging feeling of panic. "The furniture was upset disturbingly…the front door open…I'm no detective, but that has all the signs of…well…kidnap."
As if on cue Kirsten stopped sobbing and her head snapped up. It startled Ron so much that he nearly toppled off the desk he was sitting on. Before she could utter a word there was a sharp and desperate knock on the door.
Harry gave the door a look of extreme dislike. It wasn't the door's fault, but the peremptory noise was rude and out of place. Sirius hesitated and then concealed himself in a corner with the invisibility cloak. Hermione was staring at Sierra as if she should have an answer to all her questions…she hadn't even heard the knock for a moment. Remus's eyes were fixed on the invisible Sirius, silently begging him not to do anything stupid. It was Dumbledore who finally took responsibility for the incessant knocking, and gave McGonagall a faint nod. She grabbed a Kleenex she went to the door.
The knocking was endless now, and had become more like an endless stream of bangs. All eyes had turned and focused on that door. The second McGonagall had unlocked the door it flew open and McGonagall jumped to the side as the person on the other side stormed in.
Joshua Thompson, letter in hand, red in the face, and looking like his blood pressure was way above a normal level entered into the room and marched right up to Kirsten, who had risen to meet her "father". He got uncomfortably close to her, but she never took a step back.
He raised his chin and glared down his nose at her, his angry breathing coming out in fierce bursts for a minute. Kirsten did her best to glare back, despite the fact that her eyes were red and stinging from all the crying she'd been doing. She had kept deathly still, waiting for this face off. It would be the culmination of a decade of hatred, suspicion and anger.
Josh raised the parchment clutched in his left hand to her eye level and spoke in measured tones. "What---the hell---is this?"
"An accusation," Kirsten replied with a snap of her teeth. There was almost a growl in her voice, her dark eyes shooting daggers. The two seemed to be completely unaware that there were several others in the room. Each was absorbed in their apparent hatred of one another.
"How you could even have enough insolence, enough---audacity!--- to accuse me of something so—so—there aren't even words!" He shouted, fury bursting from his mouth with each syllable.
"No!" Kirsten shouted. "There aren't even words for your useless pursuit of my mother! You're a malicious, vindictive, greedy, bastard!"
It was a good thing Kirsten was screaming so loudly because Sirius involuntarily said "That's my girl," from his invisible station in the corner. The others, however, were deeply affected by the tension, dreading whatever this would bring.
"There's no way she was having an affair with Lou and you know it!" Kirsten screamed, seemingly from nowhere, "It was you who was sleeping with any whore you could pick up—"
"Shut up you little bitch!" Josh shouted. "That has nothing to do with your unfounded effrontery! I've never been so insulted in my entire life! That you would accuse me of kidnap of a person so utterly meaningless as your mother is absolutely absurd!"
"What is it about you? You are the most despicable, hateful person ever. It's not like you need money. You've just always hated her! I remember you….when you were home… you used to get so upset about the stupidest little things. Everything was always her fault! Never yours! But, you were never home long enough to cause anything anyway!"
"I was out working and providing for my family! I was trying to be a good father!"
"You fucking liar!" Kirsten screamed, her face red and her hands clenched. "A father is someone who loves his family and his daughter. A father is not someone who shows her off when it makes you look good and who locks her away when he wants to be alone. A father in NOT someone who threatens to disown his daughter because she's no longer in a relationship with Harry Potter! You're NOT a father. All you do is try to make people like you. But guess what, you can just stop trying because everyone already knows what a bastard you are!" She probably would have continued screaming, getting redder and redder in the face if Josh hadn't drawn his hand back.
There was a unison sharp intake of breath from the spectators, who were too horrified to react. Kirsten recognized the gesture immediately and fell silent, waiting for the blow. But it never came.
Josh drew back and just as his hand started its forward motion it stopped in mid-air as if he had run into a wall. His face contorted into a look of confusion and all eyes were on the hand. Hermione was the first to react, letting out a squeak as the invisibility cloak slowly slid off of Sirius exposing first one shoulder, then the other until it lay in a small heap at his feet. Remus was cursing Sirius under his breath, but not nearly as vehemently as Dumbledore. Harry took out his stress on Hermione's hand, still entwined in his. Ron, who had been about to jump on Josh himself rather than let him punch his girlfriend, was the only one cheering for Sirius. Sirius's face was set in the most formidable scowl Kirsten had ever seen. His hand clasped tightly around Josh's wrist.
In the lowest rumble of a voice, barely moving his lips, Sirius spoke, "Keep your hands off my daughter."
Kirsten's breath caught in her throat as she nervously looked at Josh. Remus's eyes widened and Dumbledore's eyes fell closed in a weary sign of defeat. For a good thirty seconds the air hung ominously silent as everyone tried to understand that last statement. "Not wise, Black," Josh said with a sneer, finally able to articulate. "Not wise at all. Now I'll have you arrested."
"Shut up!" Sirius warned in that same spine-tingling, threatening voice. Despite himself, Josh flinched.
Then, suddenly, Kirsten's necklace and Angie's ring around Sirius's neck blazed blindingly bright for a split second. Kirsten's necklace had risen up in front of her face but it quickly fell back, heavily, against her chest. She was momentarily winded. Hermione was the first to speak and when she did, it came out as a shriek. "Kirsten, your hair!"
Kirsten jumped. She had forgotten anyone else was in the room. Her eyes looked down where her hair hung over her shoulders but something was definitely wrong with what she saw. The usual blinding blonde was not there. Instead she saw masses of black hair. Kirsten lifted panicked eyes to Dumbledore.
"Angie's magic must be broken," He said calmly.
Sirius turned around to look at his daughter. With the absence of her blonde hair the resemblance between the two was absolutely startling. Ron muttered something as Sirius dropped Josh's wrist in shock.
"Sirius watch out!" Hermione screamed. As usual, she was the observant one…and the surreal surroundings actually sharpened her senses. Her cry of warning had just BARELY given Sirius enough time to narrowly escape the sucker-punch Josh was attempting to bestow upon him. Sierra stood in anger but McGonagall put a resisting hand around her arm. Remus's eyes were snapping with fury but he stayed still, watching Sirius intently, ready at any moment to come to his defense. Kirsten started to fling herself at Josh with a scream of rage but Ron leapt up and dragged her away…if he couldn't punch Josh neither could she. Sirius didn't need any of their help. Automatically and efficiently he retaliated, throwing a well placed punch of his own.
A few moments of chaos ensued as Kirsten finally broke free of
Ron's gasp, Harry jumped up to help Ron and Hermione ran to help McGonagall keep Sierra in check. Remus had stood suddenly and Dumbledore was watching with furious blue eyes. Everyone was talking or yelling at once. Almost instantly they froze as they realized the fight was not going to continue. Josh's head had snapped back and his body fell heavily upon the floor. He was knocked out cold with one punch.
"What does that mean?" Sirius demanded as soon as Josh hit the ground. He turned to Dumbledore. "Angie's magic is broken?" Hermione looked over at him with a mixture of awe and fury. How could he knock a man out with one punch and then continue a conversation as if nothing had happened? Only Harry seemed to have the same thought…everyone else was paying close attention to Dumbledore.
"Death is a possibility…" Dumbledore replied "But it's not the only one," he continued hurriedly as he saw the ashen faces around him. "I wish you hadn't done that Sirius. What in the world do you propose I do with him?"
"What?" Sirius asked, confused by the abrupt change of subject. His eyes went to Sierra who nudged Josh's arm with her toe. "Oh…I dunno. Tie him up and lock him a classroom."
"As tempting as that suggestion is," Dumbledore replied with just a touch of sarcasm, "We are going to have to explain a few things to him eventually. We can't have him going off and trying to get you arrested. Not after your untimely death." Sirius passed an uninterested eye over him and shrugged.
"Kirsten," he said suddenly, reaching a hand to her cheek, his voice suddenly dropping an octave and reaching a more intimate pitch. "You weren't supposed to know about…all those things," He said, glancing at Josh's recumbent form.
"I found the letters today when I was in Mom's room trying to find out where she'd gone…" Sirius was hardly listening as she looked into her eyes and saw himself mirrored there. It was more than the now sable hair and deep brown eyes. He saw his own fear, his own anger, his own love for Angie. He pulled into his daughter an awkward hug.
"We're going to find her," He whispered to Kirsten. She nodded tearfully against his chest, feeling safe in his arms and wishing her mother were just as safe. There was an uncomfortable moment of silence among the rest of them as they eyed the father and daughter wearily. After a moment Kirsten reluctantly pulled away. Dumbledore hadn't heard the conversation, but it must have changed something in Sirius. He stood straight, his countenance grim but determined, and spoke clearly. "All right. If it was kidnap, there had to be a motive. The most obvious thought is someone went to the house looking for me and she got in the way," Sirius said, his eyes locked with Dumbledore's, then slowly traveling over the others. Hermione shivered…she knew he would never give up in this quest to find Angela Star, and the eyes told her he would do anything up to and including murder to have her back.
"No," Kirsten interrupted. "That doesn't make sense. First of all, you're supposed to be dead. And secondly, what would motivate someone to come after you? You're a fugitive…"
"Pettigrew," Remus said, meeting Sirius's angry gaze. The temporary anger between them was completely forgotten in the bond of their common hatred for Peter Pettigrew.
"No," Kirsten interrupted again. "I mean, that has some merit. But what if it has something to do with this?" Kirsten asked, grabbing her necklace and holding it up. "And this…" She said, reaching into her robes. She eagerly pulled out the ring of Hufflepuff.
Harry, Hermione and Ron looked on disbelievingly as she set it on the desk in front of her. With encouragement from Kirsten Ron explained all about his dreams and about the Gryffindor room and how they had discovered the "Z". And Ron produced his own ring, that of Gryffindor.
Kirsten tried to explain about the words she had read and how they discovered that the "Z" had become part of her necklace and the clasp had disappeared. Listening to it, it really was a crazy story, but the teenagers continued, undaunted by the skeptical faces of the adults.
When they had finished, before anyone else could speak, Hermione pulled out her own ring and set it on the desk. Ron and Kirsten looked at her wildly as she explained her discovery of the Ravenclaw room.
There was a profound silence when at last Hermione stopped her seemingly endless description of the room and its contents. "So," Hermione said, feeling uncomfortable in the silence. "That's Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw…but what about Slytherin?"
Harry, who was standing a little behind the others gave a small almost unnoticeable cough but the three in front of him acknowledged it and slowly turned, with wide eyes, to look at him. Sirius felt his eyes widen as his mind, slowed by his anxiety for Angie, made the inevitable connection. McGonagall, Sierra and Remus stared disbelievingly. Dumbledore watched with a hooded expression. Nothing in his expression showed surprise.
Slowly and deliberately Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, produced the fourth ring…the ring of Salazar Slytherin.
All eyes were drawn toward the innocently glinting ring of Slytherin and all that it represented. For a while they all seemed totally absorbed and taken in by it's inspiring power. But eventually more urgent emotions prevailed.
Josh was still unconscious on the floor. Angie was still missing. And somehow Harry had managed to get sacked with another potentially dangerous mystery.
"Now what?" Harry demanded impartially dividing his gaze around the room. His voice snapped them back into action.
"How long has this been going on, first of all?" Sierra asked, looking from Kirsten to Ron. "When did you read from that old piece of parchment Kirsten?" she demanded impatiently when neither replied. Kirsten frowned and looked at Ron, who was also deep in calculation.
"It was before Christmas…" Kirsten said slowly, as if working on a particularly difficult Arithmancy problem.
"Right…because we were attempting to explain to Dumbledore the day we found out Sirius was your father," Ron offered. Harry and Hermione exchanged looks, realizing their best friends had been hiding some major secrets. Neither had known about Kirsten's parental problems.
"And that was at least a week before Christmas." Kirsten replied helpfully completely ignorant of Harry and Hermione in her eagerness to provide information that might lead to finding Angie.
"But the actual event happened before that."
"So that puts us at…the eighteenth…no probably the seventeenth of December." There was a long silence as all the adult brainwaves in the room made simultaneous connections.
"The seventeenth you say?" Sirius asked, his voice sounding a little weaker than he would have liked. Kirsten and Ron nodded.
"We're going to need to know exactly what was on that piece of parchment Kirsten," Dumbledore said quickly.
"It's not there anymore," Ron replied.
"What?" Hermione demanded. Kirsten and Ron were exchanging worried glances.
"We went back to the room right after Christmas while Kerri was here," Kirsten explained, biting her lip. "The parchment was glowing and then it just…burned up."
"Disintegrated," Ron elaborated, his eyes unfocused in the memory. "It was unlike any magic I had ever seen…almost unreal.
"There is one thing we can do then, assuming that these rooms are somehow related to recent events including Angela's disappearance." Dumbledore explained. "There is a spell on your necklace, Kirsten. It is something that I invented and has never been tested. Basically, I do not know how it will work. It is designed to lead you to whatever will solve your crisis. Obviously this is a crisis. We need to find your mother. However, since we do not know most of the situation it is impossible to tell what will result." Kirsten bit her lip and nodded.
"Then I'll go with her," Ron interrupted, placing his arm around her shoulders.
"He means we," Hermione corrected, indicating herself and Harry. Sirius coughed rather loudly and Kirsten's face transformed into a half smile.
"Very well," Dumbledore said.
"But Professor…" Sierra objected vehemently.
"You will be needed here," Dumbledore informed her shortly. "You two as well," He said to McGonagall and Remus before they could protest. "If you would be so kind Remus, I think Holly Mischel's assistance would be great at this time. Now, you four," He said to the teenagers, "I would advise you to take along your rings. Remus will kindly volunteer his wand's assistance for Sirius with the understanding that there would be the deepest apologies if he encounters urgent need for it. Really Sirius, during all the time you spent orchestrating your own murder couldn't you have spared the time to obtain a black market wand?" Sirius rolled his eyes heavenward as Dumbledore continued without stopping, turning back to the younger generation, "And one of you should take this along just in case," he handed Harry a small bag of Floo powder.
"I do not know what you will find. I do not know where you will go. But I realize the futility of trying to stop you. Good luck, and do not forget to summon immediate help. Be careful of Sirius…he's still a very infamous man. I shall see you soon. Now, Kirsten grasp your necklace, you others place a hand on her and repeat after me…"
"Now then, Minerva, kindly locate Severus and request a fairly generous dosage of sedative for Mr. Thompson." Dumbledore said several minutes later. With a brisk nod she left immediately.
"I expect Holly immediately," Remus informed Dumbledore. "No doubt she is at the Ministry trying to soak up all the latest gossip. She is a skillful eavesdropper."
"Very well. Stay here with Mr. Thompson until Minerva returns. I regret having to do this, but… tie him up and lock him in Minerva's office… I'm sure you can manage. I suppose you can use his wand if you need to. Then you two come join us in the library. Come along, Sierra."
They closed down the library, relieved a very indignant looking Madame Pince from her post and began their search in the restricted section. "A pity we can't tell Madame Pince what is going on," Sierra remarked as she wrestled a book back onto it's shelf. "We could really use her help…" Especially since we haven't the faintest idea where to look…or what to look for. Sierra thought bitterly, as she haphazardly chose a book that didn't seem too threatening.
Certainly if there had ever been anything written about secret rooms of the Founders someone ought to know about it. It was highly unlikely that they were going to come across any useful information in this way. How they were ever supposed to find anything even pertaining to the Founders was slightly beyond Sierra's bitter narrow-mindedness.
She had other things to think about at the moment. She had people like her daughter to worry about. And things to wonder about… Sirius was a father? That thought in itself was baffling. It made sense if she thought about it…but still? She shook her head vigorously.
Sierra glanced at Dumbledore and wondered if he could hear her confused thoughts bouncing around inside of her head. He seemed perfectly at ease. His face looked clear of the worry and anxiety that clouded hers. He was methodically but efficiently scanning through books. Every once in a while he'd stop and curl his beard around his finger for a moment and continue in his search.
Presently Remus and Minerva joined them. The time seemed to slow to a snail's pace. Each second seemed stretched out in an agonizing way. After a while Remus came to Sierra's side and they had a hushed conversation. They did a little idle speculating about Sirius and Angie before returning to their books after a glare from McGonagall.
After a while even Minerva was showing signs of restlessness. She'd been glancing at the clock about once every three minutes for quite a while now. Everyone's mind was focused on Sirius and the kids. What were they finding out? Where were they? Was deadly peril staring them in the face at that very moment?
The trip to wherever it was the five of them were going was rather like taking a portkey. They were suddenly staggering for balance as their feet came in contact with the hard forest ground.
It took Sirius's eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness of the close trees but he noticed almost immediately they were one short. "Harry!" He said, much more loudly than he intended. He shrank back from the sound that penetrated the encompassing silence.
"Up here," Harry said, from above, his voice floating down to them. Four heads whipped up to see Harry tangled in a myriad of low branches. He was wiggling a squirming around.
"Harry you're going to—" But Hermione couldn't get the words out fast enough. All at once the sound of the cracking wood filled the air around them and the four scattered as Harry's body came crashing down to meet them. Luckily his fall was broken by four convenient bodies waiting below.
There were groans in the aftermath of the fall while everyone tried to untangle themselves. Hermione had to heal a couple of scratches Harry had received during the fall. But other than that, everyone was no worse off than they had been before.
"Right," Ron said, after Hermione had expertly taken care of Harry. He was a little shaken, although no one was really hurt. It was just…an ill omen, he supposed. Suspicion was a deep-rooted tradition of the Weasley family. "Where are we and what are we going to do?" he wondered aloud.
It was an interesting question. Silence ensued as five pairs of eyes studied the thick trees around them. "This isn't the Forbidden Forest…is it?" Someone asked finally.
"No," Hermione responded. And she would equivocated, probably outlined exactly why it was not the Forbidden Forest, if Sirius hadn't spoken.
"I think we're near the edge of whatever this is. Look there…" He said pointing off to the left where the trees looked thinner and the light seemed to be stronger. He led the way plunging off through the trees and underbrush.
After what seemed like an unnecessary length of time they came to the edge of the forest. They peered out onto dismal grounds. They seemed to be surrounded by ash heaps.
In fact, the land was a lot of gray stone and dust. It all formed the same endless wasteland with the forest ending quite abruptly and in an eerie straight line. Directly in front of them loomed an old dilapidated looking mansion. Eerily, as these things go, the only sign of life came from the thick trickle of swirling smoke coming from the chimney high above them.
Sirius glanced around at the sober faces. "This must be the craziest thing I've ever done…and that includes illegally becoming an animagus," He muttered. "There's nothing to do but waltz right on up and knock," He declared striding out of the protective shadow of the forest and into the dismal gray landscape. The others hurriedly followed him, trying to mirror his confident step. It was impossible. Hermione had a death grip on Harry's arm. Ron groped through the air for a moment before he found Kirsten's hand. He squeezed it tightly and she offered a shaky but brave smile.
When they were all assembled on the imposing porch of this isolated mansion Sirius reached up to the large old knocker on the door. Harry cleared his throat loudly. "Just in case Sirius…I think you'd better be our pet dog…"
Sirius hesitated, weighing the pros and cons of the situation. Then, he took a step back and melted into his canine form. Once that had been done Hermione nodded to Harry who took up the knocker into his hand and let it fall with a dull thud… when nothing happened he did it again.
In the silence that ensued Ron gripped his wand and tried to remember everything he'd ever learned in Dueling Club. The others held their breaths and strained their ears for sound of movement within.
They were rewarded sooner than they expected. The door swung wide and a gaunt little man stood before them. He spoke in a high pitched fast moving voice and kept his chin high, though he was a good foot shorter than Ron. "The man of the house is not in," He told them with an authoritative sniff. "You may however see the understudy in the library if you so desire."
"We so desire," Harry replied…somewhat shocked at the unfolding events. Kirsten swallowed in an effort to remain calm.
"You will follow me please," The man said, turning smartly on his heel and walking briskly down the hallway. Exchanging brief glances they entered into the dark house. The door shut with a snap almost on Sirius's tail and soon they were far out of sight of their only escape.
Quite suddenly they stopped and a door opened on their right and a library opened up before them. It was dark and obviously very old. There were a number of ominous looking things on display. Sirius, in dog form, moved closer to the group and Ron tightened his grip on his wand and on Kirsten's hand as the butler disappeared and the door slammed closed, trapping them inside.
It was a large room; ill-lit with a scattering of floating candles which cast weird shadows around. Hermione let out an involuntary gasp as she spotted the dark mark on a tapestry on the opposite wall.
Her gasp must have alerted the "understudy" to their presence for this person suddenly appeared from behind a rather large armchair in front of them. Almost instantly Sirius was a human again. "Arabella!?" He cried. The name made Harry start. It was more than the suddenness of the exclamation…it was as if he had heard the name before…
She gave a start, froze for a second, and then frowned. "Sirius…?"
"I've been looking for you for three years!"
"F—for me?" She stammered. She caught sight of the four kids and the lines in her frown grew deeper. "How did you find this place?"
They all looked at each other. Explaining how might be a lengthy and difficult process. But what sort of story could they make up?
"Never mind that," Sirius said quickly. "Do you know where Angie is?"
"Angie?" Arabella asked, her eyebrows raising. "Oh…yes, her…you won't find her here. But, how did you get here? Better yet, what are you looking for?"
"Angela," Sirius replied, as if this were obvious. "You know where she is. Tell me."
"Not until you explain to me what's going on. Who let you in?"
"That thin little character."
"You were expected then?" She prompted.
"I rather doubt it," Sirius said.
"Who are they?" Arabella asked. "Come closer," She instructed the four. They did so, stepping into a little pool of light. Harry didn't like the way her eyes slid over each of them, pausing slightly when they came to his scar and finally stopping on Kirsten.
"She looks like you Sirius…" Arabella said her eyes jumping from one to the other. "What is that?" Her hand moved to Kirsten's necklace, which was faintly glowing. Her fingers hovered an inch or so away from the diamonds and then her eyes widened for a moment and her hand dropped. "Slytherin…" She breathed her eyes focused on the necklace.
"Tell me how you got here?" She repeated again, looking at Sirius.
"You know something about that necklace," He said, ignoring her question. He had seen it in her eyes.
"Maybe I do. And maybe I know something about Angela. First, I want to know how you got here." She looked him directly in the eye and he made it a point to break eye contact.
"No occlumency," He said harshly. "We used to be friends. What are you doing here?" Her eyes flashed, no doubt she was getting annoyed at her question going unanswered. "Oh very well," He added hastily. "That necklace brought us here. Angie has gone missing and we're using magic in the necklace to help us find her."
Arabella's eyes narrowed as she contemplated the necklace. She stroked her chin for a moment. "Who is this girl?" She asked, looking at Kirsten.
"My daughter," Sirius replied curtly.
"Angie's too?" Arabella asked, her eyes sparkling with…what?...amusement? Possibly. "Yes, I thought so…Well…that would certainly make sense…" Kirsten resisted the urge to squirm under the strange person's unending gaze. Harry finally made the connection that had been nagging the back of his mind and stared at the woman before him. He could remember as clearly as yesterday Dumbledore telling Sirius to round up "the old crowd"…Arabella Figg had been one of the names mentioned. Was this the same woman?
"What would make sense?" Sirius demanded. "Why don't you answer a few of MY questions? Where have you been? What are you doing? Where are we?" Arabella waved her hand in his face.
"I cannot tell you where you are if you don't already know…You're lucky you found me and not… Well…" She bit her lip and contemplated that necklace again. "You are in a dangerous situation…you know…You're being pursued. You must leave here quickly."
"What do mean? How do you know?" Sirius interjected. Arabella's eyes moved from Sirius to the others.
"Harry Potter?" She questioned with an ominous curl of her lip. She spoke rapidly and softly…to herself, but they could still hear her in the silence of the house. "How did she do it? All grouped together so beautifully…" Her eyes strayed to Sirius again. "And a few extras… That's why he brought in Angie…got the wrong one though…there's a younger."
"What are you talking about?!" Sirius snapped, his patience wearing thin. Arabella ignored him.
"Yes, I knew she wouldn't…of course he is conceited enough to believe…she must know there is a younger…oh he will be so angry… and the Potter boy was a nice touch…I wonder if she knows the other girl is a Mudblood…Oh, it is so deliciously perfect!"
"Tell me what's going on!" Sirius demanded in barking tones. "Who are you? Whom are you working for?"
Arabella laughed, a cold, chilling laugh. "I'm known to the department of mysteries as agent Figg, the younger; I believe my mother lives near you, Potter. But I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention that little fact to my boss…you know him as the Dark Lord. And you may or may not know his associate who is pursuing you ardently, my dear girl," She said, her eyes resting on Kirsten. "I admit, I was somewhat baffled when they brought Angie in… but now that I see you are her daughter and in possession of the key…it makes sense. And Harry…descendant of Slytherin. She'll be after you, be careful."
"She who?" Harry demanded, but his words were efficiently covered by Hermione's scream. Arabella's features froze suddenly and her body turned the color of the dismal gray stone outside. In less than ten seconds she had transformed into a granite statue, frozen in time.
The castle had never loomed so ominously and yet so familiarly before. It was a relief to see colors all around and to feel the lush green grass under one's feet. The group was standing outside Hogwarts, staring nervously at the stony façade.
"Come on Ron," Hermione going on ahead. "Let's use a little Head Girl/Boy power and get a clear path to the hospital wing." Silently Ron let go of Kirsten's hand and disappeared behind the entrance doors as Hermione had just done.
Thirty seconds later Sirius, Harry, Kirsten, and a stone Arabella Figg entered into a deserted entrance hall. When they reached the hospital wing Dumbledore, Remus, Sierra, Holly, Professor McGonagall, and Hermione were already there. Sirius heard the door snap behind him as he awkwardly deposited Arabella.
They all sort of stared for a while, unsure of everything but Dumbledore was naturally the first to speak. "Peculiar," He remarked of Arabella, as if he were talking about the weather. "Tell us what happened please," He requested politely.
There was some confusion as they all attempted to speak at once. Naturally they all deferred to Sirius who outlined the details and conversation so accurately that even Hermione didn't have anything to add.
"Espionage," Remus said, shaking his head disbelievingly.
"Yes," Dumbledore agreed, turning sad eyes upon her petrified face. "And no doubt she had a spell upon her. When she started to betray herself she was petrified."
"It could have been a spell put on her by the Dark Lord," Sierra argued.
"That is also possible," Dumbledore readily agreed.
"She knows what's going on though. How do we undo the magic?" Sirius demanded. Holly Mischel was seized by laughter.
"You must be kidding!" She shrieked around her insane laughter. "Trying to reverse the magic of the Department of Mysteries?! Or…wait, even better, the Dark Lord!? And what's more, whoever put this spell on her now knows that she betrayed herself somehow and no doubt they have a simple way of tracking her." Holly continued with her insane laughter. McGonagall was giving her a severe look. That statement hardly seemed something to laugh at.
"She's right," Sierra agreed.
"That means we don't have much time to find Angie and figure out what's going on," Remus declared.
"Right," Hermione agreed. "So what's our plan of action?"
Slowly, but as one, all eyes turned and settled on Dumbledore. After a moment his eyes rose to look at Sirius. Sirius rose to the occasion, speaking clearly and evenly. "I know where we can get all the information we would ever need about Salazar Slytherin. It's a long shot…but if we find her…" Sirius' voice drifted off into silence as he turned to Harry, his eyes full of unspoken words. "Harry and I will go alone."
For once there were no arguments. Both had adopted that grim, determined set of their jaws. Silently, their shoulders squared, both left the room.
Hermione could feel her heart near explosion pounding in her chest as they made their grim procession out of the room. Somehow, though, she knew not to say anything. There was a deep understanding between the two of them just then, something that she would never be able to comprehend.
After the door had closed, she swallowed slowly. "Where have they gone?" She asked, keeping her voice soft and steady.
It was Remus who replied, grim and toneless. "Godric's Hollow."
Harry didn't speak, though he didn't have the faintest idea what they were about to do or where they were going. Still, he could feel a certain level of unspoken understanding between him and Sirius. His body understood on a level that his mind never could.
When they reached the broom shed Harry handed Sirius his Firebolt and Harry borrowed Ginny's broom. Mounting and following Sirius, Harry reminded himself not to be so hard on Ginny in practice. He hadn't really taken the time to think that her broom didn't handle as easily as his.
The flight wasn't far, and before he knew it, Harry was making a gentle descent. The quaint little cottages in the heart of a quaint little residential neighborhood they had been flying over just thirty seconds ago had completely disappeared.
The landscape was desolate, not a glimpse of green in sight. The sky was gray and the wind was chilled. Sirius stood, facing Harry, wearing a hooded expression. Directly behind him was a gray stone path, that was a little uneven and ended abruptly in two cement steps, missing a large chunk out of one side. The ruins of a large house served as grave markers.
"Harry," Sirius said in a hoarse whisper that was probably a little less steady than he would have liked. "Go up the path, through the front door, and about ten paces down the hall. And start…poking around for a mirror."
Harry felt his eyebrows shoot up as he contemplated the pile of stones over Sirius' shoulder. He would have liked to make a sarcastic remark, or at the very least ask a few more detailed questions. But, somehow, the words stuck in his throat. The place had a reverence about it and Harry couldn't bring himself to disturb it.
Without turning, or looking back, Sirius reached a little ways behind him and held open a small dilapidated gate. With a last glance at Sirius Harry stepped over the threshold and onto the uneven pavement.
Immediately he felt his spine tingle and he felt a little prickle in his scar. Cautiously he proceeded, choosing his footing carefully. His eyes scanned the landscape trying to get a feel for the dimensions of the house. A good distance in front of him he saw what he decided was a heavily decayed chair. As far as he could tell the chair was surrounded by nothing but bare ground. And judging by the debris it seemed to be in the middle of the back yard.
Shrugging, Harry glanced back at Sirius, which still had his back to him. Harry narrowed his eyes as he looked. Sirius stood, his shoulders bowed, and his had still gripping the gate.
Harry turned his attention back to the task at hand. He eyed the rubbish at his feet doubtfully. He was supposed to be looking for a mirror!? Halfheartedly he poked at it with his foot, not really wanting to make any noise. He moved a piece of charred wood and behold!...more charred wood.
Just as Harry was about to question Sirius' sanity he heard something that made him freeze. Muffled, from beneath the rubble, Harry could barely make out the sounds of a voice!
All at once he forgot his reverence and began rapidly shoving and throwing things around. Quite suddenly he saw himself looking up from the rubble and he recoiled sharply and lost his balance.
By the time he had picked himself up again and by the time Sirius—looking rather pale-- had joined him Harry realized that that startling apparition meant he had found the mirror. "Oh Sirius is it you?" Harry looked wildly around trying to see who had said that before he realized that the mirror was talking and Sirius was talking back.
"Yes, it's me," He said, carefully lifting it out of the rubble and wrapping it in his own cloak.
"No! Don't cover me, I want to look at you." Sirius uncovered the glass, which had one very large crack down the center and gazed into it. "What took you so long?" It asked, after a short time.
Confused, Harry was watched the scene. The ends of Sirius' lips curled up just a little, but he didn't answer. "I'm going to take you somewhere warm and safe," He promised, recovering it.
Sirius stood and half-glanced at Harry. He was careful not to make eye contact. Then, he turned and walked very quickly to the road. Stunned with confusion Harry followed after a delayed moment.
At the end of the pavement Harry froze suddenly, his breath caught in his chest, and his vision blacked. Sirius coughed discreetly and Harry was suddenly back in the world again. "Between the two of us--" He was saying, holding the broom in one hand and gesturing to the large mirror with the other.
Harry abruptly cut him off with a nod, mounted his own broom and they were quickly off, back toward the castle. Harry didn't remember anything from the flight back until they landed at the broom shed.
"Harry, you look pale," Sirius said, in a normal voice. Harry was about to respond that he was also pale, but when Harry looked up, Sirius had normal color. He had already completely recovered.
Harry shrugged, and quickly brushed past Sirius. Maybe being away from that grave-like atmosphere was enough for Sirius but it was going to take a Harry a lot more than that to recover.
As he had walked away from the ruined house he suddenly caught a glimpse of old and weathered, but clearly legible letters: THE POTTERS.
Sirius had taken to the house where his parents were killed. Sirius had taken him to the house. Why hadn't Sirius told him they were going to that house? If he had known he was there…
Harry stopped suddenly as he realized he was standing outside the door to the hospital wing, breathing hard, and Sirius was nowhere in sight. Glancing around he opened the door and walked inside.
"Harry!" Hermione shrieked. "Where's Sirius?...Harry…Oh my God! Where's Sirius?!"
"What…? I don't…He's coming…" Harry said vaguely. His mind was still swimming with overwhelming thoughts and he was only dimly aware of his surroundings.
"Is everything OK?" Sierra asked concernedly.
"You're awfully pale, Harry," Ron agreed.
"I'm fine!" Harry insisted, shouting rather more loudly than he intended as he pushed his way past the smothering concernedness.
Soundlessly and discreetly Sirius slipped into the room and carefully laid the mirror on a hospital bed with the same care he would have shown a sick person. He gazed concernedly at Harry too, who was now lost in thought in the corner, but he realized that it wasn't the time to discuss those matters just then.
Dumbledore assisted in the unwrapping of the mirror, who thanked him kindly, and then directed the question/answer/explanation session that followed. "How do you feel?" He asked the mirror politely.
"Oh, I may not be as pleasing to the eye but I'm still in a fit condition. It feels wonderful to reflect light again after so many years of darkness," The mirror confessed candidly.
The rather large audience in the room was transfixed by this talking mirror. Not that they hadn't beheld talking mirrors before. This mirror was different. The way this mirror spoke was more human than not. And to hear the voice without any visible proof of sound was rather eerie.
"Would you be a dear and prop me up so I can see? Ah…now, that's better… Dear me!" The mirror exclaimed and then fell silent. Harry frowned at his own cracked reflection from across the room. "James? Can it be…I thought he had killed you."
Sirius turned the color of glue and his hand went to Sierra's shoulder and gripped it with bruising force. His eyes were fixed in a widened stare of horror.
Harry couldn't bring himself to speak at first, only shake his head and take a few steps closer. "No…" The mirror said slowly and disappointedly. "Those are Lily's eyes…" Harry stopped in his tracks again. "More years than I have realized have past. It's you Harry, isn't it?"
Harry saw his own face, lined with worry and confusion in the mirror. "Yes…" He whispered.
"Oh, child…" The mirror replied sadly and softly. "Why did you not get me sooner?"
Sierra touched Sirius' hand on her shoulder encouragingly. This seemed to give him the strength he needed to find his voice. "I need you to tell me everything you know about Salazar Slytherin."
"Oh surely!" The mirror replied sarcastically. "Come over here where I can see you Sirius Black." Sirius did so and the mirror's voice softened. "Don't look so frightened. Or maybe you look that way because you're so much older than I remember you." Remus' mouth twitched with amusement.
"We need to know about this necklace. Kirsten?" Sirius asked, brushing aside her sentimental remarks and looking to his daughter who joined him in front of the mirror.
"That necklace was destroyed!" The mirror shrieked. "Don't trust her!" The mirror carried on at a pitched worried shriek.
"What!?" Sirius shouted over her. "This is my daughter."
"Not anymore! The necklace is re-forged—"
"What does that mean? Tell us about the necklace," Dumbledore instructed in his calm voice. There were no further sounds, but the mirror face was instantly transformed into a dark scene from centuries ago…
"An old man stood over a cauldron. An eerie green light was coming from it and causing the man to look very scary. At one time the man was probably very handsome and buff, but age had seemed to take it's toll on him. He bent over the cauldron and dipped a glittering diamond necklace in the shape of a 'KZ' into the potion and starting to chant a very strange incantation.
"He continued to place very odd ingredients into the potion. A lock of hair, zirconium, a dagger, a raven claw, badger, a bit of snake scales, and a ring.
"Looking around the rest of the room there was a small girl, timid, and knocked-out bound to a table. The décor was green, Slytherin green, and snakes were all around.
"The man now had his wand pointed at the bubbling cauldron and he was almost shouting the strange spell. A strange light began to rise out of the cauldron and a horrible piercing blood curdling scream filled the air and out of the cauldron rose the shape of a young woman, perfect and fair, except see-through, like a ghost. This woman was screaming like a banshee and suddenly she flew to the girl bound to the table. And flew right inside of her.
"The girl started to shake violently and her appearance changed. Her hair changed to a very fair blonde, long and straight, her lips were a perfect shape and bright red. Her eyes were a brilliant blue and accented by dark eye shadow. Her robes were of the best material and she wore that brilliant diamond necklace around her neck and a ring on her finger.
"This was no longer the innocent girl Salazar Slytherin had kidnapped and had an affair with. This was a perfect mistress he had created."
This girl looked startlingly, exactly, like Kirsten.
Ginny had been wandering around the Great Hall looking for her brother for a VERY long time, with no luck. In fact, she couldn't any of the triumvirate…or perhaps she had better say the awesome foursome since Kirsten had fast become a regular in their group. No flaming red hair, no lightning scars, no glare from Kirsten's lip gloss, not even a gigantic book causing Hermione to look headless.
Ginny stopped and stamped her foot angrily. Sirius Black was dead!! Where the hell were the people she was bursting to talk to? The people who knew he was innocent? And damn it! Why were they being imprisoned in the Great Hall?
As if someone had heard her indignant thoughts Professor Sprout appeared and administered directions to the student body. Don't go outside. Try and stay in the dormitories…don't wander around in the hallways. Follow the directions of the Prefects. Where were the Head Boy and Girl for all of this?
Ginny found herself being swept along by the current of people exiting the Great Hall. She tried to crane her neck to get a glimpse of her brother but to no avail. "There you are," Draco whispered in her ear, startling her and cause her to jump.
She turned around to behold his grinning face, one eyebrow slightly raised. "You startled me," She said, as people walked around them.
"Point for me," Draco replied, taking her hand.
"It's not polite to startle people," Ginny reminded him playfully as he started to lead her in the opposite direction everyone else was going.
"Half a point then," He conceded.
"Where are we going?" Ginny asked, half-jogging to keep up with his pace. Draco turned an offered a mischievous smile in reply. Ginny felt a little thrill run through her as they continued to travel up.
When they arrived outside the top of the astronomy tower Draco stopped abruptly and turned to Ginny with a grin. Upon sight of her it immediately faded and transformed to a frown. He immediately sensed something was amiss. She wasn't herself. That face was blank, her eyes were blank, and the hand he still held was cold.
"Ginny…?" Without a change of expression she turned that blank stare upon him and he felt a cold shiver down his back. Shaking off the odd sensation he tried again. They ascended onto the top of the tower which was decorated with the romantic light of several floating candles.
"I thought you might like to take your mind off a few things," He told her. "Ginny?" He asked, taking both hands now. She blinked, and the sparkle suddenly returned to her eyes.
"Oh Draco!" She exclaimed suddenly. "It's beautiful! Dance with me!" She commanded, leading off. Reluctantly Draco allowed himself to dance. It wasn't that he disliked dancing with Ginny, quite the opposite was the truth. He was, however, reluctant to being distracted.
"What's on your mind?" He asked.
"Only you," She replied dramatically.
"Oh really?" He said skeptically, his eyebrows shooting upward. Her eyes narrowed in a moment of confusion at his response but then she laughed and fell silent.
"Do you ever get afraid, Ginny?" Draco asked.
"Afraid?" She frowned, looking up at him. "Do you?" He nodded solemnly.
"What scares you?" She asked, her eyes shining with amusement.
"Graduation," He replied immediately.
"Oh now really!" Ginny replied. "I'm the one who should be afraid of your graduation. You're the one who is about go out and experience all of life's temptations without me. You don't have a thing to worry about. Go out, get a hell of a job, and make loads of money, so that when I graduate you can make me one rich witch!" Draco laughed at her and rolled his eyes.
"You know…after all the things I've seen. All the evil men I've seen. All the evil things I've seen them do…I'm afraid for you, Ginny. I won't be around next year. I won't be able to protect you. All these new attacks…" He broke off suddenly when he realized he was starting to get a little passionate.
"I will be here in this school next year. You don't have to worry about that," Ginny reminded him.
"What makes you think this school is safe? I know the papers have been limited but more is going on than you realize Ginny! A whole new group of terrorists has come to power. They're unpredictable and highly dangerous…Ginny?" She had suddenly returned to her blank stare and had dropped her arms and turned away from him.
"Ginny, I didn't mean to scare you," He said, reaching out for her. "We have a highly developed magical law enforcement system and I'm sure that we'll be able to bring these people to justice." Ginny spun around, her face still blank but her eyes blazing.
"She is all-powerful! No one can stop her! Zirconia will control the world!"
"I don't even remember her real name, she was some relation to Helga Hufflepuff that he took and made into the image that was in his head," The mirror confessed sadly. "She was his perfect robot. However, the plan back-fired. She wanted her own power and became increasingly demanding and more difficult to control. But, she did have a weakness. Her necklace contained all of her power and all of her being, aside from that ring." She said dismissively before continuing. "Quantities of zirconium actually limit her power. As such, Salazar started to address her as 'Zirconia' to mock her. She was his undoing. He had created a monster."
Kirsten found herself unable to watch the series of pictures that kept appearing on the face of the mirror. She couldn't stand the way every inch of her skin crawled when she laid eyes on the woman who was so uncannily like herself. The others were transfixed, their brain firing at slightly slower speeds as they tried to absorb and comprehend all this new information.
"What!?" Draco cried. "GINNY!" He shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders and giving her a hard shake.
She whimpered and blinked tearfully suddenly clinging to him with a death grip. "Stop me Draco," She choked out. "Stop!" She screamed. Utterly bewildered he watched her in a panic as her face underwent a series of contortions.
All at once she had drawn her wand. She had stopped shaking and was now backing away from him with a sadistic glint in her eye that Draco did not like at all. "Give me the wand Ginny," Draco said, trying to keep his voice steady and reaching his arm slowly for it.
"Get out of my way!" The words came out in a harsh shout.
"Let's talk about this Ginny," Draco said, trying to sound calm. He inched forward, his mind racing trying to understand what was wrong with her. She wasn't herself. She was having a multiple personality attack…she was schizophrenic…
In one fluid and deft movement he lunged forward. A blast of light missed him by inches and the next second he had the wand away from her and she collapsed onto him, in a flurry of sobs. He held onto her and sank slowly to his knees.
"What have I done?" She kept repeating, shaking in his arms. "What have I done?"
"What did you do Ginny?" Draco asked her, trying to lift her chin so he could make eye contact. "Ginny, tell me what's going on. What did you do?"
"No," She cried, shaking her head fiercely and then continued repeating, "What have I done?"
"What did you do Ginny?" Draco persisted, his voice becoming harsher.
"Professor Star…I—NO!"
"GINNY!" Draco roared again, trying to keep a hold of the coherent part of her mind. The color drained from her face and Draco felt his stomach do a nervous flip.
"Pettigrew… Peter Pettigrew… 'Imperio'…then She…She made me do it…"
"The Imperius curse!?" Draco cried. "Ginny! Who made you do it? Ginny! What did you do!?"
"No…NO!" She cried, Draco tightened his grip on her and looked directly into her eyes. "She made me do it," She whimpered, her eyes suddenly filling with tears. "What have I done? I went to her office…her back was to me…I took out my wand…" With a start of alarm Draco dropped his grip and Ginny moved away from him a foot or two.
She was looking at him with that look in her eyes. Eyes that had gone nearly black with that certain spark. The spark he had only ever seen in his father's eyes. He knew he was about to be sick, but then, the spark died and she started to rock back and forth and talk again.
"The Professor started to wake up as Pettigrew and I stored her in the cell at His fortress. She was there. She was pleased. Then I had to come back. I had to get the rings. I had to get Slytherin's heir. She wants it! I did it! I did it! I heard the Professor scream as we walked away. And I let her scream." She collapsed onto the ground.
"Ginny!" Draco cried; he could feel an odd lump in his throat as he saw her colorless face. She was murmuring softly.
"I let her scream, I let her…" Then suddenly, she went very still and Draco's vision became blurred as he frantically searched for a pulse.
Draco shouted a bitter oath, scooped her up and frantically turned in the direction of the hospital wing.
"I don't understand. How did I get the necklace?" Kirsten demanded, cutting through the mirror's horrifying monologue. "My father—" She paused momentarily as she realized her error and then continued. "Bought me this necklace in a muggle jewelry store!" She was shouting for some reason. She wanted to tell everyone that they were making a huge mistake. She wanted to tell everyone that she was a real person, not some crazy creation of Salazar Slytherin's!! The whole thing was ridiculous…so why were they all staring at her?
The hospital wing door suddenly burst open and Draco, red in the face, breathing hard, and awkwardly holding Ginny's limp body filled the doorway. "How did you get in here?" Sierra demanded, blurting out the first thing that came to her mind.
"GINNY!" Ron screamed, running toward the door. "What did you do? What's wrong with her! You bloody—"
"SHUT UP, RON!!" Harry roared, elbowing him aside and helping Draco to lay Ginny's body on the nearest bed. It was obvious to him, even if it wasn't to Ron, that something was going on and that Draco hadn't caused it. Underneath the signs of exertion his pallor was ghost-like and his stare was haunted.
"The Imperius Curse and the Professor and You-Know-Who they—she—" Draco stopped, inhaled heavily and then continued in measured tones. "Somebody help her."
The adults converged on Ginny as one and Draco had calmed down enough to answer their questions with matter-of-fact answers. Once they had ascertained what was wrong with Ginny, Draco turned to Harry, a terrible look on his face and told the rest of the story, about Zirconia and the things that Ginny had said.
"She said she took the Professor to You-Know-Who's fortress."
"Ginny kidnapped Angie?" Remus asked, mostly for clarification of the wild tale. Draco nodded. Everyone turned and stared at the lifeless form lying on the bed. She looked so innocent, just the way Harry had remembered her in second year, when Tom Riddle was slowly sucking the life out of her. But this time she had fought it. She had told Draco what had happened. And she nearly killed herself in the process. Harry felt a roaring surge of hate wash over him. He felt a sudden need for immediate vengeance.
A/N: You didn't believe I could REALLY kill off Sirius did you? I hope not, because trust me, he's a very important part of this story. Well, what a chapter. I liked writing that one. I think I'm going to like the next chapter. It's the BIG one. All this stuff is going to come together.
If the freaky scene with Salazar Slytherin creating his perfect mistress sounds eerily familiar; it's supposed to. I took a direct quote from The Last Laugh. It was toward the end of the book when after it became rather evident that Lily had some sort of Seer powers she dreamt that exact scene. Of course, at that point you're going…what the heck!? But now, now it should make sense. (This is the part where you all say "Ahhhh!")
OK, well, thank you for reading. Hopefully I'll update sooner than I did this time… I've got finals in three weeks though, so I doubt I'll post before a month has past. My deepest apologies.
If you have any questions, comments or anything at all to say, please leave a review and an e-mail address and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Please leave a message after the beep.
Stardust
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