Prologue

Godric's Hollow was a modest village that lay north of Bristol and some miles southeast of Gloucester. In a dark alleyway at the center of town two hooded figures suddenly appeared, had any passer-by's seen they would have been shocked at such a bizarre sight. Luckily, it was nearing midnight and the inhabitants of the village lay abed untroubled by such things. The two forms passed unnoticed through the town, reaching a street corner by the name of Godric's Grove they stopped. There, they stood outside a simple picket fence surrounding a more ancient dwelling then the modern brick houses upon the rest of the street. In the yard, a single immense oak tree stood alone while fern encircled the old house and potted plants sat below windows.

It was Halloween night, and the Dark Lord had not set out unaccompanied but with a Death Eater. A single Death Eater unique from the rest, only but for the difference in the pale white mask ordinarily worn. This Death Eater's mask was of silver.

"My lord," the Silver Death Eater spoke," is it wise to trust this traitorous Wormtail? It could easily be a trap."

"Then it would be you at fault, just as much as Wormtail. You, who have kept watch over Dumbledore and his foolish Order," the tall cloaked figure of Lord Voldemort said coldly.

To that, the Silver Death Eater had no reply, but to follow his master into the Potter's home. Standing in the threshold he watched the Dark Lord kill James Potter easily, a malevolent smile stretched upon his face. Once inside, he could hear Voldemort cornering Lily Potter in another room, her pleas of mercy echoed throughout the house. The Silver Death Eater knelt to survey the body of James Potter, when his eye caught a shimmer of magic outlining the wall.

"Specialis Revelio!" he said brandishing his wand at the wall, and a small room became visible.

Inside, nothing could prepare him for the sight of a girl-child in a crib. He took her out, knowing he would be repaid greatly for his services. The Silver Death Eater walked to the room where Lily Potter lay dead at the foot of her son's crib, the Dark Lord laughing.

"Master," he called out and held up his arms with the sleeping baby girl. Lord Voldemort looked at him, saw what lay in his arms and smiled harshly.

"What an unexpected surprise! Dumbledore thought to keep her secret. I believe, not even the Potter's closest friends knew of her existence. I had never dreamed of such a delightful occurrence."

"What shall I do with her, master?"

"We will take part in Dumbledore's game of her nonexistence," Voldemort's voice mocking. "She will be no more, she will become my servant, a true example of my power. Hand her to me."

The child was passed to the Dark Lord's awaiting hands. His wand pointed towards his chest, Voldemort spoke an incantation-

"Per caedes vir. Ego ago partis spiritus. Scindo animus! Ex somes! "

From these words the Silver Death Eater began to feel blood rushing to his head, a sound so terrible filled his ears that he wished only to cover them, but knew it would resound inside his mind. As he watched the spell be cast, he saw to his very horror, a shinning orb that contained blood red, flickering lightning appear. It hovered in front of Voldemort's robes level to his chest, then slowly descended on the girl-child. The orb touched the baby and absorbed into nothing, the pressure and the dreadful noise stopping abruptly.

"Take her back to the fortress, destroy her room, and tell no one of finding her. Her brother's song of life sadly ends here." Voldemort gestured to the baby in the crib that cried out for his dead mother.

The Silver Death Eater took the girl in his arms, turned and left the room. He cast fire into her room with his wand and vanished out the front door. Hundreds of miles away just outside a dense forest, he apparated with the bundle near the gates of an aged tower. A thick fog had surrounded him, a chill crept along his back, and tall dark shapes closed in around him.

"On the Dark Lord's order, let me pass," the he said to the Dementors.

The creatures recognized the command and parted for him. At the gates the Silver Death Eater waved his wand over his left forearm, a thin cut becoming visible. Blood began rushing from the fresh wound as he placed it against the gate. A moment passed and the gates glowed silver, opening to admit him. Through the gates he proceeded, reaching a moat at the bottom of the tower, he stared into the black surface for a time noticing how still it was. Then, a flash of white, a body floating beneath the water told him the guardians of the moat were still active.

"Pons Patefacio!" he said, pointing his wand at the drawbridge. It lowered itself slowly, the hinges and chains creaking and groaning with age.

The Silver Death Eater reached the entry hall. It was cold, dark and empty. He went to the staircase, walked up several flights of twisting stairs, and passed many closed doors. Finally he came to a door that opened into a large curtained room, dimly lit with candles. A lone throne-like chair sat upon a dais, he went past it to the tapestry behind. Pulling it aside he revealed a door hidden behind the tapestry. Up a small set of stairs and he was in topmost room of the tower.

The Silver Death Eater took off his mask and looked down to inspect his charge. The baby was awake, but silent. Her large eyes a mixture of brown and gray almost seemed to be looking him over as well. He conjured up a crib and laid her in it. It was then he that he noticed a small, thin pink line on her chest. A scar. It was even to where her little heart should be beating below it.

He couldn't stand it, a child. He thought wildly- What was he to do with a child? He almost wished the Dark Lord had killed her and been done with it. He looked up from the crib and caught his own reflection in an age-spotted mirror hanging on the wall. Severus Snape stared back at his reflection for what he thought was hours, perhaps days even. Coming out of his trance-like state he raised his wand and cast a spell, cracking the mirror and his reflection into dozens.

Chapter One

The Queen of Wands

Having just Apparated, Draco slowly opened his eyes, hoping he was completely there and not missing any body parts. It was his third time to Apparate successfully, but never had he tried such a great distance as now. He looked down, and saw to great relief, his body was intact and whole.

Draco studied his surroundings, he stood just outside a deep forest and behind him lay a fortress made up of a large spiraling tower. To his left, Draco saw the brother and sister Death Eaters, Amycus and Alecto Carrows. Next to them was the large blonde Death Eater, Yaxley. Two more people Apparated on his right, it was the werewolf Greyback, and the black hair, brutal faced Death Eater, Jugson.

"Where's Snape?" Draco asked curious and alarmed all the same.

"Dealing with Potter I expect," Yaxley replied. "He wouldn't let me have any fun, stopped me using the Cruciatus Curse on him."

Suddenly Snape was there. He was cursing under his breath and it was no wonder, for he was bleeding heavily from cuts on his face. He started healing them with his wand, muttering the spell the wounds began to knit themselves closed.

"Don't tell me Potter got the better of you, Snape?" said Aletco, unable to hide amusement in his voice.

"It was that wretched hippogriff of Hagrid's, if you must know," he said, finished healing his wounds.

"Well, I must admit Snape, you gave us quite a surprise by coming through like that and killing Dumbledore. Bellatrix owes me seven Galleons, she didn't think you could do it." Amycus said with a wheezy giggle.

Snape ignored her and walked off; Draco followed him closely while the others hurried to catch up. He led Draco and the Death Eater's to a set of tall gates further ahead. Snape touched the gate with a bloody sleeve from his robes. Seconds later the gates glowed and opened for them. Draco looked more closely at the tower they were approaching, while a sense of forbidding crept into him. He knew what lay in store for him inside.

When they reached the moat, Jugson silently cast the spell that lowered the drawbridge. At first, Draco thought the moat was merely empty, but stopped halfway across the drawbridge. He was staring at a body floating in the black, still water. The Inferius's open eyes were a misty gray. Suddenly, Draco realized someone was pulling at his arm.

"Do not touch the water, Draco, and the Inferi will not rise. Come along, the Dark Lord does not like to be kept waiting," commanded Snape, tugging at Draco's arm again.

The inside of the tower was as he expected, completely unwelcoming. The opening hall smelled musty, it was somberly furnished and poorly lit. The group went up a wide staircase, Greyback separated from them on the second floor, Draco suspected it was to give orders to his werewolves. Finally reaching what he thought to be the top floor they entered a hallway with a single vast door.

Jugson opened the door to a large black curtained room, with only a small branch of candles at the center to illuminate it. Inside the room Death Eaters stood in a half circle. Draco recognized his mother, his aunt Bellatrix, his two uncles and the rest he knew only vaguely.

Draco saw the Dark Lord sitting in a black velvet, throne-like chair upon a raised platform. Behind him was a large black tapestry with a silver serpent, and to the right hung a cracked mirror. He was unable to look for very long at the hooded face of the Lord Voldemort. For one, Draco feared he would penetrate his mind and thoughts. The other reasons were because those snakelike features was too terrible to look at, and he sometimes thought those scarlet eyes would burn holes right through him.

"Severus, your report," said Voldemort's high cold voice.

Snape stood before the Dark Lord, and began, leading up to Albus Dumbledore's death on top the Astronomy tower. Draco could not help but feel a hot rush of rage towards Snape. Then he felt ashamed, he had not been able to complete the job assigned to him and kill Dumbledore.

"Ah, Severus," said Voldemort softly. "I know there were many whom doubted you amongst the Death Eaters, but such a way to prove yourself, killing Dumbledore. You have earned Lord Voldemort's gratitude."

The surrounding Death Eaters stood still at the remark made about them. The Dark Lord allowed the silence to grow heavy, and then there was a shuffling movement, Draco noted from where his aunt Bellatrix stood.

"Where is Gibbon?" Voldemort asked sharply.

"Dead. A killing curse of Yaxley's hit him accidentally," Snape said.

"Yaxley," the enormous blond Death Eater came forward to kneel before Voldemort. "You're reckless action has cost us. You must learn to contain yourself and limit your spell-casting. Is that clear?"

"Yes, my lord," he spoke quietly, then walked back to the half circle of Death Eaters.

"Draco," Voldemort called him forth, slit eyes watching him as he stepped out of the Death Eaters semi-circle. Draco knelt quickly at the center of the candlelit floor. He knew what was coming.

"Master…?" he said hesitantly.

"I set this task for you alone, to prove yourself worthy… and you have failed me, just as your father failed me," Voldemort's eyes burned. "Had Severus not come to fulfill his duty I would be very displeased. You disappoint me, and have cost me a spy at Hogwarts. I do not tolerate failure, Draco. Crucio!"

Draco felt his legs give way and he collapsed onto the floor, screaming in pain. He knew he could not escape this torture, as searing agony engulfed him. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped.

"Severus," the Dark Lord called, ending the curse on Draco. "It is time. Bring her."

Snape's eyes grew wide in surprise. The other Death Eaters muttered under their breath, wondering whom he meant.

"My Lord, is now —" Snape began softly.

"Do not contradict me. Bring her. I shall not ask again." Voldemort's cold voice raised in anger.

Snape disappeared behind the tapestry in back of Voldemort's chair. He returned some minutes later, followed by a young witch with dark hair. She stood on the dais, to the left of Voldemort's chair, a blank expression on her face. The Dark Lord stood and grasped her hand bringing her closer to the Death Eaters. Draco was both horrified and in awe to see she was able to look fully at the Dark Lord and smile.

"My friends, allow me to introduce you all to the Harry Potter's sister. " Voldemort proclaimed. "Trista, meet your fellow Death Eaters."

The Dark Lord's news seemed to have stunned the Death Eaters into silence. Then, slowly they began to stir, eyes darting sideways at one another, searching for signs that others knew of this. The first to recover from the startling revelation was Draco's aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Master, we must know…when… how did this come into passing? We were to understand… that is, we thought, the Potters only had one child, Harry Potter. How is it no one knows of this… girl?" she spat the last word out as if it were a curse.

"We are to thank the late Albus Dumbledore for that," said Voldemort with a cruel smile on his thin lips. "She was hidden from society and later believed dead. Severus has helped to raise her, that is why he remains my most trusted, most loyal."

"But what use is she to us? Why is she here, and alive for that matter?" Bellatrix demanded, glaring icily at Trista.

"She is to be my emissary, my eyes and ears at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A new spy is needed at the school. Draco, I am giving you another chance; Trista needs to know any information about Potter and knowledge of the school you have, should it prove useful to her."

"Yes, my Lord." Draco muttered.

"How will she go unnoticed? She will be a new student when so many students already know each other closely," Amycus voiced.

"I believe I can answer that," Snape said lazily. "Minerva McGonagall, the new headmistress, will appeal to the other wizarding schools: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. They will try and band together, no doubt. Many will wish to leave Hogwarts, they will enter transfer programs with those schools. Trista will be hidden amidst the ones that transfer to Hogwarts.

"But what—" Bellatrix began to argue.

"The matter is settled, Bella," said Voldemort dangerously. "You are all dismissed. I must go and speak with Greyback and the rest of his pack about patrols." The Death Eaters filed out of the curtained room. Draco was almost out the door, when someone grabbed his arm.

He turned, and his gaze met the coldest brown-gray eyes he had ever seen. Trista let go of him quickly. She gestured silently for him to follow her behind the tapestry. They went up a small set of stairs that led into the top-most room of the tower.

This room was better lit then the one below and seemed larger without any black curtains on the walls. A four-poster bed was on one side of the room, and wardrobe to the left, there was a large bookcase that took up a lot of space and a table under a window. A barn owl perched on the window next to the table its eyes seemed to be following Draco as he walked into the room. Another door on the opposite wall led to a privy, and a trapdoor on the ceiling, led most likely to the roof of the tower.

Draco turned and looked at Trista fully. She wore velvet robes of black with silver lining on the hem. She was an inch or two shorter then he, with a willowy frame about her. He looked her in the eyes again and saw that her cool hazel-gray ones examined him in the same manner. Trista's eyes were different from her brothers, he recalled Potter's were green. Her eyes were a mixture of brown, gray and bits of green. Her face was pale from lack of sunlight, probably from being kept hidden, Draco reminded himself. He looked closely for resemblance between her and Potter. The dark hair was the same, although she seemed able to control hers, it was cut just above the shoulder. The nose was a bit like her brothers as well, but the rest of her… she was her own self, little trace of her relation to Potter showed.

Draco smirked slightly, Harry Potter's sister. How ironic, she would be her own brother's downfall. He realized quite suddenly that she was staring at him with a piercing gaze. It unnerved him to be looked at in this way, by a half-blood none the least.

For the first time that he could remember a girl was unsettling him. He thought it must be because she was so unlike her glorified brother, because she so quiet, whereas Potter's actions demanded attention and uproar. Draco felt his discomfort began to grow stronger, so he turned away from her to look out of the tower window. The sky was covered in thick black clouds; he could see the forest beyond, illuminated by flashes of lightning.

Trista sat down at the small table, pulling out a deck of tarot cards from thin air it seemed. She shuffled the cards carelessly. Drawing a card she looked at, and shuffled it back into the deck again. When Trista drew another card, she frowned and set the cards down.

The owl perched on the near-by window flew towards her. When it landed on the table, the owl changed shape with a faint popping sound. Draco stared, his mouth hanging wide open in surprise. What had just been a barn owl was now a calico cat sitting on top the table, beside Trista.

"Well?" Trista demanded, not noticing Draco's astonishment over the cat. "Aren't you going to report?"

Draco jerked sharply out of his thoughts, alarmed at being addressed in this manner.

"I need information about the school and Potter," she said calmly, as though reminding him.

"Right, Harry Potter, er…" Draco thought for a moment, because when it came down to it, he didn't really know Potter. "Well, he walks around Hogwarts as though he owns the place, just because he has that stupid scar. People flock around him wanting to take pictures and have him sign autographs. He was going out with the blood-traitor Weasley girl. And he always has the other Weasley near-by, not to mention the mudblood Granger girl…" Draco voice died out when he saw the blank look Trista was giving him.

Trista said nothing for a minute. Silence spread into the open air between them, Draco was reminded greatly of how the Dark Lord earlier had done something similar to this.

"Are you quite finished now? I did not need an overview of your biased opinion," Trista said curtly. "What I do need are the facts, pure and simple. Which classes is he taking, who are his friends, and what House is he in? What are the easiest ways in and out of the castle, and what hidden passages can you tell me about?"

Draco realized this was a much easier task. He began by telling Trista of Potter's Invisibility cloak, the same classes they had taken and information about the teachers. He told her about the Room of Requirement, explained the four houses and where their common rooms were.

Snape strode into the room interrupting Draco.

"Ollivander is ready, come, both of you," Snape said, his expression reveling nothing.

They walked down the stairs and out from behind the tapestry, passing through the now empty curtained room. Down depths of stairs they traveled, into the tower's ominous dungeons. The three stopped outside a door, screams coming from within. Snape opened it to reveal an elderly man in ragged robes, huddled in the corner of a dank cell. Two Death Eaters stood above him; they looked up from the cowering man, and moved aside to make room.

"Now, Ollivander, tell us," Snape said fiercely. "Is the wand ready and suitable?"

"Oh, yes. Yes! It is done exactly as the Dark Lord wished," fear in his voice, the man could not stop flinching. "Ten and a half inches, hazel. It…it took longer with such a difficult core…." His silvery gaze was on the outstretched hand of a Death Eater holding the wand described.

Trista walked forward and snatched the wand from the Death Eater's grasp. She caressed it softly, then raised it to point at Ollivander

"Thank you for my new wand," Trista said dispassionately. "Crucio!"

Ollivander shrieked in torment, until Trista ceased the curse. Her face now held a look of disgust. She tossed something in front of the shuddering man and turned to leave the dungeon.

"Pathetic," Trista said shortly, brushing past Draco.

Draco looked at the floor. He stared at the object she had left in front of the pitiful, sobbing man. It was a tarot card from the deck Trista had held earlier. The Queen of Wands lay in front of the renowned, now broken wandmaker.