By Lady Lestrange
Chapter 23
Twisted Twins
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter characters and previous situations belong to JK Rowlings. No infringement is meant or implied. No money is made from this Fanfic. Thanks JK.
--Lady Lestrange
Special thanks to my beta, ennui de mort who always does such a good job being my extra muse as well as proofreading, moral support and just plain fun.
15 reviews: I really hate blackmailing you into reviewing, but hey, I'm a Slytherin. It's in my nature, so when there are 15 reviews for this chapter, the next one will magically appear. Love my readers and reviewers. Answers to the reviews follow the story.
(A/N: I've been reading a number of fanfics in installments like this one myself, and find it is sometimes hard to remember exactly what has happened before-In a fic as complex as this one is, I thought having a reminder may be helpful for you. If you want to skip it, just page down.)
Up to this Point: Alternate 5th year book. Voldemort was uncertain which was the prophecy child, Samara or Ginny so he kidnapped them both. Beatrice made a mad dash after them in her animagus form. She has been since crucioed and rescued and returned to Hogwarts still in her bunny animagus form.
Harry, Ron and Hermione struggle to figure out how the prophecy might aid them. The trio travels to Hermione's house, Samara's house, the Riddle house and eventually the Snow Castle in search of the girls.
Ginny, who has a Dark Mark, is torn between the visions of Tom in her head and what to do to stay safe from Voldemort at the Snow Castle. Snape is an unexpected help to her.
Voldemort meanwhile has some unpleasant Christmas surprises in store for Harry and Neville. Neville's grandmother ends up in the hospital and the Dursley's are dead, leaving Snape as Harry's guardian.
Back at Hogwarts, the trio tries to ascertain how they will save the girls. They enlist Draco and Lauren's help.
Voldemort has some trouble within the ranks and sends Ethan to learn with Narcissa and Gloria. Meanwhile, the trio works out some differences with Draco, and miss a chance to save the girls. Now, Snape gives some timely advice and Harry invites Neville to their little planning gatherings, which ends in an altercation between Neville and Draco.
Voldemort sets his plans in motion by giving Samara the Dark Mark, but she is far from defeated by this. Ginny on the other hand is ready to give in to save her family. The plot continues as Volemort sets family members upon family members in a quest to destroy all who might thwart him.
Meanwhile, Harry considers the meaning of curcio and tries to puzzle out what Voldemort is doing by reading his scar pangs.
For further discussion, visit: YAHOO GROUPS, TheSeersTruth
And now, on to the story…
Twisted TwinsHarry had just come back from the library and settled himself in the common room with Beatrice and the last of his DADA homework. He had taken off his outdoor robes and loosened his tie while he talked to Beatrice. He flung the robe over a nearby chair and gathered Beatrice onto his lap. Ron and Hermione had taken the path by the lake and were not back from their walk from the library yet, Nonetheless, Harry was not alone in the Common room. Fred and Angelina were sprawled across several chairs supposedly doing homework, between kisses. A couple of second years were playing exploding snap at the table in front of the fire.
Beatrice twitched her nose at Harry and regarded him with solemn brown eyes. The people at St. Mungos had said that it would make her most comfortable to be in her normal routine, and although only one in a hundred animagi recovered from being forced by a spell to stay in their animagus form. If she were going to recover, she would do so in the quiet company of her friends or family.
Since her muggle mother had a nervous breakdown and was in a hospital herself, Dumbledore had suggested that Beatrice come back to school. She went to classes with her friends, but nothing seemed to interest her except carrots and fruit. Nonetheless, Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors tried to talk to her as if she were a witch and not a rabbit. It was sometimes difficult not to cuddle her like a bunny though. All of the Gryffindors were guilty of taking liberties that they probably would not have done if she were in a witch form instead of a bunny. Harry had settled the bunny on his lap, curled against one arm as he held his book in his lap beside her and turned the pages with the other hand.
"Four feet of parchment on the crucio curse," complained Harry. "Snape is such a sadistic git. There isn't that much to say about the stupid spell. I looked through every book I could find too. There's even some kind of ritual to transfer magic through the pain. It's ghastly. Who needs to know this stuff? I know I'm not writing about that." He petted the bunny absently for a moment. "You know, Beatrice, if you ever get your form back, the bastard will probably want to you to do extra work for being late to turn it in." Beatrice looked up at him with sad brown eyes as if just for a moment she understood, and then the moment was gone. "Let's see, I still need another foot," Harry muttered. "I can't write any bigger." He began to read out loud to Beatrice, and then he recapped. "I have that the spell is propelled by hate and you have to want someone to suffer for it to work. I have that it makes you feel as if you are dying from whatever the chosen pain is. I have as many different forms listed as I could think of—You know there's a book that lists them." Harry shivered. "It's in the restricted section and I don't think I would open it again by choice even if I got top marks for my research." Harry remembered Snape and Dumbledore talking in the library. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
"I got this animagus book instead," said Harry. He held it up and Beatrice sniffed it curiously. "Who knows maybe it will have something about animagi who transformed back to their wizard self after crucio. There's a whole chapter about animagi and curses." Harry lapsed into silent reading. The text was exceedingly depressing listing pages of animagi who were stuck in their animagus form by spells a lot less debilitating than curcio, but what all of them had in common was that aside from curcios, they were all life threatening. One wizard, amidst dueling, had changed into a cat to avoid a sectum spell, but the spell hit anyway, cutting the cat severely. The medi withes were able to stop the bleeding, but the witch never left her cat form. She died as a cat seventeen years later.
What interested Harry was that some of the animagi who were stuck as animals had not experienced a magical spell at all. He pulled these ones out of the writing, taking notes on their similarities. A wolf was shot by Muggles and although the bullet was removed and the wolf lived he did not change back to a wizard. An antelope failed to outrun a lion and was rescued by wizards Apparating to the site but she did not return to her witch form. A dog fell into swift water and nearly drown. These were not caused by spells. They were caused by the wizard's belief that they had died. However, the book stated: Since the whole purpose of crucio is to make the wizard think that he is dying from that particular pain, it is unlikely that any animagi can come back from a crucio induced animagi form, since it is the animagi's belief that they have died which sets the spell.
Harry sighed. "What did he do to you?" Harry wondered aloud, thinking of the crucio that Voldemort had loosed on him. It had been fire. Harry rubbed his scar absently. It was burning now.
Harry had always been afraid of fire before he learned he was a wizard. Aunt Petunia had once caught a pan of oil on the stove on fire and he had been locked under the stairs. He remembered panicking with the smell of smoke. It was a minor fire, but after that, when the Dursley's locked him under the stairs, he was always afraid that the house would catch on fire and no one would let him out. After he learned he was a wizard, he realized that alohomora would open the Muggle lock easily. Surely the Ministry would forgive him for using underage magic if his house was on fire, he thought. Harry bit his lip wondering in retrospect if he had known the house would burn—burnt down by Voldemort and His Death Eaters. Had he in some way seen it? Could he have warned Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon? He decided even if he did warn them, they wouldn't have listened to him. No regrets. He thought about Rowena Ravenclaw and her ideas about magic. As Beatrice small nose tickled his hand, he consciously tried to let go of the feelings that it was somehow his fault. Nonetheless, he kept coming back to that, with Cedric.
"I wonder how Voldemort seemed to know to use the fire crucio," Harry said. "I wonder if he picked that fear right out of my head or if it was just coincidence that Voldemort chose fire. What do you think, Beatrice? How did it happen for you? What were you afraid of?" Harry asked softly, "Because he would know with that damned legilimency, and that's what he would choose. He would use the fear as well as the pain."
The bunny struggled out from underneath Harry's petting and hopped to the floor. "Are you hungry?" Harry asked. "I have some apples in my room."
He stood, stretching and gathering up his books as his scar stung with more ferocity than earlier. He's planning something, thought Harry who had begun to try to categorized the pain in his scar even though there really was no way to check it. Suddenly the pain flared feeling eerily familiar, the touch of fire that he had been thinking of. The magic was unmistakably Voldemort. Harry knew it with absolute certainty, but it was not Voldemort crucioing someone. No, he was not angry, he was almost playful, hopeful, the roar of wind was in Harry's ears mixing with the fire, and then a flash of fear, almost missed. Fear? Thought Harry. Where did that come from? What was Voldemort afraid of?
"(Hisssusss!)" muttered Shesha, but Harry hushed her, trying against all advice to stay connected to Voldemort, to find out what it was he had planned.
And then the fear was gone and Voldemort was triumphant, almost tender, as if he had license to be magnanimous now. The magic shared in his spell, Harry recognized. It was Samara. The burning and dizziness was familiar, and Harry remembered the feeling from when Ginny got her Dark Mark. He knew what had happened. He had given Samara the Dark Mark. The pain of the thought alone almost undid Harry, and tears sprang to his eyes. "No," he muttered.
"(Master is upset,)" hissed Shesha. "(Bitemate is well.)"
"(That's nice to know,)" hissed Harry, and Shesha went back to her dozing on his arm, and then pain sliced through him again in the form of Voldemort's repressed anger. What the hell was he angry about now? Wondered Harry as he laid his head wearily on his book. Beatrice hopped back up beside him and that is how Ron and Hermione found him.
Voldemort was not displeased that Carman had come to him with her request. He was quite glad that Ethan and Edward were ready for the task. He smiled as he followed Ethan and Edward into Nymphadora Tonk's flat. Voldemort was, of course, invisible. Due to the fact that his snake metabolism no longer was compatible with an invisibility potion, he was reduced to using a Cloak. He could have also used a charm, but then he would have had to finite incantum the invisibility to cast a spell. He thought that might take too long if the boys needed assistance, considering the speed at which the woman morphed.
Carman assured him that Ethan and Edward were ready for this, and he liked the boys, but they were untried. It was entirely possible that they would panic.
He slipped like a wraith to a corner near the fire. Thinking that he should disable the floo, but this was Ethan and Edward's assignment. He restrained himself from interfering. He would only watch, unless of course, they failed.
"Aunt Nymphadora," said Edward worriedly, "Mother wants custody of us." Although Voldemort knew that Ethan and Edward were actually Nymphadora's cousins, and not her nephews, he had agreed with Carman that calling her Aunt would help to emphasize the fact that her cousins were younger and more vulnerable than she was.
"We didn't know who to go to," said Ethan, magic crackling at his fingertips. Edward grabbed his brother's hand and sucked off the excess magic, as he spoke. "You're the only family we can trust. Thanks for seeing us."
"Of course," said Nymphadora. "Whatever Carman and Valeriana do, you are still family."
"Good," thought Voldemort. "She at least had that priority straight." He wanted very much to touch her; to make her mind give up its secrets, but he controlled himself.
Edward breathed as sigh of relief and paced before the fire. "Can I extinguish that?" he asked. "I'm smothering." Beads of sweat actually dotted his brow. Or was that water Elemental? Wondered Voldemort. The boy was quite the actor. He was glad he had chosen him to enter Gryffindor when the Sorting Hat failed. He didn't think Ethan could have handled it. "I guess, I'm just nervous," said Edward.
"Of course," said Nymphadora, her own hair fluttering from pink to white and back again as she seated herself at the table. "I was just going to have tea. Won't you join me?"
And with a casual wave of his wand, Edward extinguished the fire, shutting down the floo.
"Leave the embers," said Nymphadora, ever the auror, reopening the floo.
"Oh, sorry," said Edward as he seated himself at the table. "I didn't think."
"Mother thinks the Dark Lord is the savior of the wizarding world," said Ethan.
"And you don't?" asked Nymphadora, as she calmly poured the tea.. Even from this distance, Voldemort could feel the hunger in her to recruit them to the side of Light, to take from Valeriana her sons, the very same thing that the sisters had done when they took Nymphadora's mother from her. She may be an auror and a Gryffindor, but the Slytherin in her background still shone through. She was plotting almost as fast as he and the twins had been. Perhaps this was too much for the boys. He began to regret his promise to Carman to allow them free rein.
"So you think that boot licking for the Snake man isn't your cup of tea, do you?" she asked with a giggle that sounded so much like Valeriana, that Voldemort was able to ignore the content of the comment. Nonetheless, he thought, she would pay for that comment, no matter which side of the war she came out on.
"Which part don't you agree with," wondered Tom. "The boot licking or the Snake man?"
Voldemort ignored the annoying voice in his head concentrating on the matter at hand, Nymphadora Tonks..
"Well, sort of," agreed Edward. "I mean, I don't think Slytherins are meant to kiss anyone's robes. It's not in our nature is it? We're prouder than that. We all have pureblood back hundreds of generations, back until before the rift, why should we bow to a half blood, even if he is the Dark Lord."
Voldemort clenched his hand over the magic that threatened to escape.
"Go ahead, curse him," urged Tom. "The little prick should know better than to say something like that, even if he thinks you aren't listening."
Voldemort stilled his hand. There would be time for punishments later—lots of time.
"I've never put that much stock in blood," said Nymphadora taking a sip from her tea. "I've always thought it's the decisions you make that make you the wizard or witch you are."
"A quote direct from Dumbledore," said Edward.
"Yes, it is," said Nymphadora. "He is a very wise man."
"Maybe he used to be," said Edward toying absently with his spoon.
"What do you mean?"
Edward stilled and looked up at her. "He's senile," he remarked.
"He put Samara in the Chamber of Chains," added Ethan. "She could be the Prophecy Child and she had to come to the Dark Lord asking for asylum."
"Asylum? From Voldemort? You're kidding?" said Nymphadora.
"And if Samara isn't the Prophecy child, it's Virginia, and she's with him too," said Edward.
Voldemort noted that Nymphadora said nothing about who the Prophecy child was and apparently she knew about Dumbledore putting Samara in the Chamber of Chains and that was all right with her.
Why? Voldemort wondered. Nymphadora was on the side of Light. She didn't believe in such punishments. Could it be Dumbledore expected the Prophecy Child's power to be equal to the room? The magic wasn't strong enough anymore. No one could conquer it now. It was no longer Godric's Chamber of Heroes. It was a prison.
"No," said Edward. "We're not kidding. If the Prophecy Child is with the Dark Lord, how can we not be? How can any of us not be? Doesn't the Prophecy say the side she is on will win?"
"I want to win," said Ethan. "I've seen Carman when she's come back from Him," he added softly, thinking about her most recent visit with the Dark Lord. "If we're on His side," continued Ethan, "and we do what we are supposed to, we should be safe, shouldn't we? Carman says He doesn't usually hurt her unless she has done something wrong."
Edward's thoughts flashed through wondering what Carman did to upset Him yesterday, and Voldemort smiled.
Nymphadora shook her head, visibly upset, her hair glittering like those Muggle street lights when the flames hit them. "No, you won't be safe," said Nymphadora.
"But if we are on the side of Dumbledore," said Edward, "and the Prophecy Child is with Voldemort, when Dumbledore loses, we are—"
"Dead," said Ethan succinctly.
"If Dumbledore and the side of Light loses, it won't matter," said Nymphadora. "We will all be dead. At least the lucky ones will be."
"She has a point there," commented Tom"The world that the Dark Lord wants to create is a world devoid of tolerance," continued Nymphadora. "A world dedicated to his absolutes, dependent upon the blood that runs through your veins rather than the intelligence in your mind and the courage in your heart. Boys, trust me, he will destroy the world and everything good within it."
"But your magic," questioned Edward., "Your metamorphmagus. Isn't it a gift by blood?" He took a sip of his tea and watched her reaction.
"Yes," Nymphadora said.
"So if you really believed what Dumbledore said about choices, your blood isn't important to you. You should eschew your blood and all it entails, and just depend you're your intelligence and your courage and your choices?"
"I couldn't do that," said Nymphadora, her skin going a completely translucent white. "I'm not that good of a witch. Everything about me, has gone into the metamorphmagnus. I screw up the simplest spells. It's just who I am."
"Then The Dark Lord is right. Who you are depends upon your blood, not your choices."
"Just a minute. I didn't say that," snapped Nymphadora, jumping to her feet and overturning the chair behind her and the teacup in front of her.
"Yes, you did," said Ethan. "The Dark Lord also says that the side of Light is filled with hypocrites, saying one thing, and doing—or being another."
Nymphadora's mouth hung open in surprise, and then her eyes narrowed in anger. She hastily started to mop up the spilled tea from the table with a cloth she had accioed..
"Aunt Nymphadora," said Edward, grabbing her hands and entreating her like a Gryffindor. "Come with us," he pleaded. "Come with us to Lord Voldemort. Meet him Talk to Him and decide for yourself." As Edward touched her hands, Voldemort slunk forward and laid his own invisible hands over theirs.
Feeling the influx of magic, she yanked herself from Edward's and therefore Voldemort's grasp, dropping the sopping cloth and looking around wildly. "That's what this was all about, wasn't it?" she hissed. "Are you out of your mind? Trying to recruit me to that Snake that killed my mother? I'm an auror, for Merlin's sake! An auror!"
"You are a Black!" said Ethan.
"And a Doogle," Edward.
"No--I'm—not," she hissed. "I'm a Tonks!"
"A Gryffindor!" shouted Edward, catching her hands again. "And I'm a Gryffindor! Just like you. I just see a nobility in the pureness of blood and I see too many things that Muggles have done to harm our world, pollution, the dead spots where the Elementals are no longer reachable, dementors … The list goes on. I don't see the evil in ridding our world of these parasites."
"My grandfather was one of those parasites you are speaking of," she said haughtily, withdrawing her hands from his and morphing into a huge Bengal tiger. She roared and then transformed her head back into a human head. Haven't studies of the Rift taught you anything?" she snapped. "The world isn't just ours. It was the Muggle's world too in the otherspace. When they overlapped, we inherited each other's problems, as surely as I inherited metamorphmagus, We can't just erase them!" She morphed back to human, but kept the tiger striped hair.
"Why not. We have the power," said Ethan.
"Just because we have the power doesn't mean we should use it." I have the power to morph into a dragon and burn this place to the ground—
"Wicked," said Ethan, "Can we see?"
"I meant, whatever form I take, some can be dangerous. Should I let that form run wild or should I, the witch control it, and if I can't control it, should I use it at all?"
Edward glanced at his brother, the thought of his barely contained Fire Elemental in his mind. "Every power, that someone had, throughout history, was used," said Edward. "It's inevitable, whether it can be controlled or not.."
"The Dark Lord believes in control," said Ethan, and Voldemort could see the recent studies with Narcissa and Gloria had worked well for the boy.
"Just talk to Him, Aunt Nymphadora," coaxed Edward.
"I'm Tonks," she said coldly.
"Just talk to him. He makes sense." Edward repeated. "What harm is there in that?"
"There is no talking to Him," said Nymphadora. "It's obey or die. He doesn't know how to negotiate or compromise. He's more snake than man, Edward. Don't be taken in by Carman's lies," She entreated him." You are either one of his predators, or you are prey. A trip to Him will account for nothing more than a time to get his evil Mark, so that you can be his puppet."
Voldemort almost stepped in then. She was angering him beyond belief. He wanted to kill her here and now. He wanted to hear her scream and beg for His mercy. He wanted to deny her mercy and punish her for daring to oppose Him. The need was almost palpable.
"The need of a predator for prey," surmised Tom, and whether intentionally or not, his words halted Voldemort's hand. He was still a wizard. He was still in control of his faculties, no matter what Tom thought.
But Edward replied immediately. "Oh and the Gryffindors aren't puppets for Dumbledore? Hell, Harry Potter doesn't even know the Elemental power he can wield. Dumbledore has kept from him his very nature as he has done with you Aunt. Every Slytherin that passes Harry Potter in the corridor feels the power and Harry Potter himself is ignorant of it. Is it Dumbledore's right to make that decision for Potter or for you—for any of us?."
"The prophecy says, 'power unknown'," said Tonks, speaking of Harry.. Dumbledore felt that it was necessary—
"Dumbledore felt!" sneered Ethan. "It wasn't Dumbledore's decision! What about puppets now? And how about you, cousin? Ethan asked with a spark of inspiration. "Are there morphs he's forbidden to you?
"Only for my own protection," she said, realizing she was losing this battle, she eyed the floo.
"But he's still forbidden you!" shouted Edward. "Forbidden you to be who you truly are! What right does he have to forbid you to access a part of yourself—to use your own powers to the fullest—""
"You have come here with an agenda that I want no part of," she said calmly. "I think you should go."
"Not without you," said Ethan softly, fire now dripping from his fingertips. "Aunt Nymphadora."
She stared at him for just a second too long before she dashed for the floo, but Edward was quicker, flooding it with Elemental water. It would take weeks before that floo was operational again.
"I don't want to hurt you," she said pulling her wand.
"Oh, don't worry," smirked Ethan looking at his twin. "You won't."
He clasped his brother's hand and torched her. The Elemental fire he had been containing, released in one glorious ceiling high flame. It caught the carpet and the draperies, but Nymphadora herself, morphed into the dragon that she had spoken of.
'Don't stop, brother," said Edward, "Or she'll transform to something smaller and we'll lose her."
"She's a fuckin dragon," shouted Ethan, suddenly, faltering, and Edward gripped his hand adding his power to his brothers as she turned and breathed fire over their heads.
Edward felt the heat of it and ducked instinctively, but immediately realized it either wasn't really fire, or she was trying to spare them. Of course she was trying to spare them. She was a Gryffindor. Something within Gryffindors always shied from pain and death, unless it was their own and then they embraced it, thought Edward. He had seen that fact over and over again in Gryffindor Tower.
Her second blast of flame was closer and Ethan faltered, losing the accuracy of his fire Elemental. Immediately she melted away.
"Sweet Merlin. He's gonna kill us," snapped Edward shoving his brother away from him. "What were you thinking of—"
"Her fire," said Ethan.
"Dammit, you like fire, and it's a hell of a sight better than His crucio anyway!"
Immediately, Ethan turned, sweeping the entire carpet with flame, setting everything on fire within the room. He reached for his brother, pulling him close.
Voldemort hissed and levitated Himself above the flames and set up wards to protect Himself from the heat and smoke.
Edward began to make a ring of Elemental water to protect them, when she emerged from near the hearth, wand in hand, coughing from the smoke and the right sleeve of her robe burnt off, the skin puckered and seared. Voldemort leaped towards her, wanting to touch her and ascertain the plans—just one touch would do it.
"Itare Phan—" she began painfully raising her wand arm..
"Expellaramus!" spat Edward. The wand came from her hand with amazing ease. For Merlin's Sake! She was an auror! Thought Edward. How could he disarm her so easily? Was it her burned arm? Was she in that much pain? Or were the explanations Snape gave them about disarming an opponent so powerful they could defeat an auror with them? Or was it that she still had some trust for them? Edward followed the disarming spell with a Crucio!
Ethan stopped the Elemental Fire and took over the crucio allowing his brother to control the remaining flames with his water.
Voldemort moved a little closer to the boys now, into the oasis of water in the burning desert the boys had created. He wanted to feel what they felt. He was close enough to touch Edward, but the thoughts were so loud, he didn't need to.
For just a moment, her screams bothered Edward, perhaps it was because the first cry was not actually a scream it was a plea—"Cou--sin!"
In another moment her voice was incoherent and tortured, and Edward faltered, Ethan sensing his hesitation, immediately took the spell, changing the orientation from water to fire. Good thought Voldemort. Ethan was handling it, but Edward. Edward was faltering, just like Carman had done. Voldemort sensed the weakness. Also, the boys weren't sharing magic so much as taking turns. Hadn't Carman been clear on this? He wondered. If she hadn't explained how much more power they would have joined, he was going to make her beg him to kill her. He moved closer to Edward, wanting to understand his hesitancy.
Water. Edward had been pulling from the Water Elemental the first time he saw Nymphadora Tonks. Edward remembered seeing Nymphadora when he was five and had just discovered wandless magic. She seemed so big to him. She had been to Hogwarts and had the most coveted of possessions, a wand. She had been twelve, maybe thirteen at the time. It was early summer and the ground was wet with melted snow and the steady rains. It was a rare break in the weather and Ethan had set fire to the house again. Carman, exasperated, had sent them outside. They wandered down the street, playing and when Ethan set fire to the yard, Edward drowned it as he had so often, but outside, so close to the Elementals—the wet Elementals--he had pulled too hard. He made a pit of mud and water around them four feet deep and neither he nor his twin could swim. He was disoriented with the wandless magic, floundering, swallowing mud and water. Nymphadora stood on the edge of the water and watched them struggle for several seconds before she raised her wand and levitated them out of the mire.
"Who are you?" Edward had asked. Looking at her glittering silvery hair. He thought she looked like an angel must look, all shiny and not quite solid.
"Your cousin," she said looking around nervously. "I'm not allowed here. Mum says, Grandmum is a Dark Witch and I should have nothing to do with her."
"Grandmum?" asked Edward.
"Carman," the girl repeated.
"If you are our cousin why don't we know about you?" demanded Ethan.
"Because, Mum was disinherited when she married a Muggleborn Wizard."
About that time, Ministry officials came and took Nymphadora with them, scolding her for the illegal wand use. "But look at their accidental magic!" she protested, and Ethan and Edward, afraid they were going to be in trouble for the mess, ran for the house.
Neither spoke of the incident, but later that week, in a stint of anger Ethan told Edward, "You will marry a Muggleborn,", and Carman had replied, by magically filling his mouth with Mrs. Skowers. He choked for fifteen minutes before she would let him spit it out."
"What's a Muggleborn?" Edward had asked.
And Carman had said, "A filthy word that will not be spoken in this house! They are abominations that should not exist."
"Like squibs?" asked Edward. "Like Aislinn?"
"There are no squibs born to Slytherins."
"But Aunt Narcissa—'
"Mutus!"
It had been a thoughly miserable three days of Ethan taking full advantage of his brother's inability to tattle to Carman before Carman released him from the curse of silence.
"We should just kill her," panted Ethan pulling out of the crucio spell, and Edward didn't have the strength of hatred to continue without his brother.
"Not yet," said Ethan. He lost the crucio as he spoke. "We've got her on the run now." He panted.
"Do you?" said Nymphadora from somewhere within the room, but her voice sounded tired and ragged, and then they heard nothing at all, sensed nothing at all..
"Where is she?" hissed Ethan under his breath.
"I don't know," whispered Edward, but I think you're right, We need to finish her off. "I'm getting tied."
"You! You practically let me do that crucio alone!"
"I thought of her—never mind," said Edward not wanting to ruin his brother's concentration. It wasn't like they had a choice, did they? The word 'puppet' came to mind, and he pushed it away. He had been living with the Gryffindor's too long. The stupidity was starting to rub off.
"Where the fuck is she?" hissed Ethan again, and Edward could feel his panic.
"She won't apparate without her wand," said Edward. "She can't go through walls. She's still here."
'No she isn't," said Ethan after a moment. "I can't feel her magic. She's gone!"
"She's a metamorphmagus, you idiot. She can turn into anything—anything. She's probably a rock or something inanimate. We can't feel her magic. Just wait. She has to breathe eventually."
"What if she's already gone? What if we lose her?"
"Don't you even listen in Snape's class?" Edward snapped. "She's not—she's not gone. She has to breathe. She can't breathe magic for more than about ten minutes, no matter how good she is." but Edward wasn't as sure as he sounded. Voldemort could still feel the doubt from him. They sat in almost utter silence, tensely alert for any sign of her magic.
And they waited.
Voldemort was almost as tense with anticipation as the boys were. So far, he saw only one mistake, that they had made, but it was a fatal mistake. As he studied her Apparition wards he realized they had a small hole in them, a hole that was keyed directly to her and only to her. It was an auror's trick that would allow her to escape but not allow others to Apparate uninvited into her home. He had devised such an escape route himself. Whether she was good enough to Apparate wandlessly through it he didn't know, but he wasn't going to take the chance. Silently, he began the meticulous work of closing the hole.
"It's been ten minutes," said Ethan, "And I still don't sense her! Bloody hell, Edward, we're dead. He'll kill us."
"She has to be a rock, a pebble. I don't know how small she can make herself, but she has to be here. There!" said Edward spinning as she became a witch for a second and then immediately disappeared. "Meridies!" spat Edward, filling the room with noonday sun, a spell that Voldemort had had the entire Circle practice ad nausium last week. He began to search relentlessly for her, but to no avail.
"Dementors damn her!" spat Ethan. "Did she apparate?"
"No," said Edward, she didn't say the spell. "She's wandless, and she's always been clumsy. She can't do it without a wand. She hasn't gone anywhere. Come here" Edward motioned his brother closer.
"Now we have to wait another ten minutes," whined Ethan as Edward grabbed his hand and stretched out together with his brother searching for her. "Feel her magic," said Edward as he crawled on the floor searching for something that could be Tonks. "Feel it like we did in Apparition Tag."
"She's a Gryffindor, for Merlin's sake," muttered Ethan annoyed. "Why is she hiding?"
"She doesn't want to hurt us," said Edward softly as his hand closed over a bright pink quartz paperweight. "This," he said. "Look at it. Feel it."
"It's the color of her hair," said Ethan, "and who would leave a rock on the floor?"
"Muggles use them," said Edward distractedly turning the rock over in his hands. "They hold papers instead of a spell. Dean has one, with pictures of his muggle ball team on it."
"Put it down," said Ethan stepping away from his brother and Tonks.. "Reducto, should do the trick."
Voldemort was ready to step in, when Edward shouted, "No, He wants her alive! Let's just take the rock to him."
Suddenly the rock transformed, growing into Tonks, who was more frightening than they had ever seen her. "Well, he's not getting me alive or dead," she snapped, morphing her arms into some sort of plant.. "I didn't want to hurt you boys, but—"
"Devil's snare," choked Edward.
"Incendio!" spat Ethan, accurately targeting Tonks and not Edward among the myriad vines.. Well, thought Voldemort, obviously Narcissa did her job.
Tonks shrieked and released her hold on Edward, the devil's snare shriveling in the fire of the spell. After a moment, Ethan released the spell, and Tonks attempted to crawl forward towards her discarded wand. "Crucio!" Ethan said and for a moment she was a shivering mass of flame and then she disappeared again.
"Bloody hell," spat Edward. "She's too fast. Where is she now?"
"I have an idea," panted Ethan. He leaned in to his brother, his voice dropping to a whisper. "When I need help, you take over with crucio. It has to be fire."
"Oh it has to be fire!" protested Edward with a sneer.
"Just trust me," said Ethan. "Can you do it?"
"Briefly," said Edward releasing the excess magic. "I feel like I'm ready to pass out."
"Don't you dare!" spat Ethan concerned. "He pulled on the wandless fire and set a thin strip of it at the perimeter of the room, widening it until it was impassible, then he contracted the circle, forcing anyone within the room to come closer to them. After a moment, Nymphadora became visible. She needed to be in witch form to pull on the Elemental water, which she was frantically pulling to keep Ethan's flames at bay. After a moment, Ethan said, softly, "Brother?" and Edward took over with the fire crucio instead of joining his brother.
Why? thought Voldemort. "Didn't Carman explain the power of shared magic? Didn't she explain how effortless it was? Why were they transferring one to the other, instead of just sharing the magic?
Nymphadora, who still thought she was fighting the real Fire Elemental instead of a fire crucio continued to battle it as well as scream and claw at herself. She thought she was losing her battle with the Fire Elemental and she panicked. Desperate now, she attempted to apparate wandlessly, which caused Edward's slipping crucio to fizzle as he lost his focus and the elemental magic backlashed onto him. He sucked in his breath as the fire flew into his face temporarily blinding him. Ethan snatched his hand, warding testudo interrupting the fire, and finally doing what Carman had lectured on for the last three days and had allowed them to practice only sporadically. Ethan's magic joined to Edward's and immediately the power was not doubled or even quadrupled. It expanded exponentially, the Fire Elemental flames growing every second.
"Finally!" thought Voldemort.
"Sweet Merlin's Balls," breathed Ethan in awe of the magic they wrought together.
Nymphadora splinched, firey body parts showering down upon them.
(A/N: Stay with me gang. Only a few more chapters and her death won't be as meaningless as Sirius' in JK's. I promise.)LL
Both Ethan and Edward collapsed.
"We did it," breathed Ethan, sparks dripping from every part of him, even his tongue as he spoke. His brother, Edward, also strangely dripping fire, hugged him. "We need a wand," he muttered trying to release the monumental amount of excess magic they both held. "I need to levitate something." He fumbled with his wand for a moment.
"I don't think I can get up," said Ethan, digging in his pocket for his wand..
"You'd better get up, " said a cold familiar voice. "Aurors will be here any moment. Never so exhaust yourselves that you can't apparate."
"Master!" Edward attempted to struggle to his feet, and promptly fell back on the ground, too exhausted to stand.
"Portkey," muttered Edward, pulling the long ago created portkey to Slytherin common room from his robe pocket. "It will take two people.
"Ah—I'm glad to see you came prepared. I am pleased with your handling of Nymphadora Tonks. I hated to lose her, but I could see that there was nothing else to be done. Accio!" He said and Tonks' wand flew to his hand. " I am not pleased with your discussion about me."
"We were—we were—trying to convince her," said Edward. "We had to say things she wanted to hear, Master. We would never—"
"I am not concerned with what was spoken. I am concerned with what was thought," said Voldemort softly. "But your punishment will have to wait, Edward. Aurors will be here any minute. Together, fire the Mark and Go!"
"I didn't—think of anything—" said Ethan concerned—"Only—Did I?"
"Shut up, Ethan. We're in this together," muttered Edward, thinking that Voldemort gave whole new meaning to the phrase, you thought wrong. Clasping his brother's hand and with effort raising his wand with him, Edward spoke "Mors Mordre!" Together they sent a misty green skull and snake into the air.
"Go," said Voldemort again, and once the boys had dissolved into the portkey, he took one last look at Nymphadora Tonk's dismembered body, and smiling at the Dark Mark thought, this should distract Dumbledore for a while. He won't interfere. Voldemort smiled as he thought of visiting his old friend Amelia Bones. Maybe he would have time to play with her a bit before he killed her. He Apparated from the premises.
It was late. The Common room was nearly empty. Only Harry, Ron and Hermione remained. Hermione was working on Ancient Runes and Ron was doodling on the edges of his quiddich playbook. Crookshanks was sleeping on the sofa beside Beatrice. The rabbit and the keisel were tucked around each other like puppies staying warm on a cold night. Harry was pacing one hand clutched over his scar. He had been like that for hours, and both Ron and Hermione had pleaded with him to go to Dumbledore, but he had refused. The reason he gave was that whatever Voldemort was doing, it was this, that would offer the diversion they needed to get to the girls.
"Harry," snapped Hermione exasperated, "at least go to Madam Pomfrey and get something to help you to sleep."
"No," he said. "Then I won't know what Voldemort is doing."
"So what's he doing, Mate?" asked Ron.
"I don't know."
Ron rolled his eyes.
Hermione slammed her book shut and threw up her hands.
Harry winced.
"Harry, you aren't letting anyone help you!" said Hermione.
"No, I guess I'm not," agreed Harry." How could anyone help him kill Voldemort? He thought bitterly. Then, suddenly, for no reason that he could see, the pain was gone. In it's place was a euphoric elation that made every pain that he had ever had, seem like it belonged to someone else. "It's done," said Harry. "It's happened."
"What?" snapped Hermione, leafing through her notes?
"I don't know," said Harry, looking down at Hemione's notes because he couldn't meet her eyes and lie to her. On the parchment was written in Hermione's careful script.
The blank rune is thought by some to not be a rune at all, but a more recent addition to the runic alphabet, thus, it's meaning is circumspect. It is representative of Odin, the high god of Northern tradition and equal to the emperor in tarot. It generally signifies death or rebirth, although not always in a literal sense. Appearance of the blank rune in a divination cast indicates that fate has taken control and you have none…
"Harry?" Hermione poked him, and he blinked at her. "What does Sowilo, mean?" he asked abruptly.
"Sowilo?" she said.
"Yes," said Harry. "Tell me what you think it means."
"I know what it means. It's a power sign, Harry. Clear vision. Light vanquishes darkness. Why?"
"That Ravenclaw," said Harry. "Oglesby. He said it was the sign of my scar."
"That's good," she said carefully. "It means you'll defeat Him and get the girls back."
"No," said Harry. "It means I did defeat him, when I was one year old. That's when I got the scar."
"Well, you're the one with top marks in divination," Hermione said waspishly She glared at the boys, and shoved her parchments into her bag, obviously giving up on studying for the night. "When are they coming back?" she asked Ron.
"Who?" said Harry.
"The twins," Hermione replied. "Didn't Ron tell you they were on another of their field trips with Lupin and Sirius?"
"No," said Harry. "Why didn't you tell me, Ron?"
"I didn't want to worry you, mate. You seemed to have enough on your mind. Anyway, they should be back soon. It was just a one night event with Moody and Podmore."
"What are they doing?"
"I don't know but something is making the Order crazy. When Fred and George quit making candy, you know something is up."
Harry was silent for a few minutes, thinking. "Are you waiting up for them?" he asked.
"Nah—" said Ron, stretching and rubbing his hand over his stomach.. "They would never let me live it down. I'm just setting a wake up spell on the stairs so I hear them when they come in."
"Good idea," said Harry, as he gathered up his books. He thought he might as well try to sleep. It was already late, and who knew when his scar would wake him.
"Night, Hermione," Harry called as he started up the stairs giving Ron and Hermione a few moments of privacy.
She was doing a last Prefect check of the Common Room, lowering the lights and checking the wards. Ron was accompanying her, but before Harry got to the top of the stairs, the portrait hole burst open and in stumbled Edward, flanked by Fred and George.
"Look what we found in the corridor!" crowed George as soon as he saw Hermione and Ron.
"I think he forgot what house he is in," said Fred. "Lumos!"
"Did not. I was just hungry," stuttered Edward, pulling away from the twins and stumbling into one of the sofas.
Instantly Harry's turned, coming back down the stairs. His hand was on his wand. "Lumos!" He looked at Edward's wide dark eyes in the wandlight. They were so dark; it looked like the pupil had taken over the whole eye. "Well look who's awake," said Edward, slurring the words slightly as he stumbled, crashing into several more chairs before falling into the sofa.
Crookshanks hissed his displeasure, and Beatrice woke. She ran under the nearest chair and crouched there, looking out with frightened eyes.
"If Harry didn't know for certain that muggle alcohol was impossible to smuggle into Hogwarts, he would have thought that Edward was drunk.
"What's wrong with you?" Harry asked. "Have you drunk some potion?" He hesitated, "Are you hurt?"
"(Smells blood,)" Shesha commented, and Harry tensed.
"What have you been doing?" Harry demanded.
"Magic," said Edward with an enigmatic smile.
"Wandless Magic," corrected George.
"Elemental. And great quantities of it," continued Fred. "You don't get this way with a little playing. We could still walk after wandlessly charming two thousand forty Canary Creams."
"Bloody hell," said George, "Even Neville could still walk after—"
"Shut up, George!" snapped Fred, his eyes blazing with the same light as Harry had seen in Dumbledore's.
"That wasn't wandless," said Hermione, ever striving for accuracy.
"No, but in terms of exhaustion, this was big magic," said Fred.
"Twin magic," surmised George his eyes wide.
"It doesn't matter if I tell you," Edward sniggered. "Even if you warn Dumbledore he will still be obligated to go. And he will think that's the plan, but it's not. It's just a diversion."
"What are you talking about?" said Harry, and then frowning and pointing his wand, said, "You stay right there. If you are under polyjuice—"
Edward burst out laughing and grasped Hermione to keep from falling.
"Get your hands off of her," growled Ron, pulling his wand.
"You can have your pitiful little mudblood," stuttered Edward, pushing Hermione into Ron's arms and turning to Harry.
"Poor little Potter," Edward said, fighting to get his tongue around the words and drooling with a supreme lack of control that was not Edward. "You're always the last to know, aren't you?"
"You will tell us where you were," demanded Fred, his wand held on Edward.
"And what you were doing," continued George.
"I don't think so. I'm awfully tired," said Edward and then he pulled his own wand and did a spell, which was unfamiliar to Harry. Edward collapsed on the sofa as if he was a balloon whose air was suddenly expelled. In a moment, Harry heard him snore.
No one fell asleep that fast. No one. It was almost like he had stupefied himself. As if only magic was holding him up and when it was removed he collapsed.
"You bloody son of a bitch," roared Fred, grabbing him by the collar and putting his wand against his jaw, but he did not wake.
"No! No!" said George. "I won't work to enervate him. He only made it to Gryffindor Tower because of the Magic in his system. He won't remember anything if you enervate him. Remember what happened to us when you enervated me after the Ton Tongue Taffies?"
"Bloody hell!" swore Fred again as he dropped Edward against the cushions and punched the back of the sofa where Edward slept.
"Should we tell Dumbledore?" asked Hermione, "or Professor McGonagall?"
"I think so," said Fred. "This was no innocent trip to the kitchen."
"What could he have been doing to use that much wandless magic?" wondered George.
"Nothing good," said Harry.
"Well, let's see," said Fred, grasping the sleeping Edward's left arm. "George, do you have the new antidote to our illustrious cover up potion?"
"What are you doing?" asked Ron.
"Fixing our mistake," said George as he pulled a vial from his robe pocket, but they didn't need the antidote. All five of them stood staring at the tiny distinctive tattoo on Edward's left forearm. Although only as big as his thumb, it was perfectly visible: from the shadowed skull, gray against his pale skin with darker hollow eye sockets, to the silvery shine of the scales as the snake seemed to crawl out of the mouth of the skull.
"He forgot," whispered George. "He forgot to use the cover up potion."
"Or our potion doesn't cover through a burn," Fred surmised, "The potion wouldn't stand up to such strong magic."
"I'm getting Dumbledore," said Hermione.
"Wait!" said Ron and Hermione stopped at the door.
"What do you mean, wait? For what? He comes in here reeking of wandless magic—" said Fred.
"Elemental Magic," interrupted George, "And out after curfew."
"And you all saw the Mark," said Harry. "He's a Death Eater."
"So is Ginny," said Ron softly..
"Ginny's different!" said Harry and the twins together.
"But will Dumbledore see a difference?" asked Ron. "Will the Aurors see the difference from one Death Eater to another?"
Hermione came back over to them and picked up Crookshanks. She cuddled the keisel in her lap for a moment and then said, "We can't just let him get away with this. We should tell Dumbledore."
"No," insisted Ron. "How can we convict one Death Eater and save another?"
"Because she's our sister," said George.
"But that won't make a difference," said Harry.
"Yes it does." Snapped Fred.
"No, only to us," said Harry. "She has a Dark Mark and she went with Voldemort of her own free will. We saw her. We all saw her. That's enough for any of the Aurors to convict her."
"We're not talking about Ginny here. We're talking about Edward." Said Hermione.
"We should check his wand," suggested Ron. "See what he did—Then we can decide—"
"Why?" said Fred. "Whatever he did, he did it wandlessly."
"Dumbledore is probably in bed anyway," said George. "Where's the Map, Harry?"
Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map and said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." After looking at the Map for a few minutes, Harry said, "He's not here. Dumbledore is not in the Castle."
"Well that solves whether or not we tell Dumbledore, doesn't it?" said Ron. "I still think we should check Edward's wand."
"Couldn't hurt," said Harry raising his own wand.
"That's an invasion of privacy! It's wrong!" Hermione protested, putting her hand on Harry's wand hand and stopping the spell.
"His being in Gryffindor is wrong," said Harry, pushing Hermione's hand away.
"Harry," she said stubbornly folding her hands over her chest. "What you are doing is wrong. It's not up to us to investigate Edward's wand."
Harry picked up Edward's wand and turned it around in his hand as Hermione spoke.
"I won't stand by you in this," she said. "If you do this, Harry, you do it alone."
The room got deathly quiet as Ron and the twins looked from Hermione to Harry.
Harry felt a low rumbling of power inside of him. Every scrape that they had gotten into, he had had Hermione and Ron at his side. He had always counted on Hermione's brains to be at his disposal. He had followed her lead on more than one occasion, but this time, something told him, he had to make this decision on his own. It was his name on the prophecy, not Hermione's or Ron's. He had to choose. Dumbledore's words came back to him: The wizard you are, is decided by the choices you make.
Ron shuffled from foot to foot and finally whispered, "Harry, maybe Hermione is right."
Harry paused a moment looking at him and then said quietly, "Ron?"
Ron stirred uncomfortably. "Well," he said, "Looking at Hermione's stormy face and then at the floor. I think Edward is up to something, but we could wait for Dumbledore. We don't have to do it tonight. We don't have to decide tonight. We have enough to think of right now, and we should get some sleep." Ron looked helplessly at the twins. "For tomorrow," he added.
Harry felt himself evaluating the situation as Rowenna Ravenclaw had suggested. Would he have regrets if he checked Edward's wand? No, he thought. He had no loyalty to Edward. On the other hand if he didn't check it, and someone got hurt he would definitely have regrets.
Harry took a deep breath, and felt Shesha stir on his wrist, the soft touch of her tongue brushed the inside of his arm and he felt a tickle of fur at his feet. Beatrice! "I've always known this, deep in my heart," said Harry, twirling Edward's wand in his hand. "I knew that in the end, I would do this alone. I'm sorry, Hermione…Ron…I have to know who my friends are and who my enemies are." He stared at them imploring them by sheer force of will to understand. "I need to know who I can trust."
"Harry," implored Fred, "I agree with you that Edward is a git, but if you do this, you prove that you are as bad as they are—"
"Besides," added George. "This is a really bad time for us to be at odds."
"He's right, mate," said Ron. "We have to think of the girls. 5:28 tomorrow—"
"This is something a Slytherin would do, not a Gryffindor," said George. "Anyway, it was wandless magic. It doesn't matter what his wand says."
Harry lowered his own wand, uncertain.
The sudden movement of someone beside him, caused Harry to startle. "It matters," said a soft voice that he immediately recognized as Beatrice. He felt her hands—human hands clutch his arm. "It matters, Harry."
"Beatrice!" cried Harry hugging his newly restored friend, who staggered woozily into him as she fought to stay on two legs. He wrapped his free arm around her and stared, momentarily forgetting the argument about Edward's wand.
Beatrice licked her parched and cracked lips. "Do it now," she said. "Follow your heart, Harry."
The look of disbelief in Hermione's eyes was mirrored in Ron's as Harry raised his own wand over Edward's and spoke, "Priori Incantum!"
Answers to Reviews.
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Elbereth: Glad you thought this was an awesome chapter. Yes, Samara was trying to be Hufflepuff, but more than that, Voldemort is a master deceiver. Glad you like ginny/tom. Read my other Ginny/Tom fics.
Kemenran:Yes, more please is on its way.
Tiamaty Warcraft: Glad you decided to review. I hope you continue to do so. Yes, things are going down hill fast. No I didn't get Samara's name from the Ring. They got it from me. My story was first. Samara means immoveable mountain. Appropriate considering her stubbornness, don't you think Also, I always thought of pronouncing it Sam'ara Not Som air' a but I could just be pronouncing it wrong. LOL Mess in cell 3 LOL And yes more Gin and Tonic is coming in the next book I hope to see you at the rp. For those of you who want to join a great Harry Potter rp which is played on Yahoo messenger, come to w-groups.yahoo.c--/group/HarryPotterrp. Fill in the blanks with com. Fanfic won't let me put a link. You have to use your imagination.
Ammarine: Glad Volde was suitably Volyish. And thank you for the help with the names. Most of the meanings for my names can be found at No Samara didn't stay in her room 24/7, but you have to remember she was very sick, to the point of death when she came. And she's only been there for a few weeks. It's now, mid-January, so I would say, less than a month. She hasn't had time to explore everything and she has been cautious. It's the influence of the other houses. Now that she is away from the Gryffindors, she is not playing the chameleon and being so foolhardy. She has been to dungeon tho. You will find out about that in the next chapter or two.
Dragonlover: Yes, updates would come a lot faster if people would just review. I had over 250 read the last chapter and at this point I only have 14 reviews. Why is that? ""I'm going to kill Voldemort, and get the girls back," said Harry with a determined edge to his voice, "and Merlin help anyone who gets in my way." That plan just sounded so Gryffindor, I couldn't stand it. LOL
Trilllium: You are supposed to see-saw over Voldemort. He does have some good points even if he is a psycho. After all, why would the DE follow him if he had nothing to offer? Sorry you think Harry is even a little OOC. I think this is what Harry will evolve into as he grows. I'm just moving a little ahead of JK in my mind. I think in essence he is the same "hero". Hey I guessed right with Bellatrix and Narcissa being sisters! Imagine that. The only thing I did wrong was make Sirius father have a sister instead of a brother. Oh well. I am absolutely not going to tell you what Tom has to do with Volde's downfall, if indeed he falls. This is Lady Lestrange you are talking about. Hehehehe. Seriously. there is another book in my series. Infer what you like from that comment.
Garrett: No. but I am glad you are still reading.
Jager: Hope that you have a new favorite chapter next chapter. It's my favorite. Review quickly to find out.
Little Red Rabbit: There are people with the pen names of little red rabbit reading THIS STORY. Oh my. That's scary. What do you think of Beatrice?
VeelaValoom: I'm glad you like so far. There are veelas which have some major parts of the conflict at the Snow Castle. With a name like veelavaloom, I thought you would like to know. I like Fire and Ice too. If you know any exceptional Gin/Draco stories, go to the group, w. groups yahoo. com /group /TheSeersTruth and let me and the other readers know. Eliminate the spaces to use this as a link. I have my best Hufflepuff stuff in The first book: The Seers Truth: The Broken Beginning. I hope you read it.
Jen: I like Tom in Volde's head too. I like Tom everywhere. Always looking for good Tom/Ginny fics. If you know any, go to yahoo groups, TheSeersTruth and let me know. The link is on my bio page.
Raptor galore: Sorry Raptor, you weren't number 15, but here's the next chapter anyway. Love your reviews. Thank you.
Swimmingchica14: Yep. All right about the emerald.
Lucky: Thanks for your review.
Indubitably: Yes, it's long, but not as long as THE SEERS' TRUTH: THE BROKEN BEGINNING. Actually, do you know I have the two longest Ginny/Tom fics? Yeah! Please keep reading and review sooner to get the chapter sooner.
214 people have read the previous chapter at this time, but only 15 have reviewed. Why?
Please, review. You didn't have to pay for this story. Consider the review a small part of payment to show your appreciation. Only about 3 percent of people who read, review. Isn't that sad. All those leeches that read, but don't bother to review do not add anything good to fanfic. Be part of the elite. REVIEW. Lady Lestrange