Disclaimer: I own nothing except Amara, but not her ancestry… oh well.

AN: Don't you love Christmas vacation? Rock on for updates!

Riddle Me This

Chapter Four-

My Dearest Amara,

Your information was very useful. I have sent Deatheaters to keep an eye out for the 'Golden Trio.' I wouldn't worry about it everything is well in hand. You are very intuitive Amara for I did have ulterior motives in sending you to Hogwarts, but it was mostly to watch over Harry Potter. Now I wouldn't worry about it. Just enjoy the company of people your own age and feel free to show-up the Professors now and then. Enjoy your year my little serpent.

With all the love in my broken heart,

Grandfather

Amara held the crumpled letter in her hand. It was dark. The trees of the Forbidden Forest were like demons coming from the earth, an eerie fog blanketing the ground, hiding where they come from and everything else on the forest floor.

Amara sat down, leaning against one of the giant trees with a sigh. She loved the dark and the dark loved her. They were made for each other. The Dark Arts were made for her too. At 15, her Grandfather taught her the Unforgivable Curses and how to use them.

She wasn't sure why she used the Cruciatus curse on Draco. He had made her so mad, but why was she so stupid as to use it in front of everyone. True, it was Slytherin, but not everyone in Slytherin was in league with her Grandfather!

Amara banged her head on the back of the tree. "Stupid, stupid, stupid." She kept repeating to herself. After semi-calming herself, she took a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and read what she had written earlier in the common room.

Grandfather,

How goes the war? Here I can't find out anything. The papers are stupid and propaganda and the teachers are too on edge to say anything! I miss you. I miss being in all the action. Please tell me anything to keep my spirits up. I've been practicing my dark spells during my free periods but I kept having close calls. The Forbidden Forest is really the only place I can go now without getting caught. Also, I'm curious about one boy, Draco Malfoy. I know the Malfoy's are one of the supportive families but I want to know about him personally. Send me all the information you have on him.

Till your next letter,

Amara

P.S. Will I get to come home for Christmas?

It was only October but with her Grandfather it was better to ask early. Amara folded the letter and stuffed it into her cloak.

Fatigue soon began to take her and she didn't have the strength or the will to go back to the castle. With one last sigh, she pulled her cloak around her and fell asleep.


Warm breath tickled her neck. Laughing softly, Amara opened her eyes. Standing over was a Thestral. It titled its head and snorted, its warm breath clouding her face. Smiling, she patted its nose and sat up. The whole herd was grazing silently in the grove in which she had fallen asleep the previous night.

Amara groaned and stretched, her back aching from where she had slept on a root. She got to her feet and leaned against the demon horse. It leaned into her touch and nudged her. Amara always had a connection to equine creature of all kind. Horses, thestrals, unicorns, and even centaurs all seemed to like her immediately, and of course she loved them in return.

As if on cue, two centaurs galloped into the grove. It was a girl in her mid-teens with black hair and lower half and a boy who looked about 10 with a dark brown coat. The boy looked at her with big eyes and walked closer to her, his tail flicking back and forth.

"Hey." He said in wonder, circling her as if he had never seen a human before, which was most likely the truth. The girl trotted up to the boy quickly and grabbed his arm.

"Come on Alary, we have to go." The boy, Alary, looked longingly at Amara and the thestrals before submissively following, who Amara assumed was his sister, farther into the woods.

Amara watched them go, wishing she could follow, before looking up at the sky and suddenly remembering what she was doing out there. "Oh yeah, last night." She said drearily. She mounted one of the thestrals, a female, and leaned forward. "Take me to the castle." She tossed her head and spread her leathery wings.

She lifted off and flew towards the castle. The sunrise was beautiful from this view. Amara smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the wind on her face. When the ride ended she thanked the mare and dismounted. After watching her leave, she walked up the steps and entered the Entrance Hall.

People's heads turned as she walked through the school. Apparently her little slip up had spread in only a few hours. It was Saturday, so there were no classes, but it was a Hogsmeade weekend so everyone was up and meeting their friends in the courtyard. A voice floated over to her.

"So, the all-mighty Amara has the guts to come back. Shame, we were all hoping you'd stay away forever, or at least get eaten by something in the Forest." Amara turned her head and saw Pansy standing near her, hands on her hips, flanked by her cronies. Amara walked towards her, stopping less than a foot away. Pansy looked slightly frightened at the small distance between them.

"If you would like to see what's just so willing to eat you in the Forest, let me know. I'll be sure to give you a personal tour." Pansy scowled and turned away and sauntered off, talking furiously with the mindless girls behind her.

"Being a bitch to Pansy isn't going to get you anywhere." A hateful voice said behind her. Amara turned to see Draco. He was scowling.

"Yeah well being her bitch won't either. Don't presume to give me advice. As I remember it was I that was schooling you Malfoy. Your family is falling out of favor, you might want to sink into the background instead of bringing attention to yourself." She replied, meeting his hateful gaze.

"You don't presume to know about my family." He growled.

Amara smiled. "But I do know. Tell me, did your mother scream or did she die quietly just like she lived her pitiful, submissive life?" Draco's eyes widened and filled with rage. With a roar of outrage, he brought his fist to her face. The force made her entire upper body turn to the side, and her dark hair covered her face.

The crowd turned to them and gasped, seeing that Draco had just hit a girl. Draco's own face softened in fear, but not because he hit a girl, because of who that girl was.

Amara straightened. A purple bruise was already blossoming on her cheek. She rolled back her shoulders and cracked her neck.

"My pain tolerance is set by the Cruciatus curse, which you cannot seem to bear. If you think your fist can beat that, you are sadly mistaken." She stared at him for a moment before continuing. "For this mark you have left on me I shall repay to you in tenfold. As I have said to you before…watch your back."

Leaving him standing there, Amara went into Hogsmeade, heads turned all the way.


Amara paid the postal worker and took one of the middle-sized tawny owls off the wall of the Post Office. She tied her letter onto its leg and set it off to her Grandfather. She had added another postscript to it describing what had happened. She requested information about Draco's father as well.

With a sigh, Amara left the post office and went into Three Broomsticks. She ordered a butterbeer and chicken salad sandwich. She ate at the bar and left quickly, not wanting to be around so many people. She went to the Shrieking Shack and sat on its front steps, far away from any person.

Amara rubbed her cheek. The bruise was tender and made her feel vulnerable. Now everyone could see she was but a normal girl that could be hurt. Was that what she wanted?

She thought about what her Grandfather would say. He would tell her to be big about it. They can't control her and she should never give into them. She was far more powerful and had a better future than them.

Amara took in a shuddering breath and put her head in her hands. If only she could believe that. True, she was a lot stronger and smarter than most people, but she was also just a kid and sometimes she was too wrapped up in the war to remember that. Her Grandfather even forgot.

"Amara, child, what is bothering you?" Voldemort opened his arms and hugged her and she clung to him, tears rolling from her cheeks.

"I can't master the Imperious curse!" she sobbed. "I have been working on it for months but I can't get it!" Voldemort put his hands on her shoulders and looked in her eyes.

"You can too master it. This is your first Unforgivable curse and you are doing better than some of my Deatheaters can. You are powerful Amara. Don't let anyone tell you different." He wiped the tears from her cheeks. "No crying. We are beyond that. You are a Riddle. And Riddle's stand strong."

Amara had been 15 at that time, back when she first began her lessons with her Grandfather. She was weak then, unable to control her emotions, just like any other teenage girl. But he had taught her self-control.

Amara scolded herself and shook her head, tearing her thoughts away from the pain. "I have self-control." She said, reassuring herself. "And I won't be weak like this again." She nodded, her self-confidence and her arrogant air coming back to her.

"I have a job to do and I will do it." Amara began to walk back to the castle. "When the war comes to Hogwarts, I'll be ready. And Draco Malfoy will be the first casualty. I shall break him in spirit, then I shall break him in substance."