Chapter 6: The Prince of the Serpentine Sect

Harry looked at Remus. "I don't want her helping," he growled immediately after the door shut behind the witch.

Remus sighed, but it was Moody who answered. "We need her Potter," he said in his gruff voice, "We're just about blind to what's going on."

"She's a Snape." Harry growled back.

"Actually, she's a Prince." Tonks commented. Harry glared at her. "Well? It's true. Her and Snape's mothers were sisters."

"I still don't think we can trust her," Harry said stubbornly.

"You're not in the Order yet," Kingsley said calmly, "You don't know how much we are in need of information."

"So find another way!" Harry snapped.

Remus laid a hand on his arm. "Listen Harry, I can understand how you don't want anyone related to him working for the Order, and I understand how you don't want someone who was a faithful follower of Voldemort working for the Order-"

"She was faithful to Voldemort?" Harry snorted. "Oh great, at least Snape led people to believe that he was on our side!"

"She's trustworthy, Harry."Remus said.

"That's what Dumbledore said about Snape," he muttered, then asked in a louder voice, "Just how in Merlin's name did she end up serving the Order in the first place? And why doesn't she like you?" he added, looking at Remus.

"You get to explain those ones," Tonks said cheerily, leaning back in her chair when Remus looked at the others for help.

He sighed. "Alright, well, for starters, we don't like each other because..." he hesitated, "We have a sort of prejudice against each other."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I know," Remus added hastily, "See, she doesn't like me because I'm a werewolf. I don't like her because, well, not only was she rude from the moment I met her, but she's part vampire."

Harry blinked. "What do you have against vampires?"

"My brother was bitten by a vampire and didn't survive." Remus answered quietly.

"Sorry," Harry murmured, head hanging.

Remus waved the apology away. "What's past is past. Now," he cleared his throat, "As for how she came to serve the Order...

"In the first war, Voldemort had a lot of followers, dozens more than he has right now. There were humans, vampires, werewolves, trolls, giants, dementors, minotaurs, every creature or humanoid that was looked down upon by the rest of magical society. However, he also had ranks in his followers. The lowest rank were Death Eaters, they were merely there to do the grunt work, spreading terror, spying, etcetera, he had these in plenty, from all races. The second rank was his inner circle. They were theservants who were the most devoted, who had proven themselves time and time again."

"Snape was in that circle," Moody put in, taking a drink from his flask. Harry's hand twitched in anger.

"The last circle," Remus continued, "Was what was called the Serpentine Sect. They were Voldemort's most trusted advisors, his bodyguards, his diplomats of power. They were geniuses in their fields, and also they tended to be the most ruthless or cunning of his followers; they were dedicated beyond your imagination."

Harry saw where this was going and his eyes hardened. "And let me guess, Diega was one of them." Remus nodded. "Then why don't we just bloody ask her to lead Voldemort straight to Headquarters?" Harry raged, "That's all the bloody good she'll do!"

"Relax kiddo," Bill said, "Let Remus finish." Harry, still not convinced, nodded for his guardian to go on.

"Now... no one really knew who were members of the Serpentine Sect, but there was a great reward from the Ministry to be given to anyone who could rightly identify one, and an even bigger one if the member was killed or captured. However, since those members rarely left Voldemort's side, people were afraid to look for them.

"Then, one day, there was an attack in Diagon Alley, led by Voldemort himself." The older Order members' eyes grew shadowed as they remembered a nightmare Harry, Charlie,and Bill did not know. Remus went on, his voice more hoarse than before."Half of the stores were burned to the ground, twenty people were killed, seven were kissed by dementors, and five went missing." Harry swallowed the lump growing in his throat. "But the aurors came in time to stop Voldemort from escaping. They tried to collapse a building on him, but there were members of the Sect there with him, and they managed to create a distraction while he left. Diega was the distraction.

"She took on all ten aurors, and the building collapsed on her. Albus was there as well, he was the one who found her trying to crawl her way from underneath the rubble. She was dying, and when she saw him, she knew she would be captured, and if that happened, all she had to look forward to was torture, imprisonment, and—if she was lucky—a quick death."

Harry's eyes widened. The Ministry did that to followers of Voldemort? They deserve it, he reminded himself angrily, they all deserve it, and worse...

"But Albus had no intention of turning her over. He misled the aurors, said that he'd seen her apperate away. Once they'd gone, he brought her to Hogwarts, even as she cursed at him and told him to stop messing around and just finish the job the building had started. She spent a week in Poppy's care, unconscious for the most part, a full Order guard watching her every minute of the day. When she was healthy enough, Albus came to see her. He made her an offer: serve as a spy for the Order, and he would make sure she was never found out as a member of the Serpentine Sect."

"What'd she do?" Harry asked.

"Laughed," said Kingsley. "Just laughed."

Remus nodded. "She did laugh; she told Albus he was crazy. However, she was convinced to accept his offer..."

"By who?"

"Severus." Harry's hands both clenched. What was Snape playing at? Pretending to help the Order, by getting another of Voldemort's followers to be a double-agent? "He didn't actually mean to convince her," Remus added as an afterthought, "It was more like he accidentally challenged her. From what we know, they'd always been rivals, ever since Snape got his letter from Hogwarts and she her letter from Durmstrang. But anyway, she used the excuse that she owed Albus a debt, and that she would repay it by spying.

"But Albus wasn't a careless man, he knew that she would do her job, but he needed to keep an eye on her too. So he had her make an Oath of Zaol."

"What's that?" Harry inquired. Remus nodded to Bill, who explained.

"It's just about the safest oath you could make. The person has to freely make it, binding their blood, soul, and magic to an agreement. Only the person who initiates it can call it off. Albus was the initiator. The Oath would keep her from betraying the Order, and if she did, well, it'd make the punishment from the Ministry seem like vacation." Harry's throat dried as his imagination ran wild with painful images.

"She made that?" he said, his voice quieter than he would've liked since his throat wasn't working right.

Remus nodded. "And she served. She and Severus made it a competition of sorts, to see who could bring the more usful and greater amount of information. They were always getting into fights when they reported to Albus."

"They came close to dueling several times too," Tonks commented, "Wands out and thinking curses too, painful ones."

Harry's brow furrowed in confusion. "But I thought no one knew who the spies were in the first war."

"No one did," Moody agreed. "Albus told us all this near the end of the war, well, most of us. Constant vigilance," he said, "Had to keep the numbers low; the more who know, the more you risk."

"Right," Remus said, "Now, after that Halloween when Voldemort fell, Albus released Diega from her Oath, and she left. Didn't say a word, just vanished, left no trace, no letters, didn't tell anyone. We've been looking for her since Voldemort came back."

Harry pondered all this. Diega had only served because she was 'convinced' by her traitor-cousin. Who was to say that she wouldn't do the same as Snape? Dumbledore had trusted Snape so much, only to be betrayed by him. If he didn't trust Diega as much as he had Snape, things would not turn out right, Harry knew it. "Will you make her take the Oath again?" he asked.

"If we can," Kingsley sighed, "We're banking on the debt she owes Dumbledore."

"But didn't she pay it?"

"Not really,"Bill answered. "She was released from the Oath, not her debt. She has to do something for him, not for the Order, to get released from the debt."

Harry, thinking of the debt Wormtail had to him, nodded in understanding. "So let me get this straight," he began, "This Diega Prince is Snape's," he spat out the name like ash, "cousin. She was a member of the Serpentine Sect, a top supporter of Voldemort. She was a spy for the Order in the first war, because Dumbledore didn't turn her in, and she was bound by an Oath. She vanished after the war ended, and it took you two years to find her after you started looking. She doesn't really like any of you, she's part vampire, and she doesn't want to spy again."

"Right," Tonks sighed.

"And never forget dearDurmstrang," a voice that sent shivers up his spine said in an aristocratic drawl.

Harry turned to look suspiciously at the former-- and hopefully once more-- spy. "What about it?"

She smiled, her unnaturally white teeth standing out. Her canines do look a little pointed, Harry thought uncomfortably. "Why, I was only there for three years, Mr. Potter."

"You were expelled," he said, more as a statement than as a question.

"Indeed I was, for playing with spells they'd rather I not know," her smile widened slightly, "And that is quite an accomplishment."

"Made your decision yet?" Moody barked.

She looked at him with a deadly glint in her cool black eyes. She then looked away and caressed her wand nonchalantly. In the dim lighting, her wand looked like the color of dried blood to Harry, and he wondered what the core was. Probably a Dementor's finger bone or something, he thought grimly. "I will return to my services." she said coolly, "However, I need proof that it is Albus who sent you to look for me."

"Easy enough," Remus said cheerily, though the friendliness did not reach his eyes. "His portrait is at Hogwarts, he wants to speak with you."

Her eyes narrowed in annoyance, as if she'd hoped that they would have no proof. Another reason we can't trust her, Harry thought. Then Diega smirked, and she asked softly, "Is that what the Order has sunk to? Taking orders from a picture?" The members present glared at her, hands wrapping around their wands in unison.

She smiled, barring her teeth. "By all means, hex me; I do think I'm a bit out of practice." When none of them moved, she put a look of cruel disappointment on her face. "What a pity, I had hoped to see if perhaps the auror program had made some advancements in training its recruits;" she tossed a strand of dark black hair out of her face, "Slytherin knows they were much too mediocre during the last war."

Harry was surprised at the venom Kingsley, Moody, and even Tonks looked at Diega with. He himself was raging inside, but knew he wouldn't help anything by hexing her. In all honesty, if the order members hesitated, he didn't think he would stand a chance.

"Back to the original question," Moody growled, more forcefully, "What's your decision, I daresay that the Ministry would gladly reinstate the laws concerning rewards for the turning in of Snake Slaves."

Diega's dark eyes flashed in anger, but the rest of her remained cool and aloof. Harry took note of the title that had been used to mock the Serpentine Sect for later use. "Once I have proof of the request for the calling up of my debt," she said, caressing her wand once more, "I will need a month for preparation."

"A month!?" Tonks cried.

An ice cold smirk from Diega silenced the woman. "Did I stutter? Or has old age reached you already?" Tonk's face went red. Diega went on. "And yes, I will need a month. The Dark Lord does not summon us, as you very well know. If I have so cunningly hidden myself from even your amazing'tracking skills', then most likely my...colleagues have done similar. I must find them, if I am to be welcomed back by the Dark Lord into the position I vacated upon his fall."

"What, it'll take you a whole month to find them?" Remus' tone was innocent. "Surely with your talents and kin, you should find them quite easily."

She smiled her icy smile, while a death look lay in the back of her gaze as she replied. "But Remus, aren't wolves the ones who can call to each other? I'm sure that extends to dogs as well, even ones who have...slipped through the door to hear the whispers."

Remus went rigid and so did Harry. How dare she? Harry thought, his hand gripping his wand with such force that he absently feared it would snap. Without a doubt, Diega knew about Sirius' death. She yawned softly, pocketing her blood-colored wand. "Well, I will have to rest before I go and see Albus, after all, daylight doesn't suit me, as you so often comment, Remus." Without another word, she smiled lethally at them all and whisked out of the room, with every single Order member glaring at her back.

But Harry had the feeling she enjoyed it.