Chapter Eight: The Third Day

Vivian immediately fell asleep when she returned to the house. Sanguini watched over her until the dawn. He noted that she seemed to be restless and at times, looked as if she wanted to awaken. She tossed and turned over several times, her dark auburn hair falling into her face. Before dawn, he pulled the blankets back over her body and moved her hair out of her face.

"Sleep well, Vivian," he whispered to her.

"I fear the calm before the storm has ended."


Severus Snape was awakened by a large blast from the next room. He sat up groggily. He still wore the same robes as he did last night. He heard another hex in the next room. He donned his mask and burst through the door. His eyes swept over three young men—deatheaters—towering over another one slumped on the floor. The figure on the floor appeared to have just come of age. He was just a boy. All three men standing had their wands drawn. With a quick non-verbal command, he held all the wands in his hand. The fear in the room was thick. Snape knew that they feared him as much as the Dark Lord.

"What is going on here?" he asked in a soft voice.

The boy on the floor tried to speak but the shortest of the three beat him to it.

"He's a traitor, sir!"

Snape's black eyes flashed. The boy's face drained of all blood.

"Explain."

"He was caught by the aurors, sir. He claims he was held up by a member of the resistance. We know he made a deal with the ministry and is trying to spy on us! He's the one whose probably been giving the resistance information!"

Snape walked briskly to the boy and grabbed him roughly by the robes. He pulled him up and held him against the wall. The boy's eyes looked directly into his. He could see that the boy thought he was going to be killed. He saw the boy and the others at a pub. He heard their conversation and saw the mad rush for the door. He saw the boy shoved into the wall and the flash of dark green eyes. More images flashed through his mind. Snape blinked and saw the trembling boy staring at him. He let him go.

"Get out of here, boy. You should be lucky your father works at the ministry."

"Y-Yes, sir."

The boy ran out of the room, glaring darkly at his ex-friends. The others stood stock still. Snape turned to them.

"I will not mention that you three were blabbing out the Dark Lord's supporters and plans to the Dark Lord. If I see or hear anything about you three again, I will speak with him."

They all nodded and left the room quickly. Snape ran a hand through his limp and greasy hair. Going into his private room again he decided he needed a shower. Little did he know that it was going to be a quick one.


Vivian woke around ten thirty in the morning. The sun was clearly up though the curtains were fully drawn. She stretched her muscles and felt more relaxed than she had in ages. A good night's sleep had helped her more to relax than that half a bottle of brandy. She showered quickly and found robes in the closet to wear. It wasn't good to charm the same ones clean over and over again. She still wore the Prince's cloak. There was no food in the house so she left immediately to The Hog's Head. Figures a vampire wouldn't have anything decent to eat. When she appeared in Hogsmeade, she was by the stile at the end of the town. She hurriedly pulled her hood up and covered her face. The weather was pleasant and cool. The sun hung high above her and was a brilliant white. She could tell most people were not doing their errands today. Curiosity got the better of her so she ventured onto the main road. She saw Zonko's Joke shop and the Owl Post Office. The Three Broomsticks looked like it had a good clientele today. She saw Madame Rosemerta laughing with the other customers. To see those people with no worries. It must be nice. She turned away from that scene. Looking up she saw Hogwarts Castle. It looked as grand and majestic as when she graduated ten years ago. She hadn't stepped foot in the castle since. Memories of running down the front lawns during the spring came into her mind. She saw herself with a boy with short spiky blond hair, very handsome like his older brother. They always agreed with each other except when it came to politics. She was like every other proud pure-blood though she was against the campaigns of the megalomaniac trying to seize power at that time. Her family was against the war. His was all for it. "A purification of the bloodlines," was what they called it. Regulus had dark brown eyes that shined whenever he was into no good. Vivian stared at a nearby tree by the road. Regulus had scared the shit out of a hufflepuff one time by trying to jump down it and right in front of the poor kid. The only problem was Regulus misjudged his jump and actually jumped on the kid instead of in front of him. She laughed so hard that she couldn't stand up. Her eyes hardened when she couldn't think of another time when she laughed like that or been that happy since her school days. She drew the Prince's cloak closer to her body. Her body felt cold at the thought of dead friends. The locket hanging bobbing slightly on her chest made her shiver. Regulus had given it to her. She hoped relief would come with it gone. Maybe she could settle down in some quite place like Devonshire or Breton when the war was over and she could make sure Sanguini and the other vampires were okay. She couldn't say alive since they were undead. Sanguini was the only person—well, non-human—she allowed herself to get close to. She owed him her life.

Some people from the Three Broomsticks left the pub and started up the street. She couldn't stay here any longer. With one last wistful look at the castle, she turned her back to it and took the alleyways to The Hog's Head. She was glad she did. In the final one before the pub she saw a cloaked figure lurking by the street. It had not heard her enter the alley. She walked quietly up to it and turned it sharply by its thin shoulder. Vivian held her wand against its throat. The "it" was a young woman around her age she judged, with bright bubble-gum pink hair. The woman had her wand out but was not going to risk being hexed point-blank by Vivian.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" demanded Vivian.

The young woman looked directly into Vivian's eyes.

"I'm with the Order. We've been waiting here for a while. He's waiting for you inside with Ron and Hermione. Aberfroth gave them a private booth."

Vivian, her wand still positioned, looked around the empty street in front of her. She then saw the other members watching her from various positions. Some were perched on roof tops while others were standing next to the adjacent buildings. Vivian lowered her wand. She nodded at the woman and hurried across the street. It was too quiet. A sense of foreboding crept into her stomach.

She pushed the doors to the pub open. Several other cloaked figures were sitting around with glasses of various spirits. She saw the dingy bartender and approached him.

"I was told I have a private booth."

"Yeh do. 'ollow meh."

He led her behind the bar and into a hallway. They both entered the last room on their left side. The room was dimly lit. There was only a circular table with four chairs around it. Vivian saw the redhead, the busy haired girl and another smaller teenager. The shorter boy had pitch black hair but the brightest green eyes she had ever seen. She could see the scar on his forehead clearly through his bangs. The Boy Who Lived was very thin but she could see he had strength. She could feel the strength of his magic also. He looked at her behind thin wired glasses. Hermione and Ron watched both of them carefully. Vivian noticed that they had their hands on their wands.

They all jumped slightly when the door slammed shut. Obviously Aberfroth left without a word to either of them. Vivian took a deep breath and wondered how a skinny seventeen year old could make her feel so nervous. He's the only one who has survived the killing curse! What kind of magic can do that? She sat down gracefully and waited for the teenagers to do the same. Harry was the first one to speak.

"Professor McGonagall and my friends here told me that you have a horcrux."

"I do. It's yours as long as you destroy it as soon as possible."

Harry nodded.

"Can I see it?"

Vivian pulled the long sliver chain from under her robes. The locket shined in the dim candle light. Harry's eyes brightened also.

"So it's Slytherin's locket after all. Is it still activated?"

"Yes. I haven't been able to do anything to it. Be careful, Potter."

Vivian held out the locket. Harry grasped it and stared at it in his palm. The room was silent. The candle flames flickered slightly. Hermione was studying Vivian's features again. Ron was looking over Harry's shoulder at the locket.

"Why did you hide and leave your family behind?" asked Hermione suddenly.

Vivian's dark eyes met her brown ones. This girl was truly the brains of the trio. Ron looked at her, too. Harry paid no one any attention. He was still absorbed in the locket.

"I couldn't stay."

"But why?"

"Because I would endanger everyone who was around me!" she snapped. "I'm high on the Dark Lord's black list. It's the same reason you three left Hogwarts and your families."

Hermione did not take offense at Vivian's sharp tone this time. She became quiet and moved her eyes to the locket. All three of them jumped to their feet, their wands drawn when they heard the first explosion. Vivian flew to the door and opened it slightly. The hallway was clear. They needed to get out as soon as possible. They were trapped if they stayed in the room.

"You three keep behind me! You two," she motioned to Ron and Hermione, "keep Potter out of sight as much as possible. We don't want the Dark Lord to start a duel early."

She ran down the hall nimbly. She looked around the corner to see the bar empty. She waved her hand to sign the cost was clear. The trio moved behind her. The front of the bar was empty also. Through the windows though, Vivian saw smoke and flashes of curses flying everywhere. She moved closer to the window.

The glass shattered. Pieces of glass caught her on her cheek. She felt blood trickle down it. Order members were on the south side of the street while twice as many deatheaters were on the north. The Order members were trying desperately to get to the pub. A stray hex splintered the door into two pieces.

"Is there another way out!" shouted Vivian above the noise.

The redhead nodded and pointed to another door across the room. Vivian opened it quickly and saw it opened up to the alleyway in the back.

"Stay here until I see where this leads."

She ran the length of the alley and saw it split two ways. Through one she could only see the smoke from the battle. The other way was clear.

"Come on!" she mouthed.

The trio ran up to her. Hermione and Ron kept Harry in between them. Vivian ran the remainder of the way and saw that the main street was still clear. The trio was behind her. She turned to them.

"Leave here now! Go on!"

"But the others—." Started Harry.

"Don't play hero now, Potter! If you die prematurely without taking the Dark Lord with you, everyone will curse your name for your stupidity!"

Harry nodded. Vivian saw he wore the locket around his neck. She heard several cracks in the street. A group of deatheaters appeared. Only one wore a white mask. The others wore black. The trio prepared to apparate.

"Don't let Potter leave!" a deep voice rumbled from the white mask.

Hermione and Ron apparated right as the man spoke. Harry stopped dead on hearing that voice. Vivian recognized it as the voice of the Half-Blood of the Dark Lord's ranks. What the hell is he doing? What side is he really on?

"You!" screamed Harry.

The deatheater stood ram-rod straight, his black eyes glittered malevolently. Potter held his wand at the ready. Vivian knew he was going to do something stupid. She did the only thing she could do.

"Stupefy!"

The deatheater watched as Harry's eyes fluttered shut and saw his body hit the ground with a thud. The other deatheaters were cheering her on. She ran up to the boy and grabbed his wrist. She pulled out a handkerchief and cast a silent Portus.

The deatheater in the white mask knew what she was going to do. She looked back at him and smirked. To her surprise, his eyes looked relieved. She felt a familiar pull around her navel.

Vivian and Harry landed in the graveyard in Godric's Hollow. Hermione and Ron ran up to them from the house.

"What happened to him?" exclaimed Hermione.

"Get him up to the house," interrupted Vivian. "Don't let him out of your sight either!"

Ron picked up Harry easily and ran to the house. Hermione turned to follow but one of Vivian's hands wrapped around her wrist.

"Wait, Hermione. I need to know something."

Hermione's brown eyes showed her distrust but she nodded anyways. Vivian did not let go of her wrist.

"Harry reacted only to one deatheater after you two apparated. What does he have against the half-blood?"

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise. Vivian barely heard her when she whispered, "So he was there…"

"Who is he?" asked Vivian.

Hermione looked toward the graveyard. Her eyes filled with emotions; sorrow, regret, anger. When she looked at Vivian again, her face was set in a fierce look.

"That deatheater was once a spy for the Order. He's shown his true colors. He is now the Dark Lord's advisor and second in command since Lucius Malfoy screwed up in the Department of Mysteries and is now in Azkaban. No one has seen Draco. The Order thinks he was killed because he couldn't complete his task…"

"Was the task completed?" asked Vivian in a low voice. She didn't know what to think.

"Oh, yes," said Hermione sarcastically. "It was done well."

"Who completed it if the youngest Malfoy couldn't?"

"That half-blooded deatheater did. That's why the Dark Lord trusts him so much."

"What was the task? I haven't heard of anything done recently—."

"He killed Albus Dumbledore."


Author's Note: Blame education and work for the long wait. More to come, hopefully soon!