Family Connections

The next morning, Pandora woke bright and early, although this wasn't by choice. There was a harsh tapping sound on the window, and once Pandora managed to sit up and discover the origin of the noise, she realised she didn't recognise the bird that was tapping.

She slowly stretched her limbs and delicately clambered out of bed and over to the window, to let the unknown bird in. It swooped past her, down to her desk, and waited patiently for her to remove the letter. Once she removed the letter, the bird launched itself out of the window with a loud squawk. She slowly opened it, nervous as to who had sent it.

Good Morning Pandora!

Would it be possible for you to come down to my Defence classroom after breakfast this morning?

I have several things I wish to discuss with you! Hope you slept well!

Riley Hawke
Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts

To say Pandora was miffed, was an understatement. She'd never received a letter like this from a professor before, but she didn't want to disobey his instructions. After all they were in Hogwarts, and if Snape trusted him, why shouldn't she?

After realising that breakfast itself was in 15 minutes, she had a quick shower and changed into a sapphire silk blouse, with a black floor length skirt, followed by her plain black robes. She walked into the common room and noticed her time table on the coffee table. She snatched it up eagerly and headed down to breakfast, checking she had her wand in the pocket of her robes, as well as the letter professor Hawke had sent her.

Down in the Great Hall, the noise was deafening, where students were receiving their time tables and discussing common subjects with their friends. She noticed her gang of Slytherins sat in the middle of their table, and wandered over to meet them.

"Hey Pan, where's Draco? I thought he'd be down to get his schedule by now?" Pansy asked quietly.

"Oh, we had ours delivered, he was still in bed asleep when I left, so he'll probably be down in a bit." She explained whilst serving herself a slice of Marmite on toast.

"Pandora! You just went down in my estimations dramatically, how the hell can you eat that stuff, it's vile!" Blaise complained about Pandora's choice of toast topping. She simply smiled sweetly at him before wafting the toast near his nose. His eyes watered and he started coughing into a napkin, much to her amusement. "Okay, Okay, no more, I take it back, you're awesome. I take it back, please just stop! He begged her, whilst the others chuckled at her antics.

"Oh guys, by the way, you'll never guess who came to visit me last night!" Once Pandora knew she had all of their attention, she explained Ginny's visit and the conversation they'd had. The excitement on Blaise's face was obvious to all.

"So that means we could potentially have three Weasley's on our side! Including Pothead's girlfriend! That would not only break up that traitorous family, but think about how the 'gruesome-twosome' would react! They've not only lost their best friend now Hermione is Pandora, but they could lose their sister/girlfriend! They'd both be devastated!" The evil smile on his face was one to rival Pandora's.

"Okay well, whilst you three plot about how to get the three non-traitorous Weasley's over to our side, I apparently have a meeting to attend. I'll meet you in the Slytherin common room after that, and I'll take you up to mine and Draco's quarters. See you in a bit!" Pandora waltzed away before they could ask her about her mysterious meeting, so they departed from the Hall and headed off to the Slytherin common room to discuss converting the Weasley's.

Pandora knocked politely on the door to the defence classroom, and waited for it to be opened. She heard a pleasant voice say 'come in', so she walked in.

"Ah Pandora, you've arrived, I was worried you weren't going to turn up! Take a seat my dear, Tea? It's Earl Grey, I know that's all you drink!" He smiled warmly at her confused expression. "You take after both your mother and your aunt, I'm so sorry I wasn't there to meet you the other day, I was away on business for Tom."

At the mention of her cousin's name she looked up in surprise. Then her mind registered what he had said, and her expression grew into confusion again.

"I'm sorry but I don't understand? I've never expected to meet you before? Sorry if this sounds rude, but should I know who you are?" Her response caused a look of surprise to pass over his face, before it was carefully replaced with a calm expression.

"Ah, I do apologise dear, I thought you already knew. I'm Aurella's husband. I'm your uncle Riley" He smiled at her again, whilst realisation dawned across her face, as her mind matched his face to the one she saw in the painting at Aurella's Manor. He could tell she wanted to give him a hug, so he opened his arms wide. He was surprised when she practically launched herself from her chair.

"This is so cool! More family members!" She exclaimed happily. Which was received with a chuckle from Riley.

"Yes, quite a few more family members, Tom requested that I take the position of DADA professor, but of course that would mean leaving Aurella, Celeste and Alexia back in Africa. So, they're getting an international portkey over today. Aurella will be staying with me in my Quarters, I believe she is the new History of Magic professor. But Lex and Celeste will be coming to Hogwarts as well, they're getting sorted tonight in time for the first day back, for lessons tomorrow. But remember they'll be the year below you." Pan could tell by the excitement in his voice that he couldn't wait to see his family again, and she herself was just as excited to get to meet her other cousins.

"That's amazing, I'm so excited to meet them! I'm sure they'll be in Slytherin. And I'll make sure Astoria is aware that they're my cousins, she's the most popular snake in 6th year, so they'll get treated with respect because they're mates with her, but also because they're related to me." Pandora was practically bouncing up and down at the excitement of it all.

"Now remember, you still have the Dagworth reputation to uphold, so no hugs or family affection to me in front of other students. In class you'll have to call me professor or sir, but outside of the classroom you're more than welcome to call me Riley or Uncle Riley." He smiled down at his niece. "Sev knows I'm your uncle, and so does Cissa, but I don't know about the other professors. It'll be interesting to see their reactions if they were to hear you call me uncle in front of them!" He chuckled before releasing her from the hug.

He let her perch back down on the seat opposite his desk, whilst he sat down in his chair behind it. He carefully handed her the cup of tea with the sugar already in it.

"Now, I asked you to come down to discuss my classes. Obviously, I can't be teaching actual Dark Arts in my lessons, but Tom has assigned me as your tutor to help you catch up with the topic. Bella will also be teaching you various techniques, such as; the art of throwing knives and dagger skills. I know Cissa and Sev are intending to further your knowledge in potion making. And Lucius wants to help you with learning to manage Tom's various companies." It was a lot of information for her to take in, so he gave a her a minute to digest this news whilst he took a large gulp of his tea.

"This is brilliant! I was worried that I wouldn't be as skilled or knowledgeable as my friends, now I don't have to worry!" She smiled up at him, evidently reassured with her own place as The Dark Lord's heiress.

"You'd actually be surprised at how little they know! Many missed out on the proper education as children, because the Dark Lord was believed to be dead. Many didn't feel the need to teach them. The only one of your friends, who at the moment knows more than you, is Draco. This was another matter I was going to bring up with you. It might be a good idea for me to help train them as well, although you would be taught far more. What do you think?" He looked at her, waiting for her response. Her decision would affect whether he focused solely on her, or helped her friends too.

"I think it's a fantastic idea. I've been considering creating a Junior group, similar to Tom's, that would be for practising and honing our skills anyway, so this seems like the perfect opportunity! I'll invite Celeste and Lex to join our group as well, I'll make sure that the group know they're related to me." Pandora was careful not to say the words Death Eaters, just in case the room was bugged. He smiled at her again, and the two of them started to make plans together about when to meet up, and what topics to cover first.

After spending the next hour with Riley, planning J.D.E (Junior Death Eater) meetings, she said goodbye and strode off towards the Slytherin common room. By the time she reached it, a couple of the other people on her list of potential J.D.E's had joined her usual group of followers.

"Okay, those of you who I normally hang out with, get up and follow me! Graham, Pike, Astoria, Daphne, Greg, Vince and Theo, also follow me please? I have something which I need to discuss with you all." She led them off to her own common room, by the time they reached the room, they found Draco emerging from the Kitchenette with a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth. "Oh good, you're finally up, follow me please! Pansy open that door over there please, all of you go and sit down, I'll be with you in a second." She directed Pansy to open the Den door, and then wandered over to her bedroom and summoned some parchment, a quill and a bottle of Slytherin green ink.

She walked back into the Den to find everyone lounging on beanbags or sofas around the room. She transfigured a beanbag into a high-backed armchair that would make her a head taller than everyone else, and then sat on it. She quickly but discreetly sealed the door so no one could get in or out, without her permission.

"Right, the reason I asked you all to come over here, is because I need to know what side of the war, you're all on. Graham, you first?"

"I'm on The Dark Lord's side, where all pureblood families should be!" Graham responded.

"Okay, how about you Pike? What side are you on?" Pan questioned.

"I, and my family, are all on the side of our Dark Lord. And we are proud to stand behind him!" He replied with a proud smile. Pandora smiled back at him.

"Okay, Astoria? Daphne? How about you both?"

"Well our parents are followers of The Dark Lord, and so are we, my Lady." Astoria said in a timid voice.

"Astoria, I've already told you, such names are only required in front of my cousin, so please relax!" Pandora was beginning to get concerned with the youngest Greengrass sister. "Okay, that just leaves Blaise, Theo, Greg and Vince. Although if you're anything like your parents you're also on the side of the Dark Lord. Am I correct?"

They all nodded at her, grinning. Especially Greg and Vince, who very rarely were even spoken to by girls, let alone a beautiful woman like the one sat in front of them.

"Good, then I want to know where you stand on becoming Junior Death Eaters?" Pan watched as various faces lit up with excitement at her proposal, whilst others looked confused, namely Pike and Graham, who had never spoken to Pandora before that day.

"Umm, who exactly are you to be suggesting such a thing? Surely our Dark Lord would get angry if we started something like this without his permission?" Pike accused, with a confused expression on his usually blank face. There was a collective gasp from those who knew exactly who she was. They all wondered how she was going to deal with the rudeness of someone so far beneath her.

"I... am the cousin and Heiress to the one you call The Dark Lord. I am The Dark Lady!" As she said this, she slowly rose from her chair, there seemed to be a sudden flurry of wind around her as her hair whipped about behind her. Her eyes seemed to glow with power, and Pike gulped in shock and fear. "I will not be treated and talked to in such a manner. Consider this a warning, as you weren't to know. But don't ever make the same mistake again. You can ask Draco, those who are rude to me end up on the pointy and painful end of my Crucio. And it sure as hell isn't pleasant." She closed her eyes to reign in her power, and gently sat back down again, when she opened her eyes, she found everyone in the room crouched with one knee on the floor, bowing their heads in respect.

"Okay, come on, sit back normally. There are things that need to be discussed. The Dark Lord already knows of this plan of mine, and he thinks it's brilliant." Everyone sat back on their respective seats, and looked at her with mild surprise, they weren't expecting her sudden change back to a chipper and happy mood. They quickly began to realise she was quite possibly even more dangerous than the Dark Lord himself.

"He also said that given I will eventually be taking over from him, it makes sense to have followers who have known me many years, whom I can trust explicitly. Therefore, he wants it known that you primarily follow me, not him. Although if he were ever to ask you to do something, you MUST do it. Consider me the 'go-between' between you and him." She smiled again, as the others nodded at her. She was glad they were actually paying attention to what she was saying. It certainly made a change from Pothead and the Weasel, who tended to zone out when she talked.

"My Lady, might I ask what we do? Obviously as we're still in school, we can't exactly go on raids and other such things?" Daphne asked timidly.

"Excellent question! Well our first order of business is recruitment." She waved her wand over the parchment in her hand in an intricate swish. "This parchment is a form of contract. Once you sign your name, you are part of the J.D.E. It will also place a curse on you, so that if you ever were to turn on us and convert to the side of the light, you will die a most painful death. I will pin it up to the wall, in our training room, which will be shown to you should you sign up. Please don't sign if you feel you cannot commit to the cause." She handed the parchment, quill and ink to Draco, and the left the room.

She went and sat in an armchair in the common room and waited for them to join her. One by one they each came out of the room. All itching the insides of their left wrist. Once everyone had joined her, and Draco had handed her the parchment with all their names on, her own wrist started to tingle. She looked down to see a black rose wrapped around a dagger appear on her left wrist.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you now have these peculiar marks on your left wrists. I couldn't very well tell you about it, as it might have put you off joining. This is the J.D.E. Dark Mark. I should point out, there is a concealment charm embedded into it. Only those with the J.D.E mark, or the standard Dark Mark are able to see it. So do not panic about being discovered." She smiled softly at the surprised teenagers standing in front of her.

"Right, now that you're all sworn in, I will show you our training room. Follow me please." Pandora instructed.

She led them back over to the Den room, however as she held the doorknob she thought 'Dark Arts training room', and as she opened the door, a slightly smaller version of the training room Dumbledore's Army used back in 5th year, appeared. She led them all into the room, and magically pinned the recruitment list onto the wall.

"Now, I'm sure you've noticed the room has changed. Only Draco and myself have the ability to change the room. So, every time you open that door, you'll get the den you were in a few minutes ago. To get this, or any other type of room, you'll need Draco or I to open it for you." Pandora explained. She waved her wand majestically and several beanbags appeared again. "Right, you might as well get comfy, as we need to work out who else would be good for joining us..."

After an hour and a half of discussions about who else had the potential to join the J.D.E's, Pandora decided it was time to ask Astoria for a favour.

"Right, well I'm glad we've made headway. I can see that my trust in you wasn't misplaced." She noticed that out of everyone's grateful smiles, Astoria's seemed to be the biggest, although, she still wouldn't look Pandora in the eye. "Now, Ast, could I ask a favour of you?"

Pandora felt she could have laughed, as Astoria finally looked her in the eye. Very much looking like a rabbit in headlights.

"O-of c-course, my Lady." Astoria responded respectfully. It was clear to Pandora, even though Astoria was sat as far away from her as possible, just how much the youngest Greengrass was terrified. Her hands were shaking so badly, that it was making her arms wobble.

"Oh Ast, you need to stop being so terrified of me. I'm not going to tell you to jump from the Astronomy Tower! No, it's just that you're the most capable and appropriate member to do this task, although all of you will play a part in it." Ensuring she now had everyone's attention, she continued. "Right, now as I'm sure you are all aware, this morning I was in a meeting, this ended up being with Professor Hawke. What you all don't know, is that he is in fact my uncle. He's my mother's sister's husband. He and his wife will be staying in the castle, along with his two daughters; Celeste and Alexia - Lex for short."

Pandora noted the look of intrigue on all the male's faces. It was clear the lads would probably end up hounding her cousins for attention.

"Lex and Celeste, will be in your year Astoria, hence why you are the most appropriate person for the task. We know they are supporters of the Dark Lord, and I will be inviting them to join our group, Riley will be telling them to join as well. But as they will be joining 6th year, we won't be around all the time to keep an eye on them and help show them the ropes. This is where you come in Ast, I simply want you to befriend them, and look after them. Help them get into the swing of life at Hogwarts. They were home schooled back in South Africa, so aren't use to this kind of environment. I want everyone to make them feel welcome. But given your popularity Ast, I want to make sure that they get in with your crowd! Is that clear to everyone?"

There was a chorus of; 'Yes my lady's', as well as a lot of head nodding.

"Good, now we don't even know if they'll definitely be sorted into Slytherin, but I can't imagine why they wouldn't be. I do believe it's time we were all getting ready for dinner anyway, so I will see you in the Great Hall in about an hour. Needless to say, I don't expect anyone to talk about this gathering outside of these quarters and the Slytherin Common room. And even in the common room, please be discreet! You're dismissed."

With that everyone started to exit the den/training room, and head off to their own common room to get ready, whilst Draco and Pan headed to their own rooms to get showered and changed.

An hour later and Pandora and Draco were seated at the Head table on either side of Headmaster Snape, looking out over the hall, and keeping an eye on the J.D.E's to ensure they were behaving in an appropriate manner. Pandora realised that there were two seats on her right that hadn't been filled. Noticing her confusion, Snape leaned towards her and explained that they were reserved for Riley and Aurella.

The hall was filled with chatter as the students couldn't understand why the food hadn't appeared already, or why there were two empty chairs beside the head girl. It wasn't until Snape rose from his chair, that the chatter hushed to silence.

"Now, before we begin, I have an announcement." With a swish of his wand, the double doors leading into the Entrance Hall swung open dramatically, to reveal the new DADA professor, and a beautiful woman, with two stunning teenage girls. There was a collective gasp, as the four walked towards the head table with their noses slightly raised. Looking the epitome of good breeding and power.

"Professor Hawke, our new DADA professor has requested that his wife and their daughters join him over in England. They were living in South Africa. Mrs Hawke will be our new History of Magic professor, Alexia and Celeste will be sorted into one of the houses and join the 6th years. You are to make them feel welcome, and treat them with the same respect you show the other students. Now, Professor McGonagall, would you do the honours please?"

As McGonagall stepped out from behind the head table with a stool and the sorting hat, Aurella and Riley took to the seats on Pandora's right. McGonagall placed the stool down and asked Alexia to sit upon the seat, once she was perched on it, the sorting hat was placed on her head.

'Ah, your mother is a Dagworth, and your allegiance is obvious, you are incredibly smart and would work well in Ravenclaw, but there is a coldness to your heart that can be seen in the rest of your family. It seems like you'll be joining your mother and cousin's house. Time to join the snake's my dear, as I'll put you in...'

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat called out, whilst the Slytherin table clapped respectfully.

Pandora noticed Astoria stand up gracefully and beckoned Alexia over to sit with her and the other 6th year Slytherin girls, she whispered to her uncle the orders she'd given to Astoria so he was aware of them. Alexia looked over to her father for his opinion, and noticed him and someone who looked rather similar to her aunt Astrid having a quick discussion, before he looked over and nodded at her, to join the 6th year girl.

After Alexia was seated at the Slytherin table, and the clapping had died down, as well as some rather unhappy grumbling from the boys of the other three houses, McGonagall asked for Celeste to sit on the stool.

Once she was sat, and the hat was on her head, the hat started to talk to her through her thoughts.

'Oh, you appear to be Alexia's twin, welcome to Hogwarts! I see in you, exactly what I saw in your sister, your allegiance is obvious, as is your vast knowledge. I see that the only real option for you is to join the house of your cousin, mother and sister. There you will do great, but terrible things. Your power will grow, and you will fill your potential. No, other choice really, but to put you in...'

"SLYTHERIN!"

Celeste quickly stood and handed the hat back to the professor standing beside her. Before walking over to where her twin was sitting. The clapping from the Slytherin's was deafening, although still controlled and respectable. The grumblings from the other houses was even more audible, now that both the absolutely stunning girls had been placed into the house of snakes.

Snape stood, and the clapping and grumbling quickly died down.

"Welcome girls, I trust you will be welcomed into my old house; they will show you the ropes and treat you as one of their own. Now, let dinner begin!" He clapped his hands twice and the platters of delectable food appeared, clearly this was to be another feast similar to the night before to welcome the two new students in.

"Wow, I guess they're giving us another welcome feast like last night!" Astoria exclaimed surprised.

"Cool, this food looks delicious, but what do you mean?" Alexia asked the girl who was sat beside her.

"Well normally we have a massive welcome back feast on the evening we arrive back at school after the summer holidays. Then we get more sedate and normal meals on the other days, except for special days like Samhain. (A/N - Halloween) However, because we've welcomed you both and your mother too, Headmaster Snape has clearly organised another feast specifically to welcome you." Astoria smiled demurely as she explained.

She looked up at the head table and noticed that Pandora wasn't sat there anymore. She felt a tap on her shoulder and jumped in surprise to find the head girl stood behind her.

"Astoria, could you be a dear and bring Lex and Celeste to the Head's quarters after the feast please. I have informed Snape, and Riley, so don't worry about being punished for it. They both know and agree." Pandora instructed to the young girl.

"Yes, my Lady, will you be requesting me to stay, or head back to the common room once I've dropped them off?" She asked politely whilst looking at her hands.

"Ast, relax dear, I really don't understand why you're so intimidated by me? And you'll head back to your common room, although I'd request you stay in the common room, as I'll be dropping them both off to you after I've spoken with them, when I do my patrols. I'll worry about the passwords, so don't worry that they won't be able to get in." Pandora glided away without waiting for an answer, earning her a curious look from her twin cousins.

"Who on earth was that?" They exclaimed together, whilst looking at Astoria in confusion.

"As she didn't introduce herself, I'll let her do that later. No need to make her angry before we've even got back properly." She replied timidly.

Lex and Celeste blanched, who on earth was this familiar looking woman who could instil such fear in a girl who prior to that had seemed incredibly confident? And how on earth did she know that Alexia got called Lex? They realised they would get no answers from those sat around them, so they'd just have to wait and see.

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A/N It's a bit filler-ish, but it needed to be done as there's quite a bit of information that needed to be set up. There hasn't been any real Dramione action yet, I'm hoping to rectify that in the next couple of chapters!

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own the rights to Marmite, although it does taste lovely in a cheese sandwich ;)

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I can't believe how many reads this is getting, makes me feel all warm and bubbly, and apologies for not updating earlier today, I've been at work :D

Much love!

Az xXx