A/N: So I just got a new keyboard for my Scar (Ipad) and YOU have no idea how much this simplifies things, like... a LOT. No more awkward positions, abusing my back, elbows or bones... And Scar's grateful that I won't have to punch the life out of him anymore ^^ HAZZA bitchessss. I'M BACK.

P.S. Unfortunately, this new keyboard doesn't support the use of italics, underline or bold (The technology companies for the bluetooth wireless keyboards fail at the simple methods) and since I don't have the strength to update it all in the Doc manager AGAIN... Ahem-

/Thoughts/

"Talking"

'Italics, that is, to highlight a specific word... something, blah.'

Chapter 37: Metamorphosis

Chapter 37: Consequence

"Tell me, Nott..." He whispered slowly, his eyes on his elegant fingers which were grasping a beautiful feather. "How many years have passed?"

The man tensed, hairs standing on end as his eyes tried to remain on the pattern of the floor. He forced his voice to asnwer, as it rumbled from his position on the floor. "Since when, m'Lord?"

"8 years." The Dark Lord's voice answered instead, completely ignoring Nott. His hands followed the beginning and end of the feather, turning it sideways in many directions. "8 years since... 'everything'." His voice was stone cold- his dark eyes finally landing on the kneeling man before him. "And, what have we accomplished so far?"

Nott dared to stop and breathe deeply, choosing his next words carefully. "E-everything you have wished for, m'Lord." He muttered, inwardly scolding himself. No matter how many years pass, he could still not hide his fear at those cold-blooded eyes. No matter how many decades passed- the smallest of fears still remained in him...

The Dark Lord laughed- it was a fake and short tune. "Barely." He sneered, slamming his hand on top of the mahogany desk. Nott's eye twitched. "I have barely accomplished my goals in this country, this community- this WORLD." He growled, standing abruptly from his desk as angry footsteps echoed around the room. Nott paled, and despite his lack of better judgement, quickly looked up to find his Lord's back staring out the window. He breathed out his relief quietly.

"And after 8 'years', when I have finally brought order and justice into the Ministry- after all those years of debate and hard work..." The temperature in the room dropped, and a couple of fragile objects on the shelves shook uncontrollably. "I find out, that the Potter offspring is 'alive'." He hissed out the last word as the most foul flavor his tongue had ever tasted.

Nott glanced around the room with a calm body but wide eyes. Just as the ceiling began to shake, did he dare open his mouth, the capacity of his Lord's rage reaching heights not seen in years.

"Lies, my Lord!" His voice was loud, as he tried to reach the other through the noise of clattering and smashing. Although annoying, it helped cover up his shaky tone as he took a moment to steady it. As the clattering died down to a lower volume, did he continue. "That filthy worm must have lied." He sneered out, his nose scrunching up in disgust at the thought of the mudblood.

"How many times..." The Dark Lord whispered as the room shook violently again, his back rigid. "Must I repeat, myself?" The noise completely died down as everything went still, furious green eyes boring into Nott's body. "He. Did. Not. 'Lie'." He hissed, and it was at that moment that Nott wished for the earth to swallow him whole. How could he forget that the Dark Lord had confirmed the mudblood's words himself? /Idiot./ He slapped himself mentally. "E-either way, my Lord..." Nott whispered, trying to erase his mistake, staring at the floor. "It was you yourself that dealt with the Potters. I doubt 'you' had missed the child, my Lord." Despite his uneasy tone, his words were truthful. A simple child could not even touch the Dark Lord, let alone evade him.

"But I have, Nott!" The Dark Lord growled, his eyes wide with fear for the first time as he remembered that incident oh-so-many years ago. As he looked back, the worst case scenarios ran around his head; What if the spell 'had' missed? If he had missed? What if the child had actually lived?! "Apparently I have..." He mumbled, starting to pace.

Although spoke the truth- it did not mean what he was told 'was' the truth. /It must be a rumor./ He thought. /A lie that spread through that old man's organization/ He shook his head for a moment, a stray thought blooming to reality in his head. /Or... it could be a trap. A scheme set up by the senile goat himself/ He growled in annoyance and stalked back to his desk, grabbing the feather and dipping it in black. His usual elegant penmanship turned into messy scrawls on the. He glared at the dry parchment as if it could squirm and rearrange into something neater by itself; there probably was a spell for such a convenience, but it did not matter now. /Let Lucius put some effort into it, for once./

He rolled up the parchment and sealed it, grabbing his wand and muttering all kinds of spells and curses. /Better safe than sorry/ He mused and, satisfied, he tossed the letter to Nott's direction. "Have you prepared an owl?" Nott glanced up, quickly standing and clumsily catching the letter and handling it as if it were glass. He nodded towards his Lord. "Yes- I have." He glanced sideways before continuing. "Forgive me for asking, but... Why are we going to such measures, m'Lord? It is only a child- barely a threat." They were wasting time on the Potter bastard; they should be focusing on other things. Such as the scattered muggleborns and the new school system...

"Any child under the protection of Dumbledore is a threat, Nott." He hissed, staring at Nott's bowed head. "And you should do well to remember that. Send it to the ministry." He dismissed him and Nott disappeared with a loud crack, blessing the deities for leaving unscathed.

The Dark Lord sighed into the now empty room. Constantly questioned nowadays- the time of peace had made the purebloods more daring and foolish. /It would be wise to remind them of their position/ He thought, storing the memo at the back of his head. Not like he wasn't swarmed with enough problems and paperwork. His hand twitched, as the need for a good glass of firewhiskey came full-force. /No/ He cracked his knuckles, rolling his shoulders to rid out all the kicks and twists. /Not yet/ He glanced at the black tinted feather, shimmering towards dark blue in light. He grasped it and slowly approached the window behind him.

He did not need his wand as the glass doors opened on his whim, the curtains billowing as the force of the wind entered in the room. The torches and candles slowly died down until evaporating completely, now only the moon shedding any kind of light inside. The Dark Lord stared at the fields and trees which spread out into a forest further beyond- it was an eerie and grave sight, only the noise of the wind stretching along. Perfect.

The Dark Lord mumbled ancient words- he closed his eyes and brought his closed palm upwards. The wind picked up again, and his eyes snapped open, words dying on his lips. He opened his hand slowly, and with a breath of air, the glowing feather sailed away into the open.

The wind carried it as the feather grew larger and started morphing into shapes. A loud pop was heard and a newly made blackbird chirped into the wind, opening it's wings with a loud flutter. It's two-colored eyes- one gold, the other crimson- glanced at the man standing by the window once, before flying into the night.

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All was quiet.

The grass rustled as a creature scampered by, quick steps and a small noise left its trace. It stopped and looked around, every second turning its head this way and that. It took cautious steps towards the overly large apple. It paws grasped it as much as it could, sniffing it along the way. Barely a second passed and the mouse bit inside the fruit with vigor, glancing around every so often. Only later did it calm down, falling into a false sense of security.

Green eyes stared.

The small garden snake curled around itself further, making sure to be as slow and quiet as possible. It rolled out it's tongue, tasting the air. No one but him, and his prey. He glanced at the small field mouse, jaws opening ever so slightly. He was starving, and he could already imagine the small, furry creature in his mouth. Body tensing, scales glinting slightly in the moonlight, ready to jump...

A chirp sounded in the air.

The snake hissed violently in surprise at the loud sound, effectively scaring his food away for added measure. He hissed/growled as his body relaxed. His furious eyes looked to find the source of his intruder- but the small blackbird was high up in the tree, safe from any fangs. He did his best to glare at it, and as it turned it's head, green eyes glanced at crimson and golden ones. The snake cocked it's head in confusion at the strange creature, before dismissing it completely and slithering away hungry back to his den.

The blackbird pecked at it's feathers, chirping into the night. Only when everything was quiet and still, did the small creature sit up, staring at the building not so far away. It observed the house's structure; 2 floors, beautiful garden, meadow and it looked exactly like any other house in the neighborhood.

Now it was time to see whether that last observation was true.

The bird flew down, it's wings fast approaching. It circled the lower floor and took it's time to peer into every window it could. A curtain hid the kitchen from view, but the small glass triangle in the backdoor opened the dark world behind it. The blackbird flapped it's wings in place, as it's eyes roamed inside the darkened walls. The crimson eye seemed to intensify and glow for a moment, as it's master used a spell from far away to peer inside better. A table, counter, fridge, some type of instruments he had not seen before, shelves with ingredients etc... Either way, all of it seemed to be muggle-like.

The same was to be said for the living room and hallway; sofa, small open closet with shoes, medium sized TV, and small paintings hung in someplaces, but the bird was to far away to see it and it all looked like a blurry mess of colors splashed on the wall. /Filthy muggles/ His thought echoed throughout the soulless creature. The porch was engraved with golden letters which read '44 Privet Drive', which confirmed the address and location.

A hoot was heard in the wind.

Positive feelings flooded the bird, copied from it's master miles away. /It must have been a rumor after all/ The bird flapped upwards on the top floor, the stray thought gone as it ventured to a window. The very first window it stumbled upon was obscured by curtains; but not completely, as a small gap was just enough to look inside. The crimson eye flashed again as the bird landed on the window-sill. It was a strange room; despite the bird's night vision, the room itself seemed to be old and gray, covered in dust. It held a bed, desk, closet and another door which likely led to the bathroom. Most of the mentioned items were covered in sheets; although that wasn't uncommon, it still peaked the bird's awareness.

By now, the bird was ready to approach the next window- a window which was part of the room of a little girl. And, if the bird found about the whereabouts of the sleeping child, it's master would panic and investigate in the muggle archives for information. And when he finds that the young son of Petunia Evans had long been dead, will the Dark Lord realize his fatal 'mistake'.

And the fate of Holly Potter, would end.

The small flapping sound of the blackbird came to an abrupt end in mid-air. The creature stilled, shocked, as claws grabbed him out of flight. The sharp edged knives dug into it's body, as black substance poured out and onto the small bird. It vaguely registered a large form above it, as wings glided through the air and landed on the apple tree. As they both stilled, did the blackbird snap out of shock.

It screeched into the night, violently flapping it's wings. The blackbird shook, eyes wide as it met the golden orbs of the shadowed form above. /So close.../ A growl echoed throught the small bird, as it tried to break free. As a last resort, the small bird tensed and turned it's head at an unnatural angle, both golden and red facing it's predator. The crimson eye flashed brightly, and the owl shrieked- not from surprise, but fury.

With a giant flap of it's black wings, the owl opened it's beak and bit down into the blackbird. Black liquid stained and enveloped the small bird. The owl waited until it's shrieks died down and it's twitching stopped. It swooped down on to the ground and spat out the black body on to the grass. The owl seemed to glare at it's crimson eye, as the body slowly melted into black liquid, burning away the grass and leaves. Only a feather remained, before rolling away with the wind.

The owl spread it's wings and it grew and morphed, until it reached a larger size and stopped. Hands stretched above the back, as a woman with messy black hair and brown eyes appeared. She yawned with one hand, "What a night." Mumbling to herself tiredly, Hestia Jones took out her cigar and lit it up. Her narrowed eyes were glaring through the smoke on the black smudge left on the ground. She glanced back at the window where the blackbird was caught suspiciously.

The ground stank of it, and she didn't have to be an expert to know what 'it' was. /The Dark arts/ She hissed in her mind, taking out her wand and sighing, she began muttering incantations...

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Miles away, the man at the window growled in annoyance. His crimson eye glared into the night as he lost connection with his puppet. He muttered curses under his chin as he slowly opened his other emerald colored eye, while his crimson one melted back into green.

/So/ He turned, ready to write another letter. /It seems this demands a personal visit after all.../

A/N: I'm so tired I can't even type anymore...

Anyways- thanks so much for the reviews guys, and not to worry everything will be revealed later on. I'm not going to reveal Holly's appearance yet; but I can tell for sure she's not the usual gender-bender character. I mean, this story's unique in it's own way, so why should you expect the expected?

Many characters appeared here, and I've gotta say this chapter killed me. I'm tired, leave a review and blah -.-