A/N: All right, this story is starting to flow. Now if I can just keep the flow going, I'll be able to finish it by July 21st!! Well, probably not, but still. I can try. Lol. Adios!

-CatJetRat

Chapter 4

Back to Power

Pre-HBP

Normal POV

Mnemosyne observed another Death Eater meeting with faint amusement. She walked over to the meeting, and while before, they had been speaking quietly, waiting for Voldemort to arrive, all fell silent at her presence. The months had passed, slowly, and she was now just as powerful as she had been before Voldemort had tried to kill her. The Death Eaters could sense her magic, equal in strength to the Dark Lord's, and were awed by it into a grudging respect.

A slight smile graced her lovely features. "Lucius," she said, inclining her head.

He bowed. "My lady," he murmured, brushing the back of her hand with his lips. She then addressed each of the Death Eaters in turn before she spoke again. She glanced casually at Lucius. "How is Draco?" she asked smoothly.

"He is well," Lucius answered at once. "Second in his class. He is very bright and powerful."

She smirked. "Second to whom?"

His eyes narrowed. "Hermione Granger."

She laughed coldly. "Oh, a Pureblood second to a Mudblood? That's rich. What is your explanation for this?"

"I have two." His voice had turned icy. "One, that she works twice as hard to make up for bad blood, and two, that Muggle-loving fool of a headmaster favors her."

She inclined her head. "Indeed. But although Granger and Draco are matched in intelligence, Draco is more powerful magically. As for Harry Potter—" A slight ripple went around the circle at his name. Mnemosyne smiled grimly. "—He is intelligent, and as magically powerful as Draco, but I am sorry to say that Potter bests Draco in Quidditch any day."

Lucius snarled, and pulled out his wand, trying to hex her. She banished the curse with an impatient wave of her hand. "You would dare to challenge me?" She walked forward slowly. "I, who not even the Dark Lord Voldemort could defeat? I, who has full command of all magic, Dark and Light? I, who with a snap of her fingers—" She snapped her fingers, and Lucius rose up, as though gripped by the neck. "—Could end your miserable little life? Do you truly dare to challenge me?!" Her voice rose to a roar, and Lucius's eyes widened in fear.

"No," he gasped, choking. "No, my Queen. Of course not."

She waved her hand and he fell to ground, breathing heavily. "Do not cross me again, Lucius," she hissed in a deadly voice. "I hope your son is a better man than you."

Voldemort appeared at the opposite end of the circle, looking furious. "Mnemosyne! What is the meaning of this?"

She smiled indolently and walked over to him. "Just teaching your pets a little lesson about challenging me." She eyed him contemptuously. "My lord," she said in a mocking voice, daring him to oppose her. His eyes narrowed.

"Leave," he said firmly. "Now."

She grinned. "Of course," she said, and swept out of the circle in a billow of white cape and silky dress, with black snakes circling up the sleeves.

Mnemosyne decided to once again observe the Death Eater meeting from a distance. Smiling, she settled herself on a patch of grass, which immediately became soft, green, and welcoming for her, though before it had been brown and dead. She smiled and murmured thanks to the Earth, and looked up at Voldemort, a slight sneer touching her face.

Truly, the man was foolish. He had never understood the point of bonding with the Earth, of loving it and being loved back by it. But that was his foolish loss. A dancing devil who made his own doom.

Mnemosyne conjured a ball of flame above the fingers of her right hand, contemplated it for a moment, and then let it dissipate. Only would Voldemort finally see his mistakes when he was an inch from death. As for Dumbledore….

A cold smile lit her face, only more fearful than Voldemort's if one knew her. The rest would have to learn to fear. Like Dumbledore had. Mnemosyne was willing to bet that he could be stopped, and made to see his mistakes before it was too late. Though of this she was not sure.

She sighed, and the wind of the Earth danced across her hair, her cheeks, indeed, her entire body, and she closed her eyes, smiling, giving herself over to the powers of the Earth. They strengthened her magic, and her life and love.

When her eyes next opened they were burning with a new fervor.

Soon, brother, she thought fiercely. Soon.

DH

The two days Harry was stuck with Malfoy were surprisingly quiet. Malfoy mostly stayed in his room, venturing out for food and books on Defense Against the Dark Arts. On August 31, Harry and Malfoy found themselves in the library together, Harry searching through the Dark Arts books, of which there were many. Malfoy looked up at him several times before he finally broke.

"All right, what are you looking for?" he demanded to know.

Harry paused. Allies though they might be, Harry wasn't sure if he could trust Malfoy with information like this. But, then again, he had sworn an oath of loyalty to the group. Anything Harry told him he would just forget if he tried to relay it to Voldemort. Besides that, Malfoy was going to be sitting in this house with little else to do all year. He might as well help research.

Harry walked over and sat down in front of Malfoy. He had an apprehensive, curious look on his face, one Harry had almost never seen him wear before, except when they were in Potions. Harry bit back a wry smile. "Do you know what Horcruxes are, Malfoy?" he asked.

Malfoy's nose crinkled as he tried to remember. "Something to do with souls?" he guessed.

Harry shrugged. "More or less. A Horcrux is an object which contains a portion of a wizard or witch's soul."

"How does that work?"

Harry winced at Malfoy's eager tone. "By killing someone. When a witch or wizard kills someone, their soul is torn in half, and a witch or wizard who wants a Horcrux can take that opportunity to imbue their soul in an object of their choice."

"Why would someone do that?" Malfoy no longer sounded quite as eager.

Harry shrugged. "To achieve immortality. So that if the part of your soul which is inside your body is killed, you can stay alive."

Malfoy frowned slightly. "But…with half a soul? What kind of life is that?"

Harry shrugged. "For some people, life is everything. Voldemort had Horcruxes."

"More than one?"

"Yeah, for the first time ever, someone had more than one. Dumbledore thought he had six, because we saw a memory where Voldemort as a kid asked Professor Slughorn about Horcruxes, and asked him if seven would be the best number of pieces of soul to have, so we think he had six Horcruxes, with the last part of his soul encased in his body. I destroyed one of the Horcruxes when I was twelve—"

"Twelve?" Malfoy looked grudgingly impressed. "How did you manage that?"

"Do you remember all the attacks on the school when we were in second year?" Malfoy nodded. "Well, it came from a diary Ginny Weasley was given, by your father," Harry added, rather resentfully. "It was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, and his soul came out and started ordering the basilisk to—"

"Wait—basilisk?" Malfoy's eyes were wide, and Harry sighed, and went on to explain everything he knew about the Horcruxes, both those destroyed and still active. When he finished, Malfoy looked rather awed. "Wow," he said softly. "Six Horcruxes? He really did go all out to cheat death."

Harry watched him apprehensively for a moment, afraid he was going to start praising Voldemort. Strangely, he did the opposite. "The fool," Malfoy sneered. "The weak fool. I'm actually glad I came to the Light Side now, and not just because my life was in danger."

"What?" Harry felt rather startled. "Why?"

Malfoy arched an eyebrow at him. "Would you want to follow someone so weak and sniveling, someone who's so scared of death they're willing to tear their soul apart to avoid it? To me, that's the ultimate weakness."

Harry's eyebrows shot up. "I never thought about it like that. No, I guess not." Harry paused. "You know, I've always wondered something. Why do the Death Eaters follow Voldemort if he's a half-blood?"

"What??" Malfoy rose up in horror and shock. "What do you mean, a half-blood?"

"His dad was a Muggle that his mom seduced." Harry frowned. "You didn't know?"

"No." Malfoy sat back down, a contemplative look on his face. "Well, that certainly puts a new spin on things." He grinned suddenly. "Oh, Merlin, I can just imagine the look of shock on my father's face if he found out the Dark Lord was a half-blood."

"You mean like the one you just had on your face?" Harry responded dryly. Malfoy shrugged.

"Old views. Old loyalty, coming into light with that revelation. I never would have guessed the Dark Lord to be a half-blood."

"Don't call him that," Harry said in a pained voice. Malfoy glanced at him in some surprise.

"Call who what?" he said.

"Don't call Voldemort the Dark Lord."

Malfoy frowned. "Why not?"

Harry grimaced, remembering the way Snape always used to call Voldemort the "Dark Lord". "Because I've only ever heard Death Eaters call him the Dark Lord. When you call him that, it reminds me that you used to be a Death Eater," Harry explained.

"I doubt you need that to remind you of who I was," Malfoy muttered, and pulled out his wand. He cast a few quick countercharms on his left forearm and the Dark Mark suddenly appeared.

"Whoa!" Harry scrambled out of his chair and yanked his wand out. "What the—"

"Relax, Potter." Malfoy looked slightly annoyed. "It can't hurt you."

"I thought you said that you and McGonagall got rid of it?" Harry said suspiciously.

"We did—don't look at me like that, Potter—we got rid of all the charms and curses associated with it, but I asked her to let me keep the tattoo," Malfoy snapped.

"Why?"

"To remind me of my stupidity, and that which I'll never be again." Malfoy shrugged. "It's a reminder, and a warning against myself, to not be evil, which is what I was raised to be." Malfoy suddenly smiled rather wryly. "My father always used to call me his faithful dragon. I guess I lived up to my last name after all."

"What do you mean?" Harry sat back down, but didn't put his wand away, watching Malfoy warily.

"Malfoy, it means "Bad faith", you know, "mal" as in malicious, and "foy" means faith. And, of course, Draco means dragon, so I'm a dragon of bad faith."

"Oh." Harry had never realized what Malfoy's name meant before, but now that he did, it wasn't all that surprising. Harry glanced at Malfoy again, black hair falling in his eyes, and he noticed something.

"Hey," he said, grinning. "Did you ever notice anything about our hair color and complexion?"

"No," Malfoy said in a bored tone. "I did notice something about our eyes, though."

"Okay, you tell me yours first." Malfoy looked at him strangely, and Harry realized that he sounded a tad eager.

"Well, I noticed that you have green eyes and I have grayish-silver ones," Malfoy said, as if that explained everything.

"Huh?" Harry was stumped. "What about it?"

Malfoy sighed impatiently. "Green and silver are the Slytherin House colors! Just imagine if you'd been sorted into Slytherin. It would have been so perfect, our eyes combined to make that colors of our House." Malfoy sighed wistfully, and Harry flushed. Though Malfoy didn't know it, what he'd said wasn't as ridiculous as it might sound to an outsider. Harry felt rather glad in that moment that Malfoy didn't know he'd nearly been sorted into Slytherin.

"Yeah," Harry muttered.

"Anyway," Malfoy said briskly. "What was it you were saying about our complexions?"

"Oh…" Harry grinned, remembering. "Just…you know how you were for the Dark and I for the Light?" Malfoy nodded. "Well, your hair, it's so pale, and light, and so is your skin color." Malfoy's eyes widened a fraction when he realized where Harry was taking this.

"And your hair is black, and your skin tone tanned and darker than mine." Malfoy nodded appreciatively. "An interesting contradiction, Potter, I'm impressed you noticed it."

Harry chose to ignore the concealed insult. Malfoy fiddled with his Dark Mark for a second before speaking again. "I won't call him the Dark Lord if it really bothers you that much," he acquiesced. "But what should I call him then?"

"Why not Voldemort?" Harry suggested, then rolled his eyes at Malfoy's tiny wince. "What? You said it well enough a couple of days ago!"

"Yes, well, that was when I had adrenaline and conviction flowing through my veins," Malfoy said crossly.

"Oh, so you didn't really mean the things you said then?" Harry glared at Malfoy.

"It's not that—oh, Merlin, Potter, you're so difficult to please—it's just…hard to say a name I've been taught all my life to fear!"

"'Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself'!" Harry snapped.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Let me guess—Dumbledore?"

"Yes, and it's damn good advice if you're willing to take it!"

"FINE!" Malfoy exploded. "Bloody—fine! I'll call him V—V—Vold—Voldemort if you want, but only on one condition!"

"What?" Harry said, his voice still sharp, but now slightly curious. "What do you want?"

"I—" Malfoy hesitated, and plowed ahead. "I want you to write me."

Harry stared at him. "You want me to write to you?"

Malfoy nodded. "Over the school year. I'll be going mad with boredom here. Keep me up to date on the Horcrux search, and everything else, even if that just means the latest gossip at school." Malfoy paused, and here, he almost looked sad. "I rather wish I was going back. It would be my last year at Hogwarts with my friends, and everyone I know. It could have been a great year. But now…." Malfoy shook his head. "Just…keep me informed, Potter. Please."

It was the "Please" that broke Harry. Malfoy had never said please to him in his life, and probably never would again. "Okay," he agreed. "But we need to figure out a way of making sure that anyone who intercepts our letters doesn't gain any information from them."

Malfoy nodded. "I know a spell that my father taught me, and it was pretty useful in keeping up Death Eater correspondence to the school."

Harry grimaced, but looked past it. "What was it?"

"Vanishing Letters. Basically what it did was, if the letter was seen by eyes other than the intended recipient, it would transform into a different, inconspicuous letter, and a copy of the original letter would be sent to the person intending to receive it, and it would be invisible, vanishing and then appearing at the intended address. What I would do, is I would write the letter, than have Crabbe or Goyle try to read it, and it would instantly appear in my father's hands."

"A handy little spell," Harry murmured. "But wouldn't it be more efficient to just have it appear in the recipient's hands?"

"Yes, but no one's ever figured out how to do that."

"I bet Hermione could," Harry said.

Malfoy raised one eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "All right, Potter. Do you want to know the spell or not?"

Pre HBP

Before Mnemosyne was nearly killed by Voldemort, Dumbledore had taken her on a tour of Grimmauld Place, the house Sirius Black had lived in as a child, and asked her if she thought it would be a good place to set up headquarters. She said she did, and he set up the Fidelius charm then and there, and told her the location of it. Therefore it was easy for her to slip in unnoticed on a cool morning at the beginning of June. She crept through the house, noting in approval the state of it, much better than it had been before. She slid up the stairs, and walked down the hallway, peeking in each bedroom before she finally came upon the one Sirius was resting in. A smile curved her face when she saw who he was tangled up with.

She made herself comfortable on a chair next to the bed and sat there, waiting for Sirius and Remus to wake up.

A few minutes later, Remus began to stir, and the his eyes opened and he yawned sleepily. He looked exhausted, though she doubted that it was from lack of sleep. She touched her crystal, renewed with power, and relieved some of his pain. Several wrinkles vanished, and his amber eyes looked a tad brighter.

"What—?" he muttered in confusion, sitting up and stretching. Then he glanced around the room. "WHAT THE—" He scrambled out of the bed, shaking Sirius hard.

"What is it, Moony?" he mumbled, cracking an eye open. He spotted Mnemosyne. His eyes widened and he sat up straight. "No—" he whispered. "It—it can't be." Mnemosyne smiled. She knew that Dumbledore would make sure at least one person remembered her, and she'd bet on it being Sirius. She was right.

Remus looked down at Sirius, and back up at Mnemosyne. "What—Padfoot, do you know this woman?"

"Yes," Sirius said. "Am—am I dreaming? Is it really you— "

"Yes," Mnemosyne said quickly, before he could say her name. "But I've changed my name. It's now 'Mnemosyne'. Please call me that."

"Okay," Sirius said dumbly. "But—you're dead."

"So I've heard," she muttered.

"Then—how are you here?"

She shrugged, and spread her hands. "Come now, Sirius. Do you really think a silly little spell like Avada Kedavra could kill me?" A smirk crossed her face. "But before we discuss things any further, perhaps we should restore Remus's memories."

"Oh, yeah," Sirius said distantly, glancing at Remus. He grinned suddenly. "Moony, you might want to put some clothes on." Lupin glanced down at himself and turned red, scrambling around for his underwear.

Mnemosyne waited until he had yanked some boxers on, and then pulled her wand out, giving it a casual flick, allowing her power to rush through her body. It was wonderful, and exhilarating as usual, but once the spell was done, she quickly put a cap on her magic, lest she become immersed in it, the way her father had.

Remus froze, and collapsed on the floor as memories began to rush through his head. A moment later, they were done. He looked up and around through new eyes, and when he looked back at her, it was with an expression of familiarity.

"You're alive," he said softly.

"Yes," she replied. "And kindly remember to call me Mnemosyne. Not my—old name."

"Why?" he asked bluntly.

She shrugged. "It's just too—it would make me want to revive Harry's memories far too much." She sat up. "Now, where's Skye? Does she remember me?"

"Yeah," Sirius said tiredly. "She does. Dumbledore sent her back to America, and made her promise not to come back."

Mnemosyne's face clenched in anger. "I see. Remus, do you have any questions?"

"Well, yes. Why did Dumbledore erase all of our memories?"

Mnemosyne turned to Sirius. "Tell us, Sirius. I'd certainly like to know."

Sirius looked uncomfortable. "Mnemosyne, you have to understand—he didn't want to do it."

"Bull," she said evenly. "Dumbledore never does something he doesn't want to do. I want answers. Or I can just go to the castle right now and wring them from his scrawny little neck!"

Sirius looked taken aback. He'd never encountered this furious side of Mnemosyne before, and he knew he didn't like it at all. "Mnemosyne, look, you know he didn't want you to tell Harry who you are in the first place. He only brought you here from safety in America so that you could watch him! But then you befriended him, and told him who you are, and it just—your death gave Dumbledore the perfect opportunity to erase you."

"But why?" she whispered, her features sad. "Does he really hate me that much?"

Sirius shrugged. "Look, Mnemosyne, I know that you're a good person, but you're too much like him. Dumbledore—he just couldn't deal with it. He knew that he shouldn't judge you based on your genes, but, I guess he just couldn't help it, and he didn't want Harry exposed to it. There's always been this thought with him that Harry was good and pure, and you were tainted. In his eyes, the only purpose you served was to protect Harry, and when you died, your purpose was fulfilled, so he saw no reason to torment Harry with memories of you as well as Cedric."

Mnemosyne sank back against the wall, tears filling her eyes. "I wish I could just go back to that point and save Harry without almost dying. Then I'd be at Hogwarts with him, protecting him from evil, and he could be a child, instead of an adult. He's been an adult for so long. I just wanted him to be able to have a chance at childhood. But Dumbledore took everything from me."

"Why don't you just take it back?" Remus asked tentatively. Mnemosyne had been staring off into space, but at Remus's words she snapped back to attention, and all traces of pain vanished from her face as she stood up.

"Because this is advantageous, despite everything. Too many people knew who I was. Now I have a chance to restore friendships, and gain allies."

"Is that really the way you want to form new friendships and repair old ones?" Sirius asked sharply. "On the basis of lies?"

She glared at him. "People judge me before getting to know me because of my heritage. For all my life, people have been making assumptions about me, based on what they know of my father, if I tell them who he is." She glanced to the side, a faraway look entering her eyes. "For all my life, I've been lying about who I am. If I don't, most people don't give me a chance. They either worship me, or try to kill me." She looked back to Sirius, her eyes hardening. "I would have thought that you of all people would understand that, Sirius. Do you know what would happen to me if the wizarding world knew who I was? They would destroy me. I doubt I'd last two days. Now, I'm sorry, but I'm damned tired of being judged for something I'm not."

"And what happens when you get tired of lying?" Remus asked softly. "What happens if you fall in love with someone and just never get around to telling them who you are, and they find out on their own? What then?"

"The only person I love is Skye," Mnemosyne snapped. "And she knows who I am."

"Skye's gone, J—Mnemosyne," Sirius snapped. "She thinks you're dead, and I don't see you rushing off to inform her differently."

"She—I'm needed here," Mnemosyne stumbled slightly over her words, and glowered at nothing in particular.

"So owl her!"

"Oh, yeah, that'll go down well," she said sarcastically. "I can see it now: 'Hey, Skye, just thought I'd drop you a line and tell you I'm not dead! How's your mom?'"

"Why are you acting like this?" Sirius exploded. "The last time I remember you acting so petulant you were fifteen!"

"Maybe I'm pissed that as soon as I'm out of the picture I get my place cut of it!" Mnemosyne snarled. "I thought that Harry would be worried about me, and I was so looking forward to seeing him! Now, the few people who happen to remember me think I'm dead, including the woman I love! And the man I trusted like a father betrayed me! How the hell would you be acting?"

"If you'll remember, I spent twelve years in prison for a crime I didn't do!" Sirius rose up, shouting at her. "My closest friend dies and I try to avenge his death, only to get sent to Azkaban for it! Everyone who loved me thought me a traitor. Do you know what that's like?"

"No," Mnemosyne replied quietly. "But do you know what it's like to have to lie to everyone you know for your own safety?"

They stared at each other for a few moments, and then Remus spoke. "We seem to have reached an impasse," he said quietly. "Mnemosyne, neither of us can possibly understand what it's like to endure the life you're forced to endure, and you can't understand our lives. But, Mnemosyne, try to keep in mind, I do understand what you're going through, at least partially."

She glanced at him in confusion, and then her face crumpled. "Oh, Remus," she whispered. "I'm so sorry. I forgot."

He shrugged. "I don't care. I'm mostly just trying to stay out of this conversation."

Mnemosyne looked away, ashamed. "I should have done that too," she said softly. She shook her head, looking even more embarrassed. "I can't believe this is what I've been reduced to," she muttered, refusing to look up at the two Marauders. "I used to think I was so wise, and so brave. I used to think I could overcome anything. Now I'm weak of mind, of spirit, all because I encountered as silly a thing as death." She swallowed. "I always thought that when I was tested, I would embrace it with a light heart, an open mind, and a firm spirit. My body may be returned to its original state, but I am not. I should not have come here. I should…I should be recovering right now, fully."

"Mnemosyne…" Sirius began, but stopped.

"Yes?" she said quietly, finally looking back up at him.

"You're right. You should go recover. But tell Dumbledore you're alive first."

She blinked. "Yes, I suppose I should." She cast an eye back at them. "It was good to see you two again. I should…I should be going."

"Okay," Remus said. Sirius nodded. Mnemosyne hesitated, then spoke.

"Take care of Harry, will you?" Sirius and Remus nodded, and she disappeared out the doorway, down the stairs, through the front door, and out into the world beyond.

A/N: I considered adding more, but it seemed like a good place to end. As good as any, I guess. I'm beginning to get the feeling that no one's reading this story, which is rather disappointing, because I love it, but most people seem to be much more interested in "Love is Cruel". Anyway…reviews would be helpful in convincing me that this story isn't fruitless, so, yeah, if I don't get five reviews for this chapter, I'll take the hint and probably take it down. Adios!

-CatJetRat