Disclaimer: I own very little :)

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Dark Side

"I shouldn't have ever let you stay there. I argued with her for a long time Lana, and… I should have-" he continued, draping his arm over my shoulder as he turned to pick up my trunk.

"It's fine Dad. I know that you can't control absolutely everything, she is my mother after all" I commented, assuring him that I was not nearly as furious with him as I was her.

"No, dear, it was just as much my fault. I don't want you to place all the blame on your mother" he said softly as we strolled out of the book shop into a quaint little town filled with, what appeared to be Muggles. I hadn't even taken time to notice if there were any in the shop with the fireplace. However, I assumed it had to be under close watch of the Wizarding World for there to be a Floo network.

"Are we entirely safe here?" I asked him under my breath as a woman with very sharp facial features passed us, looking us up and down closely. "These people don't seem-"

"There is a heavy Muggle population here, but the owners of that shop back there happen to be full-blood wizards. They arranged for the shop to be closed for your estimated time of arrival" he explained as we continued down the stone-laden paths of the quiet fishing town.

"Is it not suspicious then that we just walked out of a 'closed' store with a trunk?" I asked him, muttering under my breath.

He swallowed hard, looking around "I don't think anyone saw much."

I shrugged my shoulders as we continued through the town, chatting over various small topics, trying to blend in with the culture around us as we came to the edge of the town. The various patrons were growing few and far between as we kept to the rocky path that slid alongside the cove of the ocean. For a moment, I was able to forget about all that had happened at my mother's. For a moment, it was normal.

"Oh, I seem to have forgotten the most important thing I wished to talk to you about" my father drawled as we turned along the bend of the cove.

"That is?" I asked, arching my brow.

"A boy, named Oliver Wood sent an owl to the house early this morning. Who may I ask in the world is Oliver Wood?" he demanded, looking straight at me with a small smirk on his lips.

Honestly, in all this time, my mind had not crossed Oliver Wood. However, at the mention of him, I felt heat starting to rush through my veins and onto my skin. I looked out into the sparkling water before back to my father's eyes, which were waiting for an answer.

"He's a boy" I started, pausing briefly after to gather my words.

"Clearly, I would pray no sane parents would name their daughter Oliver."

I chuckled at this before continuing," A boy who I may or may not be dating."

"Dating?!" My father asked loudly, looking at me as though I told him that I was expecting a child or something equivalent.

"For how long exactly? Good grief, I send you off to a Wizarding school and she comes back with a boyfriend!"

I took a deep breath in before placing my hand on his arm," Not very long at all, father. Please, we're really just good friends right now. It's not as though I'm planning my wedding."

"What is he like? What is he involved in? Does he-" he began to streamline question after question while I simply stood there, speechless.

"Father, he is Captain of the Quidditch team and in my Potions class," I said simply. "He's a very nice boy and I would hope that since you cannot meet him anytime soon, that you will trust my judgment."

I felt the heavy weight of silence bearing down upon us as we strolled along.

"He sounds like it" He commented slyly, trying to brush this little phrase over as if it were nothing.

"He sounds like it? Why, do you already trust me?" I asked, taken aback.

"Oh no, from the letter-" he looked at me with wide eyes, knowing he wasn't supposed to share that information.

Playfully, and with slight irritation I hit him on the arm, unable to believe that he opened a letter addressed to me. For a moment, I believed him wholeheartedly. He was completely believable with the guilty look on his face. After several moments, he started laughing at my reaction and shook his head, breaking his cover.

"You expect so little of me" he commented between laughs. "I would never stoop so low Lana."

"I wouldn't put anything past you," I scoffed, laughing after as we came upon another rolling hill.

As we started our ascend, laughing all the way, it seemed as though a thought finally came to my father's head when we were roughly half-way up. He looked around to see that all of the locals were out of sight.

"Why don't we finish this conversation at grandmothers?" He offered his hand to me, still smirking.

I rolled my eyes before placing my hand in his, "Fair enough."

We took several steps more before the process began and the constant pressure swooshed around us as we literally travelled through the air. The pinching and pulling never entirely stopped unnerving me. Even though I had done this numerous times with my parents, I never felt entirely safe. I heard once that there have been cases of injuries from apparition, but I tried to push these from my head until we were standing in front of the small cottage-style establishment known as my grandparents called home.

Upon seeing the ivy-covered house, I felt a warmness swelling up in my heart.

The homecoming was like none other. In fact, I was fairly set on the idea that my grandmother wasn't letting me out of her sight anytime soon. My grandfather was equally as excited and held me tight in his embrace for longer than necessary. Of course, I was ecstatic to see all of them, but I also enjoyed breathing. Both of them showered me with greetings, questions, and compliments just like any other family does upon seeing each other again.

They took my trunk from me and instantly flew off to drop it off in my room. I stayed in the kitchen as my father started rummaging through the cabinets for a kettle.

"Your letter is on the table. That owl has been waiting anxiously," he mentioned to me as he continued to muster through the cupboards.

"Alright" I said with a smirk, looking over to see the envelope and a brown owl with large yellow eyes peering in from the open window. Just as I took the envelope in my hands and took a seat, the bird hopped over the window to perch itself inside the house, excited to finally see some progress.

It seemed to be such a long time since I had spoken to Oliver, that this was an exciting event to say the least. Just as I was opening it, the thought occurred to me that at some point he was going to have to know about all of this. For that split second, I heard the dark, chilling voice of the Dark Lord spilling into my ears from that night. The sensation sent shivers down my spine and caused me to jump in my seat. My father heard the squeak of the chair and immediately looked up at me from behind his crooked glasses, the tea pot in his hand.

"Lana?" he asked, concerned.

I straightened myself in my chair and cleared my throat, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked, standing up straight to fill the pot with water.

"Really, "I looked straight into his eyes and smiled, assuring him nothing was wrong.

He held my gaze before nodding to me and focusing his attention back on the tea. I, in turn, looked at the envelope and tore it open.

Lana,

I hope that you are doing well. It's been a nice, peaceful break here at the castle. If you can believe it, I have done nothing Quidditch related for nearly three days. I thought that you'd be proud that I've managed to think of something else. Oh, and also I hope you receive the present I've sent you, sometimes this wretched owl can be a little reckless. Do write back soon.

Oliver

I smiled at this short and sweet note. He certainly wasn't much of a writer, but the fact that he thought of me was touching. My heart dropped though when I looked over at the owl and noticed a small package attached. At the attention, the bird hopped over to the table and offered its leg to me. My heart dropped because he had taken the time to send me something for Christmas while I had neglected to get him anything. I opened the package to see a delicate, silver chained necklace with a sparkling red gem in the middle, it was beautiful. As I lifted the necklace out of the package it glistened in the sunlight, by this time my father was finishing the tea and came over to sit opposite of me. He noticed the necklace as I rested it on the table top.

"Really bird?" He groaned before shooing the owl out; it croaked as it did, before reluctantly flying out. Quickly, my father shut the windows. For a winter day, it was rather mild, strangely enough, and the sun was peeping from behind the clouds. He explained that he only needed to open the window to clear the air of something he had burned earlier. With the nuisance gone, he took a seat opposite of me and placed a white tea cup and saucer in front of me.

"So, Oliver Wood?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Honestly, how did you know that if you hadn't opened it?" I asked, looking straight at him.

"I may have peaked at it, but not for long" he muttered, pulling his cup to his mouth.

"Father!"

"It shouldn't matter right now Lana. In fact, I wasn't trying to be invasive; I was more concerned for other reasons… Why else would you be getting a package from a…peculiar owl?" His eyes narrowed as he glared at the little owl, still perched outside the window.

I swallowed hard and realized he must have been a little wary. Of course, he had let me go off and stay with my mother. Anything could have happened. It was at this time he looked over to the door leading to the rest of the house and pulled out his wand from inside his pocket. With a flick of his wrist, the door was closed as he dropped the wand on the table.

"You saw something with mother, didn't you?" He asked me, running his fingers through his hair.

I swallowed hard, "I was being nosey. I shouldn't have followed her."

He groaned again, "She clearly didn't hide herself well enough if you saw her in the first place."

"I was asking for trouble, father. I knew that-"

"But you shouldn't have to tolerate a mother involved in such atrocities!" He cried, shaking his head as he pulled off his glasses. "Those people who she associates with are…abominations."

There was another heavy sinking silence. We both avoided eye contact and knew that there needed to be more of an explanation than just that. Everything needed to be explained once and for all because clearly I couldn't be kept in the dark anymore.

"I saw him" I whispered hoarsely, wrapping my arms over one another.

My father slowly lifted his head and met my eyes," Please tell me you're not referring to…"

"The Dark Lord?" I asked, looking deep into his eyes. "I saw him. Well, on the back of Professor Quirrell's head that is."

"Good God" he swore, shaking his head and propping it on his hand. "You want to know? You want to know why? Why she was there?"

"I know why. Because of grandmother. Her mother" I said simply.

"He told you?" Father demanded.

"Yes, they explained that part to me, but I have other questions," I said somberly, looking at the tiles of the kitchen.

"Why I married her?" he asked, not to me, but rather to himself. He was looking all around the room, as if pondering his own life rather than mine. "Why I married a woman who was doomed to this?"

I said nothing, but merely sat there. There was nothing that I felt was appropriate to say. He seemed to be slowly breaking down emotionally.

"Lana, I never wanted to have to put you through this. I wished for you to be far away from all this. However, I was not told that she was bound to the Dark Lord until after we were married. Dear, you must know that I love you very much, but I never wanted children after hearing this. Conversely, he already claimed power over us. He threatened to kill both of us should we not further the lineage. You see, we were selfish, and young. I prayed many prayers to have a boy; I knew the covenant that your grandmother made. I'm sorry that you have had to be placed with this burden" he nearly whispered the last part to me. "I know, however, that everything happens for a reason and I'm trying to figure out a way that you can avoid the trend."

"Of committing myself to the Dark Lord you mean? It's going to be a while before that happens anyway, right? I mean, it's only after mother dies and she won't be passing away for a long time," I mentioned, trying to think logically of how that would work.

"If only it worked that way. Dear, it's not entirely passed on when you're mother is killed. It's more… when the Dark Lord wants you. Age isn't a necessity. If he's done with mother, then…"

"He'll do what he needs to get rid of her?" I asked, looking right at him.

"Yes Lana," he answered simply. "But as long as you're here or at Hogwarts, you are safe. I don't want you to be worrying until you have to."

I smiled at this and broke his gaze, "Of course."

He was trying desperately not to tell me too much, I could tell. And even now, as I reflected back, he told me quite a bit more than he could have. It wouldn't be for many more years that I would know the whole story, but for that evening I had heard as much as I could take. There wasn't much else that I desired to know, but I simply sipped my tea and tried to swallow the darkness I had been told. My father then proceeded to pick up the necklace and tease me more about it. He even clasped it around my neck for me. I told him about Oliver and how I hadn't gotten him anything. He quickly offered to take me into town the next day.

Strangely enough, I don't entirely remember what I got Oliver, but it was something Quidditch-related. In fact, I remember him loving it, but I wasn't entirely sure of it myself. The rest of my trip at my grandparents' was relatively pleasant and we were able to be happy, despite the circumstances of my return. Over the next few years, courts of the Wizarding law would deem my mother unfit to take care of me or even be in my presence. It was for that reason that I went many years without even seeing her. In those same years, she was assisting the Dark Lord in returning to power, that is what I would later find out.

However, before I get ahead of myself, there is still much of a story to be told in those in-between years. The years when I didn't see my mother were some of the happiest of my life.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed! :) Please let me know what you think. Special thanks goes to littlegreeneyes for proofreading this chapter. Great job!