Cover your face, hide your eyes
And act like nothing's wrong
You'll need a better disguise
Though it won't be long
You always give yourself away
When you try to change your voice
But it's what you say and how you say it
That leaves me with no choice

I know that's you haunting me
Take what you want
I don't owe you anything
Take what you want
I won't give you anything
Take what you want
I know I'm not wrong

December 31 8AM, Saturday
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries

I could hear two voices off to my left but for some reason I couldn't open my eyes. So instead I just laid there and listened to the conversation going on next to me.

"Who did you say brought her in?"

"The Order."

"Order?"

"The Order of the Phoenix."

"You can't be serious."

"Unfortunately I am."

"But they haven't been around..."

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

"So do you think..."

"He's back?"

"Yeah."

"Well Dumbledore himself brought her in and he had a pretty grim expression on his face."

"That is not good."

"You can say that again."

"All the trouble with the Americans and now this on top of it..."

"I know what you mean."

"Dark days my friend, dark days..."

"Did you see the scar there?"

"Yeah, pretty creepy if you ask me."

"You got that right."

"Do you think it's a coincidence, with You-Know-Who coming back and all?"

"We don't know that he's back."

"I know, I know, but still..."

"Yeah, does seem like a pretty big coincidence. One of the Healers said she's Harry Potter's daughter."

"As if the scar didn't give it away."

"That don't mean anything, it's not as if scars run in families. Remember after Potter defeated You-Know-Who, we had loads of kids coming in here with scars carved into their foreheads."

"So how can anyone be sure that she's Potter's daughter?"

"The Healer I heard it from said she heard it from Dumbledore himself."

"You don't say?"

"That's right and when has Dumbledore ever been wrong. The man knows everything about everything."

"You got that right. I remember him at Hogwarts, always seemed like he knew everything that went on in the place. So what's wrong with her then?"

"Nobody knows. Dumbledore's been the only one who's been able to get close enough to her. I was only told to make sure the ward's stay in place."

"Just like her father then."

"Got that right. Anyone who tries to come close to her gets blown back a good ten feet. You should see the first room they had her in, there's hardly anything left of it."

"That bad, huh?"

"Worse. One side of the room's got a nice big hole right in the middle."

"A hole?"

"A hole."

"Wow."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Think we should reinforce the wards a bit."

"That might be a good idea."

December 31 3PM, Saturday
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries

"She wake up yet?"

"Nah, looks like she's still out cold."

"Anyone gotten close?"

"Nope."

"So how do we know she's even alive?"

"Her chest's rising, ain't it?"

"O yeah..."

"No wonder you're still a medi-wizard. You can't even tell if someone's dead or not."

"Well if she's anything like her dad..."

"Are you still on about that?"

"I swear to Merlin he was dead when they brought him in."

"Right, right, heard it all before. Harry Potter dead in the emergency room. Tell me this mate, if he were dead then how come he was up and walking around a few days later."

"How the bloody hell should I know? All I know is Dumbledore came and took him."

"And Dumbledore just brought him back to life then?"

"Well he is a really powerful wizard..."

"Not that powerful. If he were that powerful then he would've defeated Voldemort instead of depending on some kid to do it."

"The prophecy said..."

"Don't get me started on stupid prophecies. Hogwash if you ask me."

"I remember he was mumbling something about a monster when they brought him in."

"A monster? I thought it was a bull?"

"It was one of those, can't really remember for sure now. You remember that half-giant they brought in that night?"

"How could I forget? Don't think I've ever seen anything like it."

"Got that right. I've never seen anyone so tore up, looked like some animal had..."

"Can we not talk about this now? I only ate lunch an hour ago."

"Sorry."

"I hope Dumbledore gets here pretty soon, I think I just saw her eyes move."

"Dumbledore's coming here?"

"Like I said before, he's the only one who can get close enough to check on her."

"Still...guy kinda gives me the creeps."

"Who, Dumbledore?"

"Yeah, but don't go telling anybody."

"Gives me the creeps too."

"Really?"

"O yeah. Any wizard that powerful is always a bit scary."

"So what about Harry Potter?"

"What about him?"

"Wasn't he a bit scary too?"

"O yeah, he was almost as scary as..."

"Don't even say it."

"Well the kid looked dark."

"I can't believe you just called The Boy Who Lived, dark!"

"I didn't say he was dark, I just said he looked dark."

"I suppose..."

"Look here, the kid defeated You-Know-Who at what, eighteen? Now that's scary."

"I suppose."

"Hey, what time is it?"

"Almost four which means our shift is almost over."

"Good."

"Why, scared?"

"No, are you?"

"Nah, but I'd rather not run into Dumbledore."

December 31 6PM, Saturday
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries

A white light was all I could see for a moment as I opened my eyes. I attempted to focus on the dark shadow standing over me but my attention was suddenly drawn to another shadow sitting off to the right. I let out a low groan as I recognized the twinkling blue eyes calmly watching me behind a pair of half-moon glasses.

"Miss Riddle, how wonderful to see you are still alive," Dumbledore said in an amused tone, "Lemondrop?'

Suddenly the image of Draco lying on the ground next to me popped into my mind. "Draco?" I questioned in a harsh whisper. Dumbledore's expression became solemn and the usual twinkle dimmed slightly.

"Mr. Malfoy is indisposed at the moment, but I'm sure he will be joining us soon," Dumbledore replied, "Every member of the Order and quite a few Ministry aurors are out looking for him as we speak."

My heart leapt into my throat and I gave a tight nod in understanding. Draco had been taken. Anger welled up inside me as I attempted to push myself up from the hospital bed. Dumbledore shook his head and directed me to lay back down.

"I've got to find him," I ground out angrily. "What about Khalida?"

"Do not worry child, she is recuperating and will be up and around again within hours. Right now we must concentrate on what Voldemort is after."

"He said that once the darkness is released into the world then his ancestors will be able to rest," I explained, leaving out Voldemort's statement that the darkness that needed to be released resides in me.

"His ancestors," Dumbledore said thoughtfully, "The Slytherin line."

"No," I interrupted, shaking my head slowly, "It has nothing to do with Slytherin or Gryffindor." Dumbledore gave me a confused look and I struggled to remember what exactly the Dark Lord had said to me.

"It's the other half," I continued, "It's something to do with the other half of a half-blood."

"A muggle?" Dumbledore pondered.

"No, that's what I thought too and then he laughed and said something else, but I can't really remember what it was. Something about an ancient form of magic, a time when magic didn't even have a name."

"So the connection between Tom and Harry has nothing to do with the Slytherin and Gryffindor bloodlines," Dumbledore responded thoughtfully, "Which would also mean that their connection has nothing to do with Harry's father who was a wizard and Tom's mother who was a witch."

"That would be one half of what they are," I interrupted, "So that would mean the connection comes from Tom's muggle father, Tom Riddle Senior and..."

"Harry's muggle-born mother," Dumbledore continued.

"Lily Evans," said a calm voice from somewhere off to my left. I turned my head and finally got a good look at the dark shadow that had been standing over me when I first opened my eyes.

"Severus!" I exclaimed excitedly.

He gave one sharp nod in my direction before turning to stalk out of the room.