{Disclaimer: The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights and owned by, but not limited to, Scholastic Books and Warner Brothers. I, therefore, own no parts of this save for Andromeda McGee and Wyvern the cat.}
Chapter 15
Trials and Tribulations
**Look at all my trials and tribulations/ Sinking in a gentle pool of wine/ Don't disturb me now I can see the answers/ Till this evening is this morning life is fine/ Always hoped that I'd be an apostle/ Knew that I would make it if I tried/ Then when we retire we can write the gospels/ So they'll still talk about us when we've died. "The Last Supper" Jesus Christ Superstar**
Andy awoke a few hours later with the sun streaming through her frost covered windows. Patterns of ice decorated the panes like works of art, created once, lasting moments, and destroyed within hours of their creation. It reminded her abstractly of her life: she only had one chance to live and who knew what would become of her in the future.
The future…That thought made her cringe. Too many things were happening that she did not want to occur. All she wanted was to live her life peacefully without any major catastrophes. Wasn't that simple enough to ask for? Obviously the higher beings had different plans for her.
That, of course, was a very unfortunate thing. Naturally, the problems revolved around Severus Snape and Lord Voldemort, people who she had dealt with the year before. There had been the attack on Snape in which she had been monumental in finding a way to heal him and Voldemort had decided that she was in his favor for the potion that she had brewed for him, even though he had yet to realize that it was essentially useless.
The Merlin's Potion had been a double edged sword. It had helped and hindered her at the same time. She cared enough about Severus to be thrilled that it had healed him, yet now Voldemort wanted her as one of his own. That was where the major problem came in. Lord Voldemort was the person that would be in control of what would happen to her for the rest of her life, or the rest of his, which ever came first.
She could always find a way to have Voldemort killed. She chuckled at the thought. As if that would happen…The only person who would actually be able to kill the High and Mighty Lord of Darkness, Evil, Destruction, and Chaos would be Albus Dumbledore or, more than likely, Harry Potter. So unless there would be a way that Harry would kill him some time relatively soon, she had a slim chance of getting out of this mess.
Voldemort would make her a Death Eater complete with the ugly black tattoo of the skull and snake. She had no obvious choices other than to be killed or join him. Currently she preferred an option that would let her live a few years longer. If, or more likely, when she joined his ranks, she could have the choice of being a full, completely loyal member or discussing with Dumbledore how she would go around in the reconnaissance aspects of the job. That in itself would take careful planning.
Her only other option would be to run away. That would take her away from her friends, colleagues, a solid job, and her home. She would prefer not to do that, but if push came to shove, she would be willing to go where ever she could be hidden.
It seemed that her best option would be to join Voldemort, as much as she did not want to do so. It would keep her from being killed and would basically allow her to live her life how she had been, with a few extras on the side. It would not be the healthiest option, she decided, remembering what had happened to Severus last year, but she would survive. That was her nature; she was a survivor.
Andy pulled her self sitting on her bed. Wrapped in the still warm quilts and comforters, she stared out at the winter. Crystal snow decorated the edges, cold, lifeless, yet still pristine and graceful. Fingers of frost covered the rest of the glass, leaving no traces of the once clear panes. She knew that if she wanted to, she could make it all disappear in an instant. Yes, it was so much like her life: a pattern of images, always changing, and always able to be wiped clean if the need be. She was expendable and she knew it.
She pulled the quilt tighter around her shoulders. This was not something she wanted to do, but she knew that it would have to be done. She was a Gryffindor after all; she could be brave in what ever happened. That was what all Gryffindors could be depended on. They would all face any situation with courage, facing in straight on without flinching. Though all she wanted to do was to cower back under her blankets and never come out again, she knew it would not be possible to do.
This was something she needed to do. She needed to combat Voldemort in her own way. It was her revenge for those sixteen long years imprisoned in Azkaban, not knowing who she was. It was revenge for forcing her to disappear into nothingness with no one remembering who or what she was. It was revenge for making her life completely miserable in every way possible.
She would get her revenge, not matter how long it took. It would happen and it would be extremely sweet and satisfying. Then, she could finally sleep free of worry and doubt of what would happen next and if she would survive another day. Yes, that would be how it would happen. She would live. She would be happy with her life and she would be afraid of dying or disappearing every single day of her life. It would happen. Eventually.
Severus Snape stalked to the breakfast table, pausing to glare at an unfortunate Hufflepuff that had chosen to look at him by accident. He sat down a chair away from Madame Pomfrey, at an end where he would not be bothered. Taking a mug of tea and a slice of buttered toast, he noticed Andy had yet to arrive for the morning meal. He glanced at his watch, finding it late enough that she should have been awake by now, yet early enough that, since it was the weekend, it would not be impossible for her to still be sleeping off what he had told her.
Deep in his mind he regretted having to tell her what he did. It was not a large piece of his mind, merely a small, infinitesimal sliver that still held what ever conscious he still managed to possess after the years of being a Death Eater. He knew that it had to be done; therefore he had done it, though obviously not at the correct time.
A silvery owl swooped down out of the flurry that appeared through the rafters to land by his plate. It dropped a single scroll of parchment, unmarked except for the black wax insignia of the skull and snake. Snape pocketed it quickly, knowing exactly who it was from and guessing what it had written on it. Nibbling on the remaining toast on his plate, the owl soared away.
The appearance of the note soured his stomach. He could not eat, knowing what might be in the letter, knowing what evil may befall him. No matter how many times he received these letters, they always had the same effect on him: the feeling of dread and guilt deep in the pit of his stomach. He did not let the fear show on his carefully composed features as he stood and left the Great Hall.
The Defense corridor was near enough to the Great Hall for him to reach his quarters relatively quickly. Shutting the door and restoring the many locking charms that he kept on it, Snape breathed a sigh of relief. No one had taken great notice of his letter, except for maybe Dumbledore, who made notice of everything. He broke the seal with his knuckle, watching it glow green at his touch. If it had shown any other color, it would have proved that he was who the letter was meant for and the letter would have promptly killed the curious person who had decided to open in.
Snape read the words slowly, taking in their entire meaning. He read them again just to make certain he knew what it said correctly. The letter was then thrown into the fire where it blazed the same green color as it burned to smoldering ashes. It was just as he had speculated.
Lord Voldemort was beginning to get impatient with Andromeda. He did not care if she was ready or not or if she trusted Snape yet, as she was supposed to. He wanted her now, or to be more specific, he was planning on induction night being News Year's Eve. There was even some comment about "what better to ring in a new year than to bring in fresh blood to the cause?"
Snape shuddered at the thought. He knew what these ceremonies entailed. They were not the most pleasant events. In fact "pleasant" was not even close to what they really were. If he remembered correctly, and he most certainly always remembered everything correctly, it was more than possible that some one would die that night, tortured by the inductees. Naturally, there would be more than one…
It also meant there would be another round of having to coax Andy to talk with him, mostly like in the same day as the first conversation. He figured that this one would be the worse of the two conversations, the first being only a preliminary to the actual situation and this one being the actual facts. Things always seem more realistic when there are true facts involved with dates and times. He did not look forward to having to do this one either, but there was not much time and it had to be done.
He would also have to speak with Dumbledore sooner or later. It would be more sooner than later, judging by that Christmas was in five days and the ceremony in twelve. That would give them little time to figure out what had to be done in order to prepare for the up coming events.
Snape kicked the side of his couch viscously. He knew it was no use taking out his anger on inanimate objects, but sometimes it helped a little bit. He needed a course of action to take. After debating between who would be easier to talk to and what would make more sense to do, he decided that Dumbledore would be more helpful and less difficult in the decision making process.
Dumbledore's office was still guarded by the hideous gargoyle, but it let him pass with the given password of 'Candy Cane.' The Head Master stood by his desk, as if he had been expecting Severus to come to chat (which he had been after noticing the letter).
"Severus, my boy, I am not going to ask what exactly brings you here. I am assuming that it deals with the contents of the letter you just received."
Snape sat down in a cushy arm chair. He needed support in a time like this one. "Yes, Albus, it does, but I am afraid that it is not good news, nor is it remotely helpful in assisting your cause."
"It is from Voldemort though?"
"Yes, it is."
"What does he ask of you to do?"
Snape paused, choosing his words carefully. "Last year, during Andromeda's and Black's trial, when I was captured and tortured, Andromeda saved my life through the Merlin's Potion and in the process convinced my Master that he is omniscient, though he never was and never shall be.
"By doing this, she gained favor with him, even though he never realized that it was just a simple trick that kept him from knowing everything about anything." He stopped, letting Dumbledore digest what he was saying.
"Voldemort wants Andromeda to join him," the Head Master said it as a fact, not a question.
Snape nodded almost unperceivably. "Correct. I have known this for a while, that he favored her, but never brought it up to you since I assumed that it was only mild interest. He pushed for me to get her to trust me enough so she would not be too frightened if I were to bring her to my Master at one point in time. I was not certain when he would choose to move on his plan, but it seems it is much sooner than I had expected. He is getting impatient, he wants her soon."
"How much time do we have?"
"He plans to induct her on New Year's Eve."
Albus looked grave. "How much does she know about all of this?"
"I finally told her this morning that Lord Voldemort wanted her to join him."
"And how did she take it? Not very well, I presume, seeing she was not at breakfast."
"She took better than I had expected, though still rather badly. She did not through anything nor did she break anything. She only broke down in tears for a while." Severus neglected telling the part about her falling asleep in his arms on purpose.
"So she knows what is basically going on. What are her views on the situation or did she not say?"
"I believe Andromeda found that her only major choice would be to join the Death Eaters. I know she planned on discussing everything with you at some point and have you advise her on the correct decision. She seemed willing practice reconnaissance if the need be."
"That is what I expected her reaction to be. Andromeda would be strong enough physically and mentally to do it, but her emotional state is a whole other matter. I do not wish to see her become lost in herself again," Dumbledore trailed off, remembering what pain she had been in at the beginning of the school year. "Talk with her, Severus. I believe that she will listen to you."
"I will, sir."
"Anything else you needed, my boy?"
"Not at the moment. I will report back to you once I speak with her, most likely later today."
"Thank you for informing me and tell Andromeda that I will be available to talk with her whenever she needs to."
"I will," Snape stood up from the cushy chair and left the room in a swirl of black.
Dumbledore shook his head slowly, resting the bridge of his crooked nose between his fingertips. Gentle pressure would not relieve this headache nor would any known remedy in this world. The only thing that would ease his pain was to have Lord Voldemort gone from this world once and for all.
{Author's Note: Life has not been the best lately. I have been taking a driver's ed class that will be over next week. We have to drive a Chevy Astro Van complete with backup beepers. That is not fun. Then we have marching band. Our new instructors put into their heads that the entire band would have all the music memorized by August 11. That is basically ten rehearsals to memorize the entire thing. By the third rehearsal, we were playing and marching the entire opening. These guys are out to kill us. Therefore, life has been busy. Oh yeah…I got all four of my wisdom teeth out on July 10. I couldn't eat solid food for near two weeks. Thankfully I like yogurt, tuna fish, and meatballs. Meatballs are yummy. My boyfriend got his mother to make a batch when I had my teeth out. I was over at his two days in a row just to get the meatballs since I could actually eat them.
Anna Black: I had this part of the story planned for a while. One of my friends who had read Second Chances thought that I was crazy when I told her my plan of Andy in the Death Eaters. So therefore, instead of going into boring details of everyday life, I skipped those parts and went to my plot. I might bring the Occulmency into it. I am currently plotting the chapter of Andy's deeper reaction to the situation, but that might fit into it quite well. Busy is hell…I hate summer. I thought that I had sent a notice, but I am not sure. I forget to do so sometimes.
Shasa Perino: Yes, another chapter. I am trying to over come a writer's block at the moment, so that is why updates have been few and far between. Andy and Severus have an awkward relationship. She's a Gryffindor, he's a Slytherin, but they are both strong people and stubborn as hell. He cares about he as a friend, but currently not much more. Andy depends on him as a friend since the only other two that she has are currently MIA.
Josie: Thanks! It's nice to hear from you every once in a while. Summer vacation never goes well for me. I told you that it was an oxymoron because I never get to relax. I'll be talking to you eventually.
Lily Skylo: Snape does not want Andy to be a Death Eater. He was just passing information to her that she needed to know. He would prefer her to not do anything involving Lord Voldemort, but if she absolutely had do anything, she would become a spy.
Sora: I have an obsession with flowers. They are definitely one of my weak points. My boyfriend learned that if he got me a flower I would be absolutely thrilled for at least the rest of day, if not week. The actual idea of Snape giving Andy flowers was a complete whim on my part. It was written as I went along in the chapter, but it seemed like a good idea. You're supposed to feel bad for Andy and she enjoys falling asleep in Snape's arms.
{Peace, Love, and Meatballs, Nataly Ravenlock}