A/N: Sorry this one is a bit shorter than the last one. It just seemed like a good spot to cut it off. I promise next chapter is where we meet Tom Riddle and where the plot picks up its pace.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, if I did Sirius would have survived and killed Bellatrix himself...With a spoon.
Chapter Two: Plans
A bright light seemed to be weighing down on her eyelids. And, when Morgan thought about it, it really annoyed her.
"Turn off...lights!" The sentence was really awkward to get out of her throat, it was marred by drowsiness.
"No, no, I think it's about time you woke up, dear. You've been out for two days, which is a bit longer than I think you needed."
Morgan recognized the voice immediately, "B-but Madame P, I'm tired."
"Stop being lazy."
Lazy? Morgan forced the scowl off her face. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten a good night's sleep. Nor the last time she ate a desirable meal. She was certainly not being lazy. "You are a cruel, cruel, woman Pomfrey."
Opening her eyes, Morgan found the Mediwitch standing over her with a vial of green, murky, liquid. She wrinkled her nose. "Very cruel indeed." But nonetheless, she took the vial and downed its contents in one gulp.
"Good. Now the Headmaster wishes to see you. I wouldn't dawdle if I were you."
"Why is it, that whenever someone else besides me gets thrown in the Hospital Wing you loathe letting them leave, even when they beg to get back to classes. But, with me, you kick me out as soon as I become conscious. It hardly seems fair."
Madame Pomfrey rolled her eyes, "If I didn't kick you out as soon as you were healed, you would never leave."
"Touché," Morgan replied grumpily. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and grabbed the mirror by the bedside table. Looking into it she saw that she was still very pale and gaunt, but that some of the bags under her eyes had decreased. Her hair was a neutral brown tone and her eyes were dark. Pursing her lips together, she imagined herself with purple hair and hazel eyes. Immediately, her hair and irises changed accordingly, and she gave a small mutter of approval.
She looked towards the bottom of the bed and found that her school robes had already been laid out for her. Standing up, Morgan began peeling off the soot and blood covered robes she had passed out wearing in favor of the cleaner ones. She only paused to examine the three large scars on her unhealthy and disgusting looking torso. One, the thickest of the three, went across her stomach in a horizontal fashion. The second stretched from across her breasts and down to her hip bone. The final struck her from her collar bone to her shoulder.
Morgan had a good mind to ask Madame Pomfrey why she hadn't healed the scars, but stopped when, after she had dressed, she saw the numerous patients filling up the beds of the wing. It seemed that students of all houses and years were crowded up in the large room, sporting bruises, cuts, and the likes. It was sickening.
Unconsciously rubbing her left forearm, Morgan stalked out of the wing and towards the Headmaster's office.
---
"It's gotten worse," Seamus said unhappily. He was sitting in the Room of Requirement on a small bed. He and the rest of the D.A. members had been forced to sleep there when the Carrow twins had been seen prowling outside common room entrances the night before.
"I agree," Lavender Brown grumbled. "They've begun torturing students for no reason! We can't keep fighting them while in their classes. We'd all be dead in a manner of days."
Neville warily nodded his head in agreement, recognizing how true the statement was. "Okay then, we stay and sleep here. We don't go to anymore classes."
"But what about dorms and our things and bathrooms?" Hannah asked.
"We can just think them up," Lavender answered.
"That's rather specific though, won't it be hard?" Ginny wondered aloud, rubbing her hands together anxiously.
"It doesn't matter how hard it is, it has to be done," Michael said, stretching out his muscles after having just woken up.
"So it's settled then. Has anyone heard any news about Morgan?" Neville glanced about the room nervously. It was silent for a long time before Seamus opted to speak up. His gaze was locked on the floor and his words were coated with unease.
"Well, I was waiting around the Great Hall for her to come out. But when she did, she was unconscious and covered in blood. Snape was levitating her out to the Hospital Wing."
"Not to mention, she had the Dark Mark on her forearm." Ernie spat out, disgusted. "She's out of Dumbledore's Army now. She can't ever know what we're doing or even talk to us."
Neville winced, "I don't know if we have to go to that extreme. If you'll recall, after Morgan, You-Know-Who just left. He didn't stick around with his Death Eaters to try and recruit anyone else."
"That doesn't change the fact that she's one of them. I imagine that Alecto and Amycus will be right nice to her now that she's apart of their cult."
"She probably didn't join willingly, Ernie," Ginny said, giving a supporting smile to Neville.
"But still, she's a Death Eater." Hannah said sulkily.
"Then maybe she can become a spy for us." Terry offered, his brow puckered down in thought. "It could work."
"You-Know-Who is skilled at breaking into people's minds." Neville sank down into an armchair and put his face into his hands. "Morgan cannot do Occulmency. If we were to tell her anything than he could easily find out."
"So then it stands, no more contact with the Death Eater." Ernie was still rather vicious. "All in favor?"
Slowly, all the hands in the Room of Requirement went up; Neville, Ginny, and Seamus being the last people to agree.
"She's an enemy now."
---
"Potter sent another message." Snape snapped, his hands clenched around a thin slip of parchment. "'Here's what he's happy about'" the Headmaster mimicked in a high and unattractive voice. "He's an idiot, Dumbledore."
Dumbledore, still sitting in his portrait, gave an annoyed sigh. "I would prefer it if you did not insult Harry in front of me, Severus." The painted wizard tugged at his bear thoughtfully. "Let me see the picture he drew under the words."
Snape obliged and brought the piece of parchment to Dumbledore's eyes. It was a messily drawn picture of an amulet on a necklace. The amulet was square in its shape, and from what Snape could tell from Harry's drawing, four different jewels occupied the four corners of the square.
"I thought this is what he would be happy about." Dumbledore muttered, squinting at the poor picture.
"What? What is it?"
Dumbledore was about to respond when a knock at the Headmaster's door stopped him. "I will tell you later." He vowed.
Snape took the hint and scowled irritably. "Come in."
Morgan Caldwell wandered into the office. Her skin was still sickly pale and she was still disgustingly skinny, Snape thought. She looked around the room through narrowed and suspicious eyes, occasionally rubbing her left forearm roughly.
"Hey Headmaster, you're looking dashing as always, how may I help you?"
Snape scowled at the obvious and blatant disrespect in the youth's tone. "Caldwell. How are you doing?"
"Can't really complain," Morgan answered. "Not after the epitome of all evil carved a pretty picture into my skin. After that happens to you, a bad skin day just doesn't seem so terrible anymore."
Dumbledore's picture peered at Morgan with interest. The blue eyes behind his half-moon spectacles twinkled.
"Let me see the mark." Snape commanded, coming from around his desk and standing before the girl. She, in response, rolled up her sleeve and thrust her left arm into the Headmaster's hands.
The skin on her arm was an angry red, and the Dark Mark moved under Snape's close inspection.
"Creepy how it does that, right? I'll need to wear sweaters in the summer to hide it."
Snape didn't answer, but instead tapped her arm lightly. Almost immediately her skin paled to its original bland color and Morgan found that it no longer burned. She let out a small whistle of appreciation, "Woah, neat trick."
Snape stepped back and leaned against his desk. "Let me make one thing clear, Caldwell, you are a Death Eater now." Despite all her bravado, Snape noticed her wince at the term. "And you should consider yourself lucky to even be alive. Normally, the Dark Lord would have tortured and raped your mind until you were begging for death. And only then would you have been killed."
"The pretty little picture doesn't look so bad anymore."
Snape sneered, "You better adjust that attitude. Or else you won't last a day. Your snappy little comments and blatant sarcasm and disrespect need to stop."
Morgan looked up to Dumbledore's portrait and sighed, "I didn't want this." She said, almost as if reassuring the deceased wizard that she was still on his side.
"Were you even listening to me, Caldwell?"
"Yes, yes I was. And let me make one thing clear to you Headmaster. Just because I have a rather unattractive tattoo on my left arm doesn't change anything. I'll still fight against you and Voldemort until I am dead. And none of your intimidation or scaring is going to stop me from doing so." She stuck out her chin defiantly and crossed her arms, ignoring the burning on her arm that started again at the sound of the Dark Lord's name.
"Foolish, foolish girl! Have you lost all sense?"
"I never had any to begin with, or so I've been told." She looked around the room. "So I take it that there's no taboo on Voldemort's name in Hogwarts?"
"No," Snape answered thickly. His tone distorted by evident annoyance and dislike.
"Okay." The girl folded her hands together and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the Headmaster's desk. "So is there anything else you wanted to tell me, besides how stupid I am?"
"Yes. Tomorrow you are to come to my office at midnight when you will be escorted to the Malfoy's house."
Morgan wrinkled her nose. "Why in the world would I want to go there? Draco will be there. And I never liked that slimy bastard."
Snape went to go and sit behind his desk. "It's not whether or not you want to go there. You have no choice. It is the Dark Lord's wish that you go there to learn from other Death Eaters."
"So I'm getting a Death Eater mentor? Like I'll have to follow one of you guys around all day like a lost puppy?"
Snape smiled darkly, enjoying her discomfort, "In a manner of speaking, yes." He watched as her hair turned from its bright purple color to a dull brown one.
"So I won't be able to come back to school anymore?"
"No. How many times do I have to stress that fact that you belong to the Dark Lord now? From now on you only live to do his bidding." Snape leaned back in his chair and glared at her.
Morgan paused for a moment, mulling the facts over in her mind. "Well…" she began, "Well, this sucks." She folded her arms across her chest again. "But I suppose it's the perfect chance for me to help Harry. I'm gunna sabotage all your missions and give away all your secrets." She spat the words out, trying to prove to herself that she was still on the right side. "I mean it! The ugly tattoo doesn't mean anything!"
Disgust was welling deep within Snape's stomach. "You really are stupid!" He snapped dangerously. "What makes you think that you'll learn any secrets that could possibly help Potter? And sabotaging missions? You'll be tortured mercilessly if you do. You'll be useless to both Potter and the Dark Lord. And then you'll die."
The Gryffindor looked undaunted, "Yeah, I might have to work on the sneaky thing when it comes to stealing secrets. I suppose I should pretend to play nice to make it high in the ranks and then steal information. You know, kinda like what you did until you became a traitor…again."
Black fury glared at Morgan from Snape's eyes. "Get. Out. Now."
The witch could feel the hatred radiating from her Headmaster and stood up. "Okay, see ya later Headmaster! It was nice speaking to you again, have a pleasant day!"
As soon as Morgan left Snape grabbed the nearest thing he could find — a glass ball who's purpose he did not know — and threw it against the wall.
"Ignorant, ungrateful, little brat!" He fumed almost unintelligibly. "She's worse than Potter! And just as stupid! The mere nerve of her! Calling me a traitor! I'm the reason half the students in this school aren't dead!"
"Calm down Severus. So that was the only student recruited yesterday? Morgan Caldwell… I remember her. Though I am surprised Voldemort only took one student. Do you know why?"
Snape sighed, "Yes. She tried to kill him during her testing duel with Amycus Carrow. Shot the killing curse at him, but missed. After that happened, the Dark Lord marked her and then left. Apparently it was more dangerous than he originally thought. He didn't know how disobedient certain students are." A frown worked its way onto his face when he thought about the punishment he and the Carrows were almost certain to get due to their lack of control on the teeangers.
"I see." Dumbledore folded his fingers together and laid his head thoughtfully on top of them. "She is an odd girl, if I remember correctly. No parents. Lives in a catholic orphanage. Metamorphmagus. I can see why Voldemort marked her. Her abilities can come in handy."
Snape made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat.
"She just may be the person we need Severus."
The Headmaster looked up at the portrait in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Fetch me the gold-bound book from that shelf there," Dumbledore said. "And I shall explain my plan."