Disclaimer: All belong to J.K. Rowling

The Encounter

Dueling is not fun. Period.

The air escaped her lungs faster than when it went in. Her mouth was dry, her head was spinning, and her back was soaked with sweat. Once or twice, her vision got blurry and she lost focus, yet, she still stood strong on the ground. Somewhere in the middle of the duel, she wished she had not agreed with his idea. She knew where her fighting skills were and they were not very useful.

In the past hour, he had thrown multiple spells at her. At first, she dueled with all she had and showed a decent amount of skills. However, not even fifteen minutes into the fight was it clear that he was the stronger one. He left her far behind both in stamina and reflexes. The man did live up to his reputation as someone passionately in love with the subject. Not to mention his experiences over the years, she stood no chance with the man.

Severus' brows knitted deeper as the duel continued on. Reasonable my arse! He cursed under his breath as he now clearly judged her skills. How could she describe her skills as reasonable? He had no idea. Merlin! He wished he could strangle whoever taught her for the past fourteen years… including him. Bugger! He murmured again, realizing that he was one of her D.A. professors, who completely failed to notice her fighting's state. But then again, at that time, he had other priorities to worry about than to notice a student failed in class.

"Flipendo!" he cast another spell.

Ethelinda's eyes were dull as she watched his spell fly to her. She did not make a move, or rather, her hand refused to react to the attack. She was beyond exhausted at this point. He did not use all of his power in the spell and it would only knock her backward. However, due to her beaten body, the spell tossed her across the ground, hitting her hard on the wall. She could feel her body bounce from the wall to the ground, landing like dead meat. Every single muscle in her body was screaming with exhaustion and ached. Her vision remained blurry until a dark figure was looming over her. Warm fingers touched her neck, checked her eyes, and finally voiced out something like "Are you alright?"

Still lying, she asked softly, barely audible, "Any broken bones?"

"No, a few bruises but not broken bones," he replied after checking her body for any injuries.

"Good," she said.

"Good?" he was surprised at her answer. "This is nowhere near good, Miss Lefevre. How did you survive out there with your current fighting state?" If her mind was clear at the moment, she probably could identify the worriness in his voice. However, the pain occupied her mind more than anything else, blocking all of her senses at the moment.

She hissed painfully as she pushed herself up. He reached out and put his arm around her back, supporting her stand. She barely stood straight, leaning completely into his body. Her voice was weak, but humorous, "Purely luck, sir… purely luck."

He stared down at her, as much as he wanted to bark at her with anger, the sound that came out from his throat was a chuckle. He shook his head, he could not help but to agree with her comment. She chose the right word to use in her situation. Without luck, she probably would have ended up dead years ago, before any of this could happen.

"How did you pass all of your defense classes?"

"In Ilvermorny, we are not heavily focused in D.A.," she explained. "It's an optional requirement and there are substitute classes that we can replace D.A. Those who are serious enough with the subject usually take the supplement classes in evening with the professor. He provides different methods in study, which are more intense than the morning class. I did fairly fine with the standard of the regular class. When I came to Hogwarts, only you and Professor Moody actually taught the class in a serious manner. Umbridge was, well, all theories. Also, Hufflepuff is not furious and Ravenclaw is reasonable. And for some reasons, you were more flexible with us than with Gryffindor and Slytherin. I think I passed the class with luck again, sir."

"Life cannot always depend on luck, Miss Lefevre," he said. "I don't know where your plan will head after our agreement ends, but with your current state, I fear you will not last long." He led her away from the ground and headed back to the mansion. "It's lunch time now and you need to rest. After one o'clock we will continue with this training."

Even though, his words were distant and his voice was unfriendly as usual, she could read between the lines that he was worried. He wanted to make sure that she would be fine, even when he was not there with her anymore. That was probably his best way to show his concern to someone. She held tight to his arm as she followed him back inside. A small smile spread on her face. Stubborn man.

True to his words, after lunch with a little bit of rest and a few vials of potions, they continued with training.

"To your left," Severus instructed, pointing out of where his spell would hit. "You need to be aware of your surrounding, Miss Lefevre. You cannot focus on one direction and ignore the other. And your posture has too many openings. Straighten your back. No, no, that's not right." He marched over to where Ethelinda was and fixed her back as well as her hand. "When you cast a spell, hold your wand firmly and point it to the right direction. Even if it does not work as you plan, you can still use is as a diversion and throw a different one. Always be aware of what is happening around you and never let your opponent have an opportunity to fight back. Offensive and defensive spells work hand-in-hand."

As he was instructing her, his right hand was on her back, preventing it to lose its posture. His left hand was holding hers, keeping her wand pointing to the right direction. Neither of them realized how close they were, until he felt the heat from her back radiating to his palm. She wore a creamy shirt and black jeans. Her sweat made the shirt stick to the skin of her back, revealing her bra that matched the color of her skin. He froze the moment he registered their closeness. For a second, he let his wall drop as he took a deep breath, taking in her perfume, a faint smell of honeysuckle, through his nostril. He got used to her perfume without noticing it as it relaxed his mind over all the stresses that he had. His eyes softened and his head was closing its distance to her neck. Just a taste of her skin. He could feel his body drawing to her as his lips almost touched her bare neck. But then, he heard her voice, calling him Professor and asking him something that he failed to recognize. The word Professor was like a wakeup call for the man, making him quickly step back and release his hold on her. He quickly turned away, hiding the emotions playing on his face.

"I think we had enough for today," he said dryly, "You need to rest before the evening's job." Then, he walked back to the mansion without further explanation, leaving behind a very confused young woman.

Severus's absurd depart left a questionable feeling for Ethelinda. She could not process his unexpected change of behaviour. Did I do something wrong? She frowned, letting the question float around in her mind. Yet, as much as she wanted to dwell on the problem, she gladly accepted his dismissal. Even with all those potions, her physical capacity just could not improve overnight, she was exhausted. Sighing, she followed shortly with one goal in her mind at the moment, sleeping off her tiredness.

oOo

Sitting in front of the fireplace, two men were in a deep discussion. Jonathan had a few parchments spread on the coffee-table. Novas's idea of portkey Ethelinda to an unknown location sounded very tempting, but it had one tiny problem. Once she left the mansion, they would not able to track her down and neither of them thought she would share her plan to them. Without knowing her last location, or at least put on a tracking charm on her, their plan of portkey her would not succeed. They had discussed every possibility they could have thought of. Their conversation got off track when something knocked on the window.

"What do you have there?" Jonathan moved his eyes away from the parchments to the man who was, now, reading something from the delivery owl.

"My association's investigation," Novas replied as he fed the owl a piece of biscuit before letting it fly away.

"And?" Jonathan approached Novas from behind, staring down over his shoulder to the letter he was reading.

"They failed to investigate Lucius, but they had something on Kingsley," Novas stated as he distanced himself from Jonathan. You're standing too close. Too. Close.

Jonathan's eyes stopped focusing at the letter the moment he noticed Novas moved away. Interesting. He chuckled when the man tried his best to not stand anywhere close to him. It had been a while for Jonathan to tease the old man, even though, they had their differences, he still had a high interest in Novas. Yet, he did not pursue it due to all the events that has happened.

"Shacklebolt? Why should a man who serves the Light have anything to do with her?" The information was interesting to Jonathan but teasing Novas seemed to give another level of enjoyment at the moment as he moved closer to the man.

"Damn it, Jonathan!" Novas finally snapped. "If you get any closer, I swear to Merlin that you will die a very painful death!"

"Are you sure?" Jonathan ignored the warning as he tilted his head close to Novas' ear and whispered.

Novas did not hesitate to use the parchment in his hands to hit Jonathan mercilessly. However, due to the differences in height, Jonathan's chest was the only victim and Novas' action made him chuckle louder. Regardless of the small enjoyment, Jonathan's hands grabbed Novas' wrists, preventing him from continuing the assault. He walked back to the couch and sat down, his voice went back to the professional tone, "Let see what your association has found in our beloved Minister."

After an hour of going over the information that Novas' associations provided, they found out that prior to the fall of Voldemort, Kingsley took a secret trip to the an unknown location for a month. The trip was covered as a regular auror's mission but the folder of the mission contained nothing. By the time he returned from the trip, he brought a guest to his home. However, it was only a rumor because even as nosy as Rita Skeeter, she failed to obtain any juicy information.

"It's not much for us to conclude whether she is with him," Jonathan shook his head as he put the parchments containing the information down on the coffee-table. "She may be with Malfoy of all people."

"I trust Lucius's words when I questioned his interest in pursuit Ethel. I knew him since he was a kid, Jonathan, and no matter what he was drowning himself into, he loves his family more than anything. The war did not only cost his status, his pride, but it also costed his family," Novas defended Lucius as his voice softened. "You know what the book can do and he just wants his family back."

Jonathan was quiet. He knew Lucius was a close friend of Freya and there was an expectation that she would marry the man. However, in the end, Lucius got married to Narcissa Black, and Freya ended up with a baby and no husband. He sighed, leaning back into the couch. His headache was back again. This new information was killing his brain.

"You know more about Lucius's plan than what you are sharing to me right?" Jonathan caught the hesitation in Novas' eyes as he proposed his question. He remembered from the previous conversation, where Novas stated that Lucius wanted to revive the dead. And from what he heard, both his wife and son got killed during the war.

Novas shook his head, indicating that he would not say anything more. Jonathan narrowed his gaze at Novas, almost trying to enter the man's mind to dig for more information. Unfortunately, he knew nothing about Legilimency. Sighing inwardly, Jonathan changed the subject back to their plan, "Talking back to our plan, we cannot go any further without knowing when Ethel will find the box and activate it. I know her grandmother gave her a list of locations she needs to access in order to get the box, but exactly where and when, that's a problem."

"From her servants, I know there may be four or five locations left in that list," Novas suddenly trailed off, his eyes drifted to the fireplace with his index finger tracing his lips. "And I may have a way to locate her."

"You… What?" Jonathan asked surprised, arching an eyebrow at Novas.

"I know a way to locate her," Novas repeated, keeping a steady look at Jonathan, in case, the man attacked him.

"And you failed to mention it to me when we basically plucked out our hairs?" Jonathan was frustrated.

"I didn't mention it mainly because I still wasn't sure if Ethel… is my daughter," Novas refused to make eye-contact with Jonathan when he spilled his doubt.

Jonathan arched one of his eyebrows, staring at Novas' face while he processed the information. He knew Freya was impregnated by one of her friends. He had suspected Malfoy but when he first saw Ethelinda, she did not resemble anything from the Malfoy's line. Now that Novas raised his suspicion, Jonathan began to compare the similar features between the two. They were indeed related.

"And if she is your daughter, then how will we track her down?" asked Jonathan.

"There is an old ritual from our bloodline which uses a family member's blood to trace after another member," Novas explained but did not hide his surprise when Jonathan did not press for more information of his relationship with Freya. "However, in order to do to that, I need her blood to clarify our relationship. You know how messy Freya's relationship with all her male friends is, I don't even doubt that she might have slept with Voldemort if the opportunity arose."

"Cadfael has a box that contains her blood, we can go to the mansion and ask for it," Jonathan seemed to agree with Novas' suggestion. "However, we can only enter the place after she leaves, otherwise, we need to face a very pissed-off Mistress and her bodyguard, who I am not very fond of."

"That won't be a problem," Novas nodded at Jonathan.

"Now that that problem is solved, we still have the portkey to work on," Jonathan waved his wand and the parchments piled up into a stack. "Where exactly do you plan to portkey her?"

"China."

oOo

A young woman stood quietly in Kingsley's office, looking out of the window but not particularly focusing on anything that happened. A deep frown appeared on the woman's face as she sensed something in the air.

"What's wrong?" Kingsley approached the woman from behind, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him.

"She is changing," the woman stated, resting her head against his chest.

"Is that good?" he asked softly.

"It would depend on who makes the change," she stated. "I hope her change will benefit our plan."

"Don't worry, my Lady. Everything will go across as planned," he ensured her as he placed a chaste kiss to her cheek before stepping away from the room.

The young woman continued watching the scene. Something flicked in her eyes, making her pupils suddenly become bigger. She was taking pleasure in her change of magic. Yes, her change definitely benefits her.

oOo

The evening came sooner than Ethelinda wanted. By six-thirty, Severus was waiting for her at the gate. She was saying goodbye to Cadfael. Once they stepped out of the mansion's ward, they would face what they left off days ago. She was not sure if this would be the last time she saw her butler.

"Be careful, Mistress," Cadfael whispered, stroking her hair like the old times.

"I will," she nodded before she hugged the man as if it was the last time. "Take care of the mansion and those who refuse to greet me."

"Oh, believe me, Mistress, you don't want to see them," he chuckled, remembering the mansion's ghosts had asked to meet the young Mistress, but he did not approve and had caused a massive amount of protests from them.

She smiled, noticing a small hint of humour in his words. She would miss him a lot. Taking a step back, letting the men have their talk as she watched their exchange of conversation. Severus did not say much, only nod to whatever Cadfael was saying. Finally, at six-forty-five, the pair walked passed the gate and disapparated to the next location on the list, Yorkgate Railway Station.

The railway station was quiet. Not a single soul or sound was lurking, which was very strange. Severus frowned as he observed the location. He even cast a few spells to detect if anything else was there, but he found nothing. His frown kept getting deeper as his uneasy feeling did not subside.

"Let's finish the ritual quickly," he grabbed Ethelinda's arm and whispered to her, urging the event to progress quicker.

Ethelinda nodded at his words without asking any further, because she shared the same feeling as him. Something's not right. She waved her wand and murmured a protection spell as a faint of yellow light shot out from her wand and soon filled the inside of the station. She took a deep breath as the protection shield finally covered everything within the place. For some reason, her heart beat was faster than usual. She grabbed his hand and squeezed lightly before heading down to the tracks.

Severus kept a close eye on Ethelinda as she began the ritual. He noted that the shield she put up included an anti-apparition spell as well. So she's aware of the abnormal atmosphere. Nevertheless, he waved his wand and added another layer of protection to hers. And if, for some reasons, her shield failed, they still had his underneath to withstand. His eyes moved back to her, who was now completely lost in her own world. Yet, he found himself staring at a beautiful young woman, whose magic had magnified to a different level and it affected both her physically and magically, which should not be happening.

Severus knew he could not interfere the ritual once it began, but the change in her magic was getting out of control. He could see that it tried to escape her body and shoot out uncontrollably into the air. Unfortunately, before he could do anything, the magic protecting the station dropped without warning. He could only react as he saw her flinch away from the lock and fall down to the ground. Something definitely is wrong here. He rushed to her side as she was completely unconscious.

"Get the girl and kill the man!"

A woman's voice suddenly echoed inside Severus's head, making the man turn his head around dramatically. His eyes dashed from corner to corner, up and down, left to right, but he saw nothing, not even a single string of magic. The station was completely desert.

"Professor…" Ethelinda finally opened her eyes. "I got it."

Severus saw the small box in her hand and looked back at her, he whispered, "How?"

"My, my! What do we have here?"

Ethelinda held her breath the moment she heard the voice. How on earth did that woman know about this place? Her mind was racing with multiple questions and theories. She did expect to face another attack from the Death Eaters, but not with that woman and certainly not at this place. It's supposed to be a secret list. She quickly hid the box inside her coat's pocket as she leaned on Severus, trying to stand up.

Twenty years, yes, it had been that long since the last time Ethelinda saw her mother. A youthful looking woman with her blond hair tucked neatly into a bun. Her beautiful blue eyes was watching her and Severus carefully, they were cold and somewhat deadly. Her full lips had spread into a fake smile that she had seen and had not forgotten over the years. One of the many benefits of being an angel was the life of Immortality, something that countless people had pursuit for life. Her mother was still the same both physically and mentally, or perhaps a hint of madness was echoing in her laughter. But she never knew, her mother was never truly smiling or laughing from her heart. Everything she did was planned, even her emotions.

"Kill him and get the girl!"

Chaos erupted once Freya shouted the order. Her men marched up and spells quickly escaped their wand. They soon formed into a circle, locking Severus and Ethelinda within. They had their back against each other, fighting against any spell that came to them. Severus scanned the surrounding and tried to think of a way to escape.

"What are we doing now?" Ethelinda's voice reached out in Severus's mind. His eyes flicked with surprise, but his face remained expressionless. Turned out, they could communicate through their mind, which was very useful at the moment. Yet, it did not explain of why he heard Freya's voice before they appeared to the location.

"They're out numbering us. If we fight to break out, it will be impossible," he responded while casting different spells to Death Eaters, knocking two of them down on the ground. "Do you think the mansion's ward will prevent them from getting in?"

"It's strong but with Freya here, I'm not sure anymore," Ethelinda answered. "But we can try, and I also need to access her room."

Severus did not give out any gesture before grabbing her arm and disapparated. Yet, they found the scene in front of them unchanged. He could hear her breath hiss deeply at the strange situation.

"What happened?" Her voice asked him again.

"The ward… blocks us out."

A/N: I remembered I promised to update the story up chapter 12 & 13 right after 11, but again, I took too long. As an apology, this chapter longer than usual (It's up to 9 pages when I finished in Doc). I won't make any promise for the future chapter, which I am guaranteed that they will eventually take more than 2 months to finish. So, please understand for me. Someone in Wattpad asked me how many chapters this story would go up to and I told her that it would be 20 chapters. However, I think it may go beyond that line a bit if I cannot wrap up the ending well. And there will absolutely no sequel. I don't do well with sequel. Last but not least, best thanks to all my readers and reviewers, who patiently waited for the next chapter. I appreciate all of your supports. Thanks and loves!

Specially thanks to my wonderful beta, Hero of Olympus in Disguise.