Secrets finally come out in this chapter. Some of you may have guessed the mystery, some of you may not. Hope it's not a disappointment. Their is still a fair way to go yet in this tale. I'm actually getting a bit scared posting new chapters as the story progresses! I just hope you are all still enjoying it! SA
'Was it something you said with your eyes shut?
Was it something you should not have said?
Was it something I needed to hear now?
Did it come from that place in your head?
The place where nothing gets out.
The secret things I want to find out.'
"The Secret Things" - Ken Andrews
Tuesday 22nd August 2000
Sirius, now fully healed, thanks to the Dark Amber stone, paced the room impatiently. They were yet again awaiting Kreacher's return from Voldemort's manor. This was his third attempt to make contact with Rose, the two previous visits had been frustratingly fruitless.
Kreacher's first mission had been thwarted by Narcissa Malfoy visiting Rose and taking her to another part of the manor., just as he had been about to make himself known. He had waited some time, and then when she had not returned, he had gone looking for her, using the stone to locate her. But it could not find her and he had later discovered she was no longer in the manor.
The second occasion had seen a social gathering being held. This went on for several hours and Rose had never been alone. He had listened to conversations of the Death Eaters and had seen the Dark Lord's serpent, Nagini. Thankfully the serpent did not detect his presence either.
He had witnessed the Dark Lord threatening Rose, accusing her of flirting with his male followers and casting a spell upon them. Kreacher had said he had then apparated both of them to their bed-chamber and he had not dared to enter. He had reluctantly mentioned the noises he'd heard before returning to the safe house, describing them as 'intimate.' Sirius had felt the urge to vomit
"You are going to wear the floor away Sirius," said George Weasley. "Come on mate, come and play a game of cards with us." Sirius exhaled. "He should have been back by now!" He continued to pace the floor, occasionally going to the window, to see if Kreacher had appeared out there.
"I know your worried about Rose - we all are. Kreacher will be back soon, and hopefully he's been lucky this time. He's got to be careful mate - he's got old snake eyes and his Looney Tunes mates to watch out for!" Sirius couldn't help but smile at George's humour. Even in the most stressful of times, George could lighten the mood.
A large popping noise was heard from the corner of the room. They turned and saw a bloodied and bruised Kreacher lay upon the floor, clutching the chain of Dark Amber stone tightly in his grasp. "Kreacher!" Sirius rushed to the elf and knelt beside him. "What's happened? Who did this to you? Did you see her…?" Kingsley knelt down and gently lifted Kreacher into his arms.
"Sirius man, he needs attending to, not interrogating!" Kingsley left the room, taking Kreacher upstairs. Sirius made to follow them but George pulled him back. "Sirius mate, let Kingsley take care of him - you can speak to him later when he's recovered." Sirius exhaled, taking a deep breath. "I'm going mad George! I just need to know how she is…I can't bear it!"
"I know you do, but Kreacher's not in any fit state to talk at the minute. You're going to have to be patient. Let's crack that bottle of Fire Whiskey open - that'll help with the shock and worry. Let Kingsley heal him - the Dark Amber stone will have Kreacher fighting fit in no time. Look at how it healed you - you're like a new man!"
Sirius allowed the wisdom of George's words to sink in. He smiled at the younger man, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Thanks George. Get the whiskey open and we can talk about how we are going to take down snake eyes and his loony mates!" George grinned, "With pleasure mate, with pleasure!"
"Tell me what happened - now!" Rose was yet again pinned to the wall by her husband in a rage. A bloodied and unconscious Bellatrix lay on the floor of the room, which was decimated and was not magically repairing itself as it usually did.
She was drained, and if he were not gripping her by the arms and holding her against the wall, she would have sunk to the floor. She felt a dull ache in her lower abdomen, as his eyes penetrated her in an attempt to access her thoughts.
"Are you deaf? Answer me!" With his anger and frustration increasing, Rose found her voice. "She attacked me. Your faithful servant came to my rooms, screaming and shouting, accusing me of bewitching you. I told her to leave, but she refused."
Voldemort continued trying to probe her mind, but could not penetrate it at all. He looked over at Bella and then back to his wife. He now had to use his instinct to see if she was deceiving him, and his eyes searched her face for the signs.
"Tell me everything! How is it that she is unconscious on the floor? Who did that to her?" She could lie to him and keep her secrets, but she was sick of lies and information being withheld. He had been keeping the truth from her and so had her 'helper.' She had an instinct that the truth, or some of it would make him uneasy.
"I did." His eyes widened in surprise - he'd not expected that. "You?" She continued to meet his eyes, despite the utter exhaustion that gripped her and the increasing ache in her abdomen. "Don't sound so surprised, husband." His eyes narrowed as he heard the sarcasm in her tone. "Insolence is not a good idea, as you well know!"
"Threaten me as much as you want," she responded. "I've discovered the truth, and as the saying goes, 'the truth shall set you free'." He looked uneasy. "Yes - you know exactly what I'm talking about. It all makes sense now - why you insisted on us being married, why you were so keen to acquire me. Because of my true origins."
"How dare you…" His hand made to close around her throat. "Go on then, do it. Kill me." His hand moved back and he clenched it in frustration. She could see he was torn between his desire to kill her and his temporary need for her. She knows of her heritage. The upper hand had been taken from him and he did not like it.
"Your interest in me was sparked when you learnt the truth of my ancestry. Their is always some motive, some reason with you! My instincts were right - I always wondered why I was named in the prophecy. You should know to be careful what you wish for! You thought it would be so easy to contain and control me, but you were wrong! I know who I am now and of the power that I have inside. It has been passed down through the generations and it grows stronger within me." Rose gasped for breath - her head pounded and she felt so weak, as if she was going to faint.
A sudden sharp pain in her abdomen made her cry out. Glancing down, Rose let out a scream of agony and fear. Voldemort followed her eyes and saw the trickle of crimson that was emerging from beneath the hem of her gown. "No!" Voldemort roared, his face contorted with shock. Rose looked at him as his face became blurry, before disappearing from view as she fell into darkness.
"How are you feeling Kreacher?" Sirius said as the elf came into the kitchen. He had to exert all his will not to launch himself at Kreacher and demand answers to all the questions in his mind. "I am feeling much better, Master Sirius - better than I have ever felt before." Sirius smiled. "I am glad to hear it. Come, sit down - there is breakfast for you here."
Kreacher gave a wizened smile at his master's solicitousness. "Thank you master, but I am not hungry - I shall answer your questions now, tell you how Mistress Rose is faring and what happened at The Dark Lord's manor." Sirius shook his head. "No Kreacher, that's not necessary, there's no rush. You've only just got up - I can wait."
Kreacher smiled. "Your eyes tell a different story to your words, Master Sirius. I know how worried you are about Mistress Rose, and I am feeling well enough to talk now." Sirius exhaled a breath. "Well okay then, if you are sure…" Kreacher sat himself down and the rest of the Order members gathered around the table.
"I found Mistress Rose alone when I apparated to her room. She was very shocked to see me appear, and cast a silencing spell because the Dark Lord had placed guards outside the door.
I enquired how she was, and her first words to me were to ask how you were and how you had escaped." Kreacher nodded to Sirius. "She was so relieved to hear you were safe and recovered, and began to cry and tell me how glad she was to see me. She threw her arms around me and hugged me." Kreacher looked abashed. "I have never been hugged by a human before."
"She was worried the Dark Lord may appear at any time and didn't want me to be captured. Then I showed her the stone and told her this would protect me from the Dark Lord.
I explained how she had given it to me before she was captured and asked me to hide it for her. I told her I had followed her orders and modified her memory afterwards, and the stone had been a gift from her parents for her birthday, and that we had discovered it had magical properties.
I asked her if she had been told anything about her family by the Dark Lord. Mistress Rose said she hadn't. She must have read something in my face, for she said, 'You know something.' She said she knew things were being kept from her."
Sirius interjected. "What did you tell her?' Kreacher continued. "I could not lie to Mistress Rose, and I told her the truth of her ancestry."
Kingsley spoke this time. "How did she react?"
"She was shocked, but she said that it explained much."
"So how did you get your injuries?" Sirius asked.
"I told Mistress Rose that I had come to rescue her, that the stone would penetrate the wards and allow us to apparate."
"But then why didn't you? Why is she not here with us now?" Sirius, losing patience, raised his voice.
"Let him finish," Kingsley raised his hand to Sirius, who folded his arms and looked away, trying to contain his frustration.
"Unfortunately Mistress Rose's fears came true - we were discovered." Sirius looked up. "By whom?"
Kreacher looked at his master. "Your cousin…Mistress Bellatrix." Sirius grimaced at the mention of her name, and they waited for Kreacher to continue. "She entered the bedroom, catching us off-guard. Mistress Bellatrix could see me as I no longer held the stone and began to torture me."
Kreacher took another sip of water from the goblet before him. "Then something happened that Mistress Bellatrix did not expect." Kreacher looked around at the assembled group. "Tell us Kreacher…please." Sirius could not bear the suspense.
"The Cruciatus curse that Mistress Bellatrix was using upon me suddenly ceased. I looked up and saw that she was pinned to the opposite wall, her wand lying on the floor. Mistress Rose was using her magic, and I sensed the strength of her power - the energy in the air was so strong. Mistress Rose performed her magic without a wand, as if she done so all her life."
"But why is she not here?" Sirius demanded. Kreacher looked at him.
"Mistress Rose had dropped the stone when she began to use her magic to rescue me from Mistress Bellatrix's curse. She ordered me to retrieve the stone and leave immediately."
"You left her?" Sirius pushed back his chair and stood up, beginning to pace around the room, unable to hide his anger any longer.
"You saw how badly I was injured when I returned here, Master Sirius," Kreacher said. "It took all my strength to crawl over to the stone and take hold of it. I looked back to Mistress Rose and she commanded me to leave a second time. I did as she bade me to," Kreacher finished with a heavy sigh.
The roar of frustration, followed by the sound of smashing glass made them all jump.
"Sirius, man! What are you doing?" Kingsley stood, and he and Sirius stared at one another, before Sirius wrenched open the door and stormed out of the room.
George got up and made to follow him, but Kingsley ushered him to sit down again. "Leave him be. He needs to cool off."
"I'm sorry, Master Kingsley - I have failed." Kingsley shook his head. "No, Kreacher, it is not your fault - you did the best you could."
Kreacher bowed in gratitude at Kingsley's understanding. "Their is one more thing," Kreacher said, and both Kingsley and George looked at the elf.
"I sensed the presence of an ancient and powerful force when I tried to rescue Mistress Rose."
"You don't mean…?" Kreacher nodded at Kingsley and continued. "It was a female presence. It was her - Morgan Le Fay. I could feel her power around Mistress Rose - and within her."
"And are you sure it was her?' Kreacher looked at George. 'I am certain, Master Weasley. Absence of a physical form does not prevent a beings spirit and power from continuing to exist. I did not see her, but magic as ancient and powerful as hers does not die when the body does. I felt her presence and her magic. And Mistress Rose has inherited it."
They looked at one another in shock. "Voldemort's not going to like that," said George. "I still can't believe it - our Rose, Morgan Le Fay's descendant!"
"My question is this...what is Morgan doing? Why is she there?" Kingsley said. "Maybe she's there to protect Rose - keep an eye on her," George said.
"Maybe," Kingsley replied, deep in thought. "Let's hope so, he said quietly, as he began to wander around the room.
"Has there been any luck on identifying the last Horcrux yet?" George asked, interrupting Kingsley's thoughts. He turned to the young man and smiled. "Well, I have some good news on that front, and we have a certain elf to thank for it." Kingsley turned to the wizened creature who peered over the table.