September 6th, 1995
Mary sat at the table, staring at the dirt and blood caked under her nails while Sirius paced alongside the table. "Go ahead and say it."
Sirius stopped, a dark glare aimed not at her, but at Minister Bones who sat across from her. "What in the hell were you thinking? Sending my daughter out there without so much as speaking to me first?"
Ami straightened her shoulders and took in a breath. "Mad-Eye agreed that Mary does better when fully informed and-"
"You sent her in alone!" Sirius shouted, stalking around the table.
"There was an issue with the Portkeys," Ami said, turning to Mary. "I'm very sorry about that, Mary. I have the Unspeakables working on it."
"Apologising doesn't change the fact that you sent my child into a fight she had no business being in!" Sirius' hands shook, as though he was resisting the urge to call for his wand.
"It all worked out," Mary said, standing and pulling her headphones out of her pocket. "I've already reported to Moody, Scrimgeour, and Mr. Ridgebit. Is there anything else you need, Ami? I'd really love the chance to shower."
Ami pulled an envelope from her pocket, placing it on the table. "I'll need your signature on this, stating that you were given clearance by the DMLE and that your Animagus form is confidential."
"How is it confidential if she's already exposed what her form is?" Sirius asked, picking up the envelope and opening it.
Mary pulled it from his hand, taking the proffered quill from Ami and scribbling her name at the bottom of the page. "Anything else?"
Ami stared down at the coppery smudge next to Mary's name and let out a sigh, placing it back in the envelope. "Sirius, I know it's been a long night, but I could use your help at the Ministry. The latest string of attacks has left us short staffed."
Sirius ran his hand through his hair, turning to Mary. "I can't leave Mary and Daphne."
"I'm going to shower and sleep," Mary said, holding her hands up as she walked toward the steps, pointedly ignoring Sirius' glare. "I don't need a minder or a handler."
With their voices fading into the background, Mary apparated straight to the shower and turned the faucet to as hot as it would go, vanishing everything she wore with a wave of her wand. She wanted to scald the top layer of flesh and forget she was ever in Romania. Scrub the memories from her skin and watch them float down the drain along with the blood and sinew.
An hour later a harsh knock on the door pulled her from her musings and she pulled the towel from the hook, her arms scorched and red from the bristled brush that lay in the bottom of the shower stall.
"What is it?" Mary called out.
"Are you okay, Mary Jane?" Remus answered.
Mary winced, trying to pull her pyjamas on and her hair into a tie. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Remus asked.
Mary opened the door, meeting his gaze. "I look like an old lobster, but yes, I'm in one piece."
"You're burnt." Remus reached toward her. "And your hair."
"Dragons do that," Mary said, her lips lifting slightly as she turned to the mirror and froze.
Pale white strands hung limply from her skull, curtaining a face that had seen far too much. Swallowing hard, she cast a quick drying spell on it and turned away.
"You shouldn't have answered the call." Remus started. "It's not your job to help everyone."
"I'm aware." Mary held up her hand, closing her eyes for a moment. "Sirius picked me up from Romania on his motorbike and I was creatively informed that I am a blithering idiot."
"I didn't say you were an idiot."
"You implied it with your tone."
Remus pinched the bridge of his nose, his hands shaking slightly as they fell to his sides. "We don't like the Ministry, or anyone for that matter, putting you in unnecessary danger. Not when you willingly run straight toward it."
"Danger?" Mary rolled her eyes and looked down at her burnt, peeling arms. "This is nothing, you should see the Death Eaters. Or what's left of them."
Remus froze, a hard look in his eyes. "How many?"
Mary walked past him, grabbing the bottle of rum from her bedside table and uncorking it. "Twelve, fifteen if the others didn't survive. Not enough in the grand scale of things."
"You took lives tonight. Being callous is unbecoming of you and quite frankly disconcerting." Remus took a step closer, his eyes glowing a dark amber. "Good god, Mary Jane! This isn't a game! You're not invincible. You could get hurt, possibly die!"
"What's new?"
"This has to stop!" Remus pulled the bottle from her hands. "Those Death Eaters, Voldemort, you could have been killed!"
"Not if I kill them first," Mary said, strapping her wands to her forearms and ignoring the pain as it tugged at her raw skin.
"You shouldn't be killing anyone," Remus breathed. "What if you act out in anger and hurt someone innocent?"
"That's the real issue, isn't it?" Mary snorted, meeting his eyes. "You're scared of me. You're all afraid I'm turning dark, that I'm some kind of monster."
"Don't say that. Don't ever say that, Mary Jane." Remus reached forward, his hands on her shoulders before she could back away. "We're worried about you."
"Don't worry. I'm fine." Mary bit out.
"You are not fine," Remus said, pulling her into a gentle hug.
He was right. The taste of blood still coated her tongue. The smell of charred flesh still clung to her despite hours of scrubbing and copious amounts of soap. The bodies she'd left behind were burned into her eyelids. What scared her the most was the startling lack of guilt.
A shudder ran through her, her neck twitching oddly as a wave of satisfaction that was not her own settled across her skin like a heavy blanket. Voldemort wasn't angry with his defeat. Not in the slightest. He was excited.
Mary clenched her fists, pulling herself away from Remus, but not fast enough.
"Talk to me," Remus begged, eyes wide as she took a step back.
Burying her shock behind her Occlumency, Mary turned away, grabbing the nearest garments from her wardrobe. She couldn't stay. Not here. Not now.
"It's the middle of the night." Remus reached for her, following her up the winding staircase to the roof. "We don't know if the area's secure. You can't leave the house!"
What started as a subtle trickle of his emotions flowing into her mind ramped up to an onslaught of pain. He was trying to claw his way in.
"NO!" Mary shouted, clutching at her head and lurching away from his grasp.
The door opened and Sirius stepped in. "Remus what's-"
He froze, his eyes widening as his wand slipped into his hand. Mary looked from him, to Remus in quick succession.
"Block him out," Sirius whispered. "You can do this, kid."
Mary pulled the jumper over her head. "I'm going back to Hogwarts."
"You can't go like that." Sirius gripped his wand tighter, a hard look in his eyes. "You're hurt."
A shiver ran up her spine as the thoughts floated into her mind unhindered. A flick of the wrist. That's all it took to end a life. Two small spells and she would be free. Apparate to anywhere in the world and live a full life. Escape the expectations and prophecies. Spared from her responsibilities once and for all. There was a simpler end as well. One spell, one victim.
Mary looked into the eyes of her godfathers and knew she couldn't give in.
"Fuck you, Tom," she whispered under her breath.
"Wha-"
Sirius' shout echoed in her ears, clinging to her as her bare feet hit the cobblestone path. Cold rain hammered down around her, soaking her through and through. She felt none of it, only a simmering rage that was hers and hers alone.
A line of people waited outside of the club. One wandless spell and a tilt of her head and Mary was in the midst of the bustling crowd, the music so loud that she couldn't hear her own thoughts.
Giving into the apathy, Mary danced until her mind was numb. Nothing else mattered but that moment, the music, the atmosphere of bliss.
As all good things do, the moment ended, leaving her spinning on the spot and landing farther away. Another cobblestone path beneath her feet.
Lightning flashed overhead, crackling and reaching across the sky on her left was the Shrieking Shack. The rickety building was her fastest way back into the castle, but Mary couldn't abide by the narrow passage. Not when it already felt as though the world was crumbling around her, trapping her in its cold dark depths.
As much as she longed for the sweet release of sleep, the adrenaline flowing through her would never allow her to rest. Something more was needed to lull her mind into a relaxed state. Taking a turn down the right onto the cobblestone path, Mary lost herself in thought.
Love. Harry's voice sounded in the darkest part of her mind. His memories of Tom's possession of him in the Ministry atrium flashing forward before she could brace herself.
But I don't know love. Mary thought, feeling her skin crawl as the phantom emotions sprung forth. I know love out of duty, loyalty, and friendship. No one truly loves me. Not the real me.
A bell clanged and Mary turned on her heel, wand in hand.
"Put that away, girl," Aberforth said, a lone brow raised. "Get inside before you catch a chill."
A snort left her lips. Tucking her wand back into her sleeve, she followed him into the dark and dingy pub, taking a seat in the corner nearest to the door. The few patrons that occupied the candle lit corners barely spared her a glance, leaving her be as she accepted the bottle of butterbeer from Aberforth.
"You should be up in the castle, shouldn't ya?" Aberforth kept his voice low, glancing over his shoulder.
Mary followed his gaze, noticing the dark cloaked figure standing near the alley. Subtle tendrils of Legilimency brushed against her mind and Mary looked away, feeling the rage grow. Only Aberforth's hand on her shoulder stopped her from attacking the unknown assailant.
The heavy oak door closed behind her and she walked into the dimly lit pub, noticing that it was empty of its usual patrons. Only the sound of the glass clinking as the spell cleaned them and flung them back to their place on the dusty shelf.
"Straight to the Floo with ya," Aberforth said, pointing to the large fireplace. "No sense in you wandering the streets this early in the morning."
"They've closed the Floo network to Hogwarts." Mary let out a breath. "I'll be fine walking."
Aberforth's moustache twitched. "Not alone you won't."
"I appreciate the concern, but-" the words fell away as a familiar portrait caught her eye.
Aberforth narrowed his eyes and turned, his broad shoulders dropping as Arianna smiled at him from her painting. "I'll lock-up and walk you to the school."
Mary shook her head, turning away from the painting and stepping toward the door. Before her fingers could touch the handle, a loud knock echoed through the pub.
"Duck down behind the bar," Aberforth said, his pale eyes focused on the door.
Mary's wand was already in hand and she shook her head. "I'm staying right here."
Mary's spell hit the door, causing the dark oak to fade into clear glass, showing the hooded figure on the other side, but kept their face shrouded in shadows. "Anyone you might know?"
"Not at this hour," Aberforth answered, nodding his head to signal he was ready.
Mary cancelled the spell and cast another, watching as the door opened, its hinges creaking loudly. "Pull back the hood and step inside."
Stained pale fingers tugged at the cloak and Mary let herself take a breath, but didn't lower her wand. Snape lifted a dark brow at her, disdain clear in his eyes as he scanned the pub.
"What are you doing away from the castle?" Aberforth asked, tucking his wand back into the pocket of his apron. "Bit late for a run into town."
"Gathering ingredients from a cave nearby," Snape answered, blocking the door from shutting completely. "Come along, Potter, you're already serving detention for the foreseeable future. I'd hate to think how Gryffindor's Quidditch team would fare if you're cut from their ranks."
A dull scoff escaped her lips, "They have Ginny, they'll be alright."
Dark narrowed eyes met hers, but she didn't look away. Occlumency shielded her from his intrusion, he would get nowhere. She was too numb, a hollow shell that moved and spoke.
"Now!" Snape bit out, opening the door wider.
Mary turned to Aberforth and grasped his forearm. "Thank you."
"Anytime, child," he said quietly, nodding to Snape.
The door shut and locked behind them, a sense of unease trickled down her spine as Snape stalked down the cobblestone path with nothing but the moon to guide them.
"Sir, I-"
"Not here," Snape said under his breath.
Severus walked through the corridors of the castle ill at ease with his plot in life. As someone acquainted with both espionage and subterfuge, he knew the signs well and it set him on edge. Potter was far beyond that. Wand clutched tightly in her hand as they trekked towards the seventh floor corridor. Her stance, coiled tight like a cornered snake. Eyes shrouded by her cloak glancing in each direction, waiting for some unseen threat to appear.
He stepped to the side as Potter paced in front of the tiny door, wondering why she had led them there. The lock clicked and the door swung open, revealing a large room with mirrors on every wall, floor, and even the ceiling. A familiar device sat on the edge of the room and he knew exactly what she was there to do, even though he didn't see the point.
Typical Potter. Never missing an opportunity to show off.
Severus resisted the urge to roll his eyes as she flounced into the room acting as though all was right with the world. It was a poorly crafted facade that shrouded the trauma she'd faced on the battlefield.
"Will you be capable of keeping yourself out of trouble until I can find one of your handlers?" Severus asked dryly, looking around the room and hating his reflection staring back from every angle.
Potter let both wands drop to her hands. "I'll be perfectly fine, Professor. Just catching up on my wandwork."
Her head twitched oddly to the side and he caught the faint red glow in her irises. "Potter, I-"
"Lock the door behind you, sir," Potter said with a crooked smile.
Potter turned away, standing in the centre of the room and closing her eyes as though she were meditating. Severus seized the opportunity to pull the object from his pocket, placing it next to the door and out of her view. With a deep sigh, he let the door click closed, marvelling at the way it disappeared before his eyes as though it never existed at all.
Stalking through the halls, he cursed everything and everyone that brought Potter into his life. None more than the Headmaster himself who had thrown Potter and her penchant for mischief into his path.
The staircase stopped and the door opened before him. "Albus, I don't-"
"Ah, Severus," Albus said, pointedly standing from his desk.
Shoulders back, he reassessed the situation. Black and Lupin were there. Both had the girl's well-being in mind. Minerva and Poppy as well. At the very least he could be candid with his findings and let them take control of the situation.
"Potter is on the seventh floor," he said simply, taking a seat next to Minerva. "Practising her wandwork."
"She hasn't slept in days!" Lupin gripped the arms of his chair, the yellow in his eyes glowing. "Why on Earth did you leave her there?"
"Would you rather I let her run amok amongst the rest of the student body at this early hour?" Severus asked with a slight snarl. "She'd have the school in ruins by daybreak."
"The Room of Requirement again," Black said at once, turning to him. "Did you take the mirror?"
"I placed it in a corner where she wouldn't notice."
"Mary," Black whispered to the small mirror in his hand and handed it to Dumbledore.
Without verbal incantations the Headmaster re-sized the mirror until it was the size of a large window. Black leaned forward and cast a sound ward to keep the mirror's pair from alerting Potter to the fact that she was being watched.
"Headmaster," McGonagall said, wringing her hands. "This doesn't seem appropriate at all. Potter deserves her privacy."
"She has more bruises each time I see her," Pomfrey interrupted. "Whatever she's doing, it's causing her harm and needs to be stopped."
The conversation was cut off when Potter stopped the odd silent meditation. The room itself shifted until it was just that large open space with a lone cabinet sitting in the far corner. The torches dimmed even further as Potter made her way to the centre of the room where she knelt down, as though bowing to a king, and put her head down.
If he hadn't been watching so closely, Severus would have missed the slight twitch of the cabinet door as a ghostly hand clasped the door from the inside.
"Cancel the silencing charm!" Black jumped to his feet. "There's someone inside the cabinet!"
Minerva grasped his arm, both of them remembering the events of the sixth journal.
"Wait." Dumbledore put a hand on Black's arm as he too kept his eyes trained on Potter who still knelt down on the floor.
Severus gritted his teeth in irritation as he watched that pale hand turn into the visage of Bellatrix LeStrange, then her sadistic husband and his demented brother. One by one masked Death Eaters filtered out of the cabinet and into the large stone room, surrounding Potter who still stayed in the centre of the room.
"It's not real," Minerva said under her breath. "It can't be."
"No!" Black shouted. "She's in Azkaban!"
"Ickle baby Potter," the ghost of Bellatrix cooed mockingly as she moved to the edge of the room, opposite her companions, "So young and sweet. Are you ready for another round?"
Wordlessly, Potter nodded her head and pulled off her cloak. As it floated to the ground, Potter's wand hand twitched, transfiguring the cloak into a swarm of bees that targeted Bellatrix. The Death Eater cackled as she banished the insects and shot off a blasting curse at Potter's feet. She sidestepped the worst of the blast, but was hit with some debris.
"Get her out of there!" Black hissed, turning infuriated eyes towards the Headmaster.
"I do not believe that Death Eaters have accessed the castle." Dumbledore rubbed at his beard and leaned closer to watch the mirror. "I think that the room has merely given young Mary the images of foes that she wants to face."
It was a macabre dance of spellfire and shielding. Potter was far more skilled with a wand than he ever imagined. Her movements were fluid and well practised, there was no hesitation, no sign of fear or fatigue past the light sheen of sweat on her forehead.
"Os Ignis!" Bellatrix smirked as the dark orange spell hit Potter in the thigh, causing her to stumble.
"The spells are real enough," Severus muttered, watching as blood flowed from the wound. "How is she doing this?"
"There!" Lupin shouted, pointing to the device in the corner of the room. "The gift from Fred and George."
"The HexBox 360," Sirius replied. "She must have found a way to manipulate it."
"Glacies!" Potter cast wandlessly to ease the burn as she growled out; "Bombarda Maxima!"
She didn't even wait to see if the spell was successful as she fired off a succession of spells without wavering. She took a cutting curse to the face and a bone breaking hex to her wand arm, but got close enough to pull a dagger out of her cloak and slit Rodolphus' throat and swung around to fling the blade into Rabastian's heart.
Bella shrieked in rage and fired off a Cruciatus curse that Potter barely escaped as she dove to the ground and twisted to cast a blinding curse back at Bellatrix. She leaped through the air and tackled the insane witch to the ground and grasped hold of her face by the cheek bones and repeatedly bashed the woman's head into the stone floor until the Death Eater stopped moving.
Blood covered the young girl from head to toe as she cast another spell at the body, causing it to burst into flames.
"My word!" Pomfrey cried out in horror.
Potter stood in the midst of the haphazardly piled bodies, victorious, but looking like death herself. A dark smirk pulled at her cheeks as the bodies and blood disappeared, leaving everything in the room spotless again.
"Hello, Tom," Potter whispered into the darkness.
Dumbledore's eyes narrowed as Black and Lupin gasped at the sight of the faux Dark Lord.
"Let's pick this up a notch." Potter shot a spell at an odd device that sat at the edge of the room. "Shall we?"
Voldemort nodded as the sound of a screeching electric guitar echoed throughout the room.
"She can't hear what spells he's using with the blasted music so loud!" Lupin grumbled as he clutched the arms of the chair so hard that the wood squeaked in protest.
"Battles aren't calm and quiet," Severus said, not taking his eyes from the mirror. "She's making distractions to simulate a stressful environment."
"She's doing it well," Black said, watching her spin and dodge another blue curse.
The battle was heated and there were at least ten times where someone almost darted out of the headmaster's office to rescue the girl. Severus was ashamed to admit that one of them was when she had been hit by the Cruciatus Curse and he made it to the door before Black could.
"Stop!" The headmaster yelled at the both of them over the sound of Potter's screams.
The argument's stopped as Potter's voice echoed over the music. "Avada Kedavra!"
The spell lit up the room and Potter ran after the green light. Voldemort dodged the spell but moved right into the path of the witch who proceeded in tackling him to the ground.
"Until next time." Her slim hand grasped the Dark Lord by the throat as she stared down at him in hatred before slamming the palm of her other hand onto the floor.
The props disappeared and Potter stood, walking out of the room as though nothing had happened.
"She's been holding out during our duelling lessons!" Black cried out, moving to stand.
"Leave her be, Sirius," Lupin said at once. "There's no sense in letting her know that we've been spying on her. Best to not have you end up in the infirmary, or worse."
Severus scoffed, "I'm not disagreeable to that, Black. Run along and see if Potter cares about your wellbeing as much as you hope she does."
Albus stood, staring at the blank mirror. "I fear we have more concerning things to think on. Such as how young Mary is preparing herself to face enemies we know are currently incarcerated."
Severus gave away nothing, noticing that Minerva only pursed her lips, gripping the arm of her chair tighter at the Headmaster's words. They couldn't say with any certainty what they were up against. Thanks to Potter's harebrained schemes, the entire timeline of events was out of sync and they had no way to fix it.
Half an hour later, he made the turn to the corridor before his rooms. A chill crept over him and his wand was in hand in an instant. Flashes of the ghostly apparitions that Potter faced flooded his mind and he batted the thoughts away. No way was he letting Potter goad him into a state of panic in Hogwarts of all places.
As though summoned from the deepest pit of hell, he spotted his nemesis sitting on the stone floor next to his quarters.
"Get up, Potter," he hissed, waving his wand to open the door. "Inside before someone sees you."
"It's after curfew, Professor," Potter said, lifting her brow. "Afraid your Slytherins are sneaking out and breaking the rules?"
Clenching his teeth, he waited for Potter to pass before locking the door behind him. "The older ones are known to wander."
He turned to the girl, ready to berate her for her innate stupidity, but was greeted with a half tumbler of his own whiskey hovering in front of his face. Potter tilted her glass back, draining it in one go before curling up on the couch.
"This can't become a habit," he said, pulling the blanket over her.
Potter's eyes stared mindlessly at the fire, a dead look in her eyes. "It won't."
"We should speak about the journals," he said, watching her tug the quilt around her shoulders.
Haunted green eyes focused on him. "Not tonight, please sir."
He nodded, picking up the sixth journal. "Sleep, Potter."
Potter glanced at the cover of the book and let out a sigh. "Goodnight, Professor."
.·ˆ¯)...(¯ˆ·.
¸.·ˆˆˆ(ºvº)ˆˆˆ·.¸
m m