Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or FF7, they are the property of Square Enix and J.K Rowling. The only thing I own is my OC for this story.

Chapter 3: Shocking Meetings

Reincarnation Confusion

Aurora was a bundle of nervous excitement as she flooed to Malfoy Manor.

It was the day all their secrets, which they had carefully hidden over the last two years, were about to be revealed.

She just knew that the Lord Slytherin would be intrigued and impatient enough that he would summon her today rather than wait to gather more information.

Draco had a talent for throwing people off balance and making them impatient, even in writing. It always amused her to no end how he could unnerve even the most stoic of people when he wanted to.

Draco greeted her as she exited the fireplace, hugging her tightly after she brushed ash off her clothing; they shared a conspiratorial look that the Malfoy patriarch and his lady didn't notice as Aurora curtsied to them.

As soon as the formalities were observed, she launched herself at Lucius who, having expected it, caught her in a warm embrace and kissed her forehead gently.

Narcissa repeated her husband's gesture, as they both considered her the daughter of their hearts and always enjoyed hosting her for the summer.

Usually, Aurora only stayed in her own manor long enough to do paperwork and check on her accounts as the heir to the Ancient and Noble House of D. Florite before spending the rest of the summer with the Malfoys.

She knew they both had work to do as well, with Lucius it was paperwork and correspondences and Narcissa planning the annual summer ball. They likely wouldn't get a chance to catch up until after the evening meal at the earliest, so she took Draco's arm when he offered it, and curtsying one last time headed off to her room to unpack.

Aurora sighed as Draco led her up the stairs. They didn't dare speak until they were safely in her room, which was heavily warded. They didn't want the chance of secrets coming out before the meeting with Lord Slytherin, and they had much to speak about that they hadn't last night.

They didn't want to talk more about their plans until either Lord Slytherin rejected their offer of alliance or called her to meet with him and most likely the inner circle.

As soon as they reached her room and secured it, Aurora planned to head out and do some reconnaissance on Lord was quite certain he would call her today, but he could always change his mind and she wanted to be prepared to arrive quickly just in case.

Luckily, her animagus form made her the perfect spy. Her animal form was that of a shadow wolf, an extremely rare creature which allowed her to travel through and blend into shadows. (It was amusing that most of the reincarnates had magical animals as their animagus forms.)

She became partially bound in the shadow realm and the real world at the same time. She could see what was happening in the real world but no one in the real world could see, hear, or smell her.

While she couldn't physically interact with the real world, no one could touch her either unless they had similar abilities.

Her manipulation and control of the shadows was a very useful ability that made her one of their organization's major recon agents and sources of information. Wards couldn't block her from entering or exiting places unless they were keyed specifically to her or were blood based, though those only slowed her down and drained her energy at varying rates depending on the strength.

She had other ways to defend herself of course, so limited magic was no skin off her back.

Which brought her to the unpleasant thought that she might one day be called on to use her ability to assassinate someone. She hadn't been asked to do so yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time and she had mentally prepared herself for that day.

Aurora wasn't a killer. Sure, she had killed before but it was always in self defense or defense of someone she cared about.

Still, she wouldn't let everyone down because she was reluctant to get the job done. She had learned long ago that the world was neither fair nor a nice place.

The older members of wizarding society were stubborn and set in their ways; most of them would resist change with everything they had in them and the organization of Reincarnates could not afford that.

Aurora brought herself out of her musings by Draco gently tugging on her arm.

Flicking her wrist upon entering her room, her wand was in her hand in seconds, waving in complex patterns and weaving strong privacy wards and charms so that their conversation would not be overheard.

As soon as she finished and they both felt the magic settle, Draco had his own wand out, testing the spells she had woven before nodding in satisfaction. All the Reincarnates had some skill with wards and charms designed for privacy thanks to their need for secrecy.

One last wave of her wand had all of Aurora's belongings unpacked and flying to their proper places.

Draco sat down on a comfortable settee and took out some paperwork to look over while he waited, knowing what his sister's plans were for the time being before she was called to meet with the Dark Lord and leaving her to it. He could still decide to turn down their offer of alliance, which was highly unlikely in Draco's opinion, but still a possibility that they would have to take into account after all.

Aurora strode into her bedroom through a door connected to her sitting room without sparing Draco a glance, getting into the mindset that had made her one of Shinra's best workers in the past as she went.

The moment the door to her bedroom closed behind her, she changed into black basilisk hide trousers and a lightweight, charcoal gray long sleeve linen top with tight sleeves. Over that was a black basilisk hide vest and gloves. Then she pulled on cotton socks and knee high basilisk leather boots. She clasped a rune armlet with three materia slotted into it over her left forearm and wrapped a basilisk leather belt, sheathing her wickedly sharp hunting knives and Silver Wing when she materialized it.

She strapped on a single knife to each of her thighs, sheathing two smaller knives into her boots and strapping her wand holster to her right arm and two more knives to her upper arms. She then attached a pouch with an undetectable extension charm on it to her right hip before deeming herself ready to head out. She grabbed a mask sitting on her vanity, sliding it over her face as she turned to the cloak hanging on the back of her bedroom door and swung it over her shoulders.

Putting up the hood, she disappeared into the shadows.

88888

Severus Snape had just arrived at Slytherin Manor, having been summoned by his Lord. Tom Riddle-Slytherin was truly his Lord once more, he thought with delight, though no one would believe the often caustic and dour man could be delighted about anything other than potions.

Voldemort was no longer the mad man bent on the world's destruction that he had been. Though his Lord had initially been displeased with Severus' betrayal at the end of the first war, he had also been understanding and had admitted to making some mistakes with experiments in his youth that had caused his insanity.

He had admitted that he did not know exactly what had restored his sanity though he suspected that it had something to do with the ritual he had performed to gain a new body. He had asked Severus for help in pinpointing the cause of his returned sanity since the ritual involved a potion, as Snape was not only a potions master but one of the best in the world.

The other strange thing that had occurred to his Lord after the ritual was that his appearance had gradually returned to what it was before his experiments changed it. Over the next two weeks, he found he was able to switch between it and his snake-like appearance, which he used when amongst the lower followers. The only ones that knew he had returned to his original appearance and sanity were the inner circle.

It made it much easier for him to go out in public, since the only people who knew that Lord Voldmort and Tom Riddle were one and the same were those in Dumbledore's order. As long as he altered his appearance slightly when he went out no one would suspect the Dark Lord was in their midst.

Back to his summons, Snape suspected that the meeting would likely be about the encounter with the mysterious figure from yesterday.

He had to admit he was curious as to what that letter contained. He didn't dwell on it too much as he had Potions lessons to plan and finals from last term to grade at the time.

He came to a set of mahogany double doors inscribed with the Slytherin crest, leading to his Lord's study. He knocked politely, waiting for his Lord's permission before entering the richly appointed room.

A thick, soft looking cream colored carpet lined the floor. Opposite the door were floor to ceiling windows offering a magnificent view of the lush gardens outside. On the right side of the room was a large, imposing desk made of the same mahogany wood as the doors covered in papers, at which sat his Lord looking over said papers.

Opposite the desk was a roaring fireplace made from wrought iron, large enough for a floo connection or it's original purpose to heat up the room during the colder months. Warming herself in front of the fireplace curled his Lord's serpent familiar, Nagini, who seemed quite content for the moment. Behind her was a comfortable looking black leather couch and two charcoal colored leather arm chairs with a mahogany coffee table in between them.

Every space along the walls was occupied by bookshelves crammed with books to the point that you could barely see the golden wood paneling in the walls, many of them priceless ancient tomes that his Lord had either collected or inherited. He was one of the privileged few who got to read the priceless treasures.

Just as Snape finished observing the room, Lucius and Narcissa walked in, followed by Rudolfus, Rabastan, Bellatrix Lestrange, Thaddius Nott, Atonin Dolov, Cassandra Zabini, and Fenrir Greyback. They were Voldemort's Inner Circle, and whenever decisions for the Death Eaters as a whole were to be made or important information needed to be shared, the Inner Circle were the first to know.

They were also the only ones who the Dark Lord would listen to, though his word was final, but he at least would take the opinions of the Inner Circle into account when he made plans.

They were first and foremost his followers, and they would follow their Lord to the ends of the earth and back again if needed. But they were also his friends, and the only ones amongst the Death Eaters that the Dark Lord considered such, thus they were given certain privileges that made them responsible for running the more important tasks that their leader didn't have time for.

Like Severus acting as a double agent and Lucius managing the political front of their organization, both very important roles that each man took incredibly seriously.

Snape pushed his musings to the back of his mind to focus on what his Lord had to say.

"Thank you my friends for coming"

They all inclined their heads in acknowledgement.

"I'm sure you are wondering why you have been called here so suddenly. As you all know, our official meeting was scheduled in another week or so."

The only one slightly confused was Madam Zabini, since no one had sent word to tell her what happened much to the others chargin.

Voldemort realized that as his eyes passed over her. He'd have to recap what happened for her, as well as others who might not have been present.

"Last night, we were scheduled to have a meeting with some of our unmarked supporters to see what new intelligence they had for us."

Voldemort began walking towards the fireplace, taking a seat in the armchair to the right of the ornate structure. The Inner Circle followed suit as he continued to speak, taking their usual seats.

"The meeting went as planned, though our informants didn't have much new information for us."

"Dumbledore is laying low for the moment, likely gathering his Order of the Phoenix again, even though the Potter boy did not say anything about my return." "

The old goat was stupid enough to do so for him and the Minister is too busy slandering both him and the Potter Brat to pay any attention to us." There were snickers and amused smirks playing on his followers' faces at the nickname he had given the Headmaster.

"What was unexpected, was that once we stepped out of the meeting, we were ambushed by members of Dumbledore's Order."

They all shared frowns and thoughtful looks. It wasn't like the Order to suddenly change their tactics like that without reason, and Severus scowled fiercely.

He'd had no chance to warn his Lord without blowing his cover at the time. Stupid old man keeping his secrets and his plans so close to his chest, not sharing them with the people he supposedly trusted.

Severus spoke up

"My apologies My Lord, I would have warned you if I had had time."

The Dark Lord just waved away his apologies, guessing correctly that Dumbledore had not told him or any one else about the ambush until the last moment.

Likely his attempt to minimize the effectiveness of spies within the Order, Severus thought sourly.

In this case it had unfortunately worked.

Dumbledore was many things but a fool he was not, and he would know that there were spies within the Order. He might not know who just yet, but he certainly would know that there were.

Not that Severus was worried about his position as spy, he was airtight on that front unless he did something to out himself, which he had no intention of doing.

His position was far too important to risk it unless his Lord told him to. The other spies were expendable. Snape was not only his Lord's only potions master. He was also his closest spy to the old meddling goat.

"I know ambushes are not usually the Order's style, though I have a good guess as to whose idea it was." They all grimaced at that before Lord Nott said what they were all thinking

"Moody."

His Lord nodded in agreement.

"The most intriguing part of the confrontation happened moments later, when the fighting started. Dumbledore fired an overpowered cutting curse at me."

The others paid close attention to his words, although most of them had been there to witness what happened next

"A strange woman came out of nowhere with speed that could make a vampire envious. She intercepted the curse and deflected it with a sword."

Zabini gasped.

"The headmaster decided to retreat after that, a wise move as he was obviously unwise to test his luck against an unknown opponent as powerful on at that." There was an intrigued look on Madam Zabini's face, especially at the mention of this unknown woman's use of a sword to deflect a magical attack.

"We were able to get a good look at her and her appearance screamed deadly.

"I recall she was clad in black and gray, with several blades on her person as well and a bracer of some kind, no doubt a secondary focus."

"If her sword was magically reinforced enough to deflect a spell as powerful as the one the Headmaster cast, I have no doubt her other weapons are similarly enchanted which means either heirlooms or access to a smith of incredible skill."They all nodded their heads in agreement with their Lord's assessment.

"She also had the feeling of a professional about her Milord, from what I observed." Rodolphus Lestrange stated.

Voldemort had a thoughtful look on his face for a moment before nodding in agreement, which Severus also had to agree.

"She then gave me this before she vanished as quickly as she appeared." He reached into the lapel of his robes and pulled out the letter that Aurora had unceremoniously tossed at him.

"I called this meeting to inform you all of these events, as well as the contents of this letter." They all had intrigued looks on their faces, eagerly awaiting what their Lord would say next.

"The group that woman is part of is asking for an alliance with us, a house that has long been thought to be dead to the wizarding world." Everyone held their breath at that. It wasn't often that a House previously thought extinct came back.

"It seems that House Shinra has re-emerged after centuries of inactivity."

There were excited whispers at that announcement. Shinra was one of the darkest houses that existed in the Wizarding World, the only house with as much prestige as Le Fay in the Dark Faction. House Shinra was incredibly old, rumors even said that they could trace their ancestry back to Atlantis.

That they had chosen to offer an alliance to their Lord could possibly be a large boon for their side.

Contrary to popular belief, the Dark did not want to eradicate the Light and subjugate the muggleborns, or really first generation magicals as they should be called. Some of them were from squib lines whose blood had finally been cleansed enough to be born with magic once more, but others were truly the first in their families to ever be born with magic.

Realistically, the Magical World needed new magical blood lest the magic eventually die out. Inbreeding led to a multitude of genetic problems and that wasn't something any of them wanted.

The infusion of new blood into old lines not only kept the magic healthy and strong but brought new magic, or even re-emerging magics that had long been lost to the old lines.

The only thing they had a problem with was that First Generation Magicals were ignorant of the Wizarding World's customs and culture, and instead of learning about the new world they found themselves in they tried to make the Wizarding World into a replica of the muggle world.

Because the class on Wizarding culture had been dropped from Hogwarts lists and many of the books on Wizarding culture were banned, the First Generation Magicals had almost no one to help them through the culture shock.

Oh, the purebloods could and were perfectly capable of teaching the First Generation Magicals would happily do so, but they couldn't because they were indoctrinated against pureblood wizards from before they even stepped foot into Hogwarts.

So the traditions of the Wizarding World kept getting trampled over by the First Generation Magicals and most of them didn't even know the Wizarding World had its own culture separate from the Muggle World.

"The letter also gave me a way of contacting Shinra's representative, summoning them here, so that the details of the alliance could be worked out if I did decide to take them up on their offer." All of the purebloods in the room looked eager and curious to meet someone either related to or affiliated with the Shinra family.

"So my question to you my friends, is should I take this offer of alliance?" They all looked thoughtful, putting aside their own feelings on the matter and truly considering their Lord's question, weighing the pros and cons from all angles.

On the plus side, Shinra had always been a very powerful family that no one wanted to mess with. Their retaliation was swift and merciless.

On the other hand, they were an unknown party, having just re-emerged from the annals of history.

It was risky allying themselves with an unknown, especially a potentially powerful one, but at the same time that could be just what they needed to tip the power scale in their favor and they could finally topple the 'Light' and restore balance.

Finally, it was Narccissa who spoke up. "My Lord, while I do see the risk in allying with an unknown, I will say in this case the risk is well worth the potential benefits, especially if rumors of the Shinra House hailing from Atlantis are true."

"They could very well have knowledge and resources that would greatly aid our cause and make winning the war against our enemies that much easier." At her words the others nodded, agreeing with Narcissa, most having forgotten the rumors of the Shinra House being descended from Atlantis until she mentioned it.

Their Lord looked quite intrigued at that bit of information, his inner Ravenclaw showing before humming in thought and quieting for a moment, considering their opinions. A few minutes of respectful silence later their Lord made his decision

"I think I shall summon this representative of theirs and accept this offer. I would like you all to stay to meet them and be witness to the officiating of the alliance."

From the shadows Aurora chuckled in amusement that she had so accurately predicted what Lord Slytherin's response to Draco's letter would be.

She prepared to be summoned and wondered what their response to her appearing directly from the shadows would be. Whatever their response was, it was certain to be amusing for her, and likely not so amusing for them.

88888

Whatever he had expected when he summoned the House Shinra's representative, it hadn't been this. She appeared out of the shadows next to a startled Rabastan Lestrange, who quickly drew his wand and pointed it at the presence suddenly beside him in reflex.

He sensed that the female figure was smirking beneath her hood at their reaction. He also sensed approval for their quick reactions, which was supported by her opening statement

"I must compliment your elite on their reflexes, Lord Slytherin. Most Wizards that I have seen would not have been able to draw their wands that fast unless they were professional duelers."

She said in an amused lilting voice that gave them the impression of gently tinkling wind chimes.

"I assume since you summoned me that you have your reply to Lord Shinra's request?" "Indeed." Voldemort said, inclining his head in the direction of the chair in front of his desk for her to sit so they could discuss the details further.

He was pleased to note he had been right in guessing that the woman who had delivered the letter to him had also been chosen as the representative for the House of Shinra. She appeared the same as she had the night before, wearing functional clothes that didn't impede her movement in the slightest. The predatory grace with which she moved made even him wary of her as she came to stand before him and sank down into the seat he offered her with all the grace of a predator.

He had to admit that the Shinra Lord had made a good choice. If things turned sour, then he had no doubt they would not be able to subdue her even if they tried.

In answer to her question he nodded his head.

"Lord Shinra was quite vague in his letter to you, so rather than you giving me your answer right now I propose an exchange of information, with the caveat that should you not accept the alliance after all, we will try not to get in each other's way while in pursuit of our separate agendas."

That was a reasonable request that the Dark Lord had no problem accepting, especially since he didn't need any more enemies. Although he doubted their talk would impact his decision to ally with House Shinra; it was never a bad idea to know more about your allies and their capabilities.

"Agreed" He said. And watched as she pulled down the hood of her cloak, revealing her face was covered in a half mask that looked to be made of some sort of leather and likely enchanted since he could not make out her real face underneath.

Her voice was obscured by enchantments as well, a clever trick so that her identity would not easily be revealed. It was the same reason his Death Eaters wore masks although the different circles of Death Eaters had differences in their masks that denoted their rank. He supposed the House of Shinra had similar markers to denote rank.

"Why don't I start since we already know quite a bit about you. All you need to do is to fill in the gaps, tell us what we missed or couldn't otherwise find out."

He gave an intrigued look, wondering just how much Shinra knew about him and his Death Eaters. Although he guessed he would find out soon.

"Now, Shinra has not had a Lord since the 1500's when the family supposedly died out over 400 years ago. What most people didn't know was that a squib child had been born to the Shinra family and instead of casting the child out and disinheriting them, the Lord and Lady Shinra at the time gave the child to a muggle couple to raise as their own. The muggles were told nothing of magic and so the Shinra line continued after they were slaughtered by one of their enemies.

That was until 30 years ago when a daughter of this squib line was born with magic. The daughter grew up, went to Hogwarts and after graduating, got married. A few years later they were graced with a child of their own, a boy. While the boy's parents were killed during the last war, the boy survived and recently learned of his inheritance as the Lord Shinra on top of other inheritances.

Since he had quite a few other lordships in line, he decided to hand over the Shinra Lordship to someone he trusted. While you might meet the former Lord Shinra eventually, you will not be dealing with him in the capacity as Lord since the title isn't his anymore."

That got them whispering. It was very rare that a Lord gave up any of his titles. They wondered how many Lordships the son had inherited if he felt the need to give the Lordship of Shinra up.

"After looking over the Shinra Holdings, the newly named Lord Shinra decided to consolidate the allies he already had and look into the current political climate and the goals of the various factions that existed within the Wizingmont. Needless to say, the new Lord Shinra and all of his current allies were disgusted with what they found, especially of those who were allied with one Albus Dumbledore.

Those in the neutral party are fine for the most part, and the Lord Shinra respects their decision enough to not harass them into siding with us."

Voldemort nodded. He himself was the same respectful of the neutral parties and their choice not to side with either the Light or the Dark. It didn't stop some of his more brazen followers from trying to recruit them sometimes however.

The representative, who had yet to give a name although he already knew it from the letter, continued:

"The Dark's current ideals out of all of the factions fit House Shinra's current goals best, and most of the Dark Houses are allied with you, Lord Slytherin. This was why after almost two years of consolidating strength and gathering information, Lord Shinra decided to ally themselves with you."

So the House Shinra was not going into things blind. A good trait to have in an ally and very Slytherin of them. Voldemort had a feeling that House Shinra and its allies were all very Slytherin in their manner of thinking and dealing with others.

After a brief pause to let them absorb what she had told them thus far, the emissary continued again:

"Now I would like to give you an idea of what we would bring to the table as your allies if you accept."

All of them paid keen attention.

"I'm sure at least one of you in this room, all being from the Noble and/or Noble and Ancient families, have heard the rumor that House Shinra is descended from those who survived the Cataclysm of Atlantis?"

They all nodded

"Well, I can tell you that the rumor is true. The Shinra Library holds many ancient tomes that had previously been thought lost. Many of them are gathering dust, having not been seen outside the Family in centuries. Thus we would bring knowledge that could be invaluable to the table."

"Also, I'm sure those of you who saw me yesterday wondered if I was human or not. I assure you that I am most definitely human, although I have been enhanced, as have several others who have allied themselves with Lord Shinra. No, we did not use rituals for this, like you had." At that proclamation, they all stared at her trying to figure out how it was possible to permanently enhance a human without rituals.

Their Lord looked at her in surprise that she had known he had performed rituals to enhance himself.

He got the feeling that past the enchantments that still hid her identity from them, she was smirking once more and it was surprisingly Fenrir who asked about the matter. "How were you enhanced, if you don't mind elaborating, and exactly how strong are you?" The alpha werewolf sounded intrigued by the fact that there might be others joining them who might be as strong as one of his pack.

"Not at all, "

The wolf raised an eyebrow at that. "Fenrir please."

"Alright Fenrir" She chuckled a bit in amusement but complied with the werewolf's request.

"Myself and the others who were enhanced are, in truth, reincarnations of people from the time of Atlantis. One of us just happens to be related to someone who escaped the Cataclysm that sunk the ancient city, which amuses the rest of us and disgruntled the poor former Lord Shinra.

He personally knew the person he is descended from and they did not get along very well. It makes perfect teasing material for the jokesters amongst us, which usually ends up with the poor sods being chased around by a sword wielder that would have no problem beating you to a bloody pulp if you irritate him too much."

They all smiled a bit at that before the rest of what she had said registered, and all they all paled, even their Lord.

None of them knew what to say to that, as while reincarnation was known to them, most reincarnates didn't remember who they once were.

The theory was that a person's memory of their past life was wiped clean before they were reborn so that their past life did not influence their present one.

That so many reincarnations now remembered their past lives raised the questions of why and how. It couldn't have been good, as the only time a reincarnation had remembered their past life, that they knew of, was when an event traumatic enough happened in their present lives that triggered memories to leak through from their past one(s).

Hesitantly, Narcissa asked the question they were all dreading the answer to.

"If I may, what caused so many reincarnates to remember their past lives?"

Elentiya visibly winced at this question, knowing her answer was going to cause those with reincarnated children pain when they learned which of them were reincarnated.

Meanwhile, Lucius had been studying the Shinra representative closely ever since she had appeared; he couldn't shake the feeling that he had met her before somewhere, but for the life of him, he couldn't pinpoint where. The way she spoke and the little quirks he had observed were familiar to him. The final clue came when she answered his wife's question.

She visibly winced before speaking, in a slow careful tone as though afraid of their reactions

"When the Dementors came to Hogwarts a few years ago, they had an unintended effect on those students who were reincarnates."

They all sucked in a sharp breath knowing the effects those monsters had on people. They were well able to imagine that they could cause a reincarnation to remember their past if it was traumatic enough. Now they knew that some of those reincarnates must be children, and silently mourned the loss of their innocence. For no child could stay innocent upon remembering their own death.

It was surprisingly enough Bellatrix who asked

"Which of our children are reincarnates?"

She asked in a shaky voice that was so unlike the normally unflappable and confident witch. The reincarnated teen before them hesitated before opening her mouth to answer. She promptly turned Lucius' world upside down, and had him wishing for a large glass of whiskey or brandy to wash away this new information for a while. He did not care that he would likely have a killer hangover tomorrow. At that moment he just wanted to forget.

End Chapter

A/N: I had a particularly fun time writing this chapter and hope that all who read it enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Reviews are welcome and constructive criticism is appreciated from all who take the time to do so. Flames will be ignored.

Next Chapter: Aurora returns to Malfoy Manor and the parents interrogate her and Draco learning even more about their past lives than what was spoken of in the meeting.