Sooo, this one is pretty long. I had a scene I definitely wanted in here that turned out longer than I thought it would. Oh, well.
I must admit, I was disappointed with the turnout of reviews for last chap. I know I was away for a while but come on. Is it the finals?
Tell me what you think, I liked this chap. It made Anna seem more human, somehow. If that makes sense.
Anna pursed her lips, getting up from her spot beside the Dark Lord as she watched the other Death Eaters file out of the room. Her parents, uncles, aunt and Barty also stood but remained standing by their chairs, waiting for their lord's command.
The meeting had been... lively, what with her mother snidely and covertly insulting almost every person that spoke. Other than that, the news most of the Death Eaters brought and the instructions they got were interesting to a certain extent. They still hadn't managed to get into the Department of Mysteries themselves, Broderick Bode had been the closest they'd gotten to the prophesy -having imperioed him and sent him inside- but then he'd gone insane after touching the Prophesy, which they were all quite certain the man had know would happen but had chosen not to tell them about. Self-sacrificing fool. He had become a liability of course, any improvement on his part might make him able to speak, which would mean that he could tell anyone about what they had done. It was easily taken care of, however, what with Christmas and all the presents flying about nobody had bothered to look too close at the ugly, murky potted plant. Distasteful, but effective.
More importantly perhaps was Arthur Weasley and everything he entailed. He was not dead, which Anna was secretly relieved by. She had no wish to hurt the Weasleys in any way, Snape had said they -with the apparent exception of the twins since they'd been giving her the evil eye all year- had supported Sirius in protecting her. Nagini had maimed Arthur badly it seemed but he hadn't died, Harry had made sure of that. The Death Eaters -Snape- weren't sure quite how he'd done it -or at least he said he didn't, Anna wasn't inclined to believe him- but they said that Dumbledore thought it might be that they had some sort of connection caused by the killing curse. The old man was close, Anna admitted, but not completely right. It wouldn't be long before he realised the complete truth, though.
Of course Snape's information had launched a completely new discussion about what they were going to do if the Potter boy could see into their master's mind and how it would ruin all of their plans. Blah blah blah. The Dark Lord put the doubting fools in their place with barely a look, his hands never ceasing to stroke Nagini or cup the back of Anna's neck. She finished his... admonishment by stating that if nothing else, the incident would spook Potter and Dumbledore into laying low. How could they think a boy could control a connection that their Lord himself hadn't seen fit to notice?
He couldn't, Snape had agreed, but Dumbledore had insisted that Snape teach the boy Occlumency. Voldemort smirked, told him to do so, to teach the child. Any barriers he could put up wouldn't stand a chance against him when the time came anyway. Anna could certainly see the point in the statement, knew very well that her own barriers wouldn't work against him if he put his mind to it -which was why she'd reinforced it with Occlumency barriers that were getting stronger every day, to be perfectly honest, mind arts weren't her strongest point- so all she had to do was make sure he didn't put his mind to it. Appear obedient yet... not independent but to not need him breathing down her neck to get things done. She didn't need a babysitter.
"All of you may leave, except for Annabelle." He announced to the now nearly empty room before looking down at her. "Come, walk with me."
Nagini was curled around his shoulders as he moved away, motioning for her to follow him out the back door. She turned after him, glancing at the adults out of the corner of her eye as she went. They looked at their retreating backs with apprehension, slight worry on some of their parts and only Bellatrix seemed completely unconcerned. Of course, Anna thought with only a tiny bit of bitterness, the woman had given her away to him fifteen years ago, this was nothing she hadn't signed her up for.
The Dark Lord led her through the unlit hallways in silence, looking out of the window in a pensive manner. Anna stayed silent and waited for him to speak.
"You've been doing a good job." He said eventually. "Better than I'd expected."
Anna looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I am glad my work is to your pleasing, godfather."
"Take it further now."
"... Excuse me?" She asked. "My L- Godfather the whole plan was to only create a distraction, not to attack Dumbledore directly."
"Then change the plan. I want Dumbledore distraught enough that he'll ignore my actions in the Ministry, or as close to that as he can get." He pulled his lips up into a cruel smile. "Take the school away from him and when you do he'll be too preoccupied with getting it back to pay too much attention to our actions, let alone to pay attention to the boy, who should be safe in his opinion. He always cared too much about the school, more particularly about controlling the school and everyone in it."
"You want to use H- Potter?" She asked. "Or to kill him?"
"I can't kill him without the prophesy, you know that, Annabelle." He scowled. "To get the prophesy either I or he must pick it up. It would be better if he did it, I do not wish to set foot in the Ministry just yet."
Anna bit her nerves down, no time for that, not safe for that. "So if- when I get him out of Hogwarts and give the school to Umbridge, as disgusting as that is, you'll get into Potter's head, get him to go to the Department of Mysteries and send Death Eaters to take it from him."
"When the time comes, yes." He placed a hand on one of her shoulders. "When the time comes, let him come to me. You'll know when; you'll see him panic."
Merlin damn it, damn him, damn him to hell. She had no choice though and it wouldn't actually hurt Harry, not if the Dark Lord didn't get his hands on him after getting and hearing the prophesy. The hard part in this plan would be... Dumbledore. Of fucking course he was the problem, always had been.
"Yes, godfather. I can do that for you." She told him, blinking confidently up at him.
"Good girl." He gave her a gentle push towards a second hallway, she recognised it as the one her room was on. When had they gotten there? "Now go to bed, you'll need your energy."
She walked away, her footsteps echoing in the silence, but she didn't hear it. Her mind was already whirring away, trying to find a possible solution. The only solution maybe.
Basically, Anna had to get rid of the Headmaster. The Headmaster wouldn't leave because he valued his students' safety, most of all one particular student's safety. The final target in this plan was Harry and the old man knew that since it was always Harry. Dumbledore's priority was to keep the kid safe. Where was he the safest? Hogwarts. So he had to keep the boy there and preferably stay with him, but not necessarily, the school was extremely safe after all. If she were to threaten to send Harry away, make it absolutely clear that nothing he does will keep him at the school... then he would offer himself up. He would leave in his stead. It was safer for him anyway since technically very few things were dangerous for Albus Dumbledore and it would ensure Harry's continued safety, in theory. That's how 'the light' worked, right? Sacrifice yourself for the greater good. Dumbledore would do that, he had to or the light wouldn't be willing to follow him anymore. All she had to do, then, was 'get rid' of Harry and let the Headmaster take his place.
She sighed as she got into bed. Fortunately, or unfortunately, she knew exactly what to do get rid of Harry. Getting him expelled would be easy, what with his little group going strong and the Ministry wanting them both gone. Umbridge would have to find out about the defence class... Eventually.
Note to self: tell Blaise to sacrifice a rat.
The ragtag group of teenagers and their two adult escorts moved to the back of the bus, dragging large trunks and cages with them. It was early and they were all tired, particularly the twins since they hadn't been getting much sleep lately. An argument with Sirius about his precious niece/cousin had gotten slightly out of hand a few days ago and had even gotten Bill involved. What they'd never expected was that Bill actually sided with Sirius, saying that 'the kid' -she wasn't a kid, she'd proven that by doing things kids shouldn't do- had had no choice. So what? They had to stop her anyway, before she fucked everything up even more. Willingly or not, she had ruined everything for everyone, royally so if they might add.
Needless to say, Sirius had been cold to them that morning and Tonks had pursed her lips and not been her cheery self to them at all, in fact she had ignored them completely. She hadn't even met Annabelle so what was her problem? She was the daughter of the woman who banished her mother off the family tree. Tonks owed her nothing, Tonks should feel nothing. So what if she was distantly -maybe not so distantly- related to her? The twins were too but you didn't see them just blindly accepting her actions!
"Hey, Harry? D'you mind if we keep the map a little longer? We know we only just gave it back to you but it'd really help us out, mate." George looked over at him as they squeezed into a corner.
"Yeah, we're planning a few treats for Umbridge and we'd like to keep an eye out." Fred explained. "Nothing mayor, we'll even bring it with us to meetings so we don't go out blind after hours."
Harry frowned at them for a second, as if suspicious, but nodded. Had he noticed anything?
"Take care of it though, don't get caught and let her get slimy her hands on it."
The twins saluted him, winking sassily and turning back to the window. They couldn't see much, only blurs of houses and fields and trees. The speed didn't help visibility and neither did the fogged up glass. How Ernie managed to see well enough to drive when he also had the thickest glasses they'd ever seen and still squinted was a mystery to them.
It didn't take long to get to Hogsmeade. The Night Bus made a few stops here and there, causing them to tumble to the floor or onto each other, but they had barely been traveling for half an hour when Stan -through all the pointless babble aimed at Harry- announced they'd arrived. The redheads looked at each other in surprise before wiping the condensed window with their sleeves. Sure enough, that was the Three Broomsticks and those were students, walking out of shops they'd floo'd into.
At this time of year so many students travelled from and to school that they couldn't all floo directly into the school, there were only so many teachers' offices. Also, not all parents could apparate, let alone well enough to take a child, a trunk and an animal safely along with them. Most didn't like the Night Bus, for obvious reasons, and the train just took too damn long. So, arrangements were made with Hogsmeade shops and kids were assigned certain times and shops to floo into. It was all rather well organized.
In a hurry, Remus and Tonks helped them all get off the bus and onto the snowy street. It was cold out, making them shiver and pull their thick coats even more tightly around themselves. As soon as they all had their belongings the two adults said their goodbyes, urging them to hurry onto the grounds, to stay safe, to work hard -particularly Harry in his 'new classes'- and to not get on Umbridge's bad side. As if they hadn't done that already. As if they weren't going to make it even worse.
Before getting back on the bus Tonks gave them a warning look, making sure none of the other children spotted it, which they promptly ignored.
When the bus had pulled away, Harry opened up his trunk and dug into one of the pockets on the side. From there he pulled a piece of folded parchment and handed it over to the twins. Around them, nobody stopped to watch. The twins took it with matching grins and started pulling their trunks over the mounds of snow, helping the others when needed. They wanted to get to the castle as quickly as possible. Not because it was 'safer', but because then they could have some privacy in order to find her.
"So who's it going to be?" Anna asked Blaise, sitting in front of her mirror as she finished doing her hair. Sometimes she hated having curls, it took ages in the morning. Admittedly, it did give her time to have these pleasant little chats with whoever she needed at the time.
"Marietta Edgecombe." He shrugged from his spot on her bed, fixing the silver cufflinks on his sleeves. "She's in it, has been since the beginning but I never asked her about it. I've known since some of my other ravens told me she and Chang leave at night sometimes and that Chang's been getting close to Harry... the usual gossip really, except for the fact that the 'puffs have told me that a few of their own sneak out on the same nights. Never felt the need to mention it since we never had the need to know anything about the group. As long as they kept out of sight it meant less work for us so, whatever, right? But you say the word and I'll have her sing."
"You've just got her in the palm of you hand, don't you?" She muttered, still not looking his way.
"Her mom works at the Ministry, part of the authorisation and approval group in the Office of Portkeys which makes her very liable to... problems caused by illegal portkeys." He shrugged. "As you know, my mother is one of the best legal prosecutors in the Ministry, more specifically; she has an investigative job in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in which she decides who has done something warranting an arrest and or trial and sends her report to the other offices who prepare a trail with the Wizengamot. Marietta knows that I can conjure up problems and dismiss them as easily as... writing a letter home. In short, I can strangle her with the same hand I feed her."
Anna chuckled and stood, turning to him with a smirk. "Oh, Blaise. You're a mommy's boy aren't you? A moralistically challenged one at that."
He stood and walked to the door, holding it open for her in order to go to class with a turned up nose. "You're one to talk. Though I think you're more of a daddy's girl than mommy's boy. For one, I don't think you get on all that well with your mother. For the second part, well... if Theo swung that way he'd have made a pass at me ages ago."
Anna laughed. "Oh yes, Blaise. We all know you're simply gorgeous, no need to be so modest."
She was glad to be back at school. Granted, it had been harder to leave than the previous years. Her mother hand given her a stiff hug before saying goodbye -the woman was trying- while her father had held her tight and whispered encouraging words, saying she could do anything she set her mind to and... and that he was proud of her. Uncle Rabastan had given her one of his drawings, one of her face surrounded by the chrysanthemums from the greenhouse, he'd kissed her forehead hesitatingly and she'd returned the favour.
Here in Hogwarts though, her life was different than back there. She knew exactly what her position was, how she should act with who and she had everything perfectly under control. Her friends had her back, her house kept their mouths shut and their eyes peeled, she knew all there was to know about what was going on. Malfoy Manor was... filled with too many variables and insecure situations. Her parents and the Dark Lord and other Death Eaters and projects she didn't control or even know about... that would all change once she truly got power over the forces like he'd promised. Once they called her My Lady and actually meant it. For now, this was fine.
As they walked through the corridors to the Great Hall for breakfast, she felt something itching in the back of her neck. As if she were being watched, stared at, glared at. Anna hated that feeling, it gave her chills and pulled at her stomach.
She reached out a hand and grabbed Blaise's arm, latching onto it as if he were escorting her at a ball. He turned his face towards her just a fraction of a centimeter, letting her know he was listening. It wasn't that they weren't close, her group of friends was very touchy, but it was unusual for her to be quite so forward. But that particular distance was better for discussing things quietly.
"Can you hear someone following us? It feels like we're being watched." She muttered under her breath, keeping her face impassive. Of course it wasn't the paintings. They were so unimportant to her nowadays that she barely noticed them anymore. The only time they watched out for painting was when they had to discuss something important and it couldn't wait for them to get to the common room.
Blaise's lips pressed into a thin line for a second as he concentrated, then he inclined his head forwards a bit, nodding. "Two pairs of footsteps. Any ideas?"
Anna almost groaned. "How long has it been since we asked Vince and Greg to tell us about the Weasley twins?"
"They said the two were just watching, that they didn't seem like they were going to be trouble." Blaise frowned. "It's not like them to be wrong on watching people, it's all they do since we don't let them beat up people for us."
"Well, maybe Fred and George changed their minds." She glowered at the ground, gritting her teeth. "I'll deal with them when the time comes."
"How?" Violently?
"I don't know." We'll see.
Fred and George were ready to pull their hair out. It'd been five weeks since they'd gotten back from the Holidays and everything was going splendidly; the meetings were progressing well and all the members had improved enormously, there had been no more trouble on the Order's end, Harry said his Occlumency lessons were going fine -wether that was the case or not remained to be seen- but they had the feeling that it was all getting close to collapsing.
Even now they were keeping an eye on the Educational Decrees and their specific content instead of barely noticing them like the other students. It'd gotten to a point in which there would be a new one every other day at the most, every two days at the least. Stupid things, little things, but the Ministry's grip was getting tighter and with it so was hers.
Couldn't they see? Every rule that was applied, every little detail, the Slytherins never suffered under it. Whenever Umbridge spotted a snake breaking the rules she'd warn them and move on, or not even warn them, remind them about the decree, wink, and leave. That wasn't getting her any friends in Slytherin House, though, if anything they were mocking her, pretending to be loyal to her. They knew that because they knew that Lestrange was using her.
How, one might wonder, was she doing that? The snakes had taken to covering for the other students when they got caught, one way or another explaining it away or taking the blame completely, making use of the fact that they were not going to be punished. Why? Because the decrees where ridiculous, because their rich and important mommies and daddies would have a fit if their little boy or girl got into trouble at all, let alone for a stupid rule like holding hands with the opposite sex. Umbridge couldn't and didn't want to punish them, which led to the other houses thinking that maybe, just maybe, Slytherin wasn't that bad. They were showing loyalty towards the school in general beyond just themselves and their house. It led people to believe that they were helping. Which, technically they were, but not to be helpful. They were all under her thumb and now the rest of the school would be too.
It was even worse now. The Inquisitorial Squad. Led by Malfoy and Parkinson, the twins knew it was only Umbridge's private force in name. It was Lestrange's, plain and simple. The members gave out 'detentions' which they themselves had to oversee, and they only did that sometimes to make it seem like they did something. The students said it was usually just chilling in an unused classroom, either doing homework or playing exploding snap or something. They said the snakes were decent and sometimes even nice.
Which they partially understood. Slytherins weren't all bad people, sure, but they weren't nice to other houses for no reason. Not out of the blue either, it took time to get a Slytherin to open up, it took time to even get them to talk to you beyond passing pleasantries. Now they were utterly loyal and taking the fall for them? No way. No way in hell.
It was all her. She had the school in the palm of her hand, but they didn't know why. They also knew that the Inquisitorial Squad was looking for Dumbledore's Army. Not thoroughly, not intensively, but they asked some people questions sometimes, they watched some of them just a tad too long, as if they knew who was in it. They were getting too close for their liking, they had to do something and soon.
Suddenly George shot up from where he'd been laying on the grass, turning to his brother with wide eyes. Silently he pointed at a spot in the map, a corridor heading to the astronomy tower. It was deserted except for Harry and... Annabelle Lestrange. Damn it. They first time they find her without any Slytherin bodyguards and she's with him?
The younger was already standing and offering his brother a hand. They ran into the castle, Fred folding the map and putting it in an inner pocket so that it wouldn't fall, and made their way to the corridor. They knew the place well; there were no paintings, no suits of armour, no statues or tapestries. There were barely even windows. Just a stone corridor with two doors, one went up to the tower, another into the classroom which was used for lectures before going up. Perfect to hurt or curse someone... she could hurt Harry... they could hurt her too, though.
Anna sat on the window sill next to Harry. She'd been in the library with Vince and Greg -not that they were actually doing anything- trying to find something on recent findings on magical genetics, a topic she's stupidly ignored until now for reasons that eluded her, when she'd seen him sitting alone. Studying perhaps, but he'd seemed... upset. Anna didn't want him to be upset and she needed to be close to him anyway so she'd sent the boys away and approached him.
Sure, she knew she wasn't really doing him any favours by... getting the Dark Lord the prophesy. Or by sending Dumbledore away or by letting the Dark Lord lure him to the DoM in general but it had to be done. She wasn't going to let him come to any actual permanent harm and she'd made sure that uncle Lucius knew that. And yes, she'd accepted that she actually liked Harry as person and wanted to look out for him beyond just getting him to destroy the Dark Lord. It was just impossible for her not to like him beyond the familiarity and resemblance of situation -which was diminishing by the day. He was just such a good person it was unbelievable and she couldn't quite understand how he managed it.
So she'd helped him to finish Transfiguration and invited Harry for a stroll. He'd seemed relieved to have company, happy to see her and glad to talk of anything she wanted. They ended up talking about the future. He wanted to be an auror, said his father had been one and that he thought he'd be good at it. A bad wizard catcher, wasn't that sort of what he was already?
Anna laughed. "Well sure, I suppose. But for that you'd have to actually catch him, Harry, not just destroy his body."
"Stop nitpicking." He pretended to pout. "You're so difficult, Anna."
"Oh, I'm difficult?" She shoved his shoulder playfully. "I'm not the one getting into detentions with Umbridge every week."
"Yeah..." His smile disappeared and he clenched a hand. "She's..."
"She hates you." Anna cut him off, forcing herself not to glance at his hand. Pansy had told her all about the woman's detentions. One of these days she was going to kill that woman with her bare hands. "That would be unimportant, should be. She's filth, dirt beneath your shoe, you shouldn't let her rile you up. Then again, you've got a quick temper."
"But the things she says-"
"Like the stuff about you-know-who? Or about werewolves and other half-humans?" She chuckled. "Look, you know why she says the stuff about him, stop bothering. And I know you like Lupin, but that's not your battle. At least not yet. Fight you-know-who first and social injustice towards human-magical creature hybrids after that. I'll even help you, if you like."
"Help me? How?" He looked at her curiously. "You're a half-blood like me except without... the fame stuff."
"Come on, Harry. I'm best friends with Draco Malfoy, that's a life long contract. He owes me for putting up with his spoiled ass, so bribing the Wizengamot to abolish the anti-werewolf legislations should take a few years but not much longer."
"You're kidding." He frowned, as if deciding wether to be impressed or appalled.
"No. Really, politics is all about power. Few politicians actually care about the people they're representing, and in the Wizengamot even less since they aren't even voted by the people. Three people from each department at the least, and the rest chosen by merit and position by the already appointed Warlocks." She shrugged. "Most of them are conniving idiots looking for persona gain. What's better gain than gold? To many, nothing."
"You're corrupt, you know that?" He scowled, but there was a slight twinkle in his eyes. "I don't know why I'm friends with you."
"Oh, come on." She smirked. "Yeah, I play dirty but only when I have to. And if it's for a good cause then..." She shrugged again. "I like professor Lupin. He knew what he was doing."
There was a sudden twinkling sound and she dug a hand into a pocket and withdrew a little mirror the size of her hand. The glass was fogged up and the words 'F+G heading your way' were written on it, as if traced with a finger. A neat christmas present from Blaise, Theo had the other one.
How they knew about this was a mystery to her, though she supposed that Vince and Greg had told someone and they'd followed her and Harry here to ensure their privacy. Something like that, she'd left the whole 'security and secrecy for Anna' thing under other people's control. What was the good of being in charge if she couldn't delegate the jobs she didn't care about or have time for? Or both?
She stuffed it back and turned to Harry, who was looking at her curiously.
"Theo. He was doing homework and I had to leave so he wouldn't get distracted." She lied. "We said we'd meet here when he was done."
"Oh... Oh." Harry's eyes widened, then he smiled. "You really like him, right?"
"Yeah he's... he's very special to me." She answered, honestly this time.
"Then I'll leave you to it. I have to finish my Charms essay anyway." He smiled. "See you around."
"See you, good luck with charms and... with everyone." Anna smiled.
She watched him leave, sitting where she was, and waited for the twins to show up. Two birds, right? Or three birds, whatever. She held her wand in her right hand and studied the nails on her left distractedly. The polish was a pretty colour, a sort of bottle green bordering on black. Magical nail polish didn't chip, dried instantly, and was easy to remove. Not like that pesky muggle stuff. And if you paid a little more, some came with a special perfume imbedded in it, with others you could brew your own scent to mix into it. Good thing she was decent at potions, her polish smelled ashes, like a volcano about to burst.
Two pairs of footsteps were moving closer, she could hear them round the corner. Anna looked up just as they entered the corridor and they froze. She couldn't help but smirk. They seemed frazzled and harried and nervous and angry. Just like she wanted them; angry boys don't amount to much.
Without a word she pushed of from the window and walked to the classroom door. It wouldn't do to be seen from the window and that room had none. Her heels tapped loudly in the silence as she walked, only to be joined by their steps not two seconds later.
"Wait! Lestrange!" One of them called. "Where are you going?"
Anna refrained from rolling her eyes. Oh joy, they knew her name. She opened the door and looked at them before walking in, raising an eyebrow with an unimpressed look. Then she motioned for them to follow her and walked in. Leaving the door open, she went and sat on top of the teacher's desk, crossing her legs under her uniform skirt and letting her cloak fall off her shoulders. Now to wait for them so grow some balls.
Fred was fuming as they walked forwards. She had guts, he'd give her that, but what was with that look? It was the look of a house cat, lying on a rug, watching its owner while knowing who the actual owner was. She was playing with them, making them come forwards only to claw at them. But she'd see. They would-
When they entered they found her lounging on the desk most comfortably, the candles on the wall lit and the shadows they caused dancing on the bare walls. Her eyes were dark as she looked at them, following their movements with playful amusement shining through them. Was that a smirk on her lips? Definitely. Their blood boiled, what a prick.
"Well, I suppose you must be very happy with yourselves. Finally got me alone, huh?" She motioned for them to sit but the didn't move. "Although I must admit this was mostly me. I practically had to force Vincent and Gregory to leave me alone with Harry. They don't trust him, you see."
"They don't trust him?" Fred scoffed.
"Don't make us laugh." George finished.
They remained standing but closed the door.
"At least you're not hiding. Finally realised that you can't run from us?" George asked, walking towards her. They both had drawn wands, but they could see that she did too so they didn't make sudden movement just yet. "Someone had to do something."
She sighed dramatically. "You know, for two boys as smart as you are you're being pretty dumb."
"Us, dumb?" Fred scowled. "You're the one that's outnumbered here."
"Quality over quantity, darling." She waved her hand with the wand dismissively, then she pursed her lips. "I only stayed so we could talk. Or rather, so I could talk and you could listen since I know everything you're going to say. But to listen you have to sit."
At the last word she snapped her wrist and they fell backwards, only to land sitting on two chairs. Swiftly, the chairs floated forwards until they were only a meter away from her. They couldn't move and their arms were glued to their sides. It was too quick for them to react, it was too sudden. She'd seemed peaceful, if not very arrogant, and somehow they'd figured she'd keep talking before she attacked, if she attacked at all.
She flicked her wrist again and their wands, which had been hanging limply from their fingers, were ripped from their grasp and floated to her free hand. Without a glance she put the two sticks side by side on the desk beside her.
"Hey-!"
"Give those-"
They complained and shouted, struggled against the magic holding them in place, tried to get loose to get someone to hear them. No one did. Finally they turned back to her, silent, nervous, slightly scared. She was a Death Eater. Would she hurt them? Wipe their memories? Torture them for information? Somehow none of those made sense, to their knowledge she had never actually hurt someone when she was at school.
Annabelle Lestrange was looking them up and down, calmly, predatorily, and they were hard pressed to end the silence. On an everyday basis, she looked normal. Sure, she dressed differently from normal fifteen year old girl, but so did the others in her house. This was the first time she'd looked dangerous, with sharp eyes and dark hair tied into a meticulous do, with bloody lips and a wolfish smile. She got up, leaving her cloak behind in a heap and her wand on top of it, and sauntered over to them until she was standing between them. Her hands reached forwards to cup their faces, sharp nails scratching their skin without leaving marks. Were those ashes they could smell?
"I know all you have say. I hurt Harry, I brought the Dark Lord back, I'm a horrible person, I've caused horrible things to happen, your father almost died because of me." She had an exasperated tone to her, but somehow they couldn't stop watching her. She was fascinating in the way a storm is, horrible and destructive but so intriguing in its power. Her magic was flowing off of her in waves, making them watch her almost calmly. "I've thought long and hard about what to tell you, what excuse to use, and you know what I decided? That you're right."
The twins gaped, eyes flickering to each other before turning back to her.
"I assume you know about why I brought him back?" She asked.
"Your magic- Sirius said he made you. Said it really upset you, said he'd seen you cry about it." Fred told her. He hadn't believed the crying, the rest... in a way one always hopes for the best. In a way they'd hoped she hadn't willingly done it, but they hadn't really thought it'd be true.
"Seen me?" She scowled. "I've never met Sirius Black in my life."
George snickered. "He's an animagus. A black dog."
"Snuffles." She muttered. Suddenly there was a glint in her eye, she looked pleased. "He sure fooled me." Then she laughed. "I told him everything. What else did he tell you? About the magic making me do things? About the Dark Lordbeing my godfather? About me wanting to please my parents but not knowing how and getting tangled in things I can't handle? Did he tell you that?"
Fred swallowed and nodded. Was it just him or was that a flicker of relief?
"Well, he wasn't wrong about the old me." She shrugged, her nails withdrawing from their skin and she traced their lips with her thumbs. They stayed perfecly still as she studied their faces while she talked. Somehow, while she was the one talking and about a very sensitive subject no less, she seemed to be much more interested in them. "But that doesn't apply to me anymore. The magic can't get to my head anymore. That's the good thing about magic, you see, it can always be countered. My godfather and parents... well, I must admit I didn't know how to handle anything back then. It was all so much, too much almost." She nodded, her eyes widening before she bent forwards to whisper to them. "But that's not the case anymore. I'm done crying."
She backed off, wandering cockily around the desk. "You know, I could give you a sap story about seeing the light and wanting to do what's right and all that, but I'm not. Frankly, I'm going to get rid of him because it suits me. I'm going to get rid of him because yes, it is somewhat my fault-"
"You're getting rid of him?" Fred glared at her. "A likely story. He's-"
"My parents' master, yes. My godfather, also true. What you seem to forget is that that doesn't make him my master. What does make him my master is the fact that they gave me to him as if I was an object, not their child. I don't owe him or anyone else my allegiance, I decide who I help." She finished walking around the desk and headed back to them. "And I help myself, first and foremost. I get what I want; do you know what want?"
They shook their heads simultaneously. They'd never really understood that because Sirius had never actually told them.
"Revenge." She hissed. "He doesn't get to use me like this. I want a future, I want my own life and I won't let anyone take that away from me. Not you, not my parents, not Dumbledore and most certainly not him. I'll play along though, I'll play house. Eventually though, I will end him."
"What do you want with Harry then?" Fred demanded.
"Yeah, and what do you want with us?"
"Harry's the only one who can kill him. It's complicated-"
"Does it have to do with that special connection? The one with which he saw our dad?"
Her eyes snapped to them. "Yes." She answered, regarding them with a new curiosity. "It's rare and dangerous, but can be taken care of when necessary. At the moment, it's not in Harry's favour to get rid of it. Besides, I not only need him to finish off the Dark Lord, I also actually like Harry. He's had as little control of his life as I so you get the kindred spirit kind of friendship we have, even if he doesn't know the real story."
Annabelle came closer now, walking around them and tracing a finger over their shoulders before she sat on George's lap sideways and placed her feet on Fred's legs. They glanced at each other but didn't say anything. She seemed to be thinking hard and... well, she was invading their personal space quite a bit, but as long as she didn't curse them they supposed it wouldn't go too far.
"As for you two..." She continued, snapping back to attention. "It would certainly have been easier to change your memories, make it so that you forget all about your suspicions of me, get rid of the... problem you pose. But I won't."
"Why?"
"Because of the muggleborns." She sighed. "As you said, or as I said for you, I have caused horrible things to happen by bringing him back. In fact, more horrible things will happen later on. They are my responsibility." She paused. "I had a problem, see. He's going to round up muggleborns and send them to Azkaban once he takes over the Ministry-"
"You're going to let him take over the Ministry?" George scowled, outraged.
"Let him? Darling, I'm the one that's going to give it to him. Taking him down will take time, you know. He's got extensive amounts of protective magic on him and I need him to trust me in order to get an opening. I'll give it to him, minimise the damage to the employees which would be much more extensive if he did it himself, and in return he gives me free reign. Keep up, George." She scowled for the first time, patting his cheek impatiently. "That's not the point. The point is that I need to look out for the muggleborns, I'm the one responsible for their fate, but they won't trust me. They'll know who I am, who would trust me?"
"I wouldn't." George said.
"I don't." Fred countered.
"Hush." She licked her lips. "We don't have where to put them yet, but we want to start rounding muggleborns up as soon as possible and hide them somewhere until it's all done. If the war takes too long and it gets too crowded we would start moving them out of the country eventually."
"But you don't have someone they'd trust in order to get them to come to you-" Fred began.
"Which is why you need us." George finished. "Since when have you been planning this?"
"The muggleborns? A long time. You? Just came up with it. Smart, isn't it?" She smirked before standing. "Listen. I know it's a lot to take in and that you have absolutely no reason to believe me. All I have to say is that it's the truth and I'll find a way to do this with or without you. This is just a way for you to do something. Something great and important which will save lives. If you want something in return I'll give it to you. You're not the type to do things for personal gain, material gain at least. Quite like me. So I'll give you what I would want."
"What's that?" They scoffed.
"Your family." She said. "If you don't work with me, I won't do anything to them. I swear. But if you do cooperate, I'll make sure your entire family and you are safe. No matter what."
For a second they were stunned.
"You- you mean that?" They shouldn't believe her. Everything about her screamed danger... but she hadn't hurt them. She seemed truthful...
"I do." She turned around and grabbed her wand and waved it over her shoulder.
They could move. Experimentally, they stretched their arms and legs, standing up and stretching. The completely frozen feeling they'd had in their muscles had gone. It hand't been like a petrifying curse, they would make them freeze on the spot, it was like she's put them somewhere and left them, like mannequins. By the time they looked up she was holding their wands out for them to take.
"Take your time to decide, as much as you like. Tell any of my friends when and where if you want to meet up." She paused. "But if you tell Harry about me, the deal's off."
"Why? Don't want him to find out you're a traitorous b-"
"I want to tell him myself. When I'm ready. When he's not so lonely and desperate that the truth about me might set him off completely." She snapped.
They took their wands and looked at each other, weighing the pro's and con's. It was too good to be true, but it was too intricate to be a lie, too far fetched. Revenge and responsibility, those were her reasons, not 'correct' and 'right' and 'just'.
They weren't sure if they believed everything she said, but maybe, just maybe, Bill might be right. Maybe all she needed was a chance. If not, if it went wrong, they could always go to Dumbledore...
They had to discuss this.
"We'll think about it." George muttered, licking his lips.
"Yeah, we'll get back to you on this and... we won't tell Harry. Yet." Fred huffed. "Mostly because we're pretty sure you'd kill us if we did. You do sound pretty serious about your revenge stuff."
Then she did the most human thing they'd seen her do all afternoon. She rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. Just think about it."