The Ties That Bind

The Ties That Bind

Part 1, The First Rise

By Laura ([email protected])

Chapter 12: The Lie

Where we are on the timeline: near the end of the school year, about within the last month and a half

"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't."

~ Mark Twain ~

"Another ditch in the road

Keep moving

Another stop sign

You keep moving on

...

Silent fortress built to last"

~ "Two Beds and a Coffee Machine" sung by Savage Garden ~

Jessica knew exactly what he had just asked her. She knew that he knew the answer to that question - the truth. He could see it in her eyes. The sudden recognition. And Riley knew that she also knew that she had to say the answer. He wouldn't let her get away with less.

Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She suddenly looked terrified. But she finally found her voice.

"How did you find out?" she asked quietly.

Riley opened his mouth automatically to answer but stopped a second before giving in to reflex. He closed his mouth before opening it again. "How did I find out what?" he asked.

Jessica started to respond but shook her head. She seemed to have an argument with herself before saying, "It was the time when Casey had to give me the Cruciatus Curse," she said angrily.

"Jessica, if you start lying to me now--"

"Fine!" she said. "Fine, I will!" She then suddenly looked up at Riley as though she had forgotten he was in the room. "It was my fault that time," she said quickly. "If I just would have been willing to keep my mouth shut, it wouldn't have happened. Casey told me that it isn't my fault, but it is." She sighed and shook her head. Her eyes had gone to her lap when she had started speaking, and they stayed there now. "I was seven years old. Mom and I couldn't talk a whole hell of a lot without someone spying on us, so we used this special paper to write notes. After Mom read a note I had written, the words disappeared. The same happened after I read notes that Mom wrote to me."

"Clearing Paper," Riley said. It had been an invention of Madeline's, and she had owned the only copies of it, sparingly giving some to the Dark Operators. He imagined more existed, but Madeline had hid a lot of inventions she didn't particularly want to release.

Jessica nodded, glancing at him briefly before resuming her aimless stare. "It was a perfect system. I learned to write better just to write more to Mom. Casey was good at reading even then. And Mom was careful to use words we knew and understood. I told Mom that I was going to tell Uncle Danny about the beatings. We had gotten beatings before, but, at that time, Father mainly focused on Mom. He didn't really beat her a lot, but he mainly beat her. When he hurt us, it was usually non-magical stuff then.

"Anyway, I told Mom that I was going to tell Uncle Danny. Dad was going to be gone one night, and I figured I could get some of the Montgomery house elves to create a diversion. I was not even near the front door when I discovered him." Jessica paused, but Riley let her have a minute. She continued finally, "Gramey, one of the Montgomery house elves, was lying dead. Dad was standing behind him, holding Mom's arm. He smiled at me, and I knew that he had found out. He took me and Mom to his study. Casey was already there. He was confused when we came in because I hadn't told him that I was planning to tell Uncle Danny. That night, Dad almost killed Casey." Jessica shook her head on a sigh. "I should have learned then. Dad was letting Mom and me know what would happen if we tried to break away from him. But I didn't learn my lesson that night."

Jessica looked back up at Riley. "Six months later I made it to the door before he grabbed me by the collar. He brought me to Mom's lab. Again, Casey was already there. And so was Mom." Jessica's voice became choked, and she said in a whisper, "She was tied to one of her tables." She stopped then, her eyes staying in the same spot, her feet not moving. A regular witch or wizard would have said that she had completely stopped moving for that time, but Riley wasn't a regular wizard. She was grinding her teeth, he could see. It was such a slight movement that he couldn't even hear it, but he could watch her jawbone moving.

The silence stretched on for five minutes before Riley spoke again. "Jessica, I need to hear what happened."

She looked up at him in surprise. He had pulled her away from the memory of that day. Finally, she spoke, her eyes remaining on Riley's, her left hand pressed firmly against the wall, her voice deeper than usual but even, "He murdered Mom the same way he tried to with Casey six months before that and on this last Christmas Day. Father isn't a murderer but a banker, but after that day, I knew what he was willing to do to shut me up." Jessica glanced away for the briefest of moments, her hand moving on the wall but still remaining connected to it. "He made us watch as he killed her." Her voice broke for a second, and Riley saw her left hand make a fist as she closed her eyes and got a hold of herself. She continued, "As...as he got the room ready for you and Uncle Danny, he told us why it had happened. If I hadn't been so intent on telling Uncle Danny things, Mommy would still be alive." Jessica's voice changed in the next heartbeat, and it was a voice that was strictly Montgomery, a voice that was frighteningly like Daniel's. It was a voice of deadly determination, "That day, I promised myself I wouldn't make that mistake ever again."

She took a deep breath, her eyes glancing around the room for a minute as though she just realized that they were there. When she spoke again, her eyes were off to Riley's own left. "Father made me keep the shirt that I had been wearing that day." Her hand gripped the wall tighter before her voice got lower again, "He made me take it off in the lab, before...before he exploded that caldron. He rubbed it over Mom's wounds. He made me put it on again, under my robes. I remember when you came in, Riley. I was crying, and when you picked me up, I could feel the wetness of the blood clinging to me."

Riley remembered that she had wanted to go to her bedroom, but Jeffery had insisted that they go to Daniel's right away - where they had spent the night. Jessica's hadn't had any clothes, and Jeffery kept sidestepping Daniel's offer of clothes for the kids. Riley fought from becoming sick at the thought. Jessica had to sleep in her robe and that bloody t-shirt all night long...

"After that day, Father would make me lie in bed sometimes and put the shirt over my face. I would have to lie for hours like that. I decided that I couldn't tell Uncle Danny, but I could do something. That's when I decided how I was going to kill Father."

"How old were you when you first decided that you were going to kill him?"

"Seven. It was the night Mom was killed."

"How old were you when you decided how you were going to do it?"

"Eight. It was the day you guys closed the investigation on Mom's death. As you were talking to Father, he made me stay in my room with the shirt over my head."

"Why didn't you kill him when you first got a wand?"

Jessica didn't appear to have an answer for that one. After a minute, she shrugged. "I really don't know."

Riley took a second before asking, "You and Casey were both away from your father for periods of time. Why didn't you say anything then, when you were both safe?"

Jessica's hand flexed on the wall again. After a moment, she said, "As one of Father's business partners said, 'Father has lots of friends.'"

"What do you interpret that as meaning?" Riley asked.

"What does 'interpret' mean?"

Riley paused a second before rephrasing his question, "What did you think your dad's business partner meant by 'Father has lots of friends.'"

"Father used me and Casey to control what Mom did. He used Mom and Casey to control what I did. When I broke the rules, he killed Mom. After that, he beat or threatened to beat or kill Casey to control what I did. Even if you had gotten Dad in jail before he could have hurt me or Casey, Dad had friends who would hurt or kill us. And not even just us. There was you, there was Uncle Danny, and then there was Andorra. And then there was a lot more when we started going to Hogwarts. And Dad's friends, as this guy told me, didn't like to always use the simple Killing Curse. He said that there were funnier ways to kill people."

"What was the name of this business partner of your father's?"

Jessica's hand clenched tighter to the wall. "I think...I think it was something like Mark...or Mike...or Matt. Something that started with an 'M'. I don't remember his last name."

"Do you remember any of your dad's business partners?"

Jessica thought a moment before shaking her head. "Other than Lily Evans' parents, no."

"Isn't Lily Evans a Muggle-born witch?"

Jessica nodded.

"Your father invested in Muggle businesses?" Riley asked in surprise.

Jessica nodded. "Not a lot but money was money, he said." But even as she spoke the words, she got a confused look on her face. She stated what she was thinking after a minute of contemplation, "Come to think of it, it was odd that Dad was okay that I was friends with a mud...ggle-born." Riley knew what she had been about to say, especially when she gave him a nervous glance, but she moved on quickly, probably in hopes to throw him off from noticing. "But I guess I don't have to worry anymore about wondering what he was up to there because he can't do anything now." But Jessica didn't look convinced that she had to stop worrying.

"Do you remember any business partners or friends of your dad that hung around a lot more than the rest?" Riley knew he was shooting the dark, but he couldn't directly ask if Jessica knew who Lord Voldemort was. At least he couldn't ask that *yet*.

Again, Jessica thought a minute before shaking her head. "No. Dad usually didn't want us around when his friends or business partners were there. We had to eat a few meals with them and go to a few parties, but I don't remember anyone in particular. There were lots of names. They were hard to remember."

Riley's nod was disappointed, but he moved on.

"Let's move on to this last Christmas. Starting with waking up, go through what happened."

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Vince took a deep breath before uttering the lie he had promised Gary. Vince still had feelings for Tatianna, deep feelings, but he had a loyalty to Gary that had run so deep for so long it was as much a part of him as his own heart. It was more than a life debt; it was a soul debt. And so Vince lied to probably the only person he would have normally hesitated to lie to. And even though she knew he was going to probably lie to her, he still didn't like doing it.

"She's extremely bright. Gets good grades. Has a problem keeping quiet in class, but she has nothing telling her not to be cocky. Except teachers. That's not only normal of a Slytherin but of a girl in her stature. She's a pretty girl with a family inheritance more than the size of the Malfoy's. Her bloodlines are of the purest form. Her uncle may be an Auror - something Slytherins don't usually look on as a worthy profession - but her father was a big man with the parents of the other children. She can hold her own without a wand too."

"But?" Tatianna asked when Vince grew silent and looked off to his right, into space.

"She's been ousted as the abused kid. Even though there was that, a Slytherin - a follower of Grindelwald - would not have desired death immediately afterward. I talked with Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall to some great lengths about it. She was so intent on death that she fought tooth and nail with an uncle who not only has the size and strength but the power to keep her safe and not abuse her. And, if she was leaning towards a darker standing, this Voldemort more than likely wouldn't mourn the loss of Jeffery too long, especially if the result was having a 12-year old willing to murder, especially if she came with a brother that could be used to control her."

"Guilt over murdering then," Tatianna dismissed.

"Guilt in part but not of the kind you speak, from my impression of the girl. And also the impression of Rohan Figg, her Healer. No, Miss Ziners wasn't trying to kill herself because of guilt. She was trying to kill herself because in that instant, that second before the murder where she had that choice - in that millisecond, Anna, Miss Ziners became her father. She realized that she had become her father when she realized what she did, and she couldn't handle that thought. She wanted to kill her father so she had to kill what he left - her soul, a soul she thought to be tainted by his evil.

"She was a girl merely caught up in something she didn't understand and probably never will."

"But what about Haderson's conclusion on Jeffery Ziners' connection to Lord Voldemort? If Jessica Ziners is as smart as they say, I imagine she would have noticed something. Yet, she still has yet to come forward on this Voldemort."

"Voldemort probably wouldn't have taken a chance on Jessica Ziners. My guess is Jeffrey knew his daughter wouldn't go for it and kept her out of the loop using her brother."

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"I had a hard time sleeping, so I didn't wake up until ten o'clock. We can't sleep later than that or Dad gets mad. Malf, one of the house elves, woke me up at Casey's order. I went downstairs and had breakfast in the kitchen. Eggs and sausages. And orange juice."

"Did you eat breakfast alone?"

Jessica nodded. "Father had had breakfast at 7 and Casey at 8. We usually eat breakfast alone if we're not going somewhere or doing something that day."

"Were you at the table alone?"

Jessica looked back at Riley. She seemed surprised that he had caught her.

Finally, she shook her head. "No, Casey sat with me. We hadn't seen Uncle Danny at all, and it was putting Father in a mood. It bugged Father if he didn't see Uncle Danny regularly. Anyway, me and Case were trying to figure out what was going on with the department. Case and me..." she looked to be in a debate with herself before she finally said, "we also tried to figure out what we could do that day."

"Weren't you going to celebrate Christmas with your father?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, we were. We were just trying to figure out what we could do after that."

Riley nodded, though he was still curious about that statement. But Jessica gave him little time to ponder as she moved on.

"After breakfast, I went back upstairs to brush my teeth, take my shower, and get dressed. When I came back down, Father was ready to celebrate. He gave me a dictionary set of...darker spells. He knows I want to become an Auror, and he always tells me it's good to learn the other side..."

Riley nodded.

She continued, "He gave Casey a German Auror advanced textbook. Casey and I gave him a wristwatch."

When she paused, Riley asked, "What did you give Casey?"

She grinned. "Julius Caesar and King Lear."

Riley returned her grin. The boy had developed a certain attachment to Shakespearean plays.

"Casey got me a cape."

Riley gave her a smile but a questioning look.

"Okay, Lily got it but with Casey's money. Casey couldn't think of anything. It's a cool cape. It's dark green and velvet."

Riley nodded. "After you exchanged presents, what happened?"

Jessica sighed, looking off to the side again.

"Casey and I took a little walk, and then ate lunch at about one o'clock. Dad was planning to work in his office all day, so he didn't care. After we ate, we started into our summer homework." Her voice became soft. "We were very quiet that day. Everything had been setting Father off, every little noise. I remember Casey being funny and tip-toeing to get a glass of milk."

"You said that every little noise was setting your father off. Did you receive any beatings during your school break?" Riley's throat felt tight as he asked the question. The two Jessicas in his brain were merging for a moment in time. As he had laughed with his team members over the glee of their difficult captures, Jessica and Casey had lived in terror of making a noise not even a mile from where Riley was...and it was the very fact that they had to hide from everyone to make those very captures that had forced those kids to live in terror...

Jessica nodded. "Two beatings a piece." Suddenly, Jessica rubbed at her face. As she rubbed a line down her right cheek, Riley understood. She was remembering one of the beatings, possibly both. She had no clue she was even doing it, Riley imagined.

"And after you and Casey worked on your homework?" He asked.

"Me and Casey weren't even finished with our homework when I decided to be stupid."

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"What about her saying that something suspicious was going on in the house? What about her brother saying something?" Tatianna questioned.

"Easy. They didn't really know anything, and it was their dad. They didn't like him, but they loved him. It was their father, Anna. Nothing is more important than family to a Slytherin. Remember Pure Blood and all that crap, Anna? It's your family and that's the beginning *and* end of it. You didn't say 'suspicions' to outsiders - and, when it came to Jeffrey Ziners, Daniel Montgomery was an outsider." Vince took a deep breath, realizing the direction he was accidentally traveling and decided to turn it around.

"Plus, Jessica's not going to take a chance after her mother was killed, if Haderson's right. And, after studying Jeffrey Ziners' file at the Ministry of Magic, I imagine the boy is right."

Tatianna gave Vince a look. "You got a hold of the Ministry's file on Ziners?"
He shrugged. "What? You couldn't?"

"You know I couldn't!"

Vince gave her a wicked grin. "I guess you just have to know the right people."

Tatianna gave him another look, this one vicious. She had no idea that rather than scaring Vince, she was actually turning him on. But he knew better than to let her know that, so he decided he should tell her. However, he couldn't resist turning it up one more notch.

He grinned as he said in a mock shocked voice, "Tatianna Melovic doesn't know the right people at the Ministry of Magic? A former Unspeakable and the new Secretary of Magic doesn't know the right Unspeakables in the Ministry to get a hold of an Unspeakable file? How can this be?"
It took all of Vince's self-control not to change the status of their relationship right there and then - by actions and not words - but he managed to keep still...to keep still what he could control at least - as he grinned and revealed, "It seems that Gina Longbottom felt a certain sense of gratitude towards myself for bringing back the remains of her deceased brother and husband from Mindel, Grindelwald's fanatic and delusional cohort who killed the two thinking they were hiding Grindelwald in their stockings or some other dumb thing. She also felt a bit appreciative of me bringing back Mindel while I was at it. I attempted to sweet talk her for a moment before she put me out of my misery by giving me a glimpse of the file."

"Gina Longbottom trusted you?"
The question didn't offend Vince because he knew as much as Tatianna did that that question followed him closely. He nodded.

"You've got to remember that she watched me put my lovely ol' mum and pop out of business and kill my own brother, whom I had had hope for, in favor of saving the life of Clark Potter, the one man I hated more than my own father. She figured if I knew right from family, I could do the same for this kid."

"So, Haderson's right, you think? On everything from Madeline to Jeffrey Ziners' beating prior to his death?"

Vince nodded. "Yeah. I think that in one fell swoop, a 12-year old killed a child-abuser, a wife abuser, a murderer, probable mass murderer, and Lord Voldemort's banker."

"And Jessica Ziners didn't know of her father's connection to Voldemort?"

"She's a 12-year old, for goodness sakes, Tatianna! It's her father's business partners! Financial matters are not number one on her interests. And she probably knew better than to stick her nose in where it didn't belong."

"I seem to recall a story of some teenagers doing precisely that in the name of good," Tatianna said.

"Well, Grindelwald made no hesitation to involve us, and, in the beginning, there wasn't anything to worry about from his perspective. In the case of this girl, we can tell from the situation on Christmas Day that Jeffrey was using the slow murder of Casey as punishment for Jessica. This is proven by the marks on Jessica and the last spells in Jeffrey's wand. And, if Haderson is right, it's also proven by the mom's death. If Jessica's silence is such an issue to go to such lengths, they're going to keep as much away from her as possible."

"That's just it though, Vince. What did Jessica know that it was so important to keep her quiet about?"
Vince was silent a moment before he replied quietly, "Maybe it was not what she knew but whom she knew?"

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"We heard some noises coming from Dad's study," Jessica continued. "Dad had been getting a regular visitor, and we knew that this visitor was making Father even more upset than Uncle Danny's disappearance. I wanted to find out who it was. And stupid Casey followed me!" She growled and shook her head, her hand remaining solid against the wall. "We started towards Father's study, but we had to wait a few minutes. Some of the house elves loyal to Dad were taking forever to walk down the hall. We didn't want them to see us because they would want to know where we were going. There was no reason we should be on that side of the house, and if they knew a visitor was there, they would be sure to keep us on the kitchen side of the house. By the time they got past and we got to Dad's study, the visitor had popped out of there. I got Case to stay behind as I peaked around the corner. Dad was just getting up from the floor and wiping himself off. I noticed he was bloody.

"I turned and motioned that we were going back. That's when Casey tripped over his shoelace. He fell into me, I fell into the statute, and the statute fell over onto the floor. It broke and alerted Father. He came out to see what the deal was. He found me and Casey and told us to come into his office.

"I remember when we first went to stand in his office. I noticed that I was standing on some blood. I looked up and saw that his hand was bloody and realized that I had been standing over where he had been kneeling." She sighed. "It was weird if you think about it." Here, she shook her head and looked down before looking back up, this time looking Riley directly in eyes. Riley noticed her press her hand and arm more firmly to the wall. "He told me that he couldn't stand it anymore. I kept and I kept disobeying him, and then I was eavesdropping again."

"Did he mention Casey in this too? He was obviously with you."

"You don't understand it yet, Riley," Jessica sighed, a defeated but compliant tone to her voice. "I'm Jessica, the first born daughter. For some reason, I mattered more to him than Casey. My obedience was, for some weird reason that I never understood...my obedience was more important than Casey's was." Jessica lifted her arm off the wall for just a second before she pressed it to the wall again.

"One real quick question before you continue," Riley said, "Did you have your wand with you, and did Casey have his with him?"

Jessica nodded. "After I bought my wand - and Casey did the same after buying his - I started to carry my wand every second of every day. I even slept with it."

"Why?"

"It was after Mom. I knew I couldn't tell Uncle Danny about what had happened. Father had threatened Casey's life the day Mom died, and I finally knew he would do it. I couldn't be responsible for another death, Ri. I just couldn't let it happen. There was only one way. I had to kill him." Jessica sighed and looked away. "I was even a chicken after that. I got my wand, but even before then, I knew how I was going to do it. The Slowing Jinx before the Killing Curse. I wanted to know that when I did it that Father would be able to fight back in a way. I wanted him to be facing me. I wanted him to know it was me and to know he could stop me. It was stupid really because if I had thought it through I would know that Dad really couldn't fight me with the Slowing Jinx on him. I would be faster." Jessica's voice went quiet but took on a scratchy quality which seemed to increase her volume from a hushed tone. "Even then, I couldn't do it. There had been a lot times in the last summer that I could have done it, and I almost did it once before, but Dad got my wand before I could do anything. I had been too chicken otherwise. But that day, when Dad turned to me, and I had to look him in the eyes...I couldn't do it. I raised my wand, but I didn't think I would say the words."

When she went completely silent, Riley asked, "What caused that to change by the time your wand came down?"

"I saw Casey. He was dead."

Riley was silent and the silence between the two stretched to merely encompass one minute, but it felt like an eternity to both. Finally, Riley spoke, "Jessica, Casey isn't dead."

Jessica glanced back at Riley, seemingly startled he was still in the room. She grinned after a moment. "Sorry. I know that." The grin fell from her face. "Casey looked dead."

Riley leaned forward and looked at Jessica so intently, she flinched and looked away. "Jessica. I want you to close your eyes and picture that day in your mind. When you looked away from your father's eyes and saw someone limp on the floor...who did you see?"

Jessica did as asked, and Riley knew he had guessed right when she flinched at her own thoughts.

"It was Mom," she finally murmured. "I saw Mom. I saw Casey and Mom at the same time. It was happening again."

Riley sighed as he leaned back. He glanced at the quill before looking back up at Jessica, who had now opened her eyes.

"I want to back up for a second. You said that you were standing in the room, on the spot where your father's blood was. Was Casey standing next to you?"

Jessica nodded. "It was the usual. Father was by his desk, we were standing in front of him, side-by-side, heads down, hands behind our back. Father started talking. 'Eavesdropping is forbidden' I remember him yell. He talked about having to punish me time and time again for it. He told me that this time the punishment would have to be...unchangeable so I would always remember not to do it anymore. That's when I knew what he was going to do. He was going to do the same thing to Casey as he had done to Mom. I remember screaming at him, but when he kept on, I grabbed my wand. I wasn't thinking. He turned on me and yelled--"

Jessica stopped suddenly, seemingly surprised at herself for stopping. She shook her head quickly before continuing.

"He started to beat me with the Strickiomus. He stopped me with the Impediment Curse. He knocked me over with another Strickiomus and then slapped one on my head. The next thing I remember is waking up on the floor of his office. Casey was lying on the ground. Dad was still giving him the Crucio, but he had stopped moving. I knew from what happened with Mom that that meant that Crucio was starting to affect his body and brain. I knew that I didn't have long. I picked my wand up and did it, exactly as planned. The Slowing Jinx then the Killing Curse."

Riley paused for only half a minute before diving into the next question of importance.

"That day or any day during the break, do you remember your father mentioning anything about a will?"

Jessica stared at him a moment like she didn't understand what he was saying. Riley noticed her left hand make a fist before relaxing and becoming flat against the wall once again.

She shook her head. "No, I don't remember hearing anything about a will."

"Did you ever hear of your father referring to some books of your mother's? He would have been looking for them probably."

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Tatianna was about to ask Vince what he meant by that. Who could a 12-year old know that would frighten an adult witch or wizard - whichever Voldemort was? Vince saw when she understood.

Daniel Montgomery and the Dark Operators.

"Speaking of the uncle and his merry band of misfits, how did you react to the news of them?"

Tatianna was surprised. "How did you know about them?"
Vince gave her a wicked grin as he spread his arms wide. "Vince McCallen knows everything." Her impatient look took care of his grin. "I was actually asked to help as an initial advisor to the program. They ask me to advise on a case every once in awhile too, as well as some off jobs every now and then. I only know the identity of one of the members."

"Which one?" Tatianna asked.

"Montie. Very lame codename but relatively effective for discussion of a back alley contact you run into in a professional capacity occasionally."

Tatianna smiled at him before frowning in her concentration again. She was silent a moment longer before she asked, "Coming from where you have come from and working as you are now, what do you think of the Dark Operators?"

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*This is what I was looking for.*

Jessica fought to keep from looking annoyed at her brother. She pressed her hand more firmly to the wall. Directly on the opposite side of the wall was her brother, pressing his own right arm in the exact same place his sister was on the other side.

*What were you looking for, Brother? And remember to make this extremely short. Riley's looking for an answer.*

*Slowly nod*, her brother commanded, as he had been commanding and coaching her through the whole interview. Jessica sucked at lying on her feet generally except to the people she hated. She also couldn't come up with detailed, convincing stories like Casey could. So, Jessica told him Riley's every question, and the one's she could answer herself, she told Casey at the same time she told Riley. Casey helped her with the lies, and, at the same time, they got their stories straight by Casey hearing her interview.

*Look off to the side as you try to think of a way to explain this. Here is our way out. The problem we have is that Dad has no other reason for keeping you alive other than the Mighty Blood and keeping me alive to control you. We can't tell Riley about the Mighty Blood. But this we can tell him because as surely Dad couldn't find them, Riley can't either. We tell him this...*

As Casey told her, she spoke, "You know that Montgomerys have a long line of Unspeakables. They're always experimenting, finding things out, discovering things."

Riley nodded. That's what Montgomerys were known for: Their scientific streak or their occasional Auror.

"Well, they have all these journals. Every relative wrote in one, Dad said. They've got all sorts of secrets in them, secret potions, secret spells, Dad told us. Well, I know that Mom hid them and put a spell on them."

"What did she do to them?" Riley asked when she again fell silent.

"She," Jessica looked at him, seeing his eyes on her, "put a spell on them so only me and Case could get into them.

And as Riley took an almost imperceptible breath, Jessica knew they had him. Her and Casey were on new ground, playing by rules all their own.

There was always the fact that they had just misled one of their best friends, but in this new game, she couldn't look at lying as immoral when it was meant to keep the said friend alive.

As Riley sat back, Jessica realized that when she had killed her father, she and

Tom weren't on different sides of the same coin then.

But now they were.

It was a thin line. And she was about to dance on it...

"The only problem is," Jessica continued, "Dad didn't know where they were and neither do we."

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Vince was thoughtful for a moment before he responded to Tatianna's question of what he thought of the Dark Operators, "In my capacity as a lawyer, there is not a country in the world that would uphold them. But speaking as a former Grindelwald cohort and a former fighter against Grindelwald and his cohorts, I would inform you that no matter what your other Aurors can and do do, rare will be the Auror that goes where these guys go on a whim and a regular basis. And not only that, but these Aurors have some small system to account to."

"What's the system?" Tatianna asked.

"Besides Daniel Montgomery, who's a system in and of himself, there's random psychiatric evaluations, random checks on bank accounts, and random room searches, none of which the team members are informed of. The only one to know that those latter random checks are performed is Daniel Montgomery.

"If you get on Daniel Montgomery's good side, he'll let you do more. Knowing you as I do, I 'm sure you'll feel much more comfortable with what more Montgomery will let you get away with when you're on his good side."

"Well, I'm his boss. He should let me get away with what I desire to get away with."

"There's where you and he differ, Anna. It's not the title that should be obeyed by the person behind that title, and that person has to earn that respect, according to Montgomery's philosophy. Just look at who arrested the guy who sat in your place before you. Anyhow, the rest of the Dark Operators will fall right into place behind Montgomery, and probably so will those here that know Montgomery and like him, those at the Ministry that know and like him, and those in other places and countries that know and like him. And trust me, that's more enemies than even you can bear.

"Montgomery's size merely shadows his bite. And if there's one thing I never want you to misunderstand about Montgomery, it's his mind. People sometimes make the fatal mistake that because he's a huge guy, he has no brains, but it's entirely the opposite." Vince shook his head. "If you piss Montgomery off, he will take you down. He knows how to make sure you'll see no one ever again, and he'll make sure no one finds you if he can't make sure no one will ever ask about you again. And before you get mad, keep in mind you're still behind this desk despite the fact you told him you are going to investigate him and after you threatened his team. And keep in mind, Daniel knows exactly what you'll find when you investigate his team and you are still behind this desk, alive and unharmed. And I will tell you, you will find things that would scare a lesser foe.

"Montgomery is not someone I would want to be on the receiving end of.

"But as to why you will want to be on his good side for the sake of feeling comfortable with his team. Montgomery felt comfortable with Secretary Raimy, the guy in your seat before Jonathon Ziners. He talked with Raimy freely about his actions and about the team members. The team members met with Raimy regularly and separately from their boss. And, last but most certainly not least, Raimy was allowed to have a man of his choosing (but with Montgomery's approval) analyze each team members' mind - Montgomery's included - using Legilimency."

Vince took a deep breath before saying quietly. "Seriously, Tatianna, from my experience with Grindelwald, you want at least one Auror who's doesn't obey a title or respect authority for the mere fact they claim to be an authority. You want an Auror where you have to earn that respect and that obedience from them. After living under Grindelwald, I can tell you that an Auror like that, if he's working for you, can be no better asset." Vince glanced off to the side for a moment before asking, his eyes still off to the side, "Tatianna, do you remember Black Hawk?"

Tatianna immediately nodded. "He was Grindelwald's top agent. Extremely elusive. Very deadly. We never found him, not even after Grindelwald was killed."

Vince looked at her as she answered and got her gaze when he responded, "We did catch him actually. He was killed by one on our side. Gary Rum. I have another question. Do you remember Jason Ryman?"

Again, Tatianna nodded quickly. "Yes. He was the Head of Magical Law Enforcement for the Ministry of Magic during the Grindelwald years. He was killed on a routine mission."

"Black Hawk was led into a trap by Gary Rum," Vince said, switching back to the previous topic. "As a number of our informants had said, the black hawk with the white stripe down his beak flew into a meeting with one of Grindelwald's potential financial backers, which was really Gary in disguise. Black Hawk transformed to his human form, recognized Gary's disguise as Gary, a fight broke out. Black Hawk died.

"Black Hawk and Jason Ryman were one and the same.

Vince sighed. "I visited Gary while I was at Hogwarts. He didn't saw as much, but he's preparing for another war. I know he knows things, I know he hears things, I know he sees things, and I know he feels things. We're going to be going to war with this Voldemort, Tatianna. We need someone to protect us from ourselves. We need Daniel Montgomery.

"Settle your fears about him. Ask around. Poke if you will. But trust me when I say - I can see the bad guy a mile away. I know how he walks. I know how he acts. I would lay down my life that Daniel's one of our guys."

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The first thing Jessica said to her brother when they were alone was, *What was that about? We do too know where the books are.*

*It doesn't matter*, he responded. *They were as good a reason as any to keep us alive. We can't tell Riley that we were being kept alive because Tom Riddle, second-in-command of an investigation to find Voldemort and Voldemort in the flesh, is the heir of Slytherin and can't get into the one place that he wants to most dearly to kill the one and only man he believes to be in his way and to take over what could be the best and most impenetrable fortress in the world, second only to Gringotts Bank. You know why we can't tell him that?!* Casey growled at his sister, but he didn't wait for her to answer the question. *We can't tell him that because Riley would never believe in a million years that we are part of a history that doesn't even exist except in fairy tales! Jessica, if there is one lesson Dad gave us, it is that we can't tell anyone. This is our fight and it's time we started fighting it. Yes, we have to lie, but that's to protect Riley.*

Jessica didn't respond. After a moment, she gave her brother a hug, surprising him. When she let go, he asked, *Are you going to be alright?*

She patted his shoulder as she looked in his eyes but didn't respond. She just walked out.

This time, Casey did feel slightly better at letting her go at that. He knew that she needed to think. That was his sister's greatest gift and greatest fault. She was good at the psychological games because she was a thinker. Not a liar, but a thinker. Unfortunately, this caused her to think over her actions way too much before she acted. She had the power, and she didn't want to become consumed by that.

For now, she needed to think over what they were doing. And Casey would let her do that. He would let her do that because when she left, her eyes were mostly green. They had some grey in them but mostly green.

Grey was her worry. But green. That was a beautiful color, Casey thought to himself. Especially in his sister's eyes. Green didn't come often enough. But it was there when she looked him in the eyes, and that was precisely why she looked him in the eyes.

Grey was her worry. Blue was her defeat. But green. Green was her strength and courage.

Casey smiled to himself.

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Albus Dumbledore watched as Jessica Ziners sat alone at the table at supper that night. She occasionally poked at her food but nothing ever entered her mouth. The room was almost emptied. Kids were in their dorms to spend a cozy night in their warm Common Room. But Jessica remained alone at the Slytherin Table. Albus wanted to wait until she left, but he had a meeting in his office tonight he couldn't miss.

Albus stood up and instead of walking back through the antechamber in the back of the Great Hall, he decided to walk out the front. He walked down the tables until he stood directly across from Jessica Ziners.

"How are you doing tonight, Miss Ziners?" Albus asked.

She didn't answer, so Albus repeated his question. She still didn't answer. Albus was about to reach over to touch her arm when she finally spoke.

"An Auror," she said.

Albus wasn't sure he heard anything until she spoke again.

"An Auror, Headmaster. Is it hard to become an Auror?" She looked up at him, her eyes not blue but an inquisitive green.

Albus slowly nodded. "Yes, very hard."

She nodded, seemingly confirming something. "I figured as much. Did you regret it?"

"My training as an Auror?" Albus asked. She nodded. He thought about it for a minute before asking, "Can I sit with you a moment, Miss Ziners?"

Jessica immediately nodded. "Sure, Sir."

Albus sat across the table from her. When he was settled, he answered her question, "Being an Auror is not the most pleasant job in the world. You have to mix with people you would not even want to know in your worst nightmares. You not only meet them, but you must make friends with them only to use them. You are forced to do many things you would not normally do or desire to do, but you must do them in the name of your greatest desire - to win for the side of good. There is a very fine line defining a good Auror and the other side, and it's sometimes hard to see. The job is not only trying physically but mentally."

"Not to mention dangerous," Jessica added.

Albus nodded. "Yes, very dangerous."

"So why do people become Aurors?"

Albus paused for a moment, glancing down. He took a deep breath before he said quietly, "The benefits vary a little from Auror to Auror."

"What were the benefits for you?"

"I was very good at what I did. I stopped a lot of very evil people that needed to be stopped. I did my best to stop them alive, but I understood in the beginning that couldn't always happen. I did my best and that was all I could have been asked to do. The benefit of the profession for me, Miss Ziners, is thinking of all the other lives - the innocent lives that were saved by eliminating only a very few people."

Jessica nodded before pausing reflectively. "But there is a bit of a thrill in the chase, isn't there?"

It surprised Albus at her perceptiveness of this at her young age. He slowly nodded, "I admit that, for some, there is the appeal of that."

She looked up at him again. "Is that a bad appeal?"

Albus thought a second before answering, "Not really. I think there needs to be some appeal of that sort in this profession. Otherwise, the Auror would be too afraid to go after the other side when they needed to. But the thrill of the chase could get out of control."

"And then we're back to the mental danger of the game," she supplied with a sigh. "Still, I want to become one. Like my Uncle Danny. I want to be feared by that other side."

Albus looked at the young girl for a long moment, a soft smile on his lips. Gary was right. She was undercover. And she didn't want to be. She wanted freedom. Albus wanted to give it to her...and just as he thought that, Rabastan Lestrange walked back into the Great Hall. Jessica glanced at him before looking back at her food. When she looked back up, her green eyes were faded ever so slightly before going to blue and starting through their cycle.

Albus nodded before standing up. "Have a good supper, Miss Ziners," he said. He turned to walk out of the Great Hall, but Jessica's voice stopped him.

"Professor Dumbledore," she said quietly. Albus turned back to her. "You said you use to be good at being an Auror."

Albus nodded.

"If required," she started but stalled a second to look where Rabastan was. He was talking to a Hufflepuff Beater. Jessica looked back to Albus. "If required," she repeated, "could you be so again?"

Albus glanced at Rabastan himself. The boy stopped talking to the Beater and glanced at Albus and Jessica. Albus looked back at Jessica. "I don't even have to wait for a need. I am still a great Auror." Albus slowly smiled at her.

She returned the smile.

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Just as Maria and Harriet yanked her into the second floor bathroom again at lunch the next day, Jessica noticed something she hadn't before. Just as a person walked out a door down the hall, the person's eyes saw Jessica's predicament. Jessica didn't think much of it because of the person. It was Bellatrix Black that had noticed her, and the second she had noticed her, she turned back into the classroom.

Maria and Harriet threw Jessica against the sink, knocking the wind out of her. Jessica coughed as she sunk to the floor, where she waited for the next blow.

It never came.

Jessica looked up in time for one of Maria's henchmen to fall into her lap. Jessica pushed her off. Harriet and Maria screamed as they were backed into a corner by Rodolophus Lestrange while Bellatrix scared the others out of bathroom. Once Bellatrix was sure the others weren't coming back, she held out a hand to Jessica. Jessica stared at her hand for a second before taking the help up.

"Ziners, why are you beating up Ziners?" Rodolophus asked. Maria and Harriet didn't seem to notice the irony of the question, but Bellatrix and Jessica exchanged an amused glance.

"Ziners!" Rodolophus yelled when Maria didn't answer. "You know who Jessica is. What do you think Master would think?"

"Jessica doesn't obey him," Maria said. "Master doesn't want anyone to know, but Jessica is against him. The only reason she's sticking with him is because he is threatening to kill Casey if she does anything against him."

Jessica snorted. "Pathetic, Maria. What a pathetic lie."

Rodolophus threw Jessica a smirk before pouncing on Maria and Harriett again. "You're just mad, Ziners, because Daniel Montgomery got your dimwit of a father in jail. That ain't Jessica's fault. We can't be held responsible for the actions of our relatives."
Maria started to comment on that but stopped when she looked at Bellatrix, who looked ready for a fight at the first mention of her wayward uncle, aunt, and cousins.

Rodolophus shook his head at the two girls before lowering his wand a fraction. "If I even *hear* the idea of beating Jessica Ziners again run through your head again, you will deal directly with me *and my friends*. Got it?"

Maria and Harriett hesitated a second. Rodolophus jumped towards them again.

"Okay, okay!" they both shouted.

Rodolophus smiled in satisfaction. He started to turn away. Both girls started to move only to jump back when Rodolophus turned sharply. He laughed.

"Come on, Bell, Jessica. Let's leave these two."

Harriett ran out. Bellatrix smiled and started out, Rodolophus following her, but Rodolophus stopped though when Jessica just stared at Maria, a smirk on her face. Maria was in the corner, avoiding looking

She nodded without looking at him. "In a minute," she said.

Understanding, Rodolophus nodded and he and Bellatrix left.

Jessica approached Maria, who avoided looking at her until Jessica was breathing on her cheek. Maria started to speak but only a choking sound made it out as Jessica grabbed the collar of her robes and held her up against the wall.

"Beat me up, I don't care. But if you're going to understand one thing, it is this. I know the game better than you. I will not only beat you at this game. If you push me, I will crush you."

Maria shook her head as much as she could, giving her cousin a defiant look. "Once Master is sick of you, he will torture you to death."

"That's the difference between you and me, Maria. I'm willing to get tortured to get what I want." Jessica, with adrenaline induced strength, held her up further. "And if you stand between me and what I want ever again, I will take you down with me."

Jessica let go of Maria and stormed out so fast and so wrapped up in her own thoughts, she didn't realize that Maria fell down in a heap to the floor.

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Tatianna was walking to her office when she noticed that Riley Haderson's office door was open a crack. Since it was suppose to be locked when he wasn't there, this caught her attention. Haderson was never here before 8 a.m. if he didn't need to be, and it wasn't 7 a.m. Plus, she thought he still was in England completing his investigation.

Tatianna walked down the hall to his office and cautiously peeked in. She was surprised to see Haderson actually in there. He was sitting behind the desk, his feet propped on it, and his face towards the window and the rising sun. Tatianna took a step into his office and the famously alert Auror didn't even budge.

She took a moment to look at him. Not even 34-years old, he was nearly at the top of his profession. He had his battle wounds, but he had almost all his limbs intact - he was missing only one finger. To have most of his limbs was a living testimony to either his luck or how good he truly was.

Tatianna had heard nothing but good reports on Haderson. He had not even a blotch in his file, a file which contained his top grades from his schooling and only the most exemplarity reports from his superiors. He either was top notch or he was the best bad guy she had ever met. She had yet to decide which.

"Haderson," she finally said. He turned to her without even flinching.

"Yes?" he asked as though he had known she was there the whole time. His throat was dry she noted.

"I thought you wouldn't get in until late today," she commented.

"I got back from England a few hours ago," he murmured. "And while you're here," he sat up and picked up a thick file from his desk. He handed it to her. "You asked me to personally deliver my report on the Ziners murder when I was done with my investigation."

Tatianna took the file. She flipped through it. "The interview transcript," she murmured when she found it. It had to be well over 20 pages long. "Did you interview both children?"

Riley looked away as he nodded. "Both of them."

"Did you ask about the mother's death?" Tatianna asked, looking at the boy. Riley had informed her of the discovery the previous week when she had asked for an update.

Riley nodded. "Yes. I was right."

He looked so distracted that Tatianna didn't feel it safe to leave yet.

"Haderson, are you going to be able to stand at trial?" she asked sternly.

That brought Haderson's eyes back to her. He nodded quickly. "Yes, I will be." He glanced at his desk again before looking back at her, "You have to excuse my wandering attention at the moment. It was more of an experience interviewing the kids than I thought it would be."

"Did you remain objective?" Tatianna asked quickly.

Riley snorted at her question, propping his feet back on the desk and looking back at the sunrise. "You've been in a laboratory too long, Unspeakable. The real world isn't as simple as being objective. But to answer your question, yes, I can be objective. That's not what I meant by more of an experience than I had expected." He sighed and scratched the back of his neck before looking back at Tatianna. "You'll notice this when you read the interview with Jessica. When she talks about Jeffery, she refers to him as two different people. Dad and Father. She really put new meaning to those words," he said quietly before continuing in a regular voice. "Dad was a human to her, Father was an evil machine. She literally would slip from one to the other in the same breath. Casey wasn't quite so divided with the names. He interchanged them. But Jessica referred to them as though she were talking about two different people."

"Who did she kill? Dad or Father."

"Father," Riley said without a doubt. "Definitely Father."

"Why do you think Casey was able to interchange them?"

"Jeffery, according to both of the kids, treated Jessica better. I think Casey only saw Jessica's 'Father'. I think Jeffery was nice to Jessica at times. Or she just tried to see him in a better light. Maybe as a coping mechanism."

"Do you believe that Jessica has any knowledge on this Voldemort?"

There was a moment before Riley shook his head. "I don't think she knows. I think she might have suspected something, but we can't go after that. I think both kids were more intent on not getting beat. Well, I think Casey was intent on not getting beat. Jessica was intent on Casey not getting beat. She didn't seem to care too much about what happened to herself."

Tatianna slowly nodded. Suddenly, it started to make some sense. Jessica was protecting her brother. If Jeffery Ziners treated her better, she would get the lesser of the beatings. But why did Jeffery treat his daughter better? If they were old family, she would think Jeffery would treat Casey better.

Riley looked her way. "What are you thinking?"

"Why would Jeffery treat his daughter better than the son? An old traditional British family--"

"Females are notoriously more powerful magically in the bloodline from which Jessica descends. Madeline's line, not Jeffery's. Most don't really know because the last name changes so much, so it's more of an orally passed fact. Jessica - Madeline and Daniel's mother, Jessica the younger's namesake - informed me of that when I was younger. Plus, there has to be some weight given to the fact that she is the firstborn. There is also the other thing."

Tatianna cocked her head. "What's the other thing?"
Riley was silent so long that she was unsure he would respond. Finally, he did, his voice laden so utterly thick with anger so suddenly that it startled Tatianna. "She was for breeding. Voldemort most likely, if that was who Jeffery was bankrolling."

Tatianna looked down, the file still open. The first thing she saw was 'I was the queen, the one that shouldn't be damaged'. She looked back up Riley. His eyes were back toward the window.

"Are you sure that neither Jessica nor Casey knew about their father's connection to Voldemort?"

"If they did, they probably didn't know it. Anyway, they're away from him now, whatever the case. Daniel will protect them."

"The books?" she asked. "The books mentioned in the letter. Did you find out what they were exactly? And if the children knew where they were?"

"I found out what the books were from Daniel. They are the Montgomery diaries...well, now the Ziners diaries. He says they change names to follow the female line of blood. Why, I don't know and neither does Daniel. It's followed tradition for a long time now, he says, so the real reason has been long since lost. Other than that, the diaries contain the secret discoveries of the families they have gone through. Daniel says that the reason they are secret is because of the danger they would present if unleashed in the real world."

"So, it's definitely something we don't want Voldemort or anyone to get their hands on. Why weren't they destroyed?"

"To share knowledge with future generations. For example, this ingredient with that ingredient provides this result. The family line has sworn to protect the diaries with their lives." Riley shrugged.

"Other than that," he continued. "Jessica and Casey gave me the same story. They knew what the books contained, but they also knew that the books kept them alive. Madeline put a spell over the books so that when Jeffery managed to find them--"

"He couldn't get to them without Casey or Jessica," Tatianna finished.
Riley nodded. "But he wanted to keep Jessica for the aforementioned purpose. Casey was disposable."

"Do the kids know where the books are?"

Riley shook his head. "No clue, but I have Aurors searching the house now."

"Well, let me know when they find them," Tatianna said, starting to turn.

"They won't find them," Riley said to her back as he returned to his window.

She turned, but only saw the side of Riley's face. "Why is that?" she asked.

"If Madeline Montgomery didn't want them found, they won't be found." Having gotten an impression of Madeline's work through the Unspeakable circuit, Tatianna suspected that Riley was right.

"All of this for a set of books," Tatianna murmured after a moment.

"And the funny thing is that, to Madeline, it probably had nothing to do with the books."

Tatianna thought that over a minute before saying, "What do you mean by that?"

"She hid the books so that he would need the kids to get to the books. It wasn't about hiding the books to Madeline. It was a life insurance policy for Jessica and Casey. It kept them alive all this time."

Tatianna started to leave when Riley's voice stopped her again. "I'm changing my conclusion. To self-defense. And before you assume I'm trying to protect Jessica, just read the interview transcript."

After she left, Riley murmured. "I'm not trying to protect Jessica. I already failed miserably at that."

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Sirius had his usual taunts with Jessica. Some weeks, there were only a few a week, some weeks, they were daily. Some days, they were hourly. Jessica usually happily tossed insults back, the severity of them depending on whether or not there were professors or prefects about. Occasionally, there were a hex or two exchanged, but it was an even rarer occurrence when either went to the Hospital Ward, both for fear that if they went, not only would they receive detention, but they would look weak to their respective friends.

After Christmas, per orders of his dad, Sirius had laid off her a bit. Even Sarah Black had laid off her, though Jessica had half expected the bitch to start into her after not having Casey to unmercifully harass. When the taunts had started again, it was luckily after Jessica had had her conversation with the Bloody Baron, so she was thus feeling a bit more like herself. She was able to defend herself but not quite in her usual manner. She wasn't as aggressive and also, sometimes desperately, searched for places to escape into and professors and prefects for protection. Jessica knew that before, there had been a line she could cross in these fights, and Sirius and Sarah both had that same line. But after Christmas, that line had flown so close to Jessica's feet, the flight of it so fast that it had almost made her dizzy. So Jessica watched for that line constantly, knowing that if she were removed from the protective walls of Hogwarts, its protectiveness amplified a hundred fold due to recent events, Jessica would not survive the influence of Tom.

And whether it be lucky or unlucky, she had other protection, almost severely ironic in nature. They were the Slytherins, the very entity of people that she so feared outside Hogwarts' walls. Whenever one, two, or a few were near, especially if they be in the running for future Death Eaters (which only made the situation all the more ironic), and Sirius and his little gang were to start into her, they would form a protective barrier around her, hurling insults at the puny, little Gryffindor and his puny, little friends.

But it was bound to happen. Jessica was bound to snap, she knew, because she knew that a member of the Black family was bound to cross the line. It was only a matter of time before they chose a taunt of which nature was likely to make Jessica see red.

Surprisingly, though not so, it was Sarah Black. The puny, little First Year decided that she was brave enough to take on the murdering Second Year. It was a crowded hall. Sarah had just passed Jessica in the hallway. Jessica walk alone, and Sarah was crowded by friends, Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws alike.

"Hey, girls, look. It's the girl who murdered her father."

Jessica rolled her eyes and kept walking, muttering under breath, "Oh, how original."

"You know," Sarah kept going, now turning, her friends with her, to follow Jessica. This only occurred a short ways, however. "People say she did it protecting her brother. They say their father was killing him, but that's not what happened. It was Jessica killing her brother, the father stopping her." Jessica's feet stopped but her back remained on the young girl. "And you know what else?" Sarah asked, seeing she had her prey and was about to reel her in. "She murdered her mother too." There were some gasps from her fellow mates. "Her mother was this Voldemort character's ho. But Jessica wanted to be his ho."

Jessica turned slowly, her eyes dark. The hall had long since stopped moving and people were gathering in a circle. Everyone knew, Jessica realized suddenly, that she would eventually break. They were just waiting for the violence as proof that she was a bad guy, a confirmation of their rumors.

"No, the place of Voldemort's ho belongs to you. I'll let him know you want it," Jessica replied.

"I'll let my dad know you can pass messages along to Voldemort. He'll add it to the long line of evidence against you. He hasn't had to work too hard to gather it though."

Jessica started towards Sarah, who bravely held her ground. She was stopped however by hands on her shoulders. She looked to her left and right quickly and saw Narcissa at her left shoulder and Severus at her right. Jessica had no doubt of her ability to get past Narcissa, but both she and Severus knew that she was no match for him. At least, not yet, she assured herself.

Jessica noticed in her glances as well that other Slytherins of all years had gathered around on her side. As Jessica looked to the front, she saw that a wide gulf now existed between Sarah and her. Sarah was being backed up by Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws of all years. But the number wasn't what had Jessica's attention. It was the green eyes of the girl standing next to Alice Bolmond. Lily looked unsettled in her position, but she had finally learned what Jessica had so tried to tell her the day they boarded the train in their first year. Lily finally understood some of the world of which Jessica was a part. Lily was too good to understand the rest of Jessica's world however.

Next to Alice stood, in this order: Frank Longbottom, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. Sirius was looking ready to step in for his sister the moment she allowed it. Hell, he looked ready to rip it from her.

"What? Struck dumb by the Cruciatus Curse. Oops," Sarah put a hand to her mouth, "Sorry, that was your brother."

Jessica started for her wand, but upon remembering she didn't have it, she started her hand up. But she couldn't move it from her side. Severus was holding her wrist. She looked from her hand up to Severus. He was abnormally tall for his age. He stood a good six inches taller than her so she had to look way up. Severus' dark eyes were looking at hers. They stood that way for a period of time until Jessica finally understood. The power of her hand should not be used in conjunction with her heart but rather her head, as Professor Rum had told her. It was not wise to hurt this girl. At this time, at least. Jessica knew what she had to do. She knew it was time to use her brain.

Jessica turned back to Sarah to see that the girl was bravely crossing the great divide between the Slytherins and the rest of school. She didn't stop until she was nose to nose with Jessica, both girls standing at about the same height.

"I dare you. Since I know you don't have your magic, I *dare you* to take a swing at me." When Jessica didn't move, Sarah smirked. "What are you? A chicken?"

Jessica didn't speak. Slowly, a smile covered her face. But still, she did not speak.

The two girls stood in silence for some time before the smirk started to disappear from Sarah's face. A second later, she forced it back on. Sarah took a step back. "You are a coward, Ziners. Just as I thought. Willing to murder your father when there is no one around to stop you but a dumb, almost dead brother, but not willing to take a swing at me in this crowded hallway."

"Miss Black!" came the screech of McGonagall's voice.

Everyone from every house scattered, even the now-smiling Slytherins. Jessica was the only Slytherin to not smile, her own grin replaced by a feigned sad, innocent look as she, Severus, and Narcissa remained in their spots.

McGonagall pushed her way into the center of the incident to stand over the now ashen faced First Year Gryffindor.

"Miss Black, the display I just witnessed her makes me ashamed to be the head of your house. A month of detention!!" McGonagall turned her head to look at Jessica.

"Are you alright, Miss Ziners?"

Jessica gave a 'brave' nod as she took a shuttering breath and an audible sniff through her nose. "I think--I think I will be." Narcissa only added to it when she put a comforting arm around Jessica.

"It'll be alright, Jessica," Narcissa said soothingly. "Let's go to class."

"Don't worry about going," McGonagall said, referring to their next class. "I'll inform the professor you won't be there. Right now, I think Miss Ziners needs her friends and a break."

Jessica buried her head in Narcissa's shoulder as she nodded and sniffed louder. "Thanks, Professor," she said in a weak voice. Both Severus and Narcissa mouthed thanks to McGonagall as they started Jessica down the stairs.

It wasn't until they were in Jessica's room that three burst into fits of laughter.

"That was the performance of a lifetime, Jessica!" Narcissa laughed as she fell onto Jessica's bed. Jessica fell next to her, giggling the hardest she had in what seemed like a long time.

Severus fell next to Jessica, laughing the hardest and longest Jessica had ever heard the boy.

"I thought I was going to lose it with the sniffles," he said.

"I thought I was going to lose it with the burying of her head in my shoulder," Narcissa added.

"I thought I was a goner when Narcissa put her arm on my shoulders." Jessica turned to her left to Narcissa. "And the only reason I buried my head in your shoulder is because I did lose it when McGonagall excused us from class."

This brought renewed laughter from the three. When they started to quiet, Narcissa turned to the other two. "You think McGonagall will be mad when she realizes that our next class was hers?"

Jessica shrugged, but Severus shook his head. "Nah. After all, *poor, little Jessica needs her friends right now*." Severus sniffled dramatically.

Narcissa and Severus laughed. Jessica grabbed her pillow and hit Severus with it, causing a tug-of-war with the two. All three dissolved onto the floor at the end of the fight, giggling so hard they couldn't breathe properly.

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Riley met Mark Halmer in Casey's room the next night.

"The shirt?" Riley asked.

There was a nod. "Yeah, the information he gave you panned out."

"And the books?"

"Nothing," Mark said. He sounded tired.

Riley nodded as though that was what he had expected.

Mark shook his head on a sigh. "I don't get it," he said. "There is not a spot in this house that we didn't cover. We sure went through a ton of books though. To think," Mark said, casting a look over at the packed floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that covered two walls in Casey's large bedroom, "all these books and no diaries. It's as though they don't exist."

Riley, his eyes on the same shelves, nodded. "I'm not surprised. If Madeline had wanted them hidden, they won't be found."

"Do you think she destroyed them?" Mark asked, his eyes back on Riley.

His eyes still on the shelves, Riley shook his head. "No, they're still here, somewhere in this house. We've probably walked by them a million times without even knowing."

Mark chuckled. "Madeline was sure a smart lady."

"The smartest," Riley said. "Knowing her, we'll smack ourselves for being so stupid when we find them."

"If we ever find them," Mark pointed out as they left the room together.

"That's true, my friend. Very true."

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When Peter, James, and Sirius all sat across the table from Remus in the Gryffindor Common Room, Remus couldn't help but look up at them from his book. They had never looked so serious in the time Remus had known them. He grinned.

"What is it?" he asked, amused.

"We've come to a decision," Peter announced, smiling.

"Well," Sirius shrugged, "a promise to be more exact. A promise to you and to each other."

When they didn't continue, Remus prompted, "And that might be?"

"We've decided that we're going to become Animagi, so that when you...we can go with you."

Remus looked at them suspiciously for a very long time.

Peter kept nodding. James and Sirius kept grinning.

Remus shrugged and shook his head, going back to his book.

The three across the table looked at each other. "He isn't going to believe us until the end of the full moon next March," Sirius said. "So that's to be expected."

"I'm not going to believe you until then?" Remus asked, glancing up again. "Did a crystal ball instruct you on this?"

Sirius shook his head. "Nah. I just know you."

Remus went back to his book but not fast enough to hide his grin or silent laughter.

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Jeff Rin knew that she should be happy. She had caught the Snitch. Slytherins had won the Quidditch Cup. But her smile was only half there. She was in deep thought. The last few days, she had appeared to have accepted something, but it didn't seem to bother her that deeply. And rather than bother her, it seemed to have made her stronger. She did, however, seem resigned to something.

She seemed tired, Jeff had noticed. More tired than a 12-year old should be.

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Casey had been allowed to walk outside the Hospital Ward for the last two weeks. Today, he didn't say anything as they walked back to Jessica's room. No sound came from either of them until well past the closing of the door. Both were sitting on the bed, staring at the spot in space before them, when Jessica spoke.

"I lied to Riley," she said quietly. It was the first time she had spoken of their interview since after the day it had occurred.

Casey nodded. "So did I."

"He believed us."

Casey nodded again.

"We're not finished lying."

Casey looked at Jessica, surprised to hear her admit that without prompting.

She wasn't finished. "No. After this, it'll be the judges at my trial, Uncle Danny, Andorra, Mr. Potter, Gary, the teachers, Lily,...everyone." She finally looked at him. "This is our fight, Case. We're not on the sidelines anymore. We're in the game, whether we like it or not.

"I think we were always in the game though. But, this time...this time, we're playing."

To be continued...

The end of the school year.