Dumbledore's Legacy

Dumbledore’s Legacy
In which a strange woman unknown to Harry appears and causes quite a turn of events unlike anything we have seen before.

There are a few people, both magical and muggle, who will always be known to everyone else. Sometimes it’s a matter of perserverance and being in the right place at the right time, like being the first man to walk on the moon, or the first woman to become Minister of Magic. Other times, it takes sheer dumb luck, not always in such a good way. Would anyone have known Harry Potter without Lord Voldemort? Would anyone have known Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley without Harry?
And sometimes, fame is just part of family life. When the young woman first appeared out of the Skeezy Weasel, an inn situated at the very end of grubby Knockturn Alley, people stared. Not because she was necessarily beautiful, because she wasn’t. Not because she was even stood out - she had done everything she could to blend in. Almost immediately the whispers began. And, as everyone knows, news travels fast in a tight-knit community. And who could possibly be tighter than large groups of people living in fear, having finally seen something that gave them hope that things would be okay in the end?
“She’s back,” was the general murmur as the woman meandered down the alley. There were also a few, “Can it truly be?”s and also a couple, “You know, she and I used to have a thing back at Hogwarts,” thrown in there for good measure and for bragging rights, although none of those comments were true. The woman hadn’t even gone to school at Hogwarts. Most people actually didn’t know if she had ever gone to school to be trained. All they knew was that she was one of the leading experts on the Dark Arts and hadn’t been seen in thirty-seven years. Those who remembered seeing her before her disappearance would have remarked that she hadn’t aged a minute. And the statement would be true. Those who had only heard rumors of her existence would have still known her after one glance. It was the way it felt to look at her.
Where Knockturn Alley and Diagon Alley intersected, the woman paused and moved a trashcan. Underneath it was a lemon drop. She picked it up, and as the tug at her belly button began, she thought to herself, “Lovely. Just what I wanted to experience. A portkey.” She hummed to herself as she was dropped to the ground in front of 12 Grimmauld Place. Pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket and glancing up at the house in front of her, she shrugged. “Nicely done, Dad,” she whispered. She then popped the lemon drop into her mouth and winced. “Too late now,” she thought to herself as she stepped up to the front door and rang the bell.

~~~

Hearts in the Phoenix Headquarters were very heavy. Dumbledore had been buried yesterday. Harry was haunted and more alone and afraid than he had ever been before. Thinks were looking more grim by the minute. Remus Lupin sat quietly at a card table in the kitchen, staring at a glass of whiskey in front of him. Tonks was lying on the couch in the living room, where she had been since the funeral, staring at the cracked and grungy ceiling of the house. Mrs. Weasley cried every few minutes and Mr. Weasley could do nothing but wander the house, trying to sound friendly. Everyone jumped when the doorbell rang. They all made their way into the living room and stood, staring at one another. No one wanted to answer that door. Who knew what could be on the other side? Now that Snape had shown his true colors, they knew they weren’t safe here. No one had had the energy to leave yet.
No one had to open the door. The woman on the other side opened it on her own, and made her way through the entry hall and into the living room. Harry was completely confused as he looked around the room and saw many of the older members staring at the woman in shock and awe. No one spoke. Molly and Arthur went to her and took turns holding (or were they the ones being held?) the girl. Next went Remus and Tonks. The rest of the Order took their turns, until only Harry, Hermione, and Ron were left. The woman walked up to Hermione and hugged her, kissing her cheek softly. The did the same to Ron, before moving over to Harry. As she held him tightly, she whispered into his ear, “You. You were his favorite.” before pulling away.
Silence was maintained for a while. Finally Hermione spoke up. “Who are you?” she asked in almost a half-whisper. She could feel the young woman’s magical strength enveloping everyone in the room.
The woman’s voice was warm, comforting. She simply said, “Daisy.” And smiled.
“Daisy is Albus Dumbledore’s only child,” Remus said quietly, his voice calm and strong for the first time since Dumbledore had been killed.
Molly burst into tears. Arthur tried his best to comfort her. Daisy simply nodded at Harry and Hermione. “Dumbledore had a daughter?” Harry asked, not quite believing it.
“Of course he did,” Daisy replied. And her eyes held the same twinkle her father’s had held before.
Hermione sat down, HARD. Ron simply gaped. Harry nodded a little, before walking up to her.
“Your father -” he began.
“Was killed. Yes, I am aware of that. That’s why I’m here,” was the young woman’s reply. She didn’t seem to hold any sadness, yet Molly grabbed a box of tissues nearby, blew her nose, and then handed the rest of the box to Daisy. She took it and rested it on a table, looking to Molly and touching her face gently. “Molly dear, there’s no need for tears. He did what was needed for the rest of us to live. He was a good man, and he will be sorely missed. But my father had planned this with Severus.”
Everyone stopped and stared. Daisy chuckled. “Everyone sit down and I’ll tell you all, since obviously the only three people who knew such a thing were Severus, Dad, and myself.” Everyone sat. Daisy explained very quickly that three months ago, she had recieved a letter from her father, delivered by muggle post, explaining the situation here in England.
Voldemort’s return had worried Albus Dumbledore, who was already dying, slowly. He and Severus Snape had made an agreement one night that Snape would be a part of the raiding party that had been planned to take Dumbledore’s life. Snape had even helped Draco Malfoy to plan it. And, over an Unbreakable promise, Snape had promised that he would see to it that Dumbledore didn’t make it out alive. And that he wouldn’t suffer. Daisy had been well aware of it all, and had done as her father asked. She had arrived a few days before Harry and Dumbledore’s trip to the caves in search of the locket, and told her father goodbye. After that, it was just a matter of waiting. She had holed up in Knockturn Alley, watched the Death Eaters gather and leave to kill her father, and then she had mourned him quietly for 15 minutes (which was Dumbledore’s instruction to a ‘t’), lay down and slept for 3 days with the help of a sleeping draught she had created.
Three days after her father’s death, she was to arrive at 12 Grimmauld Place, and take over his work. The Order stared. Daisy smiled. And made her way into the kitchen. “Anyone want anything while I’m here?”
No one replied, but when she returned, she had a large cake from the refrigerator and also a pitcher of milk. “Fattening food is good for your thought processes,” she said, smiling, and passed everyone a piece of the chocolate cake and a glass of milk. Everyone sat quietly, chewing and thinking over what they had just been told.
Remus was the first to finish his meal. “So,” he said softly, obviously feeling better, “What do we do first?” Slowly, plans began to be made. Daisy was to take over both Dumbledore and Snape’s work while Snape was gone. She was skilled at potions and research. Ron and Hermione were to help her, and the three of them were all to help Harry. The rest of the Order would take care of the rest of the plans.