Shadow's Truth

Harry Potter and the Shadow's Truth

By Leanne

Chapter Six:

They had each gone their separate ways; Lenna, Terence and Jonathan had stayed long after Hermione, Ginny and Draco had left. Their discussion had fallen on how to tell Snape that they were leaving so shortly after they had arrived. It was one thing to ask for help, but it was quite another to simply drop twelve survivors and three sick ones onto inexperienced Professors who had not asked for such a responsibility. Lenna simply waved the discussion off saying she would deal with it, and then moved on to more important things. Where in time had Tom Riddle found what he was looking for? Whatever he had used to create the Shadow had been so long forgotten that no book, except one, had information on it.

Lethifolds, rare shadow like creatures as they were, were near impossible to find, let alone trap and learn their secrets. There had to be a time, a place, an era, where Voldemort had found a large number of these creatures, where he had found their lair and learned their secrets; but where? Where would he travel to find whatever he desired? The answer was so plainly obvious, that Lenna had pushed it out of her mind with a dismissive grunt.

Cold fury bubbled below the surface of a nervous calm, threatening to boil over and enrage the young Medi-witch further. They had been forced to learn the truths of life and of death at a young age, and though the knowledge was benefiting, it had aged their young souls many years beyond them. She was simply doing the only thing she knew how to do; survive to help when no one else could. It was simply breed into her, though; she hardly thought that was what was planned to happen. She did not want to believe that Dumbledore in all his infinite wisdom had breed his students to be nothing more than mindless drones incapable of doing anything else but walk the Earth searching for their next victim to save. Could it be possible that even when Tom Riddle had been a student, Albus Dumbledore had begun his campaign to build his army of protectors? That, out of his wisdom, Tom Riddle had done the only thing he knew how to do? He knew exactly how to survive, but add in a Slytherins lust for power, and the sickening truth that a father had not wanted him, had turned cold. Though she had no desire for power, the thought that there was similarities between her and the Darkest Wizards in the known world, scared her, scared her more than knowing she was a Necromancer.

Her breath caught in her throat as she settled into the chair in the library. Now, nearly alone, she knew she was not going about things the right way. It was dangerous to retrace Voldemort's footsteps. It was dangerous to go where ever he had gone. It would be equally dangerous to prove that they had not just looked at those books, the same ones he read, and had the best intentions in the world at heart. Her mother's harsh words echoed in her mind, she was doing exactly what Aleena had said she would; she was quickly following the same path that Voldemort had, though for an entirely different reason.

"I'm not evil," she muttered to herself and looked up at Terence who was confused. "Don't worry about it."

"You're scared. I can see it, I can feel it," Terence said, coming closer to her. He was pushing his luck with her, and he knew he was; but he just had to know if there was still the chance that, no matter their past, they would get back together.

"Yes I am, so what? We're retracing his steps, something I'm sure many people have tried to do before. There isn't a known wizard who has done it and survived. I'm sure he's made it impossible to find where he's been. It's dangerous. Not only did we dabble in the dark arts when we were younger, we're following exactly what he did to create the Shadow. Don't you understand that someone could think we were doing this for all the wrong reasons instead of all the right reasons? I'm terrified!" her voice wavered, her heart thumped loudly in her chest, and her breath came in staggered breaths.

She wasn't lying when she said she was terrified. It wasn't the act that scared her, it was simply the idea of what they were doing, and how they were going to accomplish this strange, unnatural journey to where ever they were going, simply to find the truth; but what truth was it they were looking for?

The chair scrapped against the wooden floor panels, and Lenna stood suddenly. Bewilderment washed over her pale features, the moonlight illuminating her dark eyes. She watched Terence closely, unable to trust him completely. She wasn't afraid of him, not really. Concerned for him, yes, afraid of him, no. She cared about him, their past made certain of that; but she wasn't sure she could love him as he hoped she would.

"You're trembling," Terence whispered, taking a step closer to stand in front of her leaving only centimetres between them.

"Fear does that to you." She sighed and took a step back from him. "Terence, we can't keep doing this. I've just lost Daniel, please, just--just let me mourn for him."

Lenna left him and walked to the window. Watching the clouds dance across the majestic velvet sky and the stars sparkling like a muggle evening dress, she could faintly hear the wolves baying at the moon. Draped in the cool light of the moon, she half turned to look at Terence. Tears fell freely from her eyes, her small fingers curled around an unseen object, and she held it close to her heart.

"I loved him, not as I once loved you, but I loved him all the same. He was my husband, and maybe if I had allowed myself to love him more, he would have been the father to my child; but all the same, I loved him. He's gone; he's left me here. He's gone to...where we wizards go when we die. I am not alone, no; I have my friends with me. But I'm scared. Scared of losing them, scared of losing you. Don't you understand? I loved him and I've lost him. I loved you, and you left me too."

She felt him walk up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He let her cry; he knew she needed it. He knew in the last seven years, they had seen so many people die, so many people they were once close with, and they too had left and gone on to the afterlife. She had not so much as shed a tear when their name was added to the erected monument in the centre of Diagon Alley; she had made no sound as to show she was mourning the loss of friends. She had been strong only because they needed it. There were still people dying, still people suffering, and somewhere in the mass of decaying human bodies, was her godson, and she wanted him back. Now she cried: cried for Harry, lost in the Department of Mysteries; for Jacob, lost in a sea of the dead; cried for Daniel, lost to the toxins, and for Terence, who had left her just after school ended.

"I'm not leaving you again. I did that once and have regretted the decision ever since. When I saw you walking down the aisle to marry Daniel, it took all the strength in the world not to stop you. I saw how happy you were with him, and I knew I blew my shot when I left you."

"I..." she pulled away and looked up at the man she should have married. Sighing, she continued, "You could have said something."

"What? You were happy with Daniel. All I ever wanted for you was your happiness. Leaving you caused you pain, and I've wanted you since," Terence explained. "When I heard St. Mungo's was in trouble, Jonathan, Sarah and I all requested transfers so we could be with you. Our bosses might have thought we were mad, but we needed it. We needed you."

"I've heard all of this before."

"No you haven't. You've only heard my thoughts on it," Terence explained, and she knew he was right.

"Same thing. You might not have said it out loud, but I've heard it all before," Lenna grumbled; she couldn't believe they were arguing over this. She knew what she had felt; she knew what he thought about her marriage.

"You knew my feelings about it, and still you married him. Why?"

"If you had of just told me, just said 'don't marry him!' I might not have. I would probably be with you!"

"You still could be," Terence muttered.

"No. I need to mourn them, not just Daniel, not just Harry or Jacob, but all of the people I couldn't save. The toxins took a great many people I cared for; my fear caused the death of too many of my friends. I need to figure all of this out," Lenna whispered. "Not just my feelings for you, or my grief for them, but my confusion towards my mother's haunting, and fear towards what I am. I'm one of the monsters, Terence. I'm one of the things that makes stories scary, and that scares me."

He wrapped his arms around her waist again, and held her. He had always known what she was and that it scared her, and that her mother gave her nightmares. But a ghost haunting her was news especially when said ghost was bound to a meadow, unable to harm anyone again. Was it possible that Aleena had fooled them all into thinking she was dead? He did not tell Lenna though; she already knew his thoughts on the matter.

Lenna sighed and tried to shake the thought away. Aleena was not alive; she had seen her die! Her mind thought on the new perspective Terence was giving her. Aleena was surly capable of such deception. So, why then, did she refuse to believe it when the truth seemed so plainly obvious?

"You've wanted her dead for so long; you don't want to believe she's still out there causing trouble. You don't want to believe she could still have ways of getting to you."

"She's caused my father and I so much trouble. I won't let her hurt him anymore. I bound her to the meadow for a reason!" Lenna cursed.

She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. It was impossible! Aleena could not have survived! The woman was dead; she had to be. Lenna shuddered to think of the damage that could be done if Aleena was still around. She knew what her mother was capable of better than most people. She knew what damage the lioness could do, and that her mother held no remorse for the lives she took, or the people she tortured. Aleena enjoyed killing, enjoyed taking a life into her hands and watching it slowly slip away as blood ran freely over her hands. But what Aleena enjoyed more than killing people she didn't know, was hurting and killing people she did know.

"She's crazy, Terence. If she's alive, no one is safe. Not Hogwarts, not the camps. No one. She'll hunt every last person down and she'll kill them. Especially us," Lenna muttered, her eyes still closed.

"Why do you say that?" Terence questioned, though, if he wanted to, he could simply read her thoughts and know exactly what she was thinking, or why she had said that. But she had asked him for space to mourn the people they had lost, and he was going to do just that.

"We killed her, or we at least killed someone that looked like her. We helped Harry kill Voldemort. Her master was killed, and so was her husband, and I'm sure one of her lovers was killed as well, but none of us died. We're still alive, living semi-normal lives-- If you could call our lives normal," Lenna explained. "Think about it? My mother has hated my father and I for years. The only reason she joined the Death Eaters was to gain knowledge and power so that she could seek her revenge against my father for whatever it is that he did to her. She hated me because I don't hate him. Yes, I'm angry with him for not telling me he wanted me dead, but that doesn't mean I hate him. He's still my father, and the only parent I have in my life. And she hates me for it. I was her weapon, her tool against him, and in her mind I betrayed her."

"How do you know all of this?" Terence was as confused as would any other person being told a life history of a madwoman.

"She's haunting me. She still wants me to be her little servant in my father's destruction. She told me: 'you are a born Necromancer. Necromancy is a form of Dark Magic, Lenna. You do the math. It is only a matter of time before you and your friends follow in Lord Voldemort's footsteps.' Terence, we're doing just that. We're retracing his footsteps. I started all of this. I asked you, Sarah and Jonathan to learn the Dark Arts with me, and you knew my reasons why. And then, in seventh year, I asked Harry, Hermione, and Draco to join us, as I had already asked Ginny a few years before. Terence, don't you understand? She had me only because she knew what I would become. She knew that the first-born child to a Necromancer would be born a Necromancer. She knew I would walk the same path she does. She knew exactly what I would become, whether I wanted it or not. She wanted me to be by her side, another Necromancer in the arms of evil. Can you imagine how the tables would have been turned if there were two of us standing beside Voldemort?"

"No, I couldn't. You aren't like her. You've fought for the good side and we won. He's dead, and soon we'll have rounded up all the known Death Eaters, and the toxins will be cured. Soon the Shadow will be nothing more than a bad dream and we can all go on living a normal life," Terence said calmly, hoping that she would believe what he said.

"I'm not so sure. She's got something more up her sleeve. I just wish I knew what!"

"You need to rest. I'll walk you back to your room, and then I'll see you in the morning. Whatever you plan to tell your father, it had better be good," Terence said leading Lenna towards the doorway to the library.

~*~

Standing in the Entrance Hall, Lenna looked at the lone figure with their back turned to them with the hood of their cloak up. Had she known they were expecting visitors so late in the evening, she would have stayed in the library longer and avoided any one who came to Hogwarts. She really wasn't in the mood to entertain visitors, and she was sure that this person wasn't at Hogwarts to speak to Minerva or her father.

The figure turned and lowered their hood, watching them closely. Lenna held onto Terence's arm for support. She suddenly felt rather weak, not because of who was standing there, but she had yet to eat in two days, and she was dealing with grief.

"Morag," Lenna said numbly. "What brings you to Hogwarts?"

"Ministry business," the woman replied in her hoarse voice.

"What does the Ministry want with Hogwarts?" Terence questioned sternly. He wasn't one for idle chitchat; he just wanted the point of the visit.

"Not with Hogwarts, Higgs, with Lenna," Morag replied gruffly. "The Ministry cordially request that Miss Snape find a cure to our current epidemic. They request that you begin right away."

"Oh, yes. Now that I have the Ministry's approval, I'll just drop everything I'm doing to find a cure to the toxins. Tell me Morag, where was the Ministry when St. Mungo's was attacked? Where was the Ministry when the medi-witches and wizards were dying from the toxins? Where was the Ministry when I asked them for help?" Lenna hissed, "they refused me help and now they 'cordially request' I help them?"

"We could not afford to send anyone, you must understand. No one wanted to go there. No one wanted to face what you were facing," Morag said calmly. "If you won't do it for the Ministry, do it for us, for those of us who are still alive. Do it for Harry."

"Don't bring Harry into this. He was right; you know that? The Ministry doesn't care for anyone but themselves. They only want us to believe they have the best interest in mind for the Wizarding world, but where have they been? How many camps have they visited? How many sick and dying children have they held? Morag, I won't do it for Harry, or the Ministry; I'll do it for myself, for the best friend I have laying in the Hospital Wing, and the five-year-old boy who is dying. Not because the Ministry asked me to. I don't want their help. I'll find the cure by any means necessary. And no one, not even the Ministry, will get in my way," Lenna growled, and stormed off past Morag, not giving the woman another thought.

Again, the Ministry wanted help from some of the only people who could help. What gave them the right to presume that she knew what was going on? How could they even know that she and her friends had clues that no one else had seen or thought of? Lenna paced the hallway before her father's rooms and thought about what had just happened. She didn't want to be a part of any of this; she had just wanted to be a normal medi-witch without worrying about saving the world from some evil creature.