Destiny

Targeted

Chapter 8

"... Destiny Black."

When Sirius heard that, he froze. 'No...' he thought desperately. 'There has to be a mistake!' He hadn't wanted to admit it, but he really was looking forward to getting to know Destiny. He found himself thinking of all the fun things they could do as a family- and the pranks he could teach her. Now though, it seemed she would either become a spy or be forced to go into hiding. If she wasn't working for Voldemort already... Thinking this, he quickly focused his attention on Harry.

"What else did you see? Why would he want her?" Sirius asked desperately.

"He said it was because of some prophecy. Also because she was the Ghostly Seer. What is that supposed to mean?" Not waiting for an answer, Harry continued. "Voldemort said that she had the ability to get rid of the Mage. Does any of this make sense to anyone?"

Looking thoughtful, Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Remus.

"We need to make sure that Destiny does not end up on his side. If she does, we've lost."

Calmly, Dumbledore said, "Remus, I'm afraid you're going to have to tell us what you've found out about Miss Black if we're going to be able to protect her. We need to know why Voldemort is hunting her."

Taking a deep breath, Remus replied, "I can't tell you. Destiny made it very clear that if I told, I would regret it. Besides, she needs to know that we're on her side and that we won't turn on her."

Quickly thinking up a solution, Sirius jumped into the conversation. "What if we ask her join the Order? That might keep her on our side. I mean, she is a kid. She'll think it's a great honor and won't want to switch sides."

As everyone started to nod, Remus snorted and shook his head in disgust.

"Do you think she's stupid? She'll know what you're doing. Besides, if you knew what the prophecy meant by 'Ghostly Seer', you probably wouldn't want her to be a part of the Order. After all, I remember how hard you fought to keep me out and from letting Sirius back in." At this, he glared at the others in the room.

Clearing his throat, Dumbledore got their attention.

"Remus, while it's admirable that you do not wish to tell Miss Black's secret, do you suppose you can get her to tell it to me herself? That way you've kept her confidence and we will be able to help her."

Shaking his head, Remus replied slowly. "No, she won't listen to me... But she may tell Harry, and he might be able to convince her to speak with you."

Raising his eyebrows at Remus, Sirius spoke up. "She's only known Harry for a short time. Why would she tell him something that is obviously very important?"

Giving a slight smile, Remus answered. "She's in love with him."

"She is not!" Harry exclaimed, turning red.

"Yes she is," Remus said calmly.

"So you can use that to get the information to help us, which will allow us to help her!" Looking suddenly worried about Harry's involvement, Sirius said, "Of course we'd only do this if you wanted to. I don't want you to end up being the bad guy in this... But Destiny needs our help too!" Putting a hand to his head, he groaned, "This meeting is giving me a headache." Giving his head a shake to clear it of unwanted thoughts, Sirius muttered, "You know this would be a lot easier if Remus here wasn't such a stick in the mud."

Looking him in the eye, Remus replied evenly, "I'm sure James was wishing that Peter was a stick in the mud as Voldemort murdered him..."

At this, no one made a sound. Finally having had enough, Harry sighed. "I'll try to get her to tell you, Sir," he said to Dumbledore.

"Thank you Harry. That's all I'm asking for."

*****

As Harry, Professor Lupin, and Sirius- as Padfoot- walked down the hall, Harry couldn't figure out how he was going to get Destiny to tell him her secret.

"Harry... What are you going to say to her when you see her next?" Remus inquired, concerned about how Destiny would react to people interfering with her life.

"I'm not sure."

"Well, whatever you do, don't use her feelings against her. If you don't like her, don't lead her on. Other wise it will go bad for all of us."

"What is she? I mean, she must be pretty powerful for you to be so afraid of telling her secret without permission."

"I won't tell you. You'll understand when you find out why. But I will tell you this: Don't judge her before you know the whole story. If you do, I guarantee you'll regret it. She'll never trust you again."

As they walked away, Harry couldn't help thinking, 'Why me?'

*****

As Destiny walked away from where she had just met with her father, she began to whistle. Things were finally changing for the better.

'Now, how to get Harry's attention...'

Deciding that she didn't want to hang out with Ron and Hermione at the moment, Destiny went outside to take a walk around the lake. As she strolled along, she turned her thoughts to the Potters.

'I wonder where they are... I still can't believe they just took off like that! And I figured they would have come back by now. They've never left for this much time before...'

As she continued walking nearer to the Forbidden Forest, she heard her name being whispered into the wind.

"Destiny..."

Looking around for the origin of the voice, she called out a cautious, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Necromancer..."

"Okay, where are you?" she called out again, slightly angry that anyone would address her as such. Pausing for a moment to gather her thoughts- and to steel herself for the inevitable-, she thought, 'Oh, this is so stupid! It feels like a bad horror movie. I'm probably going to end up being stabbed to death...' Giving a bitter laugh at the insanely stupid thing she was about to do, Destiny quickly headed into the forest to look for the owner of the voice.

After walking for a few minutes, she slowed to a stop. "Alright, I'm in the forest. If I scream, nobody will hear me. Show yourself."

"Necromancer..." the voice hissed evilly.

Knowing what was coming- and mentally kicking herself for knowingly walking into this situation-, she didn't even bother to turn around as she responded with a quiet, "Riddle." Turning around, she saw exactly what she had expected to see. In front of her stood a tall man with white skin and red eyes. He resembled a snake so much it was difficult to see him as a human being. 'But he's not human,' her mind whispered, 'not anymore. He lost his humanity during his last reign of terror.'

Lifting her eyes defiantly to meet his, she said calmly, "Welcome to my forest. To what do I owe this visit?"

As Voldemort approached, she was surprised that she felt no fear within her.

"Hello Necromancer."

"Yes, I think that we've established that I am indeed a Necromancer. I do have a name you know."

"Ah, yes. Destiny Black. The infamous convicts daughter. How is he?"

"Peachy. How's yours? Rotting nicely I hope?"

As she said this, his eyes narrowed. "Enough! I am here to offer you a position with me."

"Should I be flattered?"

"Indeed you should. It is a very rare that I recruit followers myself... I am giving you a chance to join my family. What do you say? Are you willing to follow me?"

Giving the man in front of her a disgusted look, she raised her head proudly and spat, "I will NOT be a Death Eater! They carry no respect. They become nothing more than a servant the instant they take your mark onto their flesh. I am no ones dog!"

Obviously surprised at her fearless attitude- though he hid it well-, he smiled. It was a chilling sight to see on such an evil face.

"I was not asking you to be a servant-"

"I will not be a Death Eater. I can tell you that if I wanted to rule the world, I would be better off doing so on my own."

"I was offering you a position as my Second in Command. It is a very well known fact that all of the truly great Dark Lords have had a Dark Creature as a Second. And what better ally than one who looks totally innocent but is to grow into the most powerful creature in the world. And to top it off, you can see the future. What do you say now? I can offer you more than that Muggle- loving- fool Dumbledore ever could."

"What would you give me?" Destiny asked, genuinely curious. It wasn't that she actually wanted to join the Dark Side- she had after all been raised by the two ghosts who opposed the Dark completely-, but she did want to know if Voldemort, of all people, could figure out what the one thing in all the world was that she really wanted.

"I could give you the world." Raising an eyebrow, she waved for him to continue. "I could give you jewels, beautiful clothing, and any man you wanted. I've heard you've taken a liking for the Malfoy boy. You could have him. Anything you wanted."

Feeling a little unnerved by the thought of Draco being forced to become her play thing, Destiny opened her mouth to tell him to forget it, that she couldn't be bribed, when Voldemort continued.

"You could have your father back. I have the power to prove you father never betrayed the Potter's. Isn't that what you've always wanted? To have a true family that accepted you?"

Deciding that she needed to get out of there before she did something she knew she would regret, she said as calmly as she could, "I'll think about it. I'll let you know in a month or so. For the moment though, I have to go to Quidditch try-outs or people are going to question my where abouts." With that, she turned and started to walk away.

"Necromancer..." Destiny stopped but didn't turn. "I will send a servant for your reply within a month. If you reject my offer, you will die."

"No." Spinning around, Destiny hissed while narrowing her eyes, "I will decide what I wish to do and no matter my choice, I will survive. And all of your pathetic 'family' who make any attempt on my life will die!" Spinning back around, she walked with her head held high out of the forest.

As soon as she stepped out of the trees, she raised her wand and yelled, "Accio Nimbus 2000!" When her broom reached her, she jumped on and headed towards the Quidditch field to do some laps.

Destiny quickly ran over the last few minutes in her mind. 'Okay... He obviously has something planned, otherwise there's no way he would have let me smart off to him like that. What am I going to do! I could tell Dumbledore but there's no guaranteeing that he'd believe I wasn't a spy trying to get in good with him. And even if I did tell him, he'd want to know why Voldemort wanted me. I could tell Harry... He might believe me.' As she approached the field, she made a decision. 'James told me to learn to handle things on my own. If I was a spy, I could help Harry and most importantly, show people that just because we're called Dark Creatures, doesn't mean we're evil. Or I could make an army of ghosts and shunned Creatures and prove it that way... Oh, man. This is giving me a migraine...'

*****

As Harry hurried to the common room, he wondered how he was going to get Destiny to cooperate.

'Maybe she'll just tell me and I'm worrying over nothing.'

Climbing through the entrance on Gryffindor tower, Harry hurried over to his friends.

"Where's Destiny?"

Without looking up from her book, Hermione said, "She went for a walk around the lake."

"Thanks."

Harry was just turning to head back out of the tower when he felt a blinding pain run through his scar. At his gasp of pain, his friends quickly looked up and hurried over to where he was doubled over in pain.

"Harry! What's wrong?" Hermione shrieked with worry.

"Voldemort. He's nearby." Quickly rising to his feet, he ran to the Headmasters office with his friend's right behind him.

"Pumpkin Pasty!" he panted. Quickly running up the stairs after the gargoyle jumped aside, he banged on the door. "Professor Dumbledore!" The door immediately opened and Dumbledore stepped aside to let them in.

"What is wrong, child?"

"My scar. It was burning and when I closed my eyes, I was able to see Voldemort just like I can in my dreams. He's in the Forbidden Forest and he's recruiting... the Ghostly Seer," he said after a moment's hesitation. He didn't really want to tell Ron and Hermione it was Destiny he had seen being recruited. There was a chance- even though it was small at best -, that one of them might believe she was working for that evil git. He didn't want to be responsible for that happening, especially before he had a chance to find out what was happening for himself.

Immediately Dumbledore rose from where he had sat down.

"Are you certain?"

"Yes!"

Turning to Ron and Hermione, Dumbledore said, "Go get Professor Lupin and tell him to meet me by the forest, near the lake. Inform him that the Ghostly Seer is in grave danger. Then go back to your common room." With that, Dumbledore turned and started out the door and down the corridor at a jog. To Harry, who was hurrying along beside him, he asked, "Are you aware as of yet, what the out come of this discussion was?"

Harry shook his head. "She didn't seem to be afraid though. She just seemed to be listening. You don't think she would... do you?"

"I'm not sure, but we must help her, no matter her choice."

As they were descending the stairs at the front of the castle to head to the forest, they saw Destiny mounting a broom and flying towards the Quidditch pitch. Immediately after, the now near blinding pain that was causing Harry to stagger slightly, vanished.

Taking a much-needed breath of air, Harry said, "Sir? Voldemort is gone. Destiny's heading towards the Quidditch pitch for try-outs. They were scheduled for today in about thirty minutes."

Nodding, Dumbledore said, "I think we need to have a little chat with Miss Black. Go ahead with the try-outs and try to find out what she is hiding. If she will not tell you... I may be forced to take drastic measures to ensure the safety of the students at this school. I can't have a Death Eater around posing a threat to anyone."

"Yes, Sir. I'll find out what happened in the forest as well."

Harry quickly ran back up to his dorm and grabbed his top of the line Lightning 3000 that he had gotten from all of his friends for his birthday, and ran out to the pitch with Ron and Hermione right behind him.

"Hey guys!" Destiny called from where she was hanging upside down with her legs from her broom. "What took you so long?"

Trying to act as normal as possible, Harry said, "Lost track of time."

"Of that's great!" she giggled. "The captain can't even show up on time!"

Giving her a look that clearly said shut-up; he turned to the assembled group of hopefuls and said loudly, "Alright! Let's separate into groups of who's trying out for chaser and who's trying out for beater."

When the groups were formed, there were six people trying out for chaser and four for beater. Destiny had decided to go for chaser.

He split them up into two different teams and had them play against one another. There was no keeper or seeker playing, so, the object of the game was to get past the other team's chasers and beaters while trying to get the quaffle through the hoops.

Right off he could tell that two of the second years were going to be cut. By the time he called them back down to the ground, he had cut two of the beaters and three chasers.

The chasers then had to try to get the quaffle past Ron- who was the Gryffindor keeper-, while the beaters practiced hitting the bludger. Making his decision, he called them back down to the ground. A half an hour after he went off to talk to his teammates about who would be on the team, he announced the new players.

"Our new beater," Harry said to the group, "is Jacob Jakely. Our new chaser is Destiny Black and our reserve chaser is Rebecca McHills. Congratulations and I'll see you three at practice tomorrow at 4:00pm. Be ready to work hard. Our first game is against Hufflepuff in two weeks." Turning to Destiny, he said, "Des, I need to talk with you in private."

Grabbing her hand, he dragged her off towards the lake. When they were halfway there, he asked, "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" she asked indignantly. "I thought I played really well for never having tried that position before... Okay that sounded really bad."

Giving her the amused look that seemed to be becoming more frequent, he took a deep breath and looked her in the eye.

"I know you met Voldemort in the forest." Hearing hurt creep into his voice, he whispered, "I thought I could trust you."

Reaching over and grabbing both of his hands, she exclaimed sincerely, "You CAN trust me! Voldemort came to me, not the other way around."

"Why? Why would he want you?" When Destiny just shook her head helplessly, he demanded that she roll up her left sleeve.

"What?"

"Do it! I have to be sure."

"So much for trust among friends," she muttered, rolling up her sleeve anyways.

Her arm was smooth and unblemished- there was no sign of the Dark Mark. Giving a sigh of relief, he looked up at her face. He was more than a little startled to see the usually unflinching Destiny's eyes filling with tears.

"Oh! Don't cry! I'm sorry!" Without hesitation, he stepped up and hugged her tightly. She didn't move for a moment, but as she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head upon his chest, he knew that no matter why she felt the need to keep the secret, he would always be there to help her.

Smiling to himself, he thought to himself, 'I love her.'