Children of Fate

It took Ana over three hours to find her way back to Davies Manor. Sugar remained stonily silent, her face hard with disapproval, but Ana wouldn't have been in a talkative mood even if the small faerie had been conversational. Too many thoughts and questions still whirled through her muddled mind. Nothing had been clear since her eleventh birthday, when she had first discovered Tinkerbell.

'It was probably all fate that got me thrown into the attic that day. It was probably all destiny that made me throw my shoe so hard at the box. If there even is such a thing as fate and destiny...' Ana snorted loudly at the idea of fate and destiny, startling Sugar out of her icy state.

"Keep it down," the small sprite hissed testily. "We don't know how close we are to Davies Manor or how far Lucius Malfoy is searching for you. I don't want to be captured, understand?" Sugar's tone was so strict and serenely calm that it had tenfold the impact on Ana that it would have if she had raised her voice.

Soon after Sugar's outburst Ana began to recognize the forest scenery around her. Wildflowers began to appear amongst the forest shrubs, a sure sign that she was nearing a break in the woods. Sure enough, by a stroke of luck, Ana passed by the still pond that Mrs. Davies never let anyone swim in. She always mumbled something about the conditions the house came with, or something to that degree. When Ana finally stepped out of the dark forest she was almost glad to see the sight of Davies Manor, looming across the orchard. All the lights were turned on, and even from all the way across the grounds Ana could here the furious yells of her 'aunt'.

Something had happened in her absence...Most likely something to do with her!

"Stealth would be wise at a moment like this," Sugar whispered, and Ana could feel the small sprite tense in anticipation. "There's no telling when or where somebody could pop up."

Ana nodded in the darkness and began to creep out over the expansive lawns that led to the back veranda of Davies Manor. It was late October and the nights were just beginning to lose their Indian summer warmth. The leaves had long fallen from the tress, but Ana was able to find enough coverage from the large rose bushes that Mrs. Davies had planted along the landscape. Despite Sugar's terse warnings to slow down and 'play it safe', Ana reached the servants' entrance to the kitchen within a matter of minutes. Taking a deep breath she stepped inside, praying that there would be no one in the room. Though she highly doubted that Mrs. Davies had told any of the other servants about her running away she did bet that they had all been told to watch out for her.

Luckily, much to Ana's joy, there was no one in the large, toasty warm kitchen. As always, wonderful scents wafted from the oven--there was always something cooking in Davies Manor--and a pot of soup simmered lightly on the stove. As much as she wanted to stay and waft in the magnificent aromas, Ana knew she couldn't. Someone would be in soon to check on the soup. With one last look around the kitchen she had grown up in Ana started toward the servants' exit on the left. This one would take her strait to the fifth floor. After that it would be only two more stories, and she'd be at the entrance to the attic.

Ana was just about to reach for the doorknob when an odd sound stopped her. Turning around she stared at the pantry door. "Did you hear that too?" she asked Sugar.

The small faerie nodded quickly. "Sounds sort of like a muffled scream," she said quietly.

Ana began to move towards the pantry door. "Someone might be trapped in there," she muttered, and Sugar could only fold her arms in annoyance.

Time seemed to stand still as Ana inched towards the pantry. Possibilities of who might be trapped inside flitted through her head. At worst it could be Vivi, a ditzy girl who always seemed to lock herself inside of various rooms. For one hopeful moment Ana's mind strayed to Rey and Liza. Maybe Sugar had been wrong, and Mrs. Davies had just kept them hidden inside the manor. Then the anticipation became too much, and Ana rushed to the pantry and threw the door open.

A surprised gasp rose from Ana's throat when she saw who was really inside the storage space.

Amber-Lyn Verona Davies!

Ana was so surprised, in fact, that she could only stare at her gagged and bound 'cousin' for a few moments. A tiny but effective pinch from Sugar did the trick though, and Ana rushed into the pantry and shut the door behind her. It was nearly pitch black inside when the door was closed, and Ana had some faint recollection that Amber-Lyn had always disliked the darkness.

Slowly and quietly, Ana asked, "Amber-Lyn? Is that really you? Try and say something if it is." There was a muffled screech, and Ana highly suspected that Amber-Lyn had just said something extremely rude. "If I take the gag off will you be quiet and let me ask some more questions?" Again Amber-Lyn made a muffled noise, but this one sounded pleading and desperate. "Okay, here it comes!" Ana undid the poor knot holding her 'cousin's' gag together. As soon as the piece of old, starchy cloth fell to the ground Amber-Lyn began to spit.

"Oh, how disgusting!" she moaned. "That was the man's handkerchief, and he had a cold! Oh, oh, oh!" She continued her moans and groans for the next five minutes before calming down enough to regain her senses. "It's you!" she gasped. "Oh, wait until my mother finds out you've returned! It's all your fault that I'm in here, you know! Mother and those men all think that I helped you escape!"

Ana scowled in the darkness. She could hardly believe that Amber-Lyn was related to her! Instead of saying what was really and truly on her mind, Ana snorted and said, "So that why you're in here...Your wonderful mother thought you were a turncoat!"

Even in the darkness Ana could see the ferocious sneer on Amber-Lyn's face. "Oh, be quiet you! It is your entire fault I'm here! Mother was furious yesterday when you escaped, and she blamed it all on me!"

"Why do I matter so much to all of them?"

Amber-Lyn sniffed resentfully. "I'm a turncoat, remember?" she asked. "They told me nothing. All I know is that yesterday evening those three men--Lucius Malfoy and his crew--came up to the manor and started yelling at mother for letting you escape. Then they all went into my mother's office. They stayed inside for about an hour, then mother came rushing out and grabbed me by the ear. She shook me about and asked me where you were, and she wanted to know how I found out that we were cousins." Amber-Lyn snorted. "Frankly I think she's gone temporarily mad. I mean, as if I'd help you in any way. And us being cousins? I mean, that's a load of bull right there!" Amber-Lyn stopped dead when she heard Ana cough uncomfortably. "My mother's full of it, isn't she?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not," Ana replied. "Our mums were sisters."

"But then why did my mother never tell me that? You're lying! If our mothers were sisters then why haven't you lived properly with us? My mother treats you horribly! She'd never treat her own flesh and blood like that!" Amber-Lyn took a deep breath, no doubt to calm herself. "Besides, mum only has one sister--Auntie Marlene."

Ana massaged her temples. "Your mother has eight sisters: Amelia, Sophia, Marlene, Josephine, Kaitlyn, Miranda, Keri, and Jeanette. Amelia, Sophia, and Miranda are dead. Josephine is, um...at a Swedish convent, I guess, and Kaitlyn, Keri, and Jeanette are all missing." Ana decided to wait until later to tell Amber-Lyn about her real mother.

"You're a bloody liar!" Amber-Lyn hissed. "And I'll prove it! I swear, you'll be sorry when my mother finds out your back!" Before Amber-Lyn could open her mouth and call for her 'mother' Ana had tackled her, sending the two of them flying back into the depths of the pantry.

By now Sugar was ready to take control. As Ana wrestled along the pantry floor, her hand clamped firmly over Amber-Lyn's mouth, Sugar tumbled out of Ana's apron pocket and stood in the middle of the hustle, tiny arms crossed over her chest and eyes blazing with anger. "Would you two please SHUT UP?" she screeched. Both Ana and Amber-Lyn stopped struggling instantly. Faerie-wise, Sugar had an extremely good pair of lungs, and her yell was loud enough to come from either one of them. "Now, you listen here, Ms. Amber-Lyn Davies," Sugar hissed. "You two are acting like foolish little children! Don't you understand what is at risk here? If those men get a hold of you two then you're done for!"

The meaning of her words sunk in to both girls. Still, Amber-Lyn protested, "But we're girls. And my mother-"

"Death Eaters don't give a damn what sex you are or who your parents might be! If you've made them mad then they're going to get you, no matter what!" Sugar's tone was so grave and gruff that Amber-Lyn shut up immediately. "That's better. Ana, we need to get out of here. I don't care how much you want your mother's stuff. I know where she stored a few things, and we'll grab those. Amber-Lyn, you'll come with us. And that's an order, not a suggestion." Amber-Lyn remained silent, which Sugar took as a sign of agreement. "And you two had better start to like each other. Your mothers were close, you know."

"They were close," Ana corrected. "And I don't mean Josephine, either."

"Who's Josephine?" Amber-Lyn asked. "Wasn't she one of my mother's alleged sisters?" The tone in her voice betrayed that she was still in denial.

"Should we tell her?" Ana asked.

"I suppose...It's never going to be good news to her, you know. There are going to be many questions and a lot of hurt...Especially when she finds out where Josephine is." Sugar had found her way back to Ana, and the young girl dropped the faerie back into her pocket. She heard Amber-Lyn's inhaling and exhaling only a few feet away, and she hoped that her 'cousin' would be too shocked to attack her when she found out about her real parentage. All of a sudden she felt as though all the energy had been sucked out of her. Maybe her mother's tale and her supposed future was finally getting to her.

The silence had gotten to Amber-Lyn, though, because she asked in an exasperated manner, "What are you two talking about? Tell me what? And what's all this talk about Josephine?"

"Amber-Lyn, I have a little more news about your--I mean our family." Ana surprised herself by calling Amber-Lyn by her first name. She had never done that before, for fear of getting punished, but maybe now that she had run away and knew her past none of the Davies' authority had any affect over her anymore. "Your mother--Pegatha Davies--isn't really your mother." There was a sharp intake from Amber-Lyn, but Ana talked on. "Josephine is your biological mum. It's a long story to tell, but I'm telling the truth."

A dry sob came out of the darkness. And then Amber-Lyn's wavering voice snarled, "You little wench--you're bloody lying! My dad would never cheat on my mum! He...He loved her!"

"Oh, honey," Sugar said. "Your father..."

She trailed off, but Amber-Lyn got the picture. "You're both damn liars! My mother is the woman who has loved me and cared for me for my whole life! My father was Robert Davies, and nothing you say can change that!" Amber-Lyn seemed to be assuring herself of her parentage rather than assuring Ana and Sugar. Her voice was near frenzied at this point, and Ana scooted away from her 'cousin' instinctively. "I'm a Davies! I'm fully pureblood! My mother is Pegatha Davies, and she comes from the Lowell family! I can handle you being my cousin, but I'll never believe that my mother didn't give birth to me! Not until I hear it from her own lips!"

The silence was broken by the loud slam of the door to the kitchen. "Marlene! Thank Merlin you arrived! Lucius Malfoy has been poking around, and he wants Ana! The little snipe has up and disappeared. I think Amber-Lyn helped her, though. How else could Ana know to run? Mr. Malfoy assured me that he was only kind to her when he took her around the grounds today."

There was a lengthy silence before another woman--Ana recognized her voice to be that of Marlene Lowell MonDougal, her 'aunt', whom she knew from Davies' family gatherings--replied, "Well, you said the cabin was a total and complete fright. The few times I've seen Ana I've noticed that she was bright, very perceptive, like her aunts Sophia and Miranda were. She could probably tell that the mess was created in a mad fury, and, very frightened, she ran into the woods."

"But do you think she knows her mother's story? Do you think she knows that we're her-"

"Aunts? Probably not...But there might be a small chance that Kaitlyn left Ana some sort of memory ball around...something that could store various clips of her life." Marlene struck Ana as the analytical type, very logical in her thinking, unlikely to lose her cool.

"Where would this memory thing be hidden? How could Ana have found it?" Mrs. Davies had lost her somewhat frenzied tone and now sounded curious.

"Well, most likely it was left around your manor."

"My manor? Why?" Mrs. Davies sounded doubtful now. "Did she know what was coming?"

"Probably not," Marlene said slowly, as if she were trying to piece some great puzzle together. "If Kaitlyn left something around for Ana--and that's a big if--then she probably left it here because she thought she'd be married to Draco and living in the manor they built."

Marlene's last comment caught Ana by surprise. "What does she mean, living in the manor they built?" she asked in a terse, whispered voice. She didn't have long to receive an answer to her question.

"Don't give me that look! Dragon Malfoy wanted me to have his estate. Something about wanting one of Kaitlyn's sisters to watch over the place. It's not like I took the place to spite her." Mrs. Davies sounded guilty, and a hot flash of outrage flew through Ana's blood.

It wasn't enough that Pegatha Davies had turned her own little sister into Lord Voldemort. It wasn't enough that she treated her own niece like absolute filth. No, no, no! She had all the nerve to take her sister's manor and give it the name 'Davies'. This estate, with its twelve private gardens, five marble fountains, a two-hundred-thirteen room manor, and three stately guesthouses could very well belong to she, Ana Lowell.

The very thought was enough to send her charging into the kitchen, ready to face whatever her aunts had to bring on. However, a tiny nudge from Sugar kept her from losing her cool, and within a few moments Ana was content to merely listen again, though just barely. Mrs. Davies was talking now, asking something about what this 'memory object' could have looked like.

"Oh, any matter of things," Marlene replied. "A ball, a pensive-"

"Or a diary," Mrs. Davies interrupted in a strange voice. "Kaitlyn started keeping a diary when she was nine. She must have had fifteen little books hidden around the manor back in France. You'd never have guessed that they were her diaries, though, because they were always worn and sometimes ratty. Every year or so she, Miranda, and I would all go down to the local thrift shop--we borrowed maid's clothing so we wouldn't be noticed as noble ladies--and we'd route around until we found a diary we could enchant to become a pensive of sorts. Then we'd go to the large park by the deli--don't you remember the one?--and have a small picnic while we dreamed of the future."

It took Ana a few moments to realize that Mrs. Davies was reminiscing and that she sounded almost regretful. Marlene must have noticed her sister's unusual emotions as well because she asked quite icily, "Reliving the past? Honestly, Pegatha! This is above you! We are no longer 'Marly' and 'Peggy'. We are Marlene and Pegatha. We have no time to dream of our future because our future has already been decided for us. It was decided the moment Lord Voldemort burnt the Dark Mark into our breast. We are his Seers, and you are one of the foremost advisors to Queen Valicent. This is what we were put on this Earth to do."

There was a long pause before Mrs. Davies asked, "Do you believe that with all your heart and soul, Marlene?"

Marlene snorted. "Don't be silly, Pegatha. I don't have a heart and soul."

That seemed to remind Mrs. Davies of exactly who and what she was. When she spoke next she sounded like the Mrs. Davies Ana had known since she had arrived at Davies Manor all those years ago. "Of course," she muttered, and Ana sensed rather than felt Amber-Lyn shudder. She had probably never heard her mother like this. "Come on now, we've got to wake Amber-Lyn!"

"What? How do you know she's asleep?"

"Oh, believe me--she's asleep. I trusted that new fellow, Finius Paulson, to drug her sufficiently." There were footsteps now, coming towards the pantry door, and before Ana had time to hide or tie Amber-Lyn back up, the door was flung open to reveal Mrs. Davies and a dangerously pretty blonde woman, no doubt Marlene. Mrs. Davies looked rather surprised to see Ana hiding with her untied 'daughter', but Marlene just sneered rudely.

"This is what happens," she said coldly, joining her younger sister at the pantry door, "when you trust Death Eaters to do anything. They don't put up enough guard and soon you've got little spies."

Mrs. Davies nodded slowly. "Yes. I'll have to see that Paulson fellow properly tortured for his mistake." She ignored Amber-Lyn's gasp of horror and continued. "But his blunder did bring us dear sweet little Ana. How sweet of her to turn back and help free her cousin."

Marlene crossed her arms and squinted. "They both look like their mothers, don't they? Ana has Kaitlyn's dark blue eyes, and Amber-Lyn has Josephine's green ones." Amber-Lyn let out a choked sob, and Marlene turned to Mrs. Davies. "Well, Pegatha, should we tell them? After all, Amber-Lyn deserves to at least know who her real mother was. We might as well. If we don't then Ana will."

Tears were streaming down Amber-Lyn's face by the time Mrs. Davies replied, "Very well. I'll tell them what they 'deserve' to know." Turning to Amber-Lyn she said in a short, curt voice, "I'm not your mother; I'm only your aunt. Your mother was my elder sister Josephine. She was engaged to Robert Davies, but she went off and had a torrid affair with a man named Oliver Wood. She had twins by him, and you're the one who survived. Your mother was sent off to a Swedish convent for girls who disgrace their families, and it was made to seem like I had been carrying you.

"After the downfall of Harry Potter I went to the Dark Lord and told him bits and clips of the real story. I didn't tell him who your real mother was, but I did say that you weren't my own. He destroyed your birth certificate and made it seem like I gave birth to you after his full rise. I've watched over you and mothered you ever since." With a cold and unfeeling smile Mrs. Davies crossed her arms. "But now you've betrayed my trust and helped your cousin. Whatever use you had for me earlier is gone now that you have done that." Turning to Ana she sneered. "As for you, Ana, I've gotten orders to send you to work in another house as a nanny. Amber-Lyn will accompany you, and she will be your assistant. Your new mistress will be arriving soon. I advise you both to stay here and keep quiet until she arrives. Mr. Malfoy and the Death Eaters do not know of this arrangement, and it is possible that, if they do find out, they will owl the Dark Lord begging for a harsher punishment. This is my last gift to you Amber-Lyn."

Mrs. Davies seemed finished with the two, but Ana wanted to know more. "Can I ask you just one thing, Mrs. Davies?" Her voice didn't betray a bit of the rage built up inside of her.

"Very well," Mrs. Davies hissed, turning around.

"How do you live with yourself when you know you were the reason for the deaths of five of your own sisters?"

Mrs. Davies just smirked cruelly before countering Ana's question with one of her own. "Don't you mean six, dear?" she asked. "What makes you think that your mother was the only one to escape?"

Ana let out a pained gasp, and she slumped back into her dark corner. Amber-Lyn was too caught up in her own revelations to care much about Ana's pain, but Sugar whispered quietly, "I'm so sorry, Ana." Maybe things wouldn't have been so bad if Mrs. Davies had just stopped after that one last hurtful comment. But she hadn't...

"I myself sent out the band of Death Eaters that got your mother. She and her friends were ambushed not three hours after leaving that Lavender Brown woman. We tortured the lot of them and left them for dead. Well, we did keep that Bill Weasley fellow around for a few days. How did you think we got your 'secret' location? Bill Weasley was your official Secret Keeper, and once we pressed the right buttons he led us right to you. After that we disposed of him as well." Mrs. Davies rose to her full height and made her dark eyes flash. "Come Marlene. We have to prepare for her."

Just as suddenly as they had flung open the pantry door Mrs. Davies and Marlene were gone. As soon as the door was slammed shut Ana burst into mournful sobs. Though she had known that her mother was probably dead there had still been a faint glimmer of hope that she might one day live a happy life with her mum. And the way that her mother had died...Murdered and tortured and who knew what else, all at the hands of Death Eaters. It suddenly struck Ana that Mrs. Davies had never really answered her question.

How could someone live with themselves after turning most of their family in to Lord Voldemort?

'She's probably such an evil person that she doesn't even care,' Ana thought darkly, burying her face in her hands.

"Ana?" Sugar asked. "I know this is tough, but remember: grief is itself a medicine. Quoted by William Cowper. Grieving is all good and well, but eventually you have to get up and decide what you do. I'm sorry about your mum, and believe me--it's hurting me too. But we have to think about how to stay alive and how to stay safe." Sugar's voice dropped a notch and she leaned out of Ana's pocket and towards her right ear. "Besides, your cousin's pretty down in the dumps too."

"She's not my cousin," Ana snapped, and a little too loudly at that, for Amber-Lyn, who had stopped crying a few minutes before, snorted.

"As if I'm happy about our relation," she snapped, and Ana cheeks burned in the darkness.

"I didn't mean to-"

"Oh, just be quiet," Amber-Lyn snapped. "You sit in that corner feeling so bad for yourself, and you want the world to mourn with you. I bet you have all these opinions about my mother." Amber-Lyn paused and allowed herself a wry chuckle. "Yes, in ways Pegatha Davies is still my mother. She raised me from the time I was born up until now, when I'm almost twelve, and that's more than I can say for Josephine Lowell and Oliver Wood."

"Well," Ana said curtly, "at least you have a 'mother'."

"Yeah, because yours up and left you!"

SLAP!

Amber-Lyn cried out and clutched her cheek. Though it was near pitch black in the pantry Ana knew that there was a red handprint imprinted on her 'cousin's' cheek. Sugar was reprimanding her in a harsh tone, but Ana was too furious to hear the sprite's telling off. It had taken eleven years of taunts, rude faces, and condescending remarks, but Amber-Lyn had finally gone too far. It had hurt bad enough to find out that her mother was dead but for Amber-Lyn to imply that she had left her...

"Like mother, like daughter," Ana hissed in an attempt to hurt Amber-Lyn in return. "Oh, wait--Pegatha Davies isn't your mother!" She was rewarded when Amber-Lyn let out a pained gasp, but her satisfaction was cut short when her 'cousin' began to sob without reserve.

"Why?" Amber-Lyn asked. "Why is this happening to me? I was a faithful servant in training to the Dark King. I was my mother's favorite child, even if my father--well, he isn't really my father, I suppose--hated the sight of me. God, there was even talk of engaging me to Prince Titus Riddle! Do you know what that would have made me? The Queen of Darkness! Lord...Now I'm going to be a maid, just like you!"

Despite the obvious insult Ana couldn't help but sympathize for Amber-Lyn. In the course of one night her entire world had been destroyed. Her mother had abandoned her, her riches had been taken from her, and she had been reduced to the position of a parentless nanny. Any friends Amber-Lyn might have had would now desert her, and her three younger sisters would have little to do with her. The world in which Amber-Lyn called her home would now turn against her and force her to serve them.

With a deep sigh Ana wiped away her own tears and rustled around the shelves of the pantry until she found what appeared to be a bottle of butterbeer. In her entire eleven years Ana had only been allowed the luxury of butterbeer twice, and she almost smiled to herself as the sweet liquid ran down her throat. Amber-Lyn snatched the bottle out of Ana's hands when she offered her a sip. For the next forty-five minutes or so the two girls attempted to eat and drink away their miseries.

Somewhere in this process they both fell asleep on the hard wooden floor of the pantry, forgetting their differences and curling up close together. Sugar even took the time to pull an old, worn blanket off one of the shelves and drape it across the girls. It always amazed her how the most haunted of people could look so innocent when they slept. Both of these girls, with destinies so great, looked so peaceful while they slept. Maybe they didn't yet have an idea of how dangerous things were about to become for them...

"Our destiny commands us," she whispered into Ana's ear, "even when we do not yet know what it is; it is the future which guides the rule to our present. Quoted by Friedrich Nietzsche in 1878. Goodnight, little Savior..."

***

Ana suddenly found herself standing in a small drafty room that was the size of her room in the cabin. The room was narrow and the light was dim due to the lack of windows, but Ana could see clearly the rows of beds lined up on the walls. She counted sixteen beds in all--eight to a wall--and in each bed there was young girl. The girls were all uniformed in what appeared to be starchy white nightdresses, and their bedspreads were a collection of tattered red quilts. Most of the girls were asleep, though a few of the elder ones were still reading, but it wasn't any of them who caught Ana's eye.

As she strode down the row of beds, frowning scornfully at the unkempt conditions, she was drawn to the bed at the end of the row. It was on the left side of the room and scrunched up against the wall, and on the end of the bed there hung a nameplate that read 'Claire'.

Claire was short and hadn't yet lost all her baby fat. Her hair was an inky shade of black, and her eyes, which were fixed on a picture, were dark blue, much like Ana's. In a way little Claire reminded Ana a great deal of herself, only, as a child, she had never been chubby. As she watched Claire's blue eyes examine the picture over and over again she began to develop a fondness for the little girl.

"Mummy," Claire whispered quietly, and Ana strained her ears to hear what the little girl had to say. "Why did you leave me here? Didn't you love me? I hate it here at the orphanage. I wish I had known you. All the girls here make fun of me...And I'm so lonely." Claire began to cry then, jolting a memory hidden deep in the caverns of Ana's mind. She had been here, in this room, one time before. It had been much darker, she recalled, and this little girl, Claire, had been sobbing outright. Then memories of the other dreams--the one with Maria Juanita Riddle, and then the one with Nicholas Lowell--came flooding back to her.

To herself she wondered if these dreams were real and if there really was a Nicholas Lowell. She would have to ask Sugar about the dreams if she awoke and still remembered them. This could mean that her 'aunt Peggy' had been lying...And that her mother might yet be alive. Once again Hope coursed through Ana's veins, and she felt as if she should give this little girl hope as well.

Gently she reached out and touched Claire's cheek lightly. Instead of recoiling at any contact from Ana, as she had done of their previous meeting, Claire touched her cheek softly and stopped crying. She became drowsy after that, and Ana herself pulled the covers up around this little girl's body. Just as she had expected, the moment Claire shut her eyes she was gone, in another world...

***

This time she was in a dark, cool, circular bedroom. The walls were made of black granite and the floors of shiny marble. The room was almost bare, save for a lone green sitting chair in front of a fireplace carved into the stone walls and a grand four-poster bed, also with covers of green. In the bed there lay a man, though all Ana could see of him was his pale blonde hair, almost like the sliver of silvery moonlight that streamed in from the gap in the green curtains. As curious as ever, Ana walked slowly towards the bed, peering into the shadows that the canopy cast over the man's face. Suddenly, though, the man rolled over in bed, and Ana threw her hand to her mouth to contain a scream.

This man was Draco Malfoy!

He looked older and more brutal than the memories of her mother's diary, but his face was younger and less stony than that of his father's. All in all Ana considered him to be handsome, and she could see traces of the charm that had snared her mother. She had seen him once or twice before, when Mrs. Davies had not been able to shove her into a closet fast enough, but he had never noticed the scrawny little servant girl, and she had never had a reason to stick around and get a better look at his face...

But now, this man, Draco Malfoy, might be her father...

Not that Mrs. Davies would ever let her see him. In fact, Ana thought as she inched closer to the sleeping man, she'd probably work totally against it! Having Draco Malfoy find out that he had been a father for ten years could set him off. Then again, from all the reports that Ana had heard, 'D. Malfoy' was the King of the Cads and an all around womanizer. He didn't seem the fathering type. With a deep sigh Ana reached the bed and sat on the foot of it. Draco snoozed on calmly, or as calmly as anyone in his position ever could.

Tiring of watching 'D. Malfoy' sleep, Ana stood and made her way over to the large window that covered nearly half of the circular room's walls. The dark, forest green velvet curtains were pulled together tightly, but still, a small sliver of moonlight had managed to shine through. Ana merely eased the crack in the curtains open more, so that she could see the night sky.

Ana was surprised to find that the light streaming in from the window was not moonlight but a light coming from a glowing silver dome high above the courtyard below. Draco Malfoy's house was shaped like a horseshoe and made entirely of smooth black granite, like his bedroom. Eight menacing looking gargoyles sat at various positions along the half-circle roof, and the courtyard on the ground level had a large statue of what appeared to be a tall, nobly dressed man, possibly Lord Voldemort.

But Ana barely noticed any of that. Her eyes were still trained on the large globe. Nothing suspended it, so it must have been held in the air magically. There was something entrancing and soothing about the globe, and Ana felt hypnotized. There was something about the globe...

Squinting, Ana thought for a second that she saw a dark form move inside of the globe. Trying to get a better view she pulled the crack open wider, but the sash holding the curtains closed fell off in the process and the curtains fell open, bathing Draco's room in a white light. There was a groan from behind her, and Ana turned around to find Draco Malfoy sitting up in his bed.

Shielding his gray eyes against the new light Draco frowned at Ana. "Kate?" he asked. "Is that you?"

Ana, unsure of what to do, backed up towards the window until her body was pressed up against the cool glass pane. "No," she whispered softly, just loud enough for Draco to hear. Then, even softer than before, so that Draco wouldn't hear her, Ana murmured, "I'm her daughter."

Draco frowned deeply. "You look so much like Kaitlyn..."

Ana shut her eyes for the edges of the picture in front of her had began to fade to black. Soon she would wake up, away from all of this. Opening her eyes once more Ana found that the blackness had almost totally obscured Draco's room. She did, however, get one parting glance at her possible father's pale face. Written on his somewhat pointed features was an expression that Ana would not understand for years to come...

And then, thankfully, she knew no more.

***

Ana awoke abruptly and unpleasantly when there was a sudden crash outside the pantry door. Amber-Lyn was already awake, sitting in one of the corners, and Sugar had been resting in Ana's apron pocket. For a moment Ana forgot all about her dream and scrambled to press her ear up against the pantry door.

"Lucius Malfoy! You son of a bitch! How dare you! How dare you!"

It was Mrs. Davies, and she sounded furious. Ana, for the first time that night, was thankful that she was locked in the pantry. She had been on the receiving end of Mrs. Davies anger just enough to know what a hellcat she could be if provoked.

"Blast you, woman! You nearly hit me! What are you so upset about? I merely questioned if-"

"It's none of your business, that girl's past! How dare you go into my room and try to find information!" Mrs. Davies screeched.

"Well, can I help but be curious? I only know that the Dark King wants her under his watch, in one of his wives' houses! He also wants to know her past! Are you going to deny his Lordship that information?" Mr. Malfoy sounded just as angry. Ana was chilled to hear his voice after hearing him speak of her mother like he had the day before.

"Well, then, if you must know Ana's mother was a no good harlot! Ana was a child fathered by one of her married clients, and she needed to get rid of the little whelp. The other two children, Jeffrey and Elizabeth, were both born under similar circumstances. Merlin knows how such a child ever inherited the powers that she did." Mrs. Davies tone had calmed down a bit, and her voice was so sure of herself that, had she not known the real truth, Ana might have believed her 'aunt's' story.

"It is a wonder that that little snipe could have any power at all. Do you have the foggiest idea of who the father is? She might be the illegitimate child of a high-ranking Death Eater." Mr. Malfoy sounded rather convinced of Mrs. Davies's story himself.

"I never even knew the mother's name, much less the name of Ana's father," Mrs. Davies snapped. "Now be quiet and help me get the girls prepared. Do you know yet who is going to take them?"

There was a small grunt from Mr. Malfoy as he strode towards the pantry. "I do. Both Ana and Amber-Lyn will go to live in the household of Roxena Riddle Marjoni. They will nanny over Duchess Marjoni's children."

Mrs. Davies snorted rudely. "Duchess Marjoni? That whelp was nothing but a filthy-"

She was silenced suddenly, and Ana sensed that a third party had entered the kitchen. By now Amber-Lyn had ventured to join Ana by the door, as had Sugar, and the three of them listened as a pair of high-heel clad feet clicked across the floor. It was as if both Mr. Malfoy and Mrs. Davies had forgotten how to speak. Finally a new voice, sharp and undeniably female, broke the silence.

"I believe you were going to say that I was naught but the daughter of a whoring courtesan." The woman, who must have been the Duchess Marjoni, chuckled softly in a cynical manner. "Being a Seer to Queen of Darkness certainly permits you to be loose with your tongue, Mrs. Davies. I would be a fool indeed to invoke her anger by punishing you, and, considering how upset she is over my daughter being named an heir, I think that very unwise."

"You have grown rather conceited yourself," Mrs. Davies hissed, "since the King of all Darkness plucked you off the streets."

Mr. Malfoy used his better judgment intervened before either woman got too angry. "Duchess Marjoni," he said, no doubt coming to stand between the women, "what a pleasure to see you again. I hear that you're expecting a child again. A son, I believe?"

"Yes, I am. My first boy, too. Perhaps the Dark King will turn his eyes towards his new son, as well as the daughter I gave him. That would make me even with the Queen of Darkness, now wouldn't it?" Even though she couldn't see through the door Ana could tell this woman was smirking haughtily. She could also tell, from experience that Mrs. Davies was nearly boiling over with fury.

Thankfully Mr. Malfoy intervened once again. "Pegatha, why don't you go gather the girls' belongings. I'll introduce Ana and Amber-Lyn to the Duchess as soon as you leave."

Mrs. Davies snuffed and huffed, but Ana heard her stomps travel away from the pantry until there was a slam of a door. "Thank goodness she left," Sugar whispered. "That woman's terrifying when she's angry enough." Even Amber-Lyn couldn't argue with that.

"Now, Duchess Marjoni, where were we?"

"You were just about to introduce me to my new nannies. They're only eleven, though. That is a tad bit young, isn't it?" Footsteps approached the pantry door. Ana and Amber-Lyn crawled back to the farthest wall and staid there.

"Well, Amber-Lyn is almost twelve, and Ana's been a nanny for ages. She's watched over the three youngest Davies girls and sometimes guests of the Davies," Mr. Malfoy explained.

"Really? Well, my husband requested this, so I suppose it's all for the better. Now tell me, what do I call them? I address all my servants by their last names, and I was told that, as of present, these girls have none."

There was a short pause before Mr. Malfoy replied, "I have no idea. Perhaps you could make up your own."

"Or perhaps I could let them choose for themselves. Quick, Mr. Malfoy. Open the door and let me ask these girls what they wish to be called," Duchess Marjoni commanded.

Mr. Malfoy did so with great haste, and suddenly the candlelight of the kitchen filled the pantry. Ana was temporarily blinded by the brightness, but when she could see again she found herself staring at a tall, regal looking woman. The woman, dressed in expensive looking royal blue robes, had smooth, tea colored skin and deep, kohl outlined black eyes. Her hair was pinned up on her head in a loose, jaunty style, and, where a rose would normally be pinned, there was a single hawk feather. Ana had often heard from the servants of those who visited Mrs. Davies that the Duchess Marjoni was the most beautiful of the Dark Lord's wives. Looking upon the Duchess herself, that was not hard to believe.

"So, you are to be my new nannies," Duchess Marjoni purred.

She seemed so soothing, so kind, that Ana was not afraid to look her in the eyes and reply, "Yes. I'm Ana, and this is Amber-Lyn."

Duchess Marjoni seemed surprised by the boldness but pleased at the same time. "Tell me, Ana, is there a particular last name you'd like to be called by?"

Without thinking Ana replied, "Lowell." There was a sharp intake of breath from Mr. Malfoy, and he narrowed his eyes at Ana, so she added, "It was the last name of a heroine in a book I once read to one of Mrs. Davies daughters." Mr. Malfoy stopped looking so suspicious, but he did un-narrow his eyes.

"You can read?" Duchess Marjoni asked. "Not many servants can read."

Now that Ana thought about it, there weren't many servants who knew how to read. She, Liza, Rey, and the oldest servant at Davies Manor were the only ones who could in Mrs. Davies household. "I had to read stories to the girls," she explained.

"Interesting," Duchess Marjoni murmured. "Do you know any magic?"

"Not much. Mrs. Davies didn't like her servants carrying wands."

"Not many people do. I, however, will require you to learn some defense spells in case any...rogues try and harm my children. Especially Senna. You'll not be nannies in my household, really, but handmaidens to Princess Senna." Duchess Marjoni turned to Amber-Lyn. "And does this one have a last name?" she asked.

"Wood. Ms. Amber-Lyn Wood."

Ana held in her shock and watched as Duchess Marjoni nodded. "Ana Lowell and Amber-Lyn Wood, my newest employees. Very well, girls, we must get going. I brought around a simpler carriage for you to ride in, and your carriage will follow mine to my castle, Blackenvire. It's not a long journey, only about four hours, and but it'll be something like three in the morning when we arrive." The Duchess began striding towards the door. "Have Mrs. Davies send over their things in the morning, Mr. Malfoy. I'll need no clothes--I have outfits that they can wear--but if they have anything else then, of course, I'll need them."

Ana and Amber-Lyn followed their new mistress, making long strides to keep up with her fast pace. Mr. Malfoy caught up with them and talked in hushed tones with Duchess Marjoni. Sugar poked her head out of Ana's apron pocket and began whispering in a barely hearable voice.

"The Duchess Roxena Riddle Marjoni," she began, "has attracted many whispers over the past few months. I don't know much about the woman, but I do know that she's the mother of one of Voldemort's heirs, Senna Marleya. When we get to her castle I'll try to find out about her mother, the alleged courtesan."

Amber-Lyn looked with narrowed eyes at Duchess Marjoni before saying, "I can tell you about her. The Duchess's mother was a famous and, from what I hear, a beautiful concubine on the streets of Mardentine."

"Mardentine?" Sugar asked.

"That's the city where the Dark Lord's main castle is. It's the center of the magical civilization," Ana explained.

"As I was saying, Duchess Marjoni's mother was a woman that hired herself out as a mistress or a concubine to various high-ranking and important men of the city. Her...talents reached the ears of none other than Lucius Malfoy, and he visited her in her small home at the outskirts of town. The Duchess's mother--her name is Lyris-Medea--wasn't home at the time, but her three lovely daughters were. To make a long story short Mr. Malfoy presented the three girls to the Dark King, and he chose Roxena Marjoni to be his wife.

"She's given him two daughters so far, and now the son, but Princess Senna is amazingly powerful, or so I've heard. Her father, the Dark King, wants her to become a Sorceress! You have to be bloody powerful to be able to do that!" There was a little awe in Amber-Lyn's voice, as well as a little gloom and anger. "And we'll have to be her servants, her slaves! I was Amber-Lyn Davies--I ran with the best of them!--and now I'm just some stupid nanny!" Glaring at Ana she added, "And it's all your fault!"

Sugar clucked her tongue when she felt Ana tense, and the rest of the walk to the carriages was spent in silence. As the two girls approached the carriage the Duchess slowed and turned to them. "I'll not see you until this Wednesday, when Princess Senna will dine in my chambers. She does so once every week, but Mrs. Goodwin, the Head Servant, will inform you of all the rules. Don't cause any trouble, and I won't have to get rid of you." Looking back at Davies Manor Duchess Marjoni said, "You'll find that I'm a bit softer on my servants than people such as Pegatha Davies." She shot a pointed look at Ana and turned to her own carriage. "You are dismissed!" she called over her shoulder.

Ana pulled Amber-Lyn, who had staid haughtily where she was, towards the much simpler carriage. Opening the door she stepped in, followed quickly by her reluctant companion. Amber-Lyn was looking cautiously around the small carriage, a disgusted look on her pretty features.

"Is this contraption sanitary?" she asked.

Ana, who had closed her eyes, pretended to be asleep. She had only ever been off the grounds to Davies Manor twice--and that included her runaway attempt--and she wasn't about to let Amber-Lyn spoil her first carriage ride either. Duchess Marjoni seemed very well-mannered for a wife of the Dark Lord, and, even though she was still a servant, Ana wondered if things would not be easier this way.

She would get meals regularly. She would have a roof over her head. And it would be easy to eavesdrop in a place as big as Blackenvire Castle. Perhaps she could find the whereabouts of Rey and Liza and Tinkerbell.

Eventually Ana drifted off to sleep. She curled up in the corner diagonal from the one Amber-Lyn was sitting in, and she did not see the tears falling down her 'cousin's' cheeks. Sugar did, however, and her heart went out to Amber-Lyn. Carefully, so as not to awaken Ana, Sugar crept out of the apron pocket and bounded over to Amber-Lyn's side of the carriage. Using some of the little faerie power she had left she soothed Amber-Lyn to sleep, singing a soft lullaby in her native tongue.

Once Amber-Lyn was asleep Sugar climbed up to the small window at the back of the carriage. It had begun to rain just a few minutes ago, and tiny water droplets hit the window every second. It was a lulling sound, and, despite her slightly maternal instincts that told her to stay awake and watch over the girls, Sugar herself drifted off into dreamland.