Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Chapter One: Undercover

Chapter One: Undercover

A black cloaked figure appeared out of no where in an alley. The figure froze and looked around at where it was. The figure brushed itself off and shook its head. The individual stepped out of the shadows of the alley and onto the dimly lit street. The person stepped into the soft glow of a street lamp. The person pulled their head back and looked into the light to reveal a white mask. The person looked straight ahead and walked up to an old, abandoned house. The individual tapped onto the door with a slender, wooden stick four times. A slit appeared.

"Identification and password?" a man's gruff voice said from behind the door and his dark blue eyes appeared through the small slit.

"Maria Vita--uno," the woman behind the black cloak whispered in an Italian accent. The slit was slammed shut and the door swung open. The woman walked into the house slowly; she had a strange, sort of elegance about her. She turned around to face the other man in black robes; his mask had been taken off.

The woman, Maria Vita, pulled her mask off and hood down to reveal cream colored skin, rosy cheeks, full pink lips, wavy black hair, and blue-grayish eyes. She was very beautiful and almost looked fragile enough to break if you touched her. But the hollowness in her startling eyes shined through that look and her jaw was set tightly. She had business.

"You are Augustus Nott, no?" Maria said vaguely as she took her cloak off. She had a slender, but curvy body that was covered with black robes that were of good quality. She placed the cloak onto the hanger. The man to her right was tall and looked a bit wiry. He appeared as if he had lost quite a bit of late too quickly. He nodded his head.

"Yes, how did you know?" he asked, his voice a low thunder. Maria turned to face him and gave him a pleasant smile.

"Oh, I was told that you would be the one at the door," she simply told him. He stared at her suspiciously as she brought her dark wand out. She cleaned it off with one swipe of the side of her cloak. "I'm not late for the little 'meeting', am I?"

"No, you're right on schedule," Nott replied quickly. She gave him a smile and he saw something glitter in her eyes. He usually saw it in Bellatrix Black's eyes, but in Maria Vita's eyes, it seemed much darker and more intoxicating at the same time.

"Perfect," Maria purred, the small, enticing smile still playing at her lips. The door to their left opened and both looked over to it. The only other Death Eater that carried so much power in the air walked in: Lucius Malfoy. Having escaped Azkaban months before, he'd reclaimed his right-hand power next to Voldemort. He smiled deceptively when he saw Maria.

"Ah, Maria, it is so good to see you," Malfoy said coolly. Maria inclined her head but said nothing in response. He lifted her head up with a finger underneath her chin. "I wasn't sure if you would make it."

"And miss out on such an opportunity?" Maria chortled. "No, I have never seen this before like everyone else. I am curious, to say the least."

"The Dark Lord has been patiently awaiting the arrival of his remaining faithful followers and you are the last of them," Malfoy explained to her.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," Maria said. Malfoy grinned at her and turned to walk back into the room from which he came from. He gave Nott a nod and he followed Maria back into the room. Maria stood between Malfoy and McNair.

They--all of the Death Eaters with their masks gone and hoods down--all stood in a circle with their leader, Lord Voldemort, standing in the front. He was possibly sneering down at the seven people that stood in the middle of the circle, wandless and hopeless. The seven people--they were merely teenagers--looked furious and scared at the same time, which was a feat, indeed. Maria immediately recognized all seven teenagers: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and...Draco Malfoy.

Maria did a double take when she saw Draco Malfoy standing in the middle of the circle, glaring furiously at his own father, who stood next to her. She shot Malfoy a furtive glanced and then looked back at his son in the circle. She knew that Lucius Malfoy was a cruel and cold-hearted man, but she had no idea that he would toss away his only son. And as for the rest...

"Miss Maria Vita, I assume that you had no trouble finding our meeting place?" Voldemort prompted, interrupting the silence. She looked up to see that Voldemort was looking directly at her, which caused everyone else to turn and look at her. She ducked her head and bowed very low.

"No, Master," Maria said in a strong voice. "I hope that I was of no inconvenience because of my late appearance."

"Certainly not, Miss Vita," Voldemort replied. Maria still hung low in a bow. "I could not have you miss out on such a wonderful opportunity, as you are one of my most faithful followers. You may rise."

"Thank you, my Lord," Maria said, pulling herself back up. Harry Potter was now shooting daggers at her, but she just gave him a cool look that seemed to anger him further. He had no idea what was going on here. He was going to cost her, yet again, everything. The boy was as stubborn as his father.

"Harry Potter and his little friends have decided to join us for dinner," Voldemort announced in what could perceived as a cheerful voice. The Death Eaters laughed with him.

"You won't get away with this!" Harry shouted lividly at Voldemort, but Voldemort merely gave Harry a hideous smile.

"On the contrary, Potter, I most certainly will," Voldemort pointed out.

Miss Maria Vita? You're a traitor! Is that your real name? You're just like Pettigrew!

No, my real name is Layla Milan. I'm a spy, you twit!

Maria felt as if she should look around the room to find out who had said--done--that. She held back the urge to do so and instead stared ahead at Voldemort. The voice was familiar, and she knew who it had belonged to, but it was impossible. She hadn't been reading his thoughts; she had been sifting through Antonin Dolohov's perverse mind, which had not been something she would've liked to have heard. This was impossible. The only way she could've heard that was if he had...

"Antonin, you have proven yourself worthy many of times and you haven't been able to do anything for a long time," Voldemort declared. "What say you get the honor of the first kill tonight?" Dolohov seemed thrilled with the idea, but he hid his glee well. Maria found herself horrified with this idea. "You may choose any one of these...toddlers."

"Oh, Miss Granger would be an absolute pleasure, my Lord, if you allow it," Dolohov replied very quickly, his eyes glazing over a terrified Hermione Granger. She was shaking with fear and had tears forming in her brown eyes. Maria was not liking this idea at all. Ron Weasley shot Maria a murderous glare.

If you're a spy, then do something!

Maria didn't want to believe this because this was simply not allowed to happen. It was just too unthinkable. She was supposed to be one of a kind--the only one around--but her she was, having someone else's voice being shouted in her head--Ron Weasley's voice. He couldn't have the same power as her, could he? He couldn't have the gift of Advanced Leglimency...

Severus, we can't let anything happen to Hermione. We're going to have to act now.

Maria's eyes flickered over to Severus Snape, who stood silently in the circle to her right. He shot her a secretive glare and she could hear his thoughts running through his mind: This will blow our cover, Layla. We cannot risk that.

Bother that, Severus! I refuse to let Hermione get hurt by that sick-minded jerk! If you don't join in, I will have to do this by myself and we'll all die.

Maria knew that this would undoubtedly change Severus's mind. He looked over to her and she saw the confirmation of the pact. She turned her attention back to Dolohov, who had just grabbed Hermione's elbow and gave it a twist. It didn't break, but she shrieked in pain.

"Let go of her!" Ron roared, leaping to grab Dolohov's throat. Malfoy and McNair both leapt into action and snatched Ron before he could touch Dolohov, who looked uninterested in the red-haired boy. Ron punched McNair in the face, causing a broken and bloody nose, and it was only when Crabbe and Goyle also joined in on the refraining of Ron did this stop him. They gave him a few blows to the stomach and curled over in pain.

"Ron!" Ginny Weasley shrieked, struggling against her own captors. At Ron's attempt of attack, Death Eaters had jumped to hold the rest of them back. Harry roared with fury. Draco continued to glare at his father and ignored his captors--as did Luna Lovegood.

"Stop it! Stop it! Please, don't hurt him!" Hermione screamed, hot tears streaming down her face, but they wouldn't listen to her. Dolohov appeared to be interested now as Crabbe and Goyle continued their assault on Ron. Maria could feel tears stinging her eyes. She looked at Severus very hopelessly.

Oh, gods, I can't take this anymore. We have to do it now!

Severus seemed to agree with her because he gave his head a very short jerk--a nod. It was time to blow their cover and get these teenagers out of here--alive. Maria took one look at Dolohov, who was now raising his wand. Hermione's arm was bent in an odd angle, but it didn't appear to be broken. Ron, on the other hand, lay on the floor, groaning.

I'll finally get her. I'm finally going to make her pay for what she did last year. Thinks she's so smart, the little Mudblood does, but she didn't know who she was dealing with. She's going to get it.

Maria blinked. She was used to such thoughts by now, but it still sent chills up and down her spine to know that there were truly evil people out in the world--too many, in fact. She had been bunkered with them for months now; she was partially glad that she was going to blow her cover. She had wanted out for a long time now.

Oh, Antonin, you're not being very nice, now are you? What changed you from the fun-loving boy I used to know when we were kids? What happened to the boy who made all the girls giggle? I see now you've changed into a man that makes everyone panic. Pity--you could've been something.

Dolohov's wand stopped right at Hermione's throat. Slowly, but surely, he turned his head and his dark eyes locked onto her gray eyes. She gave him the faintest of taunting smiles. He glared at her and clenched his fists. Everyone was watching him curiously, unaware that they were all holding their breath. Dolohov's grip on Hermione's arm tightened and she whimpered. Ginny choked out a short sob.

"You..." was all that Dolohov could utter as he glared at Maria. She nodded her head. Everyone, at that moment, turned their heads to look at her. She didn't feel as nervous or frightened as she thought she would have been. Instead, she felt like laughing. She had done what most considered was impossible: She had deceived--tricked--Voldemort and all of his Death Eaters.

Behind Dolohov, Maria saw that Severus was moving. His eyes were not on her. Harry shot him a questioning, angered look, but it turned into pure confused when Severus took the magical constraints off of the younger boy. Severus started on Neville Longbottom's binds while Harry worked on Luna's when Maria realized that something was wrong.

So Severus is a spy...

It was a little voice among a throng of many others, but Maria had heard it. Her eyes snapped to the left and she saw Marty Nott moving silently behind Severus with his wand raising into the air every step he took.

There goes subtlety, Maria thought bitterly as she gave Severus a pointed look that he caught.

Maria raised her wand and pointed it at Nott. He didn't even see her as she shouted, "Petrificus Totalus!" Nott straightened up like a wooden board and fell flat on his back. The mayhem this caused was not only loud outwardly, but it felt like an explosion in Maria's mind. She hadn't prepared herself for it like she usually did on such occasions.

Maria grabbed her head quickly and ducked down to avoid getting hit by any hex or spell. She shot Stunning Charms around the room as fast as she could without looking back. She grabbed the knob to a door (she didn't know where it lead, but she didn't likely care) and turned around just in time to duck a Killing Curse. She saw Severus dragging Ron to his feet.

"Get out of here!" Severus bellowed at her and the seven teenagers. She didn't need told twice and she disappeared into the room, sealing the door magically.

Once inside, she stopped for a minute to gather her own thoughts. They drifted around in her mind madly as the others fought to remain. She shrugged their thoughts out of her mind and her head immediately stopped throbbing like crazy. She had to get back to the others. She ran across the room and reached for the knob of another door--

"Ingenero!" Maria threw herself to the right and fell behind a couch just in time as the door she had just locked blew open and flew across the room, hitting the wall where she had just been. She popped over the couch and threw her wand out, pointing it at Avery McNair.

"Stupefy!" Maria cried out haphazardly. She could barely think of what spell to use.

"Protégé!" McNair shot back and her spell was deflected. The red beam she had sent was sent back to her. Her eyes widened and she dropped behind the couch once again. She glanced back at the door again. It was her only chance of escaping. Maria leaped for the door and grasped the knob. She dodged another Killing Curse and wrenched the door open. She spun around as she shut the door to say a curse or something, but McNair grabbed the other doorknob and pulled it open. He was far stronger than she was. Maria went sailing across the room.

"Expillimaris!" McNair yelled. Maria had just caught her balance when she was hit with the spell right in the chest. Her wand went sailing into the air gracefully whereas she went soaring backwards quite ungracefully. She landed on a table and slid all of the way down it until she fell off of it, landing on the ground with a loud thump.

In the corner of her eye, Maria saw her wand roll under a bookcase. It occurred to her that the room she was in was actually a library. The table, the couch, and all of the bookcases filled with tons of books...someone had an actual library in their house.

I guess it's only right that I die in a library since I barely ever went to one, Maria thought as she tried to pull herself up off the ground. It's payback. Well, I'm sorry, library, that I didn't visit you much!

Maria had just gotten to her knees when McNair bended over the table quickly, looking down at her with a twisted grin and his wand pointed down at her. Maria didn't have wand and she felt very helpless.

"Avada--" Before McNair could finish the curse, Maria did the only thing she could think of: She popped him one right in the face, very hard. She'd learned how to punch over the course of her teenage and young adult years.

He cried out and put his hand over his face as he staggered backwards. Maria scrambled to her feet and tripped over to the bookcase. She shoved her wand hand under the case in search for her wand. She kept her eyes locked on McNair as she did this, just in case he came rushing at her again. When she finally found it, he had taken his hand off of his face to reveal a steady stream of blood coming from his nose; she'd broken his nose.

"You little credin!" McNair growled, sounding odd because of his broken nose. He rushed at her, forgetting the wand in his hand and her mind reeled on a sudden blank. When it finally came to Maria, she shrieked and rolled to the right. He missed her and crashed into the bookcase. Plenty of books rained upon him and a few large ones fell on her as she put her arms over her head. When it came to an end, she pulled herself to her feet and ran for the door.

Suddenly, Maria felt two large hands shove her in the back and she smashed into the wall to the left of the door. Her head banged into the wall and she could see spots popping in front of her eyes. She went to move, but McNair grabbed her elbow and whipped her around to face him. He smacked her, hard, and she could see even more spots popping.

"You sure are a dedermined liddle brat," McNair snarled viciously.

"I'm sure you meant 'determined little prat'?" Maria taunted with a blossoming livid black eye, smirking. He growled at her and pulled his wand up to kill her when she put her left foot on his chest and pushed as hard as she could. He yelled a cuss word while he fell backwards onto the floor.

She spun herself around to reach for the door again, but right as she grabbed the knob, McNair grabbed her from behind and picked her up off the floor. Maria kicked and screamed to be put back down; her arms were held to her side tightly as she kicked her legs uselessly. She felt her feet touch the floor, but she still couldn't move her arms.

"God you now," McNair hissed in her ear. She could feel his hot, haggard breath on her neck as she stood limply in his bone-crushing squeeze, calculating a plan at high speed. She stomped on his foot as hard as she could, causing him to yelp out in pain and loosen his grip on her. She took her elbow and rammed him in the gut. He let go of her altogether and he wrapped his arms around his middle as he stumbled away from her. She turned around, grabbed his shoulders, and shoved her knee into his groin with such force that he shouted and fell onto the ground, groaning very painfully.

"Got you now," Maria spat, wiping the blood off of her lip with her sleeve. She stamped on his wand, breaking it into pieces. He wouldn't be needing that any time soon. She raised her wand slightly, pointing it at him, and said, "Stupefy!" before she put an Anti-Apparation Bind Spell on him. She didn't want him to escape.

With no one to stop her now, Maria ripped the door open and sidestepped what could have been an Asphyxiation Curse--it had been a jet of light blue light. She saw Neville dragging a battered-looking Ginny across the room, throwing hexes backwards and looking terrified. Death Eaters were chasing them. Suddenly, the room began to rumble and the floor underneath them began to shift wildly. Everyone, despite of what they were doing, came to a violent crash on the revolving floor, shrieking and yelling.

Maria's vision bobbled up and down, but she could see a Death Eater--Bellatrix Lestrange, she found of further inspection--raise her wand and open her mouth to form the word, "Crucio!" A rush of unknown adrenaline pumped through Maria and she found the impossible balance to jump to her feet and dash across the room--at the speed of light, it seemed.

"Protégé!" Maria yelled, but she wasn't sure if it would work. She knew that it was possible to block the Crutacious Curse, but she was scared that it wouldn't because it was an Unforgivable Curse. She dragged Neville and Ginny out of the way of a falling bookshelf. The floor came to a halt, but Maria's vision seemed to keep spinning. She could hear the Death Eaters getting up.

"Neville, what's wrong with Ginny?" Maria demanded in a hiss.

"Tom R-Riddle," Neville simply said, his voice shaking. "V-Voldemort grabbed her and he just turned into Tom R-Riddle. Harry threw a chair at h-him and he let g-go of her. Harry told me to take her away, s-so I did and she w-went in-into shock or s-something."

That was all Maria needed to know. "Neville, you have to get her--"

"Reducto!" It had been a man's voice--Rodolphus Lestrange, by the sound of it.

The spell hit the large mantelpiece behind the three of them; it began to plummet. Ginny looked up and screamed piercingly. Maria pointed her wand at the mantelpiece and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The mantelpiece stopped, hovering right above their heads, while tiny pieces fell down upon them. She stood up and aimed her wand at the six Death Eaters. "Conicio!"

The mantelpiece was thrown towards them speedily. They all tried to dodge it, but it caught two of them and knocked them backwards. When they landed on the floor, they didn't move; it had knocked them out cold. The other four, however, were still standing and they looked back at their two fallen comrades.

Maria looked back at Neville and Ginny on the floor behind her and ordered, "Go!" Neville got to his feet and pulled Ginny up to her feet. They raced across the room and vanished through the wooden door. Maria turned to the remaining four Death Eaters with a raised wand and they did the same with her. It was four against one--not the best of chances for Maria.

But at that exact moment, there was a loud crash above them. Maria looked up and raised her eyebrows at the sight. A door in the ceiling (she blinked three times, but the door was still there, much to her confusion and amazement) burst open and out came Ron, who was shouting as he fell out of the door and landed right on top of all four Death Eaters. Hermione came falling out, shrieking shrilly, and dropped into Ron's lap unceremoniously.

"Oomph!" Ron grunted. He looked up and the door that he and Hermione had just fallen out of closed up. The Death Eaters underneath them began to groan. Hermione rolled off of his lap and tottered over to Maria dizzily. Ron stood up and jumped off of the Death Eaters, whom grunted, and he ran over to Maria to stand beside Hermione. Maria put the Anti-Apparation Bind Spell over all four of them.

"That was your work? You were Professor Lupin's informant?" Hermione gasped, massaging the side of her head and panting. Maria nodded her head. There was another crash.

"I'll explain later," Maria told them hastily, glancing around the room nervously, "once we get out of here." Ron gave her a dark look and she could hear his voice bobbing in her mind. She tried to shake it away, but it wouldn't go away like the others. "Where's Draco?"

At this, tears welled in Hermione's eyes. "We saw him fighting his dad!" she squeaked. "It didn't look like he was winning; he was bleeding a lot. I tried to get him away, but he wouldn't leave until he settled the score with his father."

Maria nodded; she knew that Draco would do something like this. He was stubborn and he was furious. And he had every right to be furious with his father, Lucius, right now, but right now was not the time to settle personal vendettas against his father.

"And what of Harry and Luna?"

"The stubborn git made us leave him after Neville took off with Ginny!" Ron said angrily. "He's facing it off with Voldemort."

"Dang, he's not ready for that," Maria muttered. She looked at them both. Hermione was holding the arm that Dolohov had grabbed whereas Ron was clutching his side. He, too, had a black eye, but he also had a bloody lip and a slash across his left cheek, blood slowly dripping out. They looked a rugged mess, more so than she was.

"He knows it, too," Ron mumbled, "and so does Voldemort." Hermione bit her lip so hard that it began to bleed. She didn't appear to care though. Ron looked at her sideways.

"Luna--oh, I don't know--she vanished into thin air! One second she was here and the next she was gone--like she Apparated or something, but she's not of age yet so she hasn't learned how to Apparate," Hermione explained in one breathe.

"I think I saw her take off through the door you came through," Ron said quietly. "I think only one Death Eater took off after her."

Silence overtook them. They just stared at each other. Maria closed her eyes and tried to think, but it was hard. Was Luna alive? Had Draco been killed by his father? Was Harry still alive or had Voldemort defeated him already? Maria cringed at the thought. She thought harder; she had a feeling that Luna was still alive, but she wasn't sure about the two boys. Hermione's insecure voice penetrated Maria's thoughts.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione sniffed and she wiped the tears out of her eyes. Maria opened her eyes and blinked. What were they going to do? She tried to think of better plan than the ones she'd come up with tonight so far.

"You two"--Maria looked at them pointedly to show that there was no argument--"are going to find Neville, Ginny, and Luna--if you can--and get the bloody hell out of here. No looking back, do you hear me? I don't want you to hide somewhere and wait for any of us to get out. I want you to run as far as you get and somehow get or send word to headquarters about this. Do you understand me?"

"But--"

"No, Ron, you cannot wait for us," Maria said flatly, interrupting him. Ron frowned at her, but she ignored him. Hermione whimpered. "If you're still in the vicinity, the Death Eaters can track you down; they have their ways. Do you understand me?"

Ron and Hermione nodded their head in unison. "Crystal," Ron mumbled irritably. Maria chose to ignore his tone and she pointed at the door.

"Please, be careful," Maria pleaded with them, sounding weak herself now. Ron and Hermione looked at her sadly. She frowned. "I've been the bearer of bad news far too often and I don't want to do that anymore, especially not for you."

Ron looked to be struggling with something, but Maria couldn't hear anything. He seemed to be barring Maria from his mind. Hermione whimpered and before Maria knew it, the younger girl hugged her tightly around the middle. Maria had been distant with all of the members of the Order for a good reason--the people she began to like always seemed to die--but she could feel a strong connection with these teenagers right now like no other.

"Don't worry; I'll find Harry and Draco and get them out of here," Maria said soothingly, hoping that she was right. "You'll see."

Hermione let go and nodded her head. Ron grabbed her hand and they took off through the same door Neville and Ginny had disappeared into. There was another shattering crash, but this time, Maria heard a scream. There was only one thing on Maria's mind: Draco.