Dark Daughter

Chapter 2: Meetings

(September 30^th)

Harry Potter sat at the Gryffindor table, eating his breakfast in silence with Ron and Hermione. Suddenly the usual flock of owls swooped into the Great Hall. Hedwig fluttered down between the pumpkin juice and the toast, clutching a letter in her beak. Harry took it.

"Thanks Hedwig," he said, recognizing the handwriting on the envelope.

Dear Harry,

Remus and I are coming to Hogwarts tonight. Dumbledore is assigning us a mission. If you want, to you can come and meet us in Dumbledore's office at seven-thirty.

Hope to see you there.

Sirius

"You want to come?" Harry asked to Ron and Hermione, knowing that they had been reading over his shoulder.

"Sure!" said Ron immediately.

Hermione opened her mouth to say yes too, but the bell rang and all three scooped up their bags and hurried off to the North Tower (Hermione to Arithmancy). Harry knocked into a third year to the floor as he followed his friends. Unluckily she had been repacking her bag and all of the contents were scattered on to the floor. The crowd of people around her kept walking and Harry saw her inkbottle smash as all her books were kicked and stepped on.

Harry wanted to hurry up to Professor Trelawney's tower with Ron, but the girl seemed to have had a rough start to the day and thought he should help clean up the trouble he'd caused, even if it was on accident. Ron and Hermione hadn't realized that he had stopped so they kept going up the stairs along with the bustling crowd.

Harry approached the girl. He was surprised to see that she had tears in her eyes. She was quite pretty, he thought. She had glossy black hair that hung just past her shoulders and green eyes behind her oval glasses. Very familiar green eyes . . .

"Sorry," he muttered to her and he started to help clean up her books and went to pick up two of her books that had been kicked away from her.

"It's okay," she said wiping her tears away hurriedly. "People bump into each other all the time, kinda hard not to here."

Harry handed her the books.

"Thank you."

"I didn't make you cry did I?" asked Harry concernedly.

"No," said the girl. "I--I was crying about something else before that."

"What's your name? What house are you in?" Harry asked. He had never noticed her before but she looked familiar somehow.

"Oh, I'm in Gryffindor with you. My name's Amy Evans."

"Really? I--I've never noticed you before!"

"Yeah, my friends and I aren't in the common room when it's full often." Amy told him.

"Listen, it was nice meeting you and every thing, but we've got to get to class, before we're really late," said Harry, glancing at his watch.

"You're right," said Amy. "Well, nice meeting you, Harry. Bye!" And she hurried off towards the Rune Translation classroom.

Harry half flew up to North Tower, where he was lucky to find that the trap door had not been opened.

"Where were you?" said Ron, as Harry caught his breath.

"I--I h-helped that third year I--bumped into."

"Why?"

"Everything in her bag went flying and people trampled it, she looked like she was having a rough day."

"Nice of you," said Ron, laughing. "D'you know what house she's in?"

"Yeah, she said she's in Gryffindor, but she and her friends don't spend much time in the common room."

"You sure know a lot about this girl," Ron pointed out, having trouble suppressing his laughs.

"Oh, shut up, Ron!"

At that moment the trap door swung open and the silver latter just narrowly avoided Harry's foot. The class was silent as it climbed into the sweltering tower room.

"Good day," said Professor Trelawney's misty voice, making Ron start.

"Today we will be continuing our unit on planets."

It was a very good lesson, thought Harry, for Trelawney, that is. They had got through the whole class without a single mention of Harry's upcoming death, though Harry and Ron hadn't listened to a word of it.

"Maybe she's bored with you," suggested Hermione at lunch, sounding as if she was trying not to laugh.

"Well I hope so, it was beginning to be really annoying!" Harry said.

At that moment Harry saw the girl he'd bumped into that morning, Amy. She wasn't crying now, instead she was laughing, looking like she'd had a great day. She was talking to four other Gryffindor third years, they too were laughing. Harry realized with a strange jolt of his stomach that she had eyes exactly like his. They were brilliantly green, and he realized that she was wearing glasses, just like he was.

* * *

At seven-thirty Harry, Ron and Hermione went to Dumbledore's office, wearing the invisibility cloak. As they approached the stone Gargoyle the three of them noticed a cloaked figure walking swiftly down the stairs, in the directions of the dungeons. Harry was sure that he or she was up to no good. But the person seemed to be shorter than Harry.

"Who d'you think that is?" Ron muttered in Harry's ear.

"I dunno, but they can't be doing anything all that great," Harry whispered back.

"Maybe it's Snape," suggested Hermione.

"No," said Harry. "He looks shorter than us."

"Should we follow?" asked Ron, his eyes following the person until their figure darted out of sight.

"No, Sirius and Prof--I mean--Remus are waiting for us," said Hermione. "Besides, Harry, you need to be careful! The castle isn't as safe as it was before."

"Hermione--" Harry started, but Hermione cut him off. "Harry, you can't argue! It's true, and Sirius and Prof--I mean--Remus are still expecting us. Harry, everyone is on the edge and suspicious, what will they think if you don't show up?"

Before Harry could retort in slight anger and frustration, however, he heard a familiar voice coming from the corridor behind him.

"C'mon, Moony," came what was unmistakably Sirius' voice. They saw him walking closer to them looking over his shoulder. Behind him they could see Remus walking more slowly in Sirius' tracks. As they came closer Harry saw that Remus looked tired and ill.

Sirius stopped and went over to his friend. "Are sure you want to take this mission, Remus? I'll be fine on my own. You can just sit this one out, if you need to rest."

"I'll be fine Padfoot," Remus said in a voice that sounded as tired as he looked. Sirius put an arm around his friend's shoulders as he helped him walk.

Harry wanted to take off the invisibility cloak but knew that Remus hated to be seen the day after the full moon. He supposed that Remus had a rough night.

They went up to the stone gargoyle, gave the password ("Jelly Slugs") and stepped inside. Harry, Ron and Hermione followed a little while after. The second they had crossed the threshold and the stone gargoyle was closing behind them they pulled off the invisibility cloak. They hurried up the moving spiral staircase and knocked on the polished oak door.

It opened immediately.

"Harry! We were beginning to worry!" said Sirius, relieved.

Harry grinned, but as his gaze scanned the room it faded slightly. Remus sat in the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk, his eyes were closed and as Harry stared at him he noticed how pale and tired he was. Remus was a werewolf, meaning that every full moon he would undergo a painful transformation. Sirius had been with him for the last two transformations. But at the end of the last one Remus' wolf form (Sirius often called it "Moony") had gone berserk and Sirius had spent three hours fighting for his life. Sirius nearly died, and Remus told him not to accompany him in the next transformation.

Sirius, noticing where Harry's eyes had wondered, said quietly, "Harry, Ron, Hermione, I need your help."

"Anything," said Harry automatically.

"Remus can't go on this mission. Last night it--it was awful!" Sirius told them in a whisper. "I need your help to persuade him not go. Maybe he'll listen to you. Will you help?"

The three of them nodded fervently. Sirius approached the chair in which Remus slept. He touched Remus' shoulder and shook it gently.

"Remus?" he said quietly. "Remus wake-up!"

"Wha--" Remus started and stared up at Sirius with shadowed eyes. "What is it?" he said in a voice that was almost a whisper. "What's happened? Has Harry come yet?"

"Yes, Harry is here," said Sirius gently.

Remus' tired eyes traveled slowly around the room until he spotted Harry.

"'Lo Harry," he said, stifling a cough.

"Hi, Remus," said Harry. Remus tried to get up, but Sirius made him sit back.

"Remus, you--you can't go on this mission, you need rest and you know it!"

"Sirius . . ." Remus began but he didn't seem to know what to say.

"You really don't look well, Remus," Hermione piped up.

"Yeah, you ought to rest," said Ron.

"Remus, there will be other missions," Harry added.

Remus still didn't seem to know what to say. "Sirius," he said finally. "You can't handle this alone, who will your partner be?"

"I'm sure I'll be able to find someone," said Sirius offhandedly.

Before Remus could respond, Dumbledore walked in. Harry had barely noticed that he wasn't there; Sirius and Remus had drawn his mind away from the realization of where he was.

"Hello, Harry, Ron, Hermione," said the old headmaster, smiling.

"Hello, Professor," said Harry, but he wasn't watching Dumbledore, he was watching the two men that followed.

One had short gray hair with a beard that stopped at his collar. He wore green robes that looked a little old, but clean. He looked like he was in his early fifty's. His slightly wrinkled face looked like it was always smiling. The man grinned at Sirius and Remus.

The second man looked almost the opposite. He wore new blue robes and his light brown hair was slicked back with a lot of grease. His eyes were cold and brown. His face was young, but hard and Harry thought that if this man were to smile, it would look alien. He reminded a Harry vaguely of someone, though he couldn't think of whom.

The moment the second man had entered Remus sat up. Harry thought he looked like he was trying to look like he wasn't as weak and ill as he truly was. He and the second man glared at each other.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, this is Mundungus Fletcher," said Dumbledore, he gestured to the first, kind-faced man, who nodded, beaming. "And this is Romulus Lupin."

Dumbledore gestured towards the second, unsmiling man. Romulus and Remus and were still glaring at each other with mistrust and suspicion.

Now Harry knew whom the second man looked like! He looked exactly like Remus, only he had newer robes, and he looked younger. Harry wouldn't be able to tell them apart if Romulus hadn't had his hair slicked back. Remus looked like he could be Romulus' older brother.

Mr. Fletcher shook hands with all of them and his grin broadened when he reached Harry. "Finally," he said. "Finally I get to meet Lily and James' son!"

Seeing Harry's slightly confused face he said, "I knew your parents when they were in the Order. We went on many missions with each other. I taught them, along with Sirius and Remus here, during their seventh year. Ah . . ." he had a far away look on his face, "Lily Evans and James Potter . . . cutest couple in the school, by then. They were both wonderful people!"

Fletcher spotted Sirius and Remus' slightly pained faces and rapped up his explanation quickly. Remus and Sirius were still glaring at Romulus, who glared right back.

Mundungus stared uneasily between the two and then looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione, whose faces showed all too clearly that they were keen for an explanation about Remus' strange behavior towards Romulus.

"Er . . . Remus . . . Romulus," said Mundungus hesitantly. "Would you mind if I explained your . . . Er . . . last names?"

"No, I wouldn't. Tell them what ever you need to," said Remus, tearing his eyes away from Romulus. Romulus, however, did not remove his gaze.

"Well," said Fletcher. He paused for a moment, and then continued. "Remus and Romulus are twins. They haven't met for several years because of some . . . Er--disagreements--they've had with each other an--"

"Dumbledore," Romulus interrupted suddenly. "I think I will go down to meet Severus, I have been meaning to speak with him."

"Yes, of course," said Dumbledore quickly.

Romulus left. The second that the door closed Remus let out a long low sigh. "I shouldn't have acted that way . . ." he said. "Sorry."

There was an awkward silence before. Mundungus said, "Remus, you're not going on this mission are you?"

"All right!" said Remus, exasperatedly. "All right, I won't go, you win."

Sirius looked as though this pleased him. And Mundungus seemed thoroughly confused. Before anyone could explain, there was a knock on the door, and before Dumbledore answered it he said, "Harry, Ron, Hermione, you should go. The Order will be coming any minute now."

The three of them nodded. After saying goodbye to Sirius, Remus and Mundungus, they got ready to leave. Harry threw the invisibility cloak over himself and his friends just as the door was opened. Professor McGonagall walked in; she seemed ready for business.

Harry hurried out of the open door. His mind was buzzing. Was his mother's name Evans before she had gotten married? Why was Remus acting so strange around his brother? What kind of disagreements had Remus and Romulus had? And who had the figure been?

* * *

The figure that Harry had seen was Amy Evans, and she had been walking down to meet Voldemort. It had been a very unpleasant surprise to feel a terrible burning pain in her arm. Luckily the common room had been full and noisy, so no one heard her yell.

Amy had run up to her dormitory, fetched her mask and pulled on her cloak, making sure to rid herself of all signs that she was in Gryffindor, and then she flew down the stairs, without even looking from side to side, down into the dungeons.

Amy found Snape waiting for her in front of the wall with snake carved into it.

"What took you, Evans?" he hissed venomously.

Amy didn't answer. Snape turned to touch the spot on the wall, extracted the sculpture of the Dark Mark from inside the small chamber, held it out and waited for Amy to touch the skull.

The moment Snape said the magic words the world began to spin. Everything swirled around them in dull colors. Suddenly their feet hit solid ground and both fell to their knees.

"Severus, Amilia, you are late," hissed Voldemort's cruel, cold and high-pitched voice.

As Amy got to her feet she was wondered if it was wise to respond. But before she had made up her mind, Voldemort spoke again. "I am waiting for a good reason not to torture you both," he said impatiently.

There was a pause, in which Voldemort's wand raised a little. Snape glanced at her. Amy stepped foreword.

"The fault is mine, My Lord," she said. "I--I had trouble getting out of my common room. It was--was full. Please forgive me," she added.

"Forgive you?" Voldemort hissed. "Why should I forgive you? Lord Voldemort does not forgive mistakes easily Amilia, as many of your fellow Death Eaters can tell you."

Many of the Death Eaters in the circle around Snape and Amy shifted slightly, but Voldemort ignored them.

"Resume your place, Severus," he said to Snape. "Amilia, I need to teach you a lesson."

Amy couldn't move for fear of her punishment. Voldemort raised his wand. "Crucio!"

White-hot pain consumed every part of Amy's body. She began to scream. She screamed louder than she had ever screamed in her life. Amy didn't know where she was or anything that was happening, all she knew was agony. It seemed to go on for hours. Amy was having trouble breathing. But, quite suddenly, the pain stopped.

Amy opened her eyes. Voldemort chuckled, then said, "Don't be late again, young Amilia. Take your place."

Amy scrambled to her feet and retreated to her place in the circle, which was right next to Snape. They listened to the Dark Lord's words.

"For those of you who missed it last time--Amilia Evans has joined us. She still attends Hogwarts and still has quite a way to go. But no misgivings my friends," said Voldemort, seeing that many of the Death Eaters were looking at Amy with doubt. "Young Amilia has more powers than many of you will ever have. She is more than even she knows, though it will become obvious to her very soon . . . have patience, Amilia.

"But enough about our new member, that is not why I called you here tonight. I have called you to me to give you your missions. We will attack Surry, Privet Drive, in one day--as planned. Severus--are there any wizarding houses in the area?"

"There is Arabella Figg, but she is staying at Hogwarts during this week, however it is not entirely safe," replied Snape.

"We will risk it," said Voldemort.

Amy was in shock. Snape had just given away vital information to the Dark Side! What was going on? Who was Snape working for? But Amy put her suspicious thoughts aside; Voldemort was speaking again and he was glancing at her. If he made eye contact, he would know the truth. She struggled to block out the memories of Snape working for Dumbledore and of herself telling Dumbledore everything.

"Malfoy!"

"Yes, My Lord," said a man with blonde hair and a pointed face. He looked evil in Amy's opinion. There was a boy a Hogwarts, a fifth year, that had the name Malfoy, and the same pointed face, the same blonde hair, the same cold eyes. It was common knowledge of a Gryffindor student that Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were enemies. Malfoy was seeker for Slytherin and Harry was seeker for Gryffindor. Malfoy had never caught the snitch when competing with Harry. In fact, during Amy's first year, Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup. Gryffindor had been competing with Slytherin, meaning that Malfoy that was the seeker who had not caught the snitch and Harry had.

Amy stared at the man that she had heard so many rumors and suspicions about. If anyone ever found out about Amy's secret, would there be the same kind of talk about her?

"Malfoy, you will be in charge of this attack," Voldemort said. "Take with you Crabbe, Nott, and Avery. If Snape's information is correct, you shouldn't have much trouble killing all of the muggles."

Mr. Malfoy nodded, "We will serve you well, Master."

"You will," said Voldemort softly, "because if this attack is unsuccessful I will be torturing the one who is responsible--that includes you Snape, so make sure that your information is correct." Voldemort smiled with his lipless mouth. "Also, we want to set a good example for our new young friend, don't we?"

Many of the Death Eaters glanced in Amy's direction. Amy was silent. She felt a strange sense of protection when next to Snape. Though he was far from friendly, Amy trusted Snape, even though she had some doubts. Amy was sure that there was an explanation to why Snape had given valuable information to Voldemort.

Voldemort gave permission for them to go. Amy and Snape walked over to the portkey and touched it. Once the world stopped spinning Amy turned to Snape.

"Professor?"

"What?" Snape seemed on the edge.

"W-why did you tell Voldemort that stuff about Privet Drive?"

"I was a bluff," Snape said shortly. "There will be about six wizards waiting for Malfoy and the others. I've all ready told Dumbledore about Voldemort's plans."

Amy stared at her Potions Master for a long time. Finally she found her voice, "And you--you're going to be tortured?"

"That is what you've to do when you're a spy," said Snape in a voice that was almost a whisper. "You have to risk your life for others. You will have to do the same."

Amy had expected that there was more to being a spy than collecting secret information and keeping others out of trouble. There was going to be pain. Again it took her a long time before she said, "You set a pretty good example. And if suffering the Cruciatus Curse is what I have to do to keep up my end of the deal, then, I--I will do that."

"Bravery, Evans," said Snape. "It will help you."

Snape walked out of the dungeon. Leaving Amy staring after him, her respect towards the disagreeable Potions Master mounting. But she couldn't stand there long. Amy looked at her watch.

5:30

Amy sighed heavily. She automatically gave up hope of any sleep. Amy didn't even have to be careful not to get caught. A lot of students woke up at five. The house-elves served breakfast at five-twenty. Amy gave another sigh, whimpered as she felt the ache of the Cruciatus Curse upon her and then went up to the Great Hall.