Prologue
“Serena—“the kindly Professor Dumbledore began.
“No way, Dumbledore!” screeched a young witch with long, silky black
hair and crystal blue eyes. “I
can’t be given that kind of responsibility.”
“Miss Riddle, it is a very simple task.
All we need you to do is go to the States and inform Miss Parker and
Mister Valenti of what has happened. Then
we need the three of you to take young Potter to the Weasleys. Is that too difficult?” asked Professor McGonagall.
Serena’s black robes made a whipping sound as she whirled around to
face the older witch. “No,
Minerva, it ain’t. The only
reason I’m complainin’ is because I don’t trust myself.
What makes the three of you so sure that I won’t betray you?” she
asked, looking around the room at Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape.
“Because you’re a good person and an incredible witch, Serena. It makes no difference who your father is,” Dumbledore
said.
“Unless your father happens to be the frickin’ Dark Lord,” Serena
muttered.
Snape rolled his eyes and stepped toward the girl.
“Listen here, Riddle, if Dumbledore trusts you, then we all do.
And we know that you are nothing like your father, so what are you so
worried about?”
“I just don’t want to end up betraying anyone, again,” she replied.
“Severus, why don’t you accompany Serena to Roswell?”
Serena and Snape turned to stare at Dumbledore.
“You know, just to keep an eye on her,” he continued with a twinkle
in his eyes.
“Fine,” Snape mumbled.
“Whatever,” Serena sighed.
“Good. Now, you two better
get a move on. After you’ve
dropped Harry off with the Weasleys, return here with Elizabeth and Kyle at
once.”
Serena and Snape nodded and turned to leave, but were stopped by Professor
McGonagall.
“Take care of the others, Serena.
Only with the four of you, plus Ron and Hermione, can your father be
defeated.”
“I know,” Serena said and walked out the door.
Snape followed and closed the door after him.
“What do you think, Minerva?” Dumbledore asked quietly.
She turned to him and sighed. “I
just hope that we know Serena better than she knows herself.
Otherwise, Voldemort will win.”
Dumbledore nodded. ‘I hope
so too,’ he thought to himself.
Part One
“Wow. Khivar almost took
Isabel away. Thank God she came to
her senses,” Maria murmured after Michael and Max finished telling Maria, Kyle
and Liz about their adventure on Isabel’s honeymoon.
“I can’t imagine anything worse than Khivar showing up at my honeymoon and wedding,” Liz agreed.
“I can,” Kyle muttered, staring at the door of the Crashdown in
horror.
The group turned around and Liz’s eyes grew wide when she saw her least
favorite teacher, Professor Snape, standing outside of the door.
A young girl who looked extremely familiar soon followed.
Liz and Kyle gasped in unison as they realized that she was
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s daughter. They’d
seen pictures of her, but none of the Hogwarts students had ever seen her in
person.
“Wh-what do you think they’re doing here?” Kyle stammered to Liz.
Liz just shrugged and walked out of the back room to greet the two.
Kyle jumped up and followed.
“Who are they?” Max asked, wary of the evil looking man and troubled
looking girl.
“I have no clue,” Maria said with a frown.
Max, Maria and Michael went into the main room to join Liz and Kyle.
“Professor Snape, what brings you here?” Liz questioned with a note
of worry in her voice.
Serena cast a glance at the three Muggles and said, “Perhaps it would
be better if we discussed this in private.”
Liz and Kyle nodded and quickly led the two powerful being upstairs to
Liz’s apartment. When Max began
to follow, Snape turned around and said, “Stay down here, boy. The four of us have business to discuss.”
“Fine, we’ll just listen in on the balcony,” Michael muttered.
The other two nodded and went outside to climb the fire escape.
Once in Liz’s room, Kyle began to pace.
“What’s going on? What’s so important that you couldn’t send one
of us an owl?”
Serena and Snape looked at each other and sighed.
“Let me tell them, Severus.” When
Snape nodded, she continued, “Severus and I have been sent here by Dumbledore
and McGonagall to bring you two back to Hogwarts.
We also have to pick up Harry Potter and leave him with the Weasleys.”
Liz raised an eyebrow at the mention of her cousin.
“Why?”
Serena dropped her gaze to the floor and whispered, “Voldemort has
risen.”
Kyle’s face grew pale and he sunk to the floor while Liz looked
horrified. “What happened?” she
demanded. “Is Harry okay? What
did that monster do to him?”
“Potter will be okay, but he’s a bit traumatized. One if the
ingredients needed to bring Voldemort back was some of Potter’s blood. The boy got away from Voldemort before he could kill him,”
Snape explained.
“Stop saying his name!” Kyle moaned.
“What do you need with us?” Liz asked, ignoring Kyle.
“According to Dumbledore and McGonagall, only you two, Harry, Ron
Weasley, Hermione Granger, and myself can defeat Voldemort, and that’s if we
all work together.”
“What?!” Kyle shrieked. “You
want me to face He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? No way!”
“Look at it this way, Mr. Valenti: he killed your mother,” Snape said
coldly.
“Which is exactly the reason that I don’t want to face him! If he could kill my mother, he can sure as hell kill me.”
“Kyle, he used the Avada Kedavra curse on her, of course he could kill
her. He could kill anyone with
it,” Liz said softly.
“Except your cousin,” Kyle muttered.
“Yeah, well, he can kill Harry
now, too,” Serena said darkly.
All of the color drained from Liz’s face.
“Wh-what?”
Snape nodded. “He now has
some of Harry’s blood, which is where the countercurse is.
He’s now able to touch Harry and everything.”
“We are so fucked,” Kyle exclaimed.
“No, we’re not. We can
still defeat him, and we will. Now,
you two have ten minutes to pack your bags, then we’re leaving.”
Liz set about grabbing all of her witch stuff while Kyle Apparated to his
house.
“What about my parents?” Liz asked while she looked for her Firebolt.
“What do I tell them?”
Serena shrugged. “Tell
them that there are more important things than going to a Muggle school. Tell them that you’re an adult.
I don’t care—just tell them something.”
Liz nodded and scribbled a note on a piece of parchment and the three
waited for Kyle to appear. A noise
on the balcony turned their attention outside.
“Bloody hell,” Snape swore when he saw a shocked and confused group
of three Muggles outside the window.
Liz narrowed her eyes at them and shook her head at Serena when she saw
her raise her wand. “No, leave
them. I’ll deal with them when we
have time, but they won’t tell anyone. I
promise.”
Kyle Apparated before there was time for a discussion. “Well, I’m all set.
Let’s go.”
Snape nodded and the four Apparated out of the room.
Max, Michael and Maria all stood staring at the spot where the other four
had just been standing. Finally,
Maria spoke.
“What the hell is going on?”
The two boys shrugged and Max whispered, “We sure as hell are going to find out.”
TBC