(no subject)
Edit: This was a re-post of someone else's story. It can not be counted towards the GBs.
TITLE: Ebony Riddle and the Truth About the Boy-Who-Died
PERPETRATOR: Shadow Crystal Mage
SUE-O-METER:
(awful)
FULL NAME: Harry Potter aka Ebony Layla Potter/Riddle
SPECIES: Witch
HAIR: "which touched the floor and was greasy and matted", she likes to brush it. "Her dark and thanks to Narcissa's potion silky hair was currently in a loose braid that she was proud to say she had made herself (with a little help of her wand of course)": "about Ebony new tousled hairstyle. Think of Yuna from FF X-2 without the braid and red hair."
EYES: "One of her eyes was emerald green like his own, but the other was blood red with a silted pupil, like a cat's."
MARKINGS: "deathly pale
POSSESSIONS: a House-Elf named Bobby, a brush, dress-robes: "modern red robe with black hem".
ORIGIN: Lily Potter mothered a baby girl a year after Harry was born. The child was conceived in a (willing?) sexual enounter with Lord Voldemort. After the girl was born, Lily adored it, ignoring Harry and James. The wizarding public demanded the baby be killed, and Lily gave the "baby" to them. In actual fact she switched the children so her daughter wouldn't be killed. She placed the baby under a very strong Polyjuice Potion that lasted until Harry/Ebony was 14, and Voldemort had Snape remove it.
CONNECTIONS TO CANON: Voldemort's daughter. Morgan le Fey shows up to bitch at her. Then she escapes thanks to Narcissa to Grimmauld Place. Sirius Black plays the role of baffoon, which is normally reserved for Ron. Lupin and Snape beat him up when he makes snide comments to Ebony.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: Has a plausible initial reaction to the news of her new parentage.
NOTES: I was actually impressed with this story. It's bad, but I think a lot of Harry/Ebony's main reactions are valid and consistent. He actually thinks of escaping constantly, which is a first in these sorts of stories. Plus, while being upset a Dumbledore at first, he gets over it and they appear to have a canon-like relationship so far. It has some crazy cliches, and some very anti-cliche moments.
SAMPLE:
Ebony flew threw a tunnel of whirling colours and was too shocked to brace herself for the impact with the ground, that was sure to come.
She crashed to the floor painfully, earning gasps. She had to fight the panic, growing inside of her, but the memory of a similar series of events was still too fresh, so her mind was soon clouded by intense fear. She fought the hands, trying to hold her as the room around her transformed into the graveyard, she had been visiting every night since the end of term. Soothing words, voices around her whispered, sounded suspiciously like a cold voice to her, that hissed: "Kill the spare!"
She was pulled out of her horror fantasies by comforting arms, hugging her close to a soft body in a hug, of a kind she had received only once before; a mother's hug.
She was slowly able to take in her surroundings, so as the hold of the arms around her lessened somewhat, she recognised the person, looking down at her with tired and worried eyes, as Molly Weasley. A moment later the teen was hugged close to the older witch again. "Oh, Merlin! You are back! You are alive! I was so worried!! What did they do to my baby?!" Ebony was shocked stiff by the woman's frantic wails for a moment, before she hugged the woman back, trying very hard not to cry herself. "Did she really say that last bit?"
After a while of silently comforting the woman, she calmed down. “She probably has bottled her emotions up for some time now.”
Once the woman had stopped crying, they stood up and she examined the younger witch at arms-length, taking in her entire appearance.
The modern red robe with black hem, she was wearing, showed off a body that was a little too thin. Ebony was actually quite glad that due to the fact that she was very thin, she didn't have that much chest to speak of. Her dark and thanks to Narcissa's potion silky hair was currently in a loose braid that she was proud to say she had made herself (with a little help of her wand of course). At last brown eyes clashed with hesitant red and green ones. Whatever the mother, who didn't acknowledge the piercing red gaze, found in them seemed to satisfy her as she nodded and gave a smile. Ebony was approved of.
Somebody cleared his throat indicating that they weren't alone. Ebony blushed; she hadn’t noticed anyone else in the room. Mrs. Weasley moved a little to allow Professor Lupin to step forward and to shock her by hugging her fiercely, before giving her the same once-over her best friend's mother had.
He grinned teasingly. “You look very pretty in that dress robe of yours.”
If she had been a normal girl, she would probably have blushed, but she glared at him good-naturedly.
His cheerful facade vanished after a moment revealing an even more tired-looking one than Mrs. Weasley’s and relief and happiness that was hard to grasp and he hugged her close. “Gods! Merlin! Fucking shit! Don’t ever do that again!!” he warned, emphasising every word of his last sentence, while his voice broke slightly, startling her a great deal, as he usually was one of the most well-composed people she knew and she wondered what exactly she had done, but figured this must be, what it was like to have...parents.
Trying to change the subject, she pointed out the obvious, but she couldn’t help but look at the floor ashamed: “So I take it you know who I am?”
The werewolf gently forced her chin up so she would have to meet his gold-brown gaze. “Yes, Severus told us everything and we want you to know that we don’t care, who your parents are. We love you!”, he declared passionately.
She smiled at him tearfully, but had to ask one question, because she still had a small glimmer of hope left: ”Isn’t there a chance that Voldemort -sorry, Mrs. Weasley- is lying? Maybe this is all just some trick..?”
Remus looked at her seriously and thoughtfully, before replying: ”Dumbledore told us there is little chance,” “Not Dumbledore, too...” “but we convinced Severus to brew a parental potion, to make sure.” Ebony couldn’t believe the greasy-haired git would ever do that for her and some of her thoughts must have shown on her face, because the wizard added: “You should thank him, Ebony. He has done much for you this past week. You owe your rescue to him.” “Impossible... He hates me! He could care less if I died, much less if I was kidnapped by his master.”
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, causing them to fall apart. The door opened slowly to reveal Albus Dumbledore, who spoke amused: “Excuse me, but one couldn't help but wonder what the commotion in here was all-.” He trailed off as his eyes came to rest on her.
Professor Dumbledore was looking at her with so many emotions it was hard to tell them apart, but above all else, his expression was one of great shock and regret. Her intent look must have grabbed the adults’ attention, because by now everyone in the room was looking at the great wizard with worry.
He whispered a word, but it was too softly spoken for anyone to catch. He whispered it again almost afraid, but slightly hopeful: “Isabella?”
Ebony only had the time to blink, before her headmaster composed himself and contradicted himself: “No, of course not. She would be what by now? One hundred...?” Though he mumbled the last part to himself Ebony was able to pick it up. With a cheerful face firmly in place the old wizard approached the girl: “Ebony, I presume? Welcome back, my girl!”
When the old wizard stood in front of her, she noticed that there was something off with the usually youthful-looking face of the old man, but, as she met his eyes, she knew what it was: They were missing their twinkle! “Only explanation I can come up with: He’s wearing a mask...What is he hiding behind it...?”
“Let’s try the most obvious answer...” “Proffessor Dumbledore. Why did you call me Isabella?” Ebony regretted asking, as the man let go of his mask and revealed an old- and tired-looking face. She realized that she didn’t know her friend that well at all.
He finally answered, looking apologetically at her: “She was my daughter, who I haven’t seen for many years, since we had an argument. You bear a remarkable resemblance to her.”
Feeling very guilty, she apologised hurriedly: “I-I’m sorry, Proffessor. I shouldn’t have-”
He cut her off, his eyes suddenly alight with the familiar twinkle as he told her good-naturedly: “You don’t need to be. You had every reason to be curious. But let’s change the topic, shall we? You must be wondering where you are.” “Actually I didn’t, but that indeed is a good question.” She was in a slightly dark room with only one dirty window, through which she couldn’t see anything. The room was almost empty aside from an empty shelf and many old chairs, that looked as though they hadn’t been used for years. As the old wizard continued, her attention shifted back to him. “This,” Dumbledore made a wide gesture, “used to be the family house of the Black family and has recently become residence to the Order of the Phoenix.” He didn’t give her time to inquire what the “Order of the Phoenix” was, before he explained, giving her even more reasons to believe he was a Legilimens: ”During Voldemort’s first rise, I searched for people to help me fight against him. We called ourselves the Order of the Phoenix.” He sighed in what might have been old grief. “Sadly many of the original Order died before and after his fall...” He lost himself in memories and the same seemed to be the case with Prof. Lupin and Mrs. Weasley, but Ebony didn’t dare to disturb them. She knew that there were few, who didn’t lose a sibling, parent or cousin in the Dark Lord’s first rise. “I wonder whether or not mum and dad had been part of this Order...Oh-! I forgot!Dad sure as hell wasn’t!”
Dumbledore was the first to snap out of it: “Ebony, would you mind giving me that piece of parchment?”
Ebony handed the parchment, she had completely forgotten about, to him, who immediately destroyed it. Ebony raised an eyebrow at his actions, while she let the brush slip into the pocket of her robes, because she was a little embarrassed about her new ‘hobby’, although she knew they somehow had found out about it. “How did they bring this brush to my room? Of course! That is what this was all about! Oh, I could kill Bobby for scaring me like this... or kiss him for bringing me home!”
“Proffessor? What was this piece of parchment for? And that statement about the Order’s headquarters?”
“This house is under the Fidelius Charm, Ebony. I’m the secret keeper, so to come here you need to either be told where it is or read it from a parchment written by me.” “My parents used the same charm to hide away from Voldemort... It didn’t keep them safe...” “Ebony, would you mind telling the Order, what has happened since you were kidnapped by him?”
Ebony shrugged, not really caring, but a little excited about meeting the Order: ”There isn’t much to tell really.”
Remus gave her a concerned look: “Dumbledore, couldn’t she tell the Order her story later? She looks like she didn’t sleep for days.” His voice was by the end filled with fury at her captors.
Dumbledore looked torn for a moment, because he obviously agreed with the ex-DADA teacher, but needed to know what happened. She beat him to the answer though: “Don’t worry Prof. Lupin, I’m alright. I didn’t sleep tonight, because I searched for a way to escape. The story is rather short anyway.”
The overprotective mother and the werewolf still looked like they wanted to object, but surprisingly didn’t.
“I wonder why Sirius isn’t here? Didn’t Dumbledore say this used to be the home of the Black family? ...Maybe... he is still gathering some of the ‘old crowd’? But wouldn’t that be the original Order Dumbledore was talking about?”
Before she could voice her question though, the adults led her to another room, where they made her sit between Mrs. Weasley and Prof. Lupin, while they waited for Dumbledore to get the Order members. A part of them Ebony was told had been sent to bed by Dumbledore, though they wanted to welcome her, too and others had to go home or to work. “This will take a while... Why couldn’t I just have gone to sleep? Why the hell did I volunteer to stay awake to tell them what happened now?” Ebony yawned.
Mrs. Weasley frowned disapprovingly at her. “You should be in bed, right now, you know?”
Ebony didn’t tell her she was wrong, because she felt the night’s activities catch up with her. She leaned slightly against Mrs. Weasley. “Just gonna close my eyes for a second...”
Another yawn and she was out.
A slight nudge disturbed her not much later and she grumbled something, that was supposed to mean:“Don’t want to get up yet! Go away!” She groaned slightly as the persistent someone and some chuckling others managed to drag her out of the blissful sleep, she had fallen into.
She cracked one eye open to see the smiling face of Mrs. Weasley, who she had obviously in her sleep snuggled close to.
The girl blushed bright red, when she noticed the room was filled with people, who were watching her keenly and to make matters worse she had to yawn once more quite broadly, earning chuckles from a few people. “How long did I sleep? Can’t have been too long... I wonder how Dumbledore managed to get them here this quickly... No, scratch that! He’s Dumbledore. He can do anything!”
She looked at the people keenly trying to determine whether she knew some of them or not. She did, but one of those was a person, who she would have never thought she would see in the company of wizards and witches. Actually she had hoped she would never have to see the old lady again, as she was slightly crazy. The older woman was smiling at her when their eyes met. Ebony sat in complete disbelieve as her babysitter, seemed to have a hard time not to burst out laughing, because Ebony had no doubt that her facial expression looked quite funny. She couldn’t keep a slight squeak out of her voice as she almost yelled: “Mrs. Figg?!”
That did it Mrs. Figg and several others were sent into a laughing fit.
The girl felt a little insulted, as she asked a little more calmly, although there was a small spark of anger starting to form inside of her: “You are a witch?!” “You knew?!”
The woman smiled apologetically: “No. I’m a squib. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you, but if the Dursleys thought you liked me, do you think they would have allowed you to come to me?” “The Dursleys...”
Ebony shook her head, accepting the apology, then turned to her headmaster and asked: “Prof. Dumbledore, what happened to the Dursleys?”
The Professor gave a smile that she was trying desperately to believe was real and avoided her question: “Before we come to what happened since that night one week ago, let’s introduce everybody in this room, who you don’t know, yet.”
“Why did he sidestep my question?” Ebony started to feel slightly sick, but tried to ignore it by paying attention.
A black-haired witch with pink cheeks, who she now noticed was glaring daggers at her, said curtly: “Hestia Jones.” A wizard she knew stuttered: “De-da-lus Diggle,” looking anywhere but at her and was shaking in what could only be fright. “Why the hell did he tell me his name? I know him!” A silver-haired man sitting next to Diggle hissed at her in a wheezy voice: “Elphias Doge.” A square-jawed man sitting next to Sirius, who was also staring at her hatefully, was ignored by her, as her gaze was fixed on the man she considered her father, but surprisingly after a few more glaring people snarled their names at her, somebody did manage to grab her attention. Her vision was suddenly not filled with a furious Sirius, but a pink-haired head, that was grinning brightly at her. “Hello, there! I know it has been long night for you, because believe me you look it, but why don’t you allow me to shake your hand before staring off into space again?” The young woman asked in a cheerful voice. She stuck out her hand, which Ebony took instinctively. “My name is Nymphadora Tonks, but if you call me that, you’re going to die a very painful death,” she threatened, shaking Ebony’s hand enthusiastically. “It’s nice to finally meet you! I’ve been barely five, when you defeated You-Know-Who, but I’ve always wanted to meet you. I grew up with your legend after all,” the excitable witch babbled.
Ebony smiled embarrassed. “Well, at least some of the Order don’t hate me.”
The woman took a seat next to Lupin when Dumbledore cleared his throat, but his eyes were shining brightly. That was when Ebony finally realized that the room was not filled with people, who were glaring at her. There were just as many if not more, who were smiling brightly her way, nodding encouragingly, looking at her in concern or at least looking neutral. It was just that those were on her side of the table, while those glaring at her in hate and fear were on the other side of the table, so she had seen the later first. She made a mental list as Dumbledore made a lengthy retelling of what Voldemort had told her that she didn’t need or want to hear, but gave her time to order her thoughts. “I wonder whether he does this to give me some time. By now everybody should know this... Let’s see on my side of the table are: the complete set of grownup Weasleys, wait! No, that’s wrong: Percy is missing. Prof. Lupin, the girl, I’m not supposed to call by her name, Mrs. Figg, Prof. McGonagall, an unfamiliar wizard, who must have introduced himself, while I was staring at Sirius andMoody. Anybody else? No, but it’s curious that Snape is coincidently standing in the shadows of this sideof the room. Dumbledore sits neutral at the head of the table. Why? Does he believe I might be a threat? On the opposite side of the room are...” Her eyes travelled to Srius, but thankfully she wasn’t paralized by his rejecting gaze again, as he had leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes with his arms crossed over his chest. “Sirius...” She gulped and started to make her mental list again. “What was that witch’s name. I did get her’s I’m sure... Hestia Jones...Dedalus Diggle; a wizard who probably lives somewhere in Little Whining, because I met him there in a shop. That man next to Diggle is Elphias Doge.” When it came to a square-jawed man, a tall bald black wizard and a stately-looking witch with an emerald green shawl she was completely lost though. She had never heard their names in the first place.
“Ebony?” her eyes found Dumbledore’s as he asked her seriously: “Do you think you could tell us what happened during the past week?”
She nodded. “Of course, but as I told you, not much has happened.”
“Or is there just not much you want to tell us?” Every eye in the room turned to the source of the voice: A smirking Black had cracked one eye open and was once again staring at Ebony coldly. “I’d understand that, you know? After all, we are the Order of the Phoenix; an organisation determined to kill the Slytherin’s heir.”
Ebony gulped at the new wording of the groups duties. She watched detached as Remus and Snape lunged for Sirius and started hitting and kicking him, wands forgotten in their anger. Suddenly something in Ebony -maybe her bond to this man- snapped: If all of this had taught her one thing, it was to accept, what she can’t change, so her eyes turned cold and she whispered cruely, making everyone stop dead in their tracks: “You of all people think you have the right to judge others by their family, Black? With your brother, who had been Voldemort’s follower before he was killed by his master? Your mother, who supported his beliefs? Your cousin, who coincidently babysat Slytherin’s heir?And your other cousin in Ascaban for the worst torture in the entire first war?” Suddenly the animagus looked very much like a kicked pup, while Remus and Snape seemed about to start pummelling him again. “They’ve done their job quite nicely. Black eye, split lip and lots of nice bruises, that are beginning to form.” To the girls chagrin the three were pulled apart, before they could start their brawl anew.
Dumbledore gave all of them a hard look and told them in a cold voice: “You should know quite well that a person’s heritage doesn’t mean anything. If you think otherwise, you are fighting on the wrong side of this war.” “He’s thoroughly pissed, but mostly with Black.” He turned to Ebony. “Damn.” She winced waiting patiently for the scolding that was sure to come, yet didn’t: “Ebony, how do you know of Sirius’ family? You said something about his cousin looking after you, didn’t you?”
Ebony was hesitant to rat out her friend and looked at the floor ashamed: “I will start at the beginning, OK?” At Dumbledore’s nod, she continued, noticing for the first time that Mrs. Weasley had a supportive arm slung around her shoulder and Remus had come to reclaim his seat : “Well, I remember waking up for a few seconds that day only to be hit with a stunner.” And so she told them everything (Well. Almost everything: She forgot to tell them about her untraceable wand and Occlumency training.). By the end everybody in the room looked relieved that she hadn’t met Voldemort.
Dumbledore for his part had even more reasons to be pleased: “So there might still be hope for Narcissa Malfoy... You might have made very valuable allies, Ebony.
TITLE: Ebony Riddle and the Truth About the Boy-Who-Died
PERPETRATOR: Shadow Crystal Mage
SUE-O-METER:
(awful)
FULL NAME: Harry Potter aka Ebony Layla Potter/Riddle
SPECIES: Witch
HAIR: "which touched the floor and was greasy and matted", she likes to brush it. "Her dark and thanks to Narcissa's potion silky hair was currently in a loose braid that she was proud to say she had made herself (with a little help of her wand of course)": "about Ebony new tousled hairstyle. Think of Yuna from FF X-2 without the braid and red hair."
EYES: "One of her eyes was emerald green like his own, but the other was blood red with a silted pupil, like a cat's."
MARKINGS: "deathly pale
POSSESSIONS: a House-Elf named Bobby, a brush, dress-robes: "modern red robe with black hem".
ORIGIN: Lily Potter mothered a baby girl a year after Harry was born. The child was conceived in a (willing?) sexual enounter with Lord Voldemort. After the girl was born, Lily adored it, ignoring Harry and James. The wizarding public demanded the baby be killed, and Lily gave the "baby" to them. In actual fact she switched the children so her daughter wouldn't be killed. She placed the baby under a very strong Polyjuice Potion that lasted until Harry/Ebony was 14, and Voldemort had Snape remove it.
CONNECTIONS TO CANON: Voldemort's daughter. Morgan le Fey shows up to bitch at her. Then she escapes thanks to Narcissa to Grimmauld Place. Sirius Black plays the role of baffoon, which is normally reserved for Ron. Lupin and Snape beat him up when he makes snide comments to Ebony.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: Has a plausible initial reaction to the news of her new parentage.
NOTES: I was actually impressed with this story. It's bad, but I think a lot of Harry/Ebony's main reactions are valid and consistent. He actually thinks of escaping constantly, which is a first in these sorts of stories. Plus, while being upset a Dumbledore at first, he gets over it and they appear to have a canon-like relationship so far. It has some crazy cliches, and some very anti-cliche moments.
SAMPLE:
Ebony flew threw a tunnel of whirling colours and was too shocked to brace herself for the impact with the ground, that was sure to come.
She crashed to the floor painfully, earning gasps. She had to fight the panic, growing inside of her, but the memory of a similar series of events was still too fresh, so her mind was soon clouded by intense fear. She fought the hands, trying to hold her as the room around her transformed into the graveyard, she had been visiting every night since the end of term. Soothing words, voices around her whispered, sounded suspiciously like a cold voice to her, that hissed: "Kill the spare!"
She was pulled out of her horror fantasies by comforting arms, hugging her close to a soft body in a hug, of a kind she had received only once before; a mother's hug.
She was slowly able to take in her surroundings, so as the hold of the arms around her lessened somewhat, she recognised the person, looking down at her with tired and worried eyes, as Molly Weasley. A moment later the teen was hugged close to the older witch again. "Oh, Merlin! You are back! You are alive! I was so worried!! What did they do to my baby?!" Ebony was shocked stiff by the woman's frantic wails for a moment, before she hugged the woman back, trying very hard not to cry herself. "Did she really say that last bit?"
After a while of silently comforting the woman, she calmed down. “She probably has bottled her emotions up for some time now.”
Once the woman had stopped crying, they stood up and she examined the younger witch at arms-length, taking in her entire appearance.
The modern red robe with black hem, she was wearing, showed off a body that was a little too thin. Ebony was actually quite glad that due to the fact that she was very thin, she didn't have that much chest to speak of. Her dark and thanks to Narcissa's potion silky hair was currently in a loose braid that she was proud to say she had made herself (with a little help of her wand of course). At last brown eyes clashed with hesitant red and green ones. Whatever the mother, who didn't acknowledge the piercing red gaze, found in them seemed to satisfy her as she nodded and gave a smile. Ebony was approved of.
Somebody cleared his throat indicating that they weren't alone. Ebony blushed; she hadn’t noticed anyone else in the room. Mrs. Weasley moved a little to allow Professor Lupin to step forward and to shock her by hugging her fiercely, before giving her the same once-over her best friend's mother had.
He grinned teasingly. “You look very pretty in that dress robe of yours.”
If she had been a normal girl, she would probably have blushed, but she glared at him good-naturedly.
His cheerful facade vanished after a moment revealing an even more tired-looking one than Mrs. Weasley’s and relief and happiness that was hard to grasp and he hugged her close. “Gods! Merlin! Fucking shit! Don’t ever do that again!!” he warned, emphasising every word of his last sentence, while his voice broke slightly, startling her a great deal, as he usually was one of the most well-composed people she knew and she wondered what exactly she had done, but figured this must be, what it was like to have...parents.
Trying to change the subject, she pointed out the obvious, but she couldn’t help but look at the floor ashamed: “So I take it you know who I am?”
The werewolf gently forced her chin up so she would have to meet his gold-brown gaze. “Yes, Severus told us everything and we want you to know that we don’t care, who your parents are. We love you!”, he declared passionately.
She smiled at him tearfully, but had to ask one question, because she still had a small glimmer of hope left: ”Isn’t there a chance that Voldemort -sorry, Mrs. Weasley- is lying? Maybe this is all just some trick..?”
Remus looked at her seriously and thoughtfully, before replying: ”Dumbledore told us there is little chance,” “Not Dumbledore, too...” “but we convinced Severus to brew a parental potion, to make sure.” Ebony couldn’t believe the greasy-haired git would ever do that for her and some of her thoughts must have shown on her face, because the wizard added: “You should thank him, Ebony. He has done much for you this past week. You owe your rescue to him.” “Impossible... He hates me! He could care less if I died, much less if I was kidnapped by his master.”
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, causing them to fall apart. The door opened slowly to reveal Albus Dumbledore, who spoke amused: “Excuse me, but one couldn't help but wonder what the commotion in here was all-.” He trailed off as his eyes came to rest on her.
Professor Dumbledore was looking at her with so many emotions it was hard to tell them apart, but above all else, his expression was one of great shock and regret. Her intent look must have grabbed the adults’ attention, because by now everyone in the room was looking at the great wizard with worry.
He whispered a word, but it was too softly spoken for anyone to catch. He whispered it again almost afraid, but slightly hopeful: “Isabella?”
Ebony only had the time to blink, before her headmaster composed himself and contradicted himself: “No, of course not. She would be what by now? One hundred...?” Though he mumbled the last part to himself Ebony was able to pick it up. With a cheerful face firmly in place the old wizard approached the girl: “Ebony, I presume? Welcome back, my girl!”
When the old wizard stood in front of her, she noticed that there was something off with the usually youthful-looking face of the old man, but, as she met his eyes, she knew what it was: They were missing their twinkle! “Only explanation I can come up with: He’s wearing a mask...What is he hiding behind it...?”
“Let’s try the most obvious answer...” “Proffessor Dumbledore. Why did you call me Isabella?” Ebony regretted asking, as the man let go of his mask and revealed an old- and tired-looking face. She realized that she didn’t know her friend that well at all.
He finally answered, looking apologetically at her: “She was my daughter, who I haven’t seen for many years, since we had an argument. You bear a remarkable resemblance to her.”
Feeling very guilty, she apologised hurriedly: “I-I’m sorry, Proffessor. I shouldn’t have-”
He cut her off, his eyes suddenly alight with the familiar twinkle as he told her good-naturedly: “You don’t need to be. You had every reason to be curious. But let’s change the topic, shall we? You must be wondering where you are.” “Actually I didn’t, but that indeed is a good question.” She was in a slightly dark room with only one dirty window, through which she couldn’t see anything. The room was almost empty aside from an empty shelf and many old chairs, that looked as though they hadn’t been used for years. As the old wizard continued, her attention shifted back to him. “This,” Dumbledore made a wide gesture, “used to be the family house of the Black family and has recently become residence to the Order of the Phoenix.” He didn’t give her time to inquire what the “Order of the Phoenix” was, before he explained, giving her even more reasons to believe he was a Legilimens: ”During Voldemort’s first rise, I searched for people to help me fight against him. We called ourselves the Order of the Phoenix.” He sighed in what might have been old grief. “Sadly many of the original Order died before and after his fall...” He lost himself in memories and the same seemed to be the case with Prof. Lupin and Mrs. Weasley, but Ebony didn’t dare to disturb them. She knew that there were few, who didn’t lose a sibling, parent or cousin in the Dark Lord’s first rise. “I wonder whether or not mum and dad had been part of this Order...Oh-! I forgot!Dad sure as hell wasn’t!”
Dumbledore was the first to snap out of it: “Ebony, would you mind giving me that piece of parchment?”
Ebony handed the parchment, she had completely forgotten about, to him, who immediately destroyed it. Ebony raised an eyebrow at his actions, while she let the brush slip into the pocket of her robes, because she was a little embarrassed about her new ‘hobby’, although she knew they somehow had found out about it. “How did they bring this brush to my room? Of course! That is what this was all about! Oh, I could kill Bobby for scaring me like this... or kiss him for bringing me home!”
“Proffessor? What was this piece of parchment for? And that statement about the Order’s headquarters?”
“This house is under the Fidelius Charm, Ebony. I’m the secret keeper, so to come here you need to either be told where it is or read it from a parchment written by me.” “My parents used the same charm to hide away from Voldemort... It didn’t keep them safe...” “Ebony, would you mind telling the Order, what has happened since you were kidnapped by him?”
Ebony shrugged, not really caring, but a little excited about meeting the Order: ”There isn’t much to tell really.”
Remus gave her a concerned look: “Dumbledore, couldn’t she tell the Order her story later? She looks like she didn’t sleep for days.” His voice was by the end filled with fury at her captors.
Dumbledore looked torn for a moment, because he obviously agreed with the ex-DADA teacher, but needed to know what happened. She beat him to the answer though: “Don’t worry Prof. Lupin, I’m alright. I didn’t sleep tonight, because I searched for a way to escape. The story is rather short anyway.”
The overprotective mother and the werewolf still looked like they wanted to object, but surprisingly didn’t.
“I wonder why Sirius isn’t here? Didn’t Dumbledore say this used to be the home of the Black family? ...Maybe... he is still gathering some of the ‘old crowd’? But wouldn’t that be the original Order Dumbledore was talking about?”
Before she could voice her question though, the adults led her to another room, where they made her sit between Mrs. Weasley and Prof. Lupin, while they waited for Dumbledore to get the Order members. A part of them Ebony was told had been sent to bed by Dumbledore, though they wanted to welcome her, too and others had to go home or to work. “This will take a while... Why couldn’t I just have gone to sleep? Why the hell did I volunteer to stay awake to tell them what happened now?” Ebony yawned.
Mrs. Weasley frowned disapprovingly at her. “You should be in bed, right now, you know?”
Ebony didn’t tell her she was wrong, because she felt the night’s activities catch up with her. She leaned slightly against Mrs. Weasley. “Just gonna close my eyes for a second...”
Another yawn and she was out.
A slight nudge disturbed her not much later and she grumbled something, that was supposed to mean:“Don’t want to get up yet! Go away!” She groaned slightly as the persistent someone and some chuckling others managed to drag her out of the blissful sleep, she had fallen into.
She cracked one eye open to see the smiling face of Mrs. Weasley, who she had obviously in her sleep snuggled close to.
The girl blushed bright red, when she noticed the room was filled with people, who were watching her keenly and to make matters worse she had to yawn once more quite broadly, earning chuckles from a few people. “How long did I sleep? Can’t have been too long... I wonder how Dumbledore managed to get them here this quickly... No, scratch that! He’s Dumbledore. He can do anything!”
She looked at the people keenly trying to determine whether she knew some of them or not. She did, but one of those was a person, who she would have never thought she would see in the company of wizards and witches. Actually she had hoped she would never have to see the old lady again, as she was slightly crazy. The older woman was smiling at her when their eyes met. Ebony sat in complete disbelieve as her babysitter, seemed to have a hard time not to burst out laughing, because Ebony had no doubt that her facial expression looked quite funny. She couldn’t keep a slight squeak out of her voice as she almost yelled: “Mrs. Figg?!”
That did it Mrs. Figg and several others were sent into a laughing fit.
The girl felt a little insulted, as she asked a little more calmly, although there was a small spark of anger starting to form inside of her: “You are a witch?!” “You knew?!”
The woman smiled apologetically: “No. I’m a squib. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you, but if the Dursleys thought you liked me, do you think they would have allowed you to come to me?” “The Dursleys...”
Ebony shook her head, accepting the apology, then turned to her headmaster and asked: “Prof. Dumbledore, what happened to the Dursleys?”
The Professor gave a smile that she was trying desperately to believe was real and avoided her question: “Before we come to what happened since that night one week ago, let’s introduce everybody in this room, who you don’t know, yet.”
“Why did he sidestep my question?” Ebony started to feel slightly sick, but tried to ignore it by paying attention.
A black-haired witch with pink cheeks, who she now noticed was glaring daggers at her, said curtly: “Hestia Jones.” A wizard she knew stuttered: “De-da-lus Diggle,” looking anywhere but at her and was shaking in what could only be fright. “Why the hell did he tell me his name? I know him!” A silver-haired man sitting next to Diggle hissed at her in a wheezy voice: “Elphias Doge.” A square-jawed man sitting next to Sirius, who was also staring at her hatefully, was ignored by her, as her gaze was fixed on the man she considered her father, but surprisingly after a few more glaring people snarled their names at her, somebody did manage to grab her attention. Her vision was suddenly not filled with a furious Sirius, but a pink-haired head, that was grinning brightly at her. “Hello, there! I know it has been long night for you, because believe me you look it, but why don’t you allow me to shake your hand before staring off into space again?” The young woman asked in a cheerful voice. She stuck out her hand, which Ebony took instinctively. “My name is Nymphadora Tonks, but if you call me that, you’re going to die a very painful death,” she threatened, shaking Ebony’s hand enthusiastically. “It’s nice to finally meet you! I’ve been barely five, when you defeated You-Know-Who, but I’ve always wanted to meet you. I grew up with your legend after all,” the excitable witch babbled.
Ebony smiled embarrassed. “Well, at least some of the Order don’t hate me.”
The woman took a seat next to Lupin when Dumbledore cleared his throat, but his eyes were shining brightly. That was when Ebony finally realized that the room was not filled with people, who were glaring at her. There were just as many if not more, who were smiling brightly her way, nodding encouragingly, looking at her in concern or at least looking neutral. It was just that those were on her side of the table, while those glaring at her in hate and fear were on the other side of the table, so she had seen the later first. She made a mental list as Dumbledore made a lengthy retelling of what Voldemort had told her that she didn’t need or want to hear, but gave her time to order her thoughts. “I wonder whether he does this to give me some time. By now everybody should know this... Let’s see on my side of the table are: the complete set of grownup Weasleys, wait! No, that’s wrong: Percy is missing. Prof. Lupin, the girl, I’m not supposed to call by her name, Mrs. Figg, Prof. McGonagall, an unfamiliar wizard, who must have introduced himself, while I was staring at Sirius andMoody. Anybody else? No, but it’s curious that Snape is coincidently standing in the shadows of this sideof the room. Dumbledore sits neutral at the head of the table. Why? Does he believe I might be a threat? On the opposite side of the room are...” Her eyes travelled to Srius, but thankfully she wasn’t paralized by his rejecting gaze again, as he had leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes with his arms crossed over his chest. “Sirius...” She gulped and started to make her mental list again. “What was that witch’s name. I did get her’s I’m sure... Hestia Jones...Dedalus Diggle; a wizard who probably lives somewhere in Little Whining, because I met him there in a shop. That man next to Diggle is Elphias Doge.” When it came to a square-jawed man, a tall bald black wizard and a stately-looking witch with an emerald green shawl she was completely lost though. She had never heard their names in the first place.
“Ebony?” her eyes found Dumbledore’s as he asked her seriously: “Do you think you could tell us what happened during the past week?”
She nodded. “Of course, but as I told you, not much has happened.”
“Or is there just not much you want to tell us?” Every eye in the room turned to the source of the voice: A smirking Black had cracked one eye open and was once again staring at Ebony coldly. “I’d understand that, you know? After all, we are the Order of the Phoenix; an organisation determined to kill the Slytherin’s heir.”
Ebony gulped at the new wording of the groups duties. She watched detached as Remus and Snape lunged for Sirius and started hitting and kicking him, wands forgotten in their anger. Suddenly something in Ebony -maybe her bond to this man- snapped: If all of this had taught her one thing, it was to accept, what she can’t change, so her eyes turned cold and she whispered cruely, making everyone stop dead in their tracks: “You of all people think you have the right to judge others by their family, Black? With your brother, who had been Voldemort’s follower before he was killed by his master? Your mother, who supported his beliefs? Your cousin, who coincidently babysat Slytherin’s heir?And your other cousin in Ascaban for the worst torture in the entire first war?” Suddenly the animagus looked very much like a kicked pup, while Remus and Snape seemed about to start pummelling him again. “They’ve done their job quite nicely. Black eye, split lip and lots of nice bruises, that are beginning to form.” To the girls chagrin the three were pulled apart, before they could start their brawl anew.
Dumbledore gave all of them a hard look and told them in a cold voice: “You should know quite well that a person’s heritage doesn’t mean anything. If you think otherwise, you are fighting on the wrong side of this war.” “He’s thoroughly pissed, but mostly with Black.” He turned to Ebony. “Damn.” She winced waiting patiently for the scolding that was sure to come, yet didn’t: “Ebony, how do you know of Sirius’ family? You said something about his cousin looking after you, didn’t you?”
Ebony was hesitant to rat out her friend and looked at the floor ashamed: “I will start at the beginning, OK?” At Dumbledore’s nod, she continued, noticing for the first time that Mrs. Weasley had a supportive arm slung around her shoulder and Remus had come to reclaim his seat : “Well, I remember waking up for a few seconds that day only to be hit with a stunner.” And so she told them everything (Well. Almost everything: She forgot to tell them about her untraceable wand and Occlumency training.). By the end everybody in the room looked relieved that she hadn’t met Voldemort.
Dumbledore for his part had even more reasons to be pleased: “So there might still be hope for Narcissa Malfoy... You might have made very valuable allies, Ebony.