PART 28

HIS silken hair was set alight by the fragments of scattered light that irradiated his dormitory - the emerald of it piercing through the profound darkness , a light amber hue coming off from the lamp on his bedside. He sat upon the duvet , spun from the finest emerald , cold sweat beading his forehead as his trembling fingers slowly opened up the letter from the envelope it had been contained it - after having broken the all too familiar violet seal stamped with the image of an albatross. The Frey family emblem.

He had not had the time to find out why Evanna's initials had been written as E.M.R instead of Evanna Genevieve Frey. Although the letter had crosses his mind from time to time , it had been stored away in his drawer until that evening.

As he slowly opened the bundle of fine parchment , his glistening mercury eyes regarded the envelope with curiousity. What astonished him to no bounds , was that the parchment was empty. Blank of any contents whatsoever.

Why would anyone send Evanna a blank parchment ?

He flipped it over and over , putting it by the flickering flame of the lamp - to no avail. Rising a brow , he produced his wand from his pockets , softly saying ,"Aparecium."

Almost immediately , elegant words handwritten in cursive began appearing on the parchment , washing ashore by ink the colour of ripened plums. His brows furrowed , expressions twisting into one of visible confusion as he slowly began to make out the words.

"Mistress Frey , 

                      Your job has been done. I hope you remember my payment.

Sincerely , 

Ailee Morrison."

What job ? What kind of payment ? And who was Ailee Morrison ? His head spun with questions - first as to why the letter was addressed with the initials 'E.M.R.' , second as to the identity of the letter writer - for they could have used a pseudonym - and lastly as to which job she had assigned to the person ? He racked his brain for the last name 'Morrison' , possibly some ministry worker. Draco knew most of them , having attended the Ministry parties with his family.

That was when it struck him. The Morrison siblings , all working in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. However , there was no one named 'Ailee' , among them - and all four of them had passes on in various accidents and cross-fires.

So who was Ailee ?

He drew in a calm breath , storing the letter away into his velvet encased drawers. With a low rumble , he closed it - and let his mind drift away , concentrating on a particular memory of Evanna and himself , a memory of them studying together two weeks prior in the depths of the library - a casual air engulfing them , although semblance conveying slight hurry as the OWLs were coming up in two months time , masked by the vellichor of weary books. 

She sat opposite to him , cerulean stare focused on the words imprinted upon the pages of the book in front of her. Their hands brushed occasionally , and a silence filled the cracks between them , the drops of molten honey. They were officially dating , and it all seemed so surreal to be true to him.

An aeonian supernova of  doubt had plagued his mind ever since a new phase of their relationship had unravelled it's claws - and he wondered about the formation of the defensive association that Evanna had discussed so passionately between them. He had been wary , yes , but Evanna had the capability to convince him that her aim was correct.

"Ana", He began in a whisper , continuing when she hummed. "What happened to the defense magic association you wanted to form ?"

She smiled , closing the book with her hand as she  spoke ,"I decided to discontinue my idea."

"Why so ?"

"I thought about it , and as you had said - it was quite risky with Umbridge around. Besides , this is an OWL year - so I thought of postponing my idea for a while."

Lies.

He had seen her disappear out of the blue , at the most ungodly hours.

But that did not exactly prove anything. He could only hope , what she said - was the truth.

And now , after reading the letter - he assumed , maybe , the 'job' had something to do with the secret society she had wished to form. He could not decipher the lie from the truth , the lines blurring together , trapping him together like the clenching walls of an abysmal pit.

                                                               ______________________

It had started out as an instinct , at first. The deep feeling to survive , to heal her lacerated heart. To be free from the shackles of thorned ivy that bounded her to the soil of Gaia - a bird denied of the freedom to fly. Growing up within four walls of the Frey Manor - expectations of her mother exceeding the limit of what a little girl could achieve , Evanna had realised that abiding and obeying would cause her to forever remain in the position she had been in since her birth. The rigorous regime of her academics , the pureblood customs she had to stand by till her last breath - molded her soul into that of a liar. All the punishments she received , the scars that marred her pearlescent skin and being alike , morphed her mind into that of a rebel.

And somewhere in between attaining power , attaining freedom - proving to her mother that she was much , much more than a wretched creature who could not stand on her own feet - it had delved into something much , much more sinister than one could possibly fathom. Her ambition , her craving , her greed and attraction to power - had manifested into the person she was today. A demon carved out of hatred , built on greed with a heart and soul marred by falsehoods.

And as she sat on an armchair across from the other nine - her legs crossed , scarlet lips tilting upwards into a malignant smile - she felt herself reminiscing. The agonising screams of her mother , the guttural sounds that came out of the woman who once was the very person who produced the sounds from Evanna's own lips. Evanna watched , as she pushed her own mother to the brink of death - and even though Evanna had not been there to kill her , she could make up the imagery of that woman's death.

Lyra Frey , after all , was a woman of many means - one who had taught Evanna to live by the motto , "Never let anyone put you down , child. You are capable of far more than what your head can conjure up , and you will never face the wrath of any person alive and you will never obey them."

Ironic , how her own words had turned against her when Evanna was the cause of her death - but it had been a long time coming.

The nine opposite to her - Cedric , Pansy , Blaise , Daphne and Theodore , ringed by Crabbe and Goyle , Shafiq , Warrington and Yaxley , heads bent over the hunched figure of the Hufflepuff as he examined a brilliant locket , which glistened with a sapphire efflorescence. His fingers brushed over the intricate gold bordered pattern of the corners , the silver chain that held an ever-so-slight rusted appearance about it.

"So , this is Slytherin's locket ?", He questioned with awe - bronze hair coruscating with streaks of firelight. Evanna nodded.

"Precisely so."

"And you had it around your neck the whole time ?"

"For protection purposes."

"But", Daphne began , with an air of caution - as though she were exploring unchartered territory ,"I came to know from sources that the locket was supposed to be in a cave on the outskirts of Britain."

Evanna merely smile , cranberry lips curving upwards as she spoke in a demanding tone ,"Open the locket."

Tentatively , Cedric opened the locket - each of the ten's eyes widening with clear astonishment as he slowly produced a piece of folded parchment that had been encased within it. He opened the parchment , bleeding obsidian ink imprinted into words clear upon the page as he read aloud ,

"To the Dark Lord , 

                            I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match , you will be mortal once more.

R.A.B"

"R.A.B ?", Theo questioned , eyebrows furrowing together as Evanna answered in a strong British intonation ,"Regulus Arcturus Black."

"A Black ? Going against the Dark Lord ?", Eram Shafiq questioned , coffee eyes glinting with burning curiousity.

"Yes. Regulus Black was far from ordinary , and he was the one who stole this locket from it's initial place in the cave , replacing it with a fake to fool those who check upon it. This locket was put away in a silver suitcase inside his room at no. 12 , Grimmauld Place - the residence of the Blacks , for his faithful elf , Kreacher , could not find a way to destroy it."

She stood up , loose navy trousers brushing against her ankles as her feet travelled across the silken , emerald carpet - strings of gold hemmed into it like waterfalls of lilting honey. The room was mostly silent , everyone hanging onto her words like thunder from rain clouds - her luscious , seraphic yet nefarious sentences hymns to their ears.

Standing directly in front of the marble hearth , that housed flames blazing with all the power in the universe - her stare moved up the silver trimmed borders of Lady Ravenclaw's tapestry that hung upon the tawny wall above the mantle ; and she spoke ,"I visited Grimmauld Place when I was thirteen. My mother's distant relative was a Black , and since no other was alive - my mother inherited the house , which passed onto me. I had visited it only once , and Kreacher gave me the locket after I promised to destroy it."

Silence followed , only to be broken as she turned - her hand inching out to grasp the necklace back. Cedric returned it to her , and she wore it around her neck once again.

Sitting on the arm of one of the couches sprawled leisurely across the expanse of room - she spoke ,"So we already have one horcrux. The ring we will get after this summer , and Blaise and I will travel to Albania for the whereabouts of the diadem."

Everyone nodded , waiting for her to speak the one sentence they had been waiting for.

She sighed softly , an almost inaudible sound - before saying ,"I know all of you , except Cedric , will get marked this summer."

"And we can do nothing about it. Take the mark."

AT this gasps of protest rung around the room , and Yaxley asked - irritation lacing his voice ,"So we just take it ? What about the Alliance ? You are our leader , you are supposed to do something."

In the fraction of a second , Evanna stood in front of him , an uncomfortably little distance between them - her lavender breath fanning his face as she gritted out ,"And what can I do when I am myself supposed to get marked ? If we do something we will all die."

He nodded , gulping slightly as she turned away from him - tracing her steps back before halting in them.

"Maintain a low profile. Do as the Dark Lord says , for dead disciples are of no use. And when I ask of you , gather at the Frey Manor. The protection wards were placed by my ancestor , making the manor almost impregnable and safe from magic of all kinds. You will all be safe there. Make sure you have perfected your apparition skills , to those who will turn sixteen in a month or are sixteen already."

Meeting their gaze , as she turned herself around - hummingbirds thrumming in their ribs with newfound energy , they heard as she whispered -

"Battles will be raged , and chaos will ensue. Along with it , Death will come , and we will be it's master."

[ A/N : HEHEHE ]