Chapter 1: A Death in the Family

The garden had always been Eve's favorite part of the manor. White cherub statuettes interspersed the foliage of rose bushes and cobbled pathways. The air was fresh, with the sound of birds chirping in the nearby trees. It was almost… relaxing. At least, in so much as anything could be considered relaxing within the gray stone walls of the Lestrange estate. Light wind tousled the green hands of the juniper bushes, making them dance and wave. Eve allowed the corners of her mouth to twitch up into an almost smile, brightening her otherwise pale face. She sat on one of the low marble benches in a private little alcove secluded from the rest of the garden by three walls of hedges. Hands folded over on the lap of her blue patterned dress, she breathed a slow steady breath and listened intently.

Footsteps could be heard growing louder, muffled slightly by thick grass on which the intruder tread. Eve rose quickly to stand as a man rounded the corner, spotted Eve, and his made way to her.

"This where you gone run off to then?" asked the man.

Eve lifted an eyebrow at the man, raising her chin ever so slightly.

"Now don' give me none of tha' sass missy." Said the man.

He was a large and rather unpleasant man. His balding head was speckled with liver spots and what teeth remained in his mouth had yellowed and rotted with the years. His nose was overlarge and bulbous, often reddened from too much drink. It seemed to have squashed the other features of his face to either side, leaving his cheeks and lips loose and sagging. He had a bit of a dumpy figure, which Eve might have been inclined to make fun of if she hadn't known better.

As the man approached her, Eve felt the sudden urge to flee into the maze of hedge work, but repressed the feeling and held her ground as the man advanced and grabbed her arm sharply.

"Jus' wha' do ya think the mistress would think if she ea'rd you'd been off hiding in the garden?" Asked the ugly man. "Might put her in a mood that might"

"I'm very sorry master Kimmle." Eve said in a stiff voice.

"None a' that now," the man slurred with false congeniality, "I told you to call me Leon"

He grinned a lecherous toothy grin at her.

Eve suppressed a shudder. She held herself stiffly as the man eyed her body with repulsive intent, as though he were gazing upon a large meal. Eve had never considered herself pretty. She was tall with a thin wiry frame. Her dark eyes, often narrowed with suspicion and distrust, were framed by curtains of long black hair. Still though, it infuriated her to think of this perverted old groundskeeper sneaking glances at her.

"Perhaps." She whispered venomously "I should just call you dog instead, that seems to be what your masters—"

The man smacked her viciously upside the head. Eve cried out and fell to her knees, Ears ringing to the excited birds chirping. The man sank down, grunting, and grabbed a fistful of hair, yanking her stinging head back viciously.

"Let me remind you," He spat, "if I'm a dog, then you are a slug. Dirt. Nothing. Why th' only reason we even keep you around is Him. Otherwise I'd 'ave my way with you tonight if I wished."

Specks of spittle from his overlarge lips peppering her face and the stench of drink filled her nostrils. Eyes watering, Eve glared daggers at the man, but said nothing. She should have known better than to speak her mind.

The man snorted and yanked her to her feet by her hair. The pain was astonishing and left spots in front of Eve's eyes. She gathered her composure however. Never let them see you weak.

"Get moving then. We need you to go 'ave a chat with your dear brother."

He pushed her roughly in the back and she stumbled forward into a brisk walk. Soon they were leaving the bright garden for the cool walls of the inner manor. Eve tried not to let the dread fill her stomach. She would need to be strong. Strong for her brother, and strong for herself.

They hadn't made it 100 feet into the manor before a tall black shape detached itself from the shadows and revealed itself to be a the haunting figure of the mistress of the manor, Bellatrix Lestrange. She was a tall, forbidding woman, with hallowed cheeks, tangled hair, and eyes that bespoke her mental instabilities.

"Ah!" Bellatrix intoned in a singsong voice. "Little miss pixie. Thank you so much for finding her Mr. Kimmle."

"I was jus' escorting the young miss to the dungeons, Miss Lestrange" Said the Groundskeeper in his silkiest voice, giving a half bow.

Bellatrix leaned down to talk in Eve's ear.

"Your brother," whispered Bellatrix conspiratorially, "has given us quite a bit of trouble lately hasn't he? Not taking to his lessons is he?"

Eve could not help shaking slightly as Bellatrix hovered over her. She could not bring herself to look in those crazed yellowed eyes.

"I don't know Miss Lestrange."

Bellatrix's hand lashed out and seized Eve's jaw forcing her head up, overlong fingernails sinking painfully into Eve's skin.

"You will look at me when I am talking to you!" Bellatrix shrieked.

Blood ran down Bellatrix's hand from where her nails had pierced skin. Eve desperately tried to force her face back into impassivity.

"Yes, of course mistress Bellatrix." She said in dead tones.

"There! You see Kimmle? They can be taught. All it takes is a little… persuasion."

She jerked her hand away from Eve's jaw as the groundskeeper fumbled his agreement. Bellatrix grinned manically down at Eve

"Now you go down there, and you talk to your brother missy." Hissed Bellatrix, "And If I hear he has been disobedient again you and I will have another little… talk, won't we?"

"Yes mistress."

"Good Girl! Off you go then." Bellatrix shooed them away in her singsong voice.

Eve and the groundskeeper walked quickly away from Bellatrix as she seemed to melt back into the shadows of the hallway. Once they rounded the corner, the groundskeeper let out a shuddered breath that reflected easily how Eve felt.

"Blimey she gives me th' creeps."

Well, thought Eve dully, At least I'm not the only one.

She kept such thoughts to herself however.

As they descended through the dark walls of the manor, past the kitchens and down into the cellar, the air grew chill and damp. They were now a long way off from the bright sunshine of the garden above. Only torchlight had ever graced the moldy cobblestone of the walls around them.

Down several flights of stairs and through an Iron grate, the Groundskeeper led Eve to a heavily strutted wood door set into the rough walls around it. Kimmle unhooked a set of keys from around his waist, ragged breath misting in the air around them, and Eve mentally tried to prepare herself for what she would see behind the door.

Kimmle unlocked the door with a sharp clatter of the iron lock and flung the door open, allowing a thin beam of the torchlight into the small chamber. It alit on the back wall and illuminated a small and disheveled figure slumped against the floor. He was bound hand and foot to the slimy wall behind him, head bent so that his greasy and matted black hair hid his face from view.

Eve stepped forward into the room and tried to keep her emotions under control. Her brother was starved and thin. His clothes were torn and disheveled, specked with grime and blood. Great bruises welled on his arms and more, she knew, lay beneath the tattered folds of cloth. The injustice made her knees weak. It was all she could do to keep herself from running to his side.

The groundskeeper removed a slim length of wood from his inner jacket, pointed at the inner wall, and muttered something under his breath. A sharp flash of light, and the boy cried out in pain.

"Time to wake up from your little nappy-poo Boy, you have a visitor."

Eve bared her teeth, furious, and rounded on the groundskeeper as the disheveled shape shifted and groaned on the floor.

"Get out!"

The Groundskeeper turned on her, the length of wood still held menacingly in his hand.

"Excuse me missy?" He said dangerously, "That sounded like you was telling me wha' to do"

"Get out." Repeated Eve. "Or I swear, I will walk away right now. Wouldn't 'Misses Bellatrix' just be so happy when you have to tell her I refused to help?"

The man's eyes narrowed, but behind them was a spark of fear. They stood there staring at each other for a long moment.

"Fine." Grunted Kimmle finally. "Go have your sob session alone for all I care."

He walked out of the chamber and slammed the door shut, plunging Eve and her brother into darkness. The sound of clattering echoed through the darkness as the groundskeeper fumbled with the lock.

Eve stood very still, letting her eyes adjust until she could make out the dim underside of the door from the torchlight. She let her shoulders relax ever so slightly now that the groundskeeper was gone. Then she turned to look into the darkness where the young boy was chained. She could faintly make out the rustle of damp clothes and the chink of metal on stone as her brother shifted into a sitting position.

"Harry?" Eve Whispered softly.

"Eve." Came the croaking reply.

Eve bent down and crawled forward over the damp stone towards the sound of her brother's voice, feeling her way with her fingertips until she felt Harry's knee with her hand. She sat next to her brother, against the cold cobbles, knees pulled up to her chest and bent her head into his.

They sat in silence for a long while. Eve knew she would have to be the one to break it, but for this brief moment, they could enjoy this fleeting minute of companionship in their chaotic lives. She felt Harry's ragged breath on her cheek and closed her eyes to the darkness, trying to recall happier times with her twin. None came to mind.

Finally Eve lifted her head and spoke.

"Why do you do this Harry?" She asked miserably.

Harry stiffened beside her, but remained silent. It was not her brother's way to be forthcoming. Silence seemed something he was born of.

"You know that they will just hurt you!" Eve said, trying to keep the desperation from her voice. "Harry, please."

She could almost hear Harry balling his hands into angry fists as he shook beside her.

"You know what they're asking me to do?" He rasped in a harsh whisper. "What they want me to become?"

"I know—"

"You don't know!" Harry spat venomously. "I will never do that."

Eve said nothing, but waited for her brother to calm himself as the silence again filled the room.

"Did they hurt you?" She asked softly

Harry snorted.

It was always like this, back as far as Eve could remember. Sometimes there were good days. Days where they could almost pretend that they were not captives forced to the will of their masters. But always, Harry would refuse demands, be hurt and punished. Always they returned to this dark cell in the depths of the manor. Each time worse than the last. Sometimes Eve herself occupied the cell. Recalling those occasions still made her gut clench with fear.

"Is anything broken?" She asked.

"No" Said Harry, his sister breathing a sigh of relief beside him.

"Was it bad?"

Harry stiffened again beside Eve

"They sent Fenrir."

With a sharp intake of breath, Eve stiffened in fear beside her brother. It was with no small effort that she attempted to control the tremor in her voice.

"Let me see it."

Harry shifted beside her and pulled up the sleeve of his ragged shirt. He guided his sister's hand along his skinny arm to his marred and bloodied shoulder. With a deep breath to restore her resolve, Eve closed her eyes and relaxed her mind into the fuzzy area of glowing white power that she only seemed able to reach when her twin was near her.

She could not explain this connection between them, it merely existed. It had been a part of them as far back as either could remember. She could always tell when Harry was in pain, or scared, and vice versa. Through this bond she could ease her brother's pain by taking some of it herself. It was a trick they had discovered, well…, in the time before.

She felt the warmth spread through her fingers as they made contact with the broken skin on Harry's shoulder. Slowly, she eased the pain of the wound away from him. At the same time she felt a sickening stinging sensation begin to spread through the left side of her body.

"You lied." She said, unable to keep the pain from her voice.

"You didn't have to do that." Spoke her twin beside her.

"Yes I did."

Again they lapsed into dark silence. Eve wrapped one arm gently around her twin, side twinging. Harry's breath, while still pained, was steadier now. Together they sat in the dark, listening to the shuffling footsteps of the Groundskeeper outside the door.

"I will never do it." Whispered Harry tiredly. "I won't be a murderer."

"I know, Harry" Eve said. "How are we ever going to get out of this?"

"I don't know." Said Harry softly.

And these words seemed to echo into the black, repeating themselves over and over again in an ever spiraling mantra—

'I don't know, I don't know, I don't know…'

The door to the chamber exploded inward with such force, that it knocked the twin's head's back against the wall. Eve saw stars dance in front of her vision as a tall, cloaked, foreboding figure entered into the room. This man, too, held a length of thin wood in his hand. Although she could not see, Eve recognized the dangerously silky voice of Mr. Crouch as he stepped lazily into the room.

"My, my. Now this is a pretty picture." Drawled Crouch. "How ever did you manage to trick this imbecile into letting you in here alone?"

Crouch thumbed behind him to where the groundskeeper cowered piteously. Eve opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by a wave of Crouch's wand. Instantly her mouth felt as though it had been filled with sand. She spluttered furiously

"Ah, but it makes little difference. Come now children, we must attend the ceremonies."

Harry got unsteadily to his feet, chains clanking about him.

"I'm not going" He said defiantly.

Crouch eyed him with amusement. "Oh really now? I don't remember asking."

Jabbing his wand at the boy, Harry was flung back into the wall where he crumpled into a heap. Eve let out a wordless howl and attempted to rush the man. Crouch, however, merely flicked his wand lazily at her. Eve felt herself lifted off her feet mid sprint and held, flailing, in midair.

"Do not test me girl." Crouch snarled. "You have played games long enough." He gestured over to where harry lay slumped against the prison wall. "Next time, I will not be so restrained."

As quick as it had come, the fight went out of Eve. Harry would not be harmed more on her account. She let her limbs hang loosely, still suspended in the air, until Crouch ended the spell and she spilled back onto the rough stone floor.

"Now then," said Crouch roughly, all trace of humor gone from his voice. "Let's be on with this."

He magicked loose the shackles restraining Harry and levitated him out the door and into the hallway. Eve, half sprawled on the floor, scrambled to catch up to her twin. Crouch marched them back up through the manor and into the great hall where several cloaked figures sat in the high stone chairs by the fire. Eve recognized Yaxely and the Lestranges. Icy cold fear spread through her aching body. They wouldn't. Please. Not here. Not now.

"Ah good!" Cried Bellatrix. "Yaxely, why don't you go seat our guest? She's done such a favor to us."

The man named Yaxely strode across the room and seized Eve by the forearm. She was seated by a lone wood table in the center of the hall where she was bound and gagged. She knew not to resist, it would only mean more pain I the end.

"Best seat in the house love." Laughed Yaxely, moving back to stand with the group.

It was only then that Eve noticed the elderly man roped to the table eyes staring wide and fearful at her, beseeching help. She felt the bottom fall out of her stomach. The man had been beaten within an inch of his life. Great bloody lesions had been torn open across body. Eve leaned over the side of the chair and retched into the gag, eyes watering in fear and disgust.

"Enervate" Said Lestrange, pointing his wand at Harry.

Eve watched haplessly as her twin was woken and roughly yanked to his feet. Harry set his jaw and attempted to keep his weight, but had to stagger against one of the tables for support. The assembly laughed cruelly and Crouch spoke slowly and deliberately so that his voice rang throughout the hall.

"Harry Potter. Here we are again. Perhaps Fenrir has taught you some manners?" Crouch gestured across to the man lying bound on the table. "Here, Harry, we have a disgusting, unworthy, despicable specimen of a Muggle. A Muggle like your Uncle, Harry. A Muggle that has committed crimes against wizard folk. Surely you will agree that a man such as this deserves to die?"

Harry shook his head furiously, eyes blazing with the rage his weak body could not express. "I won't do it."

"Now there's a line we've heard before. Said Crouch sarcastically, "Frankly Harry, I'm tired of hearing it. So I think I've come up with a solution for both of us. A fair compromise."

"You will kill this man Harry. And in exchange…"

Crouch gestured vaguely with his hand.

Eve felt the bitter burning cold of a knife slice into her arm. She bent her head back and howled in agony through the gag. Bellatrix cackled madly over her, knife still dripping with blood from the fresh wound. Eve sobbed violently, tears running down her cheek as Crouch continued on.

"…We will leave your sister… intact."

Harry had gone white and attempted to run to Eve, but Crouch intercepted him.

"You must make a choice Harry. It is not a difficult choice. Only you can end her suffering. Only you can do what is right."

Crouch handed Harry a knife, which he stared down at unseeingly.

"I can't." He said helplessly.

Pain seared across Eve's left arm. A crimson streak of fiery agony. She screamed into the gag, kicking her feet in a desperate attempt to escape the pain. Her whole world was tilting.

"Stop it!" Cried Harry, as Bellatrix laughed insanely.

"Only you can stop it Harry!" Urged Crouch manically. "Kill Him."

Another flash of pain, this time across her shoulder. Eve's whole body felt as though it was being burned. She screamed out in agony, the gag slipping on her face

Harry panted, face white and screwed up in pain shared through his mutual bond with his twin. Tears lining his cheeks as he clasped the knife loosely with one hand.

Eve watched Harry turn to the man writhing on the table, who's eye's bugged with fear, and looked between the man and his sister.

"Don't do it Harry!" Cried Eve desperately, even through the pain.

"Next one goes through her neck boy!" Cried Bellatrix delightedly.

Harry stood over the man, knife clasped in both hands. He raised it high above his head, Tears pouring down his face.

"Do it Harry!" Shouted Crouch.

"Harry No!" Eve shrieked desperately.

The world seemed to still for a moment as Harry looked at Eve. All the commotion and noise of the room faded. Eve locked eyes with her twin, and in that moment she knew what Harry would do. Knew there had never been any question, because in the end, she would have done the same.

"I'm sorry" Harry said, and plunged the knife into the man's throat.

A thousand miles away a young girl named Hermione Granger awoke, screaming hysterically into the dead of the night.

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