Prologue

July 15, 1995

Outside of Dublin, Ireland

             The dark clouds threatening to rip open loomed above fifteen-year-old Morrigan Discordia O’Connor ominously.  She shuddered as a cold breeze ripped through her jet-black hair and nervously looked behind her.  For some reason, she could not escape the feeling that she was being watched.  She closed her ice blue eyes tightly, hoping that the feeling would pass, but it didn’t.  After a moment, Cordi continued toward her house, absently rubbing her left forearm.

             As she approached the house she shared with her parents and sister on top of a hill, a horrible feeling began to churn in her stomach.  Instinctively, she glanced up at the manor and immediately saw what she feared the most—the Dark Mark. 

             “Please, God, let them be okay,” prayed Cordi, as she dashed up the hill, fingering the Celtic cross she wore around her neck.

             When she reached the gate, she slipped her hand inside the pocket of her jean skirt and pulled out her wand.  The short and slender girl crept silently to the front door, only to find it ajar.  She drew a breath and pushed the door open the rest of the way.  What she found inside did nothing to help her feeling of unease.

             The normally immaculate living room looked as if someone had had a bit too much fun with a whirlwind charm.  Pillows were ripped apart; pictures lay smashed on the floor; priceless artifacts were shattered and spread about the house; and the huge family portrait that usually hung above the fireplace had been burned.  Cordi bit back a whimper and proceeded into the kitchen where she found more signs of trouble. 

             Unable to stand it anymore, she called, “Mum? Da? Gwen?”

             All she got in response was silence.  Cordi finally let out a sob and continued to make her way through her childhood home, only finding more damage.  When she finally reached her massive bedroom on the third floor, the normally composed girl let out a shrill scream.

             Lying on her bed were the only people in the world she cared about: her mother, Deirdre O’Connor—the beautiful and kind blonde haired woman with warm brown eyes who was always good for a laugh; her father, Gavin O’Connor—the handsome and jovial sandy haired man with the green eyes Cordi had always adored because they always regarded her with such pride and love; and her younger sister, Gwen O’Connor—the sweet and loving blonde with their father’s eyes, Cordi’s partner in crime.  All three had been hit with the Avada Kedavra curse.

           Sobbing, Cordi approached their peaceful forms and closed their eyes, unable to bear their blank stares.  She slumped against her bedroom wall and slid down to the floor, glancing heavenward.  That’s when she noticed the message.  Written across her ceiling in creepy green lettering was: I’m back, my dear.  Did you really think you could hide from me? I look forward to the day when you’re finally at my side.  Until then, Lord Voldemort. 

          “You bastard,” Cordi cried through her white-hot tears.  “Why couldn’t you have just left me alone?”

           She buried her face in her hands, not noticing that the mark on her left forearm was glowing a hideous black.

           Cordi remained oblivious to anything but her pain until several Ministry officials Apparated into the room.  

           “Morrigan O’Connor?” a man in a green robe questioned.

           Cordi nodded her head dully. 

           “Are you in anyway injured?”

           She shook her head.

           “Were you here during the attack?”

           Once again, she shook her head.

           “Very well.  Arabella, can you please escort Miss O’Connor to her godfather at Hogwarts? I believe he’s still there and she’ll need him,” the man said.

           An older woman with gray hair and kind eyes nodded.  “Come with me, dear.”

           “Where are you taking me?” Cordi questioned, for she had not been paying attention.

           “To your godfather, Severus.”

           The young girl just nodded, only one thing on her mind: she would have her revenge, no matter what it took.

Secrets and Lies

              Several hours later, a dazed Cordi sat in the office of Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts.  While they waited for her godfather, the teenager and the professor just stared at each other.  After what seemed like an eternity, the door burst open to reveal a panic-stricken Snape, something most people had never seen. 

             “Morrigan,” he breathed.

             The godfather and goddaughter stared at each other for a moment before Cordi jumped up and threw her arms around the older man and began to sob.  Snape just stroked her hair, rocking her back and forth.

             “Its okay, Morri, just let it out,” he said gently, using his pet name for her.

             When Cordi had calmed down, Snape sat her down in a chair and turned to Dumbledore.

             “What happened, exactly? I got bits and pieces from Arabella, but not the full story.”

             The ancient wizard looked his age for once.  Dumbledore sighed and closed his piercing blue eyes for a moment.  “It was Voldemort.  He killed Gavin, Deirdre, and Gwen and left them in Cordi’s bedroom for her to find.  It seems that now that he’s risen, he wants Discordia back.”

             Cordi blinked her puffy red eyes.  “Back?” she questioned softly.  “When did he ever have me in the first place?”

             The two men exchanged a quick glance.  “Well,” Snape said slowly, “he never had you, exactly.  You see, when you were born, you were promised to the Dark Lord.  That is why you bare the Dark Mark.”  It wasn’t a complete lie.

             Looking like she was about to be violently sick, the young witch just nodded.  It certainly wasn’t what she had expected to hear.  “What’s going to happen to me?” she whispered.

             Dumbledore looked at her closely.  “You and your sister were trained at home, correct?”

             Cordi nodded.

             “You’re at fifth year level, if I remember correctly.  Now, your godfather is going to be away most of the summer, but you can stay here if you like and in September you can begin school here.  With Voldemort’s return, many of our staff members will be around, making sure that the school is secure.”

             Cordi just nodded dully. 

            “She’s had a long day, Albus.  I think I’m going to take her to my quarters and put her to bed.  We’ll talk more in the morning,” Snape said and helped his goddaughter up.

             “Alright, Severus.  I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

             With that, Snape and Cordi left the office and headed down to the dungeons where Snape lived.  He led her to a spare bedroom and placed her bags next to the bed.

             “Try to get some sleep, Morri,” he said.  Snape kissed her forehead and left, closing the door behind him.

             Cordi looked around her room slowly.  It was a bit smaller than she was used to, but it would do.  She quickly changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed, staring at the ceiling.  She desperately wanted to go to sleep, but one thing was bothering her: why had Severus lied to her? Cordi had an uncanny ability to tell whether or not a person was lying, and his explanation of her Dark Mark may have been partly true, but she wasn’t fooled.  There was something they weren’t telling her and she was going to find out.  Later.  A few moments later, the traumatized girl fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

             Miles and miles away at number four Privet Drive, the boy named Harry Potter shot up in bed, clutching his scar.  He had had a rather disturbing nightmare in which he saw Voldemort kill three people and leave their bodies on another family member’s bed.  Harry shuddered, reached for his glasses, and climbed out of bed.  A glance at his clock told him that it was a little after midnight, but it would be a while before he could go back to sleep.  While he was up he might as well get a glass of water.

             Harry stretched and walked toward the door, stopping momentarily to look in the mirror.  He’d actually had a growth spurt in the few short weeks since school had let out.  Now at 5’8, Harry had also developed some muscles from his work in Aunt Petunia’s garden and the daily morning runs he now took to get his mind off Cedric and Voldemort. 

             Running a hand through his unruly hair, Harry walked downstairs to the kitchen.  It was then that things started to become a bit weird.  Right away, he noticed that the liquor cabinet was open and he walked over to investigate.  To his surprise, half of the contents were gone.  A crash and a grunt from the living room attracted his attention.  Cautiously, the young wizard crept toward the direction of the noise and poked his head inside the room.  What he saw stunned him. 

             His uncle, Vernon Dursley, a horrid man with a bad temper and no tolerance for magic, was lounging on the couch, completely drunk. 

             “What are you doing up, boy?” Vernon snarled in a slurred voice.

             “Just getting a class of water,” Harry replied quickly and turned to leave, but Vernon grabbed his arm.

             “You were going to do magic, weren’t you?” his uncle accused with a maniacal glint in his eyes.  “You were going to use magic to turn me into a fairy!”

             Harry was at a loss.  “No, I wasn’t going to use magic to turn you into a fairy, Uncle Vernon.  I just came down for a glass of water.”

             “Liar!” the larger man shrieked and backhanded Harry across the face, sending the boy to the floor.

             Harry gulped.  This was not going to be pretty.

A Mysterious Connection

              “No!” Cordi shrieked and shot up in bed, covered in a cold sweat.  A throbbing pain coursed through her body, but for once her Dark Mark was not the cause.  She climbed out of bed with a moan of pain and drug herself to her godfather’s room.

             “Severus! Severus, wake up!” she hissed, shaking the sleeping professor.

             “Whassamatter?” the oily haired man groaned, then noticed the raven-haired girl beside his bed, staring at him with wide, wild, ice blue eyes.  “What is it, Morri?”

             Cordi sat down on the end of his bed and said, “I’m not sure.  There’s this horrid pain running throughout my body, I don’t know why.  It doesn’t feel direct…its like I’m feeling it secondhand.  Does that make sense?”

             Snape nodded.  “What does the pain feel like, exactly?”

             The fifteen year old thought for a moment.  “Like I’m being beaten repeatedly by something or someone”

             The Potions master’s dark eyes widened.  “Stay here,” he commanded and jumped out of bed.  He grabbed his robe and ran out the door, leaving a confused Cordi staring after him.

             Sighing, the young witch pulled out her Yew and Phoenix feather wand, pointed it at herself, and muttered, “Me inviso.”  She was invisible at once and ran after her godfather, knowing exactly where he was heading: the Headmaster’s office.  She caught up to Snape just as the gargoyle leaped aside, and she followed him in. 

             To Cordi’s surprise, Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk and was not surprised when Snape walked in.  “What is it, Severus?” the older wizard asked in a worried tone.

             “I think something’s wrong with Potter.”

             Cordi arched an eyebrow at this.  What on Earth did Harry Potter have to do with her mysterious pain?

             “Why? Is something wrong with Discordia?”

             “A few moments ago, she came to me complaining of a throbbing pain running through her body and said that it felt as if she were being beaten.”

             Without a word, Dumbledore strode over to his fireplace, threw in some floo powder, and said, “Remus Lupin!”

             A moment later, the young werewolf’s head appeared in the fire.  “Professor Dumbledore?” he asked groggily.  “What is it? You are aware that it’s after two in the morning, right?”

             “I’m sorry, Remus, but I need you and Sirius to go to the Dursleys’ house at once.”

             That seemed to wake up the former DADA professor.  “What? Why?”

             “Severus and I have reason to believe that Harry is either in danger or injured.  Please, just go check on him,” the Headmaster pleaded.

             “Of course.  We’ll check in with you when we return.”  With that, Remus was gone.  Dumbledore back to Snape and said, “I hope they’re not too late.”

             Harry awoke with pain shooting through his body.  He felt terrible.  With a loud moan, he opened his eyes and was surprised to find himself on the living room floor.  Harry tried to sit up, but that only caused more pain.  That’s when it all came rushing back to him—Vernon had freaked out and beaten him until Harry had passed out.  Luckily, his drunken uncle was no longer in the room.

             “I’m going to die,” he mumbled miserably to himself.  “I can’t even move.”

             At that very moment, there was a popping sound and two people appeared before him.  It took him a moment to register who they were—Remus Lupin and his godfather, Sirius Black.

             “Harry?” said a very pale Sirius.  “Are you okay? What did that bastard do to you?”

             Harry tried to raise an eyebrow, but even that hurt.  “Beat me up,” he said darkly.

             “We have to get you to Madame Pomfrey, now,” said Remus.  He hurried over to the fireplace while Sirius gently lifted his godson.  The fugitive winced when Harry let out a yelp of pain.  “Dursley will pay for this, Harry.  You have my word,” he growled.  Sirius tossed some powder into the flames, stepped inside, and shouted, “Shrieking Shack!”

             Harry found himself feeling even worse on the wild trip to Hogsmeade.  They found Remus waiting for them and immediately headed for the hidden passage that would lead them to Hogwarts.  Sirius had to stoop over as he carried the tall boy through the low passage.  “Harry,” he grunted, “you sure have gotten bigger.  I just want you to know that it’s damn hard to carry you.”

             Harry managed a weak smile.  “Shut up, Snuffles.”

             When they reached the exit guarded by the Whomping Willow, Remus used a levitation spell to push the knot that controlled the hitting tree.  Once they were out, the two men sprinted for the castle and burst through the front doors, running full out toward the hospital wing.  Before going inside, Remus stopped and turned to his old friend. 

            “Give Harry to me, Sirius.  Madame Pomfrey doesn’t know about you and its probably best if it stays that way.  You go get Dumbledore and Snape.”

             The Azkaban escapee was about to argue, but stopped once he saw the look on the werewolf’s face.  “Fine, but I doubt you can carry him.  Harry’s gotten pretty big.”

             With a smirk, Remus conjured up a stretcher and helped Sirius lay the boy down on it.  Sirius then changed into his dog form and took off for Dumbledore’s office.  Remus took a deep breath and stepped into the hospital wing, pulling Harry behind him and calling out to the nurse.

             “Professor Lupin? What on Earth…” Madame Pomfrey trailed off when she caught sight of the bruised and bleeding Harry.

             “He needs help,” Remus said quietly.

             “What happened?”

            “His uncle.”

             Madame Pomfrey said no more and began to work on Harry, who had passed out again.  A moment later, Dumbledore, Snuffles, Snape, and the still invisible Cordi rushed into the room.  At the sight of the battered, yet still strikingly handsome, Harry, Cordi felt her heart leap and a funny feeling began to grow in her stomach.  So this was the famous Harry Potter.  Cordi couldn’t even begin to fathom the reason why, but she felt drawn and connected to the Boy Who Lived. 

             A furious Dumbledore interrupted her thoughts.  “Is he okay?” he inquired in a low voice.

             The nurse nodded.  “He will be after he gets some rest.  I’ve given him some medicine to heal his cuts and bruises, and even one for a few cracked ribs.  All he needs now is sleep.”

             “Good.  I shall see to it that Vernon Dursley pays dearly for this.”  He turned to leave, but Remus stopped him.

             “Albus, how did you and Severus know that Harry was in danger?”

             That definitely caught Cordi’s attention.  She, too, wanted to know.

             “Aurora’s prophecy,” the powerful wizard murmured and left the room.  Those remaining all shared the same thought: what prophecy?

A Meeting of Soul Mates                

            Harry awoke the next morning with a pounding headache, but at least his body didn’t hurt anymore.  He looked around and blinked, surprised to find himself in the hospital wing at Hogwarts.  It took him a moment to remember how he’d ended up there.  The boy sighed, sat up, reached for his glasses, and looked around for Madam Pomfrey.  Harry almost yelped in surprise when he saw that someone had pulled up a chair next to his bed and was asleep with their head resting on his bed. 

He studied the figure for a bit and realized that it was a girl.  From what he could see, she was very pale, healthy thin, and short.  He couldn’t yet see her face.  Her long black hair looked silky and was done in a long plait that hit the middle of her back.  She was in her pajamas—black spaghetti strap top and red flamed drawstring pants—and was using her black robe as a blanket for her legs.  The girl was barefooted and he could see a weird iridescent black nail polish on her nails.  Looking her over again, Harry noticed that she bore three tattoos on her back that were easily made visible by her tiny top.  On the small of her back was a black Celtic knot that Harry recognized as “the path of life”; her right shoulder sported a beautiful Celtic cross; and on her left shoulder was a sword with a rose slithering up from one side and a snake slithering up from the other.  It looked eerily familiar.

 Without warning, the girl stirred and sat up.  Harry felt his breath leave him as he caught sight of her face.  She had pale porcelain skin, large ice blue eyes, and perfect white teeth that he saw when she yawned.  Right away he knew there was something special about her.

 “Good morning,” he softly, a bit of amusement present in his voice.

 She jumped and stared at him, caught in mid yawn.  The girl then looked down at herself and then back up at Harry.  “Hm,” she said bemusedly, “I guess my invisibility spell wore off.  Good morning, Harry.”

 Harry grinned at her adorable Irish accent, something he’d never really found adorable before.  “Sorry if I sound rude, but who are you?”

 The girl smiled a brilliant smile and offered her hand.  “Morrigan Discordia O’Connor,” she said while shaking his hand.  “But, please, call me Cordi.  It’s a pleasure to finally meet the famous Harry Potter.”

 To Harry’s great relief, she said the last with a tone that said she wasn’t star struck, and found the whole thing amusing.  “Pleasure’s all mine, Cordi.  May I ask what you’re doing here?”

 That sobered her up.  “Voldemort,” Cordi said in a low and hateful voice.  “He killed me Mum, Da, and little sister yesterday.” Harry impulsively grabbed her hand and squeezed it.  She managed a weak smile and continued.  “He did it to get at me, though I don’t know why.  After I found them, I just sat there in a daze until some ministry wizards came and brought me here to me godfather.  I woke up around two this morning in a terrible pain and told me godfather.  He got really weird, even by his standards, and took off without a word so I followed him under an invisibility spell.  For some reason, he was really upset about you, which is really weird behavior for him.  Dumbledore sent Sirius Black and Remus Lupin after you and they shortly returned with you.  I’ve been in here all night.”

 “Oh Cordi,” Harry said softly, wiping away her tears instinctively.  “I am so sorry about your family.  We’ll get him, I promise.”

 Cordi looked up at him, a small smile gracing her face.  “We? You mean to tell me that the Boy Who Lived doesn’t want to go up against his ultimate enemy on his own? That he’ll accept the help of a girl?”

 The boy rolled his brilliant green eyes.  “Of course I’ll accept the help of a girl! Anyone who goes up against that madman needs all the help available.  I think anyone who was so violated by him as we were should have a go at him.” 

She laughed, a sound that was music to Harry’s ears.  “Sheesh, me godfather sure was wrong about you.  He made you out to be arrogant, egotistical, etc.”

 “Let me guess, Snape’s your godfather.” 

“Gee, how did you know? Yeah, Severus is me godfather, but he’s not so bad.  He can just hold a grudge like no one’s business, as I’m sure you’re aware.” 

He grinned.  “I’ve noticed.  So, will you be going to school here when September rolls around?”

 Cordi nodded.  “Yeah.  Gwen and I were trained at home, but now…” she cleared her throat and sniffed.  “When school starts I’ll be a fifth year.  Until then, I guess I’ll be hanging out around here.  What about you? I heard about your uncle and I doubt you’ll want to go back.”

 Harry snorted.  “Damn right I don’t want to go back there.  I’m sure I can talk Dumbledore into letting me stay here.  That way I can keep you company,” he said with a devastatingly shy and charming smile.   

“I’d like that,” the beautiful girl replied.

The two went on talking for about an hour, unaware that they were being watched.  Dumbledore, invisible to the two teenagers, smiled as he observed their interaction.  Yes, he thought.  The prophecy was correct.  He quietly left the hospital wing and returned to his office where Snape was waiting.

 “She was there, right?” Snape asked, still upset over finding Cordi’s bed empty earlier that morning.

 Dumbledore smiled and sat down at his desk.  “Yes, Cordi was in the hospital wing with Harry.  They seem to be getting along excellently.  I must say that so far the prophecy has proved to be true.”

 This did not appear to be what Snape wanted to hear.  He began pacing around the small office, running a hand through his greasy black hair.  “That’s all well and good now, but what about the rest of the prophecy? The one where they face Voldemort? The outcome of the battle has long been lost.  What if they die? What if Voldemort wins?”

 “He won’t,” Dumbledore said in a steely tone.  “With their powers combined, there’s nothing that those two cannot stop.  They will kill Voldemort, when the time is right.  Until then, I fear their path will be a long and rocky one.”

 “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Snape muttered, sinking into his chair.  “Aurora’s prophecy is not a pleasant one.”

 The Headmaster looked over at the Potions master with a twinkling in his eyes.  “You’re just saying that because you don’t want Harry to lay a finger on your precious goddaughter.  I’m sorry, Severus, but you can’t stand between two teenagers in love, as they will be.  Don’t worry, it will all work out.”

 “Whatever you say, Albus. Whatever you say.”

Index