Originally Posted by RavenSnape

Chapter 34

Finally knocking on Professor Dumbledore’s door, Raven’s nerves began to build as she waited for the door to open. A wad of saliva stuck to the back of her throat and she had a hard time swallowing it down. When the door opened, she choked a little on the spit when she saw her uncle at the doorway. Snape's face didn't react when he saw her. He stood to the side to let Raven in. She stared at him as she passed, trying to read any thought or emotion that would give her a clue as to why she was summoned to Dumbledore's office. Not being able to read anything from his mind, she tried to see if his expression would help her out. That was unsuccessful as well.

"Miss Snape, I'm glad you came." Professor Dumbledore sat at his desk. His tone did nothing to break the tension for Raven. Obviously the conversation they were about to have was not going to be a pleasant one. "Please, have a seat."

Raven slowly walked over to a chair in front of the desk, taking quick glances at her uncle, and then sat down with trepidation.

"I asked your uncle to join us, if you don't mind," said Dumbledore, giving a slight hand gesture to Snape to sit in the seat next to Raven. She looked at her uncle who seemed to glide over to the chair. Snape never looked at her as he sat down, as not to give Raven an opportunity to try and read him again.

"Sir, have I done something wrong?" She was ready to get this over with already.

"No, Raven," said Dumbledore. "There is some information about you that I feel that you should know."

"About me? What about me?"

"The best place to start is at the beginning. Tell me, what do you know about your grandmother on your mother's side?"

Raven shot a nervous look to Snape, then turned back to Dumbledore. “Well, sir, all I know is she married Orion Black, Sirius' father and then died giving birth to my mother."

"Is that all you know?"

"Yes. My father didn't know about her and my mother didn't know very much according to the diary she kept. Everyone else that knew her is probably dead. So yes, that is all I know."

"Not everyone is dead. I was her teacher while she attended school here."

"S-so you know her name?" Raven heard about this woman who was her grandmother but was never told her name. Excitement started to fight its way through the worry.

"Her name was Demeter Bronwyn Alvord. She was a lovely girl. Smart, talented, very popular with the students for her opinions; you remind me of her. However, she was reserved. She never had many friends; quite choosy in that regard. Probably because she never wanted to draw too much attention to herself; she didn't want anyone to know the power she possessed. The only people at the school that knew were the professors and three students."

"What powers?“

“Patience.“

“Okay.“ Dumbledore obviously didn’t know Raven very well. “If she didn't have many friends, then how could she trust those three people not to say anything?"

"Two of the people were her closest friends. Orion, your grandfather, and a fellow Ravenclaw named Audrina who has since died. The three were very close, despite their differences. Orion, you see, was in Slytherin. As you know, the two houses are quite different. Yet you couldn’t find one without seeing the other two. Orion and Audrina never would have told a soul about Demeter’s abilities.”

Raven started to count in her head. Dumbledore mentioned that three people knew yet, he only mentioned two. “Professor? Who was the third person?”

“The third person was one she never intended to know her secret, someone who was never her friend and who she never wanted as a friend. His name was Tom Riddle, he was three years older. Demeter never told him her secret, but he was quite powerful himself. Most older students never pay much attention to the younger ones, especially younger ones in different houses. He knew there was something unique about her. Although she would try to conceal her abilities, there would be times when she would accidentally expose them; never really noticing that anyone was paying attention. Tom was and, over time, began to formulate a plan for her."

Raven noticed that Snape sat straight up in his chair at the sound of this person's name. She hesitated to ask. "Do I know him?"

"You don't know him by his given name. You know him now as Voldemort."

Snape adjusted his robes at the sound of his name. Raven still couldn't put the two together. What did her grandmother and Voldemort have to do with her? She hoped that Dumbledore would get to the point soon.

"Tom was after Demeter since her first day at Hogwarts when he saw her, inadvertently, open her train compartment door without a wand. Everyday he had the chance he would send her notes and tell her that one day they would marry. She would ignore him and go about her business. However, there was one day, his last day at Hogwarts, he went to her and vowed that they would be together and the two of them would create the most powerful wizarding family to ever exist. Upset at hearing this, she came to me and told me everything he had said and done through the years. If I had known at that moment what Tom was capable of, I would have done more to protect her."

"Did he love my grandmother?"

"Tom was, and is, incapable of love therefore, he did not love her like a husband would love a wife; he was attracted to her power. You see, not only was Demeter a natural Occlumens and Legilimens and performed wandless magic like you, she was also a Seer. In fact, I was thinking she could be a professor of Divination. But, at the time, that wasn‘t my call to make."

Questions flooded Raven's mind. This was all starting to become overwhelming. "Whoa, Professor, I have so many questions right now. I don't even know where to begin."

"I'll try to answer all your questions, but let me try to finish first. When your grandmother married Orion, Tom was very angry. When she found out that she was pregnant with your mother, it should have been the happiest time of her life but Tom, being a skilled Legilimens as well, plagued her mind every day of her pregnancy. Demeter and Orion came to me a week before she gave birth. She was weak and frail. The maternal glow that most women have was masked by a cold, pale face. Demeter told me what Tom had been doing to her and said that the day before their visit with me, Tom went to her while she was shopping in Diagon Alley. He made promise to her; if she would not bear his child, that someone from her bloodline would be his to raise.

"I tried to help her, but my help came too late. By that time she had already died. Your grandmother didn't die giving birth to your mother; she died two days later. Her mind was weakened by not only a tough pregnancy but a harder birth. Orion said that she was in labor for thirty-seven hours. She was so weak and still diseased mentally, that eventually she lost control and took her own life."

Raven was in tears. Shock was not the word to describe what she was feeling. "Do-do you mean that Voldemort drove my grandmother to-to-"

"His role played a part."

Raven sat up straight and wiped her tears. Anger started to boil inside of her. "What does this have to do with me? And, with all of the other fish in the sea he had to pick her. Why her?"

"Demeter was different. Her abilities were unlike anyone's at Hogwarts at the time. He could have forced your grandmother into bearing him an heir, but he decided to use his own abilities to convince her. Since that didn't work and she married Orion, he became enraged. Thus, ultimately making a promise that affects you."

Raven leaned forward in her chair and covered her eyes. This was all becoming too much. More questions swirled around her. She didn't even know where to start.

"After your grandfather remarried, his new wife did not approve of her step-daughter," Dumbledore continued.

"Yes, I know that. She pawned my mom off to live with her in-laws."

"True, but what you don't know is that your grandfather's new wife knew the story of what drove Demeter to do what she did. The new Mrs. Black somehow found Tom, who had been in hiding, and tried to give your mother to him. Once he saw that your mother didn't possess any powers, he said no. Of course we found out later that your mother was a late bloomer. She did indeed have magical abilities but they did not surface till she was a little older. Meanwhile, she was already living with her aunt and uncle."

"Where was my grandfather in all of this? Why didn't he have a say in what happened to his daughter?"

"Wallburga Black was a strong woman; a Black through and through. She didn't want to have tainted blood in her family and she saw your mother as tainted blood. Orion was left with no choice."

"Once again, what does this have to do with me?" Raven's anger was starting to take over. She wanted the point of all of this to be made now.

"Your uncle came to me and told me of the marriage contract with you and Draco."

"I just found out."

Snape and Dumbledore glanced at each other. "What do you know of the ring that’s on your finger?” asked Dumbledore.

"It was left to a friend of my dads. He sent it to me last summer."

Once again, Dumbledore and Snape exchanged glances. Dumbledore got up from his desk and stood in front of Raven. He knelt down and looked at Snape once again. Raven knew that the point of this whole conversation was going to be made, and her already sick feeling got worse.

"Lucius knows the story about your grandmother, courtesy of his wife Narcissa, your mother's cousin. You know that he was a former Death Eater and he knows that if or when Voldemort is to return, he will be able to offer you up to him. When he saw your power as a very young girl, he jumped at the opportunity to get you into his family. You are his way of making amends to Voldemort for not bringing him back sooner if he is to return to power. He wants you to eventually work for their cause. Voldemort, if he knows you exist, will find you and do everything in his power to stake his claim on you and use you for his evil purposes."

Raven smiled in an effort to hide her true feelings. “How do you know all of this? This is the most absurd thing I have ever heard.“ Raven looked at Snape and gestured toward Dumbledore. “Are you buying this?“

Snape rubbed his mouth and sat forward in his chair. “Your father, told me in letters. While he was making arrangements for you, he told me what he believed to be Lucius’ intentions. I’ve known about this contract for years now. I never told you, because I didn’t think it would matter now. I regret this choice. I realize now, I didn’t do a good job of protecting you. But I vow, I will not fail again.“

Tears began to flow down Raven's cheeks again. She stared at Snape who looked as though he had just seen a horrible ghost. He hands were now clenched in a fist covering his mouth. Dumbledore stared at Raven, wondering what she was going to say.

"What about Draco? I love him. How do you explain that?"

"Your friends have tried to tell you the truth. If you are not going to listen to them, how are you going to listen to me?"

Raven stood up and walked toward the door. She turned around swiftly and walked back toward her chair. "You said my grandmother was a Seer. Am I a...Seer, too?"

"From what your uncle has told me about the visions that you have been having, yes. However, you lack the control that Seers have. Next school year, I would like you to have private lessons with Professor Trelawney."

"Oh, that's just fabulous! The one teacher at this school that's a complete wacko! You want me to learn how to control my abilities from someone who can hardly put one foot in front of the other without tripping but should have foreseen it coming! This is crazy!

"Raven, Dumbledore is right. You need to learn control." Snape stood and walked over to Raven and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Raven started pacing around Dumbledore's office. "I don't believe this. First you tell me Voldemort pretty much killed my grandmother. Then you tell me that my mother was almost raised by him. To top it all off, Lucius is using me as a peace offering to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Oh yeah, can't forget, I'm a Seer that has to take lessons from the biggest idiot at Hogwarts!"

"Raven, calm down. You shouldn't talk about professors that way." Snape attempted to quiet her down but was unsuccessful.

"I get gigantic bombshells dropped on me and you want me to calm down? I want to go home. Back to the States! I'm of age now and I'm leaving! I am not going to be around when Voldy comes around and I become his little minion!"

Raven marched towards the door and tried to get it open but a spell had caused it to stay locked.

"Raven," Dumbledore's voice came from right behind her, "trust me when I say that you are safe here. Your uncle will not allow you to become a servant of Voldemort. You have our protection but you have to stay here, where we can make sure that you will be okay."

There was something about Dumbledore's tone that seemed to calm Raven down. Raven fell to her knees and began to sob. "This is too overwhelming. I can't do this."

Dumbledore knelt down next to her and lifted her face up with his hand. "I know this seems like more than you can bear at the moment. But I know you are strong. I know that you will be able to handle this with the same strength that you do everything else.”

“You don't want to become like your father or myself and follow the wrong path because you were weak.” Snape knelt down. “I’ve never told you what to do, and been successful at it, but now I am and I‘m going to hold you to it. Stand up and fight this!"

Raven looked up at Dumbledore who was looking at Snape with a very pleased look on his face. Raven was pretty impressed too at her uncle's pep talk. She wondered to herself where it came from and why she hadn't seen it before.

After standing up, straightening her hair and wiping her face, she looked up at her uncle. She gave him a very small smile and then looked at Dumbledore who gave her an approving look. She nodded at him and walked out of the office. Her mind was blank as she walked back to the common room. Raven never spoke to anyone when she entered the buzzing room but went straight to bed, hoping that when she woke up, her mind would be rested enough to process the news she received.

Unfortunately, she woke up the next morning and her mind was still plagued with all of the news she received the night before. There was no one she could talk to at the moment to try and release some of her pain. The last person she thought she should tell was Draco. He wouldn't believe the part about his father using her to please Voldemort if he were to return. She was at a loss for what to think or how to feel. All she knew was that Voldemort could not come back. Not just for herself, but for the safety of the entire wizarding world as well.

Chapter 35

Originally Posted by RavenSnape

Raven slowly opened her eyes. The light in the room was blinding. It took her a moment to get them fully open. She nodded her head yes, and then turned her head toward her uncle.