Heart Scars

Thirty Nine

They were all sitting around the table; The Potter's, Dumbledore, Lily. Remus took his seat, and Adhara sat in between her brothers.

"Miss Black, tell us exactly what happened, right from the start." Dumbledore demands. She nods.

"I knew something was wrong when I couldn't find Regulus or Severus. They never leave without me. Amycus had taken Regulus ahead to the train, and Severus was still gone. Amycus wouldn't get away from Regulus, so I made him. Reg told me something was happening, so I had Sirius take him from the train. My parents went to apparate me home as always, but we didn't go home." She gulps as her eyes flick to look at Lily.

The girls red hair was in a messy bun, and her eyes were red. She looked to be wearing old clothes that were covered in ash and grime. Her skin was covered in it too.

"We apparated to Lestrange Manor, where I found Severus. They-they had tortured him for the whereabouts of your house." She whispers. Lily lets out a broken sob.

"They made me take the Carrow twins after they had taken the mark. Ordered us to kill everyone, they thought Lily would be in the house too. Amycus killed him, I killed the mother. I exploded the house so Petunia could get away. Then they set the fire." Adhara shivers, and Regulus grabs her hand.

The room was silent other than Lily's broken sobs. Not even James could speak, his eyes trained on the floor. Sirius was pulling at a thread in his shirt, and the Potter's were sharing a look.

"Well, then I think it's time Adhara is pulled from her mission." Euphemia finally speaks up. Everyone looks at her in surprise, even Dumbledore.

"Euphemia-"

"Albus, she is a child. Regulus is too. They need protection, we can offer it. They can live here, with us." She cuts him off.

"Miss Black is perfectly capable of taking care of herself, as she's shown." Dumbledore says calmly, yet firmly. Adhara shares a look with Sirius, who looked about as shocked as she did.

"She shouldn't have to! She is caught up in something that she shouldn't be!" Euphemia argues.

"Miss Black cannot simply just abandon the mission. Do you know how many lives she is protecting? Besides, do you think he would really just let her walk away? She's his right hand, she'd be killed for defecting." Dumbledore says loudly. Euphemia flinches and slides down in her seat, her eyes glistening.

"I'm alright, Mrs. Potter. Albus is right, I can take care of myself." Adhara says kindly to the woman. She shakes her head, but does not argue further.

"What about my sister? What will be done with her?" Lily asks quietly, her voice no louder than a broken whisper. The room goes silent once again, and not even Dumbledore has an answer for her.

"The fire causes the perfect coverup. You were at your boyfriend's house for the holiday, Petunia barely managed to escape. Your parents were lost to the fire. I can perform a memory charm on Petunia, she'll believe the fire story." Adhara says quickly. Lily scoffs.

"You'd be willing to take her memory of it? Like nothing happened?" Lily's voice begins to raise. James tries to settle her, but she shrugs him off.

"She's a muggle Lily, she's not meant to know about the happenings in our world." Adhara tries to explain gently.

"Right because muggles are nothing to wizards. Isn't that it Adhara? It all comes back to blood prejudice." Lily says shrilly. Adhara gulps, keeping her temper at bay. Lily was hurt, she was acting on her emotions.

"You're not thinking clearly, Lily." Adhara says lowly. She was sympathetic to Lily's emotions, but she would not take Lily's anger.

"I am! You killed them. This is your fault!" She stands as she screams. James pulls away from her, not wanting her to lash out at him.