Riddle's Daughters

Chapter 1: Ministry of Magic

October 31, 1981

Mazikeen wheezed as they tumbled out of one of the many floos in the Ministry building. Theodora was passed out and Natalia was still crying, but they were alive and Maze still clutched their mother's wand in a tight fist.

"Oh my Merlin!" An older woman had spotted them, which Maze was incredibly grateful for. She hadn't wanted to leave her sisters to find help in this large building so late at night. She scooped up Nat while the woman hurried over. "Children! How on earth did you get here? Where are you parents, darlings?"

"Papa killed Mama." That's all Maze could choke out. The lady was quite understandably taken aback. "I- uh- oh my-" She shook her head and pulled herself together, putting a hand on the still unconscious Theo's head. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Mazikeen Riddle." Now the lady looked like she was going to have a heart attack. "I- um... I'll be right back, stay here."

The lady rushed away and Maze was certain she wasn't coming back, but a few minutes later, a large group of witches and wizards were rushing towards them. Quickly, the children were surrounded, bombarded with questions and panic of frantic adults. Maze was silently glad Theo was out cold. She wouldn't have handled this well.

Maze searched the sea of faces for any that were familiar, desperate for comfort, but she found none.

Finally, a man with red hair stepped forward, shushing his associates as he crouched down to Maze's level. "Hi, Mazikeen, I'm Mr. Weasley. I knew your mum. Do you and your sisters want to come with me? We need you to answer some questions for us so we can help you."

Maze decided there were no other courses of option, and besides, Mr. Weasley seemed nice enough. The six year old nodded. Mr. Weasley smiled and held out his arms to take the baby from Maze and she let him. Another man picked up Theo. Maze took Mr. Weasley's hand and they were taken to an office, where they were given water and blankets.

Theo woke up, and was curled into Maze on a chair they were sharing, while Nat had fallen asleep on Mr. Weasley's shoulder.

The night was a blur.

Witches and wizards filtered in and out of the room they were kept in, asking them an abundance of questions and whispering hurriedly amongst themselves. Mr. Weasley stayed with them the whole time, and no one tried to take their mother's wand, so the eldest child couldn't be too angry. Maze and Theo retold the story multiple times, giving all the information they possibly could.

One conversation that a wizard was having with Mr. Weasley caught Mazikeen's attention. Theo was drained from the Unforgivable their father had used on her, and fell into a fitful sleep against her older sister. Thus, Maze could only get bits and pieces of the conversations around her. Mr. Weasley looked incredibly upset at whatever news the wizard had shared with him and Maze curiously strained her ears to hear.

She couldn't make out much. "James and Lily Potter are dead." "Harry survived." "Voldemort disappeared."

Who was Voldemort?

She found out soon enough, when Theo was woken and Mr. Weasley brought them into another office and sat them down, fixing a blanket over their baby sister, still fast asleep in his lap. Maze envied her ignorance.

"Girls, what you're about to hear is a lot, and I am very, truly sorry, that you have to hear all of this, especially after the horrors you've seen tonight. You know that your mother has passed away. Ministry officials have gone to your house, and she will have a proper burial in due time."

Both Maze and Theo were silent.

"Your Papa is a very bad man. He is known in the world as "Voldemort" and he is a very powerful, but very evil wizard. He had a plan that he carried out tonight. Your mother, Lilith, strongly opposed this plan. That's why she wanted to take you kids and leave. That's why your father killed her. After you got away and came here, he went to carry out his plan anyway. He killed James and Lily Potter tonight."

Maze cringed. Their mother had died in vain.

"He then tried to kill their son, Harry. But the spell backfired, and... well, he disappeared. We've come to believe... you're father may be dead." "Where will we go?" Theo asked quietly. "That's being worked out by some associates of mine as we speak," Mr. Weasley assured gently. "Do you two have any questions?" "No," they mumbled at the same time. Mr. Weasley gave them a sad smile.

"Well you must be tired." Neither child bothered with a response. "Come on, you can sleep on a couch until your new living arrangements have been determined." He stood, and Maze and Theo silently followed him.

Maze fell asleep as soon as the kind man put the blanket over her. She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep, her dreams were so vivid and melted into one another. But finally, she was awoken to someone gently tapping her forehead. She woke to an unfamiliar witch smiling down at her. "Hello dear, can you follow us?" Theo was already awake and holding Mr. Weasley's hand, still carrying Natalia, who was now awake and staring at her sister with wide, hazel eyes.

Maze took Theo's out-stretched hand, and Mr. Weasley led them through the large building, back to the hallway of floos in which they'd come from. There was a small cluster of witches and wizards waiting for them.

"Here we are." The cluster parted, and a man with a scowl and dark hair stepped forward. Theo shrunk back, shuffling behind Mr. Weasley. He gently pulled her back forward. "This is Severus Snape. He'll be taking you girls in." "We can't stay with you?" Maze asked, manners forgotten. Mr. Weasley smiled, but his eyes were sad.

"Unfortunately, I can't take you girls in. But Severus will take good care of you, alright?" Theo was staring at the man, and Maze knew she was reading him. She waited. Finally, Theo let go of Mr. Weasley's hand and stepped forward. Maze followed her, and Mr. Weasley handed Nat to the tall man.

"Very well. Come along, children. Your things have already been moved to my residence." His voice was monotone and cold, but if Theo was going along with him, Mazikeen would too. With one last wistful glance towards Mr. Weasley, she stepped into the floo with her sisters and new guardian. They disappeared in the green flames.