Epeolatry - ✔️

Prologue

"To the well-organized mind, Death is but the next great adventure."
- J. K. Rowling

A dark figure shifted through the snowy ground late one dreadful December night. It was unusually cold for the small town in Eastern New York, though the man gliding atop the frozen soil could hardly feel it. He could scarcely feel anything aside from the power coursing through his veins.

The village that he had apparated to was not something that he had expected. It was larger than he thought, and it held too much warmth - despite the cold that seemed to envelop everything. It was sickeningly ordinary - no, sickeningly muggle.

The shadowed man came to a stop outside of the last house on the block. It, like the rest of the town, looked peaceful. Colorful Christmas lights twinkled along the roof, and a Christmas tree could be seen in the window.

He didn't knock when he came to the door; common courtesy wasn't given to such traitorous monsters as those that lived in this house. He paid the screaming no mind, and he certainly didn't heed the cries of the man he had just killed. The lifeless form on the ground was another step towards his goal, and that was what pushed him up the stairs. He paid no attention to the family photos that hung sporadically along the walls or the occasional toy that was sitting neglected on the hardwood floors.

There was nothing on his mind other than the death of those that stood in his way. He didn't have to search for the other occupant in the house. He had known even before stepping into the home where he would find each traitor. So, when he came to the third door on the right, he knew that the last half of his mission lay behind these doors.

With a flash of green light and a heavy thud, he was gone.

"My God," the American Auror stared at the woman he was supposed to deliver the child to, "You haven't even met her?"

The woman of tall stature stared at the man with disinterest, "My sister betrayed my parents when she married that no good muggle-born. I loved my sister dearly, but I couldn't go against my parents in such a manner."

The Auror stared, not only at the woman before him but at the bright green quill that hovered just over her shoulder, "What did you say you did again?"

"Oh, darling," she smiled playfully and lightly patted his face, "I write for the Daily Prophet."

He wasn't familiar with this term, though he assumed that it was something important based on the way her shoulders lifted and her attitude brightened. His eyes trailed back to the 4-year-old child sleeping in his arms. She had been so timid when she had come into his care, but through the long journey that they had taken together, he had managed to learn a little about her. He was oddly protective of the child, and he couldn't entirely swallow the fact that he was to leave her with the creature that sat in front of him.

"What did become of my sister?" For the life of him, the Auror could not detect an ounce of sadness in this woman's voice, "Did she finally come to her senses?"

The man shifted the weight of the child in his arms, and he checked to ensure that she was fast asleep, "They were murdered."

The woman's face contorted into something that could almost be seen as grief, "You-know-who?"

The man only nodded his head. The infamous wizard had started to gain notoriety through the Wizarding World during the past several years, and his murders were just one of the deads that got his name into the world.

"She's got no other family," the Auror looked at the girl curled to his chest, "If you don't take her, she'll go into foster care back in the States."

The room stilled. And as the seconds ticked by, the girl began to stir.

"Papa?" Her tiny fists raised to her eyes, and she yawned.

"Hey, sweetie," the Auror lifted the girl so that she was sitting up. "You remember me?"

"Maxxie?" The woman watched the intimate moment silently, "Where are we?"

"We've gone over the ocean, remember? We're in England now."

It was then that the child noticed the woman sitting across from them. Her eyes noticeably widened, and she immediately reached out to her, "Momma?"

"No, honey," it could have been a trick of the light, but there seemed to be a shimmer of tears gathering in the woman's eyes, "Your momma was my little sister."

"Oh," the little girl took in the bright blonde curls that clung to the older woman's hair and the unusual yellow colored jacket that hugged her curves, "Am I going to stay with you?"

The woman met the Auror's eyes, and she nodded, "Yeah, baby, you're going to stay with me."

"Athene," the little girl turned at the use of her name, "This is your aunt and guardian, Rita Skeeter."

Author's Note:
Hey guys, here I go again. Please vote or comment!

Question of the Chapter
Who's your favorite Harry Potter Character?