Little Phoenix (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

81. The Mission

Tyriq slammed the man before him into the wall, his wand at his throat. "Who is Phoenix?!" Tyriq shouted. "Answer me!"

"I don't know!" the man shouted desperately. "I've never met her! All I know is that she's the Order's defense coordinator! No one knows who she is!" Tyriq let him go, shoving him against into the wall before backing up. "Who do you work for?" the man asked shakily. Tyriq turned and pulled up his sleeve, revealing the Dark Mark. "P-Please, I told you all I know," he said fearfully, stuttering at the sight of the mark. "I helped! I helped!" Tyriq said nothing, but turned and stormed away.

Nic was laying awake, staring at the ceiling of Ginny's bedroom before she rolled over and got up. Quickly she got dressed and grabbed her wand before heading downstairs. Glancing at the clock, she realized that she wasn't sixteen anymore. It was her birthday, but she'd never wanted to celebrate less in her life. What she really wanted she couldn't have. She was still sitting down there when Molly and Fleur's parents, who had shown up a few days ago, came down stairs.

"Morning, Nic," Molly greeted. She got up and waved half-heartedly before walking outside.

"She doesn't seem very happy for it being her birthday," Fleur's father remarked.

"She's had a rough go recently," Molly sighed. "Her best friend betrayed her and became a Death Eater."

"Poor girl," Fleur's mum said. Nic was sitting outside on a bench, her knees to her chest. Soon she was joined by Ginny.

"Happy birthday," she said.

"I really don't feel like celebrating," Nic countered.

Ginny nodded, wrapping an arm around before asking, "Do you want to talk about what's been going on with you?"

Nic sighed. "I'm technically not supposed to talk about it, but...I trust you and I-I think I need to."

"So what's going on?" Ginny asked.

"Ever since Christmas fifth year, Tyriq hasn't just been my best friend. We started dating," Nic explained. Ginny gasped, her eyes lighting up. "With everything going on he was my rock, the one thing keeping me sane, but...Ginny he's undercover. That's why he's a Death Eater. He never betrayed me."

"And now he thinks you're dead," Ginny added.

"I just want to see him again," Nic admitted. "I want to know he's safe." Ginny gave her a sympathetic sigh and hugged her tightly.

Tyriq was sitting in the corner of his room in the hotel he was staying in, staring at a picture in his hand. It had marks from being folded in fourths. It was a moving picture and showed snow falling down on two people. Tyriq had taken it during sixth year while he and Nic were outside. She had been laying on the snow, staring up at the sky while he lay next to her. She was laughing at something as he looked over with a happy smile before he kissed her cheek. He smiled slightly at the picture before the hole in his heart became wider.

"The Dark Lord sent me to check on your progress," Draco remarked, stepping into the room.

"She would have been seventeen today," Tyriq said, not taking his eyes off the picture. Draco sat down next to him and looked at the picture.

"She looks happy," Draco said, not helping but to smile a little. "You both do."

"We were," Tyriq replied.

"So what progress have you made?" Draco asked.

"I have a few leads I'm running down," Tyriq replied. "How're things going on your end?"

"Fair enough," he replied. "I just wish I had a way out. I hate him, I hate both of them. I just want to take my mother and run away."

"He'd find you," Tyriq countered. "Only the Order could maybe stand a chance of protecting you and they wouldn't trust you."

"I know," Draco sighed. "If only Nic was still with them. She would've taken us in."

"Draco," Ty began, thinking hard. "I'm going to tell you something, but I'm going to erase it from your memory after I tell you."

"What is it?" Draco asked.

"I'm not following Voldemort, not really," he explained. "I'm a spy for the Order."

"What?" Draco snapped, backing away from him slightly.

"Dumbledore told me what to do," Tyriq said. "I was giving him reports all year on what you and Voldemort were up to. Later on I was giving them to Nic to."

"So you've been a spy this whole time?" Draco asked. "What about now?"

"None of them trust me anymore," Tyriq replied. "And with Nic gone, there's no one that would." After a pause, he added, "But since you're about to leave, I need to wipe this from your memory."

"Why?" Draco countered. "I wouldn't tell anyone."

"I believe you, but I can't risk Voldemort going into your mind and finding out," Tyriq explained. "I won't risk it."

"Okay," Draco agreed. "Go on with it then." Tyriq raised his wand and quickly wiped it from his mind. "So just tell him you're making progress?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Tyriq replied.