Suspect Your Elders

File 40

"In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. On a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity."
~Hunter S. Thompson

._._._._._.

"You're alive?" asked Remus as he finally became conscious again (he fainted when he saw Emmeline).

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," smiled Emmeline, although it was not morning.

"You're alive?" asked Remus again. He may be conscious, but he was shocked. I mean, who wouldn't when they find out their supposed to be dead girlfriend is actually alive.

Emmeline nodded.

"How?" asked Remus.

"Sit down. This is a long story, Remmy," said Emmeline as she helped him sit down on his chair.

._._._._._.

"Okay, everyone is here, right?" Emmeline asked the group in front of her.

Dorcas raised her hand, "Vero isn't here."

Lily and James shared a look that meant that Dorcas didn't know about the true Vero at all. Meaning she wasn't involved in this huge situation at all.

"He is part of the story," nodded Emmeline, reading the situation carefully.

Dorcas nodded and grabbed her popcorn.

"Where the hell did you get popcorn?" asked Kaisley, who wasn't as shocked as Remus to find that her sister is alive.

"Always have popcorn. You never know when the drama might start," recited Dorcas.

"Is that your motto?" asked Sirius.

"Yes. Basically the Meadows Family motto. Especially when you live with three brothers,"nodded Dorcas.

"Lots of wrestling?" asked Alice.

Dorcas nodded.

"Okay. We are getting of track," said Emmeline.

"Start the story," said Dorcas, as she chucked a mouthful of popcorn in her mouth.

"As you all know," started Emmeline, "you thought I was dead. Now, I am not dead, but someone else is. Hestia and I went to the building that held that dead body to check out our theory."

"What's that theory?" asked James as he leaned back into his chair, holding Lily in his arms not wanting her to be far away from him.

"I'll tell it after I tell the story," said Emmeline.

"Go ahead," nodded Lily.

To any one that wasn't those two best friends, the gesture would have seemed normal. Yet, somehow, Emmeline read the gesture. The nodding of the head meant it was okay if she said why Lily went into hiding.

"I think you all know why Lily went into hiding. If you don't, someone was after her... someone was after her to kill her because she saw too much. That person was Severus Snape who used the fake identity... the fake identity of Vero Sibeus Taapen," said Emmeline, noticing first and most importantly Dorcas's shocked and heart broken expression when she said her best friend's name.

"The Vero you knew was just a fraud. He was actually a murderer posing as a detective. Comedy, am I right? Those two are very opposite things, yet Snape played the role of the detective who secretly is a murderer. He tricked you and he tricked you well. How long has he been here?"

"Seven years," stated Dorcas, still not processing that her best friend is who she thought he was.

"Then he has been keeping the game long and steady," noted Emmeline.

"That long?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Apparently so," said Emmeline, "it might have been for bigger plans so it's a good thing I told the Prewitt twins to get him from my trunk."

"You stashed the murderer in your trunk?" questioned Frank.

"Yes. I don't see anything wrong with it," shrugged Emmeline.

"Now I know why Remus liked her and why she's Lily's best friend," whispered Sirius to Bellatrix, who just slapped him in the arm.

"Ouch!"

"I didn't even hit that hard," said Bellatrix as she returned her attention back to the speaker.

"Basically, Snape is the murderer in this case. The end. Any question?"

"I'll ask one question that's important than my others," said Kaisley, "how are you alive?"

"Straight to the story, Em," said Lily.

"Okay, okay, curiosity will be solved just hold your horses," said Emmeline.

Emmeline, the beautiful blue-eyed mystery, took a deep breathe.

"Let's start at the start. This all starts from where me and Lily were present when Lucius Malory died," said Emmeline.

"Wait. You were there?" inquired Narcissa Black.

Emmeline nodded, "yes, we were. The coffee that came to Lucius was supposed to come to either me or Lily. Or that's what we both thought. Apparently, they've always wanted to kill Lucius Malfoy. For what reasons, I don't know. Maybe it was because he was rich," theorized Emmeline.

"No. They've always wanted to kill him, but I don't know for what reason either," said Lily.

"How do you know?" asked a curious Alice.

"Remember when we told you I'm being chased because I've seen too much?" asked Lily.

When Alice nodded, Lily continued, "I know because I saw too much."

Lily nodded at Emmeline to continue.

"Lily and I were going as people with different names. I told Lily we have to go so that's the simplified reason why we were there. All of a sudden, Lucius Malfoy is dead. When we stood up and left, I heard someone say something. They said 'to get her, let's aim at someone close to her'. I knew the her meant Lily and the someone close would most probably be me. I knew they'd do it soon too," said Emmeline.

Emmeline took another breathe and turned to Lily, "I knew and didn't tell you because I knew you'd hide or attack. Maybe even a little bit of both."

Lily was going to protest, but shut her mouth, "you're right."

"I know," smiled Emmeline a small smile before looking back at the small crowd in front of her."

"Kaisley, we never introduced you to... Hestia you take this."

"Nah ah, sorry, the body is your twin sister, not mine."

"Twin sister?!" exclaimed almost everyone in the room.

"Yes," said Emmeline, "here's the catch. I had a twin sister. We never introduced you to her Kaisley, because you didn't even fully know about me until I was 15. That time, she already went to that side."

"Whose side?" asked Kaisley.

"Let's just say the bad side for now," said Emmeline, "she already went to their side finding more comfort there. That's why the body looks like me, but isn't me. Because that's my twin sister. The only difference is that I have a birthmark on my right ankle while she has it on her left wrist, which I'm sure you didn't check?"

Everybody shook their heads.

"Good thing I did."

"Wait, what was her name?" asked Kaisley.

"Charlotte... Charlotte Elizabeth Vance," answered Emmeline, trying hard not to cry.

"What's the story?" asked Kaisley, "she is... well I guess now I have to say was family. I think I have a right to know."

"We were taken by Dad when you were a year old. Dad, let's say didn't give us much attention. Charls found a person that actually cared for her. At 15, Dad died unexpectedly. At that, we were sent to stay with Mom and you guys, but she escaped. I have a theory she escaped to that man that accepted her and gave her attention. From that day on, I never saw her again. That is until..."