Disclaimer: I don't own HP or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N: Reneey and I have been playing with these characters on MSN for ages, and one night this idea struck me. I don't know how good this will turn out, but I'll give it my best shot. (And for any readers of my other fanfics -- don't worry, I'm not forgetting them!) Oh, yes, and FYI -- Lyndotia is pronounced LIN-DOE-SHUH and Reneey is REE-NEE.

Chapter One -- Light and Shadow

Lyndotia Elumo and Reneey Umbra were not your average eleven- and nine-year-olds. They were young witches, but even by wizarding standards, they were different. They both lived with Tasha Umbra, who was Reneey's mother. Lyndotia was Reneey's half sister, but not Tasha's daughter, even though she had been brought up as if she were. That wasn't really what made them so different, though.

The thing that set the two girls apart from the rest of the wizarding community was the identity of their father. Lyndotia Elumo and Reneey Umbra were the daughters of Lord Voldemort, the greatest Dark wizard of the age, and probably the Darkest in history. Tasha did her best to hide this fact from the rest of the wizarding world -- even going to far as to live in a Muggle subdivision -- but she knew that the truth would lead out eventually, and that the two would likely be something like outcasts.

And this was the day of truth. Lyndotia had received her letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry -- Tasha had secretly wondered whether she would or not, as she wasn't sure if Dumbledore would let the Dark Lord's daughters attend -- and today the three of them were going to Diagon Alley. The girls knew quite well how to use Floo Powder by now, as they went several times a year to see Tasha's parents in Uzbekistan, so that part, at least, went off without a hitch.

"Where do we go first, Mum?" Lyndotia asked, looking around at the many shops of Diagon Alley.

"Gringotts, of course," Mrs. Umbra answered with a chuckle. "You think you can buy your school things without any money?"

"Of course she can," Reneey said with a grin. "All she has to do is go into the shops and tell everyone who her father is. Threaten to curse them or something." Mrs. Umbra glared at her and Reneey said defensively, "What!? It could work..."

"Or we could all get chucked into Azkaban," said Lyndotia. "You know, one or the other." Reneey giggled and poked her mother in the ribs to make her laugh, too.

"Honestly, child, I don't know what to do with you," Mrs. Umbra said, shaking her head at Reneey. "You'll end up a Dark sorceress yet, if you don't have someone watching you constantly."

"No, she won't," Lyndotia said with a grin. "Because if she tries anything, I'll knock her up-side the head and she'll get some sense back into her. Right, Rea?"

"Right, Lynni," Reneey said. Then she whispered jokingly to her sister, "Or else you'll wipe their memories for me and get me out of trouble. 'Cuz that's what big sisters are for, right?"

Lyndotia just smiled and didn't say anything. The truth was that sometimes she did wonder what would happen to her sister if she carried on like she was now. She was almost certain to end up in Slytherin when she went to Hogwarts -- she was too shrewd and cunning for her own good -- and Lyndotia didn't know what she could do if that were to happen. Even good witches and wizards were turned to the Dark Side when they were surrounded by all those pureblood maniacs in Slytherin House, and Lyndotia didn't know what she would do if that were to happen to her sister.

Even though her father was Lord Voldemort -- or perhaps because of it -- Lyndotia had never had even the slightest desire to put any stock in the pureblood mania. In fact, the whole thing rather infuriated her. It would probably surprise most people to see what a down-to-earth, sensible person she was. Then again, none of them (except for Tasha Umbra, Albus Dumbledore, and of course Lord Voldemort) knew about Lyndotia's mother, either.

There was a very good reason why Lyndotia and Reneey did not have the same last name. Naturally, they had been given their mothers' surnames, as they could not go around being called Lyndotia and Reneey Voldemort. However, there were only four people who knew the truth about why Lyndotia had not grown up with Letaira Elumo, her birth mother.

Eleven years before, when Voldemort had been nearing the peak of his power, he had decided that he wanted an heir. His way of going about finding a suitable mother for this heir was a strange one, however; he had staked out the Ministry of Magic itself, and it was there that he found Letaira.

Letaira Elumo had originally come from America, across the sea, and her accent and her beauty were intriguing. She had a long sheet of thick, dark brown hair and almond-shaped, pale green eyes. A year later, it was proven that she had passed both of these on to the baby girl that she bore. It was only after this that Lord Voldemort released the Imperius Curse that he had placed on her, believing (accurately) that the gentle mother would not leave behind her baby daughter to flee from the Dark Lord.

Letaira named the baby Lyndotia Ahnashawn Elumo, and Voldemort was pleased; it was a name worthy of Slytherin's newest heiress, he thought. However, he then found out something that he had not known before: Letaira Elumo's father was a Squib, and her mother a Muggle-born witch. That made Letaira a Mudblood as much as her mother before her, and that made Lord Voldemort exceedingly angry.

He killed Letaira Elumo the week before Lyndotia's first birthday.

However, he now had no idea what to do with the child. She was a half-blood, if that, but she was of Salazar Slytherin's bloodline; he could not kill her, or at least, not yet. Nonetheless, he also could not bear to put up with a baby; he had never been able to stand the cries of young children, and Lyndotia wailed for her mother for weeks after Letaira's death.

So, he gave Lyndotia over to be cared for by Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, who had a young son of about the same age. And there she stayed, while Lord Voldemort began anew his quest for an heir.

As Lyndotia's mother had been no better than a Muggle to his eyes, Voldemort apparently did not find her to be a suitable heiress. So he again searched for a mother to his heir, this time making sure that she was a pureblood.

It was then that he found Tasha Umbra, a tall witch with black hair and almond-colored eyes. She, too, was put under the Imperius Curse; but this time it was lifted before her child was born. This was not by Voldemort's choice, but because two months after Tasha became pregnant, he met his downfall in little Harry Potter.

So Tasha Umbra awoke to find herself pregnant with Lord Voldemort's child, and caring for a nearly two-year-old girl. She knew the girl's story, because there had been short spaces of time while she was under the Imperius Curse when she was almost herself again, short spaces of time which she could now remember.

Tasha went to the first person she could think of who might be able to help: Albus Dumbledore. He was sympathetic, but there was not much that he could do, either. He advised that Tasha keep Lyndotia, and the baby, when it was born, away from the prying eyes of wizards and tell no one of their father's identity. The wizarding world was still shaken, he said, and they might try to harm the innocent because of the misdeeds of the father.

When Lyndotia was old enough to understand, Tasha told her all of this. She had said that Lyndotia was the only one who could decide who to tell this secret to, but Lyndotia had told no one, not even Reneey. She did not want her sister to have to bear the same burden. Now, however, Lyndotia was beginning to doubt her choice.

Would it make a difference, if she told Reneey what Voldemort had done? Would it make her stop joking -- or was she even joking? -- about all those horrible things? Lyndotia didn't know, but she couldn't bring herself to tell her sister now.

"You know, this place looks bigger and bigger every time we come."

Lyndotia looked up when her sister spoke, and realized that they were inside Gringotts. Somehow she had come all this way, lost in thought, without noticing where she was.

"Lynni?" Reneey asked slowly. "You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lyndotia answered, shaking her head. "Just thinking, is all." Reneey nodded, but she looked suspicious just the same.

Being inside Gringotts didn't help to clear Lyndotia's head. As they rode down to her vault -- it was hers, along with all that was in it, because it had belonged to her mother years before -- Lyndotia kept watching the mingled light and darkness swirl past. Elumo and Umbra -- Light and Shadow, she thought slowly. Just like me and Reneey. I wonder if she ever thinks of things like that? Nah, probably not; she can't stay serious for long enough.

Getting out of the bank and into the crowded streets of Diagon Alley made Lyndotia feel better. She laughed with Reneey at the hag wearing a balaclava who stood outside an apothecary and pointed out an old witch who was wearing a hat with a stuffed raven on top of it. At last, after picking up Lyndotia's cauldron, scales, potions ingredients, and books, there were only two things left: her robes and her wand.

Mrs. Umbra pointed out Ollivander's and Madam Malkin's and told Lyndotia to go get fitted for robes and buy a wand while she and Reneey went to get her a present. Lyndotia was perfectly fine with going alone, but Reneey didn't want to let her go until Mrs. Umbra whispered something in her ear; then she grinned and nodded.

Madam Malkin was a plump witch with a broad smile who made Lyndotia stand on a footstool so that she could pin the robes up to the proper length. There was another girl with a long blond braid standing next to Lyndotia with half finished robes. She looked about Lyndotia's age, and she smiled and asked, "Are you a first year, too?"

"Yes," Lyndotia answered, grinning back; it seemed that the girl's smile was contagious.

"I'm Hannah Abbott."

"I'm Lyndotia Elumo; it's nice to meet you," she said, remembering her manners.

"Nice to meet you, too." Hannah paused for a moment and then said in a rush, "Are you as excited about going to Hogwarts as I am?"

Lyndotia laughed. "I don't know exactly how excited you are, but I'm pretty excited, yes."

"I've been wanting to go for years and years, ever since my cousin Christopher went."

"I only have a younger sister; she's nine."

"I have another cousin who is nine."

"Do you have a lot of cousins or something?" Lyndotia asked with a grin.

"Well, mine is an old wizarding family," Hannah answered sheepishly, "so I'm related to almost everyone somehow. You're probably my fifth cousin or something if your family are magical."

"My mother was from America."

"Oh, really? That's interesting! I've never met anyone from America before."

"She's dead, though. She died when I was really small."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Hannah paused, obviously trying to think of something else to say. At last she settled on, "So, what House do you want to be in?"

"I don't know," Lyndotia said slowly. "Anything but Slytherin."

"Yeah, really," Hannah agreed, nodding her head. "I think I'll probably be in Hufflepuff, both of my parents were."

"Hard-working, just, and loyal," Lyndotia said with a smile. "Those are good traits to have."

Hannah positively beamed at that. "Oh, I'm glad you think so! You know, a lot of people say that Hufflepuffs are cowards and stupid and all sorts of terrible things."

Lyndotia grinned and said with a laugh in her voice, "Well, you must not be very much of a coward if you think that but you just said to someone you didn't know that you wanted to be in Hufflepuff."

"There you go, dear," Madam Malkin said, smiling at Lyndotia. "All done."

"Well, bye, then, Lyndotia," Hannah said with a smile.

"Bye, Hannah," Lyndotia answered; she was smiling, too. "See you at Hogwarts."

"Yes, see you at Hogwarts."

As she walked to Ollivander's, carrying her new uniform, Lyndotia thought about what had just been said. When asked what House she wanted to be in, she had said, "Anything but Slytherin." But was that really likely? After all, her father was Slytherin -- her father was descended from Slytherin. Did she really have a chance of being Sorted into any other House?

When Lyndotia open the door of Ollivander's, a bell tinkled faintly. She looked around for a shopkeeper, and suddenly an old man with very pale eyes was standing behind the counter, looking at her. He looked at her for a moment and then asked quietly, "What is your name, dear?"

"Lyndotia Elumo."

"Hm, Elumo.. I do not recognize that name."

"It's -- it's American, sir," Lyndotia stammered. It was unnerving, the way those misty eyes seemed to stare into her.

"Ah, I see," Mr. Ollivander said, nodding as if this explained a great mystery. Then he suddenly plucked a box off of a shelf and opened it, offering Lyndotia a rather short, dark wand. "Oak and unicorn hair, eight inches, pliable," he said softly. She picked it up and made to wave it, but Ollivander snatched it away. "No, not that one, then," he murmured as he selected another one.

"Holly and dragon heartstring, ten inches, rather bendy." However, this was apparently not the right wand, either, because Ollivander snatched it away, too. A dozen tries later, Lyndotia was getting discouraged, but Ollivander looked quite amused. Then finally:

"Willow and phoenix feather, eleven inches, swishy." When Lyndotia touched up this one, there was an instant warmth in the tips of her fingers; it spread from there to the rest of her body, and a thrill of anticipation seemed to build up inside her. Taking the wand, she gave it a gentle twirling wave, and red and gold sparks flew from the end of the wand, forming a glowing star that hovered in the air for a few seconds and then scattered with a soft pop.

"Very nice," Ollivander said with a smile, taking the wand and replacing it in its box. As he did so, there was a sudden sound of applause; Lyndotia turned to see Mrs. Umbra and Reneey standing in front of the window. Mrs. Umbra was holding a barn owl in a golden cage, and Reneey was waving two ice cream cones -- chocolate-and-caramel-with-almonds -- vigorously in the air. Both of them were clapping their free hand against their other arm, much to the barn owl's displeasure.

Lyndotia paid Mr. Ollivander seven Galleons for the wand and picked it up, along with her uniform. Just as she reached the door, it opened and Hannah came in. There was a short blond woman following her, who Lyndotia guessed was her mother.

"Ooh," Hannah said excitedly, looking at the box in Lyndotia's hand. "Did you --?"

"Willow and phoenix feather," Lyndotia said with a huge grin, brandishing the box with one hand. Hannah beamed and, as Lyndotia walked out of the shop, Hannah whispered just loud enough for her to hear: "Good luck!"