a/n
Disclaimer: All characters and themes that appear in the Harry Potter franchise are owned by J. K. Rowling.


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A Kassing and a Prisoner

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Chapter 1: Assignments

This was supposed to be the most fulfilling day of her life. Ever since Zaria Stone was a small girl, walking through the Great Hall and sitting in front of the entire school of Hogwarts to be the newest member of the Gryffindor family, she wanted to become an auror. She had never had any doubts and worked diligently in all of her classes. Her confidence in her career grew when she realized she had a knack for Defense Against the Dark Arts, particularly protective spells.

With this knowledge it did not surprise her that during her NEWT, the examiner asked her to step to the side after completing the test. He did so to closely examine her strongest spell, expecto patronum. Her patronus was nothing special compared to many whose had taken the form of dazzling and exotic creatures; hers was simply a shaggy dog. Despite this, she could think of nothing else that would suit her better, because a similar dog had been present at a turning point in her life.

One night the summer she turned eleven, the summer before her first term at Hogwarts, she was awoken from her slumber by a loud crack in the middle of her street. She ran into the living room to find both of her parents sobbing in each other's arms.

"Mom? Dad? What's wrong? What happened?" she asked innocently, confused at their grief.

Her mom opened her mouth to answer when a neighbor came flying through their back door.

"Kelle, he's outside. He let this happen to the Potter's and he is standing right outside our houses!" the neighbor almost wailed.

With set determination on her face Kelle Stone walked straight out of the house to view the commotion that had woken Zaria, followed by her husband and daughter.

There were two men standing in the street, wands at their sides, but it was obvious there was heat in the words that were exchanged between them. One man was tall, slim, and had thin, curly hair that veiled his face. His jaw was set, extenuating his strong facial features including his brown eyes. He was the first to raise his voice.

"You betrayed them!" the tall man shouted. "They trusted you and you betrayed them! And now they are dead!"

He was directing his hatred toward a short, plump man that had rat like features. They seemed to be the same age, but the latter man was paler and looked much less healthy than the first. He had straight blonde hair and his hearty cheeks distorted the bones in his face. Spit flew from between his buckteeth whenever he countered the tall man's statements.

"Ah, but Sirius," the small man said, "they did not trust you, which is why they trusted me. How can you live with that?"

They both raised their wands, and the air was illuminated with a sick color of green. Zaria had to shield her eyes because the green seemed as if it could be powerful enough to take life away. Once the hue had subsided the short man was gone. Leaving the tall one, Sirius, with nothing but the look of bewilderment on his face. The look magnified once he noticed the stares of the onlookers were all focused on him. He ran, and you could faintly hear the loud crack of someone apparating in the distance.

Immediately her parents covered Zaria's eyes and lead her back inside, back to safety, hoping that their child remained unscathed after witnessing such a traumatizing event. However, before Zaria's eyes were blinded by the gentle caress of her mother's hand, she saw a black shaggy dog in the bushes, looking onto the scene with an almost human look of interest and sadness. It was then that she realized that she wanted to protect people from incidents like the one she just witnessed, it was then that she confirmed that she wanted to be an auror, and it was then that the dog reminded her that one can always find safety in others.

These thoughts came to her every time she conjured her faithful ghost of that shaggy dog. It was also playing through her mind when her eyes met the NEWT examiner's, which were fixed with a questioning look.

"I'm sorry," Zaria said, "did you ask me something?"

"Yes, Ms. Stone, I asked if you were going into the field of Defense Against the Dark Arts once you graduate from Hogwarts," he said, flitting through the papers in his hands as he was talking. "Ah, here it is, your application into the Auror Academy. This would be a very nice suit for you, I believe."

"May I ask why you say that, sir?" she questioned.

"My dear, isn't it obvious? You have the most powerful patronus I have seen in years. It may even rival Professor Dumbledore's," he said, with a smile.

"He is an excellent teacher, and I can only hope that my patronus is half as strong as his," Zaria replied.

"And humility gets added to your list of strengths, I can see you going far with your career Ms. Stone, very far indeed," he praised, causing blood to rush to Zaria's face.

"So I take it that I passed?" she said, almost in a singsong sort of way.

"With flying phoenix feathers," he said, turning on his heel to allow her to be alone with her thoughts.

It was all coming true, finally. Her dream was one step closer to becoming a reality.

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Once Zaria had gotten to the Auror Academy, she had been received with open arms. She befriended a girl named Nymphadora Tonks on their first day at the Academy and had been close ever since. Tonks had assisted her with their concealment classes and Zaria was Tonks's go to sparring partner. Today was the day that they would graduate and get their assignments.

"I am so excited, I could roll up into a ball and die!" Tonks exclaimed, turning her skin a sickly pale color, and graying out the irises of her eyes.

"You act like your seventeen all over again, graduating from school," Zaria laughed, enjoying Tonk's playfulness.

"But it's my dream to live and fight against Voldemort. Can you imagine? Working for the Ministry, joining the ranks of Kingsley Shacklebolt? Cutting down Death Eaters? What a fulfilling lifestyle to lead!" she exclaimed.

Zaria shared in her excitement, but she was nervous about her job assignment. It would be the ultimate disappointment for her not to receive a position she strived her entire life to achieve.

"What if we don't join his ranks Tonks? What if we get a desk job or something, or are asked to work in the delves of the Ministry?" she worried aloud.

"Zee, you can't be serious here," her friend said, eyeing her with a particular brand of sarcasm known exclusively to the easily disguisable girl. "With that super powerful patronus of yours, you have to be placed in a position of protection. The aurors would lose a powerful witch if they stuck you behind a desk."

The compliment abated her worried feelings, as was her friend's uncanny ability to have such an effect on anyone she was around, but the ghost of the discomfort lingered in the back of her mind like a parasite.

As they walked up the stone pathway to the entrance of their academy, she regarded the students that would be graduating with her, all as excited as Tonks was but some with the same shadow of doubt that she felt. She hoped that all of their training would be put to at least some good use.

The students gathered in an enormous, semi-circular hall with a small stage at the front and space enough for their guests to conjure whichever seat they would most prefer to view their graduation ceremony. The walls of the hall were a cream drywall, intermittent with mahogany boards spaced about six feet apart. The floor was covered in evergreen carpeting, and now it was filled with graduates changing into the ceremonial crimson robes of aurors to be.

Auror graduations had been the same ever since the academy was first founded. The graduates would line up according to their rank in the class, lowest to highest. The headmaster would then conjure an item that he thought would be fitting of their new career, hand their wand to a wandsman to brand and alter to suit an auror, then they would be told their new position. It was exciting for everyone, including the guests, for they came not only to see where their loved one would be placed, but what amazing jobs would be given to the aurors in training they had been hearing about.

"Are your parents coming, Tonks?" Zaria asked, half to abate her nerves, half because of genuine interest.

"Like they would miss this," Tonks said, eyes rolling. "They've waited for this moment as long as I have."

As if on cue, the Tonks's walked in, smothering their daughter with affections.

"Mom… Mom. Mom! Mo- please stop that," Tonks said with playful pushes. "I'm twenty-two and you're treating me like it's my first trip to Platform 9¾."

"Hello Mr. Tonks, nice to see you again," Zaria said, while Mrs. Tonks was busying herself trying to convince her daughter to not wear electric hair to her auror graduation.

"You too, dear," he said kindly. "Have your parents arrived?"

"Only my mother is coming," Zaria explained. "Muggles are not allowed on the premises, but my dad gave her a camcorder so he could pretend to have been there."

"I can't believe a camcorder is going to be at the Auror Academy. If Arthur were here, he would flip," Mr. Tonks said, laughing.

Zaria spotted her mother walking in, and so did Tonks.

"You look so much like her, Zee, it's ridiculous," Tonks said, almost admiringly.

It was the truth. Zaria had her pale skin and her long hair, dark to the point where brown almost becomes black, and her sparkling crystal blue eyes. Their thin noses came to a dull point the same way, and what should have been considered high cheekbones on some gave their faces the shape that they desperately needed. She was much taller and thinner than her mother, however, and that could be attributed to her lanky father.

She turned to her side to see that Tonks had become almost a mirror image of herself.

"Stop it," Zaria laughed. "My eyes are not that round and my cheeks are not that rosy."

Tonks reverted back to her normal fuchsia hair color and mousy features, almost with a look of hurt on her face.

"One day you are going to admit that you are stunning, and that will be the day when you finally accept the graces of a wizard," Tonks said, her voice teasing, her eyes serious.

"Can we please not discuss this here? Today?" Zaria asked in a strained tone, turning to hail down her mother.

Unfortunately, right as her mother rushed to meet her, the graduates were asked to come to the back of the stage.

"I'll see you afterward," Zaria silently mouthed to her mother before following Tonks and the others to their appropriate place.

The nervous energy rose to an uncomfortably high level as she passed from the front of the stage to the back. The graduates were loud and talking about anything they could so that they could be quiet enough to remain patient through the ceremony. It was going to be a long hour for everyone.

"Zaria, I was only trying to cheer you up. Your negative energy is making me feel rotten," her friend said.

"I know Tonks, but it's always the same, and I get it from my mother enough without having to be getting it from you," Zaria explained.

"I'll drop it, for today, but it's going to happen for you soon, and I want to be there to relish in it," she said, giving the biggest smile she could muster, which literally stretched from ear to ear.

Zaria stuck her tongue out at her, like Tonks had done to her waiting in line to enter the academy for the very first time. Tonks smiled and settled into her seat, patiently waiting for the headmaster to enter.

As he opened the doors to the hall, a silence fell over the witches and wizards gathered inside. It even stifled the nervous whisperings of the crimson clad aurors to be. He walked with a firm grace, strong but unyieldingly elegant. His eyes were thunderstorm grey and his hair was long, thick, and jet-black, his bangs almost covering his eyes. He was tall and a slim waist was situated under very broad shoulders. He was only eight years older than the graduates, but he had wisdom beyond his years, wisdom he had earned the night he received the thin wisp of a scar that spread from the left corner of his mouth to the opposite temple. Taking his place at the back of the podium, he turned to address the gathered crowd.

"An auror's graduation does not mark the end of their training, their learning, or their experience. It marks the beginning of a new life, a life of service and protection in which they will learn more in one year out there than the five they spent at the academy. This class has been one of the few to pass through my school that will leave it better than when they came. They have changed the way in which we teach, their fellow students, and their loving faculty," the headmaster said, gesturing to the graduates, earning them a round of applause.

"We all know why we are here then, to support them, because without the support of the people who love them, an auror could never face the trials that await them beyond these walls," he continued. Zaria's mom caught her eye at this moment and nodded, shaking her camcorder in the process.

"Therefore, without further ado, let us commence the ceremonial process of becoming an auror," the headmaster finished.

At this point, a door behind the stage opened and everyone rose to greet the man that each of them had shared a moment with when they first began magic. Mr. Olivander walked onto the stage with a bit of difficulty considering his age, and accepted the respectful silence he was given with a small nod and a smile. He took his place to the right of the headmaster and gestured for him to begin.

All of the graduates stood, Zaria filed behind Tonks at the end of the line, considering their excellent exit exam scores.

Tonks turned to whisper, "It all comes down to this doesn't it?" smiling like it would kill her if she couldn't.

Zaria gave a huge sigh of exasperation. "Yes, yes I do believe it does."

As she was answering, the first graduate was conjured a brass paperweight by the headmaster. This meant a desk job.

"They only give desk jobs to the front of the line," Tonks sang under her breath, making her hair color even more vibrant than before.

She was mostly right, but Zaria had a feeling that this would be the last time that she would ever see her friend like this. There was something that told her that they were not going to get assigned together.

Student after student graduated this way, all receiving items, all having there wands branded, all being told how they were going to assist the magical community, that was, until it was Tonks's turn.

"Nymphadora Tonks," the headmaster said, smiling with a calculated smile. "For you, one of my star pupils, I conjure a fear glass. It acts as a boggart would, showing you your true fears, for you are going to have to face them all being a protection auror for the Ministry of Magic!"

The crowd erupted, a new protection auror, the job everyone strived to get was just given for the first time in three years, and it was to Zaria's confidant. Tonks squealed, hugged the headmaster, and ran off stage before Mr. Olivander could brand her wand. She was called back on stage, to her embarrassment, and remained still until the branding was over. Looking up, she caught Zaria's eye and rolled her eyes with excitement.

"Thank you Ms. Tonks," the headmaster said, smiling, and turning to face the lineup of graduates once again. He gestured for Zaria to come forward.

"Zaria Stone, top of your graduating class. For all of you who do not know, Ms. Stone has one of the strongest patronuses to have ever passed through these halls," he complimented, to a quiet applause.

"For you, I conjure this," he said, holding out his hand. It was a picture, a picture of her when she was eleven, the day she got her acceptance letter into Hogwarts, the day she found out she was a witch… The happiest day of her life.

Zaria's heart dropped, she knew what this meant.

"This photo captures your happiest time, you strongest memory, for we are going to put your skills to good use, for you will become a kassing!" he said, turning to the crowd.

Not a soul in the room applauded. Zaria looked to her mom to see her eyes filling with tears as she slowly dropped the camcorder to her side. One spilled over as she tried to force a smile.

Zaria's heart was broken, her life was over, she had been chosen to be a kassing, a warden for the dementors who guarded the wizarding prison, Azkaban.

Her life was over before it even begun.

"Your wand please, Ms. Stone," Mr. Olivander said, and she handed it over reluctantly, looking to Tonks to find her eyes were streaked with tears, same as her mother's.

Minutes seemed to turn into hours as Zaria's brain began to move again, began to make sense of what she had been told. She scanned the crowd, allowing the sadness in everyone's eyes to enter her heart as she slowly turned back to the headmaster.

"Now, because this is such an important and strenuous job, we must ask you to leave at once for Azkaban to start your training," the headmaster reported.

"Now?" she pleaded, receiving her wand back. "But I haven't said goodbye…"

"There is no time Ms. Stone," he said. "I'm sorry."

As he ended his speech two other kassings entered the door to accompany her.

"Mom! Tonks! Help!" she struggled as the kassings approached her. "I- wha-… NO! STOP!"

"It would be easier if you complied, Ms. Stone," he said, sadness in his eyes. "This is the way it has to be."

Zaria turned to face her loved ones wildly, as the kassings took her arms.

"Mom, Tonks, I lov—," she began to say, but the loud crack of apparating cut off the rest of her sentence.

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a/n

Thank you for reading. This is my first fanfic and I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it. Please read and review! I would love to hear your thoughts on the plot/how the story was set up, etc.

-Katilady