Chapter Two: Asphodel Returns

"You're weak. Alone. Easy prey for me and my wolf," a voice hissed. Purple smoke curled into shapes before Hope's eyes. Rose, sobbing as she bled onto a white marble floor. Al, struggling to fight a seventh year wizard. SS, being scorched by sparks and spells. A voice laughed. "Come to me, little snake, and I will assure you the safety of all you love. I promise."

"No!" Hope screamed and jerked awake. Moonlight fell on the wooden floor of her bedroom. All her blankets were thrown around the room and Hope was holding her wand tightly in her fist. She touched her face and felt salty tears. She put her hand on her heart to still the beating and touched crimson blood. A thin cut was on her chest, dripping tiny beads of blood onto her nightgown.

Hope stood up and went to the bathroom. The cut wasn't deep, just a scratch. She applied a healing paste and splashed some cold water on her face. Then she returned to her room. As she glanced out her window, she saw a pale figure run across the field. But when she blinked, it was gone.

Shivering with nerves, Hope climbed into her bed. But she didn't go back to sleep. She stared at the tan walls of her room for hours, waiting for the sun to rise.

In the morning, Valentina watched her daughter closely. The bags under her eyes had grown darker, her movements slower. Over the course of the last couple of weeks she had watched Hope fall into a sluggish state of existing. And Valentina had a theory of what was happening to her daughter.

"Hope," she began as Hope munched on a piece of toast, "I've come to a decision."

"About?" Hope prompted, not really paying attention.

"About you. And Hogwarts," her mother said and Hope jumped as if shocked.

"What about Hogwarts?" she demanded, her attention completely captured.

"I don't think you will be returning.

"Why?"

"You are clearly very ill and I think I know why," Valentina said. Hope gulped, suddenly fearful.

"What do you mean? I'm fine," she protested.

"You are clearly traumatized by the events of last year, specifically the fight in the tower. I think you are clearly a victim of PTSD and I will not allow you to return to Hogwarts when you look like Death is knocking on your door."

"But Hogwarts is my second home. I have to go back!" Fear flooded her veins at the thought of not being able to go to the place she loved most.

"You were attacked once and had to rescue your friend from crazy seventh years! It is completely absurd that you would want to return and I will not allow you to go back to that death trap they call a school!" Valentina yelled, finally letting all her worries and fears out.

"You're just looking for an excuse to keep me away from Hogwarts! You don't really care about me! You just want to keep me away from school!" Hope yelled back.

"That's not true!" Valentina protested. "I'm only doing what's best for you!"

"You can't do this! You can't stop me!" Hope yells back, fury flooding her veins.

"Yes I can! I am your mother and you will do as I say!" Valentina screamed.

"What if I don't?" Hope hissed, suddenly deadly still. She looked mad, her black hair un-brushed, her skin paler than normal, the bags under her eyes extremely pronounced, her dark eyes wide with rage. Valentina pushed her chair back, trying to distance herself from the crazy girl across the table who had replaced her daughter.

"Then I will make you stay here. I know much more magic than you and I can do it legally. You will do as I say or I will be forced to do something," Valentina replied quietly and walked to the front door. She grabbed her bag and looked at her daughter. "I'm going to town. Stay here. I've already hidden the Floo powder."

Valentina slammed the door behind her and Hope heard the pop of her disapparation. She closed her eyes in anger and a flash of purple crossed her lids. Hope jumped and the anger drained out of her, replaced with fear.

What did her dreams mean? She feared even closing her eyes, terrified she would hear the silky voice of Albany and see flashes of purple. Terrified that she would wake up and see her mother dead by her hand, a result of dream corruption.

Hope gulped and made a decision. Professor Venus and Professor Higglebottom had told her to write them if anything happened over the summer. And something was happening. She could feel it.

Hope sat at her desk and wrote two letters. One to the professors and one to her friends. They were at the European Quidditch Cup and would hopefully get the letter together. It was her most desperate move but she hoped that her friends could talk sense into her mother and help her figure out her dreams.

As Hope walked back into the kitchen she heard the front door creek open. Hope became very still and wished she hadn't left her wand back in her room because some feeling deep inside her told her that this was not her mother returned from her errands early.

The floor squeaked as the intruder crept closer. Hops silently stood up and backed up towards the window. If all else failed, she'd simply jump out and run. Run faster than she'd ever run before.

A tall lean figure walked into the kitchen. She had pale glowing skin and pale blue eyes framed by long lashes. Her robes were dark purple and atop her white blond hair sat a pair of Artic wolf ears. Her long wand was held out in front of her and her eyes were focused on Hope. Asphodel Valle. The most faithful of Albany's followers.

"Ah, and what have we here?" she whispered, a terrifying smile stretching across her lips. "The little snake all alone with no one to protect her." Hope tried to stand up tall but fear was coursing through her veins. Asphodel stepped closer. "All alone, forgotten, her little friends not close enough to save her."

"I don't need them to fight you!" Hope yelled, hoping to cover up her fear. Asphodel cackled.

"That is where you are wrong, little snake," she laughed and raised her wand.

Valentina walked briskly down the cobblestone streets of Diagon Alley, Hope's Hogwarts list in hand. As she dug through shelves of books, she did her best to blink back her tears. Her daughter was suffering and she didn't know why. There was a time when Hope would share everything with Valentina, from the big bug she had smashed to an interesting rock she had found in the garden.

But those days were gone. Hope was pulling away, only trusting a select group of people. She was so much like her father and that worried Valentina immensely. If something were to happen to her…

Just as Valentina slipped The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Two into her bag she felt something vibrate against her leg. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her thin white wand. It was buzzing and glowing a greenish color. Valentina gasped and clutched her wand tightly. This could only mean one thing. Hope was in trouble. Valentina diapparated on the spot, leaving her purchases behind.

"Are you going to kill me?" Hope demanded. Her back was toward the window and her fingers were fumbling for the latch behind her back.

"How I would love to kill you, but Albany requires you alive," Asphodel drawled and twirled her wand around. Hope's fingers found the latch.

"Touching. But I don't think I'll stick around," Hope replied and flipped the latch. Asphodel's brows knit together in anger.

"COLLOPORTUS!" she said and pointed her wand at the window Hope was standing against. It locked instantly and she couldn't get it open. "I think you will. I wonder if you remember this." Asphodel pulled out a small broken black stone from her pocket.

"The Resurrection Stone," Hope whispered and began moving to the next window. But Asphodel just waved her wand they all locked with a click. Even the door was locked. Hope was trapped.

"Yes. We still have it," Asphodel laughed and walked towards the young trapped girl. "And we intend to use it."

"I won't let you!" Hope yelled and acted on instinct. She ran forward and barreled into the tall blond. Asphodel cried out in surprise and Hope yanked the stone out of her hand. Next, she tried to grab her wand but Asphodel was prepared for that.

"EVERTE STATUM!" she yelled and Hope flew back, across the room, and hit the wall. Pain filled her limbs and she could feel blood dampening her hair. "INCARCEROUS!" Thick ropes pined Hope's arms to her sides and stopped her from moving. She groaned and rolled over like a dying fish. "Pathetic."

"You won't get away with this," Hope hissed. Asphodel leaned closer to her and pulled the stone out of her hand, slipping it back into her pocket.

"And who's going to stop me?" she wondered and smirked.

"STUPEFY!" a voice cried out and a beam of red light hit Asphodel. She fell to the ground next to Hope with a dull thud, her eyes closed. Valentina rushed into the kitchen and held her wand out. "DIFFINDO!" The ropes broke apart and fell off Hope. She sat up in wonderment.

"Mom?" she gasped. Valentina wrapped her arms around her daughter in a bone-crushing hug.

"Hope, are you okay?" she demanded.

"Yeah," Hope gasped. She pulled out of the hug and looked into her mother's deep blue eyes. "Thanks. How'd you know…?"

"The house has enchantments on it. My wand buzzes and glows when an intruder steps on the grounds," Valentina explained. "Why did she attack you? Who is she?"

"Uh…," Hope started. If she told her mother the truth, she may never let her go back to Hogwarts. But didn't she deserve the truth? Or was ignorance bliss? "I don't know."

"You're lying, Hope," Valentina responded, jaw clenching with anger. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing!" she protested.

"Why won't you tell me the truth?" Valentina yelled, tears filling her eyes. "Why don't you trust me anymore?"

"I do!" Hope yelled back, wishing her mother could understand. She was doing this right. This way her mother wouldn't worry about her as much.

"Hope, please, don't shut me out! I don't want you to end up like your father!" Valentina cried, head in hands. Hope paused, taking this information in. She always assumed her father was a good man, not someone to be ashamed of. Her mother said she was like him all the time.

"What happened to my father? What did he do?" Hope asked slowly, hoping her mother would take it back. Valentina looked up quickly, realizing what she had said.

"Nothing, nothing, he didn't do anything," she rambled and looked out the window.

"You're lying," Hope gasped, hurt, "to me!"

"You're lying to me," Valentina bit back. Anger flared in Hope's chest and she stared at the floor. So this was how it was going to be. Trading secrets for secrets.

"Her name is Asphodel," Hope began, staring at her attacker's unconscious body. "She was the Head Girl of Ravenclaw last year. She was the most faithful servant of Albany."

"The ghost who was corrupting the seventh years' dreams?" Valentina asked. Hope nodded. "But why did she attack you? What does she want?

"She wants to trade my life for Albany's with the Resurrection Stone," Hope explained cringing slightly. Her mother was going to flip.

"There's no such thing as a Resurrection Stone," Valentina said angrily, clearly thinking her daughter was lying again.

"But there is. Harry Potter got it from Dumbledore. He left it in the Forbidden Forest and Albany's followers found it. They were going to use it to bring Albany back to life by trading Rose's life for hers," Hope protested.

"But it didn't work. Because you and your friends got there before they could free the ghost," Valentina continued. Swallowing hard, Hope nodded.

"Right. But I think Asphodel is trying to find us to trade our life for hers."

"But why you…?" Valentina drifted off as if she had just realized something.

"You said something about my father. That you didn't want me to end up like him. Why?" Hope demanded, not noticing her mother's vacant stare of realization. Valentina snapped back and frowned slightly, stretching her wrinkles.

"He, well, he made some bad decisions," she began.

"Like what? You always say I'm just like him," Hope cut in.

"You are," Valentina assured her.

"So what happened to him?"

"He shut people out. He lost sight of what was important," Valentina whispered, tears falling from her blue eyes. "He thought he was right. He did some bad things, Hope. I don't want you to follow in his footsteps."

"I don't understand."

"He…was a Death Eater. He evaded capture, and then tried to fight the ministry. He was killed," Valentina sobbed.

"What?" Hope gasped, fear and denial flooding her veins. "No, you're lying."

"It's the truth. He was killed because he didn't know when to stop. But I hope you will be different. I hope something stops you from being like him."

"I…I," Hope stuttered.

"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. I was trying to protect you!" Valentina insisted. Hope looked around, trying to make sense of her whirling thoughts. Was ignorance really bliss? Wasn't she doing the same thing to her mother had done to her by denying the return of Albany?

"I understand," Hope finally answered. Relief flooded Valentina's face and the two embraced.

The floor suddenly creaked and both mother and daughter turned to see Asphodel jump off the ground, angrier than ever.

"Hope," Valentina whispered. "Run."

"How touching. Mummy wants to save her little waif," Asphodel cackled, wand raised high. "But you're forgetting that you're both trapped."

"Not for long," Valentina murmured and grabbed her daughter's arm. Then, spinning on the spot, she disapparated.