Disclaimer: Do I honestly need to put this up? Siriusly…though. If I really did write Harry Potter I wouldn't be writing fanfics. Mhm. Onto the story then? Good. :D

Recap: "Yes. Well. Seeing how these two are inseparable, I shall be escorting them both to a safe house. Good day." She left no room for argument as she grabbed Hermione's arm and led her out of the horrid place that was called an orphanage. Once out of view of prying eyes, McGonagall turned on the spot, Apparating the two girls and herself to the spot outside of the Shrieking Shack.

"Now Miss. Granger…"

Riley visibly tensed then grimaced, Ari already voicing what Riley was thinking. "She's not Hermione Granger anymore, Mrs…" She paused and tilted her head at Riley who was looking at her sternly. "Oh fine. Professor McGonagall. Her name is Riley Imogen Turnwald and she's not very happy….oh, that was meant for me." Ari grinned sheepishly and muttered a quite 'sorry'. Riley smiled slightly and nodded. "Oh, she's curious as to where we'll be staying? And she's quite hoping that it's not that place." Ari grimaced as she pointed to the Shrieking Shack. McGonagall shook her head and started walking towards Hogsmeade.

"You'll be staying at Hogwarts, for now. But I wasn't really planning on having to house two students over the summer." She eyed Ari out of the corner of her eye. "Does the child know about magic already? That's quite peculiar if she does." Ari grinned brightly and nodded.

"Of course I know. I wouldn't be able to know what Riley was thinking if I didn't know about magic." The stunned expression on both McGonagall and Riley's face caused Ari to shrink back into Riley. "I'm sorry. I wasn't supposed to say anything about that. He's going to be mad, isn't he?" McGonagall looked at the child strangely as Riley held Ari tighter and shook her head.

"Who's 'he'?" McGonagall questioned curiously. Ari just buried her face into Riley's shoulder and Riley just gave an apologetic smile.

"Riley said maybe some other time." Ari's small voice sounded a bit muffled from the fabric of Riley's shirt. McGonagall nodded stiffly and looked at Riley.

"Why don't you speak anymore Miss. Gra-Turnwald? And, if I may ask, why the name change?" Riley glared at McGonagall openly, not particularly caring that she was glaring at a professor. After complete silence from both Riley and Ari, McGonagall huffed and tapped the locks on the gate to Hogwarts. "I should inform you now, Miss. Turnwald. You're to be Head Girl, so that should make living arrangements better for you and…." She eyed Ari out of the corner of her eye. "the child. I have Headmistress duties to take care of, so Sir Nicholas will show you to your dorm." With that, McGonagall nodded sharply and stalked off towards her office. Riley rolled her eyes and grinned at Sir Nicholas.

"Pleasure to see you again, Sir Nicholas." Ari's small voice spoke up, sounding nervous. She turned her head away from the ghost and hugged Riley tighter. Sir Nicholas looked confused at Ari then slowly turned his gaze towards Riley.

"Do I know her?" Riley grinned and shook her head. "Then how did…" Riley cleared her throat and nudged Ari.

"I speak for Riley since she doesn't speak anymore." Ari's head was still turned away, but it was heard clear as a bell in the empty corridor. Sir Nicholas looked taken aback.

"Surely that's not true, Miss. Granger." Riley winced and mentally told Ari not to worry about correcting him while nodding to Sir Nicholas. Looking sadly at him, Riley placed Ari on the ground only holding the child's hand. "Right, sorry to hear about that dear." Riley nodded sadly. "How about I show you your room then?" Riley nodded and followed Sir Nicholas towards the Gryffindor tower where, instead of stopping at the Fat Lady's portrait, they walked to the end of the hall to the right where a great tapestry hung. "Right. Here you are. Now, all you have to do is set the password and place your palm on the lioness." He smiled warmly towards the two girls. "I'll be taking my leave now, Bloody Baron and the others are having a poker night…whatever that is." His eyes shone brightly as he floated through the wall, leaving a waving Riley and Ari behind.

"I like him. He's funny." Ari chirped as she placed her palm on the lioness. "Charlatan." The tapestry shone red the disappeared, allowing admittance to the common room of the Head Girl's quarters. Riley picked Ari up and walked into the room, noticing that as soon as they entered the room the tapestry reappeared closely followed by the stone wall and then a door with a lioness knocker. "Wow." Came Ari's voice as she struggled to get out of Riley's arms.

Cautiously, Riley set Ari down before turning to another door that held a golden plaque. Stepping up to the door, Riley read the inscription. 'Gryffindor Common Room.' She blinked, was there a door in the common room to the Head's dorm? Shrugging her shoulders she turned and looked around the room. Plush cream colored carpet covered the floor, upon which sat light brown suede furniture. A couch in front of the fire place, a sofa to its right, two chairs to its left. Above the fireplace a portrait of a woman and a man smiled at Riley. On the opposite side of the room, several bookcases stood on either side of the large picture window, which gave a perfect view of the Black Lake, the grounds, and the Quidditch pitch. Right in front of the window sat a desk, which seemed ready for multiple nights of late night studying. To the right of the window a wrought iron spiral staircase led up to another level.

Biting her bottom lip, Riley made her way to the stairs. This was too much for just her and Ari. This was practically a house. Shaking her head, she climbed the steps while running her hand over the cool metal of the railing. Once at the top of the steps, Riley was faced with six doors. Shrugging, she went for the closest door, which had yet another golden plaque on it that read 'Kitchenette'. Opening the door revealed a decent sized kitchen done in bright colors, and it contained a stove, a refrigerator, a sink, a pantry, everything. Sighing, Riley left the kitchen, unable to think about what the other rooms held.

The second door's plaque read 'Ariana's Room'. Smiling to herself, Riley opened the door and let out a gasp. The room was beautiful. Light blue carpet, white walls with murals of the ocean, and paintings of moving mermaids. It was peaceful, something that Ari definitely needed. Ari looked up wide eyed from the book she was reading. "It's perfect, Riley. Can I stay here forever?" Riley smiled.

'No, but when we leave Hogwarts I'll paint your room so it looks exactly like this at our new house, okay?' Riley thought, knowing that Ari would hear her.

"I get to live with you forever?" Ari squeaked. Riley nodded, looking quite amused. Jumping up from her spot on the floor, she ran to Riley and threw her arms around Riley's legs. "Oh thank you thank you thank you! Does that mean you'd be my mummy?" Ari looked up at Riley with wide innocent eyes that seemed to hold the knowledge of this situation already.

'I guess if you really wanted to, you could call me your mother. But after Tuesday I'll have to adopt you no matter what, just to make sure I don't lose you. Okay?' Riley smiled sadly down at Ari; this girl had become the reason to stay alive in the matter of minutes. Since the time Riley had found the girl crying in a dark corner about him. Ari nodded then smiled suddenly.

"Your birthday is in two days." Riley smiled a small smile and nodded. This would be her first birthday without her parents. "I'm going to throw a party for you. It's going to be HUGE! I'll ask the professors to help me…" Ari trailed off and ran to the desk in her room and started writing hurriedly, like she had to write down everything before she forgot it. Chuckling, Riley made her way out of Ari's room and to the third door.

Opening the door, Riley was met with a gorgeous bathroom. On the left and right side stood two doors, which Riley could only assume led to the bedrooms. Gold tile covered the floors with plush white rugs in front of the sinks. The sinks were white marble with gold flecks, the faucets were gold, and the shower head was gold. The tub was a large spa tub, done in the same style as the sinks. Blinking, Riley tried to take it all in. This bathroom was fit for a goddess. After she took in every detail she exited the bathroom and then entered her room. What she found amazed her.

Thick white carpet lay at her feet. Another large picture window that faced the Forbidden Forest sat with the black drapes pulled open. The walls a fabulous red, except for the wall directly in front of her desk, which was black but held an outline of a muggle street light with a sketched white circle surrounding the top, the red light seemed to glow like a beacon in the darkness. Above the streetlight in the white circle, three words were written in black; 'People Always Leave'. Oh how true that was. Sighing, Riley turned and looked at her bed which brought a smile to her face. It was a large, comfy looking bed donning black pillows and a white comforter with large black flowers and red centers. Red bed hangings sat open, allowing the sun to warm the bed. The room was perfect for her; the dark colors were soothing and reflected the way she felt inside. This was definitely a place that she didn't want to leave.

Just as Riley sat on the bed, a school owl tapped on the large window asking for admittance. Pulling herself off the comfy bed, she made her way to the window to let the owl in. Once the owl entered it stuck out its leg to reveal a small scroll attached with a red ribbon. Sighing, Riley untied the scroll and opened it while watching the owl fly back out the window. Turning her attention back to the scroll, Riley rolled her eyes when she recognized the hand writing.

Ms. Turnwald,

I and the rest of the staff that is here wish to see you at dinner in the Great Hall. I'm sure you wanted to test out your kitchenette, but it is after all your first day here. Dinner is in an hour. Can't wait to see you and Ariana.

Professor McGonagall

Riley shook her head and tossed the letter into the waste bin then left her room. She still one room left to check out. The door to the last room held no plaque. Which only made Riley that much more curious about what was held inside the room. Before she could open the door, Ari appeared at her side smiling brightly at the door. Continuing to open the door, a small gasp was heard from Ari, but still no sound from Riley. There before them stood a training room of sorts. Dark cherry wood floors, a dueling platform, mats, swords and Katanas, daggers, sai, and many other weapons littered the walls and tables placed around the room. 'It's like they're trying to tell me something.' Riley rolled her eyes but had to smile when she saw Ari run and do several flips across the mats. 'Show off.' Riley stuck her tongue out and left the training room and entered her bedroom.

Having the sudden urge to take a bath, she grabbed a pair of dark jeans, a red t-shirt, and a black zip-up hoodie. 'Ari, I'm going to take a bath!' Hoping against hope that Ari had heard her, and just as she entered the bathroom Ari's reply came.

"Fine! But don't forget that dinner is in 45 minutes!" Riley couldn't help but smile, that girl always seemed to know too much. Quickly turning the taps to the tub on, she pulled her hair out of the ponytail that it was in then ran her fingers through her messy curls. They had calmed down over the summer, so they were now silky smooth curls instead of that bush she used to call hair. Sighing, she turned the taps to the tub off and quickly stripped down before jumping into the tub. While in the tub, she let her mind wander to the fateful night her parents died.

Hermione sat talking with her parents in the living room, all enjoying a cup of tea. All was calm and cheerful, well…at least it was at the particular moment. It seemed like it had all happened in a flash. A dark cloaked figure entered the Granger's house holding a wooden stick in front of their person. That's when it happened. A red light shot from the stick and struck her father, causing him to crumple to the ground, convulsing in pain. Mrs. Granger screamed and threw herself at the cloaked figure while Hermione drew her wand. But she had been too slow. A green light shot from the hooded figure's wand, thus sending a lifeless Mrs. Granger's body to the coffee table which collapsed under the sudden impact. Hermione heard herself screaming, begging the figure to stop. But the figure never paid her any attention, other than the second it took to send a Crucio at the girl. Hermione collapsed like her father had, twitching and convulsing, screaming and begging to make the pain stop. She felt her wand slip from her grasp and a white hot fire poke at her again. When the curse was lifted, she struggled to her feet only to see the figure send a green light to her father's convulsing form which stopped at the impact of the light. The tears were falling shamelessly down her cheeks as she pushed herself to her feet, fighting off the pain of the Crucio as it was sent to her again and again. That's when it happened. A heart wrenching scream escaped Hermione, causing the house to shake. Wandless and shaking, Hermione stepped towards the cloaked figure and moved her hand to the side in a sharp and jerky movement, sending the figure crashing into the door. "You killed my parents! My only family!" Another jerky hand movement sent the figure crashing onto the steps. "I want to see you suffer! I will take pleasure from the pain I cause you!" A hysterical and slightly manic laugh sounded through the deadly silent house. Hermione pointed a finger at the figure and twitched her finger down, causing the figure's hood to reveal Cho Chang. Stepping back from her, Hermione shook her head. "No. You're…you're a nice girl! You can't be a killer!" Cho only chuckled in reply, only angering Hermione further. She raised her hand like she was going to slap Cho and lowered it in one quick fluid motion. Causing Cho's head to crash hard onto the steps. Hermione held her hand in front of her, slowly wiggling her fingers, causing a pained gasped to emit from Cho. No words seemed to come from Hermione as she tortured Cho like she had tortured the Grangers. With the sudden rage, unbeknownst to Hermione, her eyes flare orange with a yellow ring, and suddenly the area around Cho was engulfed in flames. But that's not what had disturbed Hermione to the point of no return, no. It was what had happened next. The image that seemed burned itself into Hermione's memory. The image of Cho's body slowly start to dismember itself, then the image of Cho's body start to burn…alive. And all she did was stand there and watch. Watching as she murdered her parents murderer. Then something snapped in her mind, causing her to lose control of the fire, which spread like wildfire. Grabbing her lifeless parents, she left her house with only the clothes on her back and her wand that she had picked up from the ground.

"RILEY!" A small pair of hands were on her shoulders, shaking her frantically. Then a horrid scream met her ears and soon realized that it was herself who was screaming. Quickly shutting her mouth, the screaming cut off and was replaced by whimpering. Riley was shaking something terrible, unable to get that horrid image out of her mind. Her trembling hands reached for her eyes and she made to gouge them out but Ariana stopped her. "Riley where's your potion!" Riley shook her head and continued to try to rub her eyes, she had to make the image go away. But it wouldn't leave, it would never leave. It would always haunt her no matter if she were awake or asleep. It would burn itself into everything she did.

Finally able to break free from Ari's grip she started rubbing frantically at her eyes, trying desperately to make the images go away. While Riley was rubbing her eyes, Ari ran from the bathroom and into Riley's bedroom. Not knowing where to look, Ari made a swooping gesture in mid-air to summon the potion vial, which immediately zoomed out of the rucksack that was draped over the back of the desk chair. Running back into the bathroom, she found Riley still rubbing her eyes.

Ari tried her hardest to get Riley to swallow the potion, but she wouldn't cooperate. Sighing, Ari placed the now empty potion vial on the counter of the sink, the contents now emptied into the tub. Waving her hand several times, she levitated Riley out of the tub, dried her off, and put her clothes on magically. After she was finished, she escorted Riley down to the living room to set her on the couch in front of the now blazing fire place. Ari made sure Riley wouldn't go anywhere then ran out of the dorm, heading towards the direction of the Great Hall.

Upon entering, every pair of eyes were on her. Which only added up to be Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, and a teenager who were all sitting at one table. "Riley! She's having an attack and I can't get her to take her calming draught and she keeps rubbing and scratching at her eyes and she keeps whimpering!" Ariana was hysterical right now, no longer was she acting like a mature young woman like she normally did, but was for once acting her age. Tears streaked her face as she trembled on the spot. The Professors were still in shock at the outburst of the little girl and had yet to move, but the teenage boy stood hurriedly and followed the hysterical Ariana out of the hall.

Back in the dorm

Riley sat shaking on the couch, still rubbing at her eyes. Every now and then she would let out an agonized scream.

"Stop…please stop…" That night her parents died, she had vowed that she wouldn't utter a single word again because the last words she had said were so utterly maniacal. But she had broken that vow and was not quietly pleading for the pain to stop. "JUST STOP! PLEASE!" Riley collapsed sideways onto the couch and started to convulse, just like the night her parents had died. Like someone was torturing her again with the Cruciatus. She was so engulfed in pain that she didn't hear the door open or the multiple sets of footsteps come rushing towards her. Nor did she hear Ari scream for her before total darkness engulfed her.

AN:: I hope you liked this chapter; it's definitely one of my longer chapters. Review please?

Oh and if anyone wants to be a beta or a 'get your ass in gear and write'er, message me, yeah? xD Alright. Now I need to write the next chapter for my Adoria story.

Peace.

xoxo

Eden