Someday, I will own something of great importance. This will not be Harry Potter, as J K Rowling already owns it.

Ashley

Ryua kindly waited until her friends had eaten a full breakfast and were heading back upstairs before filling them in on what had been discovered that day. She decided that she was going to be thoroughly on their side now, nothing hidden, nothing secret… so she was going to start with her conversation with Dumbledore.

They accepted the confirmation of her dream quite airily, actually. What irritated her was how much they kept going back to her mother… "So, Voldemort came to your house last Christmas?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ron's shudder.

"Yes." Ryua said tersely.

"Blimey. If that's what all your holidays are like, I don't blame you for running out this summer…" Ron said.

Harry elbowed him "And, so Voldemort killed your mother… you weren't very specific before…"

"And I won't be now. That's a nightmare none of you deserve in your heads." Ryua said flatly.

Harry nodded, accepting that. He knew what sort of things you told your friends, and what you kept to yourself. Hermione and Ron looked vaguely curious, but were nice enough not to pry. "Where did you go after? You said you'd run, and weren't followed…"

Ryua sighed, starting to regret her decision to come clean with them. "Draco and I stayed in the Leaky Cauldron. We were going to go the Snape Manor… but decided that would be pretty damn stupid…"

"Yeah…"

"So, anything else you are desperately aching to know about my rotten holidays?"

Ron looked up from his lap, where he was trying to untangle a shoelace. "What happened this summer then? You just showed up covered in blood…"

Closing her eyes so they couldn't see her roll them, Ryua steeled herself to explain it. "Draco and I were having a pretty decent summer, actually. We were out playing quidditch one day, and Toppy… that's a house elf… came screaming out to us. The Death Eaters had broken out of Azkaban, and they were looking for a quick, easy way to relieve some tension. This led them to us, of course. We were just leaving, Draco was higher than me, we'd decided to split up anyway, when Lucius came out. He…" she swallowed a surprisingly painful lump before continuing. "he had my snake… he killed her to get my attention…"

Harry looked absolutely horrified. "I liked that snake!" It seemed to shock him more than hearing about Narcissa… although being a parselmouth, he had an excuse.

"Me too… well, it got my attention alright. I did enough to get me thrown in Azkaban if anyone found out, but the rest of the gang showed up before I could finish… I got knocked around the garden a fair bit, broke my arm, ribs… and got a whole lot of really irritating little cuts. Worse than the major injuries, actually… I managed to blind them for a second… And it worked. Got on my broom, although it was pretty pathetic by that point… Avoided most of them, but Rodolphus Lestrange caught me. We dueled, he couldn't fly worth a damn, I had no strength, so I decided to slam him into a cliff, I… I actually was going for a suicide attack, I was out of magic, energy… blood… And then I almost hit Pig, and decided I could maybe pull out of that last dive. He hauled me home… you know the rest."

The silence greeting this statement was absolute. After a full minute, Ryua sat forward, almost pleading, "Come on, say something…"

"Bloody hell…" Ron said, "You should drop the Quidditch and become a professional… action writer or something…"

Ryua looked at him, incredulous. And then started to laugh. And laugh… and eventually the others started to laugh too. I love having friends…

So the rest of the day went fine after that, although the adults were busy, the kids were left to their own devices. The five of them spent the time in their room, playing chess and exploding snap, and once in a while Hermione would try to get someone to study, Ryua or Ginny would threaten her with a curse, and they'd all go back to their games.

It was with great disgust, therefore, that Ron opened the window to let four Hogwarts brown owls swoop in, deposit scrolls, and depart again. "Ooh, those'll be your OWLs!" Ginny said excitedly, sorting them out and passing them to appropriate people.

Ron looked at the little scroll as if it were a particularly nasty howler. Hermione was white and shaking, although no one knew why, Harry looked glum… and Ryua just snapped the wax seal, not wanting to stretch the waiting any more than necessary. DADA, Transfiguration, Potions: all Outstanding. Herbology, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures were Exceeds Expectations… Astrology and Charms were barely an Average, her lowest marks. "Exactly what I expected…" she said, smiling with relief. She didn't need the Charms anyway…

Ron snagged Hermione's paper, snorting disgustedly. "She's all perfect of course, don't know why she even worried…"

Hermione glared at him, saying, "And what about you, Ron? Pass anything?"

"Of course!" he said, looking affronted. "Passed everything except Divination and Astrology!"

"You, Harry?" Ryua asked, taking the opportunity to lean over his shoulder, his hair tickling her ear.

"Didn't get the Outstanding for Potions…" he said glumly. "I need that to be an Auror."

"That sucks…" Ryua said, kissing his cheek. "I could try to butter up Snape for you if you like…"

"Wouldn't work," he sighed. "He likes you, but not enough to do me any favors…"

"But you did everything else," Hermione said, taking his paper. "So that's good… I'm sure you'll figure something out."

A loud screech from one corner distracted them all, as Crookshanks and the normally laid-back Hedwig got engaged in a shrieking contest, taking swipes at each other. Pig wasn't helping, twittering madly around them, raising temperatures even higher. "Oy! Cut it out!" Ron bellowed, his huge hands snatching Pig out of midair and stuffing him under Ginny's blankets. Hermione pounced on the snarling cat, burying him in Ryua's bed. Hedwig flew to the top of the dresser and stared resolutely at the wall. "They've all gone mad!" Ron said exasperatedly.

"This is weird weather…" Hermione said. "That sometimes affects animals."

"They've seen fog before," Harry said, looking up at his snooty owl. "There's something weird with this stuff…"

"Dementors." Ryua said, carefully pulling Pig out from the heavy blankets before he suffocated. "I heard Lupin talking about it earlier this morning… this mist means they're breeding."

Ginny looked at her aghast, then said, "Eew. That's just plain disgusting. You mean, every time we've been breathing in that stuff…"

"Gross! Dementor reproduction… stuff. I don't think they have genders, so I don't know what to call it…" Hermione, although rather revolted, managed to link it to something scientific enough to manage her disgust.

"Well, that would account for the generally dismal mood this summer," Harry said. "Dementors on the loose, and multiplying…"

"Yeah." Ryua shuddered, trying to shake the now-noticeable chill that seemed to cling to her. "Let's go bug your mom for cookies, or something warm…" This statement was met with heartfelt agreement. Their good mood was momentarily doused by Hermione insisting on bringing their OWLs, bit it seemed a small price to pay for Mrs. Weasley's cooking.

Even though she shook her finger at them for asking for snacks so close to suppertime, Mrs. Weasley handed over a plate of cookies, and hugs all around for their test results. They managed to dispose of every last crumb of cookie, even washing the plate before people started to trickle in for supper. A huge pot of beef barley soup with fresh biscuits graced the table tonight, and as usual, it was nearly all gone by the time everyone had finished eating.

Like so many happy evenings, this one was cut to a halt by Dumbledore's announcement that he was holding another meeting. The kids walked sullenly, but obediently, up to their room to hang out until they got tired. Which didn't actually take long, when you thought about how little they did that day.

Dumbledore sat in his office, really not wanting to read anymore of the Black's heirloom grimoires, but knowing that he really should. There had to be a mention of finding Horcruxes in them somewhere…

Just as he was reaching for a particularly nasty one that looked to be bound in human skin, a crashing sound came from the front hall, followed by Mrs. Black's screeching. He got up to see who it was, and was nearly bowled over by Severus Snape, looking more terrified and human than he'd ever seen him. "Dumbledore… something went wrong," he said gasping for breath, and turning around to stumble out.

"What, Severus?" Dumbledore said, following him quickly. The Snape Manor had been selected as a meeting place that night for a Death Eater conclave, so any number of things could have occurred…

"Ashley… they caught Ashley…" he moaned. "I… I brought her here, sir. I didn't know where else to go…"

"Here?" Dumbledore repeated, looking at him with mild surprise. "How did you get her in without my knowledge?"

"I didn't… she's on the front step." Since Dumbledore's protection charms required any visitor to be told the address by him, nobody could enter without first receiving his permission. "She's not in the best of shape, sir…"

"I see." Dumbledore pushed the door gently open into the cold, misty night. Ashley Snape was huddled in a miserable ball against the banister, shaking and clutching her arm tightly into her chest, breathing heavily and stifling painful moans. Severus' cloak was draped over her shoulders, and she appeared to be wearing pajamas.

"She… she was jinxed rather badly a few times… she doesn't know where she is yet. If…" Snape couldn't finish the thought. If Dumbledore wouldn't take her, she couldn't betray the location of the Headquarters.

Dumbledore simply knelt down in front of the girl shivering on the steps. "Ashley… Ashley Snape, listen to me." He placed a hand on her shoulder, and smiled when she blearily looked up at him through pain-fogged eyes. "You're at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place; The Order of the Phoenix headquarters. Come inside now, and we'll take care of you." The moment he released her, her head dropped back down to her knees. Severus picked her up immediately, and carried her in through the still-open door. He deposited her on the couch, and immediately went off to find Mrs. Weasley.

Halfway up the stairs to her bedroom, Severus met Ryua coming down the stairs, wand tucked up in a bun. Cautious, but not openly aggressive… I think she's finally calming down… "Ryua, go back to bed."

"What set off Mrs. Black?" Ryua asked, not the least bit sleepy. The shrieks echoing up three flights of stairs had jolted her awake with an incredible shot of adrenaline.

He sighed. He hadn't really expected her to obey, but his parenting mode was in full operation, so he felt like he had to try. "I did. There was a Death Eater conclave at my house tonight. Ashley wanted to see what was going on, even though I told her to stay in her room no matter what…"

"Of course she did," Ryua sighed. "You can't just tell a teenage girl not to do something…"

"I know," he said sadly. "But she came down anyway… and they caught, tortured, and branded her."

"Oh, no…" Ryua said, aghast. She turned to go down the stairs, and Snape let her go. It couldn't do any harm, Ashley would probably feel better knowing someone here…

Ryua dashed into the room where Ashley was lying curled on her side, and sat down beside her. She laid a hand on her shoulder, softly calling her name. "Ashley? You okay?"

"…Ryua?" Ashley whispered, raising her head and wincing at the movement. "What are you doing at the Order of the Phoenix?"

"Same thing as you, more or less…" Ryua said. "I was much more dead than you… but you've got…" she lightly touched her arm.

Burying her face in the couch, Ashley let Ryua pick up her arm. She knew better than to touch it, but held her arm in the light. Although the rest of her skin was cold and clammy, her forearm was almost burning hot, the Dark Mark red and angry. A normal brand wouldn't hurt much, since the burning kills the nerves… but Voldemort liked to cause pain, and he summoned his followers through pain as well. Therefore, his magical branding burned, and yet did no damage to the nerves underneath… causing excruciating pain for the first day or two. It never really stopped twinging; Ryua often remembered Lucius clutching his arm on a very cold day, or if he over-exerted himself.

She stayed there until Mrs. Weasley came and patched up small weals from spells, bruises, spread cooling cream on her arm, and stepped aside for Severus to force-feed her a dreamless sleep potion. And then Ryua flatly refused to go back upstairs for longer than it took to get her blankets. There was no way she was letting her friend sleep alone after something like that; she'd need someone to be there when she got up.

She fell asleep surprisingly fast, actually…