Here it is: The End

The light was warm, shining orange through Aubrieanna's eyelids and making everything feel like she was trapped in a fuzzy peach. Sighing contently, she pulled the blankets around her more tightly. She wasn't shivering. She wasn't reeling from a dream or old memory.

Something was definitely wrong.

Aubrieanna forced her eyes open and was immediately rewarded with a pounding headache. She tried to roll over and hide her head in her pillow, but she could barely lift her arms. Slowly the light seemed to dim a bit, and she risked another glimpse. This time, she was able to see a tiled ceiling. Everything smelled scouring-potion clean, but she was hungry nevertheless. Aubrieanna couldn't remember the last time she actually wanted food. It actually felt good.

She was lying there, enjoying the sensation when a short witch came into the room, her wand tucked behind her ear. All of her hair was tied back and her lime green apron was neatly tied around her rather-large waist. She had been pushing a trolley with a multitude of bottles and vials. She began measuring out a large spoonful of a mysterious turquoise syrup.

"Poor girl. I don't know what they'll have to do if this isn't enough to eliminate those nightmares. The woman had already lifted Aubrieanna into a semi-reclined position, presumably so she could force Aubrieanna to swallow the stuff, before Aubrieanna had the genius idea of saying anything.

"When's breakfast?" Her hoarse voice surprised Aubrieanna as much as the witch who promptly gave a small squeak and dropped Aubrieanna back onto the bed.

"Oh dear, oh dear. It's wonderful to see you awake, darling. And with such a healthy appetite, you'll be over this very quickly. Wonderful, just wonderful." The witch searched the trolley, presumably for breakfast, and emerged with a bowl filled with a thick, brown substance. "Here you go, dear." She said. "You eat that up and I'll come back with your healer."

Aubrieanna viewed the substance dubiously. She was hungry, but the sludge placed in front of her hardly looked edible. At last, she lifted the spoon to her mouth and took a tiny bite before smiling. Chocolate pudding, what a healthy breakfast.

-----

Aubrieanna was content to live in ignorance of what had happened for a few hours. She couldn't ignore hearing the healers outside her door discuss how thin she had been when she arrived. They had been more concerned, however, by the fact that it had been almost impossible to get her to regain consciousness.

"It was the amulet that was doing it." She heard one brag outside her room. The middle-aged healers were almost always bragging about something, "It was some sort of vision-amplifier. Naturally, surrounded by all of those dementors, the thing put her in a trance. She was exhausted from lack of sleep, starving, and nine tenths of the way to insane. It's awful how she wasn't even guilty, having to go through all of that."

The young assistant he was talking to gave Aubrieanna a sharp look when he thought she wouldn't notice and responded. "Still, if she is innocent, how did she manage to get a amulet with that sort of power. And you know she's a Fayne. I don't care how many Ministry officials say she's innocent, I still don't want to be alone in a room with her."

It soon became apparent that the healers weren't the only ones in debate about Aubrieanna's innocence. Every other day the Daily Prophet was switching sides. The first day after her arrival that Aubrieanna saw the Daily Prophet she almost had in confiscated from her by the slightly over-bearing potion-trolley witch who had been afraid that it would upset her. Fayne Murderess Freed the headline declared. A photograph of Aubrieanna that must have been taken prior to her arrest showed her scowling menacingly. "Ministry refuses to disclose why suspected murder is walking among us." Aubrieanna laughed bitterly at this, she had been forbidden to walk around until three days after she had regained consciousness. The rest of the article listed accusations of bribery, extortion, and government corruption. Aubrieanna clipped the article and hid it in one of her school books. Her trunk had arrived the night before, and she was ecstatic to be able to wear something other than the hospital's white smock-like robes that made Aubrieanna feel like a cross between the gray lady and an inmate in an asylum.

The next morning, the paper was selling a different story, one that Aubrieanna was more eager to read about. Fayne Murderer a British Wizard proclaimed the paper. This time, a picture of a screaming, flailing Myron dominated the page. Aubrieanna skimmed through it once before reading the the article properly.

The release of the prime suspect of the Fayne murders earlier this week sent shock waves through the Wizarding Community. The Ministry of Magic, who only three weeks ago were proudly proclaiming their arrest of the daughter of the dangerous Fayne responsible for the Fayne Wars over a decade ago, Aubrieanna De'Muerta, have now reported a new arrest. The second convict, Myron Platt is, in fact, the half-brother of the original suspect. While Platt has confessed at a trial where he was sentenced to life in Azkaban, his motives remain unclear. As Platt is not a Fayne, the Ministry is lead to believe that the murders are connected to a "You-Know-Who." (This appears to be a term used in the Ministry to refer to the dark wizard, Voldemort. For more information on the Ministry's work on catching this wizard, as well as to why this paper will be ceasing to use this wizard's name in order to prevent a spread of panic, see page 4.)

Aubrieanna did not finish the article. She did not turn to page four. Instead, her mind flooded with the memories of a dream from Azkaban.

Over the next few days more papers arrived, all of which Aubrieanna read carefully. There were interviews of the Aurors who had been at the arrest, describing how Myron had been raving like a lunatic, screaming horribly. "He was already driven mad by the guilt." One said. "He has deserved everything he got, but honestly, Azkaban may be a relief for him." Aubrieanna seriously doubted that.

Although several of the articles focused on Myron's arrest, only one very short column covered the trial. The mere description of how Myron had screamed when he discovered his sentence made even Aubrieanna shudder. Despite being horrified by the end of the trial, Aubrieanna was very intrigued by the rest. The chief testimony came from none other than Mr. Potter.

I owe him. Aubrieanna thought. He doesn't even know me, doesn't even like me and look at what he's done.

Not even Mr. Potter's testimonies seemed able to bring Myron to justice though. An appeal, and presumably a large sum of Galleon, had managed to convince the judges of Myron's insanity. He would live out the rest of his life in a private home for mentally disturbed patients.

Aubrieanna expected to feel furious at the injustice, to rage and fume for days. I don't feel that way though. I don't really feel anything. Myron got what he deserved, a life of guilt, trapped far away from the rest of the world until the day he dies.

-----

Aubrieanna was sitting in the lobby. It was becoming a hobby of hers to watch wizards and witches file into St. Mungos. Such exotic defects or injures due to strange potion fumes and experimental curses were fascinating to observe. Aubrieanna's favorite so far was the elderly wizard who was floating in the air like a helium balloon. The healers had been at a loss to find a way to transport him to the correct wing until one finally grabbed him by his beard and pulled him along. The poor man squeaked each time he bounced helplessly off of the ceiling.

The hazard to sitting in the lobby, as Aubrieanna well knew, was that occasionally she would be the one getting second glances. She couldn't exactly be surprised; her face had been plastered across newspapers for the past few weeks while she had been accused of murder. One afternoon, after a lunch that, as always, ended with a large amount of chocolate pudding, an older man came in. Even though he gave Aubrieanna a long hard look, it was quite a few moments before Aubrieanna recognized her father.

He walked over and sat down beside her, nor really looking at her face. Aubrieanna noticed a letter in his hand. It was addressed to her.

Finally he spoke. "I didn't really expect to see you down here. I just wanted to see that the letter got to you. I suppose that it doesn't really matter now, though. I might as well tell you in person."

"You don't want to talk to me, do you?" Aubrieanna said, her voice quickly becoming emotionless. "You don't want to see me. You want to pretend you don't know me."

Her father nodded, either too ashamed to look her in the face or too angry. "My son is a killer. He is in a mental home. None of it should have ever happened..."

"And none of it would have happened if I hadn't come." He nodded again, and Aubrieanna felt an awful, icy feeling settling into her chest.

"I want my son back." Her father said. "I don't want to be the disgrace of the wizarding world."

"You wish I had never been born." Aubrieanna said, not angrily, completely impersonal. She refused to let herself be hurt by this.

Her father sigh sounded tired and full of grief. "I remember meeting your mother and a hurried marriage. I actually thought she was Russian, you know?" He was somewhere between laughing and crying. "She needed some way to remain hidden and stay safe. I imagine it's the only reason she married me, that and she quite possibly didn't understand what I meant when I asked her to marry me.." He laughed, not bitterly but not with any real joy either. "Then she left, just like my first wife. And then you came back. And now I've lost my son."

"I am sorry." Aubrieanna said. It was a struggle to keep a monotone edge to her voice now.

"Not sorry enough you'd go back to Azkaban though."

"No, not that sorry."

"I don't know that I blame you. Self-preservation seems to run on both sides of your family."

"That it does."

"I've always felt guilty that I haven't had a chance to talk to you, but it's probably a blessing now. You won't miss me much, and I'll never have to remember what I'm missing." He cleared his throat and handed her an envelope. "This contains a key to your own Gringott's vault. Obviously I'm a horrible failure of a father, but at least you will be able to take care of yourself."

"You don't have to do this, you know." Aubrieanna protested.

"I won't be seeing you again, and you'll be in foster care for at least a year. I've already signed the papers. I wasn't able to take care of your mother, she wouldn't let me. Clearly I wasn't able to take care of my son. Right now, I have an opportunity and a duty to take care of you, and I don't think I can bare to in any way but this." He stood up, and Aubrieanna followed suit. "I wish you the best of luck, Aubrieanna. I don't think you'll need it though. You seem to be much better at surviving than I ever was, and I see all the best of your mother in you."

"Thank you Mr. Platt." Aubrieanna said. "Thank you for everything." She shook his hand. "You're not a bad man, and someday I hope that you get your reward for it."

Aubrieanna felt a wave of sorrow as her father walked away from her.

-----

Aubrieanna suddenly felt restless. Until now, her entire experience at the hospital had been almost surreal. Nothing could hurt her; nothing would change. Since her father's visit, however, a she was gripped by a desperate attempt to understand exactly what was going to happen. At some point in time, probably as soon as the Healers determined that she was healthy and sane enough to be forced onto some poor foster family. After that, she would have to get back to real life. She didn't know what Hogwarts's policy was for ex-convicts. Nor did she know how the Ministry was going to decide to treat her. The fact that it was the Ministry that would be deciding on her foster family set her on edge. How would this family treat her? The whole wizarding world knew what she was now. How would her classmates treat her? And Lily and Remus? Last time she had talked to them she had almost gotten both of them stunned. By now they had surely found out that she had been lying to them for the past year.

Aubrieanna frequently found herself pacing around the corridors, waiting for some scrap of information to fall into her lap. The healers all tried their best to keep the outside world from affecting their patients, particularly those like Aubrieanna whose mental state was suspected to be unstable. Aubrieanna didn't agree with them on that particular matter, but apart from a short letter that may or may not have been sent home in order to reassure them of her safety she had had not communicated with anyone. Regardless of the lack of contact to the outside world, Aubrieanna felt convinced that soon she would receive something that would help things fall back into place.

Then the letter came. Aubrieanna recognized the handwriting as Lily's. It was short, but hardly unimportant.

Aubrieanna,

Meet me in the lobby at one tomorrow. I need to talk to you.

It wasn't signed at all, and it wasn't long enough to give Aubrieanna any sort of information as to how Lily was feeling, but she knew that she owed it to her friend to tell the truth.

-----

Aubrieanna watched the entrance to St. Mungo's carefully. Lily entered right on time. She stood up straight and tall but looked very frail and very apologetic. Aubrieanna stuck her hands into her pockets and looked down at her feet as she waited for Lily to throw something at her. Any minute Lily will start shouting, and I deserve every bit of it. I lied to her for an entire year.

Finally Lily reached her. She stood in front of Aubrieanna for a few moments before she managed to open her mouth. "Are you alright?' Lily asked quietly.

Aubrieanna shrugged. "All things considered..."

"You mean the fact that you're a Fayne who has been framed for murder by her own half brother and has just been released from Azkaban?"

"Hmm... You got all of that from the papers?" Aubrieanna felt distinctly uncomfortable.

"Is it true?" Lily demanded softly.

"Yes." Aubrieanna said, and she felt a little freer, a little happier.

"You know this is the last time you're allowed to lie to me, right?" Lily said. Her words were starting to become less controlled, more real. "From this point on, any lies about who you are will result in sever jinxing."

"I kind of figured that would be your policy." Aubrieanna paused, unsure what there was to say. "Would you like some chocolate pudding?"

Lily looked at her, confused. "I guess so... but, why exactly?"

"I have some left over from lunch. They always give me a huge heap of chocolate pudding."

"It makes sense I guess, what with the dementors..." She stopped herself quickly, and a very awkward silence followed.

"Lily, I am incredibly sorry." Aubrieanna blurted out suddenly.

Lily now looked distinctly uncomfortable. "My spouting off at you really didn't help much, did it?"

"Not really, but I understand."

"Do you?"

"If I didn't would I be offering you pudding?" Aubrieanna asked.

"Only if you were really, really sick of it." Lily smile a bit.

"Trust me, it's all yours." Aubrieanna said solemnly before the two of them broke out into strained, but truly cheerful laughter.

-----

Aubrieanna stood quietly by the window. She wasn't sure if the view was real or just a magical illusion, but either way the sunset was beautiful. She breathed in the heavy summer air and watched the sky slowly get darker.

I'll be turning sixteen in a few weeks. Then everything changes. I'll go back home, beat my sister, and save my friends. Then, maybe I'll come back here. For a visit, a short one...

This year had been awful. She couldn't deny that it was the most terrifying, painful year of her life.

But this makes it better. Days like this where things go right and everyone is safe. Days like this when even the death of the day is glorious.

It wasn't really death. It was a change. Things were changing; she was changing, but that was life. The fact that she was a member of the House of Death and witch in a strange world didn't really matter. She was alive, and for right now that had to be enough.

Author's Note: I would like to thank everyone who has read this and put up with all my mistakes and inconsistancies. Hopefully, you'll see a sequel up some time soon, and I'd love to hear what all you expect in a sequel, or if there is anything that needs to be more clear. Again, thank you all so much. -Aubrieanna NeonBlack