I bit the edge of my nail as I leaned against the doorway, staring intently at the sleeping figure across from me. I could feel the glow of the fireplace against my face and it was a slight comfort to my tense nerves.

I heard the quiet footsteps coming up from behind me so I didn't flinch when I felt a warm hand on my shoulder.

"He just fell asleep," I murmured, not tearing my gaze away quite yet.

I was silent before I let out a breath and turned my head to the side, "Have you heard from the Weasley's yet?"

Dad moved fully into the room so I could see his full form and I noticed his tired yet tight face.

He nodded as he looked at Harry, who was asleep in a chair by the fire, "Arthur's stable, though it was close."

I brought my hand away from my face to stop my nervous habit and instead used my nails to pinch the side of my arm fretfully.

"How did he know?" I questioned softly, "How did Harry see that? What is this connection that he has with You-Know-Who?"

"I don't know." Dad answered honestly, "Let's just be thankful that it saved Arthur's life, for the moment."

I bit the inside of my cheek, yet nodded all the same.

Grimmauld was quiet tonight.

After Harry and I went to Dumbledore, all the Weasley children were woken up and taken to St. Mungo's to see their father. Meanwhile, I was sent away with Harry to Grimmauld, where Dad was waiting for us.

It was hours of trying to calm and relax Harry before he had finally fallen into an exhausted sleep. Now, even as he slept, he looked slightly troubled.

"Let's sit down," Dad's voice interrupted my thoughts and I turned my vacant eyes to see that he was motioning to a couple of chairs across the drawing room.

We sat down, only a few yards away from Harry, and I studied my father as he looked to the fire in front of us.

"I know this might not be the right time," I said quietly, bringing his gaze to mine, "But thinking about Mr. Weasley, I realize that time itself is limited."

Dad's eyes turned puzzled and almost worried at my words.

"What do you mean, Rigel?" He questioned.

I looked to Harry, to make sure he was still sleeping, before answering my father.

"I need to know about Mum." I clarified firmly.

He let out a sigh and I knew that an excuse was coming.

"Please, Dad." I said softly before he could say anything, "I hardly remember anything of her. My only connection of her is through you. And a lot of her past involves me. Look, I know about Zosma, alright?"

His eyes turned sharp.

I held up a hand to stop whatever response he was about to say, "I did some research, and I know she tried to kill me. I don't know all of why though."

I figured it would be best to leave what Remus had said out of the conversation for now.

"You need to tell me Dad. You need to tell me what you know about Mum." I said, trying to ignore his tense stare, "I need to know what happened to her, and who else was involved."

"Rigel," His voice was slightly hoarse when he spoke, "I don't want you dragged into this. It's in the past. There's not much we can do now anyway. There's just no point."

"I'm twenty years old, Dad!" I whispered impatiently, "I can handle it, what I can't handle is not knowing! I need closure for it to be in the past!"

"That's the thing, Rigel!" He replied, trying to keep his voice low so Harry wouldn't wake, "Even I don't know what all happened! I can' give you the closure you crave so much when I don't even know the whole story!"

"Something is better than nothing." I replied softly, bringing my eyes down.

I heard his distressed sigh and looked back up him.

"There was someone else involved besides Zosma in what happened to mum, wasn't there?" I questioned him, "Who was it?"

His eyes studied me intently. I watched as he brought his hand up to rub his face tiredly, before he went still, as if defeated.

"To some extent," He answered thickly, "Bellatrix Lestrange was involved in the feud between Zosma and your mother."

I was taken aback by this, "I don't understand, why would Bellatrix Lestrange be interested in them? Does it have to do with why she killed Mum?"

"I don't know, Rigel," Dad replied earnestly, "Bellatrix and Zosma were both Death Eaters and they must have had some sort of connection."

"Well didn't Mum ever tell you anything?" I tried desperately, "She must have said something!"

"Auriga never told me about what happened between her and her sister, let alone Bellatrix!" He replied agitatedly, "She would secretly find her sister and she would try and convince her to leave the dark side, she wouldn't tell me about it because she knew I would try and stop her. But I couldn't stop her, there was one time she came home in cuts and bruises, yet she still never gave up on her sister, no matter how I pleaded!"

I stared wide eyed at his pained face, and watched motionless as he took in a ragged breath.

"She kept the truth from me so that I wouldn't get involved. So that I wouldn't get hurt." He said after a moment, and his voice was quieter this time, "And now I must do the same for you. I won't let you get hurt. Not like she did."

He got up from his chair and I watched him leave the room in a pained state.

I brought my knees up to my chest and hugged them while I breathed in deep wobbly breaths. I had never seen my dad so tormented before. But as I stared at the doorway he left through, I knew one thing was for certain.

He was still hiding something from me.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Shouldn't you be at Grimmauld with your dad?" Oliver questioned me as I took a sip from my bottle of firewhiskey.

I shook my head as I stared directly forward, "I need some time away from there."

It was the twenty-third of December, and I needed to get out of the house. The tension there was so thick you could cut it with a knife. So I had come to the closest Wizarding Bar I could find, and began to just let myself unwind. Drinking didn't help me, in fact, I think it made things worse, but either way, the change of scenery did help a bit. But only a bit. I had been there maybe an hour when Wood has shown up looking for me. Apparently he had been at Grimmauld getting info from Moody on something and found out that I had gone missing from the house. The prat, knowing me so well, easily guessed where I was and followed me. And he hadn't left my sight since.

Wood didn't seem to question me as he remained silent for a few moments, taking quiet sips from his own drink.

Around us there was people yelling and shouting as the witches and wizards in the pub began to get drunker and drunker by the minute. Somehow their crazy antics calmed my own down.

I set down my now empty bottle on the bar and motioned for the bartender to get me another one. I could feel Oliver's eyes on me but I ignored them as the bartender handed me a fresh bottle.

I nodded my thanks and tossed some money on the counter. I took one sip before my eyes narrowed and I turned my head to look at Wood.

"I can feel your eyes burning into me." I said annoyed.

He held up his hands in surrender.

"Just being a caring friend." He told me, yet his eyes were telling me something different.

"I don't need you to worry about me." I said gruffly, facing forward again, "I'm a big girl, I can take care of my own problems."

Being slightly intoxicated seemed to be giving me a pathetic macho demeanour.

"Yes, well, 'big girl'," He said pointedly, "Last time you got wasted, you ended up screaming at me and other innocent people for no apparent reason."

I scrunched my nose up and looked back to him, his expression was dry.

"What are you talking about?" I questioned incredulously, "The last time you saw me drunk was when we were in Hogwarts. And I passed out on the couch before anything could happen."

Now it was his time to give me a quizzical look, "You really don't remember anything?"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, "Remember what?"

"You got drunk right before the Third Task." He stated, seeming quite casual and 'matter of fact', "I came by to see you and you ended up going mad outside your building. I had to drag you up to your apartment."

"Yeah right." I grumbled disbelievingly, chugging some more firewhiskey down.

"What reason do I have to lie to you?" Oliver pointed out, "Besides, I'm just saying that you should take it easy on the liquor."

"Fine, if you can prove that I did get wasted, I'll take it easy." I declared, giving him a pointed look and then snobbishly returning to my bottle.

He was silent for a moment, probably deciding if he should just toss me over his shoulder and leave the pub instead of playing my stupid little game.

"Fine." He said after a few moments and I raised an eyebrow at him, "After I had brought you up to your apartment you crashed on the couch and ended up telling that Charlie asked you to move to Romania."

I choked on my whiskey.

While I coughed and tried to expel the liquid from my lungs, Wood merely rolled his eyes.

"Proof enough for you?" He questioned while I continued to wheeze.

"You knew about that!" I accused, my face turning red as I realised how awkward this situation had become, "And you didn't bother to tell me that you knew!"

As I protested angrily he just casually took the bottle out of my hand and set it down on the counter, before wrapping an arm around my shoulder and dragging me off the bar stool.

"Why didn't you say anything!" I continued to yell, as he pulled me along through the busy pub and towards the door, "You weren't supposed to know about that! I-"

As we made it through the doors, his hand clamped firmly against my mouth and I angrily tried to shake it off but it remained firm.

"Shut up for two seconds and listen to me," Wood said steadily, locking his eyes with mine.

I glared back.

"Last time we got into this situation, you said a lot of things you shouldn't have." He stated clearly, "Now, unless you want to embarrass yourself further, I suggest you not talk until you're sober again. Alright?"

I remained to glare and shoved his hand off my mouth, pride slightly wounded.

"I'm going home," I declared, raising my head up high, I went to turn into an apparate when his hand captured my wrist and gave a sharp pull.

"Don't be thick Rigel," He said, "If you apparate in this state you'll end up in several different pieces.

"I can apparate just fine-" I started to say indignantly but he wasn't paying attention to me.

"We should get some coffee in you," He was murmuring to himself as his head looked up and down the street we were on, "Molly will have a fit if you go to Grimmauld like this."

I gritted my teeth.

"Look Wood-"

"There's a place just across the street," He said suddenly, and he pulled me after him, effectively cutting off what I had to say.

He sat me down in a booth a minute later and ordered two cups of coffee before I could even blink.

"I can order for myself." I pointed out sulkily, and I slouched back in my seat.

He gave me an annoyed look and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Two cups of coffee," The waitress said as she came up to our table with mugs in her hands.

She smiled brightly at Oliver and I glared at her as she leaned in to place the mug in front of him, "One for you."

Then she turned to me and gave a dirty look at my presence as she plunked my mug down in front of me, "And one for you."

I stuck my tongue out at her retreating back also. Oliver gave me a small kick from under the table but I ignored him as I grabbed my cup and brought it closer to me. I snatched a couple of sugar packets from container on the table and looked directly at Oliver as I ripped them apart with relish. Giving off the idea that I imagined it was his head instead.

After I was done putting them in my cup I took some cream containers and did the same with them.

Wood simply drank his coffee black as he watched my childish show.

"Is it to your liking now?" He questioned when I was done.

I took a long sip while giving him a dirty look and then placed it down in front of me.

"Very."

I pretended to not notice his eye roll.

I snuffed him for a while as I continued to drink, and watched as the waitress kept sending longing looks towards Oliver.

My anger had subsided a bit as drowsiness started to kick in, but I was still getting annoyed with her. I mean, I was sitting right there across from him and she still had the nerve.

Suddenly I had an idea.

"Get that glint out of your eyes, now." Came Wood's monotone voice.

My shoulders slumped in defeat instantly. Killjoy.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

After we had both finished, Oliver took me back outside and we apparated back to Grimmauld.

It was quite late by now and there didn't seem to be any lights on in the house, so as I stumbled up the stairs to my room Oliver kept a slow pace behind me to make sure I didn't trip and fall back down.

I honestly wasn't as drunk as before, and didn't need him to see me up, but with the eerie darkness of the house haunting me, it was nice to have someone else near me.

I think the idea of Gryffindor courage was lost on me as a child…

I made it up to my room and I looked over my shoulder when I didn't hear Wood's footsteps behind me anymore.

I made his figure out by the stairs.

"Oliver," I called softly, as I saw that he was about to go back down and leave.

His brown eyes met my grey ones and I motioned with my head for him to come.

"What?" He whispered, as he came to stand in front of me.

"I need to talk to you about something." I told him, all annoyance of him had completely dropped from my being.

"Are you still drunk?" He questioned.

"I'm sober enough," I told him, "I really need to talk to you though."

He seemed to be questioning the idea, but eventually he nodded and I opened my door for him to enter through.

Once we were both in I shut the door carefully behind us and turned on the oil lights.

I turned back to face him as he sat down on a trunk across from me.

"I asked about Zosma, my aunt." I told him, getting straight to the point.

His brows rose, "The one that tried to kill you? You asked your dad?"

I nodded, "Well and Remus too."

"And what did they say?" He questioned as I sat down on the edge of my bed.

"That she tried to kill me because she thought that if I was gone my mum would join the dark side." I told him simply, "But my dad is still hiding something from me. Everybody that knew my mum is."

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well my dad told me that Bellatrix Lestrange was involved in it somehow-" I began.

"Bellatrix Lestrange?" Oliver interrupted, his eyes going wide, "She was involved in trying to kill you?"

"No," I said rubbing my temple, a headache forming from the liquor, "She was involved in the feud between my mum and aunt, I don't think she had anything to do with me though. I don't know, Dad said he didn't really know what Bellatrix's part was, he just knew that she was somehow involved."

"Then how do you know he's hiding something from you still?" Wood questioned, puzzled.

"He also told me that he had to protect me from the truth." I tried to explain, "Meaning that there still was something he wasn't telling me."

"Why would you need to be protected from the truth?"

"I don't know," I replied, flopping down on my back, "But I think it has something to do with what my mum went through. Somehow her past affects me in some unknown way."

I heard Oliver get up and I turned my head to see him sit down beside me.

"My family is so messed up." I commented quietly, "You are so lucky you have both your parents still."

He remained silent as he laid down on his back beside me. We both stared up at the ceiling.

"My dad is tormented by my mum's past," I continued softly, "And the more I dig, so am I."

"Maybe that's why he won't tell you everything." Oliver said.

I turned my head to look at him. He was still staring upwards and for a moment I studied his features.

"Maybe." I replied finally, and tore my gaze from him.

I rolled over onto my stomach and took a pillow and hugged it to my body.

I had my back to Oliver and we both stayed silent for a long time. Eventually I drifted into sleep.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Thank-you for reviews. :)