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

Paternal Visit

Madam Pomfery made Ryua sleep by 8:00 that night. And since she slept to 10 the next morning, and felt remarkably more like herself, she didn't exactly mind. "Do I have to stay here and meet him?" Ryua asked plaintively. She'd really much rather be in her dorm, or the Great Hall, anywhere that didn't make her seem so weak in front of her father.

"Yes. You do." Madam Pomfery replied for the sixth time. "I don't want you getting more exhausted or worked up over this than necessary. And I've already asked Ashley to get you some of your own school robes, she'll be here in a few minutes."

"I'm getting worked up sitting here waiting for him," Ryua pointed out, sighing.

"And what if he decides to reverse Severus' spell?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's much more convenient for Lucius to have you unbalanced and into such easily manipulated halves. I know what that man is capable of doing to you."

Ryua didn't have an answer for that one. And she hated that Pomfery knew about how he treated her, after so long keeping it a secret. She sat on her bed, grumpily waiting for Ashley to arrive.

-

She felt remarkably better once she was clean, dressed, and her hair brushed out of its stubborn tangles. She always slept badly in the Hospital wing, and even her silky hair ended up knotted at the end of the night. There wasn't time for more than a quick bite of breakfast before Lucius arrived, Dobby appearing with a pop to give the warning. Hastily, Ryua finished the last of her food, and elected to stand up. It felt less like she had to be here, that way.

When Lucius entered, looking all proper and dignified, with just the right amount of harried worry to his look, Ryua was leaning nonchalantly against the wall beside her bed. She'd quickly discovered that there was a reason Madam Pomfery had wanted her to stay in her bed, as her knees felt like giving out after about five minutes. Hence the wall. Her voice was as steady and calm as ever though. "Lucius. Wondered when you'd take time from your busy schedule to come visit me. Of course, you needn't have bothered."

"Oh, Ryua," he sighed, shaking his head in a sorrowful, patronizing sort of way. "I understand you've been through a lot. And I'm truly sorry I couldn't get here sooner, you know that."

"Right. You just liked me when I was all weepy and clingy." Ryua snorted with disgust. "Don't waste my time. You've done your fatherly duty now, you can leave."

His two Ministry aides came in behind him, witnessing everything that happened, so they could say that Lucius was indeed a caring, proper father. Lucius smiled at her, that winning, charming smile that got him so much in life. "I'm of course happy you've made such an excellent start to your recovery. But I'm worried that your mind might still be a little confused. That's why I've told Dumbledore that you're to come home this Christmas, to get your bearings again."

Ryua's mouth dropped open. "What?"

"Where better to finish healing your mind and emotions?" he asked, spreading his arms, grinning broadly. "It'll be a lovely, quiet two weeks, no visitors, just our little family, getting yourself back to normal."

She glared at him, opened her mouth to say something rude. And discovered, much to her fury, that he'd paralyzed her voice box. Instead, she forced a sweet smile onto her face, and walked forward to him. Her arms were trembling with the urge to strangle him, so she kept them firmly at her side. "You bastard. Dumbledore would never agree to that," she whispered furiously.

"Ah, but I'm the Minister," he whispered back, one hand stroking her hair. "If he wants to keep this school open, he doesn't dare to go against me."

Ryua suppressed a shudder, grinding her teeth. "Leave Draco in school. Let him stay here and I'll come home quietly."

"You want some father-daughter time?" he asked sarcastically. "How sweet."

"I don't want him getting hurt." Ryua growled, "Because the crossfire is going to be brutal."

Lucius smiled nastily, trying to cover the faint worry with cockiness. "You realize it is law for the school to be emptied over the holidays now?"

"Yeah. Half the kids going home to their wizard families, the other to vulnerable muggle towns." Ryua, although she'd been dreading her own visit home, was much more worried about ones like Hermione or Dean. "But Draco's a Death Eater now anyway, isn't he? So, what's one more rebellion against the rules, eh?"

He looked at her for a few moments, weighing out possible consequences and benefits. Eventually, he smiled, patting her shoulder, and saying in a normal voice, "Alright then. It'll be just you and me, easier to relax, hmm?"

"Sure." Ryua said dryly, trying to hold the sarcasm out of her voice. Lucius' quieting spell wore off when he stopped speaking in whispers. "Now, if you don't mind, I could use some more rest, father dearest." She glared at him, carefully burying any actual signs of weakness behind her fury.

"Of course," he said, backing towards the door. "Now, I'll come and get you personally on the last day of school. Take it easy now."

Ryua sighed with relief when he left, collapsing down onto the nearest bed. Madam Pomfery came over immediately, checking her over. "I don't like the idea of you going home with that monster," she said, her lips tight.

"Me either… but I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

-

The Daily Prophet, for the last few weeks, had been running the same stories as ever, making the Ministry look good. And for once, the Ministry was actually doing alright for itself. The Wizarding community hadn't been this free of Death Eater attacks since they came into the open. And then, Luna Lovegood passed around copies of the Quibbler at their next DA meeting. "We might be doing alright, but the Muggles are doing terribly."

Coming from the Quibbler, most people would have been rather inclined to ignore this little tidbit of information. Especially as it was posted beside an article on how to charm your own narfles out of mistletoe. The report was organized in a graph, spread across two pages, with different Muggle cities in England, and the number and type of attacks sniffed out by the Quibbler's reporters.

There hadn't been many fatalities yet, mostly harassments. Cars that exploded in parking lots, trees that burned down, kids that came home from school gibbering with fear. And the mysterious men in black cloaks that always seemed to be around the scenes always disappeared without a trace. It wasn't until Hermione reached a name about halfway down the list, that she said something. "Didsbury… we got a letter from my aunt in Didsbury. She… her two kids were found dead two weeks ago, no marks, nothing that should have killed them, except for the expressions of pain on their faces." She finished the last in a whisper.

"Sloppy and lazy," Ryua growled. "Torturing kids? How pathetic can you get?" She looked at the little entry beside the town, 'several unexplained bouts of pain, two child deaths' was the impersonal, but informative entry. "Anybody with direct Wizarding relations? Right in the family?"

"Next page," Luna said. "There have only been three. Apparently, when they ran into unexpected resistance, the scarpered off." Ministry watches had apparently been put on all three homes as well, just to be careful.

"So, why guard the homes that can protect themselves?" Neville asked curiously, looking at the short paragraph.

"Cause they're the ones who will complain," Cassie said, leaning on his shoulder. "Muggles don't make Wizard news… no offense to you all…"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's true though. And with the Death Eaters still skirmishing with the Magical community, the Ministry is getting awful stretched. I think there's one wizard per Muggle town right now, and that's a massive drain on the Aurors."

"He wouldn't be planning to withdraw Muggle support, would he?" Harry asked, looking up at her suddenly.

"Damn. That's exactly the sort of thing he'd do!" Ryua snapped. "All he needs is a big catastrophe of some sort, where he couldn't get enough Aurors there, and the Wizengamut would support him."

"I'll tell Dumbledore on my way back to the Common Room then," Justin said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He, as well as the rest of the prefects, were overworked, their patrols nightly and longer so no one was out on their own anymore. The teachers were toying with the idea of promoting some students to at least bodyguard status, to spread the workload a bit.

The meeting was disbanded with that uneasy note, and they all split off to their separate Common Rooms. Although she was completely confident she could handle anything that would show up in the school at night, Ryua was still glad of the company Cassie gave her. Plus, it was fun to tease her. "So… you seem a little closer to that boy than before,"

"No!" Cassie protested, then laughed. "Well, okay, maybe a little. He's a lot better than them in our house."

"See? I was on the right track all along," Ryua said, grinning. "The hat DID say to promote inter-house cooperation, you know."

"So we're ahead of the train then, eh? Especially you, if that goodnight kiss was any indication…" Cassie teased lightly.

"Hey! Leave my personal life out of this conversation!" Ryua protested, laughing. "I think I've deserved a little relaxation." Harry still thought she was coming home to the Weasleys for Christmas. She hadn't had the heart to tell him otherwise yet. She hadn't told anyone yet, for that matter, because it would only make it harder to leave.

Author's Note: Tis short, I know. And late, I know that too. I've been really busy with lots of stuff. But I go on vacation on Monday, so I should have some time starting then to get caught back up. Hey, if anyone would like to go look at my artwork, I'm now at: ryua . deviantart . com