As much as I love the books, I regret to say that all of Harry Potter belongs to J K Rowling. This includes all of the characters except for Ryua (who's mine) most of the places, and an awful lot of the spells. Oh, and if you see something that looks like one of your stories, I'm really, really sorry. I don't mean to plagiarize. I've just read a lot of really cool fanfics, and they melt into my brain, but I'll try not to use any of it.
Author's Note: If anyone has any good names for curses, jinxes, or other spells, and could tell me them and their effects, that would be really helpful.
End of July
Ryua had an unexpected change in her routine July 20th. She had mostly stayed isolated in her room since that first day home, working steadily on homework. She had managed to stay out of her Father's sight, and convinced Dobby to bring her meals in her room whenever possible. Dobby had also brought news to her, and Ryua didn't like it. Although the Ministry was raiding for dark magic and poisons, Lucius was still planning to send something nasty to Hogwarts, probably with Draco (he didn't trust Ryua much). She hoped it wouldn't be too disruptive of term, as school was the only place she was even remotely happy.
The morning of July 20th was cool and drizzly (Ryua's favourite), and Ryua and Draco were summoned down to the Private Family Room for an important meeting. Ryua reluctantly came down into the relatively cozy room, and stood beside her brother across from their parents, as their first day home. "We have received an owl from Hogwarts," her father stated quietly. It's too early for booklists, Ryua thought. Sure enough, her father continued, "It contained the official school report cards." Ryua's heart skipped a beat, but she kept her face calm. "There was a slight discrepancy between the copies you bought home and the school hard copy. Draco, come with me." Her twin's face was paler than his hair as he dragged after Lucius. Narcissa looked proudly up at her daughter, but Ryua turned bitterly away. If mother had really cared what happened to Ryua, she could have stopped Father from hurting her, or at least shown some sympathy afterwards, or even showed support for Draco. He felt the curses just as much as they did.
Later that evening, a shadow slipped into Draco's room. It peeled away to reveal Ryua, holding a bottle of Mrs. Hiver's in one hand. Draco miserably groaned, "Go away." without even looking up to see who was there.
"Oh, don't be stupid. Now, sit up so I can get at your back." Ryua was both more flexable and experienced with applying the cooler gel, and Draco still couldn't reach all the welts. He sat up, although sullenly. Draco winced as his sister's gentle hands spread the gel over his raw back.
"Why are you doing this? It's not like I didn't deserve it..."
"Stop moving!" Ryua cut off her brother, "And you didn't deserve this, well, maybe not entirely. I didn't deserve it, but I doubt even you needed the lesson beat into you this well. And I already paid you back for switching the names in the first place. And anyways," Ryua said, as she finished the last hard-to-reach welt, "You're my brother." She swept up her lethifold and was gone before Draco could reply, leaving the bottle of Mrs. Hiver's on his bed.
