Chapter 12 - That was Yesterday
"Rhiannon, what's wrong with you?" asked Draco with a sad look in his eyes. "Can I help you?" Rhiannon was dressed in one of the Hospital Wing pyjamas, lying in a bed near the window and looking pale and sick.
"No." She closed her eyes and sighted. "I think I've caught the flu or something like that."
"Rhiannon, you collapsed in front of McGonagall's classroom. That's not just a flu - that's something more serious."
Rhiannon turned her head towards the window and smiled slightly.
"I appreciate that, Draco, thank you, but it's really nothing important."
"'I appreciate that'?" Draco echoed. "Rhiannon, you don't usually talk like that. Please, I just want to help you." He took her hand and pressed it gently. "I want to help because I can't stand it to see you suffer." His grip tightened a bit and mirrored his inner desperation.
The door of Madam Pomfrey's office opened and the nurse came in. She held a tray with a tea cup and some medicine bottles in front of her.
"Mister Malfoy, please leave now, Miss Chastain needs rest. Maybe you can come and see her after dinner, but now you have to go. And tell your professors that Miss Chastain is going to spend at least the rest of the day here."
Draco nodded and let go of Rhiannon's hand.
"I'll come back later, Rhiannon," he assured and walked out of the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey just gave Rhiannon her medicine and told her to sleep because she had most likely collapsed from exhaustion. Then she was left alone again.
Rhiannon relaxed. Her physical constitution wasn't that bad - her body felt a bit heavy and she was overall feeling sleepy but apart from that her body was all right.
On the inside she felt horribly betrayed.
This morning she had woken up with the dream about her memories still clear in her mind. Back then she had felt even worse than now and so it came that she collapsed just before her third class should start.
The reasons that she felt like she did were not of physical origin, but of emotional.
Her whole life was a lie. That was what the dream had shown her. And it had also brought back another memory.
She had been four or five back then, when she first asked Lucius about her parents. She had met Draco a just then and had wondered why he was always speaking so proudly to her of his "father" and his "mother". For Rhiannon fathers and mothers where something that happened to other people.
And then Lucius had told her how it came that he was her guardian.
"Your mother and father died only a few days after you were born. They were killed by aurors and you were left in our care. Rhiannon, never trust a wizard from the Light side - they lust after blood. We just shed it to reach our goals because the end justifies the means. Remember this - if it weren't for the aurors, your parents would still be alive and with you.
That was what she had been told then.
A lie - her whole life had been built on a lie. All this was just told her to make her hatred for the Light side grow.
She had virtually always trusted Lucius as he was the only thing that resembled a father. She couldn't trust him anymore now that she knew he had lied to her. Whom could she trust anymore when she couldn't trust Lucius?
Draco? He was Lucius son - probably he had been educated to lie to everyone.
Tears welled up in Rhiannon's eyes but before they started to flow freely she recalled how miserable and desperate Draco had been on the night they got together again. Yes, she could trust him.
Rowena and Vanora - she could still trust them too. Rowena had helped her to find the truth and Vanora was her mother. Though there were still some questions Rhiannon wanted to ask her.
Rowena would have to wait - her mother was more important at the moment. Her decision was made. Rhiannon sat up and threw the blanket of her bed back.
"Rhiannon!"
Rhiannon gasped silently. That had been Rowena's voice.
"The window."
Rhiannon turned on her heel to face the window. She could see the faint image of Rowena there.
"What do want?" Rhiannon's voice sounded aggressive but it didn't matter to her. The only important thing for her now was to find and talk to Vanora. "If you're here to tell me that I should get ready to fight Voldemort - forget it. I don't care about that anymore! As far as I'm concerned Voldemort can rule the world if he wants to!"
"Calm down, Rhiannon. You're upset. Anything you start now is bound to end in a disaster."
"I just want the truth! I don't want to start anything!" screamed Rhiannon, her face flushed.
One second after she had finished screaming the door opened and madam Pomfrey entered. She looked furious and it occurred to Rhiannon, that she would never be able to leave the Hospital Wing now without Madam Pomfrey's permission. She looked at the window but Rowena's outline had vanished.
"What are you doing out of bed?" asked the nurse accusingly and put a hand on Rhiannon's forehead. "Oh my, you have fever. Get into bed again." She pushed Rhiannon gently in the back. Rhiannon had little other choice but to obey.
Madam Pomfrey nodded contentedly when Rhiannon was where the nurse wanted her. Then she left, but the door to the office remained open.
Rhiannon growled a bit and closed her eyes.
'It's all your fault,' she thought, but wasn't sure if Rowena received the message.
'A memory charm,' a voice sounded inside her head and Rhiannon recognized it as Rowena's. Rhiannon's eyes flew open and she sat up. What was Rowena doing?
'Vanora only remembered a few months ago, when they figured out how to break it without harming her. You'll have to know, the Death Eaters thought they had killed her on the night they went to get you.'
"What are you doing?" hissed Rhiannon.
'I'm giving you answers. The truth that you wanted.' Came the reply from her own head. 'Or do you want me to stop?'
Rhiannon remained silent. She wanted the truth but... but not from her.
"No," Rhiannon whispered finally. "Go on." It was her only chance to get the truth now. Even if it meant to hear it from someone she didn't want to talk to at the moment.
'Your father died that night, but the Death Eaters weren't careful enough with your mother. They already had you when they dealt with you mother and you were more important to them.'
"Why?"
'They wanted to use you - as a matter of fact that's what they still want to do with you. They planned to make you appreciating of every thing they did and supportive of Voldemort. That way it wouldn't have been a problem to convince you of helping them at a later date.
When you were born I gave you a bit of my power. That is why you can do wandless magic. Voldemort knew this through a prophecy and wanted to use your power for his ends. But the true meaning only became clear to him a few weeks ago. Up until then he only knew that you had great power. But then he realized you could use this power to either bring down the Light side - or him.'
"But Snape... he said if I valued my life..."
'Yes, if you go after him alone you will lose your life. So will Draco. Or Harry.'
"You never talked about Harry before. Why did you start now?"
'I always thought you and Draco would never ask Harry for help.'
Rhiannon didn't respond to this for a while. She kept thinking over what she had just heard.
"Rowena, are you still there?" she asked finally.
'Yes.'
"If I do bring Voldemort down, with Draco and Harry. Could Draco and I lead a normal life then? Would he be forgiven what his father has done?"
'Yes.'
"Then I'll... we'll do it."
A/N: Now that you're done reading you should click on that "Go" button down there and write some words on this story - in other words: a review. They make me happy and show me it's not completely worthless that I'm writing this.