1Disclaimer: OK... by now you have to know the world belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me. Ambryn, Sarai, and Ailin are mine, though, and if you steal them you shall pay!

Chapter 8 - The Coven Meets: After what seemed to Bryn like an agonizingly long morning, the students of Hogwarts were finally allowed to leave for Hogsmeade. Bryn went with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but she didn't intend to stay with them for long. So, she let them show her around, but when they decided to go to the Three Broomsticks, she made her excuses. "I"d like to explore on my own for a bit, you know?" she told them. They let her go without an argument, and Bryn was relieved. She hurried to the Hog's Head to wait.

Entering the pub, Bryn could see why Hogwarts students rarely came here. It was dirty and dusty, and the bartender, a tall, thin man with long and unkempt gray hair, glowered at her as she slid into a table near the back. The few customers looked at her oddly and she felt out of place in the Muggle clothes most of the Hogwarts kids wore to the village. She sat at the table and waited.

After about ten minutes, the door creaked open. Bryn glanced up. The newcomer was a slight young woman. She was Chinese, with long black hair twisted into a bun. She wore a white shirt and dark blue pants. It was Ailin. Bryn waved from the back and Ailin came to join her.

"Hey, there. Nice place, huh?" Bryn remarked. Ailin shook her head. "Yes, very nice," she replied. They sat in silence for a few minutes and then the door opened again and Sarai walked in.

Bryn's two best friends were like night and day, and that was very obvious here. Sarai hadn't even bothered to contain her mane of curly blond locks, and she was wearing a tie-dye shirt and a long denim skirt. Ailin and Bryn rolled their eyes at each other as Sarai walked over and sat down.

"OK, let's call this meeting of the Coven to order," Sarai whispered. All three girls grinned. The Coven was the nickname given to the three of them by Sarai's dad, a Muggle like all her family, as a joke, but it had stuck. Ailin nodded. "So, Bryn," she said, "what's going on?"

Bryn told them everything. The flashbacks, her mother's betrayal, the odd 'don't I know you?' looks she kept getting, the man she ran into at the bookstore staring at her like she was a ghost, everything. Lastly, she told them about the dreams of a man trapped in fog. "And, I'm pretty sure he's trapped in the Abyss, but if he is, I can't help him. I don't have the experience," she finished.

It was Ailin who spoke next. "This is really complicated. On the one hand, you're trying to find a way to help someone who may be beyond your ability to help and yet, at the same time, you seem to be uncovering a mystery that is very connected to you. The two may be connected."

"What? I don't get it. Explain, please," Sarai demanded. Bryn was just as lost, but she kept silent. Ailin sighed. "All right, here it is. Why you, Bryn? There has to be a connection between you and the man you keep seeing for him to be able to reach you, right?" Bryn nodded. "Well, maybe he's part of why everyone seems to know you."

Bryn held up a hand. "Wait. What, you think he's my dad or something?" Ailin shrugged. "It's possible. I mean, it's logical." Bryn shrugged, not quite convinced, but unwilling to dismiss the idea. Ailin's theories were normally right on target. This one just didn't sit well with her. If it were true, then if she did nothing, it would be condemning a family member.

Sarai spoke up. "Yeah, but then there's the flashbacks. You probably can't stop them, but they might be a good thing. You always wanted to know the secrets your mom kept; maybe now you will. This guy from the bookstore, I'll bet he knew your parents before. Keep an eye out. Maybe you'll run into him again."

Bryn sighed. Most of what had been said was stuff she could have eventually guessed on her own, but it was good to talk it over with Ailin and Sarai. "So, for now, I should just wait and get more information?" she asked. "That's about all you can do right now, I think," Ailin told her.

The girls looked at each other. It's so weird, Bryn thought. We're like sisters, but we live on three different continents now. How long can this last? It scared her. "Guys, this is hard, huh? I mean, normally we're always together, and now..." she nurmured. They nodded. "Yeah..." Sarai said sadly.

Ailin looked at them, her eyes blazing. "Doesn't matter," she said briskly. "We're forever, and we've got the tattoos to prove it. Not just that, I'm writing something now. It's us. Everything we've done, everything we want, it's going down in black and white. We'll be there for good when I'm finished."

Bryn stared at her. She hadn't known Ailin was doing that. And as for the tattoos...she smirked. That had been her idea. The girls had used a pentagram to symbolize the Coven, and then picked a personal symbol that rested in the middle of the star. Ailin's was a flame, Sarai's was a bird, and Bryn's was a yin-yang. Above, below, and on the sides, the same message was written in Chinese, English, and Spanish (Sarai was half Puerto Rican, and spoke Spanish): One in three, for always and eternity. The English was broken in half, the part before the comma to the left of the pentagram and the other half on the right. The Spanish was above and the Chinese below. They'd all gotten it on their upper left arms.

Sarai grinned. "I forgot. You're right. It doesn't matter." Bryn laughed. She couldn't help it. It really didn't matter.

Ailin and Sarai stayed for a while longer, and the girls talked about whatever popped into their heads. But it couldn't keep going. So the girls of the Coven walked out and left the village limits, where Ailin and Sarai Disapparated. After a moment. Bryn walked away. She met back up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and they headed for the castle.

A/N: OK, I know that jumped around a bit, but I was trying to show you what Bryn's friends mean to her. And I'm sorry for the delay, but as those of you who checked my profile in the last month will know, my computer crashed and I couldn't do anything until I got a new one, which I have now done.