Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

FPOV

There wasn't nearly as much to grin about at the funeral. Both Rian and Adam stared at their mother's coffin with the same emotion used to cut up Potions ingredients. Rian's gaze was steely and her back was rigid. I guessed she'd gotten all her emotion out last night. I took her hand at one point, but I doubted she even noticed. There were only six people there, including the four of us and the minister. Afterwards, a man approached Rian and Adam, and Rian gave us a look, so George and I walked a few hundred feet away, giving them privacy. I leaned against a tree, watching intently, because though the man's face was covered by a scarf, I had a sneaking suspicion of who it was.

RPOV

"Is there anything we can help you with?" asked Adam. How he even had the ability to speak to him, I had no idea.

Lucius smirked. "Just a warning. I wouldn't get too comfortable, if I were you."

"How'd you get out of Azkaban?" I demanded.

"Security is...shall I say, lax nowadays. Like I said, I just came to warn you. My dearly departed sister made one mistake that cost her life. You two don't stand a chance." His gaze lingered on me and I felt a chill sweep up my back.

"I'd be more worried for yourself," I said, and Adam gave me an exasperated look. "Being in Voldemort's inner circle won't save you forever. How many of his followers has he tired of? And you're not number one anymore."

Lucius' face went white in fury. He raised his wand but I had mine ready first.

"Expelliarmus!" I said quickly.

Adam caught his wand. Lucius looked as though he could have strangled me with his bare hands, but managed to resist.

"We'll let you have a little fun in the trees, Uncle," said Adam. He threw the wand as far as he could into the nearby woods.

"Don't expect an extended life span," Lucius snarled at us, and then glanced at Fred and George. "Nor one for your...friends."

My chest threatened to explode. I hadn't even thought about needing to keep them safe.

"Go fetch your wand," said Adam, though I could tell he was watching me. "You wouldn't want to be even more defenceless, would you?"

I didn't even notice him go.

"What did we do?" I demanded of Adam. "Damn it, we should have ignored him!"

"Rian-" said Adam.

"This is...awful! Bloody hell, if he even thinks about touching them-"

"Rian-" Adam spoke more loudly this time.

"Why didn't we think about that? Association," I said bitterly. "I never should have let them come!"

"Rian." This time it was Fred that spoke. He put a hand on my shoulder. There was a swoop of nervousness as I looked at his face. Not Fred. I glanced at his brother. Not George. Not Adam. Not anyone!

The world felt suddenly incredibly vulnerable. Too many ways to die, too many ways to get at someone to kill them, too many motives to lead to the deaths of people I loved. I stepped closer to Fred and the little circle of our group tightened.

"What happened?" asked George.

"Nothing," I muttered. "Nothing. Let's go."

Of course they both ignored me and glanced at my brother.

"Our uncle wanted to 'warn' us..." Adam glanced at me and then them, "and you."

"Us?" asked Fred, looking baffled.

"Guilty by association, eh?" said George, grinning. "Never thought you would've been the bad influence between the three of us, Head Girl."

This was too much for Fred. "She was 'relieved' of her title. Maybe we were the innocent ones all this time," he said, hardly controlling his laughter. "Shifty devil, you are."

"It isn't funny!" I said. "This is serious."

"Rian, you worry too much," said Fred, hooking his arm around my waist. I sidestepped him, elbowing him in the ribs as well for his trouble.

"Well excuse me, I don't mean to worry with a death threat hanging over our heads," I said sarcastically as Fred winced and stepped beside his brother.

"It's alright," said George.

"Yeah, we forgive you," added Fred, now a safe distance away.

"I swear," I began angrily.

"Rian?" interrupted Adam.

"What?" I demanded, turning toward him.

"We might want to get out of here and discuss this somewhere else." He glanced toward the tree line where Lucius stood silently, watching us with a smirk.

I couldn't help the thought that crept into my mind, the idea of how easy it would be to eliminate him, eliminate the threat against us. But it wouldn't have made a difference; there were twenty Death Eaters waiting to take his place. I was immediately sickened with myself, and shakily I turned away from him.

"Your house," I said tersely to Adam, grabbing hold of Fred and George. A moment later we were in Adam's small living room.

"How can you be so cavalier? This isn't a joke anymore, he's specifically targeting you!" I shouted at them.

"I'm so glad she's taking this calmly," said Fred.

"She's always so cool-headed," agreed George.

"You two think this is funny? I don't believe it! How the hell do you expect to stay alive during this if you refuse to take anything seriously? We're in the Order now; this isn't just helping out every now and then! Adam and I should have kept our mouths shut, and you should be angry with us!"

"Sorry about that, mate," said George. "It's just, you always get so pissed when we try and tell you off. We never know when we should be angry, and when it's your turn."

"Fine. Fine! Don't give a damn. I thought your life mattered more to you. Excuse me for wanting to keep you two alive, after burying my mother this afternoon." I walked out of the door. It was a low blow, throwing that last statement. It was also risky, seeing as how I wasn't all that teary during the funeral, but it was true. Granted, I hadn't had the ideal mother, but she had been a constant, and now she was gone, just like that. I had every right to be worried. So did Adam, for that matter, but he had been strangely quiet during this whole argument, and had just watched me leave. It was Fred who ran after me.

"Where are you going?" he shouted over the sound of the wind, catching up to me.

"I don't know!" I yelled back, not for the volume, but out of anger. "What, you care now?"

"Rian, calm down! Bloody hell, it's not like we're going to try and off ourselves. Are you...are you crying?" he asked, sounding alarmed.

"Of course not!" I said sarcastically, wiping the tears away.

"Rian, come back, it's starting to rain."

"So you're worried about me catching a cold, but not about keeping you two from being targets?" I demanded.

He gripped my arms tightly. "Rian! Blimey. We were already targets! We're children of the biggest blood traitors in the world. Our lot's thrown in with yours and your brother's. We already knew that. Just because Lucius made a comment about us doesn't mean we're in any more danger than we were before. That's why we don't care. Yeah, maybe you shouldn't have gone off on him, but you should know we wouldn't tell you off for that. It doesn't matter. Your brother knows that as well."

I sighed and let him hug me. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to lose you, alright?"

"Well, I don't think panicking is going to help me stay alive at all."

He did have a point. "I'm sorry," I said more sincerely.

"Yeah well, remember that I'm the bloody voice of reason next time you decide to storm out," he said as I wrapped my arms around him. "Can we go back in now? It's cold."

FPOV

We went to the Burrow after that, and though Adam left soon, Rian, George, and I stayed nearly until midnight. Mum monopolized most of Rian's time, but Rian didn't seem to mind. When I'd tried mentioning it, Rian had hurriedly shushed me, and run after Mum. I couldn't help thinking about how both of my parents had known about Rian's family, but kept it to themselves. So, while Rian was off with Mum in the kitchen, I brought up the topic.

Dad sighed.

"Honestly, no one did trust Rian. For those that knew Rian's mother when she was younger, Rian was just like Lavania. Quiet, secluded, temperamental. And that scared a lot of people. But unlike her mother, Rian was raised without a father, a brother that knew what had horrible things had happened to their father, and little attention or influence from her mother. And your mother, bless her, saw that. She was probably the only person that looked at Rian and didn't see Lavania's creation, but a scared little girl that had made friends with you two." Dad paused. "Like her brother, Lavania never made it a secret about how she disliked our family, and your mother knew she'd never 'sink to the level' of sending her daughter to spend time with us, and we were sure she wasn't sent as a spy because that'd still be," Dad coughed, "'unappealing' to her. Rian faced a lot of trouble, I'm sure, for spending all her time here, for being with you two, but Adam somehow persuaded Lavania to let her stay with us."

I stood up and walked around the living room, my heart racing. Seven years, and I'd known none of this. At least five of those seven years, I had been one of her closest friends, if not her closest. "People not trusting Rian? Rian's the most trustworthy person I know!"

"You know," Dad pointed out.

"This is mad," I said.

"It's also very much true," said Dad. "Many in the Order still don't trust her, though Dumbledore let her in. Only those that have actually met her have seen that she isn't her mother. It wouldn't be so bad if Rian didn't know it, but she does. And I know you two are hurt she didn't tell you, but she really was scared that you two would see her like that as well. So try and understand."

"We do," said George and I together.

I couldn't help but think about the conversation later that night, as I was once again in bed with Rian. She'd flat out refused to stay by herself, and even the next room was too far. She was snuggled up against me again, presumably sleeping comfortably. I know I slept better, without the threat of Adam hanging around. This continued for the next few days, until Rian worked up the nerve to visit the house. Kingsley had been able to get her off with no charges, and she hadn't even had to go for a trial. Finally though, she refused to let us go and get things for her, and had her brother accompany her to the house.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come?" I asked, hugging her good-bye. She shook her head, shrugging.

"It's just a house," she said, rolling her eyes at me. "I'll be fine."

"I might believe you if you hadn't just spent a week in my bed."

She gave me a half-hearted glare. "Thanks, for that. I really do appreciate it."

"Will you be alright?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I think I will," she said. "I'll see you around."

I kissed her good-bye and didn't see her until nearly a week later, when George and I went for dinner at the Burrow. We were still using Grimmauld Place as the center for the Order, but Mum and Dad had moved back home, and we went for dinner often. That night we showed up and found most of the Order there, Rian and her brother included. This was a pleasant surprise. We found seats at the table together, and whilst Rian and I touched feet, we chatted with George and Tonks. Tonks was looking a little worse for wear, and her usually outstandingly pink hair was a dull, mousy brown colour. She sat as far from the older Order members as possible, though she wasn't much for conversation around us either. Nonetheless, dinner was enjoyable, and as the weather was unseasonably warm, Mum had us all outside. Dad, George, and I set up some lights so that people could stay even after the sun had gone down.

Rian and I stayed near the edge of the house, catching up quietly. Suddenly Tonks hurried by us, stony faced. We glanced back to see Lupin standing alone near the other side of the house.

"I'll be right back," said Rian quickly, and ran into the house after Tonks. Lupin evaded some of the others that meandered over to talk to him, and Disapparated. There was an awkward tension in the yard that quickly dissipated. A half an hour later, Rian rejoined George and I, where we sat near a large fire.

"What was that all about?" I asked. Rian gave me an exasperated look. "Lupin and Tonks? No."

"Apparently not," agreed Rian. "He...doesn't want her."

"What?" demanded George, who was known to have harboured a liking for Tonks; at least, a year ago he had. "Who wouldn't want her?"

"Oh, I'm sure he wants her," said Rian dryly. "My guess is that he doesn't think he deserves her. Men. Idiots, the lot of them." She shook her head.

"Love," I began, looking at her questioningly. George did the same.

"I mean, except for you two. Most of the time."

"Good as we're going to get, I s'pose."

"Anyone up for a round?" she asked a few minutes later, as most of us were leaving. A few people assented, and we found ourselves once again giving the Leaky Cauldron its sole business.