The next morning Ashlynn walked into Alice's room where Lily and they were enjoying their breakfast in bed. Ashlynn smiled at them as she sat on the overstuffed armchair. "Ashlynn." Alice said after she swallowed her bite of the strawberry covered crêpe. "I've decided I'm never leaving here. This food is magnificent."
Ashlynn laughed softly and nodded. "You will get sick of it after a while. One entire summer I ate crêpes everyday for breakfast, I haven't really eaten them since then."
Lily gasped as she dropped her fork staring at Ashlynn. "How could you pass these up they are heaven?" She asked with a smile.
Ashlynn smirked and shrugged. "Easily I grew up on them. I had a croissant for breakfast now those are heaven." She said with a grin then with a shrug she looked up at the other women. "I actually came in here to invite you on a tour of Château De Lenfent."
Alice and Lily nodded. "Sounds like a plan." Lily said with an easy smile. So far, all they had seen was their bedrooms and the dining room.
Ashlynn smiled happily. "Well then I suggest you dress warmly as we will be going outside and a new layer of snow fell last night." She said with a smile.
An hour later, the two girls joined Ashlynn in the hall. Ashlynn was already wearing a waist length red trench coat that went well her red sweater and black slacks. She smiled at them as she placed a red beret on her head and pulled on some black leather gloves. "Well you look very French." Alice said with a smile.
Ashlynn laughed as she pointed to two trench coats hanging by the door. "My Grand-mère took the liberty of buying you two your own set of course. Lily she choose the green set for you and Alice the purple set is yours. She thinks we need proper attire if we are going to be seen around Château De Lenfent." She said with a small smirk.
Alice frowned a bit as she donned the purple trench coat and purple beret. "Your grandmother is very into how someone looks isn't she?" She asked.
Ashlynn nodded and shrugged. "It was how she was raised and how my Grand-père was too. Wealth and class are two core ideas of the De Lenfents. They don't care if your muggle, Muggleborn, halfblood, or pureblood as long as you present yourself in a dignified way." She said as Jullien came in holding a camera.
"Don't you ladies just look amazing." He said with a smile. "Here allow me to take a picture of you three."
Soon enough he was leading the way out of the house and down the steps where a large carriage with no top. "I took the liberty of charming the blankets to keep you warm." Jullien said as he held out his hand to help Ashlynn in the carriage.
Once all three girls were settled in, the carriage Jullien tapped the carriage and away it went. They had only gone a bit before Ashlynn pointed to a small building they were coming up on. "That is my Grand-père's Grande Ecurie." Ashlynn said slipping into the French titles. She then shook her head and smiled. "His stables." She corrected quickly. "He has four palominos that Madame Maxime gave him as a present." Ashlynn smiled again and thought about the four winged horses the giant of a woman had given him when she was just ten.
"Palominos!" Alice cried. "I've always wanted to see them up close."
Ashlynn and Lily laughed. "Well maybe if my Grand-père feels up to it later this afternoon he will show us. No one but he, Jullien, and his stable master can control them." She said with a smirk.
The carriage turned towards another gated area that opened slowly on its own. "The gardens." Ashlynn said with a smile. "I wish it wasn't winter one day you both will have to come back when it's spring time. The whole garden blooms, not just the area we are going to now."
"Wait there is flowers blooming right now?" Lily asked softly.
Ashlynn nodded. "My Grand-mère's pride and joy, the garden that blooms all year long." She said with a smile as the carriage went around a bend. Lily and Alice gasped as the beautiful winter garden came into view. The blooms were all dusted with snow causing them to glisten in the sunlight.
"It's so beautiful." Lily cried. "I've never seen anything so beautiful."
Alice nodded in agreement. "I can't believe something so beautiful can bloom in the middle of the winter." She whispered her breath creating a cloud of smoke.
A half hour later, the carriage pulled up in the back of the Château filled with the laughter from the three women. Jullien appeared suddenly dashing out into the cold air without a jacket. He arrived at the carriage smiling and holding out his hand ready to help the ladies out. "Did you enjoy the tour ladies?" He asked as he helped Ashlynn down who was grinning showing off her rosy cheeks from the cold winter air.
Lily nodded. "It was very enjoyable, thank you for the charm to keep the blankets warm." She said as he helped her out.
"Well I'm glad that the charm was helpful." Jullien said as he helped Alice down slowly. "Now if you follow me ladies there's a lunch waiting to warm you up."
Sirius rubbed at his five o'clock shadow slowly, if Ashlynn had been here she would have made him shave but since she was gone for a bit, he had not bothered to. James smiled up at him though both were dead on their feet. They had spent the night camped out watching Malfoy Manor again. "Do you think you'll be able to make it back to Hogwarts when they relieve us?" James asked as he suppressed a yawn.
Sirius' eyes fluttered for a moment before he shrugged. In a slow sluggish voice, he said. "Who knows maybe I'll just sleep here." He lay down on the cold ground.
James laughed and shook his head. "What's it like being a father?" He asked suddenly.
Sirius sat straight up and looked at his best friend meaningfully. "You can't laugh or anything understand?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. James nodded slowly and turned to look at his best friend. After a moments silence Sirius said. "It's the most amazing and frightening experience of my life. Holding Aludra for that first time was just as thrilling as every other time. My life was turned upside down when I held her in my arms that first time. I realized my life wasn't about me anymore it was about her."
James smiled at Sirius' explanation. "I can't believe this is the same Sirius Black I've known for years."
Sirius laughed and shook his head. "Well we all have to grow up Prongs. I just did it faster then you." He said with an evil grin
James laughed and patted Sirius' back. "You may have done it faster but I'll do it better." With that, he stood up and ran away before Sirius could hex him.
Ashlynn stood at the window waiting for the owl she was sure Sirius had sent. He wouldn't leave her waiting just because she was in France would he? She had left Petrie the little elf owl that he had bought her. Then again she hopped he did not send Petrie as he was such a little owl and it was a far distance for him.
She heard door opened and someone came in and touched her shoulder. She turned around and was staring into the eyes of Jullien. They were a gorgeous chocolate brown and a smile played on his face. "Mon cher." He said softly as he brushed her blonde hair out of her face. "Je vous ai manqué."
Ashlynn pulled away shocked shaking her head and in English, she said. "Jullien, I'm not your dear, nor do I care if you missed me."
A frown crossed his handsome face and he said. "You said you loved me before…" He began but she waved him away.
"Jullien I was fifteen when I was here last. I'm eighteen now, I'm married and I have a child with my husband." She said shaking her head.
"I thought you hated Rabastan!" He cried unhappily.
"I didn't marry Rabastan Lestrange." She said softly. "I married Sirius Black he is the love of my life."
Jullien straighten up as he had been slapped and he nodded a frown gracing his handsome face, "I see. Well then I will take my leave." He said softly and then walked away slowly.
Ashlynn sighed softly and turned back to the window when she saw poor little Petrie fluttering outside her window. She ran over and flung open the window letting the owl with the cold air and snow in. Once Petrie was in she shut and locked the window and petted her little elf owl before untying his letter. "Go on Petrie I'm sure there's a meal waiting for you in the owlery." She said with a smile. Her Grand-mère had put in an owlery for her family of owls she had bought.
Quickly turning back to the letter in her hand, she sat down and picked up the letter opener that held Fleur-de-lis symbol on it. Her grandmother had always bragged that her family had been given it by Marie Antoinette. Ashlynn laughed as she opened the letter and smiled to see Sirius' handwriting.
Sirius made his way through the dark tonight was what the Order had worked long and hard for. Tonight they were going to hopefully take down all the Death Eaters. The first step in ending this war. If the Dark Lord had no followers, he had no war. Thus, he would be easily defeated.
He felt James and Remus on either side of him as they made their way through the dark woods. Dumbledore had chosen a moonless night for this mission. "It's such a pain in the ass." He mumbled pointing up at the sky and looking back at James who nodded with a smile.
He wondered if he would ever see Ashlynn again. They had all known this mission could be a suicidal mission. Though they had not told their wives that it could be they would never have allowed them to do. Sirius' thoughts went back to Ashlynn and he sighed, she would not be happy with that letter he wrote to her had been a goodbye in case he did not come back. James and Frank had done the same thing for their wives.
Finally, they reached the outer rim of a clearing. The few lights from the clearing were bright green. The people were all masked and in a large huddle speaking in hushed whispers. They were waiting for their lord, if only they could take them now they need not worry about him showing up. Sadly, they had to wait until everyone was in place and wait for Dumbledore's signal.
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Ashlynn sat in the den with Alice and Lily that night waiting for an owl from any of the three men about how the mission went. All three had become extremely nervous after reading the letters they received from their husbands. Lily gnawed on her lip anxiously; Alice nervously clutched a tissue ripping it into smaller and smaller bits, while Ashlynn stared at the empty space. The only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock.
Ashlynn suddenly moved as she yanked up her long sleeve and exposed the dark mark that was black as night on her skin. "Does it hurt at all?" Lily asked softly when she saw the mark on her friend's skin.
Ashlynn nodded slowly. "It's a steady ache that gets worse the more ignore it." She whispered. She hated the mark that marred her pale skin, she had tired everything and anything to get rid of it yet it still burned on her forearm.
"How does it work?" Alice asked not trying to sound to interested but it was something to keep her mind off James and the dangerous mission he was on.
Ashlynn shrugged. "He calls us to him by touching another person's mark. It's hard to ignore it at first but now it's just a mere annoyance." She said softly as she stood up. "I should be there with Sirius."
"No your right where you need to be Ashlynn." Lily said. "We are here to protect our families."
"No you two are here because you're pregnant. I am here because Sirius thinks I am a child and I cannot duel. I learned from Lucius Malfoy, I know his weaknesses." Ashlynn cried unhappily.
Alice came up behind Ashlynn and patted her shoulder. "Think about it if you know his weaknesses then he knows yours. It's better this way." Ashlynn shrugged away from Alice and stormed away quickly.
Alice made to go after her but Lily grabbed her hand. "Just let her go Alice." She said softly. "She's scared like the rest of us."
"She sure doesn't show it like the rest of us." Alice said with a frown.
Lily nodded slowly and sadly. "She wasn't raised like the rest of us. Come on Malfoys don't even laugh in public, do you think the laugh behind closed doors?" Alice nodded and the two girls sat back down waiting for an owl from their men.
A twig snapped under Sirius' foot as he made his way forward he groaned and closed his eyes. The death eaters stopped for a moment and then shrugged it away as an animal. He breathed a sigh of relief as James nudged him in the darkness and mouthed. 'Nice one.'
Sirius smiled recklessly at his best friend as they saw the signal. Everyone sprang into action the circle of Death Eaters was surrounded instantly by members of the Order. A loud women's voice called out. "Crucio!" The spell hit one of their members and Sirius turned towards Bellatrix.
"Damn you Bellatrix!" Sirius cried as he sent his own cruciatus towards her.
Bellatrix sprung at her cousin, her brother in law touched his shoulder. "This one is mine." Rabastan said as he advanced towards Sirius.
Sirius grinned as he flicked his wand. "Protego horribilis." He cried.
"Scared Black?" Rabastan asked as he raised his wand.
"You wish Lestrange!" Sirius said softly.
The battle was ranging all around him as he dueled Rabastan. It was mass chaos and he backed into someone. He cried out and was about to turn around when James' voice said. "It's just me. I got your back."
Sirius was just about to send a disarming spell towards Rabastan when the clearing went silent. The members of the order were all that was left there. "He called them to him." James whispered.
"Fuck!" Sirius cried as he kicked at the dirt. "How was he warned? They barely put up a fight!"
James shook his and shrugged. "He was warned somehow." James whispered. "But there was only one person with a dark mark not accounted for Sirius."
Sirius turned and glared at his best friend. "Don't even try to blame Ashlynn for this James." He said his voice full of menace. "My wife isn't like them! Plus she is in France, owl your wife and you will see!" With thank he walked away slowly from his best friend.
Remus and Frank walked up next to James and sighed. "You think Ashlynn warned him?" Remus asked amazed that James would even think it. Remus thought that James of all people trusted the Malfoy girl.
James shrugged. "I hate to say it but I think she might have. I mean she's the only one with the dark mark that wasn't here." He whispered.
"Because we sent our wives to France, James. It isn't right for you to accuse her." Frank said. "You have to have a little more faith in people. Plus Sirius knows her best we can't blame her unless he thinks we can." James shrugged and walked away slowly.
Frank shook his head and looked at Remus. "What do you think Remus?" He asked. He knew that Remus had been spending a lot of time with the Blacks lately and had gotten close to Ashlynn.
Remus smiled at Frank and sighed. "Ashlynn is a very loyal person to Sirius, and Dumbledore. Therefore, in extension she is loyal to the Order. I would never think she would be able to betray Sirius like this." Remus said with a smile. "She's devoted to Sirius and their child. I don't know where James is coming off trying to blame Ashlynn really."
Frank nodded and patted Remus' back. "It's good to know that you trust her Remus. It puts my mind at ease. Maybe Potter's just upset that Ashlynn stole his best friend."
Remus laughed and shrugged. "Who knows what's going on in James Potter's mind? I know that if Lily finds out he's blaming Ashlynn he's going to get an earful." He said with a smile but in the back of his mind, he wondered if Ashlynn really had been able to warn the Dark Lord from France. He prayed that she had not as it would kill his other best friend Sirius Black.
Thank you guys for reading please take a mintue of your time and leave a tiny review for me! Thank you!! -Lena Knight