Part of Rowena wished Genevieve would stop suggesting that clues about the Elder Wand would be found in the library. They had both looked separately - what could they find together? Rowena worked in silence, accepting the company of her classmate, but not relishing it. The hours passed as they pored through book after book, and Mr. Dewey gave them more than a few questioning glances. Not many people studied so hard on a Saturday night, after all. When he kicked them out at ten, Rowena was relieved and got up immediately. Genevieve, however, had much more persistence, checking out a book before they left. "Rowena, take this one, okay?"

"Why?"

"I found it as I was getting up and you never know - it might come in useful."

Rowena sighed and had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes as she placed the book in her satchel. One more book in thousands. Exactly what she needed. One more book to peruse. She loved to read, but this tediousness with no result was getting beyond her ability to tolerate it much longer. "Okay. Good night, Gen. I'll see you in the morning."

"'Night, Ro."

Rhys was nowhere to be found when she got back to the Gryffindor Common Room, but that didn't particularly surprise her. It was late, and something was obviously upsetting him. Hopefully he was just repaying her for her own silence after her mother first appeared and would talk to her about it in the morning. Maybe he'd found something useful after all.

But on the whole, she didn't want to think about Rhys's silence or her quest for the Elder Wand, so she scrounged through her satchel for homework to complete instead. After all, she hadn't had much time for actual school work the last few weeks, and the end of sixth year was a terrible time to get behind. The Common Room slowly emptied, but once she was alone, it took her a few minutes to realize it. Homework was straightforward, even easy, compared to a wild goose chase for a long-lost wand, and she had forgotten herself in completing it. Suppressing a yawn, she stuffed her papers away and began to get ready to go to bed. But in the time it took her to do close her satchel, she wasn't alone anymore.

Seeing her mother for the second time frightened her more than the first. Perhaps because of the memories she'd seen; perhaps because she was expecting her to stay away for awhile and let her work. At any rate, her feelings at their first encounter were those of warm disbelief. Now she was angry and suspicious. Especially since the Resurrection Stone was still safely in her trunk upstairs.

"Mum? You're back."

"I never left, really. Maintaining my form is hard work, but I'm bound here now, visible or invisible, until you can unite the Hallows and bring me back to life. How is that going?"

Rowena took a deep breath. "Well, I've destroyed the Forbidden Forest and read nearly every book in the library, but I don't think I'm any closer to getting information than I was. But Dumbledore knows I'm trying."

"Trying won't bring me back, Ro. You're better than that. I know it. You have to find the Wand! You have one week, Rowena, one more week to find it."

"Until the Stone can't keep you here any longer?" Rowena was quite possibly more surprised than Morgana to hear the hope in her voice. Who wanted their own mother to be gone again?

"No. Until there start to be consequences for your delay. I'm family! I'm your mother! Nothing should be more important than that. If you don't have that Wand by next Saturday, I will start proving to you that nothing will come between us. Be careful what you love, Rowena. I'll take something away from you for every day you are late." Morgana's voice was calm and even as she leaned forward in her chair, closer to her daughter. But there was no sparkle in her eye, no smile playing at her lips. Until that moment, Rowena had hoped that the mother she'd seen Obliviate her as a child, the mother who was cold and calculating toward her husband, was just a side of her that never appeared very often, that the memories she had witnessed just painted her mother in a bad light. Rowena knew then that it wasn't true, and all she could think was Rhys. Not Rhys. Please don't take Rhys.

She tried to keep her voice steady. "Okay. Rhys and Genevieve and I - we'll do everything we can and we'll have the Wand in a week. I promise."

"No."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean no, Rowie. That Scamander girl - she comes from untrustworthy blood, all of them believing in creatures that shouldn't be believed in, a naive little hope that gets in the way of real business. She's nothing but trouble. And Finnegan?! I can't believe you call that twit your friend. Always blabbering on about something or another, keeping you busy trying to save his grades. He's hiding something, Rowie, I'm sure of it. What kind of so-called best friend would hide something? I don't want to see you talking to them, working with them, sending them so much as a sympathetic glance this week. You have work that needs to be done, and I will make sure that you do it alone. Whether you see me or not, I'll be watching." She spoke flatly, but smiled at the end, a kind, motherly smile. "I love you, Rowie. I can't wait to be the mother I've always wanted to be for you."

With that, she was gone. As she left, Rowena remembered the flood of questions she had for her about the memories she'd seen. Were they real? Was she really there, Obliviating her daughter, making her husband lie about her for ten years? What happened in France? "Mum? Mum? I still have questions for you!"

There was no answer. She waited up until the fire died to embers, then trudged up the stairs to her dorm alone. That night, her sleep was fitful at best, but while sleeping, she found herself in the middle of a strange dream.

She was along the Seine in the French countryside. It was pouring down rain and Rowena couldn't seem to keep warm enough. Her hair and clothes were drenched and the river she walked beside was beginning to flood. The grass was turning to mud and she felt like if she wasn't careful, she would end up in the river. She couldn't swim.

Suddenly, Rhys was beside her and the rain began to slow. He held her hand and joked with her, back to being his normal self. She laughed at him and wondered if they were in a relationship. She was surprised at how the idea made her smile. But suddenly, the world around them became dark and her mother appeared ahead of them, seemingly born from the muddy river water, grown to a giant's size. The pouring rain came back when she did, sending chills into Rowena's bones. Looking at her mother, she wondered if she would ever be warm again.

Morgana was much more than an apparition. She was pointing a wand at Rowena and shouting out threats of what would be coming her way. Rowena armed herself, firing curse after curse at her, but none of them were doing any damage. Rhys was trying as well, but per usual, most of his spells were backfiring.

Rhys shoved his wand into her hand. "Use them both, Ro. You're better at practical magic than I am."

"Are you sure? You'll be unarmed."

"I trust you. Just try it!" Confused, Rowena pointed both wands at her mother. Before any spell was fired, Morgana cowered away, turning into a tidal wave that rushed not toward them, but back into the Seine.

And then she was awake. Rattled and nervous, reminding herself it was just a dream, she slowly fell back to sleep. The dream restarted again, and again she woke with a start, the dream ending at the same place. When it repeated the third time, she stayed asleep, but the dream had shifted to something else, and in the morning, it was the normal dream - one of picking flowers in a newly grown Forbidden forest - that she remembered.

Getting ready to go down for breakfast took her longer than normal - she was ill-rested and nervous about facing Rhys. She half-hoped he was still upset with her and not wanting to talk. Ignoring him if he was being his usual friendly self would be a difficult task. Unfortunately, he was waiting for her down in the Common Room, pacing back and forth by the fire. "Rowena! Glad to see you alive and well today! Ready for breakfast?"

"You're talking to me now?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I just had some thoughts I needed to process. But, well, I got a lot of processing done last night while you were in the library, and I can't wait to tell you about it! Want to chat now, or are you hungry? Maybe we should get breakfast first."

"I'm sorry Rhys, not now. I just can't do this."

"Do what? Be friends? Forgive me? Keep searching for the wand?"

She sighed. Rowena wanted his company and help more than anything, but her mother's threats were clear and she knew without her saying that she wouldn't be allowed to explain herself. If her mother were to hurt him... Dumbledore. She didn't know what she would do. It was better to push him away now, get the whole thing over with, and then apologize later than to risk his life by keeping him involved. "Just forget it, okay? I need to be alone for awhile."

She shoved past him and went downstairs for breakfast. Rowena could hear him a few paces behind her, but he didn't try to catch up and she didn't let him. Instead of sitting at their usual spot, she found a place alone at the very end of the Gryffindor table, eating quickly and keeping her head down.

"Rowena?" She had been so focused on ignoring Rhys that she'd blocked everyone out and hadn't heard any footsteps approaching; she turned around to see Genevieve standing before her, looking concerned. "Did something happen between you and Rhys? Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," Rowena said, turning back to her food. "I just need to be alone for awhile."

"Are you sure?" Genevieve sat down, her voice full of concern. "You don't look all right. Did something happen with your mother?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Even as she said the words, harmless as she thought they were, she could hear a whisper in her mind that sounded too much like her mother. You've said too much, now. If you say another word to her... "Just go away, Gen. Leave me alone."

"Fine," she replied, but not sounding it. Rowena watched her leave, heading straight for Rhys. She sat down, engaging him. They talked in hushed whispers at first, close to each other, but soon they were talking and laughing, and even from 50 feet away, Rowena could see the smile in Rhys's eyes. She'd never seen him have a good time without her. She couldn't get up from the table fast enough.

Wanting nothing more than to be alone, Rowena refused to return to the Common Room. On a Sunday morning, it was sure to be crowded, especially when the rain still poured down outside. The rain. It was probably her only chance for solitude. Like always, she carried her satchel, so perhaps she would have a chance to get some work done.

For a moment, as she stepped outside into the downpour, she thought about using the Impervius Charm to protect herself from getting drenched, but she quickly changed her mind. It had been years since she cried at all - it was nice to let the sky cry for her. It almost felt like a purging of her own. She was alone, with a week left to find a Wand that had evaded people for more than a century. If she talked to the only friends she had, she - or they - would be in more danger than they already were. It was all she could do to hold on to the little hope she had as she arrived at a gnarled willow tree, probably more than a thousand years old, and parted its branches to the shelter it provided.

The ground was surprisingly dry - protected by the network of branches and leaves surrounding it - and Rowena felt safe there. Surely, even if someone did come outside in the rain to look for her, the drenched green leaves hanging to the ground made her virtually invisible; she had no need for her Cloak and she was glad for it - as wonderful as the quality seemed to be, she would hate to get it wet.

Instead, she conjured a simple blanket to sit on and began to rummage through her satchel for homework to complete. However, the first thing that caught her eye was the library book Genevieve had handed over late the night beforehand. Rowena shrugged, knowing she had nothing better to do all day, and pulled it out. Under the safety of the branches, she opened its cover and began to read.

It wasn't a book about the Elder Wand. It wasn't about Leila Weasley or the Potter family or Godric's Hollow or any of the other subjects that she'd studied in her mad hunt for clues. It was a book about Liam Finnegan, born about 130 years ago, a man who had done enough good to have it written down, but not so much that his name had survived in common history books over the years. She smiled as she became absorbed into the story of this young man and the work that he had done in Charms over the years. Halfway through, she was certain there was nothing of note that she would find in it, but it felt nice, almost a reminder of the days she would spend reading about Harry Potter. But near the end, it talked about his personal life, and how, in the year 2910, at the age of 32, he finally married one of his oldest friends and schoolmates - Leila Weasley.

Dumbledore's beard.

Was that what Rhys realized? What he was hiding? The wand must be with someone in his family - a great-uncle or whatnot. Rowena couldn't blame him for wanting to keep it all safe, but now - now she needed to talk to him. It didn't matter what her mother had said: which was more important after all? Leaving him out of it or finding the wand? She got up, stuffing the book back into her satchel and Vanishing the blanket. Still soaking wet, she ran across the grounds toward the castle doors, but as she approached, she realized Morgana was already standing there.

"What are you doing here?"

"Keeping you from doing anything stupid. You were about to go get Rhys, weren't you? Can't even manage a few hours on your own."

"I've done just fine on my own! I finally have a clue! I have to go talk to Rhys. Mum, you don't understand, I have to!"

"I told you that he wasn't trustworthy! You can't go confiding every new piece of information in him. You're a Potter, Rowena. You can do this on your own!"

"I know, okay, but you have to let me go talk to him. Not as a friend... as a source. I think I know what he's been hiding - and it's important."

Morgana stood her ground and anger narrowed her once-kind eyes. The sky, dark with thunder clouds, lit up as lightning flashed in the distance. Rowena flinched. It's a coincidence. She can't control the weather. Thunder rumbled. She felt desperate to get inside, out of the storm, away from her mother. She drew her wand. "Let me talk to him! Let me inside or I'll -"

"Or you'll what?" Morgana smiled sinisterly. "I'm dead, remember? What good will your magic do against me?"

The answer, it turned out, was "Enough." A well-placed curse landed on Morgana's chest (how could she call that woman her mother after everything she had done?) and knocked her out of the way. Her body faded and disappeared, but Rowena knew it wouldn't be gone for long. She ran up the stairs towards Gryffindor Tower, slipping with shoes on wet stone floors as she made her way.

Breathless, she arrived in the Common Room, and began shivering from the cold now that she was in a room warm enough to remind her. She cast a drying spell on herself and sat down by the fire, where Rhys was present, looking pensive.

"Rhys? Can I talk to you a moment?"

He looked up, seeming surprised that she was there. "Now you want to talk?"

"Yes, I do. I'm sorry for earlier... see my mother appeared to me again and said - she said I had a week left to find the Wand, and I had to do it without you and Genevieve. She doesn't trust you. Said you were hiding something."

He bit his lip and swallowed. "About that, Ro, I-"

"Not now, let me finish first, okay?"

"But I-"

"Just a second. I'm nearly done. Anyway, last night, Gen gave me one more book to read, and at first I wasn't sure why because it didn't seem related at all. See, it was about a man named Liam Finnegan." She paused, watching understanding and guilt appear on her best friend's face. "At first, I was just enjoying reading about his accomplishments, but then... then it listed his marriage."

"That's what I found at your house, by the way. Not your family tree, but mine. In an old newspaper in the living room, it listed my grandfather's obituary. So I read it, and it talked about his parents - Liam Finnegan and Leila Weasley. Ro, she's my great-grandmother. I didn't know what to think. That's why I wasn't talking to you."

She smiled reassuringly. "It's okay. I get it. Did you figure out what happened to the Wand from there? Is it with an uncle or something?"

"I'm not sure. I meant to write home about it, but haven't had a chance yet. What do I say, anyway? Just ask if there was a wand handed down through the generations? Oh no. Merlin. Dumbledore." Rhys's eyes opened wide and his breathing grew faster. He looked down and couldn't seem to meet her eyes.

"What is it?"

It took him a minute to steady his breathing and look up. "Did I ever tell you that my dad passed my wand down to me? Said it was an heirloom?"

Rowena felt like she could faint.