The second surgery had gone well. Unlike the first one she wasn't required to stay at the hospital after the first night. She would, however, have to wear a heavy brace. It was the same as the previous year so that wasn't a big deal.

She was stretched out on Oliver's bed while he sat on the floor polishing his broomstick.

"Charlotte and I are going to spend the summer in Paris." she had said out of nowhere, watching as he stopped and looked pointedly up at her.

"You're kidding, right?"

Ryn shook her head, "Nope. Her aunt has a house in the city and she said we could stay there if we wanted. Besides, you'll be able to work on your Quidditch notes without me distracting you."

"Yeah, and without you to bounce ideas off of." he grumbled, returning to his previous task.

"You can still write. It won't be that big of a deal if you really need to get a hold of me." she huffed, limping downstairs and leaving.

Oliver sighed, suddenly feeling guilty. She had gone through so much, why shouldn't she have some fun? Even if it was away from him...

"So, what do you think? Pretty awesome, huh?" Charlotte said, opening the doors of the house and stepping into the foyer.

"This place is incredible!" Ryn yelled, hobbling in with her luggage at her side.

It was a good sized two story, with pale green walls and high ceilings. The floors were polished hardwood with thick area rugs in places. There were three bedrooms and two bath, a large kitchen, a dining area, the sitting room, and a decent sized library. All the furniture was immaculate and either overstuffed or polished to a glassy shine. One word to describe it was breathtaking.

For the first few days the girls were busy settling in and getting the supplies they would need to see them through the summer. Ryn's father had seen to getting them an owl so that they would have communication if there was anything they needed and could not get.

But once they were all settled the gloves came off.

"What should we do first?" Char asked over dinner after a week.

"I don't know. What is there to do in Paris?"

The wicked grin on the other girl's face should have been a warning, "Anything and everything we want."

Charlotte had a way with words and a charm about her that convinced Ryn she was part Veela. First they had talked themselves into a fashion show, then a nightclub (or three). The girls worked their way through the city, seeing all the tourist hot spots, and then getting the local input on the best places to dance, to eat, and just about everything else.

One night as the summer wound down, they found a magical tattoo parlor. Figuring what the hell, they went in. Charlotte had a ballet dancer tattooed on her side that twirled, stretched, and flipped her hair. Aderyn, across the lower and right side of her back got a vine with large, bright red roses that open and
closed with the change of night to day.

When the girls returned home Char had been found out, her mother having walked in when she was changing into her dance clothes. Being an only child living with her father, Ryn was able to hide hers.

She immediately wrote to Oliver when she was home, apologizing for not writing sooner. His reply was short, but relieving Ryn of all blame and that he only hoped she'd had a good time.

It was a relief when he dumped a large stack of schedules and schematics on her lap as soon as they were on the Express.

The first one she picked up made her frown, "Oliver, there's 700 different recognized fouls in Quidditch. This looks like you have that and then some against Slytherin."

"Do you think I could get away with any of them?" he asked, completely serious.

"Somehow I doubt it." she shook her head, flipping through the papers.

"Where's Potter?" Ryn asked, looking around the Great Hall.

Oliver had started in on the new Quidditch program he'd been working on and she could feel the exasperation of the team.

"He wasn't on the train. I don't think I saw Ron either..." George looked puzzled for a moment then shrugged it off.

So long as the Seeker showed up before the Slytherin match she figured she didn't need to worry. Shrugging it off as her Beater friend had, she picked up a baked potato.

Sure enough, the next morning there was Potter, with the youngest Weasley brother. Both boys were staring at a Howler that had started to tirade, the voice of a woman echoing through the hall. Having been in that situation before, she felt for the boy. At the same time though she wished she had seen the flying car.

With his new Quidditch program the team was going to start training before all the others. It was only all good in theory, apparently.

From what she had caught, the Slytherin team had invaded the Pitch at the start of practice with a letter giving them permission to for the sake of training their new Seeker.

"The smug look on Flint's face! Just once I'd like to..." he paused in his rant, "Are you doing homework?"

Ryn looked up at him from her place in the armchair, "Oh, yeah. Sorry. I'm listening, really. Want me to turn him into a slug next time I see him?"

"Despite how much pleasure I would get out of that, it would probably be better if you didn't"

She closed the book and tugged him closer to her by his belt, "You sure? I can make it look like an accident. Or I could get the twins to plan something?"

He kissed her, "That's my girl."

Defense Against the Dark Arts was a joke with Lockhart teaching. When he would smile and pose in class Ryn gagged and curled her lip in disgust. Why the majority of the female student body found him attractive she had no idea.

"So Ryn, why aren't you falling all over yourself to get Lockhart's attention like everyone else?" George asked her one day at lunch.

"Why would I? He's so full of himself for accomplishments I'm sure aren't really his." she had explained, and from the sound of her answer she had said it before.

"Now, what about that tattoo we've heard so much about?" Fred asked her critically.

It was weird seeing such a serious expression on either of the twins and she eyed him warily.

"That all depends on who you've been hearing things from..."

They lit up, "You're not denying you have one! Hey, you were right Lee!"

Oliver stared as she rubbed her temples.

"Since when do you have a tattoo?" he asked, the twins instantly turning to him.

"You mean you didn't know?" one of them asked with mock surprise.

"I got it over the summer. Only the girls in my dorm have seen it. When I find out which one has been telling people I swear..." but Ryn was cut off by Lee.

"The more interesting question now is why your boyfriend didn't know about it."

Her face turned pink, "We haven't...There's been no circumstance for him to have seen it."

She stormed out, now completely embarrassed, before they could ask her anymore prying questions.

For the next few days she heard almost every joke involving "wood" and "broomsticks" imaginable. Most people gave up when she didn't react except for Flint and a few other Slytherins.

She was coming out of Ancient Runes when the Slytherin Captain's voice made her skin crawl.

"Hey there Rivers."

"What do you want Flint?" she groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I just wanted to know if you had a little Slytherin in you?"

"And I thought you would be above that line. No, if I wanted to be touched by a troll I'd have the Magical Creatures instructor hook me up." she smirked as Flint's face fell into a scowl.

"Ryn! There you are." Oliver called, making her turn around and sigh thankfully.

Heading off with her boyfriend at her side Ryn noticed her hands shaking.

"Hey Wood! Why don't you take your girl for a late night ride on your broomstick?" one of the Slytherin Beaters called at their retreating backs.

"I can't believe the Slytherin team has nothing better to discuss than your and Oliver's sex life." Bri huffed as they made their way to the Pitch for the first match of the year.

"There isn't anything to talk about and that fact seems to be the point. I just hope this all blows over."

Aderyn got her wish. On Halloween Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, had been petrified, and an eerie message written in blood on the wall.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE

Whatever that meant. There were whispers that Potter had petrified the cat and written the message.

Rubbish. At least, for the sake of the Quidditch team, she hoped it was.

Oliver was tense. He knew for a fact that there would be words exchanged and he had to keep calm. The second he was in the air he found Ryn. She usually picked the same area to sit and today she was wearing a sweater that looked familiar. He smiled to himself when he recognized it as one of his. Despite the rumors and torment, Ryn was still Ryn.

It didn't take long for Potter to wipe the Pitch with Malfoy, capturing the Snitch. He had taken a Bludger to the arm in the process and Lockhart, being the overeager idiot he is, ended up removing the bones in the second year's arm instead of mending the break. Luckily Madame Pomfrey was able to fix up the Seeker.

Bri was at a loss with her boyfriend being in his last year, she was eager to spend as much time with him as she could. That got a little frustrating at times, but Ryn managed to get her friend alone once in a while for some much needed 'girl time'. Sure, she could handle her male friends for a while, but sometimes she just wanted to talk about irrelevant things besides sports or school and to remind herself she was still female.

"Did you find the gossip in your dorm?" Bri asked.

"Nope, but I don't care anymore. I'm proud of my roses." she told her friend, a proud smile on her face.

The week before Christmas holidays Ryn had been working on an essay every night for hours. By the end of the week it was easily several feet.

"What on earth are you working on?" Oliver had asked, amazed at the sheer length of the work.

"It's a thesis for McGonagall. She's offered to take me on as an understudy next year, but I have to present her a thesis for consideration by the Headmaster." she explained, never looking up from the writing.

"Well, I'm heading down to the Dueling Club. Sure you aren't interested?"

She just shook her head, pausing to dip her quill in , from the accounts of her friends, there had been an incident at the Dueling Club with Harry Potter and a snake. Turns out that he was a Parselmouth. So, naturally, it was assumed he was the heir of Slytherin who had been attacking muggle-borns.

By the time the holidays arrived she had her thesis finished and submitted.

"Are you nervous?" he asked her the first day of the break.

She shrugged, "Not really. Either I get it or I don't. It would be nice, but all the same, I would like my last year to be a little relaxed."

"I wasn't sure you even knew what 'relaxed' meant. Oh, I got you something."

Her boyfriend dashed up to his dorm and she pulled a box from under the neighboring armchair. He would be leaving in the morning so now was the best time to give him his gift. They exchanged the boxes in their hands, and he watched expectantly as she unwrapped hers.

"I know you don't really wear jewelry but..."he started.

She pulled the lid off, "No, it's perfect. A Snitch. I love it." she held it up and it glittered in the light. And all she got him was a new pair of practice gloves...

He helped her put it on, fastening the small clasp.

"I'm never taking this off." she said, kissing him.

Students started returning and with them came a letter from Dumbledore. At first Ryn was terrified, afraid she had done something very wrong, only to find out that it was a congratulations on writing such a detailed thesis and that McGonagall would have a wonderful understudy for next year.

Oliver was surprised to see Ryn dancing when he entered the Common Room. Either she was sick in the head or she had just received some great news.

"Oh! Ollie you're back!" yeah, definitely good news.

"What's got you so excited?" he walked over to her, smiling.

"I've been accepted to be McGonagall's understudy!" she chirped, throwing her arms around his neck.

He hugged her, "I knew you would be."

The first week of March was the Hufflepuff game. Ryn walked down with the team, talking to the Chasers as the boys had just kicked off when McGonagall came rushing up.

"I'm sorry, but the game's been cancelled. You all are to return to the castle at once." she snapped, and edge of fear in her voice.

"But you can't cancel Quidditch!" Oliver reeled.

"I'm sorry Wood, but it is for everyone's safety." and she disappeared back in the direction she had come, still shouting that the match had been cancelled.

Ryn grabbed Oliver's arm. He looked like the rug had just been pulled from under him. What was he going to do without Quidditch?

Besides meals and classes students were confined to the Common areas unless escorted by a teacher. To kill boredom and maintain some sanity Ryn and her Chaser friends would throw her Quaffle around, making a game out of it. You weren't allowed to hit another student, no portraits, no ghosts, but furniture was worth 5 points, walls worth 10. The objective was to hit as many inanimate objects while the other three tried to block your shot.

Ryn was always the first to drop out because her knee would start to ache. Today she slumped down in an armchair by the fire, her bad leg propped up on an ottoman.

"You really should be taking it easy." he scolded, sitting on the ottoman.

She let him take the brace off but flinched when he traced the silvery scars.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No, it's just...I know it looks bad." she tried to pull her leg away from him but he placed a hand on her thigh to stop her.

"Rinni, you've seen me in far worse shape. Besides, what Quidditch player doesn't have scars?"

With that she relaxed a little, letting him massage the sore joint.

"How are you holding up without Quidditch?" she asked him, putting a hand on his arm.

He shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly, "I'll live. It's nice of you to keep my Chasers in shape though."

That night they lay curled up together by the fire, both on the verge of sleep.

"Are you going to be around this summer or are you leaving me again?" he asked, wrapping his arms tighter around her.

"No, I'll be around." she mumbled sleepily.

"Why didn't you write me when I was away?" her voice was thick with sleep.

It was a moment before he answered, and Ryn had turned in his arms to look at him, "I would have just asked you to come back."

"And I would have, you know..."she yawned, "I love you Ollie."

He watched her eyes flutter closed as sleep finally claimed her.

"I love you too Ryn." he whispered into her hair before succumbing to sleep himself.

A few days before exams McGonagall came into Gryffindor tower one evening and addressed all the students. The school was closing and the Hogwarts Express would arrive in the morning to take everyone home. It turns out that Ginny Weasley had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets. One look at Fred and George's faces made Ryn's heart weep, to have lost a sibling in such a terrible way...oh what they must be thinking.

It was a relief when Ginny was rescued and the Chamber closed. As a gift to all the student and stressed professors, exams had been cancelled.

Waiting for their parents back at King's Cross after term had ended, Oliver overheard Bri and Ryn talking.

"You've never really been with anyone else. You went on one date with Percy, but that was it."

"I guess. But I could say the same thing about you and Josh. And you two have been together longer than Ollie and I have.

"Fair enough. Answer me truthfully though; Rinni...doesn't all the Quidditch talk get boring?"

Ryn laughed, "Bri, that's what I have you and Charlotte for. Besides, we both grew up playing. It's not like I don't enjoy talking about it. Sometimes he can get a little carried away, but I love that about him. It goes to show that he knows what it means to put 110% of yourself into something you're passionate about. I love Oliver for being well, Oliver."

"That makes you two what, childhood sweethearts, or soul mates or something?" Bri asked, now intrigued.

"Nah, we're just lucky."