Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, nor will I ever be. Therefore, I do not own Harry Potter or it's characters... Just wanted to make that clear... haha

This story is rated T for foul language

Chapter 24

Ari's POV

I continue to stare at the TV as Eli grips my hand tightly. Brittney is standing next to me with her hand on my shoulder and I can feel Harry staring at me. Everyone else is staring at the TV intently.

My dad sneers at the camera and says, "Hello wizarding population. I'm sure you are all wondering why I am interrupting your favorite TV shows right now. The answer is simple: I am recruiting. You see, I am going to be waging a war on the American muggles and I could use as many people fighting with me as possible. Why American muggles, you ask? Because, they have been killing American wizards simply for existing! WE are the superior ones in this scenario and I intend on making them realize that. Join me, Lord Brighton, and let the American muggles know that we will not go quietly!"

Applause erupts around him as he raises his hands up in victory. James looks up at me with a frown. "Are you sure that's your dad? Maybe it's just someone who looks like him…"

The applause dies down and my dad narrows his eyes cynically at the camera as he says, "And to my daughter, Ariana Elizabeth Brighton, I just wanted to say I'm so glad you decided to join me in this…"

I look at James with clenched fists. "I'm positive that's him…"

Draco gives a low whistle before he says, "And I thought my dad was bad…"

I narrow my eyes at the TV and clench my teeth together. "I hate him so much…"

Ginny looks around the room with a worried expression. "Did anyone else notice what he just did?"

I nod angrily. "I know exactly what he did… He just made his fight sound like a worthy cause. 'Let's help save our wizarding brethren from the terrible American muggles.' Now wizards will join him because they think they are saving our kind rather than wiping out the innocent muggles…" I glare at the TV for another second before I grunt angrily. "I need some air." I stomp out of the living room and out the front door, slamming the door shut behind me.

As soon as my feet hit the sidewalk, my momentum picks up to the point where I'm running away from Grimmauld place. I don't really know where I'm running to, I just know I need to get away, so I let my feet carry me down the sidewalk rapidly. Once I get close enough to see the cemetery, I realize that I really had known where I was going all along. I run over to the familiar headstone and take a seat in front of it. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. "Hey Carter… You'll never guess what just happened…"

James' POV

"Dad, shouldn't someone go after her? We just got her back… What if someone takes her again? I mean, she is out there alone right now…"

Dad shakes his head. "James, she just found out that the father she thought was dead for two years is not only alive, but the person who has killed most of her friends and has been trying to kill her for the past two years. She needs some time alone."

I look at the TV with a frown. "So that's her dad, huh? I wonder if they got along…"

Eli and Brittney both scoff at the same time. Eli shakes his head with a frown. "Hell no they didn't! He had days where he was nice to her, but those were few and far between. Ari used to spend weeks at our house to get away from her dad!"

I look at him quizzically. "Why did she need to get away?"

Brittney laughs angrily. "Because he was king of the assholes! After her mom died, he went off the deep end, punishing her for anything and everything. But Ariana continued to go back to him because her only goal in life was to make her dad proud. She just wanted him to accept her the way she was, but that never happened, which is why she is so competitive. She always figured if she was the best, then he would like her. It was sickening…"

Draco shakes his head. "You lot really just don't understand…"

I look over at him angrily. "And you do?"

He nods solemnly. "Actually yes, I do. But that's not what we need to be focusing on right now. Potter, what are you going to do when she goes back to Hogwarts? She's going to be targeted now that people think she's a Death Eater bent on killing off American muggles…"

Dad shrugs his shoulders. "I think she can handle it. She's a tough girl and she's been through much worse than this."

Draco looks down at his hands with a sad expression, which makes me think he knows something we don't. I speak up, keeping my eyes on Draco. "I'll be sure to watch over her."

Freddie nods firmly. "She's my best mate. I'm with her until the end."

Al and Landen look at each other and nod. "Us too."

Eli and Brittney laugh. "We've been with her since day one and nothing is going to change."

Dad looks at all of us with a smile. "I'm very proud of all of you. This isn't going to be easy for any of you but, if you stick together, I believe you all can get through this."

Neville stands up with a sigh. "I will be returning to Hogwarts as well, so I'll keep an eye on her as well."

Mum grins at him. "Oh thank you Neville!"

I turn the TV off and sigh. "What are you going to do about Lord Brighton, dad?"

He shakes his head. "There's nothing I can do… This really is up to Ariana."

Draco gets up from his chair abruptly. "I have to go home. Astoria and Scorpius are probably curious as to where I am. Potter, when you're ready for her to learn occlumency, just send her to my house." Dad nods to him and he apparates away.

I look at the door sullenly. "I wonder where she went…"

Ari's POV

"…Pretty crazy, right? Who knew that my asshole of a father was really alive and posing as someone else as a Dark Lord? By the way, I'm really sorry I haven't been here to visit you in over a year… It's been a rough year… That's no excuse though! I'm a terrible friend and I'm sorry." I wave Cass' wand in front of the headstone and a wreath appears leaning against the headstone. I place a hand on the headstone and sigh. "I miss you Carter. I'll come see you again once I've dealt with my dad."

I walk out of the cemetery and walk back toward the house, only to realize that I'm not ready to go back yet. So I stop at the park near the house and take a seat on a swing and stare at my shoes. How the hell did he fool everyone into thinking he was dead? I'm positive he was dead! I pulled his burned body out of the house! Bloody hell, how am I going to kill him? I can't possibly kill him now… I already had reservations with having to kill someone I didn't know, killing my own flesh and blood is going to be next to impossible! What am I going to do now?

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

I look up from the ground and see a tall boy who looks to be about sixteen or seventeen pointing to the swing next to me. He has short dark brown hair, brown eyes, chocolate colored skin and full lips pulled up into a small smile. I nod and look back at the ground.

"What brings you out here?"

I look at him and let out a laugh. What has brought me out here? "Um… I just had to get away for a bit."

He nods. "Hmm, me too… Was it your mom or your dad?"

My hands tighten around the chains that hold up the swing as I acidly say, "My dad."

He nods again. "Ah. The ever popular daddy issues…"

I smirk at ground. "Yea, something like that."

"Me too. Well, sort of… I was just at my dad's funeral. So it was more like the last daddy issue I'll ever have."

I look up at him and frown. "I'm so sorry. Do you mind if I ask what happened?"

He shakes his head. "Not at all. We were moving from our house in Washington when the house exploded. My mom, sister and I were out getting more boxes when it happened, which is why we're all still here."

I hadn't even noticed that he had an American accent or at least, the lack of an English accent, when he was talking. I look back at the ground. I wonder if my dad killed his dad… "I'm really sorry for your loss."

He looks at me with a smirk. "Hey now, there will be none of that! I came out here to get away from all that!"

I hold up my hands with a laugh. "Sorry, sorry."

He shrugs his shoulders. "S'alright. So what about you?"

I thought my dad was dead but he is, in fact, very much alive. He's also trying to get a load of wizards to murder innocent American muggles, probably including your dad, just for not being magical. "Oh you know, just a bit of a disagreement with my dad."

He nods. "Those are the worst. What was it abo-"

"Dom! Dominique!"

He rolls his eyes with a groan. "Ah hell... OVER HERE MOM!"

A woman who looks to be in her thirties jogs over to us. "Dom, you can't just run off like that! There are still people who want to give us their condolences and it's only polite that we accept them."

He rolls his eyes again and gets up off the swing. He looks at me and smiles. "I didn't catch your name…"

"Ari."

"Well, Ari, thank you for the stimulating conversation. It was nice to meet you and good luck with your dad."

I nod my thanks with a smile. "And good luck with the funeral."

He grins at me and walks away with his mum. A few moments pass before I hear a faint "Pop!" from behind the playground area. I roll my eyes and turn around with a smirk and a huff. "I'm pretty sure the point of leaving the house was to be alone…"

Eli pokes his head out from behind the slide. "We just wanted to check on you…"

"We?"

Freddie, Brittney, James, Landen and Al all poke their heads out from behind different spots on the playground with sheepish grins spread across their faces. James walks out first. "We'll leave if you really want to be alone…"

Freddie shakes his head as he walks over and takes a seat on a swing. "I won't! I want to swing!"

I roll my eyes again with a laugh. "Well gee, thanks for being considerate Fred! But I'm doing better now, so you lot can stay."

Everyone races to the remaining four swings as fast as they can and everyone except Al gets a swing. He looks at all of us with a frown. "You lot are a bunch of prats, you know that?"

I get up from my swing with a laugh. "Al, you can have my swing. I'll share with Eli, Landen or James."

Eli laughs loudly. "Why'd you even say me and Landen's names? We all know who you're going to share a swing with!"

I flip him off as I walk over and take a seat on James' lap. He wraps his arms around my waist and laughs. "Was he wrong?"

I shake my head and push my lip out into a pout. "No, but he didn't have to say it out loud…"

Eli clutches his sides as he roars with laughter, which eggs on everyone else and entices a fit of laughter from my so-called friends. After the laughter has died down, we all sit in a still silence. James breaks the silence first. He rests his chin on my shoulder and sighs. "Ari, what are you going to do?"

I shrug my shoulders and plainly say, "I'm going to kill him."

Al looks over at me with wide eyes. "But he's your dad!"

I let out a dark laugh. "Wrong. He's a horrid person and a sorry excuse for a father who doesn't deserve the life he was given."

Landen frowns. "You know, you, Eli and Bri keep saying he was a terrible father, but I still don't see it…"

Eli glares at Landen and scoffs. "You mean you need more proof than the fact that he's trying to murder a bunch of innocent American muggles?"

Landen holds his hands up defensively. "Hey! Calm down, mate. I'm just saying that, although he IS a bad guy, he IS still her dad."

I let out another cynical laugh as I glare at the ground. "If you knew what my childhood was like after my mom died, if you lived through it like the three of us did, you would understand… He was a bloody raging alcoholic and horribly abusive."

James tightens his grip around my waist and tenses up. "He used to hit you?"

I nod with an angry laugh. "Hit, kick, push, throw, curse… You name it, he did it. I could always tell when it was coming, too. It was always after he drank profusely and he would always come looking for me, using the blasted nickname my mum came up with. 'Little fireball… Little fireball… Where are you, little fireball?' I remember the feeling I got in the pit of my stomach every time I heard him say that name… I would crawl under my bed to hide, silently hoping he wouldn't find me. He always did, though. Always…"

Freddie gasps in realization. "Wait, so back in America, in your first dream, he called you little fireball… You didn't figure it out then?"

I shake my head. "Honestly, it never crossed my mind that Caledon could really be my dad. I figured he just had a way of knowing about the things I feared…"

Al clears his throat. "Ari, why didn't you leave?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Because… I thought I deserved it. I had killed my mum and his abuse was my punishment for it. I mean, honestly! If my own dad was convinced that I deserved it, then I was sure that I did because 'father knows best', right?"

He shakes his head angrily. "Well did you at least tell anyone?"

"Not at first… Some rather nosy siblings I knew persistently bothered me about my marks until I finally told them though. They may have been my friends since birth, but they are particularly dense." I look at Brittney and Eli with a smile. They look at each other then return my smile.

Brittney holds up her hand. "I would just like to point out that I had my suspicions, but Ari has always been particularly good at hiding when she is in pain."

My smile fades as I glare at my hands. "He wasn't just a hitter, though. He used to practice dark magic and awful spells on me. As Bri said, I learned how to hide any signs of pain early on. So, when physical abuse didn't give him the results he wanted, he resorted to magic… He found so much joy in the pain he caused…"

James lets out a sigh. "I'm so sorry, Ari…"

I firmly shake my head with a frown. "No. I didn't tell you about this so you could feel sorry for me. I've had enough sympathy to last a lifetime… I told you lot about this so that you could understand that he's ruthless… I mean, he was willing to abuse his own daughter! He will have no problem killing any of you… Don't forget that."

Everyone looks at each other uneasily as the harsh reality of our situation sinks in. I clear my throat as I take in their expressions. "Look, you lot don't have to go with me when I fight him. I'm perfectly fine with doing this on my own…"

Eli laughs loudly. "And you said Bri and I were dense!"

Freddie nods his agreement. "Ari, some of us have literally been with you since the beginning of this. If you couldn't get rid of us then, you're not going to get rid of us now."

I roll my eyes at him. "The stakes are much higher this time…"

James laughs cynically. "Tell that to Carter, Bells, Tori, Rach and Logan. The stakes are the same no matter when we fight him."

"I guess… I just don't want you guys to feel like you have to do this…"

This time Al laughs. "Ari, get it through that thick head of yours! We're with you to the end…"

The others dramatically vocalize their agreements. James nods. "You need us… Don't forget that."

I nod with a grin. "Yes sir." I look at the faces of the people around me and sigh. I hope we're ready for this…

Yikes... Pretty intense, right?

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions about it! :)

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Thank yall for your support! :)

-Tx