WARNINGS: Graphic sexual scenes (including non-con/rape), Sexuality, Implicit drug use, Explicit drug use, Alcohol abuse, Underage drinking, Self-harm, Depression, Anorexia, Language, Pregnancy (teen)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter. Any canon characters or situations are property of J.K. Rowling and her affiliates. I do not make money from writing or posting this story, and do it only for my own and my readers' enjoyment.

Chapter 2 – Arrival

December 22

At about six in the morning, Arthur Weasley made his way downstairs. "Good morning," he greeted Molly and Sirius, who were still clamored around the hearth. Both of their heads snapped up, each shushing him with a silent finger pressed strictly to their lips. But it was too late; Aria had woken up, after only getting an hour or so of sleep. She rubbed her eyes gently and blinked. She looked over at Arthur and sighed, before laying her head back down on her knees. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Aria," he apologized, his voice much softer. She merely shrugged and closed her eyes again. She knew that many of the other members of the Order would be coming soon for the breakfast Molly would make. But she didn't want to leave her place, even if it meant she wouldn't sleep until much later.

She took a deep breath and spun around, facing the other direction completely, her back to the calming fire. Arthur looked down at her, his eyes wide with worry. "Aria, what hap—?" he started. Sirius cut him off by coughing loudly and shooting him a sharp look. He swallowed his words and went about the kitchen, pouring himself a mug of coffee. He couldn't hide the shocked expression he wore though, his mouth dipping in a frown and his eyes wide as dinner plates.

Aria lifted her head but winced, the movement causing her head to pound once more. She blushed, the color obvious on her pale cheeks, and put her head back down. "I'll get you a pain potion," Molly promised, not even bothering to inquire why the girl hurt so much. Aria was very thankful that her only mother-like figure was leaving her be and not nosing around.

She accepted the pain potion with a feeble smile. Swallowing the little vial in one gulp, she handed it back.

"There's a bit of a sleep aid in it also, so you can go upstairs and get some proper rest," the woman added, bringing the empty vial to the sink.

Aria's eyes widened in fright, betrayal flashing through her watery eyes. "But I-I don't want t-t-to s-sleep." She finally spoke, her voice almost inaudible and shaking horribly.

Molly's eyes softened and she laid a hand on the girl's shoulder, making the girl shudder involuntarily and back away from her. A bit of pain flashed through the woman's eyes in sympathy.

"You need sleep," Sirius said from her other side.

In an attempt to stop her tears, she bit her lip. "I don't w-want to," she said again, her voice still less stable than a newborn deer's legs. Aria was more afraid of sleep than disliking it. She didn't know what her subconscious mind would torture her with. Plus, she talked avidly in her sleep and was worried what the others would do if they found out her huge mistake. And that wasn't even considering how much pain she was in, which would totally blow her cover if she either swayed or collapsed when she attempted to walk.

A weak anger bubbled inside her when she felt the sleeping aid start to kick in. She growled unimpressively, resting her head on her knees again. "You shouldn't h-have done th-th-that," she complained, having troubles keeping her eyes open. "What the hell is in there, the Draught of the Living Dead?" she asked, her voice stronger now that she was getting angry. Sirius chuckled and shook his head wordlessly. She saw small smiles on both Molly's and Arthur's faces before her eyes fell shut.

After a few minutes, Sirius carried his pseudo-daughter up to the only open bed in the house: His own. He wasn't planning on sleeping anytime soon since they would be having an Order meeting this morning. Plus, if she was still asleep once he did get a chance for a nap, he didn't mind taking the couch. He silenced the room from all outside noise with a flick of his wand and shut the door carefully behind him.

He made his way back to the kitchen and sighed. "I doubt she even weighs ninety pounds," he said, shaking his head.

"Why don't we keep her arrival quiet for now?" Molly suggested as Remus Lupin walked in. "Then the other kids will leave her alone while she sleeps and no one can bombard her with questions."

Both men nodded in agreement as Remus went to get himself a cup of coffee and take his normal seat at the large table. "Am I allowed to know who's arrived?" he asked with a small smile. He was in quite a good mood, owing to the fact that it was far from any full moons.

Sirius glanced at Molly, who sighed and nodded once. "If you must," she murmured, setting to work on the big breakfast.

"Aria came last night—er, this morning, around five," Sirius told his best friend. When Remus's eyes lit up, the other shook his head. "Not a good thing, Ree. I carried her upstairs just before you got here and she's so light. I could feel every one of her bones. Plus, she barely spoke until we made her angry. Not to mention the fact that she wouldn't let Molly lay a finger on her. Something is very wrong with her, and we need to find out what."

Remus had taken to tracing his finger around the rim of his mug thoughtfully. He sighed and shook his head, as if trying to clear a bad thought from his mind.

"What? Don't worry, we're willing to consider anything right now," Molly said, noticing the look.

He took a second longer before meeting her eyes. "I was thinking Legilimency, but I don't think I could stand that. Her mind is one of the few places that are safe. And even now, that's starting to become less and less true, since Voldemort's return." The others were thoughtfully silent.

They all looked up as the door opened and they heard Snape's familiar drawl. He was muttering to someone that they couldn't see, but they could hear the two heading closer. Confusion and surprise filled the eyes of all four adults as the professor entered with none other than Draco Malfoy. His expression remained carefully blank.

Snape broke the silence. "I have told Draco here about position in this war, and he has chosen to follow my example, with Dumbledore's approval," he said with finality, his voice low and nasally.

The others seemed shocked at first, exchanging careful, cautious glances. Finally, Remus stood and approached his former student. "We'd like it, for security reasons, if you were to take Veriteserum, and explain to us your decision," he informed Draco in an even tone.

Without hesitation, the Slytherin Prince nodded. "I'll do it," he agreed confidently.

The werewolf's gentle eyes lit up, already one step closer to trusting him. "We'll get that done at the beginning of the meeting, once everyone's all here," Lupin said and gave a nod. Draco merely nodded in return.

"There won't be a problem with you and the other children, will there?" Arthur asked, looking gravely at the boy.

He shook his head sternly. "No, sir. Or, at least, I don't plan to cause one. I'm willing to compromise with them," he said honestly. Arthur seemed pleased with his answer because he dropped the subject.

Draco rocked onto his toes and then back to his heels, looking around the kitchen curiously with his trained emotionless expression. Molly noticed his indifference and frowned. "The poor boy with go out of his mind waiting here for the meeting to start," she commented. "Isn't there something to keep him occupied?" she asked, directing the question at Sirius.

Sirius nodded. "On the third floor, second door. You can wander around the library til everyone arrives," he stated, watching his cousin carefully.

Draco nodded once but a glimmer of true pleasure shone in his eyes for a heartbeat. "Thank you," he said curtly, turning on his heel and going up to the third floor.

There's two bloody "second" doors, he grumped internally when he arrived on the landing. Immediately to his left, beside the railing that blocked off the staircase was a lone door. A few feet down the corridor were two doors exactly opposite from each other. Might as well check them both, he decided, heading to the door on the right first. He silently cracked the door, peeking in. He gasped softly, seeing that someone was asleep under the covers. He glanced around the room, which was a disaster and far from a library with all it's Gryffindor memorabilia strewn about. Upon further inspection, he noticed it was Aria Klein, his Housemate, asleep on the bed. His breath hitched in his chest and his stomach flipped. What the fuck was that?! he thought with a frown. Draco, she's Pothead's sister and best friend, he mentally scolded himself. Yet he still needed to resist the urge to go brush the hair from her face.

Worried he would do something he might regret, he backed out of the doorway. Before he could close the door, though, he heard a soft whimper from the sleeping girl. His curiosity getting the best of him, he stood against the door frame and listened her talk in her sleep. The few things he could understand, he wish he hadn't. He was shaking with anger, gathering that whoever Aria was dreaming about was... not nice, to put it simply.

Inside her mind, a war was waging. She tossed and turned as images and memories of Avery's beatings and abusiveness tore through her thoughts. She whimpered things like "stop, please" and "I didn't mean to," making Draco's blood boil.

How could someone even dream of hurting Aria? he thought, his heart pounding. As much as he hated the word, he'd had a "crush" on this girl since third year. She was so independent, fiery, strong... and very unattainable. She was best friends with Potter and his lot, which meant danger. But she was in Slytherin, unlike her friends who were in Gryffindor. Draco didn't think that he'd ever even seen her cry, which was very unlike the rest of the girls in their school who sobbed extra hard around him in a pathetic attempt to get his attention. She knew how to take care of herself and hadn't ever taken shit from anyone- but was still one of the sweetest and kindest souls he'd ever met; Though some saw that as a weakness, he admired her compassion. But now, seeing Aria in such distress, he couldn't avoid the feeling any longer. And luckily for him, none of his friends were able to comment on it, nor was his father present to judge. The only people he had to worry about were Snape, Potter's gang of misfits, and (of course) Aria's opinion of him.

After a few seconds of contemplation, he decided against the idea of waking her up himself. She would probably pitch a fit upon seeing him. After all, her Gryffindor friends loathed him and he wouldn't be surprised if she shared their views. She hadn't ever acted negatively toward him unless she caught him riling up her friends, though... Instead of approaching her immediately, he shut the door quickly and silently behind him before hurrying back down to the kitchen, taking the stairs two at a time but keeping his footfalls light. He took barely a moment to assure he was presentable as he headed into the basement kitchen. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the new arrival Kingley Shacklebolt, but paid him no mind.

"What's wrong with Aria?" he demanded, eyes narrowed as a passionate fire lit in his eyes, darkening the icy silver to molten slate. His eyes flickered impatiently between Sirius, Arthur, and Molly as they exchanged a series of stern looks.

Recognizing the genuine concern in his cousin's eyes, Sirius looked at Draco and murmured, "She won't tell us. We tried to ask, but she seemed very... off. So we chose not to push it yet. I assume you went to the wrong door and found her? It was supposed to be a secret until she was more rested and we had some more time to think." His eyes were hard as he surveyed Draco's reaction, crossing his arms over his chest and, for once, taking his fatherly responsibilities to protect his pseudo-children seriously.

The teenaged boy shrugged coolly, hands balled into white-knuckled fists. "Yeah, I went into the right-side door instead of the left," he admitted, "but you never specified which side was correct anyway." He took a calculated breath, reminding himself to reign in his temper. The Order would never trusted him if he was going to lash out before even joining then. "That aside, she is not sleeping well," he said hurriedly, wanting to take care of the problem and distract them from himself.

"What do you mean by that?" Sirius asked, concern and protectiveness laced in his voice. He leaned forward, drinking in Draco's words and narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"She's talking in her sleep and it sounds like she being hurt. I don't know if it just a dream or if it has something to do with what's actually wrong," he informed them, trying to keep his tone as matter-of-fact as possible though a flicker of emotion in his eyes was caught by the dark-haired man who was assessing him so thoroughly. As long as he could stop whatever was bothering her, he didn't think the slight slip-up would have too much of an impact on his future. "I think she's trying to wake herself up, but can't for some reason." Molly's face paled and she dropped the wooden spoon she was holding.

"Did you try waking her?" Sirius interrogated, standing and reclaiming Draco's attention.

He rolled his eyes. "No, of course not! She probably despises me, just like the rest of them. Why would I want to wake her up from nightmares, only to possibly make it worse?" he said, shaking his head.

Sirius stepped around the boy, heading for the stairs. Molly followed on his heels. Glancing once at Snape, who had started a conversation with Kingsley about the state of the Ministry, Draco followed the other two up. Leaning against the doorway again, he watched as the two adults murmured to each other. They looked back and forth between the tortured girl on the bed and each other several times over, but never took action. Getting frustrated and unable to stand listening to them bicker, he stepped softly over to the bed and sat on the very edge. Draco shot the adults a glare, silently warning them that his next actions were exclusive to this situation and shouldn't be gossiped about. He reached over and rested a cool hand on Aria's slightly sweaty cheek, gasping at how much colder her skin was compared to his (and most people complained about how cold he was).

Taking a deep breath, he shook Aria's tiny shoulder. He winced, feeling how bony she had become. "Aria, wake up," he coaxed, his voice soft. She groaned, her expression still painful, but turned toward his voice. "Aria," he said again but a little louder this time but his tone losing none of the compassion. Her eyes flickered rapidly, as if they were resisting her demands that they open. A little apprehensive, Draco looked at Molly and Sirius. "Did you give her a sleeping potion or something?" he inquired.

Molly nodded slowly. "Just a tiny bit in a pain potion so she'd stop fighting the sleep. She was so exhausted when she arrived and only slept about an hour when Arthur accidentally woke her up. And she was curled up on the hearth, no less!" she defended quietly.

He nodded slowly, thinking. "Then it shouldn't take much to wake her up..." he murmured. It seemed that it was more her body's exhaustion fighting their attempts to pull her back to consciousness. "Aria! Wake up!" he called, his voice rising in volume again after he turned back to her.

Her eyes popped open and Draco, Molly, and Sirius all sighed in relief. She looked at him with wide eyes and immediately backed out from under his hands. Tears welled in her eyes and she looked away from them, ashamed and scared. With her quick movement the blanket slipped off of her body, showing Draco just how thin she had become.

"Merlin, Aria...what happened?" he whispered, unable to stop himself. Aria kept her leaking eyes averted and shook her head. She reached out weakly, hand trembling uncontrollably as she pulled the blankets back over her huddled form.

Looking at the adults for some help, Sirius and Molly only returned Draco's gaze with worried ones of their own. His heart sank, unsure of what to do. He reached towards her again, lifting her chin gently to meet his eyes. She attempted to pull away but didn't have the will or strength. "Aria, you can't keep this in. Something this big... it's going to kill you," he pleaded with her, understanding in his eyes. "Will you tell me what's wrong?" His voice was barely a whisper. She pressed her lips together, trying to stop them from quivering. He scooted closer to her and wrapped and arm carefully and gently around her shoulders. This time, instead of fighting it, she caved and laid her head on his shoulder, the tears flowing silently down her cheeks. She didn't care that his touch reignited the pain on her back.

He held her and let her cry, looking over at Sirius and Molly. Concern was still evident in their eyes, but they had relaxed a little. With a gentle nod, he beckoned them to leave while he stayed to comfort Aria. They sized him up a moment and, when he was not found wanting, slipped out and shut the door to make sure that no one would bother them while Draco planned how he would get the information from her.