New chapter! By the way, to everyone that voted...thank you! To all the winners...congrats. To all the nominees...you're awesome! Keep rockin'. To every writer on Snitch Seeker...keep being the best writers on the internet!

Now...here is the chapter!

----------------------------------

Chapter 17

Fortunately, Raven didn’t unpack. She grabbed her stuff and left her tent. She must have looked funny to any observers because she was walking around quite stealth-like. Her steps were quick and she never looked straight. Her eyes were constantly roaming to see if George or anyone she knew was around to talk and to stop her escape. Luckily, there were not any observers because of the enormous amount of celebrations.

She found the place where she checked in. She kindly talked to the man who was guarding the portkeys and told him that she was ill and needed to leave. He gave her directions to her portkey and reminded her that she was to land in the Burrow, not Spinner's End.

Raven thanked him and ran to the field where she initially landed and found her portkey. She took one last look at the tent area. George was down there somewhere and he was doing one of two things: either celebrating with everyone else or looking for her. She hoped he was not doing the latter and was enjoying himself. Before she delayed any longer and changed her mind, she grabbed her portkey and whipped away.

She landed not too far from the Burrow. It was about a fifteen minute walk but she walked as fast as she could to get there quicker. She still wasn’t feeling well and wanted to get there at once. When she approached, she knocked on the door and hoped that Mrs. Weasley wouldn’t be in bed. It was still early enough in the evening. If anything, Raven hoped that she was home. Her fears were relieved when Mrs. Weasley opened the door and was shocked that Raven was standing there without her family.

“Raven, dear. What an unexpected surprise,” she said looking over Raven’s shoulder trying to find her family. “Where are the others?”

“They’re still there. I needed to talk to you. May I come in?” Mrs. Weasley nodded and Raven came in and plopped down in a seat at the kitchen table.

“My dear, you look as though you have seen an unsettling ghost,” she said, pouring Raven a cup of tea. “Is everything okay?”

“No,” she said taking a big gulp of tea.

It was horribly difficult for her to talk, but Raven carefully explained to Mrs. Weasley about the marriage contract with Draco. Right in the middle of the story, she stopped. She could not control the tears anymore.

Mrs. Weasley handed her a handkerchief and told her to take deep breath. Mrs. Weasley held her hand as she explained what happened at the World Cup with the Malfoys.

“So you see why I had to leave. I needed to talk to someone and you were the only one I could think of,” she said wiping her eyes. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

“Oh, dear…I’m not mad at you,” she said pouring Raven another cup of tea. Mrs. Weasley looked concerned. This did not sit well with Raven. “You said they both kissed your hand?”

“Yes…” she sniffed. “Is that bad?”

“Honestly, dear?” she said grabbing her hand again. “It's not good. If they are in preparation for a spell…well there are so many possibilities.“ Molly let out a worrisome sigh. “A girl I knew at Hogwarts experimented with love spells. The poor dear, I honestly don’t think a troll would have touched her, but she was determined. Some people just need that affection, I guess.”

Raven smiled at Mrs. Weasley’s candor.

“I asked the girl, out of curiosity, if there were any strange or unusual love spells. Several of them stuck out as odd and most disturbing. But one comes to mind in this situation.”

Raven sat up in her chair. Maybe if this was the spell she could stop it before it started.

“It was used long ago, back when most marriages were forced. Usually, it was the girl who opposed the marriage, but I’m sure there were some cases when the boy didn’t want to marry either. The spell required approval from both sides. Back then, the father who had the most to gain from the marriage, would prepare for the spell. I’m not sure how they would pull it off but the approval comes from both fathers, the groom and the bride. Usually it just takes a kiss.”

Raven heard what Mrs. Weasley was saying but was confused. “But if this, in fact, is the spell that Lucius is working on, first he would need my father’s approval. Second, he’s going to need mine and I don’t see how a kiss on the hand is any sort of approval.”

“Your right. However, Lucius does have a contract signed by your father. That’s approval enough. As far as your approval, yes, he would need something else. But I couldn’t begin to tell you how he would attempt to get it.”

Mrs. Weasley was definitely the right person to speak with about this. If this is, in fact, the spell that Lucius was working on, she would have to be extremely cautious if confronted by Lucius or Draco. Maybe now would be the time to listen to her uncle’s advice and completely avoid the Malfoy’s all together.

“I wish I could help you, dear.” Mrs. Weasley said, rubbing Raven’s arm.

The first thing Raven wanted to do was wash her hands and scrub them until they bled. The other thing was run away as far as she could, where the only person that could find her was George.

“George…what am I going to tell George?” Raven began to feel the anxiety swell all over her body.

“You don’t worry about George, dear. I will talk to him,” Mrs. Weasley said grabbing Raven and giving her a hug. “A mother knows how to talk to her son. You don’t worry about a thing. Just go home and talk to your uncle. He will need to know.”

“Are you sure? Shouldn‘t this come from me?” Raven knew that it was her job to tell George, but just didn’t know how to say it. She realized though, if it were going to come out right, it would be best if it came from his mom. “Tell him I am so sorry for not telling him and tell him…”

“Don’t worry, dear. I know you love him and he will know that you're sorry,” she said standing up. “Now, you need to go before your uncle goes to bed.”

Raven stood up and started to head toward the door. Mrs. Weasley stopped her and told her it would be quicker if she traveled by Floo network. Raven agreed and gave Mrs. Weasley a hug and thanked her for the talk.

“I know my son will be hurt for a while. Just don’t you worry, though. It will all work out. Always remember that any spell that forces love, never completely works. It will always backfire on the person that conjured it. Also remember that George loves you very much. A mother also knows when her son is in love,” said Mrs. Weasley, putting her hands on Raven’s shoulders.

Raven gave George’s mom a faint, reassuring smile and then used the powder to take her back to her uncle’s house. Now she was going to have the disheartening task of telling her uncle that it may be too late. The contract may have already started to be fulfilled.

---------

Snape jumped out of his chair when he noticed that Raven had come through the fireplace. He was not expecting to see her until she arrived at Hogwarts. Raven couldn’t look at him. She was wiping the soot and dirt off her clothes quite lazily and looked as though she had been through the ringer. Her eyes were swollen and all of her make up, which she had put on earlier in the day, was smudged and smeared under her eyes. She felt as though she was going to be sick again. The dirt was still all over her but still sat in the nearest seat. Dust spread all through the air. Snape looked at her puzzled and knew immediately that something was wrong.

“Raven, what happened? Is everything okay?” he asked, kneeling close to her.

“I think we are too late,” she said with her voice cracking.

“Too late? For what?” he said still confused.

“Lucius.” She couldn’t keep her thoughts together to compose a full sentence about what happened.

“What did he do? What did you do?” he said standing up.

Raven took a deep and rubbed her face. She scratched her head to try to liven up her brain juices long enough to talk about this…again. “Nothing. I didn’t do anything. I was just trying to find the minister’s box,” she said wiping her eyes. “He kissed my hand. So did Draco. I saw something…in his mind. They are up to something.”

“You don’t know that,” he said trying to reassure her. “He could just have been trying to make you think that.”

“I KNOW WHAT I SAW!” she yelled. “QUIT DEFENDING HIM!”

There was a silence in the house that was deafening. Snape looked at Raven with such shock; meanwhile Raven grabbed her bag and began to head up the stairs.

“Raven,” he said calmly. “I am not defending him. Until we know what he’s up to, we can’t do anything except what we have already tried to do. The Ministry is not going to end the contract without the permission of both parties. And the Malfoys aren’t budging.”

“Well, how do we find out what he‘s up to? I can’t sit around and wait for him to corner me again,” she said coming back down the steps and sitting in Snape’s reading chair, getting it all dirty with soot. “I spoke to Mrs. Weasley before coming here. She thought it could be some kind of spell that requires the approval of both parents and child then the betrothed…me. It can’t work if I don’t give my consent, right? So their plan won’t work.” For a moment, Raven perked up and was relieved then immediately realized that it probably wasn’t that easy and slumped back into the chair. “I’m screwed.

Snape went over to her, pulled her up off his chair, and sat her in the other already dirty chair. He then began wipe off his chair and then sat down. “I will do any kind of research I can on spells, in the meantime, you just relax. If you want I can brew a potion to help you sleep.”

Raven nodded in agreement and Snape went into the kitchen. She sat back in the chair and looked around the room wondering what she was going to do. Thoughts of George came to her mind. He had to know by now that she was gone, and was probably worried sick. Her eyes wandered off to a small table in the room with an oil lamp and small vase of flowers she picked the other day. At the edge of that table, there was an unopened letter. She stood, walked over to the table and noticed the letter had her name on it.

“When did this letter get here?” she said loud enough for her uncle to hear her.

“It arrived after you left,” he said.

It was a letter from Harvey Miller, a trusted friend of her fathers. Her father made potions disguised as herbal remedies for the people in the town she lived in. Mr. Miller would help her dad on the farm and after her dad would make a good supply, Mr. Miller would sell it in his apothecary shop. Mr. Miller knew they were wizards, but knew he had nothing to gain from outing Raven and her father, instead realizing it would hurt his business if he did.

Raven was thrilled to get a letter from him. He was saddened by the loss of her father. However, he knew enough from watching her father that he was able to keep the business going. Most of the potions didn’t require magic so he would be fine. One of Raven’s last orders of business before she left was to leave the farm to Mr. Miller to continue her father’s work. He agreed and said if she ever wanted to come back or if something happened to him, the farm would always be Raven’s to come back to.

Raven Snape
How are you, my little spitfire? I hope jolly ol’ England is treating you well. Business is still good. Although, I don’t think some of my potions are as strong as your daddy’s. Listen, the missus and I were doing some cleaning and we stumbled upon this ring that your father gave me. I had forgotten all about it. He gave it to me when you were still in diapers. He told me that if anything ever happened to him, he would want you to have it. The man was as strong as an ox, and thinkin’ he was just being paranoid about whatever he was runnin’ from, I put it away. Anyway, your Uncle gave me his address if I needed anything. Of course, I don’t know how it’s goin’ to get to you. I don’t know how you folks run your postal system. Can’t wait for you to come visit. The missus really wants to cook for you again. You have some peach cobbler waitin’ on you when you get here.

Best wishes,
Mr. M

Raven thought back to Mrs. Miller’s peach cobbler. It was amazing! She was so happy to hear from Mr. Miller. He was the nicest old man.

Raven looked over the ring. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was a beautiful silver ring with two snakes facing an orange type of stone. Not knowing anything about stones, she didn’t think anymore about it and just stared at the ring, thinking of her father. In this moment when she needed comfort from him the most, she thought that maybe he somehow sent her a sign with this ring, telling her that it was all going to be okay. Without giving it a second thought, she put the ring on her middle finger on her right hand. She looked at it for a moment and was starting to feel somewhat better, when she looked back at the letter. The writing was starting to fade. Her stomach did a flip. Just then, Snape walked in with a vile of Sleeping Potion.

“What’s wrong?” he said, looking at Raven’s frozen face. But Raven was still staring at the letter. The words were completely faded now and new words were starting to emerge.

With this ring, you will wed.

Raven began to shake. She stood up and staggered over to her uncle. “He…he sent me…sent this,” she said. All of the color was gone from her face.

Snape was speechless. He would look at her and then back at the letter, then back at her. She was starting to get weak and could hardly stand when a pain shot from her hand and made her fall on the floor. She screamed and writhed in pain. Snape was trying to control her and kept asking what was happening. But the pain was too intense for her to keep quiet. She was able to tolerate it enough to notice that the orange stone was glowing. Snape grabbed her hand with the ring on it and he suddenly got quiet. She pulled away and looked at the ring for herself. The snakes were now completely encircling the stone. Looking at the stone deeper, she saw that there were words showing on the inside. They said “vos ero mei.”

“What does it mean?” she asked. The nervousness in her voice was clear. She looked at her uncle who ran over to one of his many bookshelves. “What does it mean?”

“I’m looking,” he said looking through a book.

“It’s Latin. You know Latin,” she said getting up and walking over to him. The pain had completely subsided now, but she was still rubbing her hand. “You don’t need to look it up.”

“I am making sure I know what it means,” he said. He was rather tense himself. After a moment of flipping through the book, he closed it and quietly put it back on the shelf. He walked over to her and looked at the ring. “It means…you will be mine.”

Raven walked over to the fireplace and stared blankly at the mantle. She grabbed her hand with the ring and tried to take it off. It wasn’t moving. She pulled until she let out a scream. She turned around and looked at Snape who was alarmed. He walked over to her and looked at her finger. Her fingernails had dug into her finger and it was bleeding but the ring was still there.

“Uncle Sna…I don’t think…that Sleeping Potion,” she said staggering toward the stairs.

“What? Why?”

Raven turned around to answer but she noticed that the room was getting darker, Snape was getting blurry and her body was starting to give out. “Because…I can’t…stand up…any…more…”

Chapter 18

Amazing! What a totally brilliant chapter, and what a cliffhanger!

Noooooooooooooooooooo

Okay, tantrum over. Even though I'm still not happy about what's happening. Says something about the story.

This chapter makes me angry everytime i read it. Poor Raven...*sigh*


I CANT WAIT...for the next one!


PAMS!



Suzy

I am so with Suzy on this..
Sorry, it took me awhile to get
caught up. Now that I am I cant
wait for more.
Jamers!

Oh ****! wait a minute...no I still feel kinda sad!
And its not your awesome writing its what is happening!
That is so sad!!
Update soon!

*Norah~

great post. poor Raven, don't worry in the end i'm sure you'll have a happy ending..... right ? i geoge will be ok about the contract and understand,
PAMS
Ally

Don't know if any of you noticed or care, but I went through to try and make this easier to read. After each chapter will be a link to the next posted chapter. That way you can filter through all the comments.

---------------------------------------------

Chapter 18

Raven woke up the next day in her room. She felt as though she had been run over by a troll. Snape knocked on the door and came in with a tray of bacon and toast.

“So you do know how to cook. You’ve been holding out on me,” she said with a smile. As she sat up, she noticed her right hand seemed to be heavier. She looked down and saw a bandage around her hand. “It wasn’t a dream.”

“No,“ he said sitting at her desk chair after putting the tray of food next to her bed. “After you fainted, I brought you up here. You’ve been asleep for twelve hours.”

“What are we going to do?” she asked nibbling on a piece of bacon.

“I went over to the Weasley’s early this morning. Apparently there was an incident at the world cup last night after you left,” he said. Raven was filled with dread. She was worried about George. “Don’t worry about Mr. Weasley…he’s fine. Everyone made it back to the Burrow safely.”

“What happened? Did the parties get too out of control?” she asked.

“No. Death Eaters arrived and one conjured the Dark Mark.”

“Was anyone hurt?”

“I haven’t looked at my Daily Prophet for today…I’ve been a little busy.”

“Did you talk to Mrs. Weasley?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes. Don’t worry…George wasn’t awake,” he said. Raven breathed a sigh of relief. “Mrs. Weasley told me that she talked to George. He was upset but understood your reasons for not telling him. I told her about the ring and what happened last night. I advised her that if George is to see you it would be to either his or your disadvantage. So I strongly advise you, to keep him away, if you want to keep him safe.”

“What makes you think he is in danger?” she asked. “Draco and Lucius aren’t stupid enough to do anything to us. They can’t kill us. So why worry?”

“Lucius Malfoy has put a spell on you that is mysterious in nature. It is one that I have never seen or heard of. Whatever it is, it’s dark magic. I do not have experience with spells of this kind… you know…love type spells. But if its coming from Lucius, he will do whatever he can to protect what he has obviously sought out to get,” he said as if he was teaching one of his classes.

“So what you are saying? Is there nothing I can do?” she said getting perturbed.

“I don’t have the sources here to see if there is a counter spell,” he said getting up. “Now, Mrs. Weasley has sent your trunk back to the Leaky Cauldron. You will be spending the remainder of your summer holiday there. I have left strict instructions with Tom, the barkeep, to insure that you rarely leave. You do not want to enter Diagon Alley and bump into any one of the Malfoys.”

“Don’t think I can handle myself?” she said smugly.

“I think you would have been able to before yesterday,” he said opening her door to leave. “Now I think they have the upper hand and on your own, you don’t stand a chance.”

“Oh, wow! Thanks for the boost of confidence,” she said sarcastically. “Anything else you would like to say to bring me down some more?”

With that, Snape left her room. She looked at her finger with the ring. Snape wrapped her finger where she started to bleed. She took off the wrapping and the cut was gone but a bruise formed around her finger. A small smile came to her face. She could not believe how comforting Snape was being towards her. He was actually trying to help and protect her. She looked at the ring again and then out of her window. The fact that Lucius would take advantage of her relationship with her father and use it to trick her into putting the ring on made her angry.

Several days had passed and she was sitting in the Leaky Cauldron reading a letter from Hermione she received while she was there. Hermione said that she talked to George about what had happened and that she was going to put all of her book knowledge to work, to find a way to get her out of this spell. The letter was going okay, until she said that George missed her desperately and wanted to see her. Raven also wanted to see George. She knew that she would feel better wrapped in his arms. There was always a feeling of being safe when he hugged her. She needed that safety more than ever now.

“Miss Raven, why don’t you get out for an hour or two? You haven’t left since you got here…it’s a beautiful day. I know your Uncle said you should limit your excursions, but he never said to cut them out altogether.” said Tom the barkeeper at the Leaky Cauldron.

“I guess I can,” she said putting the letter in her pocket. “I won’t be long.”

She went to the back of the bar and tapped on a brick wall with her wand to let her into Diagon Alley. It was bustling with parents and students shopping for last minute Hogwarts needs. She went to Flourish and Blott’s bookstore and tried to find a book on her situation but they told her that underage readers were restricted from purchasing books of that nature. She even lied and told them that it was for her uncle, Severus Snape. They told her he would have to come into purchase it. She eventually gave up and left.

After a quick stop to get some ice cream at Florean Fortescue‘s Ice Cream Parlor, she saw Narcissa Malfoy, who unfortunately saw her.

“Well, well, well…what do we have here?” she said in a cold voice. “Ah, I see you accepted my son’s ring.”

“Not that I had a choice. And don’t pretend that you didn’t know that I had it on,” Raven snapped back. Here was her opportunity to try and get back at a Malfoy for what is going on.

“Dear, watch your attitude. I know more about this spell than you do. I know what it is capable of,” she said grabbing the hand with the ring. Raven wanted to go off. “It is a beautiful creation, is it not? I had a hand in designing it.”

“Well you can have it back. I think it’s hideous,” Raven said sarcastically.

“Tomorrow you head off to Hogwarts. And might I suggest that you be good,” Narcissa said getting up in Raven’s face. “Try not to pull any of those incidents on my son like you did last year. Remember, we’re watching you.”

Narcissa turned away and Raven was left standing there shocked and baffled. “What do you mean, you’re ‘watching me?‘ she yelled but Narcissa didn’t reply. What on earth was she talking about when she says that they were watching her? Did this ring do something else she wasn’t aware of?

She turned to head back to the Leaky Cauldron but saw a familiar face heading into the bookstore. It was Mrs. Weasley. She quickly looked around to find George but he was no where to be found. She ran to follow Mrs. Weasley and after a moment caught up with her. Mrs. Weasley looked as though she was doing some shopping and stopped into Flourish and Blott's to purchase some books.

“Mrs. Weasley!” Raven said with a casual smile.

“Oh! Raven, dear,” she said dropping her parcels and hugging her tight. “How are you? Your uncle told me what happened.”

“I was doing okay, considering, but that changed when I bumped into Narcissa Malfoy a moment ago,” she said still confused. “Why do they have to knock me down and then rub it in my face later? Is it karma? Did I ask for this?”

“No one deserves this,” she said bending down to pick up her parcels.

“Here, let me help,” Raven said grabbing some of the items that Mrs. Weasley was carrying, to ease her load.

“I must say that I don’t know much about karma, but from what I do understand of it, you didn’t ask for this. You may have shared words with the Malfoys in the past but nothing could have warranted this.”

Raven and Mrs. Weasley found a bench to sit on. Mrs. Weasley arranged her packages to keep them close, and then focused all of her attention to Raven.

“How’s George?” Raven finally asked.

“He’s hurting. I’ve let him and Fred run amok to try and cheer him up. It’s gotten to the point where I am going to have to put my foot down. But he seems to be back to normal,” she said. “He said you probably would not want to him sulking around and would want him to be himself.”

“Yeah, he’s right,” she said smiling. “I miss him though.”

“I wouldn’t expect you not to miss him,” Mrs. Weasley said rubbing Raven‘s back. “He misses you too. True love is too hard to let go of.”

“I’m not going to let go,” Raven declared. “Lucius can throw every submission spell in the book at me and I won’t stop loving your son.”

“I know, dear. You’re a fighter. It’s in your blood,” said Mrs. Weasley. “You know, dear. I knew your mother. Not real well, mind you, but I knew enough about her that I can tell, very much, that her spirit is in you.”

Raven knew a lot about her mother. It was comforting to hear someone else talk about her, in a nice way.

“She was feisty. Everyone thought it might have been her upbringing. But where she was there was fire and sometimes ice, there was generosity and kindness. She never let people get to her and would always help those in need.”

“Was she the same year as you?”

“No, she was several years younger than I. She started Hogwarts when I was a fifth year. Persephone clung to Andromeda Black. I always thought they were sisters, the way Andromeda took care of her. It turned out that Andromeda was her cousin. We were all in a bit of shock when we heard that one. The few that knew your mothers story, respected her enough that we kept it quiet. It was already shameful enough to find out what her family did to her. To embarrass her more by telling her we knew her secret…well, it wouldn’t have been right.”

“It really did bother her, didn’t it? I mean, she wrote in her journal about the pain she felt. It hurt her to be lied to for all of those years. Words, after a while, don’t mean anything until you know the story to back it up.”

“I’ll tell you, we were all surprised by her announcement that she was to marry Tobias Snape. We never knew they were together, really. Your mother was very private. Sirius took it the worst. He was angry and disappointed in his sister. You-Know-Who’s reign of terror had been going on for about five years or so and it was not unknown that your father was a follower.”

As much as Raven loved her father, it was sometimes a hard pill to swallow knowing her father supported such an evil cause and evil man.

“I’m sorry for bringing all this up to you.” Mrs. Weasley grabbed both of Raven’s hands. “My point is this, love is a strange thing. We can find it in the most unlikely places. Once we have it, no love spell can ever take it away.”

Raven smiled. These words felt very comforting.

“You love George. It’s very clear that the two of you are going to need each other the most during this time. Your mother loved your father very much. And no matter what was going on around her, with the anger about her marriage and losing the ones that she was closest to, she still loved him. Her love for him brought you into this world. You are a bright, beautiful, talented, loving girl. True love bring brings people like that into the world.”

Raven and Mrs. Weasley talked all the way to the nearest Floo network and said their goodbyes. Raven wished she could have gone with her but knew that it was not in the cards.

Raven could only hope that when tomorrow comes and she is leaving for Hogwarts, that there is not going to be an incident with Draco. She was also hoping for a glimpse of George. To look at him right now would be comfort enough. Her heart began to sink. Thinking he was at home, probably pretending to be himself, to try and not think about all that is going on, made her feel guilty and heartbroken. If she had just kept herself from snapping at all of the Malfoys and told George the truth, all of this might have been avoided, or at least happened later, when she was better able to deal with it.

As she lay in bed, she thought about this night one year ago. Things were much different when she had lain in this bed. She had made new, unexpected friends, and met the love of her life, although she didn’t know it at the time. Her future seemed so much brighter than it did at this very moment. Her school year was not going to go well at all, she already knew it. All she wanted now, besides George, was a happy dream; a dream about George and their sunset viewing, or anything that had nothing to do with the Malfoys. She could have a dream where she was in a room where everything was made of ice cream, she didn’t care. Just one last dream, in what she thought was her last night of freedom.

Chapter 19

Awwww! Poor Raven. Poor George.

And a statement: Anyone from the Malfoy family = EVIL. Mrs. Weasley = AWESOME!!!!!!

Okay, I've made my point. *camps out to wait for the next installment*

Thanks for that! I've actually given up on a fic because swimming through the comments was driving me loopy!

Raven is fab and that final line about dreams sent shivers down my spine. I think we all have moments like that, but not for Raven's reasons, thank heavens. Muggle problems are more than enough for me

Congrats on the Golden Goblin!

Keep up the outstanding, thoroughly excellent, completely stellar work.

I love love love the scene between Mrs. Weasley and Raven. Its so sweet and helps Raven a lot. I also love that we are getting to see snape's gentle side, even if its not so out there.


great chapter!


PAMS!


Suzy

I love Mrs.Weasley! Raven needed some mother-ish figure to talk to.And I miss George so I really can't wait for the next chapter!

~Norah!

Good chapter babe!
Can't wait for the
next one!
Jamers

Chapter 19

Raven woke up, much to her dissatisfaction, the next morning and packed the rest of her belongings into her trunk. As she put on her shoes she thought, quite seriously about not going to Hogwarts. She had plenty of money and thought she should just cash out her account at Gringott’s and leave the country. As tempting as that sounded though, it would hurt George and if she was going to get herself out of this situation with Lucius Malfoy she was going to have to stick around and fight.

When she got to Kings Cross station and Platform 9 ¾, she realized that she got there extremely early. Raven sat on a bench and wanted to wait until the last possible moment to get on the train. As the crowd got heavier, she noticed all of the happy students saying goodbye to their families, and wanted to be that happy. For Raven, there was no smile on her face, no anticipation for going to school, no motivation to get on that train and no one to say goodbye to. She sat on the bench and looked up and down the platform for what seemed like forever, till her eyes caught the most wonderful sight: George.

He was surrounded by his family, Harry and Hermione. Mrs. Weasley was hugging every single one of them to death. The sight brought a small smile to Raven’s face. She wanted to join in so bad, but her uncle warned her not to be seen with George. The possibility was there for Draco or Lucius to do something to her or him. She couldn’t risk hurting George; she already felt bad enough hurting him on her own. He started to walk over to her, and just as her heart jumped for joy, his mother grabbed him and began hugging him once again.

“There, there,” said a familiar, unpleasant voice, “don’t frown. Today is not a total loss. Look, Draco is here to comfort you.”

“If I wanted comfort from Draco, I would have asked for it” she said looking up to see Lucius with a smug grin on his face. She immediately grabbed her carry-on bag and got up. “As you can see I didn’t ask. Now excuse me I have a train to catch,” Lucius then stepped in front of her and would not allow her to pass.

“You have plenty of time,” he said sternly. He had a cold look on his face. For a moment Raven feared him. “I have been patient long enough for you to come around. I had to resort to certain…measures to make sure that you hold up your father’s end to our bargain. There is no getting out of it now and there is nothing that you, Severus, or your precious Weasley boy can do to get you out,” he said pointing over to George and his family. Raven looked directly at George who was furious. Hermione was talking to him but he looked as though he wasn’t paying attention. “They can’t give you all you need. We can.”

“All I need is for you to let me pass,” she said trying not to get too snappy.

“Yes. It is time for you to be boarding the train. Until we meet again,” he said grabbing her hand with the ring on it and kissing it. Raven started to feel dizzy and tried to shake it off like nothing happened. “Draco, did you even say hello to your future bride? I forgot that this is your first meeting since…well you know.”

“I haven’t had a chance father but now that I do…” he said grabbing her hand and doing exactly as his father did, he kissed the ring, “I do.” With those words, Raven’s dizziness became stronger and she couldn’t stand anymore. Her knees gave out and fell into Draco’s arms. When she realized what she did, she stood back up and grabbed her bag that fell on the ground. She looked over at George who now apparently ignored whatever it was that Hermione was telling him and was being held back by Fred, Ron and Harry.

“Now, Draco. Why would you say something like that? It is a little early for those words,” Lucius said stepping out of Raven’s path. “Now that I have…well…you know…you won’t be losing her.”

“Why? What? What do I know?” Raven asked finally getting up some courage to be herself. “You talk in riddles and I don’t know what the in the world your talking about. Tell me what I know so I am not out of the loop when I don’t know.”

Raven’s anger was apparent and Lucius was fuming. She thought for a moment that he was going to kill her but she didn’t really care. She would rather die than marry Draco. “What you don’t know; won’t hurt you,” he said, “At least, if you don’t let it.”

“What are you going on about?” she asked.

“Just don’t stray too far, your soul may not be able to take the strain,” he said. He gave her a grin that made Raven still curious as to what he was talking about. “I think my wife said it best when she told you that we were watching you. Remember those words, they could save you.”

With those words, Lucius turned Draco around and both of them walked away. Raven was speechless. There was nothing witty or even normal that she could come up with to say. She was just as confused now as she was the moment she began the conversation with them, probably more so. She sat back down on the bench and tried to regroup. Her head was still spinning from her near fainting. She would have rather fallen to the ground than to let herself fall into Draco’s arms. Raven wanted to know, now more than ever, what was going on with this ring. When they both kissed it, as when she put it on, she felt as though something in her was being taken away. Like her life was being taken from her. But she knew that Lucius did not want her dead, but very much alive. Somehow she knew that the ring was connected to more than just the contract, but what?

The train conductor let out the final boarding call for the train. She still did not want to board. She stood but her head was still spinning and had to sit again. The train was starting to move. She jumped up and ran towards the train, but by the time she got to it, it was already moving pretty fast. She was running as fast as she could. The platform was about to end and she jumped, hoping she would make it. After a bit of a slip she landed on the train but on the floor. She stood and brushed herself off. Raven realized she was toward the end of the train with one section to go before the luggage compartment. She didn’t want to sit with Draco, and couldn’t sit with George like she wanted. To sit with Harry, Ron and Hermione would mean talking about the situation and she didn’t want to do that either. Walking through the last section, she hoped to find an empty compartment, with no luck. Instead of walking up and down the train to find a place to sit, she decided to sit in the luggage compartment. There was no one in there and no one to talk to.

When she got in there, trunks were piled high and she was worried she wouldn’t be able to find a place to sit. She walked through the first row of trunks and saw that there was enough of a gap and a trunk sticking out far enough so she could sit and actually be quite comfortable.

She sat and reflected on the conversations that she has had with everyone this week. From Molly Weasley to the entire Malfoy family, every person that she has talked to had made an impact. Some not as well as others. She looked around and happened to notice that directly in front of her was a trunk that had the initials D.M. on the side. She got up to check it out more closely and noticed that it was in fact Draco’s because it had his family’s crest on the top. She couldn’t help but smile and pull out her wand.

“You know I never use you unless it’s an emergency,” she said to her wand as though it would talk back to her. “At this moment, it’s an extreme emergency.”

She flicked her wand and a thin wisp of flame shot out from the end. Next to the M in Draco’s initials she put the letter B. Then inserted a small “u” in between the “D” and the “M” in case he didn’t get it. Now reading D.uM.B., she couldn’t help but laugh and think to herself “Draco is dumb if he thinks I am going to marry him.” She decided to take it a step further and decided to write “I AM” above his initials. Then, she topped it off with a smiley face. She was about to write a few more choice words but she heard the door to the luggage compartment open.

“Rave? You in here?” said the most comforting voice. “It’s me. George. You here?”

“George? I’m back here,” she said, excited that he was there.

When they saw each other, there were no words. They stared at each other for a moment, then came closer and were soon locked in an embrace. It was as though they had not seen each other for months. If her world was going to go downhill after this moment she wouldn’t care. She felt strong again. Being in George’s arms, made her realize what she is fighting so hard to save: “true love”.

“George, you can’t be here,” she said pulling away. Raven didn’t want to let go, but she had a feeling that at some point Draco would come looking for her. Draco would never take his anger out on her, but would George. To her it didn’t matter who stood the better chance, she didn’t want to see him in that situation. “Draco could find me in here. And if you’re here…”

“If I’m here, I’ll deal with it,” he said.

They both sat down and George looked at Draco’s trunk and laughed. “Nice work! Brilliant!”

“I thought so,” she said smiling. She didn’t know what to talk about. There was only so much she could say about Draco’s trunk. She wanted to talk about what has happened but she had no idea where to start. “George, I am so sorry for worrying you to death last week. I should have told you I was leaving the world cup. I had to leave to speak with my uncle. It was a bit of an emergency.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said grabbing her hand. “I understand.”

“I know you’re upset about this whole mess, but I…” she said but George cut her off.

“I’m not too upset, because I know that when it’s over, I’m the one that will be with you. Not him.”

“In the meantime, I know you’ll be upset,” she said.

“Yes. I’ll admit what I saw on the platform was not what I ever wanted to see,” he said standing up and walking toward the back of the compartment. “But if I am going to keep you safe, I know that I have to stay away from him. No matter how bad Fred and I want to pull a nasty trick on him and get him expelled.”

“I won’t tell it was you if you ever make it happen,” she said walking over towards him. “Whatever this spell is, I don’t think I have seen the extent of its power. Snape doesn’t even know what it is. I know that part of me has felt empty, ever since I put this stupid thing on. You saw me nearly pass out at the station right?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t help but want to kill him,” he said with a slight grin.

“I noticed that,” she said returning the smile. “Anyway I think this ring is connected to more than just the contract. I think it connects me to Draco, somehow.”

“That’s encouraging,” he said sarcastically.

“George,” what she was about to say was going to be the hardest she has ever had to tell anyone. With her courage starting to fade, she had to take the opportunity now before it was gone. “You have already done too much for me. But what I am about to ask of you is not going to be easy. I need you to trust me.”

“I don’t think I am going to like the sound of this,” he said.

“In order for me to get out of this, I need you to stay clear of me. At least, in public. I have a feeling when I am not around him he will somehow be keeping an eye on me through this” she said looking at the ring. “Maybe I’m wrong, and we can secretly still be together. I don’t know but whatever happens I just need you to stay strong and not do anything foolish to him. That includes Fred or anyone for that matter.”

“What is this thing?” he said grabbing her ring hand. “How will he know what you’re doing?”

“I have no idea,” she said. “This curse has me so confused.”

“I will do what I have to do,” he said not wanting to, but knowing it’s for the best. “You have to remember one thing, though.”

“Anything,” she said.

“Remember that I will always love you and this doesn’t change a thing,” he said gently brushing his fingers against her cheek.

She gave him another hug and said, “I love you, too.”

They let go and gave each other a tender gaze. It was like they were saying goodbye for a long while and wanted to get one last look. Soon they couldn’t help themselves and began to kiss. It was the longest kiss they had ever shared and the most passionate. To let go would mean the end of their time together.

“Well, Raven,” someone said. When George and Raven jumped back they realized that Draco was standing there with Crabbe and Goyle. They didn’t even hear them come in. “You just don’t listen, do you?”

Raven was speechless. George on the other hand wasn’t. “We were just talking, Draco.”

“Oh sure,” he said sarcastically. “You mouths were moving but I didn’t hear any words.”

“Draco, we were just saying goodbye,” said Raven, who for the first time was actually frightened of Draco, not for herself, but what he could do to George. Draco had an extremely evil look in his eye directed right at George.

“Didn’t look that way to me,” he said. “Did it look that way to you, boys?”

Crabbe and Goyle agreed with Draco, because disagreeing with him would be a bad decision on their part.

“Raven, let’s go!” said Draco, holding out his hand.

“I would much rather stay here,” she said defiantly.

“You are not staying here with him!” he said. His eyes caught a glimpse of his trunk. His pale face turned dark red. “Who did this to my trunk? Was it you Weasley?”

“It was me,” she said looking at George and giving him an innocent smile. “I was bored and let’s face it, you deserve it.” After her words, she realized she probably shouldn’t have said that. George, on the other hand, thought it was funny. She nudged his side with her elbow and he stopped laughing.

“You haven’t realized the kind of power I have over you now, I can make things painful for you,” he said, taking a few steps closer to the two.

“You do and I’ll…” George said but was interrupted. First interruption came with Raven grabbing his arm and the second by Draco.

“You’ll what, Weasley? Hurt me? You’re too busy making jokes to become a real wizard. Why don’t we see what you’ve got? I want to see what pathetic wizards come up with when they duel real ones.”

In a flash, the two stretched out their wands but no one said anything. The two were visibly angry. If either of them were to cast a spell, someone was going to get hurt. Raven stepped in the middle of the two. She stretched her hands out to the two boys and their wands were magically forced back into their pockets.

“Now both of you calm down! I am not going to witness this. If you two want to take each other out, do it on your own time!” she walked over to George, who looked like he was going to snap out of his shell. She grabbed both of his upper arms and whispered. “Cutie, calm down.”

“Stay away from him!” shouted Draco, who seemed more upset that Raven used her power against him.

“You trust me right?” she whispered once again to George. He nodded but never took his eyes off of Draco.

She shook him a little so he would look at her. When he did, she mouthed the words “I love you.”

Raven gave George a wink, and then turned around to Draco, whose face was so red; she thought he was going to pop a vein. “Draco, I will stay away from George and do whatever you want on one condition.” Draco nodded and she continued. “You and your friends stay away from George and all of my friends.”

“Whatever I want?” he said after a short pause, his face finally returning to his normal color.

“Whatever…but you have to promise,” she said, swallowing her words like they were probably going to haunt her later.

“That seems fair,” he said. “Now come, I want to introduce you to some friends and we have some catching up to do. It has been years since we had a decent conversation. I need to leave here, I can’t stand being around filth,” he said giving a horrible look to George.

Raven leaned over to get her bag and looked at George. She gave him a smile and took in one last good look at the man she loved. He looked back at Draco and his eyes got wide. As if it were happening in slow motion, Raven turned and saw Draco with his wand out getting ready to cast a spell on George.

“EXPELLIARMUS!” shouted Draco. Still in slow motion, Raven saw that the spell was going to hit George and half way through Draco saying the spell, she stepped in front of George to stop it from hitting him.

“Raven! Rave!” said a frantic George.

It was as though she was in a dream. The voices were muffled and she could hear Draco and George bickering at each other. All she could make out was George saying her name and Draco yelling at him to move away.

“Rave! Wake up!” George said again.

“What happened?” she said opening and closing her eyes trying to come to, but having slight difficulty. Her head was throbbing and her chest hurt terribly.

“Draco tried to attack me and got you instead,” George said. “Are you okay?”

Raven finally opened her eyes and saw George holding her. She gave him a gentle smile and asked, “How long have I been out?”

“About 10 minutes. Are you okay?”

“Don’t know,” she said rubbing her head. She pulled her hand away and noticed blood on it. The side of her head above her cheekbone was bleeding. George told her that a trunk fell on her head. She slowly got up and her chest felt as though she was stuck with a large stick. She held onto George‘s hand to keep her balance, seeing as though she could have possibly had a slight concussion. “You made me bleed you selfish git!” she snapped at Draco.

“Rave, I didn’t mean…,” Draco said, looking genuinely struck by what he did. Raven figured that if his father found out what he did to her, he’d get in a bit of trouble.

“DO NOT…call me Rave! My name is Raven to you. You have not and will not earn the right to call me Rave!” she snapped at Draco before he could finish apologizing. “I have to go. Bye George!” she said hesitantly letting go of his hand.

Raven grabbed her bag and started to head out of the luggage compartment with a handkerchief on her head to stop the bleeding. She noticed though that Draco was not behind her.

“DRACO! I’m leaving now!” she said with a snap and a point of her finger. Draco gave a menacing look to George and soon left with her.

As she was walking down the train to Draco’s compartment, she noticed that people were looking at her. When she passed Harry, Ron and Hermione’s compartment they all looked at her concerned. She tried to give them a reassuring smile, but due to her head injury, it hurt to any facial expression.

Raven made it to Draco’s compartment and sat quietly next to the window. She was in a lot of pain and just wanted to get to Hogwarts and go to bed. Fortunately, Draco never spoke to her the rest of the train ride, which made the rest of the trip halfway enjoyable. As she stared at the passing landscapes out of the window she thought about George, this spell, and how this ring could be connected to her and Draco. She looked at Draco through the reflection of the window and he seemed awfully proud of his behavior in the luggage compartment. He was making jokes about George and his family. Raven thought if she wasn’t hurting physically and mentally right now, she would have another war of words with him. But as she sat there and listened to him, though, she was having a hard time trying to find her usual extreme dislike for him. Although she didn’t like him, she realized she didn’t hate him anymore. After searching within herself for the rest of the train ride, the immense detest she had for him was gone. The effects of the spell were starting to be realized.

Chapter 20

Oh goodness those Malfoys are sly! I hope that Snape can find a way to end that curse, I'd hate for Raven to become a Malfoy!

Great stuff again!

Hey all! I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm going to be posting new chapters a lot. The next one will come tonight. The chapters for this fourth year are done and I always run them through my husband before posting. I'm desperate to work on my new stuff and unfortunately, my brain can't do both. So anyway, just to let you know that new updates will be popping up more frequently. No more waiting forever. Yay!

Chapter 20

Once Raven entered Hogwarts, she was hoping that being at school again could give her some kind of hope. As she entered, Draco was by her side and everyone stared at her like she had done something unspeakable. Soon the whispers began and she could hear them talking about how she probably got the gash on her head and why she was dumb enough to dump George for Draco. Raven thought if only they knew the truth. If only they knew what kind of mess she was in and how bad she wanted to get out. The whispers only got louder when Draco grabbed her hand. She pulled away but Draco grabbed it back.

“Remember your promise. You said you’ll do anything I want you to do. So let’s make a grand entrance, shall we?” he said as if the whispering was music to his ears. Raven knew that this was just as much an ego trip for him as it was painful for her.

They entered the Great Hall and sat down at their house tables. Raven sat in front of Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown. They were gossiping about this and that, and Raven was starting to get annoyed. If she wasn’t having such a bad day, she would be able to ignore it, but today it was not going to be a possibility.

“So, Raven,” said Parvati. “What happened to your head?”

“I fell," Raven said turning her head towards the front of the Great Hall.

“Are you with Draco now?" asked Lavender with curiosity. Raven looked at Parvati out of the corner of her eye and with every fiber of her being, held back every word she wanted to say.

“Lavender! That’s rude!” Parvati said nudging her friend. “If Raven wants us to know she would have told us, right Raven?”

“Yeah…sure,” Raven said turning her eyes back towards the front of the hall. Raven's blood was starting to boil. To have to sit and listen to these two was really starting to become irritating. She was trying to make it obvious with her attitude that she didn’t want to talk; by giving them irritated glances, stretching her neck when they talked and staring at them wide-eyed and expressionless.

“It’s none of our business why she is with Draco now. I mean they are probably more suited for each other anyway,” continued Parvati. “George is a great guy and Draco, well, if he wasn’t so evil he would be cute.”

“Oh yeah. He does have his moments when he is handsome. I wonder how Pansy is feeling after being ditched,” said Lavender, while Raven rolled her eyes. “I’m sure she’s upset.”

"If you are going to talk about me, in front of me, at least have the common decency to include me in the conversation. Or better yet? Just drop it," Raven hoped the girls would get the hint at this point. But apparently, the subject was not meant to be closed right now.

“So why did you leave George?” asked Lavender again.

Raven couldn't hold back anymore. Dinner hadn’t even begun when she stood up and then leaned over the table to Lavender and Parvati. “I tell you what. Why don’t I leave you guessing so you have something to talk about over dessert? Doesn’t that sound good? I don’t want to interfere with your incessant gossiping. We all know that half the crap you two come up with is false anyway. So go ahead and make up some grand story about how I am not with George anymore and my reasons behind it…let me know later. I could really use a good laugh!”

The two girls had shocked and offended looks on their faces. Raven didn’t care. After losing her appetite completely, she began to walk out of the Great Hall. She passed by George and her friends who looked at her just as shocked as Parvati and Lavender. But she kept walking. She was not about to apologize to them or anybody. After passing through a bunch of eager first years, Raven started to head towards the Grand Staircase when she saw the front doors of the castle. She slowly walked over to them and stared.

“You can’t leave. Where would you go?” asked Snape who was standing behind her.

“Anywhere but here.” .

“What happened to your head?”

“I fell.”

“That may work with students but not with me.”

Raven swallowed her pride and told him about everything that happened before she got to this moment, including the confrontation she had with Narcissa Malfoy in Diagon Alley. She turned and walked toward the doors again and stopped.

“What is keeping me here?” she asked. “I can’t talk to George or even my friends in public. I am bound to that stupid contract with Draco…that goes here by the way. I’ve already upset two people in my house. You are only helping me because you feel obligated to. Am I forgetting anything?”

“You’re wrong,” he said walking up closer behind her. “I do not feel obligated to help you. You are my brother’s daughter and you are in trouble. I feel I should do whatever I can to help because I promised him I would look after you. And if I didn’t want to look after you, I never would have made that promise.”

“So you’re helping me because of a promise? Not because you really want to,” she said rolling her eyes, turning around and heading towards the staircase.

“That’s not what I meant, Raven.”

“I’ll tell you what. I know that being old mates with Lucius puts you in a tight spot with this whole contract thing. You go ahead and forget about it and let me do this on my own. This contract may end up putting you at odds with the Malfoys and considering the fact that you teach their son, your job may be at risk,” she said hatefully. “Go ahead and return back to your normal bitter ways and I’ll figure out a way to get out of this. And if I can’t then you can visit me in Azkaban or my grave, because either Draco or I will end up dead, so take your pick!”

Snape was taken aback by what she said. He had a look of confusion and shock on his face. “If you’ll just let me explain…”

“Explain what?” she snapped. There was a small part of Raven that wanted to shout at him more. Instead, she sighed and gave an evil look to her uncle. “Look, I’m angry and tired. I don’t want to talk to you anymore because talking makes me more angry and tired. So I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in Potions.”

With that, she left the dumbstruck Snape down at the bottom of the steps. At this moment no one was safe from her wrath. She made a quick stop to the bathroom because she was feeling ill again, and then eventually made her way to the Gryffindor common room. Her stuff was already set next to her bed, so she found her pajamas, put them on and laid in her bed. She went ahead and closed the curtains and waited for all the girls to come in and make their usual noise. The wait took forever; she forgot that she left before dinner was served. Now that she thought about it, the first years were still waiting outside the Great Hall to be sorted when she stormed out. So now all that was left to do was wait and think…a combination that, at this moment for Raven, didn't mesh too well.

After a while she could hear the girls come in. They were all talking loudly until they saw Raven’s bed with the curtains closed. Not even checking to see if she was asleep, some of them began to discuss what happened at dinner.

“I could not believe she snapped my head off,” said Lavender, still shocked at Raven's outburst.

“Mine too. If she doesn’t want people to talk then she needs to stay clear of Malfoy,” said Parvati. “How they were parading outside the Great Hall before dinner was disgusting. And to do that in front of George? Poor guy. He has to be heartbroken.”

“Yeah, George is such a great guy. Funny too,” said Lavender. Raven thought to herself that what Lavender said is the one thing she agreed with. She started to feel the tears well up in her eyes. But she wasn’t going to let the sadness take her.

“If you think about it though,” Parvati said, “the relationship between her and Draco makes sense. He is a Malfoy. Possibly the strongest wizarding family of this age. She is not only a Snape but a Black as well." Raven wondered to herself how it was possible for everyone to know so quickly that she was related to the Black family. "Not to mention she is more powerful than any student here. If they were to get married, they would make the most powerful wizarding family. I think they are cousins."

“That’s gross!” said Lavender.

"Some pureblood families, like the Blacks and the Malfoys, do that every once and a while, to keep the blood pure," said Parvati.

“If you ask me, they deserve each other," snapped Lavender. "Has anyone ever switched houses? I mean…think she’ll switch to Slytherin? With the way she’s been acting…she should go over there. Her snapping at us like that was uncalled for.”

Raven sat straight up in her bed, grabbed her robe and put it on. She had heard enough. Where was Hermione to jump in and defend her? Where is Hermione going to be when she kills the two chatter boxes, with words? She slammed open her curtains and jumped out of bed. Lavender and Parvati looked as though a troll or horrible beast just jumped out of Raven’s bed and was on the attack.

“Raven, you’re awake?” said Parvati nervously.

“Oh I’m awake,” she said. “I’ve been awake for a long time. So…I was trying to find that good laugh in your story and you failed…miserably! I was right, though. You think you know it all, but let me fill you in…YOU DON”T!”

A stunned and embarrassed Parvati and Lavender sat on a bed and listened wide eyed. Just then Hermione walked in and was confused as to why Raven was scowling the two girls again. She grabbed Raven’s shoulders and pulled her towards the door to the room.

“Stay here!” Hermione said like a teacher telling a student to sit in the corner. “Don’t move and do not say another word!”

Hermione went over to the girls who were quite angry at this point. Raven was fuming herself. She had never been so insulted and so offended in her life. The embarrassment that the girls were feeling right now was in no way a measure of how hurt and angry Raven felt. Hermione was talking to the girls and they seemed to be feeling better. They both looked at Raven and apologized for saying the things they said at dinner and just now. Raven didn’t want to forgive them or apologize for her own actions. Hermione came over and put her hand on Raven’s arm.

“I told them you had a horrible summer with Snape and Draco was being hateful on the train,” she Hermione in a whisper. Raven was trying to calm down but with everything else going on, it was taking more time. “They are sorry. They know they over stepped their bounds.”

“Fine!” Raven said still snapping but took a deep breath and tried again, realizing she was being insensitive. “Fine,” she said in a much calmer tone, “you’re forgiven. And I’m sorry to for biting your heads off. Please accept my apology.”

The two girls forgave Raven and both went up to her to give her a hug. Raven pretended like she was so happy and all was well. But really, she was still quite angry at the two. They each told her that if she ever needed a friend she could go to them. Raven nodded, though she knew she would never go to them with anything.

“Raven, can I talk to you downstairs?” asked Hermione. Raven followed Hermione down the stairs. The common room was empty; the perfect place to have a conversation. The two sat down on the couch and looked at the fireplace. “Are you going to be okay?”

“No. At least not until this contract goes away.”

“George told us about what happened on the train. Did you go to the hospital to make sure you were okay?” .

“I’m fine,” Raven said looking at Hermione curiously. “What’s all this about, Hermione?”

“We are all worried about you. You have friends who know what is going on and want to help you. You don’t have to fight alone.”

“There is nothing that anyone can do to help,” Raven said looking solemnly at the fireplace. “Snape doesn’t even know exactly what this spell does. Unless you know something he doesn’t.”

“No, I don’t. But we can all do what we can to try. Two minds are better than one.”

“Thanks Hermione, but whatever it is, it’s already taken me,” said Raven clutching the ring. “A part of my life has already been taken away and I don’t feel hatred for Draco. Whatever this is…it’s starting to pull me in.”

“Do you feel love for him?”

“No…that’s what I am fighting so hard against I think. If this is a love spell of some kind, I can fight it right? I can fight the feelings for Draco, can’t I?” Raven said. The frightened little girl finally came out. Her voice was shaky and she looked as though a monster was about to pop out from under her bed.

“Raven, we are going to help you. We are not going to let you marry Draco,” said Hermione trying hard to comfort Raven with a hug. “In all the stories the good guys win.”

“I haven’t felt like much of a good guy lately,” said Raven holding in her tears. “I’ve been cold and cruel to everyone.”

“How so?”

“I kept the truth from George, now he’s heartbroken. I snapped at Parvati and Lavender for being themselves. I told Snape to leave me alone, I snapped at Parvati and Lavender again…and well, I just don’t feel very nice,” Raven said rubbing her face.

“George will be fine, don’t worry about him. We took care of the Parvati and Lavender situation so don’t give it another thought. As far as Snape goes…” Hermione stopped to think a moment. She didn’t like Snape too much but respected him as a professor. “…I don’t know what to tell you there. But, don’t you need him now?”

“I do…but he is so hard to deal with. If I was him, I would go to the Malfoy’s house and turn the whole lot of them into cockroaches,” Raven and Hermione both smiled. “But he wants to take the sit-back-and-let-it-work-itself-out approach and that’s not fine with me,”

“Surely he’s doing something…maybe you don’t know what he’s up to,” Hermione said trying to come up with some way to reassure Raven that she was not alone. “Snape is secretive. You know more about him than any of us do.”

“That’s not saying a lot,” Raven said plopping back in the sofa.

“He may be trying to hide from you any plans that he has. He may have spoken to Dumbledore and received advice from him.”

“Hermione, what makes you think that he cares? He knows as much about this spell as he does know how to knit,” Raven snapped. “Look until you begin to understand the physical and mental pain that I have gone through, since the Quidditch World Cup, you would understand me when I say that I have to do this on my own. Everyone can be there for me all that they want, but its not going to change the fact that when this gets deeper and deeper…and trust me when I say it will…you will wish you left me alone. Snapping at Parvati and Lavender was just the beginning. It’s only getting worse.”

Hermione sat there staring at Raven expressionlessly. As Raven said those words she realized that friends were not what she was going to need. She was going to need strength that could only come from herself. Her heart began to sink. She never intended to hurt anyone’s feelings. She thought that friendship would help her through, but it was not going to be enough. As she looked at Hermione who was now staring blankly at the fireplace, she felt she had to say something to reassure Hermione.

“I will always need your friendship. You, Ron and Harry are the first friends I ever met here and we have remained close. I don’t want to ruin that,” she said nudging Hermione so she would look at her. “I just need you to understand that there is nothing you can do. I wish there was and if you figure it out, by all means, tell me. This is more a battle with me and…” Raven stopped abruptly. She stood and walked slowly to the fireplace then turned back around to face Hermione. Then walked over to the window and turned back around suddenly. She looked as though she had an epiphany and any happiness lost had found its way back. A smile came to her face and she could hardly contain her sudden burst of excitement.

Hermione was curious as to why she was unexpectedly happy. “What’s wrong?

“I have to go!” she said running upstairs. She threw on a pair of jeans and another shirt, grabbed her shoes and ran back downstairs where Hermione was still seated on the couch.

“Where are you going? You can’t leave. Its past curfew,” she said as Raven sat to put on her shoes.

“I just realized something…I have to see Snape,” she said getting up and walking toward the door.

“You can’t leave! If Filch sees you…” said Hermione, but Raven was one step ahead of her.

“If Filch sees me then he’ll have to get over it. Its not like I’m roaming the halls…I have to see my uncle,” she said. “Don’t wait up…see ya later!”

Raven ran out the portrait hole and started heading toward the Snape's office. Raven’s heart was beating fast. It was as though she found the key to all of her problems. She could not believe she forgot what Lucius said. He mentioned something about her soul. She knew that this spell was not just about the marriage contract, it was about Lucius trying to control her soul. Raven made it to Snape's office. She knocked until she heard his voice. He finally opened the door and looked angry that she woke him out of his slumber.

“So you want to apologize for your behavior earlier? You realize that you do need me?” he asked condescendingly. Raven, though, completely ignored him and barged into his room and looked around with slight disdain. She thought to herself that the dusty, damp smell at her uncle’s house seemed to follow him to his quarters at Hogwarts.

“Listen, I completely forgot to tell you. Actually I forgot because I wasn’t paying attention, but Lucius said something to me that brings in a whole new element to this ring,” she said looking at a pile of books.

“I’m listening,” he said, walking to a chair and sitting down.

“When I was at Kings Cross, Lucius said something about not straying too far because my soul may not be able to take it,” she said turning around to face him. “Don’t you see that this ring is somehow connected to my soul? I am battling my soul and trying to prevent my soul from falling into the hands of the Malfoy family. If I lose this fight, I am Draco‘s wife. If I win, I live. So really, I am battling the contract and fighting for my soul, my life.”

Raven who was excited about this news, although unsure why, after she said this her heart and disposition sank. She realized what this meant. The knot in her stomach tightened and her head began to ache. What has she got herself into? And how can she get herself out? She sat in the nearest seat and stared impassively at the floor.

“By putting on this ring…I have sold my soul to the devil. I do belong to Lucius now.”

“What did you feel whenever he kissed the ring?” asked Snape.

“I felt as though…life was being taken from me. As though…my heart no longer was mine to control,” her face was still expressionless. “On the train, I lost my hatred for Draco. Everything around me was surreal and Draco was the only thing clear to me. I know I hate him…so why don’t I?”

“I can’t answer that,” he said standing and walking toward her. “Are you asking me for help, now? I’m not going to help you if you don’t want it.”

“Uncle, I’m sorry for what I said. I should not have lashed out at you. I know you are only trying to help,” she said finally looking at Snape. “Of course I need your help. But I know that in the end, no one will be able to help me. This is already getting pretty deep."

“Don’t expect results right away. I need time to find this spell. It has too many different elements to get it all figured out immediately,” he said walking toward the door. “You need to be patient. And be good while you’re at it. You may be spending a lot of time with Mr. Malfoy and you don’t need to make things worse for yourself by insulting or hurting him.”

“I don’t think I could if I tried,” she said getting up and walking towards her uncle. “In case I forget to say this later…thank you.”

“I will do what I can. Now go to bed,” he said opening the door. Raven walked out the door and was halfway through the Potions classroom when Snape stopped her. “Raven…” he said. “Your welcome.”

Raven smiled and headed back out of the classroom. She walked casually back to her dormitory, thinking about all that happened today. For her it was enough to fill a couple of chapters in a book. She couldn’t stop thinking about what all of this was going to do to her. If in fact this ring is tied to her soul, what kinds of things could she be capable of? Or what kind of things will she ultimately lose? Her mind was filled with terrible images of her and Draco together. Images that she wanted so hard to get out of her mind.

When she finally made it up to the common room, she saw that Hermione had already gone to bed. The fire was still lit and she went over and sat in front of it. She couldn’t sleep. There was too much going on in her head. The rest of the night she sat in front of the fire until it let itself out early in the morning. By then, the sun was already out and she decided to get ready for class and maybe head down to the library before breakfast. If she was going to get herself out, she couldn’t rely on just her uncle. She had to fight just as hard. This was Raven's battle to win.


Chapter 21

Brilliant!

Chapter 19 comments: OK just so you know that chapter angers me reallly reallllllllly bad! and i hate that raven is being put through this! And ZOMG i want to punch Draco and hug George!


Chapter 20 comments: GO RAVEN FOR TELLING OFF PARVATI AND LAVENDER! She so didnt have to apologize...!!!!! I hope Raven and Snape figure out this thing soon....



PAMS!



Suzy

I have only read chapter one but I like it! I will do my best to read the rest!!

Draco deserves a smack in the face! Her soul...damnit she has to win! George needs some lovin but only with Raven!

~Norah

hey new reader Love the story
and OMG she has to win, but interesting thought, i thought she would have to tear her sole to disconnect the part of the ring, so does she have to kill someone, becasue that tears the sole hhhmmmm, intersting thought! (i'd be willing to lose draco if it came to that)
so can't wait for more
much love lolz
PAMS!

I have read to chapter 5 I'm trying to catch up!! It's awesome! I love Raven and George! So cute so cute....and Ravens' "Abilities".

I see what you're saying but no worries. The ring isn't a horcrux. I can't really explain what it's doing to her without giving things away. It has something to do with her soul but its more of a control thing. When Raven said that she thought she sold her soul to the devil, she was sort of onto something. I really can't say anymore. But you're right, it is an interesting thought. Thanks for reading!

I love love love love this story... truly well written ! Keep on going!