We were now all standing in front of Dumbledores office and Draco knocks. The door open and Professor Snape tells us to go in and take a seat. Once inside I see all my siblings and Sebastian are in here too and I had this gut feel that we weren't going to receive the best news. I look over towards Dumbledore and standing by his side is Theodore but he doesn't make eye contact with anyone, he is just zoned out. My eyes landed on the next person next to Theodore and it was Raven and I smiled at her and she returned it back.
Once we all get settled inside snap puts a spell to block out anyone listening to our conversation from outside. "As you all know yesterday was a very tragic day, we lost a couple of our students. I've made sure that security is more enforced to prevent from anything like this happening". For somewhat reason I felt like Dumbledore was mad at my Father and me. But if he really was mad at me I'm pretty sure he would've already sent me back to Azkaban.
Theodore spoke up, "I personally went to the families and gave them the news". His eyes met mine and I didn't think he would actually do what I told him but to my surprise he did. "Many parents are going to pull out their kids and other will let them stay anyway, with that said we really want you all to keep attending this school". Theodore pulled out a folder and placed it on the table and opened it up, he then placed a pen on top.
"But if you would like to transfer just write down your name and what school you would want to attend, you have until the beginning of next school year to decide". Everyone just looked at each other not really sure what to make of this. Maybe this was the chance I need to take, eventually my father would find out that the wand I gave him isn't the actual elderly wand. He would come back for me and when he does I had to make sure not to put all of them in danger.
I slowly got up and made my way towards the front but I was pulled back by Ethan, "what do you think your doing? We said we were all going to do this together". I felt my blood boil at how stupid he could be to think that we could all stop father. I pull my hand out of his grasp and make my way towards the table and pick up the pen.
The only problem was that I couldn't seem to bringing my self to write on the paper. "Miss Grindelwald.. if this is about protecting them from your father then go ahead but just know that you can't keep running away from your problems. You'll have to face them sooner or later". I look up at Dumbledore and put the pen down in defeat.
"Ash we are here to help..remember that", ravens sweet voice filled up the room and it made it somewhat warmer.
"What will happen the day he finds out?", that was really my major concern.
"Then we will be ready when he comes", Theodore sounded confident about his answer but I don't think I could believe him.
"We were fooled but next time we won't. Next time we will be the ones to fool your father and he will fall soon". I don't know why but when Dumbledore talked he sounds more sure than Theodore.
"Now Miss Grindelwald take a seat, Theodore has some news for you". I wasn't sure if it was good news or bad but I sat back in my seat anyways. Raven walked up to the Cara and Keva and lead them into a different room and closed the doors. I was confused about this but I'm going to assume that whatever this is the girls shouldn't know.
Theodore walked towards the front desk and Raven followed. "You asked me where I was yesterday", and he stopped talking. I look at Raven and she breaks the eye contact with me and looks away. "You told me that my brother had Ryker, but he also had Raven". I just got the feeling that is if they are both here then Ryker was...I pushed the thought of it away and just decided to listen.
"Ryker is gone", I felt my eyes watering and a feeling of hate washed over me.
I ran up to Theodore and grabbed him by the colar of his shirt, "You knew where he was didn't you! All this time you knew and didn't say anything!". Blasie and Sebastian rushed to my side and tried to pull me away from Theodore. I held onto him and felt how my blood boil I tried to get out of the boys grasp without letting go of Theodore.
Max pulled my arms and slammed Theodore onto the table. "HOW LONG DID YOU KNOW!", his voice full of rage changed the whole room. The man under him was trying to hard to get out of his grip but this only mad Max slam him even harder onto the table. Quickly Sebastian let go of me and went to help his brother out and Alexander tried to get in and help but Max was to strong for them.
They kept trying to pull Max away from Theodore. Max yelled in rage and so did I, how could he keep this away from us. Dumbledore tried to break the boys up and clam them down.
Meanwhile I was have a battle with myself and I couldn't help it anymore and dropped to the floor. I screamed in pain and this was all my fault for letting him go, I should've stayed. I slammed my hands onto the wooden floor and yelled even more not sure how to take out my anger. I could hear that Max was fight with the rest who was getting in between him and Theodore.
Jackson and Raven tried to clam me down but it was of no use. Hot tears ran down my face and I felt desperate that I couldn't even control myself anymore. "Ashley calm down!", Blaise kept repeating himself over and over again.
I pushed Blaise backwards to leave me alone. "How do you want me to calm down! I JUST LOST THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!".
Raven pulled me into a tight hug and I broke down even more and I even fought her so I could get out of her girl but she just wouldn't bugged. I was able to slip my way upwards and get a hold of the table, so no raven was holding onto my legs. "Raven! LET ME GO NOW!", I tried shaking my legs hoping she would just give up and let them go.
I saw the way Max was fighting the boys, his face was red and and eyes full of anger. Max kept yelling and trying to get to Theodore.
I got a hold of Theodore's arm and pulled my onto him to get my legs out of Raven's arms. "How long did you know! I WANT ANSWERS NOW!". I put my hands around Theodore's neck and in this moment I could care less is I was sent to prison for murder or if my best friend hated me for killing his brother.
"Your not going to solve anything like this, so let him go now Ash!", Ethan put his arms around my waist and pulled me away from him. I kept yelling and fight Ethan so he could let me go. I kept fighting and something happened that made Ethan trip backwards and we fell to the ground.
I took this opportunity to get back up and get to Theodore. I reached for my wand and pointed it directly at Theodore and now his eyes were full of fear. But I never got to throw a spell because Snape knock the wand out of my hands. I quickly run towards my wand but I get pressed up against the wall.
I look to see a pair of greyish eye, "Draco let me go now or your next!". I slammed my hands on to his chest repeatedly but he only held onto me tighter. The boy was so desperate to keep me put that he pressed his arm on my neck and that's what it took to keep me in place. "Just stop fighting, I don't want to hurt you so stop". I had to give up, I wasn't going to to fight him. I kept crying taking out all my anger and sadness that I had building up inside for Ryker.
Things were being thrown all over the room and I could see all the boys pushing and yelling between each other. Catherine was arguing with Theodore and Noah tried to keep his sister from reaching out to him.
Serenity was helping Ethan get up. Owen was protecting Pansy from getting hit by the things being thrown around them. Jackson helped Raven up and took her into the other room with the girls.
Snap rushed over and so rested the boys and cast a spell on Max to stay in place and to make him stop yelling g or talking. Everyone seemed to settled down except for Catherine who was still yelling at Theodore.
"Enough!" Dumbledore yelled and the room was quite once again. All you could hear was me sobbing and I looked up at the ceiling to have anymore tears coming down. I felt Draco's arms wrap around my waist and put his head on my shoulder.
"I knew for two months", is all the Theodore managed to say before walking into the other room.
"Im going to kill you and your brother!", I screamed towards Theodore before he left. I kept crying and I felt my body get heavier and I slipped away.
~~~
Draco's POV:
"Draco take her away and stay with her". Dumbledore was now cleaning up the mess and getting everyone to clam down.
I carry Ashley out of the office and head towards the Slytherin tower. I felt bad that she had to find out this way about Rykers death. It scared me because I've never seen her react this way before, she never let anything get to her easily.
But then again this boy was really important for her and now she lost him. But I had to make sure she stayed strong and kept going, just the thought that I almost lost her yesterday bothered me. Would this be me? Would I've reacted the same as her or would I bottled up my feelings and pretend things would get better.
I was glad nobody was around to see her like this and that this would only stay between everyone who was in the office today. I slip into the common room and took her to my room, for now on I'm going to keep an eye on her.
I lay her on my bed and I wondered if once she woke up would she still be the same girl again or would she change after this. I would give anything to take away that pain from her, so she wouldn't have to go through this.
I went to go change into my pjs in the bathroom and when I walked out I heard her trying to cry quietly. I slip in my bed and pulled her into me, "go ahead cry it all out". Ashley turns around to face me, her eyes were so puffed up because of crying a lot. I rub her back and keep telling her to just let it all out.
Hours passed by and she was still crying, I've never seen a girl cry so much before. It was very surprising even to see a girl like her cry, but maybe she wasn't just crying for Ryker. Maybe she was also using this time to just let go of everything she has bottled up inside her.
Luckily for us we didn't have school tomorrow so if she decided to spend her weekend behind these closed doors then I would be here by her side. It was about 3 in the morning and she was trying to clam until she slowly started falling asleep.
I wiped her tear stains away and pull her hair away from her face. I turn off the lights and pull her in and she snuggles into my chest. I close my eyes and take a deep breath and drift off to sleep.
A couple hours later~~
The sunlight hits my room and I smile at the warmth I'm receiving. I stretch out in my warm bed and I realized Ashley is no longer by my side and I quickly get up. She's sitting on the floor looking out towards the window of my room, the sunlight seemed to give her skin more color. "Good morning Ash", but she didn't say anything back or even moved.
I get up to change and brush my teeth, I leave the door slitty open just to make sure she wasn't doing anything unusual. When I came back out she was still there in the same place, " Ash do you want me to bring you breakfast up here?". I kneeled besides her and I put my finger under her chin and make her look at me.
"Yeh that would be fine", her voice barely above a whisper. I get up and quick out on my shoes and rush out to get breakfast, I didn't want to leave her alone for too long. Though I never knew of her ever being suicidal or anything but still I wasn't going to give her a chance to do anything stupid.
I come back to my room and find her still in the same spot, "Ash breakfast is here now". Slowly she got up and sat on the couch by the window, I think she liked the warmth she was receiving near the spot. I hand her a plate of fruit with toast and a glass of orange juice.
We ate in silence for awhile and I really wanted to know how she was feeling. "How are you holding up?", I was nervous that maybe she would lash out on me or cry again but she didn't.
"It's tough but he was missing for awhile and I was hanging on to the idea that he was still out there". She places her plate to the table next to her and begins to fidget with her fingers.
"I think that..after yesterday just makes me feel somewhat at ease that I know what happened to him. Even though some part of me is mad at myself for leaving him behind". It was true she didn't look like it was bothering her as much today but it was obvious the guilt she was carrying with her.
"So..what now?", I was a bit curious to know if she was actually going to go after Theodore and his brother for this. Or if this was just because of how painful the news was to her then.
"Well.. finish the school year and stop my father is all I have planned at the moment", she didn't seem to have the energy to carry on with the conversation so I left it at that.
For the rest of the day we spent time doing homework. It was strange most people can't seem to do much when they lose someone, but she could. It was one of the things I admire her for, she's strong but I feared that one day when something affects worse than thing what would happen. Would she be able to surpass it or would this tear her down.
The next day was the same as yesterday, I tried making some conversation but she wouldn't really say much. Most of the time we just sat there in silence and it wasn't something I liked to do but I understood that she was in a moment of grieving and needed time.
The only ones who can to visit her were Ethan and Jackson, I thought maybe this would cheer her up a little but it didn't work. They both tried to make conversation with her but she just wouldn't budge either. They stayed a little longer to see if they could make her feel better but they gave up. Serenity came to drop off her wand and she tried talking to Ashley but she received the same treatment as the rest.
2 weeks later~~
Ashley was getting back to her normal self and so was everything else. Theodore and her were trying to be on good terms again and she was receiving a lot of hate from Max for doing so. Though Max went kinda all rebellious, and because of this he would lash out on anyone and get into fights constantly.
Ethan and the rest of the siblings were helping Ashley as much as they could. They were getting a lot closer and I like that, there wasn't argument between them anymore.
During the first and half week her group of friends and mine kept an eye on her. During the nights we would all take turns to make sure she was doing well and some night she would wake up crying but we were all there to clam her down. Other night she would wake up screaming out for help because her father was coming to get her, it was a really torture to see her like this.
After we noticed that she was being able to handle herself on her own we stopped visiting her during the nights, except me. I would sneak into her room and sleep with her just to make sure she was fine and didn't feel alone. The first two nights I scared her when I snuck in but she got use to it then.
There were some nights I would leave her alone because father would drag me into these meetings with Voldemort. I always wanted to make my parents proud, especially my father since he was one of the most loyal people towards Voldemort. So it was a lot of pressure to not let my father down and stain the family's name.
I was taught more about what being a death eater really meant, yet having to do Voldemort's dirty work was not something that I wanted to get my self involved. I would get the mark soon so that meant that I would just have to man up, I don't have a choice of becoming a death eater. Simply you were just born into it and now I knew how Ashley felt about not having a choice.
But she was lucky enough to have people around to help her out. Me on the other hand didn't have anyone but Blasie and Pansy. They were scared too of becoming a monster like them but we just had no choice. At times I wonder if I would spend my whole life always on the run because some stupid cult shit my parents were part of.
I open the door and poke my head in to see Pansy and Ashley asleep. I walk in and close the door behind me and make my way to her bed quietly. I lift up the sheets and slip in, Ashley turns over to look at me and she smiled. I smile back and she goes back to sleep, most of the times I would play with her hair or intertwine my hands with hers. But tonight I just wanted to sleep I was getting tired of having to sneak out during the nights and stay up late for these meetings.