Hello to the new readers!! Thanks for posting! New chapter...enjoy!!!

-------------------------------------------------
Chapter 14

The school year ended and soon Raven was on her way home to her uncle's house for the summer holiday. The train ride home was fun and also a little sad. She sat in a compartment with George, Fred and Lee Jordan wishing that her first year at Hogwarts didn't end. The whole year seemed to go by so quickly. Raven came into her first year skeptical and lonely, and left full of enthusiasm and with new friends.

The boys were discussing ideas for their joke shop and Raven was chiming in and out with and idea or two, but she mainly kept to herself. She couldn't stop thinking about how long and boring her summer was going to be with her uncle.

"Father thinks he has tickets to the Quidditch World Cup at the end of the summer," said George. "Think Snape will let you go?"

"Possibly," she said shrugging. "I'll have to be nice. It's going to be hard."

"Try real hard," he said smiling. "I'll see if he can get an extra ticket."

"Okay," she said smiling back. "Tell him I'll go ahead and pay for mine. I know at some point the tickets will be hard to come by. They'll get more expensive as time goes by."

"Don't worry about it," he said grabbing her hand. "My dad will get it. He works at the Ministry; it will be no problem for him."

Raven gave George a faint smile and turned away to look out the window. She wasn't in her typical mood. She also knew that everyone around her sensed it.

"What's wrong, Rave?" George asked in a small whisper.

"Oh, nothing," she said with a heavy sigh. "I just had so much fun this year; I don't want it to end. Having to spend the summer with my uncle; not exactly the end I was going for."

"You know you can come to the Burrow anytime," he said. "It's not much but we can find something to do."

Raven smiled and put her head on George's shoulder. George kissed the top of her head and then she closed her eyes and decided to take a nap.

It seemed like she barely closed her eyes when all of a sudden she was running through what appeared to be a maze. At the same time, she noticed she was barely running at all. Her steps were painful and she struggled with every step she took. As she got farther through the maze, she heard a voice shouting at her. The words were muffled and she couldn’t understand what they were saying, but the voice was frightening. Every time she heard that voice, a pain shot from her hand to every part in her body. She looked down but only saw a blur where her hand would be. Raven was getting weaker to the point she couldn't stand, she started to stagger, hanging on to the sides of the maze to try to stay standing. Soon she rounded a corner, when she saw a bright light. Filling with a little energy, she ran towards it as fast as she could. There were two figures with their hands outstretched about to touch whatever it was that was causing the light.

"NO!" she screamed.

"Raven!" said George shaking her. "Rave! Wake up!"

"Huh?" she said still half asleep.

"Wake up! We're here."

"Oh...right. Okay," she said getting up like nothing happened.

"Are you okay? It looked like you were having a nightmare.

"I'm fine," she said grabbing her bag. "I just had one of those odd dreams, I can't explain."

"It sounded pretty intense," he said as they both walked out of the compartment.

"Wouldn't you think it was weird if you saw unicorns on a beach sipping rum while pixies fanned them with leaves?" she asked smiling. Unable to explain the real dream she had, she decided to come up with something different, as to not worry George.

"Yeah, I guess that would be...weird," he said giving her a look that made her feel like she was crazy, which made them both laugh.

The two spotted their trunks after getting off the train and began loading a cart to carry their things along more smoothly. The hustle and bustle of the train station made it hard for George to find his mother. Raven on the other hand, was just following along not in a hurry to get anywhere.

"GEORGE! FRED!" shouted a voice from across the platform.

The twins walked in fast steps to their mother, while Raven took normal strides behind them. She wanted to meet Mrs. Weasley, but felt it a little awkward to meet her boyfriend's mother.

As she walked up to them, Mrs. Weasley was hugging and kissing on her boys as if she thought she was never going to see them again.

"You must be the girl George mentioned in his letters. Aren't you a pretty young lady," she said wrapping her arms around Raven as if she were her own. "Now, don't let that uncle of yours keep you hostage over the holidays. I insist that you spend a few days with us. Understand?"

"Okay," she said with an embarrassing smile, starting to feel a little suffocated by George's mothers hug. "Thanks you, Mrs. Weasley."

"No, thank you, dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "You have made my boy very happy."

"Mum, please," said George pulling at his mother to let Raven go. "She's not a stuffed doll. Raven needs to breathe."

"Is your uncle meeting you here, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked finally letting Raven go.

"Not for a couple of days, ma'am," Raven said. "He has to wrap things up at school and he's meeting me at the Leaky Cauldron when he's done."

"We are going to be heading off to Diagon Alley to take the Floo Network home. So you can go with us. Will you be okay at the Leaky Cauldron by yourself?" George asked.

"I'll be fine," she said still embarrassed. Raven was wondering if her mother would have been anything like Mrs. Weasley. She thought George's mother was everything she pictured a mother to be.

"Arthur! Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley shouted. A tall, older man walked over with Ginny. Raven assumed that he had to be George's father, with his signature red hair. "Arthur, this is the young lady that George mentioned in his letters, Raven Snape. Raven, dear, this is Arthur Weasley, George's father," she said as she kindly shoved Raven into Mr. Weasley.

"Nice to finally meet you," he said. "What’s a pretty young thing like you doing with a rascal of a son like mine?"

His comment made both of them laugh while Mrs. Weasley, overhearing his comment, backhanded her husband on his upper arm.

"Alright, dears. Are we ready to head off?" asked Mrs. Weasley. Everyone nodded. "Okay grab your trunks, and let's go."

Everyone except for Harry, who met up with his aunt and uncle, and Hermione, who met up with her parents, left for Diagon Alley. When they got to Diagon Alley, Raven dropped her stuff off at the Leaky Cauldron and followed the Weasley's to the fireplace that would take them home.

All of the other Weasley's left, except for George who seemed still a little apprehensive about leaving Raven by herself for a couple of days.

"I'll be fine George, how much trouble can I get into by myself?" she asked with her usual confident smile. "My uncle will be along as soon as his business at Hogwarts is over. He may be back sooner."

"If you're sure then," he said stepping up to the fireplace. As he approached the fireplace, though, he stopped and turned back towards Raven. He stepped towards her and took one of his fingers a caressed her cheek. "I love you, Rave."

"I love you, too," she said taking hold of his hand. After a moment of staring deep into each other's eyes, they shared a small, yet loving kiss. Both knew it would be some time before they would see each other, much less have a moment like this for a while. To savor this moment is more than they could ever ask.

"Bye, Rave," George said, his face beaming.

"Bye, cutie," she said.

George stepped into the fireplace, grabbed a handful of Floo powder. "The Burrow," he said. A beautiful green fire consumed him and like that...he was gone. Raven stared at the fireplace hoping for a moment he would come back and make her go with him. But he didn't and she was alone. Now she needed to find something to do to occupy her time.

Raven went back to the Leaky Cauldron where she got some money together to do a little shopping before she was to be stuck for the next two months stranded with her uncle. After walking around Diagon Alley, she decided to stock up on some quills, ink and parchment so she could write to George and her friends over the summer.

The next day, she found herself bored and about to lose her mind. She changed some of her money over to muggle money and decided to do some shopping in muggle London. One thing she took pride in was the fact that she never dressed like a normal witch. To keep up with that, she needed to update her wardrobe. She even took the time to change out some of the colors in her hair. Her long black hair now had streaks of hot pink and purple.

After several hours of shopping, she decided to head back to the Leaky Cauldron to get something to eat. When she got there, Tom, the barkeep, handed her a letter that arrived shortly before she got back. The letter was from her uncle. His business didn't take as long as he thought it would and he wanted her to be there and ready the moment he arrived.

"Hey, Tom," Raven shouted from across the pub. The place was deserted so she wasn't bothering anyone. "What does a young witch like me do around here for fun?"

"Been to the Alley?" he asked.

"Yeah, it was boring," she said slouching back in her chair.

"You could help me close up for the night," he said jokingly.

"Why not? I've got nothing else to do," she said getting up and heading toward the bar. Tom was clearly not expecting her to help, but before he could say anything, Raven had an apron on and a towel in her hand, and started wiping down tables and stacking up chairs.

When they finished, Tom thanked her and went off to bed. Raven pulled down one of the chairs and started a fire. Then she began reading the book that she bought the day before. She was extremely relaxed and comfortable when the door of the Leaky Cauldron opened.

"Tom says we're closed. Come back tomorrow," she said. Her back was turned to the door so she didn't see who opened it. When she heard the door shut, but heard footsteps, she became alert. Raven sensed a cold, dark person walking towards her. "Did you not hear me? We're...," she stopped and turned to see who it was.

"I have not come to this establishment to buy a drink. I have come to settle some unfinished business with a guest," it was Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. He looked as evil as she remembered. His long blond hair and his cold grey eyes gave the room a malevolent feeling. It gave Raven chills but also filled her with anger.

"There is no one here interested in your business, Lucius, now leave," she said furiously. Raven got up to head for the stairs, but Lucius blocked her path with his cane.

“My dear, is that any way to greet me, after all these years?” he said getting real close to Raven, making her back off quite a bit.

“I nearly killed your son, not once, but twice…and you people still won’t leave me alone,” she said throwing down her book on the steps. “Are you that stupid? When will you understand that I am not going to fulfill my end of the contract?”

"Why, my dear, are you denying your destiny?" he asked as if sounding concerned.

"I’m not the one doing the denying. You and your pathetic excuse for a son are denying me by forcing me to do something that I want no part of," she said now prepared for a fight. “It’s disgusting and beyond wrong.”

"Now why the nasty words?" he asked relaxing his cane from Raven's path. "We are practically family. Shouldn't we try to get along?"

"Technically, yes, we are family which is the reason this whole thing is enough to make me vomit," she said stepping up on a couple of the steps to be eye level with him. “And no, Lucius, we are not going to try to get along. I can’t like you,“ she said turning around. “Now get out!"

Lucius followed her up a few steps and grabbed her arm. Raven wondered to herself if her arm has "grab me" written on it somewhere, because people do that a lot these days. She turned to see Lucius, who looked as though he was going to break her arm in half. Not only did she see anger in his eyes, but she also saw how much he wanted to kill her right now. Flashbacks of her first encounter with Draco, at Hogwarts, popped into her mind.

“You know,” she said lightening her tone, “the last person who grabbed my arm like this nearly died. Three guesses who.”

"Yes, well, tonight there isn't a Weasley here to stop you, is there?" he said getting extremely close to her face.

"No, but Snape is," she said looking over Lucius' shoulder.

Snape was standing at the doorway of the Leaky Cauldron, outstretching his wand towards Lucius. Malfoy all of a sudden looked frightened.

"I would suggest you remove your hand off of her and back away, NOW!" Snape shouted.

"Why, Severus," Lucius said nervously, "it's been a while, old friend. I was just catching up on old times with your niece."

"I know what you are doing," Snape said walking toward Lucius, his wand never lowering an inch. "Now once again, remove your hand and back away!"

"You know, Severus, that fighting me on this won‘t work," Lucius said smugly, removing his hand from Raven's arm. "As a matter of fact, you both have just sealed the agreement with your very poor attitude."

"I do not believe our attitude was part of the agreement," Snape said putting his wand up to Malfoy's neck. "The way I see it, our attitude is perfectly acceptable, under the circumstances and present company."

Lucius took a moment to glare at Raven and Snape then swung around and left the bar.

There was an awkward silence between Raven and Snape. Snape walked over to the nearest chair and slumped into it. Raven picked up her book and walked over to her chair. Raven decided that to say anything, at this point, would not be beneficial and thought it would be best to go upstairs to get her stuff. Halfway up the stairs she turned around and looked at her uncle who was still angry with his hands over his eyes.

“By the way…what on earth did you do to your hair?” Snape grumbled.

“I did it just for you. I knew you would like it,” she said smiling.

“Sure…” he said shaking his head. “Now hurry up, I want to leave.”

And with that, Raven made it up to her room where she threw her trunk together and got ready to leave. She finally made it downstairs and Snape was already at the door ready to go. There wasn’t much said on the way home. When they arrived, they both went their separate ways. When Raven got to her room, she began to unpack but suddenly realized how tired she was. Before long she was in her pajamas and getting ready for bed. It was going to be a long summer. As she lay in bed, she smelled something funny. It was a dirty, musky smell. She knew the first thing she was going to do was make her room livable by cleaning it, maybe getting some fresh flowers to make it smell better. Hopefully, she could convince Snape to let her clean the rest of the house.

Whatever she did over the holiday was going to be boring, but interesting. She was so shocked that Snape stood up for her tonight. Maybe over the summer, one thing that she could fix, or somehow mend, was her relationship with Snape. Her thoughts were stopped by a knock at her door.

“Come in,” she said.

“Are you comfortable? Do you need anything?” Snape asked through the partially opened door.

“Um…no thanks. I’m fine.”

“Good night, then.”

“Night.”

Snape shut the door and before long, the hall light was out and she heard the shut of another door. The beginning of her summer began. It didn’t begin when she left Hogwarts. It didn’t begin when she got off the train. It didn’t even begin when she settled in at the Leaky Cauldron. It began the moment she walked into Snape’s house. Her new house. Now her relationship will be tested with Snape, George, and her friends. Raven would be tested, as well. Before long her eyes were getting heavier, and heavier. Soon she couldn’t keep them open. She was forced to end this day, and rest for the new one.

Chapter 15