This chapter is going to be mainly her mother's back story, back to Hogwarts in the next chapter.

I would like to point out that Kyla (TheGirlBehindACamera) wrote the parts from when Caoimhe storms back into her dorm room all the way to the end of the memory to save me from writers block. Her ideas have really helped me! Love it, thanks Kyla!

Chapter Ten: One Last Meeting

For the first time in my life I considered skipping class. I couldn't think straight after what had happened, but going to class would at least distract me in some way. My mother was a Death Eater. If I sat here in my dorm room I would be thinking about it and driving myself mad. So I went to class. History of Magic was always so dry, usually I raised my hand every time but today I didn't have the motivation to lift it off the desk. So much for being distracted. Usually, it seemed like the rest of the class was asleep. Transfigurations was very strange today, we only read about transfiguration. McGonagall seemed down, but then again Umbridge was Headmistress. These weren't the classes I knew. Leaving class that day I was planning on heading straight back to my dorm. Umbridge pretty much was out on a hunt to get people in trouble so lately everyone was hiding in their common rooms. I noticed Ron was walking in the same direction I was from the end of the hall.

I quickly turned and picked up my step a little bit. I did like Ron, I really did. Only as a friend though and I didn't want to lead him on or anything. Maybe if we didn't hang out so much he would forget about me? Possibly he could find someone else he liked. Plus I wasn't in the mood right now to fake being cheerful, I would rather hide in the room and sulk to myself. "Caoimhe!" I heard him call. "Wait up!" 

I turned slowly to see Ron catching up to me. Biting my tongue, I turned and gave Ron a quick smile. "Hi Ron," I said to him.

"Are you heading off to lunch? We should walk together," Ron said brightly. 

"Actually I was just going to go back to my dorm," I explained and his face fell. 

"Another time then?" Ron asked and I couldn't help but nod. Hermione was walking our way, she looked hesitant to stop but I smiled over at her. She looked at Ron and I could see a little bit of hurt in her eyes. "Oh Hermione, are you heading down to the Great Hall?" he asked her. Hermione shook her head.

"No I'm going to drop off a book in the library," Hermione said looking down.

"Alright well I will see you both later than." Ron sighed and walked away. Hermione and I both turned around to continue walking. 

"He really likes you," Hermione said quietly. She was a great friend, I didn't want to make her feel bad either. Ron probably didn't even realize Hermione liked him. Hell, I'm sure Hermione didn't even realize she liked him. 

"I know." I sighed and Hermione looked over at me with a puzzle expression. "I don't feel the same though. I really do like Ron as a friend, I just don't know what to say." Hermione's face immediately brightened without her even noticing. I smiled. "What do I do?"

"You're asking the wrong person," Hermione said with a small laugh. "I can't say I'm a relationship expert." 

"How I feel exactly." I quietly laughed. Hermione and I walked in the same direction since the library was on the way to Ravenclaw tower. We said goodbye to one another and I went straight up to the tower. It was currently empty because of lunch, but I'm sure not long after that everyone would be back here. 

Being in my dorm room was driving me insane. The book was sitting in my trunk, waiting to be finished but I didn't feel ready. It killed me to read those words written by her hand. Looking over my shoulder I realized I had a few books to return to the library anyways. The walk would give me something to do so I headed down to the library that night. I dropped them off and started walking back to my dorm when I spotted Harry and Ron coming my way, they must have been on their way to dinner. "Hey Caoimhe," Harry greeted me.

"Hi," Ron said looking at me with a wide smile.

"Hi guys," I said with a quick smile, hoping we'd just pass one another. Yet that wasn't the way, Ron came to a complete stop. 

"You go ahead Harry, I'll meet up with you," Ron said and Harry looked between the two of us, shrugged, and walked back down the hall. No Harry, come back. I wondered what Ron wanted to say. I was trying my absolute best not to hurt him. He has been so sweet, but things were complicated enough as it is. I loved having him simply as my friend. 

"I'd love to stay and talk but I really have a lot of work to catch up-" Quicker than I could have imagined, Ron leaned in to kiss me. When his lips pressed onto mine it didn't feel the way it did when Draco kissed me, as much as I hated to admit it. Ron was sweet and kind, but there was no spark. Then again I was in complete shock, but Draco also took me by surprise. Ron stepped back when he realized I really wasn't moving. 

"I meant to do that back at Hogsmeade," Ron said. I didn't know what to do or say, so I nodded. There was a bit of silence. "Caoimhe I really like you-"

"I like you too," I interrupted him with a soft smile. "You're a great friend." I had to add the last part, just so he got the point. I watched as Ron's face fell. I hated seeing the look on his face, I knew I had hurt him. The one thing I didn't want to do was hurt anyone. 

"Oh..." Ron said a bit awkward. "Friends," he muttered looking down.

"Ron, I'm really sorry. It's just that-"

"No it's okay," he said keeping his eyes on the ground. "I understand." His tone was so sad. He looked up with a small smile, but I saw the hurt in his eyes. "I'll see you around then," he said turning and walking down at the hall. I watched him walk.

"Ron I'm really sorry, it's just that things are so complicated as it is," I rambled but he kept on walking. I stood there feeling terrible about it, when I noticed Ginny walking towards me holding a few library books. She must have passed Ron on the way. She had a look of pure confusion on her face.

Ginny spotted me and said, "Why does Ron look so upset?" she asked me. "Did you see him? He wouldn't even stop to talk to me." Damn it, I cursed myself. 

"Yeah," I said nodding sadly. "It's just that...well he kissed me..." Ginny looked at me even more confused. "He likes me."

"Well that's been pretty obvious for weeks now, you didn't notice?" she asked.

"I did a few days ago, but-"

"But you don't feel the same way?" she asked me.

"Not really," I responded. "I really, really, like him as a friend and he's so sweet, but I don't like him in that way."

"And you couldn't have made that clear before? You've been leading him on all this time. You went to Hogsmeade with him and always paired up with him in our DA meetings." Ginny almost looked a little mad as she spoke these words. I was trying to wrap myself around her words, had I been leading him on that long? 

"I didn't mean too," I responded. "I didn't want to hurt his feelings. I was just being nice."

"Well how did that work out for you?" Ginny asked raising her eyebrows and turning to walk into the library. I shook my head and turned around. Unbelievable, could today get any worse?

As soon as I got to the dorm room, I slammed myself down on my bed. Why did Ron have to kiss me? Especially when I know Hermione likes him. And then Ginny has the nerve to yell at me for leading Ron on when I was only trying to spare his feelings. How should I have known if I lead him on? All along I was simply trying to be nice.

I haven't had any kind of relationship with guys since my brother first ran away. I especially have never even had a boyfriend. The only guys I have been around recently were Colm and his horrid friends.

In that moment I thought about what Colm had said last month. "Not everything you were told was true. Not everything you were told was true." Yes after reading the diary that has become very clear. I made a mental note to try and squeeze as much information out of him the next time I saw him. Thinking about Colm made me think about my mom's journal. I had to continue reading it, I needed to reach the end. Hopefully to a happy ending.

I stood up from my bed and walked over to my trunk. I unlatched the trunk and lifted the lid.  I grabbed the journal, closed the trunk, and sat down on my bed to read. I was surprised to see from the last journal entry I read that she hadn't written another entry until a year later. She mentioned baby Colm and how his mother took off, leaving him with his father. Then she wrote how her parents had been killed by Death Eaters. She wrote how she had to fake the shock and the hurt, when all the while she couldn't believe them. Sure she ran away with Lorcan, but they were her parents. Reality was beginning to hit her.

The next entry wasn't written until years later. It was written not long after I was born. There is so much I have yet to tell Caoimhe and Colm about their father. I just don't know where to start. I hope one day they come across this journal. It felt like she was speaking directly towards me. All along she wanted me to find it. So this was the end.

Lorcan, their father, seemed like a good man to me. In my mind he was determined, powerful, and supportive. But I was wrong, oh I was wrong. I remembered hearing rumors about how he was involved with You-Know-Who. I was blinded because I liked him so much. I pretended it was okay. Even though my parents taught me to avoid anyone like that. I thought he was different. He made me feel powerful. When I learned these rumors were true, it didn't faze me. He had become an obsession to me and nothing would get in my way. This lead to the most terrible decision I have ever made, joining the Death Eaters.

At first I felt so powerful, so in control of everyone around me. He proposed to me and we were meant to become one of the most powerful pureblood families of all time. After we were married, and after I had Caoimhe, he seemed different. Tense, angry, vengeful. I always sensed those emotions, but they were even stronger now. Colm started to act up a lot and Lorcan disappeared every night. As I read I could tell something was up, she was writing about Lorcan in a completely different manor than she ever had. 

One night I followed him to a graveyard. He was probably heading to a meeting with the other Death Eaters. The Dark Lord had fallen, or supposedly. A baby by the name of Harry Potter was born and brought him to his defeat not too long ago. But his loyal followers were still around, Lorcan being one of them. In fact he was the leader. Lorcan planned on following in the Dark Lord's footsteps. He didn't allow me to go to his meetings, but I needed to see what he was up too. So many people had died in the war, why couldn't he just end it?

"Lorcan there you are," I heard someone say from behind one of the trees that surrounded the graveyard.

"Shall we begin?" he spoke to them darkly. 

"Yes," one said, "But before you begin, I know you took the longer way to lose your wife, but you didn't do a very good job, as she is here." I held as still as possible, although I was already found out. His remaining followers were the cruelest Death Eater's left. The rest have went into hiding, gotten arrested, or were killed. 

"Mrs. Riley, why don't you step out from that tree," I remember hearing the raspy, commanding voice as I was called out from behind the tree. If I had a choice, I would have stayed where I was or ran away. But I could feel the Imperio curse take over my body as I stepped out from around the tree.

"I'm sorry, I shall leave this instant. I have to get home, to my children."

"Then you shall leave," another said. Before I turned away, I spared a look to Lorcan. 

Lorcan arrived home two hours later and immediately began to yell at me for following him. He had been treating me like I was property. All of my decisions were being made for me. The yelling ended when it woke up Caoimhe. 

I then waited. I waited for three hours until Lorcan was fast asleep, I had made sure to slip a potion into his cup to make him sleep even longer. And then I packed as much as I could of mine, Caoimhe, and Colm's things. It just wasn't safe anymore. I used the bag extension spell on my purse to fit everything inside. I grabbed a bottle for Caoimhe and gave it to her so she wouldn't cry, and used a sleeping charm on Colm to make sure he stayed asleep. He would ask too many questions considering he was almost seven years old. 

And I left. I took them and left. I went as far as I could because I knew, when Lorcan woke up, he would not be happy.

From there the journal was left blank. It fell to my bed. She had lied about my father leaving us, she left him. I felt tears in my eyes, but I was confused at how I was feeling overall. She had lied to me, but it was for my own good. She made so many wrong choices, but in the end she learned from them. My head was practically spinning I could no longer sit in this small room. I sprung up from my bed locking the book away, glad to be done with it. She made the right decision, but there were so many wrong decisions made before.

I rubbed my eyes to prevent any tears from falling. It was just so much to take in at one time. Stupidly, I had left my dorm right as dinner was ending and everyone was heading back to their dorms. The hallways were packed but I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. I turned down hallways I rarely ventured through. Somehow I appeared down in the dungeon area once again. Maeve noticed me and asked me what I was doing down there.

I pushed passed her, ignoring her when I ran into someone. "Missed me did you?" came the amused voice of Draco. I looked up to see him with a large smirk on his face. He was surrounded by all of his friends.

"I'm not in the mood," I muttered. He looked taken back, usually I responded creatively to his remarks but I continued down the hall. I turned the corner and kept walking down halls, until I heard footsteps.

"Why do you look miserable?" Draco asked catching up to me.

"Why are you following me? Your friends will be suspicious," I snapped.

"I told them I left my book in the Great Hall," he said rolling his eyes. "Now why do you look so miserable?"

"Nothing."

"Well clearly," he responded sarcastically. I looked down at the floor, hoping he would walk away but he didn't. "Look I'm not moving until you tell me what's wrong because now I'm curious." Draco was always in everyone elses business. I didn't look up, I didn't want to tell him but I also didn't want to move. He wrapped his hand around my wrist, softly pulling me closer. "Tell me," he pressed.

"It's nothing," I repeated. 

"Or at least tell me why you ran off the other night," he added. His other hand moved to my waist as he pulled me even closer. I knew what he was going to do but I wasn't going to stop him. Draco leaned in and kissed me once again but this time I kissed him back. It was even stronger than before. Quicker than before my hands moved up to his neck as his tightened around my waist. 

I didn't understand how this could be so different than any other kiss I have experienced. It was stronger, but I didn't want it to be. If I learned anything from my mother's journal it was not to get involved with anyone like Draco. It killed me to admit that I knew a part of me deep down may like him. Suddenly the coin that was in my pocket began to burn, as if it was a sign to stop. I stepped back and put my hand in my jean pockets. The coin was in their from the last time we met. Draco looked at me surprised. "This again?" he asked rolling his eyes.

"I-I have to go," I said rushing past him staring at the coin that hasn't burned in weeks.

"What is that?" he asked staring it it. "Where are you going?" he asked me completely confused. I couldn't believe I allowed myself to kiss Draco once again. What would my friends think of me? Ginny and Ron would hate me even more.

"I'll see you later," I said rushing off down the hall. I made sure he wasn't following me.