Ophiuchus Ascending

Ophiuchus: The constellation known as the star-holder. Appropriate, huh?

Dione: An old goddess in Greek mythology, goddess of the oak. I really didn’t pick it for any big reason, except that it sounded good as a last name.

Urania: The muse of astronomy and astrology. Fitting, ne? ;)

Chapter Two is in the works, and will hopefully (maybe!) be out by the middle of December, possibly earlier. Oh, and if you go to my site (http://www.geocities.com/sinistrally ) soon, you’ll be able to see some of the beautiful fanart Nora’s done for Ophiuchus Ascending!

No one noticed the people in their black cloaks on the busy London street. It was raining, after all, so why wouldn’t people be wearing raincoats? Of course, since no one spared the cloaked figures a second glance, they didn’t notice that the rain wasn’t bouncing off the cloaks’ material the way rain should slide off of a raincoat. Each drop made a patch of steam on the place it fell.

The men walked almost as if they were a gaggle of geese, but unlike the innocent birds they resembled, the men were grim and silent. Once in a while, a man would take what seemed to be a stick of wood from his pocket and a house would go up in flames, or the windows would all shatter. Cries of innocent people being injured or dying were everywhere once a quarter of an hour had passed. Yet no one seemed to take even a second glance at the soundless, shadowed men, the silent bringers of death and despair.

After about another five minutes, the leader veered into an empty lot between a huge disco and a high-tech looking record store, and disappeared! In their rows, the other cloaked figures followed him, the grass that they walked on holding their footprints. Suddenly there was no trace of feet- no sign that any living person had disturbed the ground. Only a witch or wizard could see that they’d really entered a building called the Leaky Cauldron, and there were none of those now, even though thousands of normal people walked this street daily.

If one had followed the men into the building they’d entered, they would have seen spilled drinks everywhere and still-warm corpses. It was a scene full of blood, and would have made many an onlooker run away to a flower garden or something equally beautiful and calming. But though none of the passersby had followed the silent men into the invisible pub, they could all see the bright green of a skull and snake burst into the cloudy sky, as if it were a fireworks display.

Only one thing was wrong: This wasn’t a celebration, but a massacre.

°

It was just another average day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, or so I thought. The 7^th year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were having Potions together, and, though I had tried to be partnered up with a fellow Ravenclaw, I, Genevieve Dione, ended up with a rather empty-headed Hufflepuff boy by the name of Kevin Abbot. He kept dicing the butterfly wings when they were supposed to be left whole, and I was worried that our Pensieve Potion wouldn’t hold a single memory. However, I’d usually Levitate the offending ingredients away when he wasn’t looking.

Then, when our potion was finally done and just had to simmer for ten minutes, I felt a tap on my back. I looked up into the gray eyes of my friend Ruby Browning, and was shocked at what I saw.

Now, Ruby’s really short, and her dirty-blonde hair is cut like a boy’s. She’s pretty, and many boys, like Kevin, like to gaze goggle-eyed at her. I could tell that Ruby was avoiding Kevin’s lovesick gaze, but her eyes also told me something else.

Her gray eyes told me that she was scared, and since Ruby’s a top student in Divination, when she’s scared, one should start running for cover. "What’s wrong?" I asked her.

"Something big. I just, I dunno, I just felt something utterly wrong just a minute ago," she says softly, and from studying her eyes a little longer I can tell that whatever it was, it hurt her physically as well, for her eyes’ usual sparkle was gone, and she looked into my own hazel eyes imploringly, as if asking for a mother’s comfort.

"Well, I wouldn’t suggest asking Professor Trelawney," I noted, turning back to my potion. Knowing Ruby, she was probably looking daggers at me right about now, but I disregarded it. "Professor Dumbledore will tell us as soon as he finds out."

Little did I know that what Dumbledore was to say wouldn’t just be an announcement of some Muggles finally seeing a Welsh Green and being scared out of their wits. I couldn’t guess at that moment of cynicism that Ruby knew only a little of the horror that would change our lives forever.

°

The Pensieve Potion that Kevin had only botched, and that I had practically made twice, could only hold a maximum of five memories before disappearing and then reappearing in a random portion of the Potions dungeon, where, upon further inspection, it was found that the memories themselves had also disappeared. Kevin looked exceptionally murderous when I told Professor Langsam about Kevin’s laziness, and because of the obvious fact that she should give us two completely different grades.

I noted that Ruby and Lucille Gottlieb’s potion worked perfectly well, as did Ralph Sinistra and Charlie Marroquin’s. Unfortunately, all the other Ravenclaws were partnered with Hufflepuffs, who, to put it lightly, never excelled at potion-making.

On my way out, I felt a tug on my hair. Usually, my hair annoys me, as it’s brown and poufy, not curly, but sticks up at the sides and looks generally shorter than it is. Needless to say, I was expecting a nasty insult, and turned around to find myself facing Ralph, who kissed me soundly, and then dragged me down the corridor for a few steps.

"Ralph! What’s wrong with you?" I asked, finally breaking free of his grip.

"I’m using the advanced kiss-and-make-up strategy. First we kiss and make up, and then I get to scold you about Potions," he replied seriously. "Really, Genevieve Urania Dione, I don’t know how you can lay all the blame on Kevin! You’re not that great at potion-making yourself, you know! And she failed Kevin because of what you said!" he said, causing the innocent passerby to stare at us, wondering why we, a couple known for being seemingly joined at the him, were having a spat over a Potions class.

"Well, Ralph James Sinistra, I’ll have you know that all Kevin was doing in class was practically mooning at Ruby and cutting what was supposed to be left whole and leaving whole what should’ve been cut! It took me practically double the time I’d usually need just correcting what he so stupidly did wrong!" I replied, only barely noticing that Ruby was passing by, and for the second time today, was glaring at me.

We were silent for a few moments, and then a thoughtful look crossed his face, and a smile was on his lips soon after. "I suggest that we kiss and make up, then," he whispered suggestively. That received quite a few whistles from some curious passerby, but I only smiled back.

"Nope! Ruby said she felt something hugely evil in Potions. I’d like to find out what’s wrong first, especially from Professor Dumbledore. But we can have that kiss-and-make-up time after dinner. After all, you know how much I’d hate to skip any dinner, but today of all days? I should think not!" I replied brightly, practically dragging him into an empty corridor so that no one else would stare at us.

But I kissed him anyway, and from the look he gave me, I doubted whether anything, not even the worst of all evils, could upset me now.

°

Melanie Nelson was reading a Muggle psychics book when I entered our dormitory. Her long dark-blonde hair was covering her face, but I knew that she was deep in concentration. Of course, being the way I am, I decided to interrupt her.

"Melanie! Did Ruby tell you about the thing she felt during Potions?" I asked, putting my Potions books away in my trunk, and trying to act like I didn’t interrupt her just to see if she would get mad.

"Nope! But I’m sure I’ll find out at dinner. Ruby did mention your attempt to give her a boyfriend, though," she answered, looking up at me with a sweet smile. What did she just do, I thought, groaning inwardly, take Happy Pills?

There is simply little or no way to get Melanie angry! Sadly, though, it’s easy to get me in a bad mood... "She said that? I was only saying that, you know my Potions partner, Kevin Abbot? Well, about the only thing he was doing in Potions was mooning over Ruby! And I was telling Ralph that, and I did see her pass me in the corridor..."

"Well, you know how Ruby is. She thinks you’re crazy for having a boyfriend - at the least, she doesn’t want the bother of one. I can’t say that she’s horribly wrong, but I think you can tell why she’d be upset that you mentioned any Hogwarts student and her as more than friends," Melanie explained, then opened her book again, and I could tell that she’d be much too deep in concentration to ask about anything else.

So, wondering how one could always be as cheerful as Melanie, I re-brushed my annoying hair, adjusted and cleaned my glasses so that one could actually see my hazel eyes, and walked out of the dormitory into the Ravenclaw Common Room.

I settled into one of the blue velvet loveseats, intent on finishing Wuthering Heights, when Lucille sat down on my feet, her Nimbus 1000 in tow, as usual.

"Gennie?" she asked, snatching my book and studying the back cover. "Nice book. This is more important, though. Tell me what’s wrong with Ruby! And quickly!"

"Lucy..." I began, but she quickly cut me off.

"Remember, Genny? I don’t like to get called Lucy anymore! I’ve said that since our sixth year, for gosh’s sake!" She interrupted angrily, waving the book around as she gestured energetically, her black hair flying.

"But Lucille sounds so formal! Anyway, Quidditch obsessee," I started again, punctuating this last phrase with as much sarcasm as it could hold, "Ruby’s mad at me, so don’t ask me! Try asking Melanie!"

"I could ask Edith, then," she suggested, purring like a cat that’s surely trapped her prey.

"Edith wouldn’t know," I said softly, flipping the pages of Wuthering Heights. "Ruby avoids her even more than she avoids boys."

"And so do you!" Lucille pointed out, her volume escalating. "Why are you so evil to Edith?" By this point, she was loud enough that some fifth- and sixth- years were staring at us.

"’Cille, have you ever noticed how she acts to me? Either she’s cool as a cucumber, or she insults me for a joke I made. I’ve tried to be her friend, but it’s not going to happen," I replied softly, covering her mouth with one hand, and opening my book with the other. "Ruby’ll be at dinner; now can you please leave me alone so I can read?"

"Fine! Actually, I was wondering if you’d help me with the Astronomy homework for Monday? Please?" She begged, batting her eyelashes at me. "I’ve been so busy with Quidditch that I haven’t had time!"

"Lucille! Our N.E.W.T.s are less than a month away! Do you want to fail just because of some stupid sport?" I exclaimed, nonetheless ready to help her with our whole-sky star chart. "As long as you don’t copy, I guess I could help you. But only on one condition."

Lucille paused for a moment to consider. "Which is what?"

"You can use my star-chart for reference, and only reference if you leave me alone after dinner," I explained somewhat slyly.

"Kissing session, Genny?" ‘Cille asked purposely loudly. This attracted a visitor.

"Still all for it?" Ralph asked, snatching the book from me and reading the back cover. "Or too involved with Heathcliff and Cathy to spare any time for me?"

"First dinner, and then we can kiss and make up. It’s good that it’s Friday; I wouldn’t have any time to do homework if not for the weekend!" I replied, snatching the book back. Why do people always like to take my book away?

"I’ll put the book away!" Lucille volunteered cheerily. "I’ll grab your star-chart while I’m there!"

"And you do know where I keep my homework..." I sighed, reluctantly standing from my cozy place by the fire. Even if it was May, the interior of Hogwarts is chilly year-round. Lucille ran off with my book and her broom, most likely to remind Melanie that it was high time to eat dinner.

And with that, Ralph carried me all the way to the Great Hall, to the vast amusement of all the passersby.

°

By the time I was seated in the Great Hall, and Ralph had finally disentangled himself from me, dinner was in full swing. I was just about to serve myself some Yorkshire pudding when Professor Dumbledore entered.

If one just looked casually at him, you’d think that he just wanted to give us the update on House Points. (Slytherin, by the way, was in first place, and Ravenclaw was coming in a close second.) But if you studied his face, as I did, you could tell that something was terribly wrong. Dumbledore’s blue eyes looked dead; his face was set firmly, and his always-smiling mouth was set into a line as straight as only a ruler could make it. I began to grow more worried, for what would upset the Professor so? Certainly not something that could be cured with a simple Memory charm, right?

He calmly strode to his place on the staff table, but instead of sitting down, he shot a stream of purple fireworks from his wand. It received instant attention from every student, and I think that everyone could see the horrible wrongness of whatever had happened reflected in his face.

"I would much rather be telling you about our House points, but I suppose that it is just not the day. Today around fifty Muggles and one hundred wizards were killed by a Dark wizard who calls himself Lord Voldemort and his supporters, the Death Eaters. They walked down Westminster Road in Muggle London, and set aflame about twenty homes there. Then they entered the Leaky Cauldron and killed all the wizards there, and proceeded to shoot their mark, a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth, into the air," he explained, looking more saddened with each word he spoke. The message was all too simple; it didn’t seem to have penetrated into my brain.

"Ruby was right..." was all I could whisper. I know I didn’t faint, but I do know that Ralph grabbed me just in time from falling from my chair.

"She was, Genny," he murmured into my hair. "But why kill Muggles? What have they done to us?"

Professor Dumbledore continued, and the uproar that had occurred suddenly stopped. "We have evidence to believe that Voldemort is as strong or stronger than Grindelwald ever was. You may wonder why I am telling all of you this, when the year is almost over, and you are young and merry. I am sure that some of your parents would object to you hearing this. But I believe that, knowing this, you will then call upon the greatest of your courage, patience, cunning, and wisdom to fight the new evil that has appeared to threaten us. Light can banish Darkness, not the other way around." This was a grand speech, and I did feel better, but my world had suddenly twisted upside down. Ralph patted my head, as I used to have a habit of doing, and Dumbledore went on: "Seventh years have the opportunity to register as Aurors. If you are interested in doing so, please speak to your Head of House for more details. Thank you."

And then Professor Dumbledore strode out, as if what he’d said held little weight upon our heads. But from the sound every student was making, it was as if we’d been informed that we were all orphans.

"I think I’ll skip dinner..." I whispered after attempting to choke down a mouthful of my once-appetizing Yorkshire pudding. I only vaguely noticed that Ruby wasn’t there, and I was in such shock that I really didn’t care.

But then I saw Melanie. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and she didn’t even bother to conceal them. Her face was turned to the floor, so that no one would notice her crying. Charles Marroquin was patting her head, though, so I decided she probably wouldn’t want me asking what was wrong, since my usually-loud voice would attract attention. (Quiet for me is about normal volume for most people.)

"Shall I escort the princess back to her royal chambers, then?" Ralph asked, looking in the same direction I was, and holding out his arms to carry me again.

"Yes, please, but would you please carry the princess outside?" I asked, twining my arms about his neck. His lips brushed my ear, in what I took to be consent, but also made me hope that he’d hurry outside.

I seem to remember hearing many hysterical voices as we passed, but I was much too deep in thought to hear them.

°

When Ralph finally set me down, under an oak, I wasn’t yet ready to kiss him. "Ralph? Are you going to get registered as an Auror? I think I will," I said, glad that no one could hear us.

"If you do, most likely," he replied, playing with my fingers.

"I don’t mean ‘If Genevieve does this, then I will follow as her devoted boyfriend’! I mean, what do you want to do?" I asked, my tone growing louder.

"Gennie, give me a minute! Although you must admit that I am good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, as you are, I don’t want to drag you around wherever I go either! I’d like to be an Auror, but there’re so many things we can do; I don’t want you to hate me because I have a job you hate!" he replied, letting go of my hand. He looked so frustrated that I began to stroke his dark brown hair.

"Ralph, I don’t mean to upset you. Really! We really do have a lot of options. But it seems as if this is what I should do right now. And I want you to come with me, but not because you love me, but because you love being an Auror. I don’t want to make you my slave, but I don’t want to be your slave, either. I could do some Astronomy work; you could work in the Ministry of Magic. We can just spend this summer thinking about what we want to do. But being an Auror is what I feel is the right path for me now," I replied, snuggling closer to him as I felt him relax. Being the tall, slim person that he is, I sometimes feel short and square, but his arms enfolded me, and he felt like some sort of hero of old, protecting me.

"You do want to save the world, don’t you?" he asked, his lips meeting the top of my head, sending pleasant shivers through me. "I’ll think about it, but I feel that I should be an Auror, especially if girls like you register. But we came out here, not to talk, but for a rather more enjoyable activity. How about it?"

"Yes. You can kiss the princess now," I replied, leaning closer to him. His mouth met mine, and I twined my fingers into his brown hair, noticing a strand falling into his eyes, which I quickly brushed away. We leaned on the oak, kissing hard, only the stars looking down upon us. I never wanted to stop this, but yet, yet I knew that there were other wonderful things in life besides kissing! Ralph began to kiss my eyelids, my nose, my cheeks... But then his hand went to my robe’s buttons and he began to undo them.

I grabbed his hand with both of my own, and broke away, breathing hard. "Ralph! Do you have any idea what my mother would say if she knew about this? You, especially, would be as good as dead! And now, of all times! When our world has just fallen apart, you just want to make love to me?" My voice, as I said this, was growing steadily softer in volume, until it was a soft whisper, even by ordinary standards.

"Javier told me you, well, wanted me to," he whispered sheepishly. "He told me you’d told him, and I thought you might be too shy."

"Haven’t you noticed that he twists everything I say? Like Edith? Gosh, why wouldn’t I tell you? But what would happen to you if you got me in trouble?" I asked, tracing the outlines of his face.

"Oh, I don’t know! But, well, I guess I wanted to do this with you. Would you, if you knew your mother wouldn’t kill you?" he asked, leaning forward to kiss me again.

"Of course," I replied, not leaning to him, but gazing at the stars. "Oh Ralph! Before today, if anyone asked me, you know what I would have told them I wanted to do? Be a Magi-astronomer, or even teach Astronomy here at Hogwarts! But look at what’s happened! Now I’m all ready to become an Auror, without a thought of Astronomy! What’s wrong?"

"Good without evil is light without shadows," he responded, hugging me to him. "I read it somewhere; I still think it’s horrible that it’s true. Now will you kiss me?"

"Yes. But undoing my buttons, zippers, ties, et cetera is my job. If we get married, you get co-ownership. And yes, the princess doth consent that you may kiss her," I said, finally facing upward for him to kiss me.

°

Ralph and I were just walking into the Hogwarts castle when Ruby ran up to us. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was panting, which isn’t common for her. She’s usually calm, cool, collected, and has the right word for everything. And since I know Ruby’s typical avoidance of boys as more than friends, I assumed she’d been running.

"Ruby? Where’ve you been?" Ralph asked, as I was too shocked to even attempt to say anything.

"First, come with me. I’ll explain on the way," she panted, taking a hand of mine and practically dragging us in the direction of the North Tower. "You see, since this whole thing with Voldemort happened, Professor Trelawney’s been having hundreds of predictions run through her head all at once. And since she’s swamped with all the predictions, she can’t tell anything about the first one because the second prediction is already popping into her head before she can even comprehend the first one! She’s going to do some spell that’ll make the predictions go to me, but from what she says, that wouldn’t help much; there’s much too many images. So would you help?"

Ralph and I both nodded; we were too breathless to say anything else. "You won’t get the predictions like Professor Trelawney and I will; you’ll get them while you sleep. And we have a Sleeping Draught ready, and Professor Trelawney has set up some beds," she explained.

"Why us, though?" Ralph asked, thoughtful through his heavy breathing, "Why not one of the teachers?"

"All of the other teachers are much too busy setting up wards to protect Hogwarts tonight. Professor Trelawney said to find anyone I could, and that this was urgent, so I looked for you," Ruby replied, dragging us forward at a still faster pace.

"Is anyone else helping you do this?" I asked, hardly able to from the words.

"Lucille and Charlie," she said with a note of disgust at Charlie’s name. "Edith didn’t want any horrible thoughts in her head, and Melanie’s almost crazy with grief."

"What?" Ralph gasped. "Why?"

"Her elder sister works as a barmaid at the Leaky Cauldron. No one’s told her who was killed, but she’s sure that her sister was," Ruby said, extremely businesslike, considering the horrid situation "Dumbledore hasn’t been seen since dinner, and no one else knows about the casualties. So Melanie’s been given a Seeping Draught in the Hospital Wing. It’s good you didn’t see her; she was raving."

"Melanie? Raving?" I choked out, not able to believe any of this. Only a moment ago I had been mentally giggling over Ralph and I not sleeping in separate dormitories, and now I was struck dumb with this horrid picture. Melanie, the kind girl who’d comforted me on my first night, when I wept for all the dreams that’d I’d had to leave behind in the Muggle world. Melanie, the girl who’d always look on the bright side of things, the girl who knew just what would make you happy. And now, Melanie, raving? Melanie, going crazy over a possibly lost sister? It was almost impossible to picture, and brought tears streaming down my cheeks.

By now, though, we’d reached the North Tower, and Ruby was pulling us up the ladder and through the trapdoor. The sickly-sweet odor met my nose and set me to coughing. I’d only been up there one or two times, and had never grown used to the smell. Ruby acted as though the smell didn’t bother her, and Ralph just seemed to be working hard to breathe. Professor Trelawney was staring blankly at the wall; her eyes unfocused. Lucille and Charlie were huddled by the window, each trying to get the most air and yet make as little contact as possible. Ruby tapped Professor Trelawney, and Ralph and I went to join ‘Cille and Charlie. After a moment, Professor Trelawney spoke, sounding mystical and distant, but at the same time, extremely businesslike.

"My dears, I will give you these Sleeping Drafts, which contain the potion necessary to open your Inner Eye. First, please go to the beds," she said, indicating four cots in a corner with the tip of her chin. We followed her instructions, ‘Cille and Charlie on the end cots, and Ralph and I in the middle ones. Ruby handed each of us a goblet with a thick, purple potion inside. I noted the black swirls and figured that they were part of the potion to open our currently tightly-closed inner eyes.

"Now, my dears, drink the potion, yes all of it! You will fall asleep, but you will dream. And when you wake, you shall remember what you have dreamed. You must tell me all of what you dreamed, for our world may depend on it," she stage-whispered, her dragonfly-eyes aglitter with unshed tears. Under normal circumstances, I think that all the students currently sitting on cots would have rolled their eyes, but if your life is a top that suddenly falls over, why can’t a batty teacher be a savior in disguise?

So we drank our potions under the covers, and, dropping them to the ground, fell into instant sleep. Only one thing was strange: We didn’t have the calm, dreamless sleep that Melanie was enjoying. We dreamed dreams of prophecy, of a world to come.

°

A brown haired young woman walks into a Muggle cinema. She sees her friends, the solidly built girl with her almond eyes, the man she avoids with the light brown hair and green eyes, and her tall, thin love, in dark brown hair and darker brown eyes. They welcome her, and the movie begins. No one else is in the cinema, but yet, people not yet born and events not yet occurred seem to crowd in from all angles.

Suddenly, the floor falls out, though only the title to the movie has been shown: "Ophiuchus Ascending".

The brunette-girl finds herself in what looks to be a pub, alone, that is, except for a hooded figure. For some reason, knowing she’d never do this in real life, she asks for a name. "Ruby," the voice comes, somewhat muffled by the hood, "Ruby Browning. I am an Initiate of the Mysteries."

The girl gasps, and suddenly the scene changes. She is standing in a grassy field, her wand outstretched. The girl is stunned; she is watching herself in the future. The older woman mutters, "Sombremagie convoquer!"

A black cloud appears in front of the woman, and she runs off to the East. And now that picture is fading...

A blonde man walks down a dark street. When she looks at the man more closely, she realizes that it is an older Lucius Malfoy, the Slytherin Head Boy. A look at the street sign reveals that they are on Knockturn Alley, but he doesn’t seem to notice her. He is swaggering as if he has not a care in the world, humming, in fact. Then he enters a store by the name of Borgin’s...

Now the girl finds herself in the midst of a grand wedding. A redheaded woman with emerald-green eyes dances with a black-haired man, both looking as if nothing could break into the love that shone in their eyes. The girl is saddened, now, as the scene fades...

A lady in purple robes, shawl and scarf sits in a bench on what the girl recognizes as Diagon Alley. A crystal ball is in her hands, and she mutters: "What begins with hate shall end in love. Though it seems to end, the nightmare only takes an intermission. The beginning is green, the end is scarlet. The Founders’ war will finally be won by the one who bears the mark of evil..."

The girl reaches out to the lady, but finds herself instead hanging on to a curtain, where she hears voices: "Yes Master, I have killed all the Mudbloods I could find at Beauxbatons, Master!" comes a sickeningly pleading voice.

"Ah, but no, you missed a few!" comes another voice, this one so full of evil that the girl fears greatly that she will be seen. She hears shrieks coming from the direction of the first voice, begging for forgiveness, for the torment to end.

Happily she notices that the picture is fading...Now she is back in the movie cinema with her classmates. The movie is over, and they rise from their seats. Only then does the girl notice that she’s waking up...