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A Matter of Time	By : AdaraB Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 7796 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything in the Harry Potter universe. I own nothing and I make no profit off of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter 37 – A Second Chance

“Harry!” Ashleigh screamed in excitement as she ran over to her cousin who had just stepped out of the Floo.

When she reached him he pulled her into a fierce hug. They stayed like that for awhile before Ashleigh pulled away.

“I’ve been so worried about you. Are you okay? Did they hurt you, well more than what we already know? I’ll kill them! Draco said you weren’t up to seeing anyone? I’m going crazy here; you’ve got to give me some answers!” Harry’s questions came out so quickly that Ashleigh wasn’t sure if it was one question or many.

“Slow down Harry, I’ll tell you as much as I feel comfortable with okay?”

Taking a deep breath Harry sat down on a nearby sofa and nodded for her to continue.

Ashleigh, once again did not go into detail. She told him exactly what she told Draco but had to add in the bit about him slapping her around. Harry had many questions about her recovery and how she had been managing. Her answers were simple and honest.

“It was really hard to look at myself in the mirror. Not only because of the bruising but because I blamed myself for what happened to me. Lucius had a mind healer come to stay with us so that I could have a session whenever I felt I needed one. I spent most of my time with him this past week and he really helped me see that this wasn’t my fault. It was something that could have been avoided, yes, but it did happen and I can’t dwell on it forever. I need to move on for myself. If I don’t Blaise will always have power over me and I’ll always be afraid of him on some level. I can’t let that happen. And I’m sorry for not contacting you. I know you were out of your mind with worry, Draco made sure I got your messages but I wasn’t even talking to him at the time.”

“You shouldn’t have had to deal with this on your own.”

“I had to. I went through it alone and even though those around me can sympathize they can’t empathize. No one went through what I went through so they really have no idea how I feel. I couldn’t stand for one more person to look at me with pity in their eyes.”

“It wouldn’t be pity…”

“Yes it would Harry. You wouldn’t mean it to be but that is all I’d see at that point. It’s hard not to pity someone who’s been through what I’ve been through. If this had happened to someone else and not me, I’d probably pity them too. It’s not an emotion that you always have control over and it’s okay to feel that way. Like I said before, if you’ve never been through it you don’t know how to feel so pity is the only thing you can feel because you feel sorry for what happened even though there was nothing you could have possibly done.”

There was a moment of silence before Harry spoke.

“I’m so sorry. I should have been there.” Harry said as he hung his head in despair.

“It’s not your fault Harry. If it was anyone’s fault it was mine for stepping out of the wards. Just remember that everything happens for a reason. It’s what I’ve been telling myself for the past week. It helps me get past everything that happened. This happened because it was meant to happen. The Dark Lord should be the easiest pickings he could ever possibly be at my wedding. Who knows if you would have ever gotten an opportunity like this if I hadn’t been abducted? It may actually be a blessing in disguise. I guess the only way we’ll really know is two weeks from now.”

Harry thought about what she said before responding.

“This could be the turning point. This could be the event that never happened the first time around and the reason I lost the war!”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. It could be. The only way we’ll know, is to wait and see what happens.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wedding plans, from Ashleigh’s understanding, were going well. Narcissa was planning the entire event due to the fact that she knew what would be expected of a Pureblood wedding. Ashleigh wanted nothing to do with it. It was a sham and when she and Draco married under their own violation she would plan her dream wedding. The only thing that she had to take part in was the fitting of her wedding robes. They were traditional Wizarding wedding robes and were awful in Ashleigh’s opinion. Thankfully she only had to do a single fitting.

While Narcissa was planning the wedding, Ashleigh had Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny over every day so that they, along with Draco could do more research to find out why their variation of the Avada Kadavra wasn’t working for them. So far they had been unsuccessful.

“We know it won’t work on animals because we are focusing on what a human brain looks like. Should we research what an animal brain looks like to see if that works?” Ginny asked.

“I don’t think we should. If one of us gets a clear shot to try it we need to be able to visualize what a human brain looks like in order for it to be effective. If we make a mistake and visualize an animal brain instead, the element of surprise will be lost and we may never get another chance. The Dark Lord is anything but stupid, it’s only a matter of time before he figures out what we’re trying to accomplish.” Ashleigh said with a sigh. She was frustrated that they couldn’t seem to come up with a solution to this problem.

Time was running out. They had a mere three days until the day of the wedding. If a solution didn’t present itself soon they’d go into this battle blind. If they chose to go to battle at this time at all that is.

They had already figured out the basic layout of where the members of the order would be stationed. It was too risky to just have them standing about under a disillusion charm. The ceremony would be held outside in the garden so thankfully there were many hiding spots that they could use. It was also a plus because they could hide everyone before the wedding guests arrived. Harry would be under his invisibility cloak the entire time, mirroring the Dark Lord’s movements so that he never lost sight of him. Even as he sent the curse toward the Dark Lord, he’d be hidden just in case it didn’t work. That way if the battle took a wrong turn he could get away safely.

Although their plan was mostly set, Ashleigh wondered if Harry would actually stick to it. She had the feeling that if it came to leaving her here that he wouldn’t. She knew that she had to tell him that if it came down to it that he needed to leave her and save himself. Hermione had told her about his ‘Saving people thing’. That’s actually what scared her the most.

Of course she didn’t want to die or leave Draco by any means but keeping Harry safe so that he could finish off the Dark Lord once and for all was the most important thing here. Harry also knew that that was the most important thing as well but Ashleigh knew he was not willing to risk another family member to do it. He was willing to die for her which she was grateful for but it would end in the same outcome of the future she had come from. She had to make sure he stayed on the right course

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day of the wedding dawned bright and clear, much like the day that Ashleigh had been sent back in time. It didn’t seem right for the sky to look this perfect when in mere hours they would be waging a war against the Dark Lord.

Ashleigh stretched before getting out of bed, it was still early and the wedding wasn’t until that evening. She had plenty of time to prepare what she needed to. The first thing on her list was to talk to Harry. She hadn’t had an opportunity to get him alone the last few days and she really needed to know that he would stay focused.

After a quick shower, Ashleigh dressed and made a Floo call to Grimauld Place. Once she pulled her head out of the fireplace, she called for a house elf and ordered a light breakfast. Moments later Harry stepped out of her fireplace with a confused look on his face.

“What did you need to talk about?”

“This is a hard topic to broach but I need to make sure that if our plan doesn’t work that you succeed in getting out alive, whether it be with or without me.” Ashleigh said slowly.

Harry digested her words for a moment before his anger took over.

“You have got to be kidding me! You WANT me to leave you behind? You are the only family I have left! If it wasn’t for the fact that the only way to even get to Voldemort was through your wedding I would forbid you to even be there. There is NO WAY that you will ever be left behind. How could you even ask this of me?”

Ashleigh let Harry calm down before she answered his questions.

“Harry of course I don’t WANT to be left behind but if that is the best thing for you that it is what must be done. You are the only one that can kill him so it is imperative that you are alive and well should this situation turn sour. I know that you would never think of me this way, but I am disposable in this war. Most of us are. You are the only person other than the Dark Lord who is not negotiable in this war. You must take your place and have the most advantages possible. Right now I believe that you do have advantages over the Dark Lord. You know what the future holds should you lose. You have the most to gain and the most to lose. The Dark Lord thinks he has the most to gain but the reality of that delusion is in my future. You have more to fight for now. Remember it, use it.”

“I just can’t lose anyone else that I love.”

“I’d like to say that you won’t but I’d be lying. I can’t predict the future of this battle. I will tell you that when it comes to me the Dark Lord probably won’t kill me, if my acting is as good as I hope it is. The only people we’d really have to worry about are those in the Order. But you never really know. My main point Harry is that this time around you need to be a little selfish and save yourself because without you there is no future of the Wizarding World. There would be no point to my coming back in time. Nothing would change when you had the biggest opportunity to change it. A second chance.”

At that moment a house elf popped into the room and set down a tray laden with Ashleigh’s breakfast. Ashleigh thanked the elf before it popped back out of the room.

Looking back over at Harry, Ashleigh could see the inner turmoil that was raging in his eyes. She knew she had gotten through to him but he needed time to process what must happen and what he must do in either circumstance.

Ashleigh sat down and ate her breakfast, saving the bacon for Harry. She kept watch on him from the corner of her eye. She could tell the exact moment that he came to terms with what must happen.

When she saw the look of acceptance in his eyes she walked over to him and pulled him into a tight hug.

“I’ll always love you, ya know?”Ashleigh asked.

“I know. I love you too.” Harry replied.

The heart wrenching sound of Harry’s voice had a single tear making a trek down Ashleigh’s cheek.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone was in place. Harry was well hidden under his invisibility cloak behind the altar, the twins and Tonks were hidden up in the few trees that were located in the garden. The rest of the order was hidden amongst the rose bushes around the spacious area where the ceremony was being held. All were hidden under a disillusion charm which they renewed silently every half hour.

There are still four hours until the wedding and Ashleigh feels anxious as she looks out her bedroom window into the garden. Her eyes land on each spot where the order members are hidden and flinch when she notices the leaves on one of the trees move slightly. Ashleigh really hoped that Tonks would be able to keep still once the guests started arriving less she give them away. The possibility of there being birds in the tree is non-existent as Lucius has the grounds spelled to ward off Muggles and animals alike.

Ashleigh is startled out of her thoughts when there is a knock at the door. Turning to see who it is; she sees a woman whom she has never met before.

“Hello dear, my name is Lenna. I’m your stylist for this very special day.”

Ashleigh took in Lenna’s appearance. She is unique, that is for sure. Her white hair is fluffy and is piled on top of her head in a design reminiscent of a birds nest. The robes she is wearing are bright yellow and look much too big for her. Her face is slathered in make-up to the point that Ashleigh cannot make out any of her true features. Ashleigh really only had one thought:

Narcissa had seriously hired this woman to be her stylist for her WEDDING DAY?

Ashleigh simply nodded at Lenna.

“Come my dear, it is time for your beautification.” Lenna said, finishing with a high pitched giggle that made Ashleigh cringe.

Lenna led Ashleigh to a low backed chair and pushed her down into it.

“Now, we only have a few hours so you’ll need to work with me so we can get you done in time. Honestly, I don’t know why Mrs. Malfoy didn’t have me come sooner. I could have used the time on you.”

Ashleigh held in the scoff that she felt like making but did make a face at the woman who was standing behind her pulling on her hair like there is no tomorrow. No pun intended. The woman had basically just called her ugly and insinuated that it would take all day to ‘beautify’ her. She made a mental note to let Narcissa know that in the event of her and Draco’s real wedding that this woman was to come nowhere near her.

Lenna rattled off about how it was such an honor that the Dark Lord was attending her wedding. Ashleigh concluded that everyone involved in any part of this wedding is a supporter of the Dark. At this point Ashleigh toned out everything the woman said.

Ashleigh was disappointed when it came time to do her makeup. She could no longer murmur the ‘Uh-ha’s’ and the ‘Um-hum’s’ when necessary to whatever bile the woman was spewing.

When Lenna pronounced that she was finished two and a half hours later, quite a short amount of time considering she said she’d need all day, she forbade Ashleigh from looking at herself in the mirror.

This made Ashleigh extremely anxious. She didn’t usually care a great deal about the way she looked but she had to keep up appearances in front of a bunch of wealthy Purebloods. If she ended up looking like her stylist there would be no living down the embarrassment.

Lenna finally made her exit and Ashleigh breathed a sigh of relief. She decided that in spite of Lenna she would have a look in the mirror anyway. She had to know if any changes were needed before it was too late.

Just as Ashleigh made her way to the bathroom, another knock sounded at the door and had Ashleigh stop in her tracts.

Narcissa entered holding a garment bag above her head, a warm smile on her face.

“You look lovely Ashleigh!”

“Do I? Really? Tell me the truth, please.”

Narcissa just laughed.

“Lenna is quite the character isn’t she? I’m guessing she told you not to look in the mirror?”

She laughed again at Ashleigh’s nod.

“She just likes the big reveal. Go take a look, I won’t tell on you.”

Ashleigh smiled at her and walked into the bathroom. The first thing she focused on was her face. She was surprised that her make-up is relatively light. A smoky eye, flushed cheeks and a translucent pink lip graced her face. It was quite pretty and not over done at all.

Smiling, Ashleigh looked up at her hair. Her smile dropped. Well, she thought, it isn’t a bird’s nest. That’s a plus right?

Her hair was slicked back away from her face and was wound into a tight chignon at the back. It’s something that she never would have picked for herself, especially with her widows peak. The style made it much more prominent which she wasn’t very comfortable with. Her forehead looked huge to her. Sighing, she walked back into the bedroom.

“Well with any luck this won’t be my real wedding so that I won’t have to see my hair like this for the rest of my life.” Ashleigh stated as she flopped down on her bed with a sigh.

“I agree that it’s not the best style for a young lady such as you but it is appropriate for a Pureblood wedding. The Dark Lord will be happy no doubt.”

“Well as long as the Dark Lord is happy…”

Narcissa considered Ashleigh for a moment before motioning to the garment bag.

“Come, we need to get you dressed. The Dark Lord wants an audience with you before the ceremony. It won’t do for you to be late.”

“Will Draco be there as well?” She asked as she shimmied out of her pj pants.

“No the Dark Lord wants a private audience with you.”

Ashleigh considered this information while she dressed in her wedding robes. Staring at herself in the mirror, her vision started to get fuzzy as if she was staring at snow for a long period of time. She didn’t care, all she could think was that she hoped the Dark Lord didn’t try to look into her mind because she never had the chance to learn Occlumency.
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A Matter of Time