I'll Be There For You -- 31 October 2008 (DONE)

Ashley walked the perimeter of the frozen lake, thinking about what her mother had told her. Could her father really be back? After all these years, her father was going to take an interest in her life. After her left her with her mother... how could he show his face to her now? Was it because she was in Hogwarts with Austin? Ashley shook her head. This was ridiculous. Ash stared out at the lake with her icy eyes full of hatred at the moment. She bent her head slightly to keep her face out of the chilly wind.

Riley, who had been meandering around the lake thinking of his mother, saw Ashley. She seemed angry and frustrated, yet sad in a way. He was curious, and coming out of his shell a bit, went over to her. "Is everything OK?" he asked her, knowing that she would open up to him because this is what she wanted -- him to come out of his shell and initiate a conversation.

Ash looked up and was surprised to see Riley. Since he didn't talk much, she hadn't recognized his voice.

Her scarf fluttered in the icy wind. She tightened it around her neck. "Er... yeah," she lied. "What're you doing out here on Halloween when you could be enjoying the feast inside?"

Riley shrugged and dug his hands deeper into his pockets. "Well ... I was just thinking about ... stuff," he replied.

"Stuff," Ashley repeated. "Yeah, that's a good way of putting it."

Riley noticed immediately that Ashley wasn't acting like herself, but let it slide. It did her some good to be quiet sometimes. "And I'm assuming that stuff also brought you out here on Halloween."

Ashley nodded. "Stuff like... people," Ash said, piqued.

"People, like ... parents," Riley added.

"How'd you know?!" Ashley asked, looking up at him with wide eyes. Unless he's having the same issues, she said to herself.

"I've got a parent, too," he said. He looked across the lake and sighed heavily. "Out of curiosity, what did your parent do? But I understand if you don't want to say anything. Especially to me since I'm not the best conversationalist."

Ashley creased her brow. "Right," she said, wondering why she hadn't thought of that before. Then she thought about what he asked; she shrugged. I guess it'd be okay to say, she thought. "I've never told anyone before. Nobody knows too much about my past -- except for my really, really close friends and Austin. As long as you can keep it between you and me, I think we'll be okay..."

She bit her lip nervously.

Riley looked at her. "I've got no one to tell -- you should've known that. So, yeah, I think I can keep it between you and me," he said.

Ash nodded. "Right," she confirmed. "My parents are divorced -- as most people know. But what they don't know is why -- except for maybe Alex and then my other close friends. Anyways, well... I haven't seen my dad since the divorce -- adn I was two at the time. Now he wants to be part of my life again. It's been fourteen years. I don't think I could let him back into my life. Not after everything... I've acted like I didn't miss him and that I didn't need him... but I did... but I just don't know if I can forgive him."

Her bright eyes misted over and she sniffled, blinking back the tears that threatened to embarrass her.

Riley saw how telling someone about her father and the recent events affected her. "You don't need to go on if you don't want to," he said quietly.

"Not that I don't want to," she said, "but I don't think I can; there's nothing much after that. Except, of course, the fact that my mum's a druggie and my life sucks and we have no money because she spends it on drugs and alcohol... but that's about it."

"Oh," Riley said. He returned his gaze to the lake. Compared to Ash's story, his was decently long. But he had more to tell than she did. How his mother abused him, how she suffered from mania, how she killed his father, how she was in Azkaban, how she blamed him... The list seemed to go on forever to him.

Ashley shifted her feet below her slightly; she was nervous about his reaction to what she had told him. She shouldn't have said anything...

"So," she prompted, "what's your full story of why you're out here?"

Riley sighed and looked back at Ashley, his dark eyes distant. "Well ... my mother -- and father, too, I guess -- were quite abusive, verbally and physically. That went on for ... well, until my father was murdered and my mother thrown in Azkaban."

He watched Ash for her reaction. He half-hoped that she would ask something about the murder, yet half-hoped she didn't -- though he assumed that since it was Ashley, she would want more than that. He had never told anyone about this, though... so this ought to be interesting.

Ashley felt her face contort into something that looked like this: Somehow, she brought her jaw back up, closing her mouth, and found that she wanted to hear more. "So who raised you after that?" she asked, intrigued. Why hadn't she ever asked about Riley's past before now? Probably because she hadn't wanted to bring up her own...

"My foul grandparents," he answered bitterly. "For the past year or so."

It would have been difficult for an ogre to not have picked up on Riley's anger and bitterness toward his grandparents. "Oh," she said, nodding slowly, shifting her gaze to the lake. "I'm sorry."

Riley sighed. "That's nothing, really," he said. "Do you want to know why my mother's in Azkaban?"

"Do you want me to want to know?" she asked. Ash wasn't sure if she did or not... but she was curious...

Riley shrugged. "But now that you've got me going, I might have a hard time stopping." He thought of how he wanted to word the whole escapade. "Well ... my father had been involved with Voldemort. He was a cold hearted person who hated all Muggles and Muggle-borns, to say the least. I don't know why he even started doing whatever he did for Voldemort, but he was stupid enough to be found out by my mother. She went berserk and killed him, landing herself a nice cold cell in Azkaban. And landing me with my bloody grandparents."

This revelation left Ashley speechless, a very difficult task in itself. She nodded, not sure of what to say. Then it came to her: "Well, you can always come to me to talk, if it helps. I'll be there for you." She knew that Riley knew that before now... but it seemed so much more... perfect to say it now than any other time. It worked for them both now more than ever before.