"Ariana? Ari?"
Ariana woke up with a start. She looked into the face of the young man kneeling beside her for a moment and then let out a blood curdling shriek. The man did not flinch. Instead he smiled kindly. "Having a bad dream eh?" he asked.
"I couldn't say." She replied sitting up. The books and pens around the room that had been floating at about eye level dropped suddenly with a loud thud. The man laughed. Arianna stared at his left ear as she waited for him to finish.
"Well," he said at last "Haven't you anything to say to your dear brother who you haven't seen in an eternity?"
"I saw you nine weeks, three days, twelve hours, and forty five minutes ago."
"What? You aren't doing seconds anymore?"
"Albus says that seconds unsettle people." She could see frown lines appear on Aberforth's face through the dark at the mention of their elder brother. "Yeah? Well, I like the seconds." He said gruffly.
"Have you been kicked out of school then?" Arianna asked abruptly. This prompted another loud laugh.
"It's summer holiday Ari. I wrote and told you I'd be coming. I even sent you that little calendar so you could mark the days."
"Oh. I'm afraid I mistook it for a mouse and burned it…"
"Do you often burn mice?" Aberforth asked raising an eyebrow.
"No but I could tell that it was quite an unusual one, being a calendar and everything. Besides, it was quite unhappy."
"I would imagine so!" he looked down and noticed she was wearing a dark black stone on a thin chain around her neck. "That interesting," he said gesturing towards it.
"That boy Albus fancies gave it to me." Aberforth looked furious.
"Has Albus been letting him near you Ariana?" he demanded. Instead of answering Arianna got out of bed and crossed the room to her window.
"Ariana?" Aberforth repeated loudly. She swung around angrily. A vase of flowers sitting on her dresser flew into the air and smashed on the wall behind his head. He blinked at her and then smiled again. "I'm sorry for shouting," he said softly. "I shouldn't have woken you up this late anyway. What would warden Albus say?"
"He is not a warden." Ariana said coldly. "I do not need a warden."
"Of course not!" Aberforth exclaimed clearly upset. "That's not what I meant!" Ariana walked over to him and squeezed his hand.
"I know brother," she smiled slightly "I am just very tired. I spent all morning talking to the moths in the attic. I'm afraid I also set fire to the drawing room carpet."
"I never liked the old thing one bit anyway," Aberforth chuckled as he walked her back to the bed and held the covers up as she lay down.
"Mother always liked it." Ariana whispered. Aberforth hesitated. They stared into each other's identical blue eyes.
"Yes," he said eventually "But she always loved you. I'm sure she would understand." He kissed her lightly on the forehead, and went to leave. He turned in the doorway. "If you're reallylucky I might even sneak you out for a bit of quidich tomorrow!"
Ariana was left alone staring at the ceiling. For a moment she imagined that she was in another room altogether. One she had never seen before with four great long tables and a ceiling that let you see right through to the sky. She sighed happily and rolled over. She quickly fell asleep and had no more nightmares until morning.