N/A: This will be more or less and redo of Starlight and Moonlight. I will try to make it as cannon as possible, but some parts will stray but only for necessity.
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any of this, only the plot, Addy and Ariana.
Thunder sounded in the distance. A stroke of lightening brightened the sky momentarily before darkness set back in. The rain pounded against the ground, making puddles across the long deserted street. It was past midnight and the stores on either side of the small alley had long since been closed.
The lone figure of a woman holding two bundles against her breast appeared underneath an archway where moments before, only a brick way had been situated. Although to you and me something like a moving brick wall is considered nonsense, this woman had grown up amongst magic and considered it a normality essential to life.
On her face she wore the look of determination. She had made up her mind; she wasn't strong enough to bear this burden. Though she hated the idea she knew it was best. She was going to abandon her child, one of the two bundles she now carried against her, sheltering them from the rain.
She was a small lady, short and thin, dressed in all black, whether to better hide her from the shadows or to allow herself to be engulfed by them, not even she truly knew.
She flew down the street as though she was floating, the grace of the dancer she had once been flowing through her.
She stopped in front of a large building with peeling paint and a smell of rotten potatoes.
She knocked on the large door. No answer. She pounded as hard as she could, determined to wake whatever creature called this dump a home.
"Go away!" yelled a screechy voice from above. "For the love of god, leave us alone!"
"Please!" she yelled up to her unseen correspondence, "Please take my child!"
"We have no room!" the voice yelled again.
"Please, take my child, I will pay any thing you want!!"
The woman heard the slamming of a door and someone pounding down the steps. Suddenly, the door opened, nearly hitting her in the face. Standing there was a tall witch with a large wart on her chin, the mistress of the house.
"Babies?" the witch said snatching one from the woman. "Ugly babies," she scowled thrusting the baby back at the woman, "I can't take those!"
"Please," begged the woman, "I'm only giving you one, you can do with her as you like, I can't keep her, she needs a home, I'll give you anything!"
"One? What's wrong with her??"
"That is none of your business," the women spat.
"If you expect me to take her in, I think it is," said the lady, her hand moving to her wand.
"Put that away," ordered the woman, a quick look of fear passed over her features that did not go unnoticed by the old lady.
"Why not? You scared of the dark magic?" the witch threatened pointing her wand in the woman's face.
"There is nothing you can do to frighten me, take my child, and I will give you whatever you want!"
"You're its mother?"
"Yes."
"Bring down your hood girl, so I may see you properly. See what these are to turn into."
The woman brought down her hood. She was a beauty of the past. She had long chestnut hair. It reflected a time when she would spend hours in front of the mirror curling it to perfection before going out to flaunt it. She had a pale face, gaunt and wore down from much stress. But even there, one could see the beauty she had been so long ago. But now, she felt she had nothing left to live for; all she cared was to find a home for the child and go back to her comfortable life that she should have never interrupted.
"Are they identical?"
"No. That's why she has to go."
"And I take it mine is the ugly one, whatever, beauty is of no use in the gutters. I want three thousand galleons, no more no less."
The woman opened a purse and took out the money; obviously to her this money was practically pocket change.
"Alright" said the woman, "Pleasure doing business with you Miss-?"
"Names are not necessary in this transaction," said the lady as she handed over one of the bundles.
The witch was about to turn back into the house when the other scratched in fright.
"Wait, wait, I gave you the wrong one, it was the wrong one."
The bundles were switched and the woman looked back at her baby one last time.
"Good bye Adriana, and Good luck."
Crying the woman left, one child in her arms; the other to be thrown into a hard crib where she would cry for the next three hours straight, only to be ignored by the mistress of the house.
Three years later…
"Starlight, Star bright, first star I see tonight….
I wish I may, I wish I might have the wish I wish tonight"
A small girl of three sat on a cot near a large window. She had tangled long blonde hair and crystal green eyes, the kind that could show her whole past. The kind that if you looked into them, you could see the depths of her soul, like reading a book.
She sat in a room with cots lining both walls. The room smelt heavily of mothballs and rotten cheese. The beds were filled with sleeping children of all ages, of all sizes and all backgrounds. The only thing all these children had in common was they were all orphans.
Adriana Adele was the smallest, the youngest here. The babies and toddlers were kept elsewhere, where they would try to find them families; Addy never went there.
Addy stared out at the small alley, Diagon Alley. She looked at the shops, at the families at the happy people. She diverted her attention back to the sky, looking and searching for a shooting star. She closed her eyes and wished. She wished for the one thing she had wished for every night for as long as she could remember. She sang her lullaby, the song her mother sang to her, in the only memory she still had of her.
She put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette
She broke his heart he spent his whole life tryin' to forget
We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time
But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind
Until the night
He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away her memory
Life is short but this time it was bigger
Than the strength he had to get up off his knees
We found him with his face down in the pillow
With a note that said I'll love her till I die
And when we buried him beneath the willow
The angels sang a whiskey lullaby
La La La La La La La La La La La La La La
"Bull shit" Addy said singing the song to herself for the thousandth time. She was nine now. She had gotten used to orphan life. The room still smelt of mothballs and rotten cheese and the best beds were still lumpy and moldy, but Addy supposed the human body can adapt to anything. Addy looked over at the clock. It was five thirty. Addy put on her cloak and went downstairs to the kitchen to make breakfast for the other orphans.
"Don't give me that misunderstood looked!" said Mrs. Crouch, throwing a pail at the small girl. "You have breakfast duty, and it's your own fault. If you hadn't thought it would be funny to steal the minister of magic's wig and place it on the flagpole you wouldn't be doing this."
Addy took the pail and walked out the door, trying to avoid another lecture about how she was supposed to show the minister of magic respect because he is the person who funds this organization and with out his money she would be on the street. She had heard it a thousand times. But the way she saw, at least the minister knew her name. She was the only orphan that he knew by name. He would know her walking down the street; she actually was someone.
Addy left Diagon Alley and made her way down the winding London streets.
The well was situated at the intersection of Charring Crossing and another street, of which Addy had never bothered to figure out the name.
That morning, for the first time in her life, her attention was drawn to the small dumpy road when she sighted a boy coming out from it. She looked up at the name to find a crocked sign reading "Grimmald Place."
The boy was running from a lady with long strait black hair and what looked like a long bread roll running down the street.
"Sirius Black you get back here this instant and apologize to your father."
The boy grabbed Addy as he ran by pushed her into the alley. He put a hand over her mouth before she could say anything and the two of them waited until the lady passed.
"Phew, I lost the hag," said the boy grinning largely.
"Hag!" said Addy outraged, "that's your mother you're talking about!"
"So" he said shrugging, "Sirius, Sirius Black," he introduced sticking his hand out for her to shake.
Addy eyed the hand suspiciously before sticking her hand out to shake.
"Ahh," Sirius screamed as he shook her hand. "Ouch, what was that?"
Addy turned her hand to show a buzzer. "It works on the minister too," she said smirking, "I'm Addison by the way, but call me Addy, everyone does."
"Well if everyone does than I definitely will not. You need a nickname."
"No I don't," she protested.
"Yes you do Buzz."
"Buzz?"
"Yes forever and always you will be known as Buzz!"
"Ok Sirius" she said turning to walk away.
"No, you can't call me Sirius, my parents call me Sirius."
"Well then what do you want me to call you? Egghead??"
"Sure," he said, not taking it as an insult in the slightest.
"Oh, ok if you're fine with it," said Addy attaching her bucket to the well.
"I'd be careful with that well," said Sirius solemnly.
"Why?" asked Addy.
"It's haunted, Buzz, everyone knows that."
"Really?" asked Addy as she turned to stare into the well.
"A witch drowned herself there. She was in love, a forbidden love; her father would never allow it. But she went behind his back and even though she was married, she had a daughter with her true love. When her father found out the daughter wasn't her husband's, he threatened to kill the daughter if she didn't do it first. Rather than kill her daughter, the witch drowned herself in the well."
Addy continued to stare into the depths of the well. Whether it was in her imagination or not she did not know, but for an instant she saw the light shimmer of a hand bob to the surface of the black brackish water.
"BOO!" Sirius yelled and pushed Addy; she jerked forward, nearly falling into the well before Sirius grabbed her back and pulled her out.
"Saved your life!" he proclaimed grinning from ear to ear.
"That was lie! You mean you made it up?" Addy proclaimed, forcing her anger to hide her fear.
"Well not me personally, it was my cousin, its just stupid really, I mean who would believe that?"
"No one," said Addy, "Just, what happened to the daughter?"
"Buzz, nothing it's made up."
"Right," said Addy as she finished hauling up the water and began walking away.
"I'll see you around?" Sirius asked.
"Doubtfully, technically I'm not allowed outside of the orphanage, I'm getting water now."
"It's settled then!" he said happily, "I'll meet you here everyday! Five forty five."
"Fine!" she said walking away, smiling to herself.
"See ya later mate," he said loudly as he walked back towards his house.
"Ya, later…. Mate," she said softly, "mate" she said again, "friend." She smiled, walking away towards the orphanage. Suddenly, she stopped and turned around.
"Wait, you promise to come?" she had had her heart broken so many times, she just wanted to know for sure.
"Yeah of course, Buzz, you're my best friend."
"And you're mine too, Egghead."
"And we'll always be friends forever won't we?"
"Yeah, forever."
She couldn't hide the blush that was creeping up her cheeks. She walked away when something caught the light from the inside of her bucket. In there, was a ring. It was silver and had obviously been under the water for a long time. It was nothing but a plain band and a small sapphire, but Addy decided to keep it, as an orphan, she had never had jewelry before. Maybe she could pretend Sirius gave it to her.
Sirius skipped away, not particularly moved by this encounter, he didn't know he had just changed his fate forever, as of yet, this friendship seemed ordinary.
And so his mood was not any different than ordinary as he walked back into his house, number twelve Grimald Place… that is until he walked into his house and received the most unpleasant surprise.
Standing there was a most unwelcome guest, at least unwelcome in Sirius's mind, Ariana Elena Malfoy. She was short with curling brown locks and the most striking green eyes. Everyone thought she was beautiful, except Sirius, he just kind of thought she was annoying.
Ariana Elena Malfoy was the daughter of Scorpius and Adele Malfoy. She was the pureblood princess. She had beauty, riches, everything someone could ever need, want, or desire.
She stood alone in the hallway of Grimald Place. She cringed as she looked at the heads so unceremoniously glued to the walls, with out even a nameplate or sign of sympathy to prove that this head had once belonged to living creature that had inhabited this very house.
Death stung Ariana hard. She never really understood it growing up. Death had always been reserved for the old and weak, not for her young, life-loving mother.
She could still remember her mothers last day. There had been no signs, no weakening sickness, it just happened suddenly. Bluntly, Ariana would admit that she noticed how her mother had stopped eating, stopped laughing as hard, and stopped singing.
And then the night came.
Darker than any night in her whole memory, a storm was raging outside. The tree outside her window blew with the wind, crashing with an unprecedented force against her window, appearing to be the hand of some evil demon reaching out to steal away her happiness, her liberty, her very being of life.
It was on nights like these that Ariana had accustomed to running into her mom's room and hiding under the covers while her mother whispered soothing secrets in her ear.
But this night, she didn't run to her mother's room, her mother ran to hers.
"Ariana," cried Adele Malfoy running into the room, her face white with terror, trembling uncontrollably.
"Mae?" she began to say, her fear now trembled visibly with her. She had never before seen her mother scared. (N/a: Mae mom in Portuguese there should be a squiggly thing over the a though)
"Shh, hunny, we don't have much time, lie against me, listen close your eyes," said her mother in a would be soothing voice as she sat on the bed and moved so that Ariana was leaning against her.
"Just listen, querrida, so escute, te amo" she said slowly.
"Mum, you know I don't understand Portuguese!" Ariana protested.
"Shhh… just listen, make me a promise," said her mother falling back into her falsely soothing voice, "Remember this song, for the rest of your life. There are some secrets I can't share with you, but I can leave you something, something to remember me by."
And she began to sing a soft song.
The rumors flew but nobody know how much she blamed herself
For years and years she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath
She finally drank her pain away a little at a time
But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind
Until the night
She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away his memory
Life is short but this time it was bigger
Than the strength she had to get up off her knees
We found her with her face down in the pillow
Clinging to his picture for dear life
We laid her next to him beneath the willow
While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby
La La La La La La La La La La La La La La
Ariana sang softly to her self-pacing around the room. Consumed by her thoughts, she hardly noticed when Sirius entered the room.
"Bravo! Bravo!" he yelled loudly, causing her to turn around in fright, knocking over the nearest vase, sending it crashing to the floor in a million pieces.
The sound caused Mrs. Black to run into the room.
"What happened?" she asked panicky.
Ariana turned to look at Sirius, a smirk plastered on her face, the oh-so-familiar Malfoy family trait.
"It was Sirius, ma'm I swear I had nothing to do with it," she pleaded, the smirk gone, replaced with unimaginably large puppy eyes and an angelic aroma achievable only by Ariana.
"Sirius Black! What have you done now?!?!" she yelled
"It wasn't me I swear!" he yelled back, knowing it would do him no good.
"Oh Sirius I have had enough of your lies! Go to your room and do not come down until dinner, I want you to think about what you've done!" she finished, marching swiftly out of the room, followed by a skipping Ariana, who paused only momentarily to smirk evilly at Sirius.
And it was the smirk that filled Sirius's thoughts as he climbed the long staircase up to his dismal room. It was not dismal in the sense of tarnished, out of order or in any physical sense, messy, but rather it was dismal because of the memories it held. The memories of all the times Sirius had been sent upstairs to think about what he had done wrong. Sirius never really understood what he was supposed to be thinking about so instead, he doodled on the walls.
Today, he added a new doodle, a girl with short yellow (he didn't have a blonde crayon) hair with one word written underneath it-
FRIEND