Unwanted Answers

"Miss Brighton… MISS BRIGHTON!... MISS BRIGHTON!"

I slowly open my eyes and look around for who is calling me while also attempting to sneakily grab my wand. As I gaze around the room I catch sight of a small woman with mousy brown hair, bright blue eyes, and an awkward smile is standing by the door. "Ah, yes. Good to see you're awake, Miss Brighton."

"Where… where am I?" I ask, releasing my wand rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"You are at the Ministry of Magic my dear. Mr. Potter tells me you have some questions regarding your father. If you would follow me, I'm going to take you to meet with the Minister of Magic and I'm sure he'll be able to answer your questions." She grasps a clipboard tightly to her chest and taps her foot impatiently as she waits for me to get up from the couch I'm lying on.

I get up from the soft couch and stretch my arms high above my head, wincing when I stretch out a cut on my side. Once I've stretched out, I place my wand behind my ear and say, "Lead the way..."

The woman leads me down a dark, dank hallway into a big stone room with a man sitting at a big wooden desk. When the man behind the desk catches sight of me, he says, "Hello, you must be Miss Brighton. I am the Minister or Magic, though you can call me Gregory. You've been through quite a lot today, Miss Brighton... Would you care for something to drink? Would you care to sit down?"

Though I've only just met Gregory, his inability to stick to one topic makes me like him. I shake my head politely while sitting in a chair on the opposite side of his desk. "No drinks for me, thanks. But, if you don't mind me asking, what was my father involved in that's put me in such horrible danger that I'd need to go into hiding?"

Gregory nods solemnly as he waves the mousy woman out of the room. "Very well. Miss Brighton, your father was working undercover as a Death Eater to figure out what they were planning. We were-"

I hold up my finger, stopping him midsentence, and say, "Death Eater? What the hell is a Death Eater?! And why was my father pretending to be one of them? What could he have possibly been researching?!"

Gregory ignores my questions and continues where he left off before I interrupted him. "-able to obtain some trivial information, but he was attacked before we learned what they were really planning. Apparently the Death Eaters were somehow tipped off that he was undercover... Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley here were supposed to rendezvous with him yesterday, before… well, before everything happened..."

I turn around and see that Harry and Ron are also in the room with us, both leaning against the door casually. I hadn't even known they were present in the room with us until Gregory pointed them out. I look at both Harry and Ron and ask, "What were you two doing rendezvousing with someone as horrible as my father? You seem so nice!"

Ron raises an eyebrow at me and asks, "Miss Brighton, how old are you?"

"Fifteen..." I say hesitantly, not understanding what purpose his question serves.

He nods as he says, "As I thought... Every teenager thinks they have horrible parents. It's hard for them to see the bigger picture, especially when it comes to the actions of their parents. But it doesn't mean that the parents really are horrible, it just means that the child doesn't fully understand."

I narrow my eyes at Ron, ready to rip into him and introduce him to all the horrors from my childhood when Gregory clears his throat and says, "We were in the process of moving you two out here, for safety reasons of course, when the Death Eaters showed up at your house, and well, you know the rest."

I stare out the large window behind Gregory and sigh. "Why did you take me though? I'm nobody important. Why not just let whoever killed my father kill me as well? What's one more dead person?" I see Gregory glance at the men behind me before shifting uncomfortably. "Ahh... Oh you think I'll be able to give you more information... You think I'll be able to tell you the things my father couldn't..."

Gregory nods and says, "Well, yes, but-"

I shake my head and laugh cynically. "You really think my father told me anything about what he did? I barely talked to the man! I was always in his way or doing something wrong! Why the hell should he think to tell me about what he was up to? He hated me!"

Gregory slams a hand on the table, shutting me up instantly. "Your father did not hate you! He made us agree that, should anything happen to him during this, we keep you alive and safe. He's convinced that you're a necessary part of their plan, whatever that may be! He even made Mr. Potter promise to let you live with him because he knew living with an Auror would be the safest place for you!"

I hold up a finger again and scoff. "Hold on just a minute. You're telling me I'm going to be living with someone I've only just met a few hours ago?!"

"Yes Miss Brighton, you will be living with Mr. Potter. You are in hiding, remember?"

"I'm not going to need to change the way I look or anything, am I?" I ask sarcastically, silently hoping the answer was no. I like the way I look I'm not gorgeous, but I'm not hideous either. I'm pretty small in stature, about 5'1 with strawberry blonde hair and bright green eyes. I have lightly tanned skin, but that's from sitting out at the park.

Gregory chuckles lightly, and shakes his head. "No, Ariana, you will not need to change the way you look, though you should get your injuries looked at... Oh, before I forget! You will be enrolling at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for your fifth year. You'll be mailed you acceptance letter and inside it will be a list of the supplies you need." He glances at his watch and adds, "I do believe it's time for you to be going, Mr. Potter. We'll talk more later... Mr. Weasley, did you still need to speak to me privately?"

Ron nods and gestures for the Minister to follow him out into the hall. Once they're both gone, Harry clears his throat and says, "We will be travelling by floo to my house. Have you ever travelled by floo before?"

I shake my head, earning a chuckle from him. "Come over here to the fireplace and I'll show you. Do exactly as I do, and speak very clearly. Believe me; if you don't speak clearly you will regret it." He looks as though he's remembering something funny, but then snaps out of it almost immediately and grabs a handful of powder from a bowl on the mantle, steps into the fireplace and clearly says, "Potter Manor" as he throws the powder down into the fireplace.

Immediately, bright green flames engulf his body, surrounding him completely until he disappears from sight. After waiting a few moments, I hesitantly grab some powder and step into the fireplace. I stare at the powder in my hand and grimace at the thought that I might have to see any more fire today. Hadn't I seen enough? Couldn't we have just taken the flying car home? I shake my head and think: Do it you big chicken! You've got nothing to be afraid of!

I glance at the powder in my hand once again and release a sigh of defeat as I throw down the powder and firmly say, "Potter Manor."

The world turns neon green as the flames encircle my body. The flames remind me of the fire I'd just faced and I can feel myself beginning to panic. Before I have time to tell myself to calm down the flames subside and, instead, I see a person standing in front of me, though it's definitely not Harry.

"Hi! You must be Ariana!"

The boy looks to be about my age and has messy, black hair. His hazel eyes are staring intently at me and he has a crooked smile plastered on his face. He reaches up and runs his hand through his hair as he stares at me. As I open my mouth to respond, all the panic from earlier comes back and, instead of words leaving my mouth, all the contents from my stomach end up on the floor in front of his feet.

I catch the look of disgust on his face as I pull out my wand and quickly clean up the mess I've made. At this point, I figure there's no turning back so I wipe my mouth off, my cheeks completely red, and say, "Hi, yes I'm Ariana Brighton. You can call me Ari. Where is your bathroom?"

He manages a smirk as he points to a room a few feet away. I nod and say, "Alright, thanks. I'll try to head that way the next time I feel like puking... Who are you?"

A strange look crosses his face, a look of disgust; as if he's appalled that I don't know who he is. "I'm James. James Potter."

Okay y'all! Here's the fourth chapter! I didnt change too much in this one, I just added a bit more detail. I hope y'all enjoy it! :)

Now I'm going to go get ready to go party at the river! Woo-hoo! haha I'll try to post the next chapter tomorrow sometime, but I wont make any promises. :P

Thanks

-TX :)