Tricks That Once Fooled Me
Dead arms clutch at my arm,
The smell of death fills the air,
Her fragrance,
Her carcass reanimates,
If you need me,
I'll be tying a rope to the tree,
Where our love used to be
Bring Me the Horizon - (I Used To Make Out With) Medusa
The train slowly pulled up into the train station at Hogsmeade, a quaint little village just outside of Hogwarts. As they descended from their carriages, squinting in the sudden darkness that had enveloped them in an ominous cloud of black, Ariana thought about how pretty the station was in the daytime. The first time they had arrived at the train station, terrified and scared. The darkness and menacing outlook of the castle, dark and with a sinister looking shadow dancing over the tall trees; it had been enough to scare them witless. As she reminisced about her first day of school, she felt a sudden twinge of sympathy for the new students, gathered around the Assistant Gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid. He was a tall fellow, and rather wide about the stomach. He couldn't have been any younger than thirty years old but his long straggly beard had not a trace of grey weaved amongst the dark strands of hair. He towered over the first years and if it weren't for his warm, friendly voice, many of the new students would probably have dived back onto the train and demanded to return to Kings Cross. As it happened, all of them stared back up at his dark eyes with looks of utter terror, probably believing that he would eat them alive if they stuck even a toe out of line.
Ariana smiled and flicked her hair back over her shoulder and wriggling her toes inside her comfortable shoes; not a bit like the hard leather school shoes that pinched her toes terribly and gave her humongous blisters on her heel. She turned neatly on the spot and marched towards the horseless carriages. They had given her the creeps, the first year they'd used them, until Lily had informed her that it was, in fact, Thestrals who pulled them. The large, black, Skeletal horses, were only visible to people who had witnessed Death's cold blow, and once Ariana had discovered their existence, her initial fear of them vanished. As she ambled slowly towards them, she took her time to stop and stare at the dark sky, peppered with millions of tiny stars; she took in a deep breath of the night air and smiled again. She was home.
As she neared the carriages, the usual battlefield of students trying to get the first carriages had already finished. There was only a handful left, and the students were stood in groups, waiting to board them. Remus, Sirius and James were stood, leaning against a tall beech tree; in Remus's case, was sat on the floor, nose buried in a book. When Ariana rounded the corner, Sirius whistled loudly and beckoned wildly.
" Hey! Ari! You gettin' a carriage wi' us?" He shouted, ignoring the withering look Remus was shooting him from the floor. Sirius's unnecessary shouting had obviously distracted him from his precious book. His sandy hair had flopped over his face once he turned away to focus on the book, in the dim light cast from the end of his wand.
She thought for a while.
"I can't. I have to apologise to Lily. And I have to explain." She muttered, making sure that only Remus could hear the last part. Casting her eyes to the floor, she contemplated how she was going to do it. First she had to find her. She was almost certain that she would still be waiting for a carriage, due to the fact that she was always one of the last people off the train.
She looked around the clearing, and deciding that she couldn't see anyone's face properly, she pulled out her wand and waving it, she mumbled
"Lumos Maximus."
A bright light emitted from the tip of her wand, and spread around the clearing like wildfire. James covered his eyes with his sleeve and Remus moved his book up so that it hid his face from the almost white light. Sirius just stood looking confused.
"And why exactly did you choose that exact moment to blind us for no apparent reason?" He called after her sarcastically as she moved away to search more thoroughly.
As she rounded another tree, she came to a halt. Motionless in absolute shock. Lily was stood with none other than Severus Snape. A complete and utter prat in her opinion, but as he was Lily's childhood friend, she refrained herself from speaking the truth about him in front of Lily. That was until, he had disgraced himself by calling Lily a Mudblood in front of everyone. He'd been in the Hospital Wing for a week after recovering from the four hexes that had been shot his way instantly after saying it. He'd regretted it a lot.
Marching forward, she gripped her wand and sidled up to Lily, trying her hardest to ignore Snape and his two fellow Slytherin's, Mulciber and Avery. She attempted to smile brightly at Lily, as if nothing had happened, but it looked more like a pained grimace.
"Yes?" snarled Lily, her voice smothered with hatred.
"I came to apologise." She said. Her smile falling. "A-and," she swallowed. "T-to explain."
"I don't think you understood what Lily said." Snape whispered menacingly as he stepped forward into the light.
"You don't even understand what this is about, Snivellus." She growled.
"You know what Ari'?" Lily shouted. "I give up."
"Huh?" She answered, looking confused.
"You just said you wanted to 'apologise' but you start arguing with my friend instead!" Lily spat, looking venomous. "I understand that you don't like each other, but you don't need to argue all the time!"
"B-but." Ariana stuttered. "I-"
"Save it. I don't care anymore." Lily snapped, before turning away and striking up a conversation with Snape.
Ariana stood open mouthed, watching her friend. She closed her mouth and turned around, not wanting to watch any longer. It hurt too much. Forcing her legs to move. Left, right. Left, right. She stumbled back to the boys, tears brimming in her eyes.