It was a blistering summer day at our grandparents' house. Tobin and Rory had been invited to spend the day with Xander, Aria, Rose and myself. As we reached to pond on the south side of the property all present began to disrobe minus one Tobin. The girls stripped down to their bathing suits before the rest of us had ours shoes off. As I pulled my shirt off I noticed Aria and Tobin pointedly looking away from me. Rory's gaze however was transfixed on the scar that ran from near the center of my chest, over my right shoulder, to a place just centimeters above my right shoulder blade.
"What did you do?" He asked not taking his eyes off the thick white stripe. Aria sunk down until her eyes were just above the water as her hair turned a shimmering blue grey to match. Xander shook his head to say this wasn't something we talk about.
"It's ok. Everyone ask's eventually." I sighed and continued to remove my trousers "When we were nine, we were playing a pickup match of Quidditch. The weather turned bad and Aria caught a Bludger to the head. Knocked her off her boom. I was closest, flipped upside down to catch her and ended up cushioning her fall. The broom handle snapped when we hit the ground and well, as you can see it wasn't pretty."
"Couldn't the Medi-wizards get rid of the scar for you?" Rory asked as he finished disrobing down to his trunks.
"It doesn't always work." Aria responded for me while keeping her eyes diverted "When an enchanted object breaks, it releases the magic within it. If the wrong kind of magic enters a wound it can prevent it from closing properly. The scar is not just from his injury but also from the broken spells that are imbedded in his skin." I waded over towards her and Rose while Rory took this in. Xan had found a seat beside Tobin under a tree at the water's edge.
"I'd do it again in a heart beat." I smiled as I poked her in the ribs. "Only we wouldn't hit the ground because we actually know how to do rescues now."
"You could have died!" Aria finally met my eyes, it was all her. Her natural red brown hair hung straight at shoulder length and her hazel eyes shone with unshed tears. Freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose as she bit her lip in frustration. This was the Aria that only her father, my parents, Rose, and I had ever seen. The one that resembled her mother. At that I did what she needed most even though she looked ready to hit me. I pulled her into a hug.
"You would have," I spoke softly "but we lived. Just a couple scars and a bit of a scare. We're both still here and that's what matters." Rory gave me an apologetic look as Aria buried her face in my neck. "Rory, it's fine. We're all friends and this isn't exactly a secret. We all have scars," Rose had made her way over to where Tobin and Xander sat. I nodded towards them to direct Rory's "I'm just lucky that mine are more physical." Aria squeezed me tighter before leaning back a bit a wiping her eyes on an equally wet wrist.
"In some ways you're lucky to be Muggle born." She spoke just above a whisper "The war happened around you and you didn't have to see it. You didn't have to worry." She paused and collected herself a bit more. "A lot of people lost family and friends. Fathers," she nodded at Xander "and mothers." Aria took a deep breath "Sorry, that's a lot more than you asked for."
"Was it really that bad?" Rory asked quietly not wanting to upset his friends further
"Worse than you can imagine." I replied "But we are all still here and it is a beautiful day. Lets not waste it thinking about sad memories when we can make happy ones."
"Do you have any idea how cheesy that sounds?" Aria asked as the smile slowly returned to her face.
"It's true though." I grinned "Hey Rory!" The boy I question looked confused
"Yeah?"
"Catch!" I shouted as I threw a screaming Aria at him. As soon as they surfaced the splash war began. Eventually Xander joined in and Rose managed to drag Tobin into the water (still fully dressed). A few hours later found us trudging up the back garden still drench and laughing arm in arm.
