Chapter 9 - Bruise and Lose
Ariana slept deeply and only awoke when Madam Pomfrey, tired of waiting for her to get up, shook her awake and told her she was well enough to return to her dormitory. Ariana was slightly sad to leave as she had gotten quite comfortable there; and Madam Pomfrey regularly brought her treats and fruit juices. It was before breakfast so Ariana carried her things (with some difficulty) up the staircase to Ravenclaw Tower. When she got to the entrance to the common room the door presented its riddle;
"You see it once in a year, twice in a week, and never in a day. What is it?"
Ariana wracked her brain for the answer but it wouldn't come to her. She struggled to hold her things; her books and quills and candies were slipping from her bag, arms and cloak. She wracked her brain for the answer for nearly twenty minutes until the door to the common room swung open. A sixth year emerged and looked at her questioningly but said nothing as he headed down towards the Great Hall. Ariana ran in as the door swung closed, clutching her things as tightly as she could. She ran up to her room and laid them all out on her bed as she sorted through them again and placed them in their rightful place. Susie woke up soon after her arrival and they chit chatted jovially. Ariana told her the riddle she was unable to figure out and they both pondered it for some time before it was forgotten amid other topics. They shared a quick breakfast and hurried to the North Wing where Susie spent most of the day tutoring Ariana on the lessons she had missed. Ariana sat on an ornate oriental rug on the floor near the fire while Susie was perched on a comfy couch in front of her. Their books laid scattered about them and they concentrated diligently on their schoolwork for the majority of the day.
"Is that her?"
Whispers rose to Ariana's ears and she raised her eyes from a textbook to find a girl with bushy brown hair around two years younger than them and a pale, freckled girl with a very familiar bright red hair staring at her and Susie from across the room. Ariana recognized them from the Gryffindor table; one of Potters friends and the youngest Weasley. They quickly ducked behind a bookshelf when she looked up. Susie followed her line of sight over to them and looked at Ariana questioningly. Ariana shrugged her shoulders and they continued their work. They had completed two essays and a very strenuous question and answer piece for History of Magic by the time Ariana spotted them again. Both of the girls had found seats on the far right side of the North Hall. They worked intently on their schoolwork. The young Weasley girls name was Ginny. Memories of her late night bath in the Prefects bathroom with Fred and George came floating into her mind and she began to daydream. Fred and George told her that Ginny had a huge crush on Potter, and she had been caught tapping a photo of Harry to her pillow. Ariana was straining her memory for other mention of her when she suddenly realized she was staring and the girls had noticed. They stared back apprehensively as Ariana's mind came back to reality and she blushed furiously and waved stiffly at them; not knowing what else to do. The bushy haired girl and Ginny exchanged questioning glances and Ariana buried her blushing, socially-awkward face in her book. A few minutes later Angelina came bounding into the study hall, she looked around for a familiar face, and upon spotting Susie and Ariana she came to sit by them.
"Oi! What are you two doing up here?"
"We haven't found a study niche as cozy as this in Ravenclaw Tower.." Ariana said.
"I heard the Ravenclaw Common room was beautiful!" Angelina howled with a joking hint of jealously.
"It is!"
"But a bit drafty.." Susie added.
"Are either of you any good at Potions? I'm horrible and Snape assigned us really difficult homework…"
Ariana and Susie exchanged happy glances and blissfully obliged.
"We have to do this more often! I'm always looking for help with my assignments. Alicia is no help and Fred and George never do theirs. -"
"See! What did I tell you Fred, any flock of girls is bound to be talking about us!" George taunted haughtily.
Both Fred and George came clambering down from the Gryffindor common rooms leaning on one another for support. "Oh lookie this, George! It's a study group. "
"Why don't you do our homework while you're at it?"
"Fat chance!" Angelina barked at them while laughing at their antics. Susie looked questioningly at Ariana to see if they were joking or not.
"Oh, look! Ginny and Hermione are here too!" said Fred and he waved. "Why are there so many girls over here?" asked George incredulously.
"Probably because you two were in the common room…" Ariana said with a coy smile.
There was a moment's pause then everyone burst out laughing, especially Angelina. Tears sprung from her eyes and she held her side in pain as she howled with laughter. Even Susie laughed.
"Good one Lamb Shanks!" said Fred…or was it George? She looked the boy up and down, suddenly riddled with doubt. Fred called her Lamb Shanks, not George…but wasn't that George just now? George had never called her that.
The other twin nocked his brother on his arm and said, "Hey Fred, why'd you start calling her that anyways?" the first twin, nearest to Ariana looked at the other slightly irritated. Then he said, "Don'tcha remember? I told you…Georgie"
It was too awkward. Ariana realized what they were up to but kept silent.
"Anyway! How've you been Ari?" 'Fred' threw his arms over Ariana's shoulders the way Fred had from time to time. The real Fred threw a quick but remarkably harsh glance at his brother. Ariana shifted uncomfortably under the weight of George's arm. Ariana spotted a random toad hopping near a bookshelf and quickly excused herself to chase after it before the twins could start whatever mischief they were plotting. When she caught it she busied herself with examining it for a while. A common toad, probably someone's pet.
"Neville Longbottom will be looking for that."
Ariana looked around to see Ginny standing beside her. Her hair was arranged quite neatly around her shoulders and she had a headband on; she was very pretty. Ariana stood up carrying the frog, "Neville Longbottom?" she asked.
"Yes. He's always losing his toad! He's named him Trevor…"
"…Trevor..?" Ariana said contemplating, then she decided, "What a horrible name!"
They both laughed.
"So…you're a fifth year? You know Fred and George?"
"They're in a lot of my classes!" Ariana said, then, "A big pain, those two!"
Ginny and Ariana snickered. They caught the attention of Fred and George and they nudged each other and pointed at them.
"Ari!" Fred called in a sing-song voice, "Are you training to take over Hagrid's job?" Fred and George laughed.
"No. I was going to see if it would turn into a prince!" Ariana joked and Angelina, Ginny and Susie laughed along with her.
"Why? When I'm right here?" Fred said cockily with a grin. He got a few 'oohs' and 'ahs' from the group and Ariana flushed and left the frog where she found him.
"Oh Ari" sang George, "Ginny said you're beautiful."
"-Simply studding, she said!"
Ginny began blushing violently and Ariana said, "Is any information safe with you two?"
"NO!" they said simultaneously and exchange high fives.
"Hey, Fred and George, can you solve this riddle? 'You see it once in a year, twice in a week, and never in a day. What is it?' I can't figure it out…"
"Hmn…" Fred hummed. "Umnnn" "once in a year…" " . …?"
"Well its 'e' isn't it? It's the letter 'E', once in year, Y-E-A-R, twice in WEEK. " said Fred.
"That's it! Wow!" Ariana's face lit up with excitement and she exchanged a glace with Susie who nodded happily. Although it had not been her plan, after the twins solved the riddle Ariana and Susie couldn't solve, Susie's opinion of them began to change. That is until George spent nearly an hour pestering her for the Slytherin Quidditch team's training methods. She returned to scowling at them.
They all laughed together, Ginny joined them and they continued working on their school work. "But its Saturday! Why are we doing homework on a Saturday? There's always Sunday!" said George.
"Or Monday."
"Or never."
The twins laughed. Susie sat on the couch and Ginny sat next to her, staring at Susie's luscious black hair with a hint of envy in her eyes. Angelina and George shared-rather fought over an armchair saying 'I got it first!' , then neither forfeited and so they both sat in it with their long legs hanging off the sides. Ariana laid spread out on the floor; that was the only place she could spread out all of her books out around her. She wore her cloak over her shoulders despite being so close to the lit fireplace. She enjoyed feeling toasty after the biting chill of resent days. Fred sat beside her, poking the fire and rolling around now and then to complain about his homework- which he wasn't working on. Ariana ignored him but was greatly entertained by it. Once she has successfully caught up in her classes and after quite a bit of coercion, Ariana agreed to help Fred with his schoolwork. They worked together on his essay.
"There's nothing left to talk about! I've already said it all!" he whined.
"Why don't you start talking about the effects the First Wizarding War had on your family or any other average wizarding family in the world?"
"You hear that, George? She called us 'average'. "
"Psh! 'Average' ! We're more than average. We're outstanding!…or at least that's what mum says!"
"Yea, and haven't you heard? We have a Head Boy in the family!" said Fred.
"Hasn't he told you?" then George hung his head sadly, "the shame!"
They all chortled at the twins. Ariana laid on her stomach, absentmindedly paddling her feet in the air behind her as she read over Fred's essay. Fred laid on his back beside her on top of her skewed cloak and stared up at her as she worked. Ariana absentmindedly tickled her face with the feather of the quill as she read, until she tickled her own nose and caused a sneeze. Fred laughed hysterically at her for nearly half an hour. She blushed and laughed with him. It was Angelina that first reminded them of dinner. She corralled them all into heading down to the Great Hall. Ariana went to spring up from the floor, however Fred laid on her cloak. It caught around her neck and choked her, sending her sprawling to the ground. They all roared with laughter.
After they had all settled down again Fred asked, "Ari, do you still have detention?" "Yes. You're done?" "Yeah. Filch made me polish the suits of armor in the hallway you ran down…" Ariana flushed with guilt and Fred laughed, "Still feeling guilty? Good!" and he bopped her on the nose and grinned at her. Ginny glanced back and forth between them then smiled gleefully.
Susie and Ariana said their goodbyes and headed for Ravenclaw Tower to put up their things. "I wonder what they'll have me doing for detention…no one's told me.." Ariana told Susie as they headed back down for dinner. They ate slowly and lightly as they talked about Cassius and the upcoming Quidditch season. Susie had been watching Cassius practice with his team for the last two practices. "We should probably be paying a lot more attention to the Ravenclaw team and stop fussing over the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams.." Ariana pointed out and they both laughed at the humor they found there.
During dinner service an owl fluttered over to Ariana and she detached a letter from its leg. It read, 'Report to the kitchens at seven for detention.' Ariana spent some time trying to figure out which teacher's handwriting this was and she finally decided Professor Flitwick had sent it. There were great blotches on the bottom of the note, which was very unlike neat and perfectionist Professor Flitwick and Ariana took out her wand and said, "Acclaro" she had to repeat it once more for it to work but then the blotches cleared up and formed back into words. It read, 'Remain there afterwards.' Ariana glanced up at Professor Flitwick and she saw him nod and wink at her; proud of his student's wit. She tucked the note into her pocket and glanced at Susie who was very preoccupied in deciding if she wanted another slice of meringue pie and hadn't spotted the second message.
Once they were done Ariana followed Susie back to the common room until it was time for her detention. She walked down the stairs at ten till seven still glowing from a very merry day. She had never spend so much time surrounded by people she enjoyed being with; surrounded with friends. It was delightful and the joy left her practically skipping through the halls for a few days. She rounded the corner and descended into the kitchens. It was teaming with house-elves. One particularly dumpy looking house-elf approached her and with a squeaky voice said, "You are to help us clean the dishes, you are!" it nodded happily and Ariana couldn't help but smile at the strange creature. She followed it to a great basin stretching the length of the room that served as a sink. House-elves were piling around it already busy cleaning. It was the right height for the house-elves to stand and wash the dishes but it was much too short for Ariana so she had to squat down to clean. Ariana suddenly became resentful that she ate from four plates when only one was needed. She reminded herself to properly consider the effects of her actions…
Her detention flew by, it was simple work and she had her thoughts to occupy her. The house-elves were kind and did most of the work, sometimes even taking the plates from her hand and smiling as they cleaned it themselves. It was the simplest of detentions and Ariana wondered if they had already exhausted all of the extraneous work that had to be done around the castle during their week of detention. Ariana worked diligently; or as diligent as one can work when house-elves are persistently taking your dishes from you, until Professor Flitwick came to get her. They went to the empty Charms room for her lessons. It was very difficult and she became more and more frustrated as her charms increasingly failed. Professor Flitwick worked with her and reminded her to keep a cool head whenever she became angry. The lessons went on for nearly an hour and a half until she was dismissed. It was nearly eleven by the time she had crept into her bed. She had no problem falling asleep.
The next day went much the same; Ariana and Susie did school work until Susie ran off to watch the Slytherins Quidditch team practice. Ariana went over her charms in a vacant room on the third floor and ran into Ginny on her way to dinner. They chatted about their classes and the teachers and they walked together to dinner, parting ways as they went to sit at their own tables. Susie hurried in and took her seat next to Ariana. She filled her in on the latest about the Slytherin Quidditch team. "Malfoy asked about you…!" Susie told Ariana excitedly, but it was the worst news Ariana had heard since she had been at Hogwarts. It was comparable only to the dread she had felt when she was told her father had died….maybe not..but still she took the news quite horribly and pulled a face to show it. "I don't know what you don't like about him! He's pretty cute!" laughed Susie. "I would be okay with him if he never spoke…he makes me SO angry! He really bothers me." Susie laughed at her again. During dinner Ariana felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Professor Snape and he informed her, her detention would be served in the dungeons. Some thirty minutes later Ariana walked down a staircase and emerged in the dungeons. She spent her detention preparing newt eyes and holly leaves for restock of Professor Snape's stores as he paced around his office and worked from his desk the entire time. She worked in silence and soon found she was actually enjoying her work and had to be shooed from the Potions classroom when detention was over. She stood in front of the door waiting for any sign of Professor Flitwick and was about to head to her common room when someone finally arrived.
"Ah! There you are! So sorry I'm late!" Professor Lupin seemed lightly winded and a little more disheveled than usual. His skin was also a sickly shade. Snape's door stood ajar and he rushed to it at the sound of voices. "Ah! Hello, Severus!" Lupin greeted but his only response was a sharp scowl and a quick slam of the door. The putrid breeze whizzed past Ariana as the door shut behind her. Lupin grimaced but soon straightened up and said, "Best be going then…" and he led her away.
Ariana was dying to ask about what Professor Lupin called his 'circumstances' but she knew it was much too private and worked very hard to restrain herself. Professor Lupin led her back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. They ran through a few exercises and Professor Lupin threw advice at her now and then. "I really do see an improvement since we last used the Shield charm!" he enthused. Ariana didn't see it…
"Professor?"
"Yes..?"
"..Do you…Do you think they will let me take these gloves off if I practice hard enough?" she asked and she stared at her gloves resentfully.
Professor Lupin let out a large sigh and put a hand on her shoulder, "Look, Ariana. Don't get your hopes up. Just take things one day at a time and you'll become accustomed to it in no time…" it was very depressing advice and Ariana's hope plummeted and died a horrific death somewhere near her stomach. She grimaced and turned away.
Professor Lupin continued, "And even though it is hard, you cannot confide in your friends." Lupin clenched his teeth as he said the most hypocritical thing he had ever said in his life, as his friends were a blessing to him as he went through his struggle. However, his friends figured out his secret without his help, because they cared.. or were too stubborn, one of those reasons. If a friend cared that much then they were trustworthy enough for her to confide in, but she mustn't be the one to tell them. He didn't dare say this though. Ariana looked simply morose so he dismissed her early, "Go get some rest for classes tomorrow."
She left without a word, not even a goodbye, completely lost in her thoughts. She returned to her dormitory and into her bed for a restless night, tossing and turning like a fish out of water as she thought about living her life without ever confiding her secretes, even in a friend.
Monday's classes came and went in a blur of difficulty. Ariana spent the entire week in a state of gloom, especially when contrasted with her high spirits only days before. Fred, George, Lee and Angelina took to walking with Ariana from Transfiguration classes on Tuesday to the grounds for Care of Magical Creatures. Fred, noticing her gloominess threw his arm over her shoulder and jabbed her in the sides all the way to class.
"Wha's the matter with you? Forgot to turn in some homework? Couldn't solve one of the door knockers riddles?"
"Are you the living version of Peeves?"
Fred and George laughed heartily. "He's our idol!" they roared. Ariana couldn't help but smile, they never failed to make her smile. She looked up at him as they walked and suddenly stopped, "What's that!? What happened to you?"
She stared up at Fred and he laughed, "Gee, you don't even notice me do you.."
One of his eyes was completely blackened and she looked at George and saw his lip was bloodied and swollen. They chuckled at her incredulous look. "We only got them this morning!" said George. "So you know, it's only been two hours that you've been in the same room with us and hadn't noticed..." said Fred.
"What happened?" she asked again
"Early Christmas presents from Slytherin!" laughed George.
"We got into a bit of fisticuffs with Flint and Bole.." said Fred hesitantly, although he had a smile playing across his lips. She stared up at Fred questioningly as a series of emotions ran through her, fear, uncertainty, worry, anger at them, anger at the Slytherins, anger at teachers for allowing it to happen, and a hint of humor of it all.
She finally shrugged it off and chuckled, "You should watch out.." They all looked at her, confused as to what she meant.
"Flints teeth could double as a weapon." Fred, George, Angelina and Lee roared with laughter. She raised her wand to Fred's face (he gasped, a little surprised) and said she said "Episkey" and the black eye began to fade away. Ariana glowed a little with pride that her spell worked on the first try. Fred squeezed her a little and giggled at her.
"And when George said, 'he'll probably have detention again by then' he wasn't joking!" Ariana laughed. Fred tightened his grip around her shoulder and trekked on happily, Lee close behind. Angelina and George hung back for a second.
"So you two aren't going to mention that the fight was because Flint said something about his cloak?" said Angelina. George shrugged and they walked on.
Meanwhile, Fred distanced himself and Ariana from the others as they walked. They need a bit of privacy….and when they were out of earshot he began to unleash his barage of questions.
"What have you been up to lately?" the tone in his voice was definitely accusatory and not simple small talk, although there was hit of mischievousness in his eyes, although that was quite normal for him. Ariana looked at him questioningly and her heart stopped at his sudden seriousness. Behind them Angelina and Lee began to hurry over to them but George steered them away. "Oh, come on! Give them some privacy!"
"What do you mean?" Ariana said, her voice shook a little and a lump formed in her throat. Why was she so worried? Why did she feel guilty suddenly? Her skin began to break out in a sweat despite the chill of the midday breeze blowing across the grounds.
"After hours…" He held a constant eye contact and Ariana felt frantic, desperately unsure of what to do. Professor Lupin's voice resonated through her mind 'Don't confide in a friend…don't confide…' But for the first time her life any half-truth she could come up with felt as if it would be a lie. Ariana cared about Susie but she had no problems with telling half-truths to her…
Fred continued, "Our map…it's never wrong. When you disappeared on Friday night with Dumbledore and didn't want to talk about it, well that's personal, so it's fine. But now you get to run around the castle at night with the teachers…what's that about?"
The color drained from her face. All thoughts slowed and suddenly came to a stop in her mind. Nothing came to her. She just gapped at him uncontrollably. She had a few go to things prepared for when someone asks questions, when someone sees her in the hallway, or when she got back to the common room. She could tell them not to mention it or they would lose house points and no one would bother mentioning it again. But Fred knew everything…well not really but it suddenly felt like it. "Professor Lupin, Professor Flitwick..?" Fred continued.
Suddenly one single and profound realization shined brightly in her mind, "Are you spying on me?!" In contrast to her, the color rushed into Fred's face. He hadn't really expected that. He began stuttering and ran his hands through his hair, "Well..uh..no. It's not like that.. Um …it's just a map! I can't help what I see!"
Ariana turned on her heal and walked towards Hagrid's hut, where the class was already beginning. As she began to walk away Fred grabbed her by the wrist. She paused and he said, "…Fine! " and he released her. She hurried to the class, flushed, irritated and a little scared as to the consequences she would be facing in the near future.
The day flew by, and then the week. Hogwarts began to grow very chilled, especially at night and early morning. However, Ariana was used to it and was unfazed by the cold stone steps throughout the castle. She still wore her skirt with high socks when other girls began to wear pants below their cloaks or tights beneath their skirts. Ariana began to enjoy herself in her classes again, she was beginning to feel right at home at Hogwarts. She was even beginning to blend in with society here; just like Professor Lupin had said. Despite this she was struggling worse than ever in Transfiguration, but Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts was improving. That is until they moved on to a new topic. Ariana enjoyed Care of Magical Creatures most of all. Ariana spent a lot of time chatting with Angelina and Lee and they often paired together for assignments. She spent the nights rereading each chapter of her monster book of monsters in the common room. She wanted desperately to go back to the North Wing like her and Susie had a week ago, but she tried to distance herself to avoid more questions from Fred. Fred and Ariana seemed to be suddenly distant. Although he didn't not ignore her, he no longer bopped her on the nose, put his arm around her, or call her Lamb Shanks and the thought of that caused a piercing sensation in her chest that she couldn't understand. She assumed anything Fred knew or was suspicious of, George was in on too. They must have watched their bewitched map together and spotted her, just like they had Cassius. No information was safe from them..She wondered if the whole Weasley family was suspicious of her..
A sickness grew in her stomach when she thought of them finding out her secret. What if they began to hate her? What if they mocked her and told everyone, making her leave the school? Visions of their angry and spiteful faces- the same faces the Bogart had made, swam through her head for weeks.
September ended and October began and with it came a large clamor of excitement. The holidays were near. And so was the trip to Hogsmeade. Posters went up in the common rooms about it. A trip to Hogsmeade would be held on Halloween. Students, especially third years, grew more and more rambunctious as the date neared. Ariana couldn't contain her excitement either. Although she had already visited, the prospect of visiting with her friends caused her to bristle with excitement.
The day the poster was put up in the Ravenclaw Tower there was such a commotion that Ariana couldn't concentrate on her Ancient Runes essay. Susie was nowhere to be found-Ariana no longer had someone who could shoot silencing glares across the room and instantly quiet boisterous students. A little ruffled, she packed her things and began to head towards the North Wing. Halfway there she remembered she was supposed to be avoiding the North Wing so she decided to study in the quiet and delightfully stuffy library. When Ariana walked into the library she took a deep breath and savored the dusty smell of the tomes around her. She found a quiet little seat in a very quiet corner of the deliciously quiet library. She organized her things in front of her neatly and began scribbling away, the words flowing from her easily at the cost of the legibility of her handwriting. She worked for hours on it until a soft shuffling sound caught her attention. She looked up to see Ginny who's face showed she was just as surprised to see her. Ginny had just rounded the corner with the bushy brown haired girl in tow. They looked around for seats and then eyed the vacant ones at Ariana's table then approached. The bushy haired girl spoke, rather confidently, "Mind if we sit here? The other seats are taken." She didn't wait for an answer before unloading her things on the table; her bag was almost larger than her. Ariana replied anyway, just for politeness sake, "Sure." and she flashed them a smile. Ginny grinned back at her and they unpacked their books and parchment. The bushy haired girl eyed Ariana's History of Magic textbook markedly. "Is that the book for grade five? May I?" she pointed to it excitedly. Ariana passed the heavy tome to the girl and she flipped through it blissfully saying things like, "Oh I was wondering when he'd cover that…" and "Ah! Interesting!" Ariana chuckled at her. "This is Hermione, by the way" Ginny giggled too.
"Pleased to meet you!" Ariana held out her hand, "I'm Ariana."
Hermione glanced at her hand and shook it distractedly, "Pleasure."
Ginny and Ariana exchanged glances and grinned. They worked contently on their school work for nearly an hour until Ginny broke the silence.
"Fred…Fred's been a bit sour recently.."
"Why's that?" Ariana asked with her face austere.
She seemed to instantly regret asking the question. She glanced down at her hands in her lap and said, "Dunno…" Ariana sensed she was worried about her brother, or asking on his behalf and there was a strange sensation that came over her. She felt bad for Fred. He didn't understand why she couldn't tell him. Ariana took a deep breath and smiled, "Maybe you should chuck a stink pellet at him. He likes those, doesn't he…?" Ginny laughed louder than she should have in a library and Hermione gave a little giggle. They received dirty looks from the other students -mostly Ravenclaws. Ariana was proud to see they were making good use of the library and upholding their Ravenclaw priorities. They continued working for nearly another hour until Hermione spoke.
"It's nearly time for practice now.." she said.
Ginny look at her and then nodded her head. They began to pack their belongings up and Ariana kept studying. Ginny glanced at her then exchanged a look with Hermione. They nodded in agreement and Ginny said, "Do you want to come along? We're going to go see Harry practice Quidditch…..Fred and George will be there too.." She added awkwardly. The two younger girls stared at her for a response. Ariana was unsure of what to do. She glanced around and slowly closed her book. She packed her things and followed the two younger girls.
They filed into the stands as the Gryffindor Quidditch team walked out onto the field. For not being interested in Quidditch, Ariana spent a lot of time in these stands…
Hermione chatted to them happily about a question she knew the answer to in Potions class. "I don't know why he doesn't call on me…I was raising my hand as high as I could! How could he not see me?" Ginny reminded Ariana of Susie in the stands when she was watching Cassius. Ginny's eyes were locked on Harry as he flew around during practice. Every now and then, barely audible she would say, "Ohhhh, good one Harry!" or something of the sort Ariana giggled to herself but stopped suddenly when she realized she too had come to watch a boy… She quickly convinced herself she was there to see Angelina and Alicia too.
The three girls chatted comfortably about Quidditch. Hermione was Muggleborn and had never seen a professional match. Ginny enthused about them, having been to a few herself. Twenty minutes into practice an unkempt head of red hair bumbled itself up into the stands. Ron took a seat next to Hermione.
"You're late.." she said firmly.
"I had to drag Scabbers out from under my bed…petrified he is! All because of your-"
"Oh, don't start that again!" interrupted Hermione and Ron mumbled as he cupped his shaking rat in his hands.
"This is Ariana." Ginny motioned to Ariana and she gave a friendly wave and smile. Ron nodded and mumbled something about Fred and Hermione jabbed him in the ribcage.
Ariana spent much of the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch Practice telling Hermione about the differences between the Expulso charm and the Confringo charm. Ron's head lulled up and down throughout practice and Ariana supposed he had been late because he had fallen asleep after classes; not because of his pet rat as he had said.
In between discussion, Ariana looked up to see Fred and George floating above their stands. They pointed at Ron as they spoke out of ear shot. George- or Fred, Ariana wasn't quite sure unless they spoke, had one Bludger in hand and the other had one hooked under his arm. They released a Bludger and smacked it soaring right for Ron as he dozed off in the stands. It hit Ron square in the face.
He screamed and fell from his seat and the girls dived for cover. George flew over and caught the Bludger skillfully in his hands before it could hit anyone again. Ron was very reeling. He held a hand over his nose as blood dripped form it profusely. Fred and George cackled with laughter and Hermione ragged at them.
"You could have seriously injured him!" she screeched at the twins. Despite being nearly half their size Hermione was a little intimidating when she fussed, although apparently not as intimidating as their mother because the boys were not bothered by her at all.
"I AM seriously injured!" roared Ron, muffled by his hand and the blood seeping between his fingers. Hermione fussed over Ron as she tried to mend his nose. She continued fussing at him saying, "If you were paying attention this wouldn't have happened!" Ron couldn't get a word in otherwise.
While Hermione and Ron were distracted Ariana noticed Ginny whisper to her brothers, "Nice shot.." and they laughed.
"I told him I could hit that big nose from that far away!" said George.
Hermione ushered Ron down the bleachers and onto the grounds, fussing at him the whole way as they headed for the hospital wing.
In one smooth motion Fred flipped on his broom so that both legs were on one side and landed over Ariana deftly, with one foot on either side of her on the bleachers. Ariana leaned back uncomfortably; Fred was filthy with dirt and sweat.
"Why are you here, Lamb Shanks?"
"How did I ever get the nickname 'Lamb Shanks' anyway?" Ariana asked.
"We'll you're so smart, you tell me!"
Fred and George laughed and Ariana gave a half-hearted scowl. "Wanna go uh round?" Fred asked with a cheeky grin spreading across his face.
"Of Quidditch?" Ariana asked.
Fred couldn't contain himself, "No. Of Hide and Seek, Ari. You close your eyes and count to forty and then come find me. m'kay?"
Ariana gave him an irked face and they all laughed.
"Sure. I'll play a round of Quidditch with you."
"What are we? Spectators? Aren't we invited? Or is this a 'puppy love only' game?" Asked George, equally as cheeky as Fred. Ariana sputtered awkwardly but Fred was completely unfazed. "Two on two." Fred dictated, spinning around to face his brother with his hands on his hips.
Ginny was bouncing up and down in her seat. "Me and Ari against you two knobs!"
"OHHHHHHHHhhhh" the twins jeered, "Don't let mum catch you talking like that Ginny!" said George.
Fred jokingly wiped an imaginary tear from his eyes and said, "…we've taught her well, Georgie…I'm so proud!"
Ginny snatched Fred's broom from him and left to help George procure two more brooms from the broom closet. Ariana had scooted away and leaned her torso on the row of seats behind her. Fred stood with his weight on one leg, other knee cocked, and eyed her up and down appraisingly. She raised an eyebrow at him and he offered her a deal, " You tell me your secrets and I'll tell you why I call you Lamb Shanks." A smirk formed on his face.
She laughed so heartily she lost her balance and fell into the foot room of the row behind her, and she stayed there for another bout of laughter before pulling herself up again. "How about…no?" she retorted and Fred feigned a frown that quickly curved back into a smirk. "Why can't I know?"
"Hmn…" Ariana tried to think of an excuse while dabbing her finger on her chin.
"I mean, how important could it be? Like, for instance is it 'you could fail a class' important? Or 'people at Hogwarts are in danger'? Or is it 'Ministry of Magic' level of importance? Does it involve Sirius Black? Are you Sirius Black in disguise?! IS HE your father?- no, can't be. The Bogart turned into your father and he was blonde… " he rattled off questions.
Talk of Sirius Black caught Ariana by surprise and she answered honestly, "No. It doesn't involve Black." She remembered when Professor Dumbledore had discussed this in his office.
"Then how important is it?"
"It's not important." Ariana said and then the most stunning and genuine smile flashed across her face. It nearly made Fred lose his balance on the bleachers. His mouth gaped open and he quickly shut it.
"They're nearly back." He pointed to two dots flying back from the castle.
"Tell me why you call me Lamb Shanks?" she asked quickly.
"You didn't tell me all your secrets did you?" he winked.
Ginny and George returned with a broom in each hand. The four paired up and discussed their strategies; Ginny and George were Beaters and Ariana and Fred were Chasers. Ariana quickly learned that Ginny was a very violent young girl. She had a strong arm and could send the Bludger flying, she didn't hesitated to chuck them directly towards her brothers heads. Luckily Fred and George were expert flyers and quickly maneuvered around them. She got the feeling Fred and George were responsible for instilling this violence in Ginny. Perhaps that is what twin older brothers will do to a sibling.
Ariana was glad Ginny was on her side…
George aimed the Bludger for Ariana but only when she was in position of the Quaffle and he was also very considerate in aiming for her torso instead of her head. Fred used dirty tactics like speeding ahead of her and stopping directly in her line of flight. She had to swerve to avoid a collision. Fred also grabbed her by the waist of her skirt as she flew by once- mind you she had tights on under it because of the cold. He grabbed the Quaffle from her hands and flew off in the other direction towards his goals. Ariana screeched after them, "That's a foul! No grabbing!" much to the amusement of the twins. They paused their advancement on the goal and few around her in great barrel rolls and mocked her by crying like infants and rubbing the imaginary tears from their eyes. Ginny gave a powerful whack of the Bludger in their direction for her benefit. Ariana was horrible at making shots on the goal. She had to fly up to the goal, nearly touching it but Fred would often intercept her by that time. Fred scored the first three goals, leaving the score three to zilch for most of the game. Ariana finally made a shot and George grabbed the falling Quaffle and brought it to the other end of the field and scored.
"BUT UR A BEATER!" Ginny shrieked angrily after him, her face suddenly resembling that of a bulldog. Ginny took this very seriously…
Ariana followed suit and snatch the ball from Fred as he rounded the goal posts to make the last shot- nearly knocking him off his broom. Ariana flew as fast as she could, the wind stinging her eyes and she made a goal, caught it and made another making the score 4-3. She was suspicious of Fred and George of lagging behind on purpose so they could even the score a little. Fred bumped her from the side when she wasn't looking and she lost possession. The Bludger came pelting towards her, sent over by George with a smile, so she quickly ducked to avoid it. By then Fred had gotten the Quaffle. Ariana raced after him, Ginny pelted the Bludger at him as he passed. Being a more experienced flyer, Fred was very quick and Ariana couldn't catch up. They were nearly at the goal post when Ariana reached the tail of his broom. She reached out, grabbed a handful of straw and held on as best she could. Fred slowed considerably, glanced back at her, and laughed. He did a roll and she lost her grip. They both raced for the goal again - it would be the winning goal if it went in, and Fred shot, Ariana raced for it but it slipped through the goal neatly. She didn't have time to stop and had too much momentum behind her so she tucked her arms and legs and flew through the goal herself. Fred roared with laughter, "Is that six points then?" He flung his arms in the air in victory.
Ariana gasped for breath but laughed along with him, draped across her broom in exhaustion. They swooped to the ground with the Quaffle in hand. Ginny and George wrestled the Bludger back into the trunk and Fred and Ariana slowly walked the length of the Quidditch field, laughing awkwardly as they shared unfunny jokes.
George glanced at Ginny as they stood on the opposite end of the field and bitterly said, "You think they realize they've got brooms in their hands?"
Ginny- now calmed down a bit, covered her mouth and giggled.
"Whatever happened to your game with Susie and those gits?" "Cassius and Malfoy?" "…EW." Fred scrunched up his nose and Ariana laughed. She felt the same way.
"It was horrible. " she said honestly but quickly added, "But don't mention that to Susie."
They shared a moment of silence then Ariana spoke again, "Fred. Before…when I took you up on your offer to help me with Quidditch, you said it would cost me?"
"Ah!" he said as the memory flickered in front of his eyes and then a flash of mischief followed. She shouldn't have reminded her debtee of her debt..she instantly regretted it.
"You have to tell me your secret."
"No. I can't."
"No, you have to."
"No, I really can't, Fred!"
"Fine. Why do you wear those gloves?"
"No."
"Then it's part of your secret then. Hmnnn.." he tapped his hand on his forehead, "Who's gloves are they?"
"My fathers!" Ariana said happily. It was true. They were large for her and hung from her slim hands awkwardly. They were also very worn down, but made from very good quality dragon hide.
"And where is he?"
"Dead."
Fred coughed, shocked by her blatant honesty. "What is you're fathers name?"
"No."
"Ah. He's important too…"
"Shuttup, Fred."
He laughed, "Does Susie know much about him?"
"No."
"She still like that prat?"
"Yea.-"
"-even after you told her?"
Ariana nodded her head disdainfully.
"Why?" he asked incredulously.
"I guess people can't help themselves sometimes…" Ariana said solemnly, hoping her friend doesn't end up heart broken.
"Guess not…" Fred said wistfully as his ears turned bright red. He quickly looked away and gulped harshly.
"Well…George would have her if she ever gets bored of him.." he joked mater-of-factly. Ariana laughed.
They reached the Quidditch trunk and glanced around to see Ginny and George, motionless and splayed across the grass dramatically. Fred and Ariana exchanged questioning glances and George filled them in, barely moving his lips or even opening his eyes, "We died waiting for you two…"
Ginny and George quickly hopped up; George patted Ginny on the back for a job well done.
Fred and George carried the equipment between them and Ginny and Ariana carried the brooms. They walked back to the castle chatting contently.
Ariana was the first to spot them -green dots slowly bobbing towards them.
"Oh, it's your favorite people." Ariana pointed towards them. The Slytherin Quidditch team was headed straight for them. Moans and groans echoed between the twins.
"God! Can we just use the Immobulus charm on them and hide them behind the bleachers until next year!?"
"I'm so sick of them and I haven't even crossed words with them yet this year."
They trotted across the grounds and met them head on. Flint and Malfoy were towards the front, leading the pack of hulking dummies and Cassius was towards the back looking particularly bored and uninterested in their encounter - he never once met Ariana's glance. Malfoy sneered as he glared over the Weasley's. His line of sight fell on Ariana and he addressed her, ignoring the rest of them.
"I hope you're paying them to carry your things. They need it, you know. Weasley's can't afford charity work."
George came back at him with an extremely mocking tone, as fast as lighting, "Ah, Malfoy, good to see they were nice enough to keep you on the team even though Harry beat you so badly last season!"
"Yeah, what position do they let you play these days? The Quaffle?" countered Fred.
Ariana burst out laughing, she tried desperately to muffle it behind her hand but she couldn't. Fred was beaming, encouraged by her laughter and feeling quite proud of himself for his joke.
Malfoy glowered at them darkly. "Didn't I tell you, you shouldn't associate with Blood traitors?" Malfoy seethed. George make a move for Malfoy at the slur but Fred grabbed a hold of his arm and Ginny jumped in front of him and looked up at him pleadingly.
"I'll do what I like, Malfoy." Ariana said calmly, rather indifferent of his opinion.
He scoffed and the Slytherin team marched out onto the field for practice.
Ariana glanced back at the Weasleys and saw the anger in their faces, she wished she had said something harsh to Malfoy on their behalf. They walked back to the castle in silence. Ginny insisted on taking the brooms for her and they took the gear back to the broom closet. Ariana returned to her common room, alone and missing the Weasleys already.
Next Chapter: The Flight of the Fat Lady
