Chapter Ten
McGonagall sat down the stool and stepped to the side. "Isabel Nava."
Murmuring was heard all throughout the Hall as Isabel walked up to the stool and sat down, smiling to everyone, scanning the crowd. Mariana leaned in towards Remus, hiding from Isabel's view. McGonagall was about to place the hat on the girl's head when it shouted.
"Slytherin!"
The Slytherin table clapped as Isabel went over to the cheering table, saying hello and nodding to those who welcomed her.
"That's no surprise to me." Mariana murmured, her friends the only ones who heard.
"Christina Nava."
The second girl walked up to the stool and sat down, Mariana still hiding from the stool's view. McGonagall placed the hat on the young girl's head, which immediately fell over her eyes. It took a while, but the hat finally shouted out a House to place the look-alike Mariana in.
"Hufflepuff!"
The Hufflepuff table copied the Slytherin table, welcoming the young girl into the House. Dumbledore stood up, the Hall silencing.
"Girl's seventh year Slytherin dorm has been added with an extra bed, as did the girl's fourth year Hufflepuff dorm. Welcome our newly arrivals with much warmth. Now, dig in!"
Food appeared on all four of the tables, everyone hurriedly grabbing what they wanted. Mariana was the only one who didn't touch any food, feeling too numb to eat anything.
"Aren't you hungry Mariana?" Peter asked from across Sirius.
Mariana shook her head. "No, I'm not hungry." She looked up at them with tears shinning in her eyes. "It's now too dangerous for you guys to be friends with me."
"What?" They asked in confusion and concern.
"It's best if we don't speak or hang out anymore." Mariana gulped down the lump in her throat. "I'm sorry." She whispered.
Mariana quickly stood and quickly walked out of the Hall, grateful that they were near the doors. Once she was out in the empty halls, Mariana ran as fast as she could towards Gryffindor Tower, hoping not to run into anyone she knows.
The group she left behind looked at one another, Lily looking over to the Slytherin table as James looked to the Hufflepuff. They could see that the two new girls were narrowing at the doors before looking at each other and nodding ever so slightly that both Lily and James saw.
"One or two at a time we leave." Lily told them, quickly looking away from Isabel.
She and James stood, bidding everyone goodbye, Lily clasping James' hand in hers.
"Dragging your boyfriend to study, Lil?" April shouted, earning a few laughs and a 'good luck' from some of the Gryffindor's.
"You know it! I don't want some lazy boyfriend that only wants to copy off of others and not know a single thing!" Lily shouted back.
James than wrapped his arms around Lily from behind her, smiling mischievously to April. "And all this studying is making me smart. And every time I get an answer right, I get a sweet prize!"
All the boys whooped as the girls all sighed while Lily rolled her eyes.
"You'll get no more prizes if you keep filling your all ready big ego." Lily told him, the Gryffindor's laughing.
Remus than stood after a few seconds Lily and James went through the doors. "I'm going to go sleep. Night guys." And Remus disappeared behind the closed doors.
Three minutes passed and Sirius stood. "Come on Wormtail, let's go finish that thing we started."
And both boys left the Great Hall. Severus looked up from his plate to Isabel, curious to know and what exactly she did to frighten Mariana so much.
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Mariana ran up the stairs towards the Fat Lady portrait, shouting out the password. She dove into the Common room and was about to run towards the girl's staircase when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.
"No! Let me go!" Mariana cried.
"It's me, Sirius!" Sirius cried desperately, trying to hold the struggling girl in her arms. "We have to talk!" He told her.
"No! You're not suppose to be near me, you're gonna get hurt!" Marian cried, finally being able to push past him.
But Sirius grabbed her hand and pulled her over to him, Mariana tugging her hand as hard as she could, tears running down her face. The others quickly entered the tower, Mariana tiring and just slumped against Sirius, hitting his chest lightly with her left fist while she mumbled against his chest.
"Leave me alone, please. You're going to get hurt if you don't distant yourself from me." Mariana pleaded, not knowing how else to rid of them.
Sirius rubbed her back before picking the girl up, turning to his worried friends. "Our room, now." And he walked over towards the boy's staircase.
While going up the stairs, Remus ran past Sirius to open the door for him. As everyone entered the room, Lily closed the door and put a silent charm on the door so no one can hear them. She walked over to Sirius' bed, Mariana crying against Sirius' chest, holding on to his robes for dear life.
"Mariana…" Lily said softly, not knowing how to calm the girl.
Mariana shook her head and pushed away from Sirius, trying to get off his lap. But Sirius held onto her tighter.
"You're not leaving Mariana!" Sirius told her firmly.
"You have to!" Marian nearly shouted, stopping her struggles. She brought her knees to her chest, her hands on her face. "You'll only get hurt if I stay near you all. You have been such good friends to me I don't want to see anything bad to happen to any of you. Please let me go." Mariana cried softly.
Remus sat down on Sirius' left and took hold of Mariana's hands, bringing them down from her face. "We're not going to leave you alone, Angel, until you tell us what's going on."
Mariana was startled by the nickname, frowning at it. "'Angel'?" Mariana questioned.
'What's with guys and giving me nicknames?' Mariana wondered.
"Yeah, because you're sweet, kind, goody-good shoes, and your last name is Light." James explained.
"So it fits." Peter squeaked.
Lily walked in front of Mariana and kneeled before her. "We're your friends, Mariana, and we'll stay with you to the very end!"
Mariana shook her head, looking down as more tears fell down her face again. "I can't have any friends anymore. I don't have any friends."
"You have us, Angel!" Sirius told her. "We're your friends for life!"
"You have to tell us what's going on, Angel, or we'll never be able to help you through this." Remus told her.
Mariana continued to cry, debating what to do.
'They may protect you from them, but not from her.'
'Yes, and they're willing to help me out, not caring for the consequences. But I can't let them die because of me!'
'But isn't that what friends are for? A family to help you out through the good and bad?'
'But I won't be able to forgive myself if something were to happen!'
'Then there's only one thing that we can do.'
'We have to run again.'
'But the least we can do is tell them the truth. They have the right to know.'
Mariana sighed, sniffing. "Fine." She said softly, looking up to them with red eyes, puffy cheeks and nose. "I'll tell you everything. But not know, we have to study for the Astronomy test."
Everyone nodded in agreement, knowing that they would now figure out the mystery behind Mariana Light's past.
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--Great Hall—
"Why'd you come to England, Isabel?" A seventh year boy asked Isabel.
"Because my mom thought it best that we stick close to my sister. She had to live with some relatives and they told my mom she was becoming more depress and ran away. They weren't able to locate her again." Isabel smiled sadly. "So mom transferred me and my younger sister to this school to stay with our middle sister."
"Who's your middle sister?" A sixth year girl asked.
"Mariana Light."
"That loser is your sister?" The same girl asked in disbelief.
Isabel shrugged, "apparently so."
"Why's her surname different from yours and your other sister?" Another seventh year boy asked.
"She didn't want to be found and changed her surname. But mom was able to track her down after an incident." At this, Isabel smiled slyly, Severus narrowing his eyes in a glare at her.
'I don't trust her. I better make sure that she won't do anything to Mariana.' Severus vowed, Isabel turning to him, smiling sweetly.
Severus only continued to glare at her and stood up. He walked out of the Great Hall, not really hungry anymore.
Isabel narrowed her eyes. 'I better watch out for him.'
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--Later--
After the Astronomy test, the boys dragged Lily and Mariana to their room again, wanting absolute privacy. Mariana sat on Sirius' bed, her back against the headboard as her friends sat in front of her.
"What is true is that I am from the States. I ran away from home after an incident occurred and I couldn't stay any longer as it wasn't safe anymore."
Mariana closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She opened them again, holding back her tears.
"I went looking for Dumbledore, who was written in my father's journals that he was a very powerful wizard. I thought he could help me and hide here in England. And he did, but he wanted to enroll me here at Hogwarts since I was becoming eleven when I found him."
"But what kind of incident happened that made you run away from home?" Remus asked, everyone wondering the same thing.
Mariana tightly closed her eyes, the tears falling down as sobs tried to force their way out of her. "The death of my father and older brother."
Mariana begin to cry softly, not able to hold the tears back any longer. But she was grateful that she was finally able to trust someone to tell her secret that was weighing down her shoulders, which seemed to be lifted.
"Who killed your father and brother?" James asked as he held a shocked Lily close to him.
Mariana opened her eyes, looking up at them. "My mother." She croaked fearfully and hatefully.
A sob left her as Sirius brought Mariana to him and let her cry on him. He soothingly rubbed her back, only wanting to protect her. They all looked at each other, agreeing silently that they now have to protect the shy girl as they now know who has been hurting the poor girl. But they know that there's still something that the girl is holding back, but they decided to let it slid and take it at one at a time.
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Kara Adar: Now you know who she is. Thank you for reviewing!
Lady Anck-su-namun: Thank you for that complement. And thank you for reviewing!
crazycatluver: LOL, Mariana's still hesitant to tell anyone who has found her, but at least you know who the transfer students are! And I know what you mean about cliffies, but like you said, it always makes you want to review a story so you can make the authors hurry up! LOL, thanks for reviewing!
CrazyPirateGirl: Now you know who found Mariana. Thank you for reviewing!
A/N: Yay, now we know about Mariana's past! And what could there be more to it? If you want to know, please review! Thanks.