Not long after my less than comforting conversation with Fred, we loaded our luggage onto the train and took a last look at Hogwarts before we left for Spring Break. Our compartment fit, though not easily, all of us; Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred George, Ginny, and I. Even Luna and Neville at times when everyone wasn't sprawled out trying to claim space for there own.
There was more than one time when I was forcibly shoved onto Fred's lap and more than one time when I blushed bright red at his startled expression. Finally though, after much shoving and shifting and cursing, we all settled into a relatively normal seating arrangement.
I had my back to the compartment wall to the left of the window and my legs across both Fred and Georges lap since there was no room for them on the floor as Neville was sitting there. Ginny was at the end of my side of the bench on the other side of George and across from Harry who had Ron, Hermione and then Luna on that side of the compartment benches, in that order.
None of us really minded the squished seats; it was a very comfortable atmosphere with lots of laughs and conversation. Eventually, I even felt marginally relaxed and laughed a bit- something that I had scarcely done since Hermione had set my ultimatum.
I was still wary to look at her though, and she was almost constantly shifting her gaze to me, her expression smoothing out and becoming carefully neutral.
This would be an opportune time to tell them- I knew that. They're already all here; all my friends were in one place and in good moods. I could do it… But I knew I wasn't going to.
It would take a miracle for me to tell them willingly so soon.
Weirdly enough, about a half an hour into our train ride, a knock sounded on our compartment door. Harry stood to open it and to the shock of every one of us, Malfoy stood in the doorway- looking sheepish?
Instantly, hackles around the compartment raised and Harry's eyes narrowed to a dangerous level.
"What do you want?" he snarled, sounded hardly like Harry at all. Draco glared right back before his eyes shifted to me.
"I want to speak with Ariel." He said, gaze sideling back to Harry, who's narrowed eyes widened fractionally. Unsure what was going on, I moved my legs from Fred and Georges lap and stood. Stepping carefully around Neville who whispered "Good luck" I walked towards the compartment door, Harry sitting back down.
Almost subconsciously, my hand strayed to my wand, which was tucked into the back of my skirt. My fingers brushed the warm wood and I felt a surge of strength, confident in my abilities to take him in a fight if need be.
We walked out into the empty corridor and I took once last glance into the compartment that held my friends, all of whom were glaring suspiciously at Malfoy.
"Don't worry," I said, "I can handle him." Before shutting the door. I looked back at Malfoy who was simply staring at me and crossed my arms over my chest, settling my facial expression into one of indifference. Due to the clear window in the compartment door, I could still see all of my friends who were watching this unfold but couldn't hear anything.
His eyes narrowed fractionally before he sighed.
"I wanted to say I'm sorry." He mumbled. My arms dropped in shock and my mouth fell open.
Malfoy?
Say he was sorry?
Instantly, my defenses rose. There was no way in hell he would ever do such a thing without an ulterior motive.
"What are you up to, Malfoy?" I growled, not in the mood to be messed with especially by someone like him.
His expression morphed into anger and disdain.
"Can't a guy say he's sorry without being put under inspection?" he snarled, advancing towards me a half-step.
"Yes- but not if that guy is you, Malfoy." I retorted. He bared his teeth at me and curled his lip in indignation. Somewhere in the back of my mind, the animal part of it, took that facial expression as a sign of challenge. Instantly adrenaline shot through my limbs and my hands tightened instinctively on my wand, having taken it out when he stepped towards me.
My shoulders squared and my spine straightened, making up for the few inches Malfoy had on me for height in pure presence. His eyes widened slightly, no doubt taking in this change of presence.
He may have been taller than me and broader than me, but there was no question in either of our minds that I could take him down.
Knowing retreat was the only option, his lip curled even more, eyes narrowing back down, and then he turned on his heel and stalked away, shouldering roughly past a first year Hufflepuff.
Automatically, now that the threat was gone, the adrenaline faded away leaving me phenomenally tired. My hands shook slightly and I had a terrible headache- though it was not near as bad as the one I got after that last full moon.
I stepped back into the compartment, tucking my wand back into my skirt. Those whose feet were in the way (Harry, Ginny, Ron, George, and Neville) pulled them up enough to let me pass back to my seat, while Hermione asked what Malfoy had said.
After I got settled in my seat again, tiredness having grown a substantial amount, I sighed.
"He wanted to apologize." Instantly there was uproar, everyone vehemently denying that Malfoy would do such a thing and actually mean it.
"I know, I know. My thoughts exactly." I sighed again and leaned forward to rest my aching forehead against Fred's shoulder. Instantly, a hand came up to smooth down my hair and conversation gradually slipped into different topics.
I shifted in my seat, moving my back from the wall of the compartment to the back of the seat to more comfortably rest my head against Fred's shoulder. I pulled my feet up so they weren't in Neville's way and wrapped my arm around Fred's.
I knew I was hard-core cuddling. I knew it- but frankly, between my lack of sleep and headache, I didn't care a bit. As long as Fred didn't mind, and so far he hadn't said anything. Eventually, sleep overtook me and the rest of the journey was history.
Arriving at the train station was, while normal for everyone else, a bit of a novel to me. There was the disorienting babble of people pushing and shoving so I kept a no-mercy grip on Ginny's arm as we bade good-bye to Hermione and set off to find the rest of the red-headed family.
Spotting a group of crimson amidst the crowd, Ginny tugged me along and soon we were in front of I'm guessing, basically the whole gang of Weasley's. Immediately I could pick out Mrs. Molly Weasley and Mr. Arthur Weasley and was pretty sure I could tell who were Bill and Charlie. Percy, from what I had heard, was a-wol as due to a falling out in the family.
"Ginny, dear!" Mrs. Weasley cried, rushing forward to envelope her only daughter in a hug. Ginny squeezed back and then moved to hug her father. Ron and Harry hugged both parents next while I just stood awkwardly in the background, not used to being included in a happy family.
"And this must be Ariel. So good to meet you." Mrs. Weasley turned her attention to me as Fred and George mysteriously appeared by my sides and pushed me forwards into Mrs. Weasley's arms. I was caught in a hug that I was not entirely expecting.
"Uh- er- hello, it's very nice to meet you Mrs. Weasley." I stuttered, cautiously wrapped my arms around her.
She pulled back laughing, "Mrs. Weasley? Call me Molly, please. Mrs. Weasley makes me sound so old."
"You'll never be old, mum. Who's going to take care of us when you do?" George quipped from my right.
The group laughed and chattered happily as we made our way to a Ford Angelia that looked like it could hold maybe half of us. No one said anything however when all o our luggage was packed into the trunk and we all piled into said car with minimal discomfort.
I had Ginny on my lap and felt lighter than I had in ages as I spent the time poking her sides and watching her flail. She was apparently, outrageously ticklish and I planned to abuse it in the future.
The car ride was loud and fun and eventually we pulled up to the most eccentric and the coolest house ever. There was a sign out front that said, "The Burrow." There was a patch of woods in the back and around it was fields of wheat.
It kinda looked like you took a house and added parts periodically and I immediately fell in love with it.
As we all got out, and got our respective luggage, Ginny pulled me along into the house and to her room. It's almost like you could see Ginny through the ages. There was a splash of childish pink that was slowly being taken over by the Quidditch paraphernalia and Gryffindor items. There was a small twin bed in the corner with another mattress underneath it that I presumed would be where I would be sleeping.
After we put out stuff in the room, she gave me a tour and I fell deeper and deeper in love with the house. We went and saw the ghoul up in the attic, went by each of the boy's rooms, saw the gnomes out in the garden, the clock with all of the family members' names on it. She even showed me the pitch out behind the patch of woods which were surprisingly dense but nothing like the Forbidden Forest back at Hogwarts.
I stopped outside the front door of the house to just look around. The sun was setting and the sky was turning a deep orange. It smelled like summer already and a slight breeze ruffled my hair. I could hear laughter and talking inside and footsteps on hard wood. It sounded like family and something deep in my heart made a small pang of hurt.
"Ariel!" I turned around at the sound of my name. Fred stood in the doorway of the house just looking at me. The grin slipped off his face and something I couldn't identify entered his eyes.
"Yeah?" I called.
"It's uh-" he cleared his throat, "time for dinner, c'mon."
Sorry for the long time between updates; I'm having a hard time finishing this story but thanks for sticking with me while I procrastinate and be dumb haha. Sorry for the short crappy chapter, hopefully the next one will be better….
