AN: Welcome back everyone! Sorry that this chapter is short, but I have finals this week and Arden went on vacation to let me study. I have outlined about ten chapters ahead, so we'll be good for updates over summer.
For those of you who don't know, I have published an outtakes story for this fanfic. I'm hoping, when I get done with finals, to update that more often. It'll have any ideas or situations that don 't exactly apply to this story, but involve Arden and another character or two in some way. Right now, I have a rather sad but strange mini-story involving the Weasleys on the twins' eleventh birthday. So, yeah…Go check that out and review pretty please!
Now then, SHOUT OUT TIME!
ULTIMATE SHOUTOUT GOES TO MY SUPERMEGAFOXYAWESOMEHOT BETA CiciWeezil! Check her out! She's one of the best people ever and if you're reading this, CiciWeezil, HELLO AND HUGS! *hugs*
MEGA SHOUT OUTS GO TO: littleapwing, IAreGandalf, attlantica, Raingirl4513, and Applejax XD! Thank you all so much for reviewing! You're all amazing!
Reply time:
littleapwing: Thank you, I plan to!
IAreGandalf: In response to your first review, I am an American Jew, and I know several Rabbis who refer to it as a menorah. I know the 'true' term is hannukiah, but for colloquialism purposes I used menorah. In response to your second review: thank you! I love writing this story!
attlantica: I have plans that I feel like you're going to have a major love-hate relationship with *evil laughter*
Raingirl4513: All of your questions shall be answered, eventually! :D
Applejax XD: They will be in the next chapter, don't worry. This chapter was a bit more character development for Arden than anything.
Shout outs for favoriting go to: IAreGandalf, Williukea, kiralol101, littleapwing, and yerawizardkari! You all get huggles and candy!
Shout outs for following go to: AJ magics, IAreGandalf, Lizunn, Mrs. Mercer-Torretto-Malfoy, Nameless-dono, SpiritofaWaterGoddess, Williukea, canis3, greencomputer612, likethewordish, littleapwing, and yerawizardkari! You all get hugs from Fluffy and candy from the trolley!
So, let's get on with the chapter!
Arden walked around the deserted halls of Hogwarts, attempting to entertain herself while Minnie and Grandpa Albus were in a staff meeting. She had been staying with Minnie at Hogwarts for about one week; it had been three since school ended. The landlord found several mice nests in the walls on the bottom floors, so they evacuated the building for fumigation. She'd used the map to find ways out of the castle and into Hogsmeade several times now, and she'd quickly grown tired of the small town (as she had no money to spend, going down there was pointless). Madam Pince didn't let her into the library, and Grandpa Albus was almost always busy so she couldn't use his library. Her summer homework had been finished since Monday, it was now Friday; she was losing her mind.
Hours later, McGonagall found her goddaughter laying on the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall, her legs hooked over the table and her head dangling towards the ground.
"Arden, what's wrong?" Minerva asked, knowing that her goddaughter only got into that position when she couldn't think.
Arden looked at Minerva, her amber eyes dull and her face expressionless, "Bored."
The older witch shook her head, tsking her tongue as she said, "Well, get up. We're leaving."
Arden swung herself right-side up, excited, "No more Hogwarts? We're going home?"
"Not exactly, you know how professors have to go talk to Muggleborns and explain what Hogwarts is and such?" Arden nodded, seeing where this conversation was going.
Minerva let go of Arden's hand after apparating into an alleyway, away from Muggle eyes. She looked down at her goddaughter, who was gasping for air and trying not to puke. She hated apparating.
"You alright, dear?" Minnie asked in concern, bending down to look Arden in the eyes and make sure she wasn't splinched.
Arden nodded, "Yeah, think so." She picked up the bag that she dropped, full of books to read while she waited. Minerva said that they might be there for a while, and let her into Grandpa Albus' room to get something to read while she waited, lending her the undetectable extension charmed purse. Arden chose several books, one of them being Hogwarts: A History, just on the long shot that there was something that she missed in her first numerous read-throughs of the book.
The two witches walked out of the alleyway and down the street, each dressed in Muggle clothes so as to not attract attention. McGonagall chose to wear black slacks, a tasteful red blouse, and a gold locket. Her black hair was pulled into its trademark bun, out of her face. Arden was wearing a loose, off the shoulder white t-shirt that said "I'm really a unicorn" with a pair of acid-wash jeans and a pair of white and blue trainers. Her, now hip-length, curly, dark chocolate locks were left alone.
They finally reached the house. Minerva changed into her animagus form and hopped on a windowsill to check that they were there. She looked at Arden and nodded, running behind a bush to change back. Arden walked to the door and knocked, Minerva running to stand next to her before the door opened.
A tall brunet man opened the door, "Can I help you?"
Minerva put on her very friendliest smile, "Yes, I am here to speak to the Granger family? It's concerning Hermione."
The man looked concerned, glanced backwards at, presumably, his wife or daughter, and replied, "Is she in trouble? Is this about her…abilities?" he asked in a hushed tone.
The elder witch nodded, "May we come in?"
The man said, "Yes, please do!" and hurried the two witches inside.
A young girl with wild brown hair ran up to her father, "Dad, who are they?"
The man placed his hand on her shoulder, "They're here about your special talents, Hermione. They know what's going on."
Hermione looked up at the two strangers with wide brown eyes, "You really know?" Minerva nodded, causing Hermione to smile, "Thank god, I was worried something was wrong with me." The girl walked back into the sitting room to join her parents.
Minerva held Arden back from following them and whispered, "Arden, why don't you talk to Hermione. I'll talk with her parents and get them used to the idea." Arden nodded and followed Minerva into the sitting room, where they saw Mr. Granger talking to Mrs. Granger in hushed voices. They stopped when they saw the two witches walk in.
Mrs. Granger stood up and met them halfway, "You can explain what's going on with Hermione?"
Minerva affirmed, "Yes, but I would like Arden," she gestured to the thirteen year-old, "to explain it to Hermione ad I'll explain it to you. I feel that would be the most efficient route. I can answer any of your questions, and Arden can answer Hermione's."
The family looked back and forth between one another and the two women, but Hermione walked over to Arden, "Can we talk in my room?"
"I'm a witch? That can't be! Witches are fake, fairy tales, like ghosts and dragons!" Hermione, flustered, exclaimed, pacing in front of Arden, who was sat on her bed.
Arden smiled, "Oh, they're real too. As are Mermaids, Centaurs, Phoenixes-"
Hermione put her hands over her ears, "No, it can't be!"
Arden shook her head, "It is, it's very real. You're part of our world, one of us."
Hermione stopped pacing and looked Arden straight in the eyes, "Prove it," she demanded.
Arden took her purse off of her shoulder, "See this purse? It has an undetectable extension charm on it. That means that I can store anything of any size and any quantity of anything in here and it will never get full." The purse itself was rather small, barely bigger than an 8.5''/11'' sheet of parchment. Arden pulled eight books out of it, causing Hermione's eyes to widen and her jaw to drop.
"That can't be!" she ran over and opened the purse, it looked completely normal. She backed up and pulled her set of twelve encyclopedias off the bookshelf, "Can I try with these?"
"Of course," Arden laughed, hopping off the bed and bringing her purse to the curious girl.
After all twelve books were inside the purse, Hermione opened it and saw just what she had before, the purse looked completely normal and empty. "Where did my books go?" she asked, concerned.
Arden reached into the purse up to her shoulder and started, one by one, pulling the books out. Hermione was astounded and amazed.
Minerva and Arden had successfully delivered the letter and the Grangers agreed to send Hermione to Hogwarts. The two were about to leave when Hermione ran over to Arden, "Wait! Can I ask you something…in private?"
Arden said, "Of course," and followed the younger girl to a room away from the adults. "Everything alright? I know we dropped a lot on you today," Arden stated, seeing the girl's obvious distress.
Hermione, uncomfortably, shifted her weight from one foot to the other, "Um…I…I'm not very well liked by a lot of people. I was wondering…are people in the Magical World more…accepting?"
Arden's face fell, "What do you mean? Bullying?" Hermione nodded, looking away from Arden. Arden looked in the direction where Minnie stood with the adult Muggles, and back at Hermione, "You know what, Hermione? I was raised in both worlds because my guardian thought it best for me to see both sides of the spectrum, give me a bit of perspective. I got bullied a lot too, when I was younger than you and attending Muggle school. So, I feel that I have a good basis to say that the Magical World is much more accepting than the Muggle World. And you know what else?" She reached into her purse and pulled out two books, Hogwarts: A History and a book on the Magical World and its history with the Muggle World. "Here," she handed them to Hermione, "You like reading and learning, right? Give them back to me when you're done. Just, don't let anyone other than your parents see them, yeah?"
Hermione shook her head, "Why are you giving them to me?"
Arden smiled, "We're friends, right?"
A few days later, Arden made her way up to the Owlery with a letter in hand for a Mr. Harry James Potter. She was rather excited that he was finally coming to Hogwarts. By no means was she about to freak out about it. No, she was curious as to which house the famous boy would be placed in. Some followers of Voldemort believed that Harry was to be the next Dark wizard and were prepared to switch alliances should he present himself as such, others believed that he was "the chosen one", and then there were those like Arden who didn't care either way. Not to say that Arden wouldn't fight against Harry should he be inherently evil, she would. But, until such a time came, Arden had more important things to worry about; like her feelings for a Mr. Fred Weasley.
Arden called down one of the more reliable Hogwarts Screech owls and tied the letter to its leg. While she watched fly away, she leaned against one of the huge, arches and pondered her growing emotions for the ginger Gryffindor. She knew that she had some sort of emotional attachment beyond that of what she felt for Lee, George, and Cedric. But what sort of feelings did she have for Fred? Fred was her best friend. Fred was the one who came up with all the best prank ideas. Fred was the one who chided Lee whenever he said something stupid to her. Fred was the one who made sure that she didn't work too hard for one of their pranks. Fred was the one who would do anything for his family and his friends. Fred was the one who gave the best hugs in the world. Fred was the one whose eyes she could stare into and lose herself in their brown depths for all eternity. Fred was the one whose smile could light up all of Hogwarts' Grounds on its murkiest days. Fred was the one who could make her smile just by seeing him happy. Fred was the one whose laugh could warm up even the coldest of souls. Fred was…Fred, and Fred was wonderful.
Arden groaned and laid her head against the well-worn walls of the Owlery in both frustration and elation. It had taken her two years to realize it, how could she have been so blind? She…she…she liked Fred Weasley. She had a crush on her best friend.
Arden shifted uncomfortably in her seat in Minnie's office. The woman was working on her lesson plans for next term and Arden was supposed to be helping her work out the scheduling issues, as she was very proficient at organization. She wanted to help her godmother, she really truly did, but she couldn't seem to focus. Her mind was buzzing with a million and one situations for what could happen if she confessed to Fred. She didn't want to be thinking about it, but she couldn't seem to help it. It was as if someone took out all of her sensibilities and replaced them with extremely high dosages of estrogen, oxytocin, and serotonin. All she could think about was him, he made her happy, but they weren't even together.
Minerva seemed to notice that Arden had stopped working and something was wrong. She laid down her quill gently, "All right," she stood up and walked around her desk to sit next to the thirteen-year-old, "What's wrong?"
Arden shook her head, "Nothing".
The professor didn't seem to buy it, "Arden, I've known you for your entire life. I know when you're lying to me. Either you tell me or I'm going to march you right down to Severus' office and get some veritaserum."
Arden bit her lip, not wanting to say anything, but she knew that Minnie was right. She figured, of all people, she'd rather Snape not find out, "Ok, I might have…" she gestured with her hands in a sort of random motion, "Feelings for…someone, and I don't know what to do," she leaned down and covered her face with her hair in utter embarrassment.
McGonagall, however, was staring in shock at her. This was not ok. Arden was still a little three-year-old, right? When did she start feeling things for boys? When did Arden stop being her innocent little baby? She shook her head as if to clear it, she was being ridiculous. Of course Arden was growing up, she knew that; Arden had started puberty last spring. This was only natural.
Minerva cleared her throat, "Well, that was a bit unexpected. Ok, who is it?" Arden muttered something unintelligible, "I'm sorry, who was that?"
Arden lifted her face from her hands, "Fred."
The older woman gave a pitying look, "Oh, dear, come here." She hugged Arden and rubbed her back in soothing circles. She knew, from watching it happen for years on end, that having a crush on a friend was the worst sort of internal conflict and could cause some serious emotional damage. One wrong move and the friendship was out the window.
Arden buried her face in Minerva's cloak, upset because she didn't want to feel things for Fred, it would just complicate things. Arden needed to be in control, and emotions were not in her power to manipulate. "Why do I have to have feelings for Fred, of all people?" she asked her godmother.
The adult sighed, "I don't know, sweetie, but it could be worse."
"How?"
"You could have feelings for a Muggle."
AN:
Well that's the chapter! If you would please leave a review, that'd be absolutely amazing!
Well, see you all in the next chapter!