Hello all! Back, I am. Woo hoo! Hardly any delay at all for this chapter! Be proud of me ;) Thanks to all of you who reviewed last chapter. Especially Jokegirl! Who is now officially my favorite person on FanFiction! I wish I could throw a parade for her. : )
Enjoy!!!!
3 Months Later…
On the morning of October 30th, Arra awoke with a smile. Today was the day she would be going home, and back to school that night. The trial had finally ended yesterday and that evil man had been put in prison, just as they had hoped. Arra felt good about helping out the victim and his family, but was anxious to go home. She was even more anxious about finally seeing Harry again. She had never gotten a chance to reply to his letter, but she was sure he understood her situation and was waiting for her.
Arra got up out of bed, took a quick shower and got dressed. She had packed all of her bags last night, as she was anticipating their departure. Sirius came into her room with his bags all packed as well and told Arra that they were to meet a car that the Magical Government had sent for them to go to a proper floo-ing network location. Since Arra could not apparate yet, they would have to floo.
Arra grabbed her bags and headed down the stairs to the car that was sitting in the driveway. Before she knew it, she was walking into a fireplace and yelling, "Ministry of Magic, London!" Her head swirled as her vision was clouded with green flames, but soon was back to normal as she was spit out into a familiar scene. People were bustling around, not even noticing Arra as she stood there with a smile, just elated to be home. Sirius came out of the fireplace shortly after her and the two checked in with a woman at a desk, just to let the Minister know that their situation was resolved and they were home safely (Not like that sack of dung would have cared about either of them).
Within a few hours, Arra and Sirius were entering their home, Grimmauld Place. They had meant to buy another house over the summer after their trip, but were delayed and therefore were still living in Sirius' old house. Most likely, they would look for one next summer, or Sirius would look on his own during the school year. Even though number 12, Grimmauld Place was horrible, Arra was delighted to see the familiar heads of house elves mounted on the walls and the many cobwebs and gaudy, ornamented furniture. She went upstairs to her room and immediately threw open her suitcase and school trunk to start packing for her school year. She had borrowed Sirius' wand so that she could quickly clean her dirty clothes with magic without being caught by the ministry. Sirius usually loaned Arra his wand so that she could do things on her own without the ministry catching them. Arra packed her robes, lots of extra clothes, her school books, and other things she would need for the semester. In addition, she grabbed her picture of a moose she took, a picture of her and her dad waving in front of the Trevi Fountain, and the picture of her and her mother that Sirius had given her.
After fully packing her trunk, she hauled it downstairs to where Sirius was waiting.
"Jeez, that was fast." Sirius said, glancing at the clock. It was now 5 o'clock. They had barely arrived home 40 minutes ago.
"I want to go! I've been stuck in a foreign place for three months with nothing to do but talk to lazy Americans! (A/N: I'm a lazy American myself. I'm not trying to offend anyone!) I even think I've adopted their accents a bit!" Arra said impatiently, bouncing on her toes, waiting to leave.
Sirius stood up slowly and walked around the table to grab her trunk. "You just want to see Harry." He muttered.
Arra frowned, "Oh, shut up. Did you call a car like you were supposed to?"
Sirius waved her off. "No. We're just going to apparate."
"Hello? Not 17 over here." She said, pointing to herself.
He shrugged. "Side-Along. They'll never know. We can go straight to Hogsmeade, and it'll be faster this way. The sooner you can see your boyfriend!"
They had exited the house and were standing in the street waiting to go. "He's not my boyfriend." She grumbled as she grabbed his arm tightly. "Let's go though."
Sirius nodded with a sarcastic smile. "Okay. Whatever you say." And off they went with the familiar pull behind her navel dragging her into a space time continuum. She felt suspended in mid-air before having her feet slam firmly into the ground. Arra regained her balance and opened her eyes to the familiar scene of Hogsmeade around her. She had only been here once before when her and Harry had snuck in last year and gotten into a heated argument. Arra usually tried to block that memory when she thought of this place or Harry.
After quite a long walk, they had reached the gates of Hogwarts, where a familiar old man was waiting for them.
"Good evening, Arra, Sirius." Dumbledore said politely, nodding to each of them in turn.
"Hi, Professor." Arra chirped, glad to be back.
"Evening, Dumbledore." Sirius said, shaking the headmaster's hand.
Arra turned to Sirius to say her goodbyes. "Well, I guess I'll see you later." She said.
"It feels weird, you know. I just got you back, and now I have to send you off again." Sirius said sadly.
"What are you talking about? We just spent the whole summer together."
He laughed, "I know that, but I've got a lot of parenting I have to make up for twelve years in Azkaban."
"Well, you're off to a good start." She smiled at him as they embraced for a goodbye hug.
"See you for Christmas." He said as she headed through the gates with Dumbledore. They continued waving until he was blocked from her view by the fog.
"So, what have I missed this year so far?" Arra asked her headmaster.
He shrugged. "Not much. We have a pretty important event approaching, but I'm sure that Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger will fill you in. How was your summer?"
"Amazing aside from the whole murder trial thing. But it did give me more time to spend with my dad, so I'm grateful for that." Arra said truthfully.
"That's splendid." Dumbledore said with a smile.
"Yeah, but I'm happy to be back."
Dumbledore pushed open the great oak doors to the inside of the awesome castle. "I'll send your trunk up to your room," He flicked his wand and the case vanished. "I'll leave you to carry your remaining bags up and meet up with your friends. I'm sure you're anxious to see them. Oh by the way, the password right now is baubles." He smiled.
"Yes, sir. Thank you. I'll see you for dinner soon." She picked up her backpack and purse, the only two items besides her oversized trunk and began to climb the many stairs.
Arra waved to familiar people she saw on her way up, but didn't stop to talk. She was very excited to see her friends and didn't want to delay their reunion on bit.
"Oh hello, dear!" The Fat Lady said when Arra approached. "I was wondering where you had been this year!"
"Thanks," Arra said sincerely. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I'd really like to unpack and get settled before dinner and stuff. Oh, baubles." The Fat Lady looked a bit upset that Arra wanted to leave so quickly, but swung the portrait open anyways.
Arra took a deep breath and climbed through the hole and entered the familiar Gryffindor Common Room. However, she didn't see much of it, because she was immediately tackled in a hug.
"Arra!" The voice of George Weasley yelled at her as she hugged him back. Right after she was pulled into a hug by his twin.
"We were wondering when you'd get back! We need new joke ideas, and someone to keep Hermione off our tails! Since you've been gone, I think she's made it a personal goal to get us as many detentions as possible." Fred said quickly.
Arra laughed at her two favorite twins, "It's great to see you guys! I've missed you too! Believe me, I've missed everything about this place. You never realize how much you love school until you can't go to it."
Fred and George exchanged disbelieving looks. "Just give it a week, and you'll be back to your normal self. Ditching class and blowing off homework assignments."
"Our little protégé." Fred remarked thoughtfully.
"Hermione will be so proud." George joined him in the joke.
Arra went around to greet the other Gryffindors and meet the new ones. They were all pleased to see her, but Arra was looking for someone in particular. Three people, actually.
"Arra?!" A voice from the portrait hole shrieked. Arra turned around just in time to have a giant mass of frizzy brown hair come crashing into her. "ARRA!" Hermione shouted happily. Arra embraced her best friend and the two stayed like that for quite sometime before Hermione finally pulled away and placed her hands on Arra's shoulders.
"I'm so glad you're back. These boys are driving me insane!" She said intensely.
"Stop being so dramatic, Hermione." A red headed boy said as he pushed Hermione aside to hug Arra himself.
"Jeez, I come back after three months and you two can't even stop arguing for two minutes!" Arra laughed as she squeezed Ron in a tight hug.
"It's her fault!" Ron said. "She thinks that Harry and I are total rubbish without her guiding."
The bickering continued and Arra just rolled her eyes. Welcome home, she thought. The three of them then sat down on the couch to talk about everything.
"Where is Harry, by the way?" Arra tried to ask casually.
Ron and Hermione exchanged a look. Arra couldn't exactly tell if it was good or bad. "He's in the library, he'll be back soon though. But in the meantime, tell us about your summer! Tell us everything!"
Arra nodded. She went into detail about all the places they had been, and all the fun they had had. She talked about how spending all of that time with her dad was really good and had brought them a lot closer. And she told them about the trial and stuff and that was the reason she couldn't write to any of them. They assured her that they suspected that was why she wouldn't respond to any letters.
"So, how are things at Hogwarts? I've heard some talk about a special event or something along those lines?" Arra asked when she was done with her speech.
Their eyes widened, "You don't know?" Ron asked, disbelieving. "They're having the Triwizard Tournament!"
Arra's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me? Really?! Like the real Triwizard Tournament? Like with dangerous stuff and other schools and someone usually dies?" She asked excitedly.
"Yeah!" Ron said, matching her excitement.
Arra clapped her hands. "Awesome! Did you enter your names? Did you enter my name?! Oh, you better have entered my name!" She said in a warning tone.
Hermione put up her hands, "Arra, no, we didn't enter any of our names." Arra opened her mouth to complain but Hermione cut her off. "They changed the rules, you have to be 17 to enter."
Arra frowned. "What?! That's stupid. Hogwarts never lets us have any fun." She crossed her arms over her chest and slumped into the couch.
"I suppose it's because too many people died, like you said. And why are you so eager to face death, anyway?" Hermione asked.
"Because it's the Triwizard Tournament, Hermione!" Ron said. Arra nodded fervently.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "I don't understand why it's so appealing."
Now it was Ron and Arra's turn to roll their eyes and sigh, "Muggle borns." They said together.
The three friends shared a laugh together and talked more about the tournament. Arra learned that two new school of magic were to be joining them this year called Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. She also learned that the four champions would be chosen tomorrow night after dinner.
"So, when will Harry be coming back?" Arra tried to task nonchalantly. "I really need to talk to him about something."
Hermione and Ron exchanged that same strange look again. "Um, Arra, there's something we need to tell you about Harry. Your letter--"
Hermione was cut off by the sound of someone coming through the portrait hole. Arra whipped around to see a scarfaced boy with jet black hair and green eyes come through. His eyes widened when he caught sight of her, his emotion unreadable. Without a word, Arra stood up, walked over to him and snaked her arms around his neck, fitting herself into the shape of his body. He wordlessly wrapped his arms around her waist as well and pulled her closer to himself. Arra breathed in his scent and her stomach did a backflip. This felt right, being here. She hadn't realized how much she had missed him until she was pressed against his body. He had changed a bit, but only physically. She could tell he was gaining muscle, as he was much more built than the last time they saw each other. He had also grown his hair out a little, but not enough to make him look like a hippie. He was perfect, just as he had always been.
Eventually, they pulled apart and stared at each other.
A smile spread across Harry's face, "Arra, I'm so happy you're back."
She beamed, "Me too."
"When did you get here?"
"About an hour ago. Hermione and Ron have been filling me in on everything about school and the tournament and such." Arra replied.
He nodded, "Good. So you'll be joining us for dinner then?"
"Yeah, but first, I sort of wanted to talk to you in private--" Arra said in a hushed voice.
"Arra, why don't we take your bags up to the dormitory now?" Hermione interrupted with a frantic voice.
Arra frowned, "Uh, sure." Confused at Hermione's reaction, she turned back to Harry, "I'll see you at dinner. We can talk later."
Harry nodded, "Yeah, of course."
Hermione tugged at Arra's arm and practically dragged her up the stairs to the dormitory. It was empty of their other roommates, which Arra was thankful for; she wanted to know why Hermione was being so weird. She dropped her bags on her bed and turned to the bushy haired girl, "What was that about?"
Hermione cringed and bit her lip, "There's something you need to know before you go off trying to get Harry back."
"Back? What do you mean back?" Arra interjected.
Hermione sat down next to her. "After you sent Harry your first letter, he told both Ron and I and told us about his response. Then, after you didn't respond to that, he figured you didn't like him anymore."
"I couldn't! I was stuck there!" Arra said.
Hermione put a hand on her best friend's shoulder, "I know. But Harry was really upset until Dumbledore told us what was going on. Then he totally understood everything and decided he was going to wait for you. But, we didn't really know how long you were going to be there, and you can't really expect him to wait around forever."
"Ok…" Arra urged on.
"When we got back to school, Ron and I started noticing that Harry was looking at this certain Ravenclaw girl differently. And well, we think he may have…moved on."
Arra stared, "Moved on?"
Hermione gave her a sad look, "I'm sorry."
Arra stood up suddenly. "He can't have just moved on. He wouldn't. You must be mistaken, Hermione. I don't think Harry would have done that to me." Arra rambled, trying to convince herself, more than Hermione.
Hermione nodded slowly, "Look, it's getting late, we should get down to dinner."
"Yeah, sure." And the two girls walked back down to the common room to where the boys were waiting.
"So, you wanted to talk?" Harry said as they walked to the Great Hall. They had fallen a few steps behind Ron and Hermione, as the two were having their usual bicker.
"Oh, um, it's nothing important, we can talk later." She smiled at him. She had purposely postponed their conversation until she was sure Hermione was wrong.
They entered the Great Hall, and many eyes turned to Arra. Apparently this was becoming a usual entrance for Arra whenever she entered this room, as it happened often last year. Except for this time, everyone was pleased to see her, and she went around to make her hellos to everyone she missed.
As she was saying hello to Seamus and Dean, her eyes fell on a platinum blond haired boy at the Slytherin table who was looking at her with disbelief. She locked eyes with Draco and held them for a few solid seconds before giving him a small smile and a wave. He returned the gesture, but didn't take his eyes off her when she looked away.
Arra gulped. She had almost forgotten about Draco entirely. Over the summer, she had thought she definitely chosen Harry, but now that she had seen him again, a familiar butterfly sensation came back. But she was sure that was just because she was nervous.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Arra all took their seats at the Gryffindor table and began to eat. Arra kept a watchful eye on Harry, just to see if he was looking at anyone in particular. She was aware that she was probably being paranoid, but she didn't want to go telling him she still had feelings for him when he was pining for another.
However, he was eating his dinner calmly and normally, talking to his friends and acting like he always did. He turned to his right to shoot a smile at Arra. She returned the gesture until she saw his eyes quickly avert their gaze from hers and look towards the entrance of the hall. She whipped her head around just in time to see about five Ravenclaw girls come into the hall. Her eyes immediately fell on the one who was looking this way--Cho Chang. Arra knew who she was, but didn't talk to her or anything. But now she suddenly hated this girl, just for looking at Harry with her little flirty smile. Arra wanted nothing more than to slap it right off her face.
The auburn haired Gryffindor girl turned away from the Asian girl, as her cute little smile was making Arra sick. She quickly glanced at Harry just to have her nausea rise even more. He was looking at Cho with a love struck face. The same face many boys make at Arra, herself. The same face he, Harry, used to make at her. The same face she used to make at him.
Arra's eyes sadly dropped to the mashed potatoes on her plate as realization hit her. She now had the one thing she never wanted to have when it came to guys. Especially Harry. Competition.
Back to school! I hope you all enjoyed it! Review please. And by the way, I really appreciate all the reviews you guys have given me. They encourage me to keep writing. You are all so positive and always have nice things to say to me. And if you don't, you give it in constructive criticism, which I really do appreciate. I'm so glad I have reviewers who aren't rude, disrespectful and just plain mean. I guess I just wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate you. =)