warning: this chapter contains direct dialogue from the HP books and/or movies (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
Second Book
August 3rd, 1992
Summer of Forth Year
'Tick'
Ara was sure she was imaging it.
'Tick'
What else could explain it?
'Tick, tick, tick, TICK'
Angrily, Ara got out of her bed and threw her bedroom window open. The incipient sound of something hitting the glass was driving her mad.
She wasn't sure what she was expecting to see, but a flying car was definitely not it. A flying car with three red-heads inside, no less. Fred was in the seat closest to her window, at the steering wheel.
Not that Ara had noticed, but she'd changed over the summer, gotten prettier, if that was even possible.
Fred had definitely noticed, he felt his mouth dry up upon seeing her standing at the window in a pretty, periwinkle camisole, with that beautiful long blonde hair of hers that the moonlight only seemed to accentuate, and those big blue eyes, which he loved.
"What? You aren't going to say 'hello'?" Fred teased quietly, once he'd managed to find his voice.
"Have you gone mad?" Ara hissed, getting over the shock she'd initially felt.
"Certainly not-"
"What are you doing here? In that?" Ara cut off the boy, he gave her an amused look.
"Yeah, what are we doing here?" A voice asking irritably from the back seat, Ara's eyes darted over to Ron, who looked considerably taller, even while sitting in the car, from the last time she'd seen him.
"Well, Ronniekins here wanted to go save his friend, and we thought it was the perfect opportunity to save ours too!" George explained, sitting beside Fred and smiling widely, Ara blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of what he just said.
"Save me, from what? You idiots,"
"From daddy dearest, of course!"
"C'mon, you're due for an adventure! When's the last time you had some proper fun? Come with us, we're going to check on Harry!"
Ara tried to suppress her giggle, they had gone mad.
"I will be doing no such thing!"
"Why not Ar'? We aren't scared of old Lucius catching us, don't worry!" Fred whispered, Ara smiled and shook her head.
"You should be scared of 'daddy dearest'. He's got quite the habit of using unforgivable curses on intruders," Ara said back, innocently, but smirked when she saw the twins, and Ron, give each other scared looks.
"Ara!"
Speak of the devil.
Lucius Malfoy and his wife burst into their daughter's room, in their matching silk pyjamas, worried to say the least.
"Yes?" Ara quickly spun around and tried to block the windows view with her body.
Lucius and Narcissa gave her a curious look.
"Are you okay?" Ara's mother asked.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" That wasn't a lie. She was perfectly fine, unlike how the twins would be if her father found them.
"We heard voices-"
"Oh, I must have just been mumbling to myself! It is late after all,"
"Yes, very late," Lucius nodded, suspiciously, "So what, in Merlin's name, are you doing up?"
Ara's mind went blank for a moment.
"Mars is particularly bright tonight, I was admiring it,"
She prayed her parents would not see through the blatant lie.
"Is it now?" Lucius asked, he and Narcissa walked towards Ara's window, their daughter took a deep breath and stepped aside, to her delight, the twins, and the flying car, were gone!
Narcissa looked up towards the sky from the spot Ara had just been standing at attentively, her eyes searching for Mars, and Lucius watched her, he'd never been much good at Astronomy himself.
Narcissa shot Ara a curious but short-lived look, before quickly turning to Lucius.
"Yes, she's right, unusually bright," She nodded to her husband, before turning back to Ara, "-But dear, you should really go to bed, you've got a lifetime to watch the stars,"
Ara could sense the burning disapproval in her mother's eye, which made her very aware that she knew Ara was lying.
"Of course," Ara nodded innocently, before walking over to her bed, "-Goodnight mother, goodnight father,"
"Goodnight dear," Both her parents mumbled, closing her window, drawing her curtains, and walking out of her room, making sure to close the door behind them.
After waiting a few moments, just to be sure they were gone, Ara jumped out of her bed and hurried towards the window. Quietly pushing the curtains aside, she quickly opened the window.
There, miraculously, was the flying car. Ara had to stifle the laughter that overcame her out of amazement.
"Mars is particularly bright? Couldn't think of a better lie?" Fred teased quietly, Ara couldn't help but wonder where they had been for her parents not to see them, but to still be able to hear her.
"It worked, didn't it?" Ara mused, leaning over the window sill, staring at Fred with an unreadable expression.
He'd always had pretty eyes. Deep brown ones, that went quite well with his hair.
"It did," Fred nodded, leaning out of the car window too.
That seemed to go on forever, the pair just staring at each other, slowing edging closer to one another, well, as close at their respective windows would allow.
"Will you two stop being weird!" Ron groaned, snapping the pair out of their daze, Ara saw the back of Fred's seat be kicked, hard.
"Ow! You oaf!" Fred nearly yelled as he whipped his head around, before he could do anything to his little brother, he was interrupted by Ara's panicked voice.
"Quiet! Please!"
"Sorry Ar'," Fred whispered, immediately forgetting about his brother. Ron let out another loud groan, to which George shushed him.
"We haven't got time for this!" Ron complained quietly, Fred clenched his jaw and ignored him. Ara gave the youngest male Weasley a soft look, she grinned at him, although he did not return said smile.
"Go on then," Ara pointed her head away from the manor.
"But-"
"It was lovely seeing you Freddie, but I simply can't go, I'm sorry," Ara shook her head. George patted his twins back, signalling it was time to give up, Fred sighed and nodded.
"We'll see you at school?"
"Of course,"
Ara said goodbye to the red-heads, even Ron, who surprisingly returned her farewell. While watching them drive away, she looked up towards the sky.
Mars was not visible tonight.
Ara hated going down Knockturn Alley. It was dark, dreary, and she was always forced to stay by her father's side, which irritated her.
Standing inside the Borgin and Burkes shop, she could hardly wait for her father's business in the area to be done. She drowned out Draco's complaints, and whatever bargaining Lucius was doing with Mr Borgin.
Ara walked around the shop, admiring the trinkets it had, until she got to a rather grand looking cabinet, Draco was at this point following her in exploring the shop, but not anywhere near the area she was in.
When Ara had, nonchalantly, opened the cabinet door, Harry Potter being crammed inside was not what she was expecting to see.
But, there he was.
They stared at each other for a moment, Ara's eyes wide. Harry quickly brought his index finger to his lips and made a 'shhh' motion. Ara blinked at him a few times, before, without uttering a word, slamming the cabinet shut.
"Ara? Is something-"
"It's nothing, Drake, just a boring, old closet, or whatever," Ara shrugged, Draco gave her a curious look, but before he could say anything, Lucius Malfoy ushered both his children out of the shop.
Before leaving, Ara shot the cabinet one last, worried, glance.
"What's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard, if they don't even pay you well for it?"
"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy,"
"Clearly, and associating with muggles, just when I thought your family could sink no lower,"
"Well, aren't you lot a bit extra?" Ara asked harshly as she walked down the stairs from the second story of the Flourish and Blotts bookshop. She eyed her father and brother after having caught them right in the middle of an argument.
Draco and Lucius shot Ara a glare, while an older man, who she could only assume was Mr Weasley, due to his bright red hair and the fact that his children were surrounding him, gave her a curious look.
What luck, for them to find each other here.
She stood between the two older men, giving her father a challenging look.
"Ara," Lucius warned lowly, his daughter had always been a handful, but the older she got, the better she became at making sure she had her way.
Her fair way.
"It's only true father, besides, I'm sure the poor shopkeepers don't appreciate such, bickering, in their establishment," Ara shrugged, flashing him a sickly sweet smile, she glanced over to Draco, giving him a much meaner look, "-I need these for my classes, why don't you and Drake wait outside for me, alone, while I buy them?"
Ara was a smart girl, she knew how to push her father buttons the right way. He gave her an unamused look, before nodding and dragging Draco out of the shop.
Watching the two walk out of the shop, Ara let out a soft sigh.
"My apologies," Ara turned around, and nodded her head at Mr Weasley politely, he gave her a warm smile and nodded back, intrigued to say the least.
Ara's eyes flickered over to Fred and George who had their arms crossed and were smiling widely at her, she repressed her own smile and brought her attention to a certain raven haired boy standing directly in front of her.
"And you, dumb boy, I'd refrain from hiding in anymore cabinets while in Knockturn Alley, perhaps next time someone a bit meaner will come across you," Ara teased, chuckling a little as Harry turned a shade pinker.
"Well, you see I- umh," Harry stuttered while scratching the back of his neck, Ara smiled and laughed.
She did not notice the small red-haired girl, known as Ginny Weasley, glaring daggers into her.
"I'm just pulling your leg, now if you'll excuse me, I really must pay for these," Ara explained, motioning to the book she held between her hip and hand.
Shooting Mr Weasley one last respectful look, she squeezed past the bunch and walked towards the register.
"We've got to buy something too, dad!" The twins called out immediately and ran after the blonde who'd just left them.
Ara tried to hold back her smile while standing in line to pay for her school books as Fred and George came up from either side of her.
They'd grown taller over the summer, now both being nearly half a head taller than Ara.
"My, my, Ara, is it possible you've shrunk?" Of course that'd be the first thing they teased her about.
"My, my, is it possible you two have gotten more arrogant?"
"Of course," They said cheekily, the trio laughed.
"So, are you going to get your books signed?" George asked, referring to the fact that all their school books were written by Gilderoy Lockhart, who was conveniently also doing a book signing at the shop.
"Of course not, the line is too big, and I can't see any good reason to do so,"
"I can! You see, I'm certain you think Lockhart's ever so cute," George teased, Ara gave him a 'meh' look.
Most witches thought that.
"He's alright, but a bit strange if you ask me," Ara whispered the last part, the twins chuckled.
Of course she'd fancy someone like, Oliver Wood, over the Gilderoy Lockhart.