Black Stained

Chapter 2: Into the Fire

After being fed 'a proper lunch' as Molly liked to call it, and numerous complaints about Aral being 'too skinny and bony', she escaped to the garden where the rest of the Weasley family were gathered.

It was a heart breaking sight, with George sitting lifeless in a chair staring at the ground and his family around him, trying to cheer him up. Everyone seemed to try and forget their own pain by focussing on George's.

Aral walked straight over to Harry, Ron and Hermione, greeting the trio with a hug. Ron didn't let go of her hug, however, and as much as Aral understood he needed it, she felt awkward. Luckily Harry jumped in to help his sister and practically peeled him off of Aral. Mumbling some words that sounded like: 'Sorry,' and 'Needed it.' while he now rested in Hermione's arms. As much as she liked the couple, Aral still didn't understand how those two were still together.

Harry now turned to her and gave a small smile, with the words: 'Hi, Aral,' He scratched his head. 'It's good you're here.'

He turned to face the family and watched them from afar. Aral followed his gaze. 'As much as they don't want to admit, we need to comfort them all. But Molly keeps being busy with things and everyone else is in denial or focussing on George.'

She agreed in silence with Harry, she sighed. 'Negative feelings -especially pain- are kept away by denial or focussing on other things. As the brain is kept busy with simple and different things than the negative subject, the heart will follow and conceale itself, conjuring a wall around itself, untill it breaks of course. There is no such thing as a 'heartless person'.

She didn't look at him, but could feel him looking surprised. A smirk formed on her lips.

'Since when are you a specialized in Philosophy?' He asked with his eyebrows raised, but with a tone of humor.

'Last night.' She shrugged, hoping this was enough for an answer to Harry, knowing her brother it probably was.

For a few more moments they kept staring at the family, untill Molly called out that there was tea and cake. The Weasley's, Potter's and Hermione followed her inside.


Aral wasn't listening to the conversation the people around her were having. Instead she stared out of the window next to her. Nibling from her cake and sipping from her tea. There seemed to be no sound or movement around her. Until her name was called out, by Harry. He put a hand on her arm, ripping her gaze away from the window to all the red heads looking at her. She now realized she must have missed an important piece of the conversation. She flushed slightly, finally bringing some colour to her paper white skin.

'I am so sorry, I wasn't listening...' She explained them all, moving uncomfortably in her chair.

Arthur leaned forwards to look her in the eye, his eyes painfully resembling to Fred's. 'Dear, would you want to perform the ceremony?'

The ceremony - a tradition in the Weasley family- was a performance executed by someone close from the departed -but no family-, during the funeral. This obviously included magic and magic was at that time Aral's greatest fear. She felt trapped between all those staring eyes, waiting for an answer. Her heart skipped a beat and her blood pressure raised. She couldn't, she simple couldn't. But to say that in all their hopefull and sad faces...

She suddenly stood up, almost tipping over her chair. 'I, I...' she couldn't breath. 'I need some... air.' And with those words she fled out of the kitchen, through the door, into the garden, jumped over the fence -surprisingly not falling with her heels- and ran towards the tree by the lake.


She was leaning her head on her knees, pulled up to her belly, and her hands were plucking the grass. She had calmed herself, was breathing normally but still didn't dare to face the Weasley's she had just abrubtly left behind with shocked faces to her reaction. Oh, where was her Gryffindor couridge when she needed it?

It had felt as if she was set on fire with the question. What a simple question of magic could do to her was astonishing. She felt the cool wind around her, heard the water from the lake lapping and smelled the dirt from the earth on her fingers. For a moment, just a small moment, she allowed herself to take it all in. To let the nature calm her, losen up on her constant control and anxiety. Letting go of all the negativity that are crushing her. She breathed slowly and felt a nice tingling in her fingers, it felt familiar and strange at the same time.

She would have lost herself in the feeling and would have drifted away with the water, wind and earth if she didn't feel the hand resting on her shoulder.

'Aral?' A voice spoke, but she didn't know who it was or who's face belonged to this kind voice. She pulled her head up and blinked a few times against the bright sunlight. The tall figure moved in front of the sun, she didn't know if he had known the sunlight had been disturbing her or not.

She could now see his face. The first thing that obviously caught her attantion was his red hair, but it wasn't red-red, more brown-red, not alike his family. Next she saw his rather beautiful dark grey eyes. Charlie, She thought, she didn't notice she accidentally said it out loud.

A smile curved on his face, 'Yeah, I'm charlie.'

Acknowledging her innocent mistake she flushed slighty red again. 'Sorry.' She mumbled.

'No need to be sorry, Love.' He said while seating down next to her. The tree was big enough for them to set beside eachother and lean against the wooden bark.

Before she could restrain herself a wave of words rushed out of her mouth. 'I'm really sorry for running of like that. It must look so stupid...' She looked down at the riverbank, where her feet were now resting with her legs stretched out. She now was suddenly very aware of her limbs and had no idea what to do with them. So she started pulling some grass from the ground and playing with it, anxiously waiting for his response.

He didn't say anything, but instead started laughing, although not very loudly. She then looked up, surprised and also curious what he was laughing about. He saw her puzzled look and responded in kind.

'Why are you so sorry about everthing?' He shook his head. 'And I heard what happened -I just arrived- and from what I heard I can't judge if you looked stupid,' Aral wrinkled her nose at the memory. 'but I doubt you could outdo Uncle Ben his friend's reaction.'

He looked over the lake, chuckling, probably recalling the memory. 'He had hexed aunt Muriel, she couldn't sit for another week.' Aral could help but join in with his laugh, the story was a funny one, she didn't know the friend but could see aunt Muriel furiously standing the whole time. 'Of course she returned the favour.' Charlie finished his story.

She followed his gaze over the lake, sitting quietly they enjoyed it for a moment. Until she heard Harry and Hermione call her name. Her eyes widened, she wasn't ready to face them. She still needed to sort her thougths and figure out a reasonable excuse.

She looked at Charlie shaking her head quickly, he understood and nodded back. For a moment they both waited helding their breath, hiding behind the tree she wished with all her heart they wouldn't look behind the tree. Luckily for her -and him- the tree was wide enough to hide them, and after waiting a minute or two -which felt like twenty- they heard them leave, retreating back to the house. Aral exhaled again, relieved.

She started wondering about charlie, who was still sitting next to her. He was awfully calm for a dragon trainer sitting beside a woman he had just met. What was he thinking of her? Could she explain to him, why she was so afraid of the ceremony, or more generally, of using magic? She wondered.

'I can't do it.' She said looking at him.

He turned his head to look back. She thought he would be frowning or look disapointed, but he just looked like... he understood. He gave her an encouraging smile.

'May I know the reason?' He asked soft and politely.

She looked away again, making a list of pro's and con's, trying to sort her thoughts. It endured like this for a couple of minutes in silence. Charlie didn't press on and waited patiently. Finally she decided, she bent her head down.

'I'm sorry, just...' She took a deep breath. 'just not yet.'

Her stomach clenched togheter, still in a big complicated knot.

After a moment he took her hand, and she looked up, again expecting to see disappointment in his face, but he was kind.

'That's okay, you can take your time. If you think you're ready you can always talk to me.' He pinched her hand reassuringly. 'You just have to promise me one thing.'

Aral frowned at him. 'And that is...?'

He leaned forwards, only a few inches apart. 'You stop apologizing so much.' He said seriously, but she could sense the humor behind it.

She smiled. 'I promise.'