Black Stained

Chapter 3: Rabbit Holes

The funeral was beautiful, the ceremony had been performed by Lee Jordan. It must have taken a great amount of skill and courage to do such a beautiful thing for a friend. The magic had conjured a headstone and all sorts of animals were attracted by the blissful music, paying their respects to the wizard. Something had stirred in Aral, a need to use her magic and say goodbye to the Weasley. She never got to say goodbye to him. Pain had infiltrated her heart like knives stabbing her over and over again, her eyes watered with tears of regret and guilt. She tried pushing them away with every ounce of energy she got, she put up a wall, like she always did. Everytime she got hurt, pained by grief and such feelings she tried to protect herself, her survival instinct took over. These reactions were the after effects of the war. The war that had taken so much from her, not just people she loved and cared about, but she had also lost herself. Leaving behind a young woman, a witch without her magic, living in pain. But she got to live, out of all people, people who wanted to live... they never wanted to die. She lived instead of all those people, who gave their life in a fight against the darkness.

All these thoughts wirled around in Aral's head while she stepped to the grave, placing a black rose on top of the earth. One tear. Just one, fell from her eyes and dropped on the grave, mingling with the earth. The tear fell with all her feelings and tiredness, with all the darkness that never left her.

She remembered the first thing Fred ever said to her: 'Come on, Aral, be happy!'

'I will,' She wishpered, too soft to be heard by anyone around her. 'I promise.'

She dried her eyes, took a deep breath and stepped away from the grave and with that all her sad emotions dropped to the ground, like her tear. She was determined to change, she just promised. She wasn't happy yet, but it will come, she knew.

Right now she was a bit emotionless, -of course still affected, like she said herself: 'There is no such thing as a 'hearthless person'- drained, but it was a good thing. All those negative feelings and thoughts had consumed her, not leaving any place for anything else. Now there was room for happiness, joy and laughter. Maybe not soon or as much as she should feel, but it will come.

But it will come sooner than Aral would expect.


If Aral had known they would walk back through the grass field, she would have never chosen the high heeled boots. Growling, she walked after the Weasley's, who were walking a bit too fast. They were now, more or less, fifty feet in front of her, not noticing she was having trouble keeping up.

They were -justly- occupied with each other. Harry was helding Ginny in his arms, Hermione and Ron did the same, although Hermione held Ron instead of vice versa. Percy was together with Arthur holding his mother, trying to keep her from breaking down and holding her a handkerchief as she cried. Lee Jordan walked with his friend, supporting him and keeping him from breaking apart on the spot. Bill and Fleur walked together arm in arm, silently crying and comforting each other. Aral's gaze upon the family and friends yet again burned her insides and poked holes through the wall around her heart, but she kept on going. Not giving in on the urge to cry.

While her eyes were foccused on the family she didn't notice the rabbit hole in the grass field. And with a yelp she was falling backwards down to the ground. With her eyes firmly shut, she awated the blow on her back which was inevitable. But it didn't come, instead she felt two arms, supporting her back and keeping her of the ground. Curious she opened her eyes, slightly widened still in bit of a shock. She saw Charlie, smirking down at her.

'Going down through the rabbit hole, Alice?' He asked, still smirking.

Aral made a face at him and tried thinking of a good thing say, when it dawned on her. Did he just quote Alice in Wonderland?

'Wait, how do you know Alice in Wonderland?' She exclaimed.

'That it was published in the muggle world doesn't mean it wasn't written by a wizard.' He explained rolling his eyes, while lifting her up and steadying her on the ground.

Aral frowned, knowing he was right. She didn't know how to respond to someone who just made her look a bit dumb. So she shrugged and continued walking, trying to ignoring the stupid smirk on his face. She peered over the grounds at the group, before her eyes settled on a horrifying sight. She loudly groaned in dislike.

'What's the matter?' Charlie asked.

Aral pointed at the field in front of them. 'Look at the ground, it is filled with traps and holes. There's no way I will survive crossing this field and if I do it will take me another ten years!' She growled.

Her mood was the exact opposite of Charlie's, for she was grumpy and he was cheerful by the sight of the struggling Aral.

She only made a few steps when she nearly fell again, catching her balance just in time. Charlie couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud and Aral turned around.

'Do not mock me!' She said, pointing an accusing finger at him.

She tried to keep her face straight and to stay in an angry pose, but his laugh was very cathcing, resembling Fred's. Quicly she turned around, so he could not see her smile at the memory. She groaned again upon seeing the field, then continued her attempt to cross the field. She made a few steps and again nearly fell, hereby Charlie's laugh only increased.

While it took Aral a minute to cross twenty feet, Charlie simply walked by on his flat boots in a mere three seconds. He planted himself right in front of her.

'Are you really going to walk and take the risk of braking your neck?' He asked her while sniggering.

'Well, I don't have a choice do I?' She said, while concentrating on where she placed her feet. He didn't respond and Aral thought he finally stopped mocking her, which was getting quite annoy happened next took her by surprise.

She was lifted in the air by two strong arms and carried across the field. She was so startled she couldn't respond at first, when she finally pulled herself together after a few seconds she exclaimed:

'Hey, you can't just pick me up and carry me across the field!'

'Oh,' He frowned. 'I thought I just did.' He looked at her and smirked widely.

'W-well,' She stuttered for a moment, trying to find a good comeback.

'It is a hot summer day, I am not the lightest person in the universe and you have to carry me across a bumpy field with holes and traps and if you pass out I won't be able to get us both of this bloody field.' She snapped after a moment, but it didn't stop him from walking.

He frowned for a moment, with a puzzled look on his face, then said: 'But you're a witch.' Clarifying that she could have used many spells to lift him up, or simply apparate.

She opened and then quickly closed her mouth again, not being able to give an answer without telling him what the real reason was. She looked down at her lap, avoiding his gaze. She was afraid his eyes would be able to look straight through her and come to know her secrets without using words.

They now were finally at the end of the field, the rest of the group already out of sight in the house, probably sipping on a cup of tea. They reached the border in silence and he set her down on stable ground. She was waiting for him to press on, and aks the question that was obviously on his mind. But he didn't say a word, she was wrong, again.

Before they reached the door he spoke the simple words: 'I quess, not yet?' He looked at her and there was no traice of the fun they had just had on his face, only worry.

She nodded in response.

Before he could open the door she reached out for his arm and looked him in the eye. 'Thank you.'

He smiled at her. 'No problem, as long as you keep your promise.' And entered the Burrow once again.

Author's note:

Hey guys,

This isn't such a big chapter, but a huge progress in their friendship (yes, friendship, I'm taking things slow if you don't mind). And I just wanted to let you know that my school is starting tomorrow, meaning: I won't be able to upload every day, as I did with the first 3 chapters, but I will try my hardest to keep updating often.

Please let me know what you think and you can suggest ideas if you want!

Thanks for reading and until next time!

-Jody

Ps: I suggest reading while playing music in the background, it always improves my imagination.