A/N: I'm soooo sorry for how late this is! I'm still having computer problems and my teachers have decided to give me so much homework that it's taking up all my free time! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this!
Thanks to Moon Lantern, Jinx Craft, StrawberryObsession, greencomputer612 and the guest for your reviews, I'm really grateful! Also thanks to all those that have followed and favourited!
The group of students made their way into the forest, Luna leading the way as she headed into the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, the others following behind her.
It was dark now, making Ariella's first trip into the woods somewhat scarier than it would have been in the daylight. As the lights in the castle disappeared behind the low-hanging branches, the young witch found herself feeling more and more anxious. Bad things happened in this forest. In fact, once or twice, she tripped over a tree root she could have sworn wasn't there when she put her foot down, and had to be hauled up by Arcturus before they lost the others to the darkness.
After what must have been about quarter of an hour, the young witch was relieved when Luna pointed out that she could see the herd in the next clearing.
Choosing one between two, the group then had the challenge of climbing onto something that most of them couldn't see. Luna and Harry were busy helping the others and Ariella was waiting, standing with Arcturus and Lottie when the wizard whispered something so quietly, the young witch struggled to hear it.
"I can see them too."
Ariella blinked, trying to grasp what he was saying before turning to stare at him. "Archie? No…" She trailed off as she realised what that meant. He had seen someone die. Then it came to her. "The Muggle girl…" she breathed.
Arcturus nodded, looking away briefly and taking a deep breath. "I can help you two get on the Thestrals so we don't keep the others waiting."
The boy walked over towards the trees on the other side of the clearing and stopped, placing a hand out on what Ariella assumed was one of the Thestrals. Suddenly, he hopped on, making it look like he was hovering in mid-air, and motioned at his two friends to join him.
He helped Ariella first, offering his hand for her to climb on behind him. The girl took it and then tentatively reached out to touch the Thestral. To her surprise, she found it bony with tough skin, the complete opposite to what she expected. She dropped her hand and looked up at her friend anxiously.
"Archie, I'm not so sure about this," she said quietly. "I really don't like the fact I can't see what I'm doing."
The young wizard smiled down at her. "You can do it. It's fine, I promise. I'll give you a pull up if you want?" He gave a light tug on her hand and then, realising that his friend was still frozen on the spot, changed tactics. "Harry and Luna will have finished helping the others on soon and you know how anxious he is to get to his Godfather. He'll leave without us."
Ariella took a deep breath and nodded. "Fine, okay. I can do this. Help me up, please."
Arcturus obliged, yanking her up behind him and making sure she was steady before reaching down for Lottie.
"Everyone follow me!" Harry's voice shouted out soon after Lottie had settled behind her fellow witch.
Ariella grabbed onto Archie as the Thestral she was sat on jerked suddenly and gathered speed until the girl was hanging on to her friend's waist for dear life. When it finally lifted into the air, the witch let out a little scream and buried her face into Archie's back. She felt the vibrations of his chuckle and lightly punched him on the arm.
"It's not funny!"
"What, the fact you were so scared that you actually screamed like one of those Slytherin girls?" he laughed
"Stop it! I can feel you laughing still!" the girl whined, trying to maintain the anger that was slowly being overridden by the want to giggle. "And you too, Lottie!" Their laughter only got worse. "I hate you. Both of you."
"Nah, you love us really," Lottie sang into her ear and then pinched her sides, making Ariella squeal again and cling onto Archie's waist. He burst into another fit of giggles.
"What are you three laughing about?" Hermione's voice rang out beside them as she and Ron pulled up alongside of them.
"Nothing," Ariella was quick to answer.
"Ella being a scaredy cat," Archie told her, grinning when the girl behind him growled.
"Oh, I knew that long ago when I accidently let a chocolate frog escape and it found its way into Ella's room," Hermione smiled. "I suddenly heard this loud scream and when I went in, there she was, flat against the wall, eyes wide in terror as she pointed to this frog on the carpet. You should have seen her face when I caught it and bit off its leg!"
"Hermione!" Ariella whinged, letting her burning face fall onto Archie's shoulder in embarrassment whilst her two friends laughed once again, this time Ron and her sister joining in as well.
When they reached London and the Thestral dived downwards towards the orange glow of the streetlights, Ariella managed to contain her scream, not wanting to set the others off into even more laughter, however, it seemed someone didn't else manage and for a moment, Ariella thought someone had fallen. In front of her, she saw Harry look round in an attempt to see if anything was wrong, but as he didn't stop, she assumed all was fine.
Finally landing on a deserted street, the group dismounted, with all but Luna and Harry feeling rather disorientated. Ron, however, was the most so, stumbling over the moment he slipped off the back of his Thestral. Immediately getting back up, he grumbled,
"I am never riding on one of those again. Never! Never again…"
He attempted to walk away from the invisible Thestral, but instead walked into it, nearly stumbling over again until Hermione caught his arm and pulled him away.
Ariella was trying hard not to laugh, not wanting to anger the already incredibly stressed Harry.
"Where do we go from here then?" Luna's polite voice intervened.
"Over here," he said, indicating towards a worn, red telephone box. He opened the door and stepped inside, the others following.
Ariella, having been one of the first to enter after Harry, found herself squished against one of the side windows.
"Whoever is nearest the receiver, pick it up and dial six, two, four, four, two," Harry shouted. Ron did it, his arm bent at an extremely awkward angle.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic," a smooth female voice said. "Please state your name and business."
"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger," Harry said very quickly. "Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Ella Granger, Lottie Hill, Archie Avery… we're here to save someone, unless your Ministry can do it first!"
"Thank you. Visitors please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes."
There was a loud clunk, then the clatter of badges falling down the chute where the coins were usually returned.
"Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wands for registration at security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."
A second later, the box shook slightly and then slowly and smoothly lowered into the ground with a grinding squeal of metal on metal.
The Atrium was empty as they arrived and Ariella could do nothing but stare in wonder as the lift ground to a halt. It was magnificent. The dark green tiles on the rounded walls made it look like a very sophisticated tube station, without the tracks. There were various unlit fireplaces that the witch assumed were for the flu network, but the thing that caught her eye was the huge golden statue in the middle of a water fountain. Witches, wizards, goblins and centaurs all glinted in the dull light of the orange flames from the candles on the wall. However, she didn't have long to gawp as there was a ping and the door of the lift opened.
"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening."
Harry didn't even acknowledge it and rushed out, quickly followed by the rest of the group, making his way towards one of the corridors leading off of the large room. As they passed the empty security desk, Ariella began to feel nervous. Something wasn't right. Surely there should have been someone there…