The rest of the year went by faster than Arielle anticipated. She focused more and more on her schoolwork, achieving the usual O's on all of her OWL's. She stuck close to Sirius, growing closer to him. Her logic and innocence was a good compliment to his brash and wild ways. Arielle did not bother to try to fix things with Evan, although she had secretly hoped he would have approached her to apologize and ask for another chance. Instead he watched her from across the room in all the classes they had together. She found this slightly annoying but she did miss him and this was her clue to him missing her as well.
Arielle sighed, she was glad term was almost over. She really wanted to go home and see her mother and Lucius. Lucius was not pleased to hear the circumstances that lead up to the breakup between his sister and Rosier. However, he was indeed thrilled that she was no longer in any relationship. She was far too young. The night air was slightly cold but Arielle found it pleasant. She walked along the edge of the grounds admiring the stars. The sky almost looked purple. Her thoughts were interrupted by what sounded like a howl and a shriek filled with terror. Arielle immediately pulled out her wand and ran towards the noise. The howling grew louder as she grew nearer to its source. She arrived at the Whomping Willow when the howling suddenly stopped. She scanned the area, it was dark but she could make out a figure standing close to the tree.
"Whose there?" She inquired with her wand point directly at the figure.
"Arielle?" The voice answered surprised.
"Sirius?" Arielle answered back in just as much shock.
"What the hell are you doing here Ari?" Sirius said stepping towards her. Arielle could now see his familiar grey blue eyes.
"I heard….I heard a howling." She said hesitantly almost believing herself to have imagined the whole thing.
"You should go back to the dormitories." Sirius said in a solemn tone.
"What?" Arielle asked in confusion.
"HELP! PLEASE." A scream shouted from the under the Whomping Willow. Arielle's stomached dropped.
"SEVERUS!" Arielle yelled running towards the Whomping Willow.
"Ari, NO!" Sirius yelled running after her.
The passage way was dark and quiet. Arielle could not see a single thing. The only noise was that of Sirius shouting after her.
"Severus?" Arielle called hoping her friend would respond.
Nothing.
"Sev, if you hear me please answer!" She called.
Just as she was about to round the corner a hand slide over her mouth, and an arm wrapped tightly around her waste.
"Don't say a word." A familiar voice whispered in her ear. She turned around to see James Potter with a grim look on his face point for her to peer around the corner.
Her eyes grew wide. Severus lay wide-eyed on the stone floor, inches away from his face a giant werewolf breathed heavily.
"Stupefy!" Arielle yelled pointing her wand at the werewolf. The beast flew back and his the stone wall of the passage.
"NO!" James yelled. Arielle turned around and stared him with incredulous expression.
"That's Remus, Ari, that is Remus. He is a werewolf." James explained. Sirius toppled into James finally catching up to Arielle. He stood panting. She looked into his grey blue eyes searching for an explanation.
Nothing.
Before Arielle could react the werewolf growled and ran towards Severus who still lay in shock on the damp floor.
"SEV!" Arielle yelled running towards her friend. The werewolf approached before Arielle could even think what to do. She could not use her wand, knowing that the beast was Remus deep down. She closed her eyes and placed her hands in front of her in attempt to shield herself from the blow. She prepared herself to be swallowed whole by her friend.
When nothing happened, Arielle opened her eyes to once again see the purpley wall beneath her hands. She looked down at Severus who slowly stood up and looked at her with an extreme curiosity. The two friends watched as the werewolf banged his beastly hands repeatedly against the force field trying to break through. Arielle's breathing quickened as the werewolf began to throw his whole body against the force field, she knew Remus was in there somewhere watching him struggle made her heart sink. Severus placed a reassuring hand on Arielle's shoulder. The werewolf began to whimper, the beast's bright yellow eyes looked into Arielle's dark blue ones as he gave up trying to beat down the force field. Severus and Arielle watched as the werewolf ran down the passageway disappearing into the darkness.
Arielle stood hesitant for a moment, before releasing her hands from the wall. The force field vanished as quickly as it appeared. She looked up into the grave expression of James and Sirius. A silent fury replaced her apprehension. She grabbed Severus hand and began making her way out of the passage without saying a word to her fellow Gryffindors. The night air soon filled Arielle's lungs as she stepped out of this nightmare and back into the world. She looked at Severus, his head hung low, his gaze glued to the grass beneath their feet.
"Did you know?" Arielle asked quietly.
"I had my suspicions, but I….I." Severus began; Arielle waved her hand, she had heard enough. Severus looked at her with an unreadable expression before stalking off towards the castle.
"Ari." Sirius softly called from behind her.
Arielle whipped around to look at Sirius in the face, his grey blue eyes cloudy with remorse. She felt the fire in her stomach burn with anger.
"Ari, let's talk about this." Sirius said in condescending tone that infuriated her.
"Let's talk about this? Is that really the best you can come up with? When the fuck did you plan on telling me that Remus was a werewolf?" She screamed.
"It really wasn't our place to tell." James chimed in.
"Arielle really, can we be civil about this?" Sirius shrugged.
"Can we be civil about this? CAN WE BE CIVIL ABOUT THIS? You are acting like I am the one who is out of line. I could have you both expelled if I wanted to for what you have done, putting my life and Sev's life in danger…."
"I TRIED TO STOP YOU!" Sirius cried.
"You tried to stop me? What about Severus? Did you try to stop him too?"
Sirius and James stood silently looking away from the raven-haired girl in front of them.
"You two are worse than the Slytherin scumbags. I cannot believe that I ever called you two friends! They really do pale in comparison to the magnificent Sirius Black and James Potter! He could have died, Severus could have died. What would you two assholes have done then? Huh?"
"Honestly Arielle you are being a bit overdramatic, it was all in good fun." Sirius answered in an amused tone.
"Overdramatic? Good fun? Do you think I am being funny Sirius? Do you think this is fucking funny? Rosier, Lucius, Cissy…everyone warned me about you Black. Their stories don't even begin to do you justice. You are more of a rotten person than I ever imagined."
"Spare me the moral lecture Arielle. Snape is a terrible person. If Remus killed Snape we'd be doing the world a favor! You are so blind Arielle. You could not see past your ignorance if it slapped you in the fucking face! You live in this fantasyland where your brave courageous brother Lucius is a hero, but in this world, in reality, he is the biggest piece of shit to ever exist in this world, him and all his little death eater friends!" Sirius yelled, his chest huffing and his cheeks blazing red.
"What did you just say?" Arielle asked in a silent tone.
"You heard me." Sirius said walking towards Arielle. "Your brother, Rosier, Cissy, Bella, they are all death eaters. They kill people based upon blood status and they love every second of it. And soon so will you."
Arielle raised her hand and slapped Sirius across the face.
"You know nothing." She whispered tears of rage filling in her eyes.
Arielle turned around and began to run towards the castle. She was confused, afraid, and alone. She felt betrayed by her family with this new information and hatred for Sirius and James and their crimes against Severus. Nothing made sense, and everything that once seemed right was now distorted. Her tears began to pour down her pale cheeks faster now. She had entered the castle and continued all the way to the astronomy tower, not knowing where else to go. As her feet carried her up the stairs, she bumped into a stiff chest of a man. She looked up to see the grey blue eyes of Regulus Black staring at her in shock. Without any thought she wrapped her arms around the boy's neck and began to uncontrollably sob into his shoulder. Her arms were so tightly wrapped around Regulus' neck, and she dropped all of her body weight on his chest causing the pair to fall the floor. Regulus looked at the weeping girl, his heart sank at the sheer anguish of her wailing sobs. For some reason he did not know he felt compelled to comfort her. He wrapped his strong arms around Arielle's form, pulling her in close and holding her as tightly as he could.
Regulus knew that illusion she had been living in had finally shattered. He remembered the moment he found out, he remembered the deep pain he felt in his chest. Nothing would ever be the same for him, and now for her as well.
After a while but without her notice Arielle's head slide down Regulus' shoulder and up against his chest. Her sobs had become silent but her breathing was still labored and her sniffles frequent. She was pulled back into reality by the rise and fall of Regulus chest. His breathing comforted her. The more she paid attention, the more soothed she felt. She could now hear the steady beat of Regulus' heart, as his hand gently held her head against his chest. Soon her troubles began to fade away and all she knew was his heart beat. Her breathing eased, her sniffles less frequent. She felt something different now, she felt for a moment at total peace.
Regulus noticed Arielle's relaxation, the way she her small form pressed against his own ignited a feeling he had been trying to suppress. He began to shift uncomfortably as he felt his heart rate increase. Arielle pulled away from Regulus and looked up with wide eyes at his handsome face. For a moment Regulus almost felt lost in her dark blue eyes. He quickly shook himself out of trance and stood up. Arielle's body slid effortlessly off his own. He walked down the stairs without looking back at the girl he had spent the last hour holding close.
Arielle 's mouth fell agape as she watched Regulus' form run away from her. She wanted to call after him but something stopped her. She felt confused, more confused than she was before. In her anguish she allowed herself to fall into the arms of her sworn enemy yet she had never felt more comfort from anyone in her entire life. Not her mother, not Lucius. And Regulus, surely he hated her, yet he stayed with her. Why? She did not know, nor did she ever expect to find out. Arielle lifted her self from the floor and began to walk down the stairs and to her room.
Nothing would ever be the same.
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