Arielle forcefully steadied herself by gripping the railing of the astronomy tower. She took three deep breaths.
In and out
In and out
In and out
She felt lightheaded, most likely do to apparating. Arielle loosened her grip on the railing and stared out at the Black Lake, the moon glistened across water. She wanted to cry but her eyes were utterly dry. She wanted to scream but her throat wouldn't contract. She felt like she had fallen off her broomstick and hit the quidditch pitch with a loud thud that knocked all the air out of her lungs. Everything was beginning to make sense, why the Slytherins had been so nice to her, why Regulus was so charming and sweet...tonight was the night. The image of the word winner written in Wilkes handwriting burned in her mind. Arielle began to feel disgusted with herself. If she hadn't seen that despicable piece of parchment, she knew she would have given in to such a request if Regulus initiated it.
An hour had past and Arielle decided to make her way back to the Gryffindor common room. She might as well get some sleep. Surely it would be her last night at Hogwarts. The Minister of Magic would be here in the morning, Lucius would be here. She could picture their faces filled with displeasure and disappointment glaring down at her in Dumbledore's office.
She turned the water on in the prefects bathroom and began to wipe the makeup off her face. She heard the door creak, instinctively she reached down in her hidden dress pocket for her wand, until she remembered its absence.
"It's just me Arielle." Lily said softly. Arielle hated the way redhead looked at her with such pity. Arielle looked back at her reflection in the mirror.
"Arielle, I can't even image. Sirius, he told me what happened…"
"He knew. He knew this whole time didn't he?" Arielle said coldly realizing that her former friend and Gryffindor classmate knew about the list before this night.
"I suppose you all had a good laugh about it. Arielle the House-traitor getting what she deserved."
"No Arielle. I thought it was horrible. The boys at this school are so wicked. And Sirius seemed concerned about you," Lily said.
Arielle snorted. She glanced at Lily for a moment and saw that the witch had a sincere expression.
"What made you break up with James and go with Severus to the dance?" Arielle asked trying to distract herself from her humiliation.
"I found out about Remus. I found out about what they did to Severus in the Shrieking Shack."
"So it was a pity date?" Arielle questioned with an annoyed tone.
"No. I mean I made it clear to Severus I wanted to go to the ball with him as his friend. He apologized for calling me that nasty name. I mean you of all people must know how good a friend he is, I've missed him dearly." Lily choked out.
Lily did love Severus. Severus had been her dearest friend since childhood. For Lily it was not a romantic sort of love, but it was an eternal lasting one.
Arielle gave Lily a reassuring glance.
"Oh I almost forgot. This came for you and here is your wand. Sirius managed to bring it back for you."
Arielle took the letter and her wand out of Lily's hand. She nodded at Lily, muttered a 'thank you' and went to her dorm. She sat on her bed and unfolded the letter.
Ms. Malfoy,
Please meet me in my office first thing tomorrow morning before breakfast.
Professor Dumbledore
Arielle sighed. She did not dread her pending expulsion as she supposed most students would. In fact she was rather glad to be gone from this place. Arielle did not think she could face the Slytherins or Regulus Black again. Arielle laid down on her satin sheets and fell asleep in her dress.
The walk to Dumbledore's office seemed long. After having slept off yesterday's events, Arielle was feeling regretful that she would be leaving Hogwarts forever, however; she knew it was in her best interest to do so.
"Come in Ms. Malfoy."
Arielle looked around the room. Her brother and the Minster were notable absent.
"Sir, the Minster.."
Dumbledore waved his hand and Arielle stopped speaking.
"I was awoken with quite I surprise last night as you can imagine, having put the anti-disapparition jinx in effect myself," Dumbledore began.
"Sir, I can explain…"
"No need child. No need. I am sure that an excellent student like yourself would not dream of doing something like this intentionally."
Arielle shifted uncomfortably. She didn't attend to apparate; however, whether she would have attempted to do so at Hogwarts in the future was questionable.
"There seems to be something unique about you Ms. Malfoy. I'm sure you've noticed?" The old man said looking amused.
"Pardon?" Arielle said meekly.
"Your magical abilities. Most outbursts of magic that children have occur before they attend Hogwarts. Yours, however, seem to be more elusive and more frequent."
"Professor, I…"
"Training." The old man said shaking his head.
"Excuse me?" Arielle questioned in surprise.
"Training. You need proper training."
"Training for what?" Arielle asked dumbfounded.
"You know Arielle, wands have only recently become widely used in the wizarding world."
"Yes, but civilized society has been using wands since 382 B.C. when Ollivander first invented them… you're not suggesting that I be trained in wandless magic?" Arielle asked.
Dumbledore looked pleased she had come to his conclusion on her own.
She shook her head in disbelief. "Oh no, Professor Dumbledore….I–I couldn't possibly… my brother...Lucius….would never approve…" Arielle stammered in disbelief.
"Somethings are better left unshared." The old man noted.
Arielle jerked her head up to study the man. Was he suggesting that she keep this a secret from her family? From Lucius?
"I don't know.." Arielle said apprehensively.
"It would be a lot of work for you. Yes, very challenging. You'd have to train here at Hogwarts of course, in secret. You would lose a lot of freetime with your friends. I want you to think about it over the holidays and give me your final decision when you return" Dumbledore said rather conclusively.
Arielle opened her mouth to speak but closed it abruptly. Her entire meeting with the Headmaster was not at all what she had been expecting.
"You may join the others at the feast." He said.
Arielle left Dumbledore's office completely dumbstruck. He sure gave her a lot to think about. She was grateful, this was just the kind of distraction she needed to forget the events of last night. She decided to skip breakfast in fear of the humiliation that surely awaited her in the Great Hall. Arielle walked alongside the Black Lake until she decided she was sufficiently away from the castle. She sat there alone for hours thinking about what Dumbledore had said to her. Arielle didn't notice a slender figure approaching her.
Severus Snape sat down next to Arielle without a word. He looked out at the water silently for almost hour before finally speaking.
"You weren't at breakfast." He said stupidly.
Arielle raised an eyebrow at him. "Keen observation Severus."
"I heard what happened." He said sympathetically.
Arielle's cheeks flushed red.
"Well that didn't take long. I'm sure the whole school knows by now!" Arielle exclaimed.
"Yes. Lucienda does have a big mouth. I think most people were talking about it at some point today." Severus said casually. Arielle gave him a dark look and he quickly tried to mirror her reaction to his information.
"You're making Dumbledore's proposal sound more and more intriguing."
"Dumbledore's proposal?" Severus questioned.
"I'm not suppose to tell anyone...but Dumbledore wants me to train in wandless magic." Arielle stated rather plainly.
"Brilliant!" Severus exclaimed. Arielle looked at her friend curiously, this was not the reaction she was expecting from him.
"Brilliant? Lucius… my family…they would never approve. Wandless magic is for savages." Arielle spoke in her best Lucius impression.
"Well you've got to do something because I heard what you did last night in the Room of Requirement. Your magic is starting to get out of control. To others it may look like you know what you are doing but I know you can't control your abilities."
"Abilities? More like curses. I wish I could just be normal Sev. I wish that I didn't have a last name that haunts me everywhere I go. I wish I could restart my first year of Hogwarts and just keep my head down and stay out of trouble. I wish I didn't have these blessed abilities."
"Yeah, yeah I get it Arielle. You wish that Regulus Black didn't make a fool out of you last night." Severus said rather harshly. Arielle looked up at her friend in anger.
"Look there is no point in feeling sorry for yourself. You are Arielle Malfoy, have some dignity or at least fake it. We both know your better than this. You are top of your class, I honestly don't know anyone smarter than you, besides myself," Severus said with a smirk, " and you have a gift for magic, only a fool would deny it."
Arielle sighed. Severus was right, sitting here mopping like a spoiled little girl who didn't get the doll she wanted for Christmas was pointless.
"Severus...I just thought…" Arielle began before she stopped.
"You thought what?"
"I don't know...never mind." Arielle stammered.
The two sat silently for a few minutes.
"You know… I never told you this but when you and Regulus were studying to take the entrance exam into fourth year charms, he begged me to help him study."
This caught Arielle's attention. "What are you talking about Severus?"
"Regulus...he begged me to help him study for charms. He was so determined to pass the test. We studied for hours every day. He even offered to pay me, I refused the money of course. I helped him because of the reason he was studying so hard."
Arielle snorted. "And what was that reason?"
"You." Severus said simply. "At first he played it off as if he didn't want you to be the only third year in fourth year charms. It didn't take me long to uncover the real reason however. The thought of you thinking less of him because he couldn't get into the class was unbearable for him, he thought that he would be unworthy of your attention… honestly it was quite humiliating for him to admit. When he failed I thought he would pitch himself off the astronomy tower he was so devastated."
"Why would Regulus Black want my attention or care for my opinions of him?"
"I don't know Arielle, just something to think about. I'll see you on the train?" Severus said getting up of the ground.
"Save me seat please." Arielle remarked.
Arielle did not see Regulus when she boarded the Hogwarts Express. She was relieved, afraid that he might attempt to speak to her again. She did bump into Sirius as she was searching the compartments for Severus. His large foot crushed her own and she yelped in pain. Sirius apologized and gave her a reassuring smile before walking away. Arielle grinned, it was the first smile she had gotten all day that wasn't riddled with pity.
When she finally found the compartment, she noticed Lily was sitting across from Severus. Arielle didn't want to disturb their reunion which she felt was going to be brief, so she walked to the end of the train and took seat by the window. Arielle would have to get the full details of their reunion from Severus by letter. She gazed at countryside as it past by quickly before falling asleep.
Hey guys! How do you like the story so far? I know some of you are upset that I created more problems between Arielle and Regulus. However, their relationship is complicated. Both these characters are riddled with flaws. They are both very immature still. These characters need time to mature and grow up before they can be in a healthy relationship with one another. This story is primarily a drama with romance, not a romance with drama. Please leave me more comments and reviews, I love to hear your opinions and suggestions about this story! Your reviews keep me motivated to write when I am feeling like I should end this story.