"Go Ariel, Go! Take Allie and leave!" Ariel's eyes flashed around, trying to find her parents through the thick smoke. A fire-ridden wood beam fell in front of Ariel, blocking her path from her little sister. Her parents were…somewhere. Close enough to scream to her, but there was so much fire, and the smoke was so thick, Ariel was having trouble breathing. A blinding green light came from the other side of a tall wall of fire. A death scream rung out. Ariel's mother's voice became more frantic. "Ariel, get your sister! Get him and get out of here!" "But Mommy, aren't you coming? We can run really fast!" "No Ariel, get him and go! Just run! Just get away from here!"
Another voice came that Ariel still couldn't see came. "Crucios!" Loud, traumatizing, screams rang out. Ariel started crying hearing her mother scream like that.
She found her little newborn sister and picked her up. She shrieked again as another beam fell, and she ran off the path to the door. She rushed through the doorway and just before she was free, a spell hit her in the back after the same curse that made her mother scream so loud hit her. She collapsed and screamed. Pain coursed through her body, her bones seemed to have turned to knives themselves. The pain continued for a while, and then it stopped. She stood up and continued running, she kept running. She didn't let the pain get to her. She just ran. Allie was crying, and neither of the saw the final green light flash behind her at her mother.
Ariel woke with a start. The screams were still ringing through her ears from her dream. She wanted to say that the dream was just that, a dream. But another part of her said that it wasn't.
It was a recurring dream she had. She had the dream at least once a month, and it got worse around the full moon. Right now, the moonlight shone brightly across her floor.
She sighed and gathered herself out of bed. It was 2:00 am, and she really was tired. But at the same time, she was wide-awake.
She tiptoed down to the kitchen for a glass of water. She grabbed a glass and filled it with water and guzzled it down. Then she splashed some water over her face. She was still clammy from the dream. She re-filled the glass, and hoisted herself to sit on the counter.
She sat in the deathly quiet. Her hair spilled over her shoulders and into her face. She took a sip.
It was entirely possible that that was the way her parents died. She was only 5 when it happened. She really wanted to believe it was just a dream. Her parents being killed by the Avada Kedevra curse was not what she wanted. And it could be a fiction of her imagination. She couldn't decipher fact from fiction when it happened so long ago. Maybe she just made it up in her head.
Now she and her sister lived with the well-meaning, but entirely clueless, Darwins. They really had no idea how to raise a child. Therefore, Ariel ended up raising her sister Allie herself. The Darwin's approach was, 'Spoil, ignore the rest of the world, and pretend drugs and HIV's are non-existent.'
Ariel really didn't want Allie to grow up being a spoiled brat, or a drug addict, or any of the crap that could happen to her.
Ariel was ready to go back to bed, or read or do whatever beside sit on the counter. She jumped off when the doorbell rang.
She rushed to the door, and looked to see who it was. A young woman with purple hair and another woman with an aged face were standing there. A man with a strange blue eye that spun at a dizzying rate. A boy about her age stood in front of the strange group. He was the only one who seemed to be dressed in non-wizard clothes.
"Hello, Ariel right? I haven't seen you since…well, in a long time." The old woman stated.
"Umm, not to be rude, but who are you?"
The woman looked disheveled. "Why, I'm Minerva McGonagall. But I'll be Professor McGonagall to you later. Look we have some things to talk about. May we come in?"
Ariel bit her lip.
"Can you keep quiet?" They nodded.
Ariel backed out of the way, motioning for them to come in. They followed her to the basement, where a second living room had been created for Ariel and her friends, and now, for Allie. They were spoiled, at least in the material sense.
Everyone sat down. The boy looked slightly confused. Ariel had to admit, he was quite handsome. He had jet-black hair, and striking green eyes. But Ariel only noted this, reminding herself of the task at hand.
"Ariel, do you know how your parents died?" Ariel thought of the dream. Could it be real? Could it actually be a memory?
Ariel shook her head.
"I've had dreams though. With fires." She pulled her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around them. It was cold for the middle of July.
"How detailed were the dreams?"
Ariel shuddered. "I woke up to the fire. Dad and Mom are screaming for me to wake up. Allie is crying in her arms. I run downstairs and…" Ariel recounted every detail of the dream, and the boy flinched when she talked about the green light flashing and the Crucios curse being used on her.
By the end, the other's eyes were as wide as dinner plates.
"Well Ariel, that is a frighteningly accurate account of what happened. I only remember finding you in an ally with your sister. We took you here, and assigned the Darwin family to you. You went to Laurel Wreath's Academy for Magic. I believe this year was going to be Allie's first year?" Ariel nodded.
"Dear, your parents were killed by Death Eaters. They were the remaining ones after Voldemort was taken down, they came after some families who they knew were in the…Well, we'll have to explain later. You'll be coming with us. Tonight. And your sister too."
Ariel bit her lip, wondering if it was a good idea. But it made so much sense to go.
"I'll go get packed."
"You'll be needing this then." The purple haired woman conjured up a large trunk. "Specially made for lots of belongings. Practically bottomless."
Ariel smiled thankfully at the woman, who followed her up to her room. They entered the room and the woman plopped down on the bed. "My name is Tonks by the way. I'm an Auror." Ariel nodded, packing everything she could think of.
"This room is drab. You aren't one of those boring teens who act like forty year olds are you?"
"No, I just prefer not to spend every waking moment in here. I have my piano, which is good enough for me. I have everything a normal teen would. I just don't dress it up. I'm at school most of the year. Nine out of twelve months, so what's the point?"
Tonks shrugged. "I guess it makes since. So what are the Darwin's like?"
Ariel laughed. "Well, I suppose they're nice and all, they just have no idea how to raise children. So I sort of raised Allie and myself. They spoil us. And they ignore things that happen these days. Psychos out there who would like to kidnap little girls like Allie, that sort of thing. I know I sound like a thirty-year-old mother to you, but I have to be like that for Allie. I'm the only real mother she has."
Tonks nodded. "Remus would have loved it here in America. But of course…"
"Why couldn't he come?"
Tonks glanced over at Ariel. "He's a werewolf."
Ariel looked out the window at the moon, following its beams that went dancing across her windowsill.
"That would do it."
Tonks nodded.
"I'm done packing." Ariel slammed the trunk lid closed. She never really noticed how much stuff she had.
"What about my piano?" She asked.
Tonks pondered for a moment.
"Shrinking charm. Don't worry, it won't mess with the tuning."
She waved her wand, and the piano shrunk to dollhouse size. Ariel put it in her pocket, and turned around to walk out the door when Allie came bursting in. "I'm going to Hogwarts Ariel!"
Then George and Kelly Darwin came bursting in. "What the hell are you people doing here?"