Something to Ponder

Chapter Four: What's Wanted

By Saxifrage

Disclaimer: I don't own anything created by JK Rolling. I own Aaralyn though! And the situations I create! Wheeee!

To ALL my reviewers: LOOFA FOR YOU!

Lady Piper's Domain: I'm glad you liked my "plot twist!" I worked really hard to get this chapter out for you, so I hope you enjoy it!

padfoot's moon: Sadness is great, but I love comedy too… I hope you laugh throughout this chapter, and aren't too dismayed to see the sadness leave…for a while, at least.

SwImMeR GiRL: I'm actually quite glad that people think that Aaralyn is "strange…" The world isn't filled with perfect people, and the odd ducks are more abundant that the graceful swans. I'm doing my best to make Aaralyn seem like a real person with many mood swings (not just the emotional potion), misunderstandings, mishaps, social problems, etc. You'll just have to wait and see about the Padfoot and seer thing… There wouldn't be much of a point to my story if I told you! I'll give you a clue, though… she's not who you think she is…This odd duck has got secrets up her sleeve she doesn't even know about.

Inwe Tasartir: Lol, you get a special, disco loofa (Shower parties have never been so fun!) just because you are so deprived. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

my-invisible-friend: The loofa is yours. You also receive you're very own, custom loofa! (Glow in the dark! You'll never shower the same way again…) And yes, I know. How could any story be sexier than mine? Lol…

Selenes Song: Ah, yeh little bugger…Jimmy is MINE cause I SAW HIM FIRST! Lol…I'm sure the whole crutches thing was incredibly funny, but sadly that was many months ago. And he doesn't go to our school anymore! Oh, the tears. sobs Thanks for the loofa, but you can have a muffin, since you spazzed when you saw one…Yes, it's blueberry. I hope you thoroughly enjoy this chappie.

Anyways, keep on reviewing! Loofas to those who review! You know you love 'em!

Xoxo--Saxifrage

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Aaralyn buried her face in a book as more students entered the library. The library had been her sanctuary the last week as she hid from the gossip of the people around her. They were cruel with their words, saying she was a crazy person who had escaped from Azkaban like Sirius Black had and had somehow smuggled into the school to terrorize students and teachers alike. All because she had been rude to Trelawney!

She sighed with relief as the students walked past her. For once in her life, she didn't want to be noticed. She lowered her book slightly, peeking over it as some more students walked by. One of the Hufflepuff girls did a double take when she saw her, and tilted her head in confusion—Aaralyn's nose was protruding over the book, making it seem strangely elongated…Aaralyn blushed and ducked back under the book. And then, with a groan of realization, she turned the book over so it was actually right side up.

Everyone kept asking her questions when they'd see her in the hall, like who she was and where she came from. Snide remarks would follow her everywhere and she was tripped constantly by Slytherins. Was she really being treated so cruelly because she had snapped at a teacher, or was it because she was "new" and had no friends?

She had even gone as far as to run away from the generous Hermione and her friends. Maybe she didn't want friends, like she always thought. It was just exposure to harsh elements and getting hurt.

She saw a flash of light, and heard more snickering from the Slytherin group. Damn them! A stabbing pain erupted in Aaralyn's temples, and she growled in pain. What was up with these stupid headaches? She would get them every ten bloody minutes. It didn't help that she would get dizzy sometimes in class, either. It seemed as if her life was going down hill.

Another student passed her table, and once more she lifted a book to cover her face. But this boy stopped in front of her and smiled. Her lifted his elegant hand and pulled down the book and gazed into her eyes.

Aaralyn lifted her eyebrows in surprise. He was a very handsome boy with black hair. He smiled charmingly at her. "Hi, Aaralyn." He said smoothly.

"Um, hi?" Aaralyn answered, unsure of what to think.

The next instant he was gone. Aaralyn sat up strait and looked around confused. Where did he go? She shook her head and frowned to herself. She must have been day dreaming. She was spending too much time in the Library.

Snapping her book closed, Aaralyn stood up. Unfortunately, this drew more unwanted attention to her than she wanted. A group of Slytherins started snickering a few tables over. Ignoring them, Aaralyn walked out of the Library quickly.

Bad idea! she thought. At her haste, the world around her seemed to spin, her eyes throbbed and white spots overcame her sight. Aaralyn clutched at the wall for a few seconds, until the ground beneath her settled down. The Slytherins, who seemed to have followed her with their eyes, burst into laughter. An angry Librarian then stalked over and gave then a stern lecture about talking in the Library and then a detention to help Professor Snape de-worm the rabid weasels he needed for one of his potions. By this point, they had stopped laughing and a horrified look over came their faces.

Ha! She thought. Serves them right.

She sighed as she returned to normal and started to walk back to the Gryffindor Common Room, but stopped in thought. It was Sunday evening, meaning that most, if not all of the Gryffindor students were trying to finish up their weekend homework in the Common Room. Aaralyn didn't want to be the main focus of attention.

Instead, Aaralyn changed directions and walked out onto the Hogwarts grounds. She breathed in the fresh air and took in the scene of greenery around her. To the right, there was the giant lake, sparkling crystal water shining in the sun. The green grass spread from her shoes to the Forbidden forest, whose growth started at the lake's end and grew beyond, with Hagrid's Hut to the left with smoke rising from the chimney. It looked like the picture on a postcard…

No, that sounds so corny. Aaralyn thought. She had never been one to take advantage of others, but rather depend on herself, therefore using someone else's analogy seemed strange to her. She consented to write a poem about the scenery later, hopefully coming up with something new and original.

Shaking her thoughts from her head (which brought on yet another headache, though this one not as bad), Aaralyn walked over to a secluded spot near the lake, under a peaceful looking tree. She idly wondered how her sixth year at Hogwarts had taken such a sudden change in direction. Wasn't she supposed to be the invisible student that no one cared to notice? Yet Hermione had been kind to her, and Ron had shared a conversation with her. Maybe it was just her imagination, or a really good dream, as she first thought it to be.

Or a nightmare… She thought sourly, stripping a piece of grass from the ground and letting it go to dance in the wind. Aaralyn had often read in books about girls who were constantly teased and made sport of. Was she to become one of these victims? The thought was horrific for Aaralyn: to go from being ignored to outcast thanks to harsh gossip.

The blade of grass drifted away, and her eyes were drawn to the horizon, near Hagrid's Hut. She saw a boy standing there, watching her. She jumped in surprise as she realized it was the same boy from the Library. But before she could call out to the mysterious boy, he slipped behind a bush.

Aaralyn stood up and frowned. Why did he hide? Was he following her?

"I really need to get rid of all these thoughts!" she exclaimed to no one, as she was accustomed to.

"What thoughts?" A voice called out to her.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Hermione stretched her arms over her head, relishing the flexed feeling she received from such an act. She was currently helping out Harry and Ron with their weekend homework, as they once again "forgot" to complete it.

"No, I don't think that's right." Harry argued. "Why would the Helios ride a cherry? It just doesn't make sense!"

"But that's what she said! I swear!" Ron replied hotly. "She said that Helios rode a golden cherry across the sky, which is the sun!" Ron abruptly turned to Hermione who was watching the two with amusement, though she would never admit it to the two of them. "Tell him Hermione! That's what the teacher said, right?"

She rolled her eyes in response. "Helios is the God of the Sun, and he rode a golden CHARIOT across the sky. His sister, Diana or Selene, whatever you want to call her, was the Goddess of the Moon. She rode her silver chariot across the sky, catching her brother's light and reflecting it on the Earth. She did this so—"

"Don't need a lesson, Hermione!" Ron snapped, annoyed that he was wrong once again. How many times did he have to be the stupid one?

"Well, you asked." Hermione said.

"You don't have to act like a bloody textbook!" Ron returned.

Hermione secretly hid her hurt for her eyes, instead putting on a mask of anger and annoyance. Why did Ron always have to put her down? "I'm not! You're the one who's treating me like one! It's not like you could just put me away when you're finished with me!" She shouted back, standing up. "If you didn't—"

Harry stood up now. "Guys!" He said loudly, interrupting the heated exchange before it could get worse. "Can we just finish our homework?" At the enraged look that both of his best friends sent him, Harry quickly retraced his steps. "Or not!" He suggested. "We could just… talk!"

Hermione let out an angry sigh and sat back down. "Okay," She said reluctantly and closed her eyes to cool herself down. "So Ron," she started, tensing slightly as she used his name, "What are you going to change the password to tomorrow?"

Ron, who was caught surprised by her sudden polite manner, answered, "Oh, I don't know. 'Quidditch,' I guess." Ron shrugged.

Harry rolled his eyes, trying to relieve the stress around him. It was getting so annoying how Hermione and Ron blew up at each other every ten minutes. "That's kind of an obvious password. Think of something that no one would expect you to come up with." Harry suggested.

"Yeah!" Hermione said with enthusiasm, her bad mood dissolving quickly. "It could be something like 'Fairy Dust,' or, 'Early Bird!'" She decided to be nice for now, since she and Ron were friends, but she was going to look into this conversation later…

Ron smirked. "Then how come you came up with, what was it… 'Zygomycota gametangium?' That's completely you!"

Harry laughed and Hermione smiled slightly. "Well nobody would have thought of that, would they?" she asked.

"Why should they?" Harry returned. "It's too hard to say, let alone remember. I think even the Fat Lady forgot it once…"

"I suppose…" Hermione frowned. Ron raised an eyebrow. Was that Hermione actually agreeing that she was wrong? He faked a gasp silently.

"But I just thought if I used something scientific, no one would think of it. Most wizards and witches haven't studied biology." Hermione said thoughtfully, while defending her password.

Ron tilted his head in confusion. "What's 'biology?'"

Hermione groaned and placed her hand on her forehead.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Draco Malfoy was annoyed. In fact, he was in a really bad mood. So bad, he felt like hexing the next innocent looking first year he saw come around the corner he just happened to be staring at with his wand poised, Slytherin, or not. Draco was not only getting crap from his associate, but he had a job to do, and he didn't like it one bit. How should he have reacted when he heard from his father what he had to do? Should he have refused? Certainly just going along with it seemed wrong.

But no, Draco sighed angrily. He knew what he would have received if he hadn't done what he was told. Not that it made the job any more pleasant.

He looked at the picture of the girl. Aaralyn: His target. She had dark blonde hair, and green eyes set in porcelain skin. She wasn't the prettiest thing on the planet, but she definitely had some charm about her that was extremely attractive. The moving picture of the girl was blushing from behind a book, and attempting to hide from the attention she was getting in the Library, as if she wasn't used to it. What had the Dark Lord said about her? He wondered, Oh, that's right…She had been invisible to him.

What the hell does that mean? Who could hide from the Dark Lord?

Draco was not happy about that…this had to mean that she was extremely powerful. Well, he thought, at least I know why my spell isn't working. It wasn't strong enough.

There was another thing that Draco was pondering about…there was something about this girl that he couldn't quite put his finger on. She wasn't who she seemed to be. And the Dark Lord wouldn't tell him why he had this job. He knew that his associate believed her to be a Mudblood, needing a bit of toying, and at first, Draco had thought so too. But now… he looked at the picture one of his associates had given him again.

Something wasn't right.

Just then, a small boy walked around the corner with a happy bounce in his step, humming an off tune song. The boy looked up at Draco with his light brown, happy eyes and smiled. "Hello." He said pleasantly.

Draco smiled evilly, and shouted a spell—

The boy only had a chance to squeak ("EEEEP!") before he fell to the floor, a bundle of boyish limbs, and octopus limbs.

Draco, now in a much better mood, twirled his wand around before tucking in his sleeve and hopping over what once was a sweet little Ravenclaw boy.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Aaralyn whipped around to see a boy with light, curly brown hair and honey colored eyes watching her with amusement. He was leaning against a tree maybe five, six feet away from her own tree. "So," he said in a rough, yet sweet voice. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Where had he come from?

"Ummm…" Aaralyn looked at him, uncertain. Would it hurt to confide in someone? She didn't have anyone at the moment…Her pen pal forgot about her, and she was nervous around Harry, Ron, and Hermione, even if she didn't know why.

But she didn't know him! At all!

Why does he even care, anyways? Aaralyn thought. She scolded herself for this thought, however; it wasn't as if he was trying to kill her anyways. I need to stop being so paranoid.

She glanced up at the boy who was still standing behind her, looking at her patiently. His honey eyes were fixed intensely on her, and she felt nervous butterflies flutter in her stomach. It looked like he was seeing strait into her… and it made her slightly uncomfortable. It was almost as if he expected something from her.

Aaralyn shook her head. I'm just being silly. When she looked at him again, she noticed something different about him. Sincerity… Or what looked like it. He actually wanted to talk to her, just like Hermione, Ron, and Harry had. Well, actually, Harry hadn't really spoken to her. Aaralyn looked at him again…

Aaralyn shrugged. Why not? She really had nothing to lose.

Aaralyn paused, and smiled slightly. "Do you have a penny?"

The boy smirked at her before bringing out a shiny, copper coin from his pocket.

Aaralyn happily snatched the coin, muttering "Shiny, shiny, shiny!" under her breath before remembering that he was still standing in front of her and blushed a deep red.

Aaralyn fiddled with the penny nervously, as she sat down in front of her tree, and the boy moved to sit next to her. He smiled at her warmly and held out his hand. "By the way," he said, "My name is Simon."

Aaralyn took his hand hesitantly. "Aaralyn." She said. Well, at least I remembered my own name this time.

"Sooo..?" Simon said expectantly.

"Well," Aaralyn looked down. "I guess I'm just confused." Simon indicated that I could continue. "Ummm. Weeeellll…" How can I put my feelings into words without saying something too…personal…about myself? She bit her lip.

"Did you ever feel like your life was changing so drastically that you couldn't hope to catch up with it?" He didn't have to answer, for Aaralyn rushed on, trying to release all her thoughts to their greatest extent. "Like, you were spinning faster and faster and everything around you blurs… You can't distinguish anything from something else. Maybe life wasn't clear or perfect or even correct, per se, before, but now you're going so fast, changing so quickly, that you just feel like you're gonna throw up."

Aaralyn sighed, and continued, "Life is so different from what it used to be. I used to want…" Aaralyn hesitated. She didn't want to reveal that she had been practically invisible; that she wanted the only thing she thought she could never have: friends. And now she was afraid…so very afraid of what the world help in anticipation of her. She'd just have to…improvise.

But before she could come up with something, Simon spoke up. "What? What was it you wanted?"

"Ummm…I wanted…" She needed to come up with something now. Okay…any moment now I'll get an idea. Aaralyn thought. Any moment now. Just like in books… Intelligent answers that throw them off balance…He'll never know the real meaning. Okay, any moment now. Feel the intellect flow through you Aaralyn. Okay…ummm…I wanted an umbrella? No, that doesn't even make sense… okay, any moment now. Simon was started to look skeptical, as if he didn't' think she'd answer. But She'd answer, damn it! It wasn't like she couldn't hold a conversation. Sooo… any moment now.

"Breasts." Aaralyn blurted out. She then realized what she said and blushed. "No, I mean… not breasts… I meant, like…" She was now starting to panic.

"Oh I think I know what you meant…" He laughed.

"No!" Aaralyn cried, "Trust me you don't… You aren't like me… I—I—" She indicated herself helplessly.

Unfortunately, he thought she was motioning to her breasts. "I know," he chuckled, "I'm not a guy." He took out his wand and twirled it in his fingers calmly. How can he act so calm when I'm dying here?

"Seriously! I did NOT mean that I was breastless! I've had breasts for a few years and—" She stopped again. This was turning out incredible wrong! "GAHHH!" she yelled, grabbing her dark blonde hair and pulling, hard.

"Whoa, whoa! Okay, I get it, I get it!" Simon yelled, eyes wide, trying in vain to pull her hands from her head. "I understand! I didn't mean it! I was just trying to joke around!"

After a few minutes of struggling, Simon finally calmed her down. And she sat there, gasping in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I knew what you meant the entire time. You were just replacing what you 'wanted' with something else, and for some reason you came up with… 'breasts'—Merlin knows why. So don't substitute. I don't have to know all the details, I just thought you'd like to talk."

Aaralyn felt like she wanted to die. Just crawl into a hole and rip out her hair, nails, eyes, and ears, and die so she'd never have to think about this situation again. It was too embarrassing! How could she go on?

"I think I'm gonna go now!" Aaralyn squeaked, and got up quickly and ran in the other direction.

"But—Hey, wait!" Simone yelled at her, getting up also, but Aaralyn, who was a surprisingly fast runner for a five-foot-three-inch-girl without any sports experience and had soon ducked behind Hagrid's house, obviously waiting for dark when she could quietly return to the Gryffindor common room.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

It was well past dinner time when Aaralyn finally made her way back to the castle. Her cheeks were still pink from blushing so intensely! She had never been more embarrassed in her life. It made her wonder if being "visible" was worth it.

She entered the Common Room cautiously, as if she expected herself to unintentionally jump on a table and scream, "I ADMIT IT! I WANT BREASTS!" Fortunately, she over came this temporary urge. She did, however, cringe as she realized Hermione was walking over to her. Aaralyn turned around to run upstairs before she could catch her, as Aaralyn had often done in the past, but then she saw what was in Hermione's hand.

A muffin.

Aaralyn's stomach gave forth a loud grumble at the sight of it. She had yet again missed dinner. So what if Hermione started asking questions? Muffins were yummy.

"Hello," Hermione said, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you might have died. You missed dinner again." She handed over the yummy-looking muffin. "Try not to make it a habit."

Aaralyn did her best to smile. "Okay…thank you." She said quietly. She bit excitedly into the muffin. She smiled and moaned inwardly as the rich blueberry muffin melted in her mouth. Merlin was she hungry!

Hermione used this to her advantage to lure Aaralyn off to the corner where Harry and Ron were sitting. Ron looked mildly surprised, but Harry looked annoyed.

"Hullo!" Ron greeted cheerfully, while Harry looked at her oddly. Aaralyn nodded at the handsome boys, smiling slightly.

"So where were you?" Hermione asked.

Aaralyn cringed at the memory. "Ehh…" She muttered.

"'Ehh?'" Ron asked, apparently amused. "Interesting. Tell us more of this 'eehhh.' I think Fred and George snuck Harry and I into that place before... Is that the place where they have a nude beach?" Ron smiled evilly as Aaralyn blushed once again. "How was the water?"

Aaralyn glared at him. Or attempted to anyways. Curse my ineffective glaring!

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked. Obviously, their first meeting was fresh in her mind. And, though Aaralyn didn't know, Hermione had taken quite a liking to her—Aaralyn had showed disrespect to their Divination teacher and had to leave the class, just like Hermione had. This, of course, had annoyed Aaralyn. She rather enjoyed Divination, even if Trelawney was full of shit.

Aaralyn tilted her head in thought. Actually, I think I saw a laxative on her desk, once.

Aaralyn was brought out of her thoughts by a hand waving in front of her face. She blinked and remembered Hermione's question. "Oh, sorry. Um, yeah. I'm fine."

Harry raised an eyebrow at her. She faltered. Why was he looking at her so….oddly?

"What were you doing?" Harry asked, suspicion clear in his voice.

"I was talking to a boy." Aaralyn said, surprised.

"So, in other words, you were snogging."

"W-what!" Aaralyn stuttered. She hadn't even received her first kiss, let alone snogged someone! And Simon? She couldn't deny she found him attractive, but he just witnessed her talk about—about her breasts damn it! "We didn't do anything! There was just lots…lots of words, and then there was laughing. And there was also breathing and sitting, but NO kissing!" Aaralyn hissed, flushing. Well…there might have been some mental images…

Hermione whacked Harry upside the head, looking extremely angry. "Ow!" He cried indignantly. "What was that for?"

"You were acting like, Ron." She said simply.

"Yeah!" Ron agreed, then paused. His brow furrowed in quick anger. "Oh, hey! That's not cool, Hermione!"

"I think I'll go…" Aaralyn found herself saying, but before she could make her retreat as she had done so before, Hermione caught her arm.

"It's fine. Really, Aaralyn." Hermione's eyes were soft.

"B-but I'm intruding." Aaralyn looked down. Truth be told, she actually didn't mind Hermione and Ron…But she wasn't sure she could trust them with…anything, really. And her social skill obviously needed work.

And Harry did NOT like her. She looked up into his brilliant green eyes.

She had thought he liked her, at first. But slowly, a look over came his face. Instead of curiosity, he held contempt. His features held suspicion in every aspect of his face, every angle of his cheeks, and every speck of his eyes. He…he distrusted her. She didn't know why, and it frightened her.

"Don't be silly." Hermione said kindly.

"Yeah," Ron grabbed her arm and pulled her down into the seat across from him. "Do you wanna play chess?"

Aaralyn eyed him. "But, aren't you, like, really, really good?"

Ron shrugged. "Maybe. Do you ever play?"

"Sometimes I practice by myself." She said softly.

"Great! That means Hermione, Harry, and I can teach you! It'll be fun."

Hermione laughed and sat next to Aaralyn.

Thirty minutes later, Aaralyn was staring at the board in awe. She was winning.

She was WINNING. Against the champion chess player of Hogwarts! This should be marked down in Hogwarts: A History.

Okay, so maybe she had said champion and a brainiac helping her with her moves…but still! She had never really succeeded at something. Harry had left a long time ago, refusing to help her. His glare was rather blunt, Aaralyn thought. And I haven't really done anything to him!

Thinking of this, Aaralyn blurted out, "He doesn't like me, does he?"

Hermione and Ron looked surprised and her bluntness. Ron even placed his knight down on the wrong square, forcing it to be decapitated by Aaralyn's queen. "Of course he does!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Oh, really? Is that why he called me an ugly toad under his breath and refused to help me?" Aaralyn almost smiled at their faces. She hadn't really said much during her time with them, and now that she was speaking she could tell she was shocking them. Hell, she was shocking herself.

I just don't know what gets into me sometimes.

Ron gave up first. "Actually, I don't know why he doesn't like you."

"You haven't done anything." Hermione ensured her, at her grim look.

"Nah, it's fine." Aaralyn replied, waving her hand. "I'm just not so excited that the Wizarding World's famous and entirely loved celebrity has declared me…the enemy. It's not exactly hugs and puppies to me."

Ron shrugged. "I'll talk to him. He might be going through one of his…phases." Ron shared a look with Hermione.

Aaralyn tilted her head curiously. "Is he…sad?" After asking, she immediately felt stupid. "No, don't answer that. It's a silly question."

"I'd tell you," Hermione said softly, "But it's not my secret to tell. It's Harry's, and it's very personal."

Aaralyn knew that Ron was close to winning the game now—his bishop had her king in check. A yawn escaped her lips then. "Well, I should be going to bed." Aaralyn sighed. "Thanks for…hanging out with me. Teaching me…and stuff."

"No problem," Ron answered, as he made the last move and his bishop slaughtered the king brutally. "We can do another game some other time, then?" Aaralyn smiled softly. He almost sounded hopeful.

"Sure. Are you coming, Hermione?"

"In a minute."

"Okay." Aaralyn left Hermione and Ron to talk a bit, most likely about her and about Harry. Her major clue? She heard a tidbit of their conversation—

"You don't think Harry's right about her—do you?"

Shivers ran up her spine. She remembered the dream she had all those nights ago, forgotten until now…The nightmare hadn't repeated thankfully, but it still haunted her. She could see it in all the shadows, movement in every glimmer of light. It was creepy…

And what did Harry think about her?

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