I unfortunately do not own the world of Harry Potter.

I would just like to say a quick thanks to DegrassiFan1994, Celeste Belle, Allmysoul, Allen Pitt, Vivian-Daughter of Artemis, Sailor Natsuki, justplaincrazy8, dominiquevip, pinksonic2, The Queen of Confusion, Cyberdog101, Singerinthesilence, doulike14, PrimiGirl, and skydiamonds91.

This is my first fan-fic. Hope you like it! (And if you haven't guessed by now, reviews are greatly appreciated!)

Just so you all know - I have just started writing a new fan-fic - Mysterious Last Name. I would really appreciate it if you would check it out. Thanks!

Chapter 14:

The Dueling Club and Realizations

Ariella was sitting her last class of the day, bored out of her mind. Professor Gilderoy Lockhart was once again talking about himself. Ariella was saved from further boredom by the bell, signaling the end of classes for that day. She quickly packed up her books, grabbed Draco's, and sped out of the classroom. When she got to the common room, however, she was surprised to find a large group of people crowding around the announcement board. She strained her neck to try to see what all the commotion was about, but when she realized that this was pointless, she turned her head to see Theodore Nott standing next to her and asked him whether or not he knew what was going on.

"Apparently, Lockhart's formed a dueling club. The first meeting is tomorrow night, in the Great Hall," Theodore responded.

"So he actually knows something that doesn't pertain to himself?" Ariella replied with a laugh. Nott laughed too as he spoke again.

"Nah, I just think that he wants more attention, another chance to show off. We probably wont learn anything unless Snape or another professor is there to help out."

"Yeah, you're probably right.," Ariella said. The crowd was starting to thin, but the two classmates barely noticed. That is, until Draco interrupted.

"Nott," he said, acknowledging Theodore.

"Malfoy," he replied back to Draco, then nodding to Ariella, walked away.

"What essays have you finished. I want to compare to make sure that they're correct." Draco demanded.

"Transfiguration, Potions, and Herbology. I still have to do History of Magic and Charms." Draco simply nodded, and held out his hand. Ariella slung her bag off of her shoulder, and reached in, took out the three essays, and handed them to the waiting Draco. Without another word, Draco took the essays and went to sit next to some of his friends on the opposite side on the common room. As Ariella made her way up to her room to drop off her books, she had just one thought. Why does he always have to ruin everything?

So the next night, Ariella went down to the Great Hall, along with a good number of her fellow students. After a small demonstration, (in which Snape showed Lockhart up, no surprise there), they were all paired up. Ariella herself was paired with Hannah Abbot, a Hufflepuff student in her year. Hannah seemed really nervous about being paired with a Slytherin, so Ariella let her have the first go. About five minutes into the exercise, however, it was apparent that tonight's "lesson" was turning into a disaster. So Snape and Lockhart called forth Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter to be the volunteer. Uh oh, this is not going to turn out well. Thought Ariella as she turned to the two enemies. Malfoy was the first to cast a spell after the count of three, yelling:

"Serpensortia!". A big, black snake shot out of Draco's wand, and landed on the ground. Snape moved foward to deal with it, but Lockhart invervened, but instead of making the snake disappear, it just flew up into the air, and landed back down. Angry now, the snake started toward Justin Finch-Fletchley. All of the sudden, Ariella heard Harry say:

"Leave him alone!" The snake obeyed, but everyone else in the room was staring terrified at Harry, including Justin. She didn't understand. Harry had just saved Justin. Ron and Hermione were hurrying his friend out of the room, and Ariella ran to catch up with them.

"Harry! Wait!" she called. The trio turned around, a worried look on Ron and Hermione's faces.

"Good job, Harry. Calling the snake off of Justin like that." Ron just stared at Ariella. Then spoke in a shaky voice,

"Y-You under - understood him?" Ariella looked at him quizzickly and confused.

"Yeah, of couse I did. He spoke quite clearly. Couldn't you?" Ron and Hermione's eyes widened.

"No, he spoke in Parseltongue." Both Airella and Harry gaped at him.

"I spoke in what?" Harry asked.

"Parseltongue. Snake-language." Ron said.

"But, I didn't know that I did, it just sort of came out. Besides, it's really common, isn't it?"

"No Harry, it isn't." Hermione replied. "In fact, you two are probably the only two in the whole school who can."

"WHAT!?" Harry and Ariella cried.

"That's why Justin panicked after you spoke. That's why everyone looks so afraid now."

"But how can I speak a language without knowing I can?" Harry questioned.

"Yeah, I never knew that I could either until now." Ariella put in.

"Well, I don't know. But you're in Slytherin, so your parents probably are, right? As for you, Harry, I don't know." Ron said. Ariella looked down as she responded quietly,

"I don't know."

"Well, just stay away from us. We don't want you hurting us."

"Look, just because I can speak in parseltongue doesn't mean I'm a bad person! Harry isn't!" Ariella cried.

"Yeah, but he's not in Slytherin." Ron retorted. Then turning to his friends, said,

"Let's go," and the Ron and Hermione started to walk away from Ariella. Harry, however, stayed behind for a moment, giving her a long look, before following after his friends.

Ariella stared after them, before returning to her dormatory, where she finally let the tears that she had been holding back since Ron's words come. out of her eyes, and stream down her cheeks, and drifted off to sleep, thinking hard, and wondering who exactly she was.

Quotes are from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Just so you know, (even though you probably could have guessed this,) once school starts, I won't be able to update as frequently, but I'll try for once or twice a week. Thanks!

Thanks to all who are reading, and liking it. If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, please feel free to review/private message me. Also, if you have any ideas at all, or would like to see something happen, let me know, and I'll consider putting them into a chapter. Thanks! ~ Leanora