Chapter 8:

Ariana ran as fast her legs could carry her. She dodged trees and roots with every step, frantically navigating the forest that she seemed to have been swallowed by.

After waiting a grand fifteen minutes from when Sirius Black departed for food, she made her escape. It wasn't difficult. Black had placed no bonds on her, nor had he placed any magical enchantments that would keep her there. Not even the giant hippogriff creature had glanced twice when she started booking it for the woods.

It wasn't that she hated Black. On the contrary, he had done her quite the service by breaking her out of Malfoy Manor. It was simply that she didn't trust him, couldn't really. And who could blame her? Every adult she had met thus far had betrayed her the moment it became useful to them. With any luck, Black could very well become the one responsible for her irregular beatings and she wasn't going to stick around long enough to find out.

No, the only person she could trust was herself. So, she ran at the first opportunity1.

She had to be quick. Black was a dog animagus after all. If he really wanted to go after her, he would be able to catch up pretty quickly. Ariana silently hoped that he would just give up and forget about her. She had seen a few neighboring towns when they flew over the forest. It would take most of the night to get there on foot, but she was willing to try. Perhaps if she was quick and quiet enough, she could find some food and shelter there.

After that, she wasn't quite sure. Having never been exposed to the outside world, she had no idea what to do. Who knew if Lucius was looking for her right now, just waiting to pull her back into her cage?

She paused by an oak tree to catch her breath. She had been jogging for about an hour now. Her legs shook like jello, unfamiliar with the strain she was currently putting on them. She glanced up to the sky. The sun was beginning to set and she figured that Black might be on his way back by now.

At this part of the forest, a large pond stood before her. Ariana would have to navigate around it, less she wanted to go swimming. Still catching her breath, she glanced down into the watery depths. The reflection of a heaving, scawny girl stared back at her, chilled to the bone. Her disheveled brown hair fell past her shoulders, making her already fair skin seem all the more pale. Her gray eyes were full of hesitation, of distrust and doubt. She despised it.

She sat down by the pond, wrapping her arms around her knees as reality once again began to make itself known. She was quite familiar with being lonely and trapped in Malfoy Manor. Despite whatever she could hear from the rest of the mansion, the fact remained that she was isolated from everyone else. It certainly stung, but at least she was used to it.

Her current situation was completely foreign. There was not a soul around as far as the eye could see. Ariana was for once, well and truly alone. Somehow, it didn't make her feel better though. She still felt just as insignificant as she did in the cellar, like no matter what she did there would never be anyone to acknowledge her existence. It was an awful feeling.

Maybe that's why she had hesitated with Sirius Black. The way he looked at her was strange. She didn't trust it, but it was different. There were many potential reasons as to why, but the fourteen year old was much too tired to put much thought into them.

She longed for Dobby the house elf. The small creature always knew how to make her smile, even in the bleakest of times. He would often sneak down in the evenings to heal her cuts or perhaps deliver a sweet to her. His absence from Malfoy Manor had been detrimental, but his absence from her life was heartbreaking. She desperately wished she knew he was alright.

Even Draco would make for decent company right now. The boastful teenager could be quite witty at times, sometime even kind when it was convenient for him. The last year with Dobby gone and Draco at school had been one of the worst for Ariana. She had to admit, even if it were only to herself, that she wasn't sure how much longer she would've lasted at the Manor. Whether it be physically, mentally or emotionally, that place had been slowly killing her.

And yet without it, she felt like she had no identity at all, no significance in this vast cold world.

The girl was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she almost missed the sound of water splashing. She glanced back to the pond with the slightest bit of curiosity. Another tiny splash sounded, but she couldn't make out from where. A small part of her told her to get away immediately, but it didn't get the chance to reach the rest of her mind.

A flash of green lunged at her, latching onto her ankle and dragging her into the pond. She yelped and tried to kick the creature away, but four more soon joined it. Before she could blink, she was ripped from the shoreline and yanked into the pond.

Despite being the start of the summer, the murky waters still felt like a thousand pins and needles on her skin. She finally kicked one of the little green demons against a rock, knocking it out. It looked like some ugly cross between an octopus and an imp with tiny horns for ears. That was all the time she had to look at it before the others tried to pulled her further in. She thrashed and kicked, but more demons just kept coming.

She could feel her lungs screaming at her for oxygen and she desperately tried clawing her way to the surface, but the green demons were fighting just as hard. Her vision began to get blurry. Her punches and kicks started to loose aim.

She was just about to close her eyes when jet of what looked like boiling water hurdled her way. Instead of hitting her, it split off into two and wrapped around her, chasing away the little green monsters. A dark blur appeared in front of her and she registered something pulling on her wrist.

Sirius jutted his head up to the surface, coughing and sputtered against the icy waters as he paddled back to the edge of the pond. He hoisted Ariana's limp body onto the grass and pulled himself out as he tried not to let his teeth chatter. As he glanced over to give her an earful, he realized girl wasn't coughing. She wasn't conscious. Not wasting a second, he aimed his wand at her and yelled "Rennervate!"

Ariana's eyes popped open and she immediately turned to cough up what no doubt felt like an entire ocean. Once she turned back to him, gray eyes wide with shock, he wasted no time in grabbing her hand once more and apparating them back to camp.

Buckbeak turned and cawed at them, watching the pair stumble towards the tent. Holding Ariana up by one arm, Sirius sent a litany of spells over their perimeter, sealing up their protection for the night. As they entered the tent, he spun the girl around as he held her by her shoulders.

"Are you alright?" He asked urgently, eyes scanning around her for any signs of obvious injury. Eyes still wide, she quickly shook her head. Sirius gritted his teeth as he nodded back and released her onto the couch. Now certain that she wasn't in any more mortal peril, he could feel the rage boiling up inside of him. He held a hand to the bridge of his nose as he tried to reign it in. It didn't work.

"So just what in the name of fucking Merlin were you doing running away?" He snapped. His fists balled in anger and he resisted the urge to punch something. When she said nothing, that only fueled the urge more. Ariana backed up, but he wasn't about to let the subject drop. "Do you have any idea how bloody dangerous that was? Or stupid? You could've died Ariana!"

He was full on yelling now, pacing as he did so. He couldn't help it. How in the hell had she thought to be so foolish? Even in his most reckless days, he still had some ounce of self preservation! What possible reason could she have had for running away in the dead of night, only to nearly fall prey to a band of grindylows? He whipped his head back to her, noticing that she was no longer looking at him but at her hands in her lap.

"Are you listening to me? Ari-" he took a step closer to her to make his point known, but she shrieked. Her hands threw themselves over her head and her eyes slammed shut. The quick act was... was like a reflex, like it was instinctual. It was enough to freeze off whatever anger Sirius had boiled up and then melt it back into concern.

He took another step towards her, but she whimpered. Was she really that afraid of him? No, Sirius thought. This was more fear than she had had for him ever before. This was something else entirely. He paused for a moment, the wheels beginning to turn in his head. The quiet, withdrawn persona. The severe discomfort with physical touch. The almost instinctive defensive behavior at someone raising their voice, a behavior Sirius knew all too well from growing up in a pureblood dark arts obsessed home. He felt a knot forming in the base of his stomach as realization ghosted over him. He fought the urge to be sick.

"Ariana," He tried again, his voice much softer than his previous rage. He knelt down to her level as the girl opened her tear filled eyes. Then, with utmost seriousness, he spoke, "Does he... does he hit you?"

She didn't say anything. She didn't need to. He saw it in the wobble of her lip and the blatant fear in her eyes. He saw it in how her arms shook ever so slightly as they tightened their protective stance. The fact was clear as day to the both of them.

Ariana was abused by Lucius Malfoy. She was abused and now Sirius Black knew it.

The animagus said nothing for a moment. It suddenly became very difficult for Ariana to read him. She couldn't tell whether he was going to yell or scream or explode. Then, suddenly, he moved in quickly with a near impossible speed. She closed her eyes tight and braced herself for the first blow.

But it never came. Ariana blinked her eyes open. Instead of a fist or a slap, she found herself wrapped into the wizard's arms. His embrace was tight, but gentle, as if she were a piece of china that he didn't want to break yet didn't want to lose either. The touch was foreign, but not painful. She could feel his arms around her shaking slightly.

"My baby girl." It was barely a whisper, but it sounded so utterly and horridly broken that she wondered what she could have possibly done to Sirius Black to enact sure devastation. The way he said it was so surprising that it took her a moment to register exactly what he had said. He released her just as gently, folding a hand over his eyes in shame. "I-I'm so sorry, love. I never intended for it to end up like this - and for so many years I - bloody hell I've failed as a parent. I'm so sorry."

Ariana blinked. Did he just say parent? Was he her-?

She hesitated before speaking. It looked like the man was trying to hold back tears himself. A brief silence passed between the two before she mustered up the courage to ask.

"A-Are you ... are you my father?" Her voice was soft, like she couldn't believe the words tumbling out of her own mouth.

"Yes," Black responded with a deep breath, "A pathetic excuse of one, but yes I am."

He stood up before she could think to ask anything else. It was just as well. She was too shocked to process anything.

"Of course, I understand that this is pretty disappointing for you, but I can assure you I mean you no harm." he told her, looking anywhere but her eyes. Her gray eyes that she now realized matched his. "I will take you wherever you would like in the morning. You can forget about me and you can forget about everything that ever happened in the Manor. But for tonight, just get some rest. Please don't run away again."