A/N: I have tried the pickles/cream combination, and it's not as disgusting as you might think. It's actually incredibly, incredibly delicious. You really do have to try it. This chapter does skip a bit in the time frame department, but if you have any troubles with where they're at, tell me and I'll try and clear it up for you.

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This time, it was James' turn to lie awake. He turned it over in his mind. On the one hand, there was Lily, who he had loved ever since he had first laid eyes on her, and who had said that she didn't want to pursue a relationship right now. Then there was Ariadne, who was a goddess, equally or more beautiful than Lily, sweet, fun, and who he loved dearly. Of course, the obvious answer was to stay with Ariadne, but it was hard to control emotion with logic, no matter how hard he tried. By dawn, he had come to a decision. He would stay with Ariadne. He was sure Lily only liked him because he was taken, and Ariadne was a wonderful girl who didn't deserve to have her heart broken in that way. He dozed off, waking up right before dinnertime. He walked down to the Great Hall, but before he got there he was yanked inside an empty classroom and the door was locked behind him. He looked up into the smiling face of Ariadne.

"James, I've got some fantastic news," Ariadne said, obviously delighted.

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One and a half months earlier…

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Ariadne woke up, much too hot. She had been sleeping for quite some time, as she was still not used to sleeping every night and had stayed up all night the night before. She kicked her quilt off her roughly, before she saw that there was blood all over her sheets. She put hands to her torso, checking for wounds. Finding none, she ran down the stairs and into the seventh-year girls' dormitory.

"I'm dying!" She cried, before realizing that the dormitory was empty. Panicking further, she was about to leave to find other assistance when a voice came from Lily's bed and she realised the dormitory wasn't empty at all.

"Dying? What do you mean?" Asked Lily, sitting on her bed and reading a book.

"I'm bleeding to death! I can't find a wound but there's all this blood on my sheets and –"

Lily laughed loudly before stifling herself, squeezing her lips together tightly. "Ari, you're not dying. I guess you haven't been a mortal for long."

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One and a half months later…

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Ariadne woke up at 10am, extremely early for her. She was awake at this time because she had gone to sleep early, with James preoccupied with talking to his friends about some map she had nothing to do in the evening but sleep. She looked at the calendar and with a jolt of her stomach, realised something very important. She was late, by around a fortnight. This could only mean one thing. She squealed in unbridled joy, before running down to the Great Hall for something to eat before the breakfast was removed. She was out of luck, though, and so had to go down to the kitchens, the way James had shown her. She tickled the pear on the painting and it giggled, turning into a handle for her to pull open and visit the house-elves.

"Hello!" She cried, and they all grinned broadly and waved at her, several rushing up to see what she needed.

"What is miss wanting?" One said eagerly, its tea-towel loincloth emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest. Ariadne thought. What did she feel like eating?

"Pickles!" She said finally. One rushed away to fetch a jar of them for her. "Oh, and cream!" Once she had the food, she skipped back to the Gryffindor common room to eat her pickles and cream, uncaring of the looks she was receiving from the other students. "Mmm, nyum nyum nyum," she said contentedly, once her food had run out. She hadn't meant to eat the whole jar, but it was just so delicious that she couldn't help herself. Then the thought struck her. She would have to tell James about her discovery. But it would have to be perfect. She was incredibly happy, and knew he would be too. She ran down to the Great Hall, but he wasn't eating lunch there like he should have been. She made her way back up to Gryffindor Tower, but before she had gone past the first transfiguration classroom, she saw him. She slipped into the doorway, and then just as he was passing, pulled him in, locking the door behind him. He looked up and she smiled at him.

"James, I've got some fantastic news," she said. He smiled, his eyes lighting up like a child in a toy store.

"Ari, wait," he said, putting a hand to her lips. "I just want to say… I love you. I never thought that this kind of happiness, the kind I'm feeling with you, was possible. This year is probably shaping up to be the best one I've had yet and it's just because of you. I never want things to change, and I hope we stay like we are now forever."

"That's great, James," she replied, even happier. "I love you too, but there is still my good news. I'm pregnant."

She looked at him, expecting to see a joyful expression, or even a slightly contented one, but she was not prepared for what she actually saw. James looked terrified.

"That's not good news!" He cried.

"What are you talking about? Of course it is!" Ariadne replied. "We get to have another little person to love! How can that be bad?"

"Ari, I'm only seventeen, I'm not ready to be a father," James said, frustrated, with his head in his hands. "I don't want a baby!"

"You… why not? Why not?" She demanded, starting to get angry. "Well I do! And I thought you would too!"

"Well, you thought wrong. I don't want you to have this baby, Ariadne."

"I'm having it," Ariadne said dangerously, "and you are going to damn well love it."

"I don't want a baby," James repeated, quieter this time. "I'm not ready, and I don't think you are either."

"I'm ready," Ariadne said. "And I think you are too."

"I'm not!" He cried. "I'm not at all! Lily wouldn't want a baby!"

"Well Lily doesn't love you like I do!" Ariadne retorted.

"She does! She told me so!" James shouted. "And to be frank I'm starting to think I made a mistake with you."

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Ariadne said coldly, before leaving the room.

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The next morning, James went up to Ariadne's room to try and apologize. He still didn't want a baby but wanted to be on good terms with Ariadne. To his surprise, her room was empty. Her clothes were gone. There was no indication she had ever been there.