Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter or anything else you recognize from J.K. Rowling's books.
A/N: Once again, I'm super sorry for the long delay. I've just been super busy, and I know I keep saying that. Hope you enjoy this chapter. I'll try updating sooner. Happy reading!
Chapter Four: Some More of Aria's Issues
Aria's POV
There's a hesitant knock on my door and I sight softly. "Come in," I call, turning around and rearranging my expression carefully.
"Hey. I think we need to talk."
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Jake comes into the room uncertainly, as if he's not quite sure he really wants to do whatever he's about to do. I try not to change my expression as he fidgets nervously near the foot of my bed.
"You can sit," I tell him quietly. He nods and sits down on the bed tentatively.
"Um… Look, Aria," he starts, still not looking at me. "I know things have been a little weird between us the last few days…" Weird? That's a bit of an understatement.
"Yeah," I murmur. "Just a little."
"I want to say I'm sorry for the way I treated you yesterday," he says so quietly I almost don't hear him. I shouldn't have gone off on you like I did. And I'm sorry I never told you about your dad."
I look up at him to find him looking at me intently. I offer him the smallest of smiles. "It's alright," I whisper. "You were upset."
"That didn't give me the right to yell at you like that. You didn't do anything wrong. I mean, if you want to hang out with Sean and talk about me, feel free," he says with a slight laugh, trying to make me smile. I let him have another tiny smile to show the humor wasn't completely lost on me.
"Friends?" I ask. He smiles.
"Friends."
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Keira's POV
"Ron," I say softly, knocking on the door to his study, where he's been sitting in isolation for the last hour.
"Come in."
"Ron, are you alright?" I ask, going in and sitting down on the old worn couch beside him. He looks at me and sighs.
"Yeah. I'm sorry I kind of freaked out at you earlier."
"That's alright. I know it's not just Aria who's having a hard time with this," I murmur, taking his hand. He squeezes my hand slightly and puts his arm around my shoulders.
"Aria's just … she's not adjusting like I thought she would," he sighs. "I mean, she loved the Quidditch game, and she's spending time with Sean, but she really doesn't like being around you and me. She hardly lets anyone touch her. I think we make her nervous."
"I think it's just me," I tell him with a sigh. "I don't know what I did to earn that girl's disapproval. She barely speaks to me. Last night at dinner was the first time she's spoken to me since she arrived here."
"Well, she's only been here for a few days," Ron says.
"I guess so," I reply softly. "But it isn't like I'm trying to be her mum, Ron. I know she doesn't want a new mum. I understand that, I really do. I just want her to feel comfortable here. I want her to feel like she belongs here. I could love her if she'd let me." I feel unbidden tears spring to my eyes, and I hate myself for getting all emotional about this.
"I know," he whispers. "You just have to give her time. We all do. She'll come around eventually."
"I hope so. Because this house is going to feel very awkward until she does."
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Sean's POV
The next morning I wake up to a persistent tapping noise somewhere above my head. I sit up reluctantly and look outside to see two familiar owls waiting to be let inside. One of them is Aria's barn owl, Star. I've been wondering where he got off to. Guess he went and camped out at our friend Skyla's house for awhile because the other owl is Skyla Janes's Great Gray owl.
The two owls fly in eagerly when I open the window. Star settles on top of my wardrobe, but Skyla's owl, Moonlight, flies over and sits on my headboard with a rather thick-looking envelope attached to his leg.
I take the envelope and flip it over to see my name printed carefully in Skyla's neat handwriting. I tear it open.
Dear Sean,
How's your summer going? Mine's pretty good so far, but my dad has been horrible. He keeps going on about my hair. He thinks it's too long, too curly, too blonde – Merlin, he's annoying! If he had it his way, I'd have it shorter than yours. I think he secretly wishes I had been a boy. Mum doesn't want to have anymore kids either, so he's probably never going to get a son like he wanted. I wish he would just leave me alone. He's been trying to get me to do guy stuff with him like football games and going fishing and all that stuff Muggle men like to do. Too bad Aria's not here, because I bet she loves that.
How is Aria? I haven't heard from her yet, and when Star showed up at my house without a letter, I was kind of worried. Is everything alright? I'm pretty much completely isolated from the magical world. My mum won't let me subscribe to the Daily Prophet because it costs money, so I have no idea what's going on. Are you at Professor Potter's house for the summer or haven't you left yet? I'm still trying to convince my parents to let me come, but they're not really buying it. They don't seem to think it's proper to spend the entire summer with a boy's uncle. They're so old-fashioned.
I miss all of you so much! I hate being home here. This girl who lives just down the road from us (she's a Muggle) is so annoying. She's the same age as us, but she's such a baby. She's always calling me and asking if I want to come over and play with her. She plays stupid games like house. Yesterday she came over here and tried to get me to play 'witches' with her. She had it all wrong. I think she watches television too much. She thinks you do magic with your hands and that you can just disappear and appear at will. I didn't have the heart to tell her you actually need a license to do that.
Anyway, what's going on with everyone?! I'm so lonely!!! You should convince your mum to write my parents a letter, insisting that I come stay with you for the summer. You know, like… I should be around my own people. Or that I could learn so much from spending a summer in Harry Potter's house! That would actually be true. You're so lucky he's your uncle
Hey, has Aria's mum told her who her father is yet? Aria mentioned that she was going to find out the beginning of summer vacation. She was all excited about it.
Oh darn. Dad's calling up to me that he just bought us two tickets to a football game this afternoon. I hate sports!! HELP!!!! Please write back soon. I need news here! Tell Jake and Aria (if you're already at Prof. Potter's house with her) that I'll write to them soon.
With love,
Skyla
I stare at the letter in disbelief. She doesn't know about Aria's mum… I swallow hard as I try to decide if I should tell her or not. I probably should, because otherwise she'll write to Aria and ask her all the same stuff she asked me. It makes sense that she wouldn't know though. She doesn't get the Daily Prophet, so how could she?
A knock on my door makes me jump. "Come in," I say.
The door swings open to reveal Aria standing there, still in her pajamas, a sheet of parchment in her hand that looks suspiciously like a letter.
"Good morning," I say somewhat dully. She comes inside and sits down on my bed.
"Who's that from?" she asks, pointing to my letter.
"Sk–" I'm cut off by Star swooping down and landing on Aria's shoulder. He nips her affectionately, and Aria spends a few minutes cooing over him and telling him how much she'd missed him. After awhile she turns back to me.
"What were you saying?" she asks pleasantly.
"The letter's from Skyla."
Her face lights up at the mention of one of our best friends. "Can I read it?"
"Um… sure," I say, not knowing what else I can say.
I watch her carefully as she reads, keeping a close eye on her expression. Before too long her face clams up and her expression becomes hard. I feel a pang of guilt. I shouldn't have let her read it. She hands it back roughly once she's finished.
"Are you alright?" I ask. She shrugs, not looking at me.
I fold the letter up and set it aside. "Who's your letter from?" I ask softly. She turns back toward me slowly, handing it over for me to see. I skim it quickly. It's from some woman named Eva, and it's pretty much about how she's been taking care of the house for Aria.
The house. I'd completely forgotten about that. You know, the fact that Aria still had another house somewhere, where she used to live with her Mum. The same house she grew up in.
"Who's Eva?" I ask, to avoid any other sensitive subjects.
"She was one of my mum's best friends. They've worked together since I was really young," she says, her voice only shaking slightly when she mentions her mum.
"Oh," is the brilliant answer I come up with. I wish I knew what to say.
"I don't want to go back there," she whispers suddenly, surprising me.
"What?" I ask, not understanding.
"To that house. I don't want to have to go back there and see it exactly like she left it when she came to pick me up, not knowing –" She breaks off as her voice catches in her throat.
"Are you alright?" I ask. She takes a deep breath and nods. Then she looks at me. Tears are welling in her eyes, and I can see she is most certainly not alright from the expression on her face.
Instinctively, I reach forward and hug her, which I haven't dared to do since that day at her mum's memorial service when she all but shoved me away from her. She practically melts into me, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me back.
"You know you can talk to me," I tell her softly. She nods and sniffs, pressing her forehead against my shoulder.
"I'm sorry I'm such a mess," she mumbles, laughing bitterly.
"You have every right to be a mess," I tell her with a smile. She laughs more easily now.
She pulls back, her face streaked with tears, but smiling nonetheless. "I think I'm going to go take a shower," she says, touching her stringy hair with distaste. "My hair is so dirty it'll stand up on its own," she adds with a smile. I laugh as she stands up. I hand her the letter from Eva, and she takes it somewhat hesitantly.
"I'll talk to you later?" she asks, fingering the parchment uncertainly.
"Yeah," I say. "Talk to you later." She smiles at me – a real smile – and leaves, closing the door softly behind her.
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Keira's POV
I'm downstairs making pancakes and bacon for Henry and Abby's breakfasts when Ron comes down, looking unusually alert for this hour.
"Good morning," he says with a smile, kissing Henry and Abby each in turn. Abby giggles.
"Good morning, Daddy," she says with a smile.
"Morning, Daddy," Henry echoes with a grin.
"Good morning," he says to me, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me sweetly. I laugh at his friendliness.
"It's nice to see you too," I say when he pulls away. "What's put you in such a good mood?"
"What? I can't be happy to see my beautiful wife and children in the morning?" he asks, mock-indignant. I smile at him.
"Not usually," I say with a laugh. He just smiles.
"It's just a good day, that's all," he says. I raise my eyebrows at him, but don't question him further.
"Hungry?" I ask, gesturing to the food on the stove.
"You have to ask?" he jokes, sitting down beside Abby. She smiles up at him adoringly. That little girl idolizes her father.
"Daddy, when are we going to another Quidditch game?" she asks. Ron's smile falters slightly, but he fixes his expression quickly.
"Soon," he promises. He avoids looking at me.
"How soon?" she asks, a slight whine crawling into her voice.
"As soon as I can get tickets," he assures her. "But maybe we can play some Quidditch later today when Daddy gets back from work."
"You have to work today?" I ask, feeling dismay wash over me like a tidal wave. "I thought you were taking time off."
"They can only give me so much time off before they need me again. I'm sorry, Keira. I thought you knew," he says, his brow furrowing thoughtfully.
"No, I didn't," I say softly, turning to get the food off the stove before it burns.
"Everything will be fine," he insists. "Harry said he'd stop by later, so you should be alright."
"Oh, yes, because that's just what I need," I snap. "For your brother-in-law to come over to make sure I haven't killed your daughter yet."
Abby looks at me when I say this. "Not you, sweetheart," I assure her, noticing her slightly alarmed look. She eyes me somewhat warily nonetheless.
"Keira, please. Harry offered to come over here. What was I supposed to say? 'No, Harry. Keira doesn't want you to come over because she thinks that she can spend an entire day with Aria without arguing with her. Really, everything will be fine.'?
I feel myself bristling at his words, but I don't rise to the bait. "Okay. I guess I'll make extra sandwiches for lunch then," I say simply. Ron nods curtly.
"You know, I'm not so hungry anymore. I'll grab something on the way. I have to get going. I'll be home around six. Love you, bye." And then he disapparates and is gone. I sigh. Why does everything have to turn into an argument with him?
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Aria's POV
After taking a shower and slipping into some plain gray shorts and a simple black tank top, I brush my curly wet hair back away from my face and head downstairs. No one is in the kitchen, but Jake is lying on the couch in the living room, engrossed in a Quidditch magazine.
"Hey," I say casually. He practically jumps out of his skin.
"Aria! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" he exclaims, clutching his chest for effect. I just smile at him.
"Where is everyone?" I ask, sitting down when he moves his feet for me.
"Keira took Abby and Henry to the swimming hole and Sean is still in his room I think," he says with a shrug. I nod.
"So what do you want to do?" I ask. "It's such a nice day outside."
"We could go flying!" he says enthusiastically. I bite my lip uncertainly. As much as I love Quidditch, I've only been flying once or twice, and never higher than about ten feet of the ground.
"I don't know…"
"It'll be fun!" he insists.
"We shouldn't," I say, thinking of the last time I did something without asking first.
"We're not gonna get yelled at for flying around the backyard," he says in exasperation. "Come on, Aria. Live a little!"
"Some people don't live at all," I snap, suddenly very irritated with him. His expression changes very quickly to shock, and I realize that we've both crossed a line somewhere.
"You sure are weird, Aria," he says, and I know that I shouldn't have said anything. "You take completely normal, every day conversations and you always manage to turn it into something about you. Merlin, you're self-centered," he mutters, getting up and walking away, shaking his head the whole time in disbelief.
"I'm so stupid," I moan to myself, burying my head in one of the throw pillows. "Why do I always do this?"
"What did you do this time?" a familiar voice asks from behind me with a slight chuckle. I lift my head and smile at him.
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Harry's POV
Aria smiles at me as I walk over and sit down beside her on the couch. The same smile Hermione always gave me whenever I used to catch her talking to herself. Somewhere deep inside my gut, something twinges painfully at the memory of Hermione.
"So what did you do?" I ask again.
"I just snapped at Jake for absolutely no reason at all," she groans.
"Uh-oh."
"Yeah, uh-oh," she echoes tonelessly.
"Hey," I say, reaching over and putting a hand on her shoulder. She looks up at me again with searching blue eyes. "It'll be alright."
"Will it?" she asks, and I know we're not talking about Jake anymore. "How do you know?"
"I realize it isn't the same, but I lost my parents when I was young."
"Younger than me," she points out.
"Yes. But you got to spend eleven years with your mum, didn't you? I got to spend one with my parents," I say, holding up one finger for emphasis. "One year. You got to know your mum. Got to love her and know you were loved back. I never got any of that."
"Yeah," she murmurs, looking down again. "But that just makes it harder, doesn't it? I mean, how can you miss someone you don't even remember?" she asks, looking up at me quickly.
"It's a lot easier than you think," I murmur. Then I look at her again. "Besides, didn't you spend quite a few years missing your own father?"
"That's different," she mutters defensively.
"Really?"
She looks at me defiantly for a few moments before biting her lip and looking down once more. "No," she whispers.
I lift her chin gently until she's looking me in the eye again.
"Listen to me, Aria. I know this is hard for you. I can't even imagine how hard this is. But this family loves you, and they all want the best for you. Don't ruin that, Aria, because they're the only chance you have at anything close to a normal life," I tell her bluntly. She winces, but doesn't look away.
"But it's hard," she whispers, tears filling her eyes very suddenly. "It's so hard." And with that she collapses into tears.
"Oh, Aria," I sigh, hugging her. She leans against me and sniffles pitifully. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this. I wish there was something I could do."
"Unless you can bring my mum back, then no," she mutters, pushing away from me slowly.
"I wish I could," I tell her honestly. "I really wish I could."
A/N: Well, that's all for now. I'll try to get an update up as soon as possible! Thanks for reading! Toodles!