The next morning, I stood in the kitchen making breakfast. George had left earlier to collect some of his things from the burrow. (After Fred passed away, George moved back into the Burrow. He didn't give up the joke shop, however; Ginny (and sometimes Percy) started pitching in and helping him out with it). George apparently decided that he didn't like me staying here by myself with the death eaters on the loose, so he was moving in and staying with me until further notice. Not that I mind, really. It was comforting to know that he'd be here, I just wish that he'd stop worrying about me. I was twenty years old – I could take care of myself. Oh well, couldn't say I blamed him. He left Fred for a few minutes and…

No, Arielle. Stop thinking about it. The war was over; you needed to get over it.

I carefully slid my pancakes into a plate from the pan and sighed, placing the pan in the sink. Just then, there was a knock at the door. Huh, I thought to myself, That's weird. Why would George knock? He's got a key… and he can apparate. Unless it wasn't George, that was.

Steve? It was possible, but he normally wasn't home during the day. He had work.

Hesitantly, I pulled my wand from my boot and approached the door. The knocking continued.

"Who's there?" I called out shakily. There was no answer. "George?" I tried again. Maybe I just couldn't hear him or something. "You've got a bloody key, come on in." Again, there was no reply. Alright, that meant that it was time for plan B. "Steve? Please tell me that's you?"

There was another knock, some shuffling. Someone then tried jiggling the doorknob. I swallowed the lump of fear forming in my throat.

"Hello? Miss Potter, it's me." I heard a familiar voice, and merlin was I happy about it. "I had a day off; thought I might ask if you'd like to hang out or something – maybe watch a movie?"

I visibly relaxed, dropping my wand to my side as I took a deep breath. "One minute." I called, quickly placing my wand in my boot. Then, I walked over and opened the door to reveal the one and only Steve Rogers. "Good morning, Steve."

"Morning neighbor." He greeted in return, a gentle smile on his lips. "So, how about that movie?"

And that was it. That's how our friendship began, and I was incredibly happy it did. Three months later, and I realized that I would've trusted him with my life. We never really went out to the movies or went to central park. Honestly, the most we had ever done was go to the small park across the street from the apartments. But I wouldn't have changed that for the world. He made me forget about the problems from the magical community. I basically forgot about the death eaters, the warnings. May not have been the best thing to happen, forgetting the death eaters, but in a way it was.

About a month and a half later, Steve and I sat comfortably on the couch in his apartment flipping through the channels. I had gone and ordered us pizza, which sat on the small coffee table in front of us. It was quiet, but it was a good, comfortable silence. We knew that we didn't really need to speak much, so we didn't. I sat on one side of the couch with the TV remote, while he sat on the other side.

Click. Boring channel.

Click. Boring channel.

Click. News channel – boring.

Wait, hang on. What the bloody hell…

Oh my god.

My eyes were instantly glued to the TV, staring at the unfortunately familiar green skull above an ordinary looking white house. I automatically knew what it meant. The Death Eaters. I froze, slowly setting the remote down on the couch and grabbing onto part of my blanket to distract myself.

"A quiet neighborhood in Brooklyn got quite a shock today when the Chang family – Cho, Lin, Ye, and Suki (AN: I'm making up names other than Cho, sorry) – were found dead in their home. Above the house, a large green skull-like figure loomed over where the family was found. Some say it's a hoax, but others are saying that it's something more sinister – sorcery. A vigil is being planned for tomorrow, which will be taking place outside the house where the Chang family was killed."

My breath hitched as they showed pictures of each family member separately. Cho Chang. I didn't like her very much at Hogwarts; honestly, I found her to be too clingy and awful. But… Merlin, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I just… did Harry know yet? Ron? Hermione? And then another thought struck me.

Oh my god, who would be next?

They're back.

The death eaters were back, oh my merlin. They couldn't be - not again. They weren't back, they weren't back, they weren't back, they weren't back. The death eaters were all – or mostly – in Azkaban, they couldn't be back. But there I was, hearing about an attack on the news.

"Arielle? Are you okay?"

I ignored him, images of the war flashing back in my memories once more. I couldn't go through another war. I absolutely refused to. I couldn't – this was madness! No more, no more, no more, no more.

"Arielle?"

I didn't pay much attention to anything else after that. I felt the couch move, and then saw a figure get down on his knees in front of me. Once more, I ignored it.

"This isn't real, Merlin this isn't real." I whispered, gripping the blanket even tighter. "They're not back, they're not back, they're not-"

"Arielle!" Steve cried out in frustration and worry, placing his hands on my arms and shaking them gently. "Snap out of it. What's wrong? Did you know them?"

"They killed them, they killed Cho, oh my god."

My mind was, in a way, blank. But at the same time, I had so much running through there that I couldn't think about anything else. The death eaters, they were back.

Steve's eyes softened after a minute or so, and he brought his hand up and wiped something off my cheek. What was it? What was he doing? "Why are you crying?" He finally asked, his voice much quieter that time.

Finally, I snapped out of it enough to dab my cheeks. They were… wet? I was crying? I tried to answer him, but I couldn't get anything out. I choked back a sob and furiously wiped my eyes. Steve shook his head, sighed, and opened his arms. I don't remember anything else except being enveloped in a hug; sobbing into my best friend's chest.

After about twenty or so minutes, I finally calmed down enough to talk. "I-I'm so sorry…" I breathed, pulling away in embarrassment. "I-I thought I was done w-with that… I…"

"You're okay," he replied, "but do you mind explaining what that was back there?"

I paused. I couldn't tell him about the death eaters – or the war. But he was my closest friend, other than Hermione and George. And… even if I could, what would I tell him? 'Oh, yeah, sorry about that but I've been lying to you for the past two months about who I am and also I'm a witch with magical powers and those are bad people and yes I did know the girl that got killed, thanks for asking.'? No, I couldn't. But…

"It's a long story," I decided, taking a deep breath. "I uh… I'm not comfortable telling you right now, I mean… I'm not sure what I can tell you."

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Steve nodded. "I understand." He placed his hand on my back and rubbed gentle circles. "I'll be patient, say what you can, or what you want to."

I took a shaky breath and nodded. "Uh… back where I'm from there was a sort of… fight, going on between my family and friends, and these other people. The other people you could possibly compare to a gang or something, but long story short – they were bad people. When I was younger, they had killed my parents. Harry – my brother – and I were raised by our aunt and uncle. Let's just say that they weren't very kind people." I shook my head and sighed. "One day, we were accepted into a boarding school in Scotland. Apparently our parents had gone to school there, too. Which… well I guess that was pretty cool." Exaggerations.

"The people that killed our parents… they ruined my life. I mean, things became almost like a war, basically. And for some reason, everyone had decided that it was my brother and I that would end it. So we learned how to defend ourselves and others. And-" Almost a war? Lie.

I paused long enough to look up and see Steve's facial expression. He looked upset… confused, slightly shocked. I shook my head. I can't do this anymore. I'm tired of lying to him. He doesn't deserve it.

"You know what? I-I'm not doing this anymore, Steve. You don't deserve these exaggerations, you don't deserve me twisting the truth to sound like a normal muggle. I'm not. Hell, I'm not even a normal bloody witch. I never have been!"

Steve's expression twisted into one of complete shock and confusion. But there was something else there – distrust. Disbelief. I hid my face in my hands, muttering an apology. "You won't believe me if I tell you what happened, Steve. But you deserve to know my past. I've known you for three or four months and… it's such a short time. But I trust you, and I'm sorry I've lied, that I've hidden myself from you. I… I'll show you. I… hang on a moment."

I reached into my boot and pulled out my wand. Steve glanced over at me, slowly standing up in alarm. I shook my head, muttering a soft "Accio pensieve". Then, I stood up and walked to open the door. Steve's eyes narrowed before he asked me what I was doing. "Do you want your door broken?"

A couple moments later, the small bowl flew inside the door, quickly landing directly in my arms. I closed the door and walked back to the couch, before setting the pensieve on the table and taking a seat in front of it. I took a deep breath and placed the memories I wanted inside the pensieve, watching as the silvery wisps circled around inside. Afterward, I placed my wand carefully on the table.

"What is that?" Steve demanded, standing right in front of me. "What are you?"

"I'm a witch."