Smolder

By Kukaburry

Chapter 4 - Strangers

Arie apparated home, still clutching the black pouch in her hand. She imagined what it was like in Egypt: Hot, dry, and sandy. Everything that England was not. She even imagined how the warm sunbeams would kiss her ivory skin and perhaps even give her a bit of a tan. Fred would have called her gingerbread.

"Oh good, you're home." Her father's gravelly voice startled her out of her thoughts. "Diane just finished making dinner." He gave her a conspiratorial look. "You know your poor mother; she gets antsy if we're not sitting down when she's done cooking."

"Good old mum," she replied distractedly. "She worries too much."

He smiled fondly at his only daughter. "She's just looking out for you."

"And I'm always grateful for it." She looked up at the open windows in the roof, welcoming fresh air. "Are Martin and Angelina coming over?"

"Oh darling, you have a wicked humor." He chuckled. "They just got married. I doubt they want to see their families for the next week."

Arie held back a sigh of relief. She did not want to come clean about Fred in front of the newlyweds. "I was just curious."

She followed her dad into the dining room and sat down next to her two younger brothers, Ronnie and Josh. Diane shuffled over to the table carrying a large dish of baked ziti with sausage. "Make sure to blow on it first boys," Diane reminded them.

"Mum, I'm not little anymore," Josh grumbled between mouthfuls of bread.

"Yes you are Joshie-woshie," Arie mocked while ruffling his short brown hair.

"Shut up Arie." Gone was the little kid who followed Arie everyone and in his place was a hormonal, angry-at-everything, you'll-never-understand-me teenager.

"Settle down you two," Diane chuckled fondly. "You can fight with each other when dinner is over."

Halfway through dinner Diane looked up at Arie with a questioning gaze. "So why did you have to go into work today? I hope they're not working you too hard. I saw your runes project out on the table last night when we got home."

Chewing her ziti slowly, Arie thought of what response she could give to Diane. "Well I didn't want to surprise you guys just yet, but I guess since I signed the documents I might as well tell you now." Her mother and father lowered their forks simultaneously and looked at her expectantly. "I've been working really hard and they offered me a really neat opportunity that didn't get approval until today," she felt the white lie weave its way from her lips. "I'm going to go to Egypt to study ancient runes in the Pyramids and some of the surrounding countries."

Silence settled quickly on the dinner. "That's quite a big opportunity." Diane offered.

"Isn't this a sudden choice?" Her father queried. "Isn't Egypt where a lot of You Know Who's followers are hiding?"

"Don't be so paranoid dad."

"I hardly think it's paranoia when…"

"Does anyone want any desert?" Diane piped in. Chocolate pie appeared in front of everyone. "It's rather fitting if Arie is going to the dessert."

"Mom.. that is a terrible joke." Josh whined between mouthfuls of pie.

Another several minutes of silence passed before her father asked another probing question. "What does Fred think of this?"

Crumbling the pie with her fork, Arie stared deep into the depths of the folds of chocolate, hoping it would inspire her with a quick reply. Nothing came. "I don't really know."

Diane and her father stared at her for several moments and passed knowing glances at each other. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Both looked as though they wanted to interrogate her further. "I'm going up to my room."

"Honey, before you go, you will take time to think about the offer won't you? We don't want you to make a rash decision."

Not wanting to reveal that she had already signed the contract she forced a smile on her face. "Yeah, 'course I will." Now she just had one week and three days to pack her gear without alerting her parents.

The days trudged by and the more Arie looked forward to escaping, the slower timed seemed to drag on. After the first three days, she finally admitted to her family what had happened between her and Fred. Fortunately, they did not take the news as hard as she had expected since she had been 'acting suspicious' and they had already guessed. They had wanted Arie to tell them everything whenever she was ready. Ronnie was the most torn up, crying that he wanted to see 'Uncle Freddy' no matter how many times Diane tried to hush him, seeing the pained look on Arie's face. Each of his cries strengthened her resolve to go somewhere she would not be able to think of Fred.

With every day that passed, Arie packed a few items into her bag, taking care to avoid suspicion from her father who came to check on her at least twice a day. "Arie, darling, have you thought about what we said on Sunday? You're not really thinking about going to Egypt are you?"

"Dad, it's a really cool opportunity. How many times in my life will I have a chance to go somewhere as exclusive as Egypt?"

"Arie, it's not worth the danger. Many wizards have died there and at least a dozen others have gone missing. I don't want that to happen to you."

"Dad, don't worry about it."

"I have to sweetie, I'm your dad." He brushed a lock of hair over her ear. "It's my job to worry."

Knowing that she was going to leave him without saying goodbye nearly crushed her heart at that moment. All she managed to choke out was, "I love you dad."

She left little surprises for her brothers on her bed and an apology note for her parents on the bedside dresser. It was written in runes, but she enchanted it to reveal the true message when she was safely away in Egypt.

Before leaving, she eyed the locket Fred had given her only a few months beforehand. It was a ruby set in the mouth of a lion. He had told her he smelted the silver into a lion himself and had 'enchanted it with ever-lasting love'. She debated up and down about bringing it with her or throwing it into the nearest fire. She had had the internal argument raging for the past five days. As she stared at the jewel, she swore she heard it roar in defiance, as though it wanted her to decide already. Picking it up, she immediately snapped the clasp around her neck and breathed a sigh. She would wear it as a symbol of her new freedom; she remembered the past, but did not let it weigh down her future.

Padding softly down the hall, Arie fled down the stairs and out the front door, never once looking back at the home she had known her entire life. She felt around for her wand and imagined the Ministry building clearly in her mind. A whirlwind later, the ministry building appeared in front of her. "Ah good, you're right on time Arie," Marty waved at her from the front entrance. "We're waiting for one other, but he should be here any moment. He was quite difficult to get ahold of in South Africa. Their ministry isn't allowing portkeys into Egypt so we had to… how should I say it… sneak him over here. He's been rabid about going to Egypt for the past two years."

Marty took a moment to catch his breath. "Oh I don't think I told you everyone who's coming with us did I?"

"No, that would have been useful about a week ago Marty." She replied, annoyed with him and herself for not even bothering to find out who she would be decoding with.

Three other faces peered around the corner and Marty rapid-fired their names. "This is Tash, Nina, and Sull." As they rounded the corner, two other people stepped forward. "And this is Henry and Dave. I think you already know Bob." He pointed to one of Arie's coworkers. "Everyone, this is Arie."

Arie took a moment to assess the people in front of her. Tash was a tall, burly black man with curly brown hair and a large tattoo of a snake on his forearm. He looked to be around forty. Nina was a slight girl, maybe one-hundred pounds and only a couple of years older than Arie. She looked vaguely Hispanic with tan skin and dark brown hair. Sull was another burly man with buzzed blonde hair and sunburned pale skin. He was old enough to be her father and looked mean enough to fight a dragon. Henry and Dave were twins, much to Arie's chagrin. They both wore green trench coats and their shaggy, dark brown hair held flecks of green paint. Henry had a scar under his left eye and Dave sported a tattoo of a leprechaun. They looked to be only a few years older than she was. Finally, Bob was well over a hundred and still had the excitement of a ten-year-old.

"Hi, I'm Arie. I'll be leading this expedition." She joked.

"I must be in the wrong group then," a voice startled Arie from behind and she turned to face a stranger. "I thought I was the leader of this little expedition," he remarked, eyes scanning Arie's blushing body from head to toe, "I must have been mistaken."

"Oh good, you're here Cole. We're all ready to go," Marty piped up through the awkward silence.

Arie's heart stopped as she assessed the man standing in front of her. He was tall, nearly 6'1, approximately thirty years old, slender build and sporting well-toned biceps barely hidden by a black t-shirt. A tattoo of a lion wrapped around his calf. Arie had never seen a tattoo she actually liked until she saw the lion. After drinking in the intricate artwork, she dragged her eyes to his face. He had a sharp, square jaw and straight nose. His ebony hair accented his midnight blue eyes. The look he was currently giving her showed that he knew she was checking him out, and enjoyed it.

"Only if our fearless leader is ready to go," he said with a little smirk, clearly amused by the situation.

Arie snapped out of her reverie, "I was joking, duh. I have no idea where we're going."

"We're going to Egypt," his amusement visibly heightened.

Snorting, Arie rolled her eyes. "I know that. I don't know where the portkey is."

"Oh, well then I'd be more than happy to lead the way, if you'll allow me." The charade was not going to end anytime soon so Arie decided to spar with him.

"The fearless leader approves."

Cole swept his arms out. "Marty, lead the way will you?"

Arie's mouth dropped then snapped shut with a clash of teeth. Cole looked over his shoulder and winked. Even as the 'leader', he didn't know the way to the portal either. Arie found herself unusually flustered by this man.

Marty wound his way through a maze of doors within the ministry, and at a couple of doors whispered some passphrase. Arie's blood pressure rose with anticipation. A couple of minutes later they found themselves in a dusty room filled with random objects from tables to tiny rings. All of them had once been used as old portkeys. On the table sat a granite statue of a cat and an old top hat.

"Alright everyone, gather round the table. The portkey will be opening in less than ten minutes." Marty announced.

Cole looked around and eyed what everyone was wearing. "Please, Arie, Dave, and Henry take your robes off. As stated in the document you signed we need to appear as muggles before we make it to the pyramids. This is for your safety." His authoritative voice sent shivers down her spine. He stepped closer to Arie and whispered softly, "I hope you're wearing something under your robes."

Huffing loudly, Arie whipped her robes off to reveal a tank top and shorts. "See? I'm not an idiot." She may not have read the whole document, but she had scanned enough to realize she needed to wear muggle clothing.

"Everyone put their hands on the portkey. We have two minutes now." Marty watched the clock on the wall intently.

Arie and Cole stood squished next to each other, each laying one finger on the portkey. Every time Cole's arm muscle twitched, Arie felt it vibrate against her arm. The stone cat statue began glowing and a jolt of electricity shot through Arie's arm. She noticed Nina flinch so she wasn't the only one who felt it.

Marty, voice raised in excitement, began counting down. "On my count: Five, four, three, two, one…" his face registered shock and fear a moment before the portkey vanished.

The last thing Arie heard was, "Stop right there! This was not au….", before the portal opened and sucked the nine explorers into unknown territory.

I know, I know. "Kukaburry, why does it take you so long to write new chapters sometimes?" Well, my dear, sweet readers, sometimes I forget. Yep, that's pretty much it. A whole lot of things happened this past year (most of it for good) and I just didn't have time or inclination to update my stories. I apologize. I love all of you for taking the time to read my stories and you deserve better. I promise that I will update my stories more faithfully now. I have the details down for this story so I won't hit another brick wall for quite a while on this one. :D Anyways, you all are amazing and I'm glad I'm back.

As always, let your voices be heard from the rooftops! Review! ~Kukaburry