Hey everyone! I'm SO sorry for the very slow update. Once again, had a lot of homework and I've been really busy lately. But next week is fall break so I should be able to finish some chapters.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I got some really good ideas from your guys' suggestions. :)
Oh! I mentioned in chapter 8 that Arra's mother's name is Violet. So just remember that for this chapter and the rest of the story, okey dokey?
ENJOY!
Arra shrieked when she saw Scabbers laying on the floor in the midst of the broken glass. The creature that she had been looking for for months, and here it was, laying helplessly in front of her. Without thinking, she lunged at him and her hands closed around his slippery body. Obviously Womrtail was becoming suspicious of her motive, as he was struggling like mad to release himself from her death grip.
Arra was on her knees in Hagrid's kitchen, as she had just suddenly dove to the floor, almost strangling Ron's rat. She stared down into the creature's beady little eyes and she could see the pieces coming together in his mind. Then, either out of maliciousness or relief, she began to laugh.
"Arra?" Harry's voice said as her head snapped up when she realized where she was. She turned and saw Ron, Hermione, Harry and Hagrid all looking at her with confusion.
"Oh." She said, not really knowing what else to say. "I, uhhh…"
"Scabbers?!" Ron asked as he realized what she was holding. He stood up and strode over to her.
Arra looked down at the rat, glowered at him, then looked back to Ron. "Yeah," she grimaced, "I wanted to grab him before he could get away again. For you. Here." She frowned as she reluctantly handed him back to Ron.
"Scabbers!" Ron said excitedly as he received his pet. He smiled like a child until he saw Arra's glare out of the corner of his eye. "Something wrong?" He asked.
"I'm just so upset about Buckbeak." She lied, all the while not removing her baleful eyes from Scabbers.
At this point, voices could be heard outside. They belonged to the Minister and Dumbledore.
"Yeh need to get out of here, now!" Hagrid said as the four friends gathered under the Invisibility Cloak. Arra purposely stood next to Ron, in order to keep an eye on his murderer of a pet. Quietly, they slipped out the back door and started up the hill.
"Hurry," Hermione urged them. "I don't want to be here when it happens."
However, Ron was holding up the group. "Scabbers! What are you doing?! Calm down and stay in my pocket!"
"Ron, what's going on?" Harry said impatiently.
Arra looked over at Ron again and saw that Scabbers was trying to climb his way out of Ron's pocket quite violently. She was certain he now knew what Arra's intentions were.
"Guys…" Hermione groaned as the executioner came outside to see Buckbeak. "Come on, please."
"Ron, just hold onto your damn rat until we get somewhere safe." Arra said. "Don't let him go." She said harshly.
"I--can't!" Ron said, gripping his pet wildly.
"GUYS!" Hermione said, louder this time as she saw the executioner raise his knife.
Arra looked back too, just in time to see the knife come slamming down. Just before it came in contact with the creature's neck, Arra buried her face in Harry's shoulder. A slicing sound echoed through the grounds.
Hermione began to cry, Ron was silently trying to get a hold on Scabbers, and Harry had pulled Arra into a hug. Neither of them were crying, just holding each other. Even after witnessing death, Arra felt completely safe in Harry's arms. However, this blissful feeling was cut short by--
"No! Come back!" Ron shouted as Scabbers took off running.
Without thinking, Arra threw the Invisibility Cloak off of herself and sprinted after him.
"Arra!" The other three said as they chased after her.
At this point, Arra didn't even care if she killed Wormtail in front of Ron. She just wanted the job done. She had spent way too much time searching for him, just to let him get away now. The only thing she was concerned with was her father. She wasn't even aware of where she was going, or what dangerous tree she was almost in range of.
She finally lunged at the rat, slamming to the ground on her stomach with her arms outreached as her fingers closed around him. "GOTCHA!" She cheered at her victory. She stood up to see her friends running up to her.
"Arra!" Harry yelled. "Look out!" He pointed to something behind her.
Arra whirled around just in time to see a gigantic tree branch come flying towards her. It crashed into her torso and took her flying into the air. Somehow, she couldn't manage to hold onto the rat, and he slipped through her fingers back on the ground. "NO!" She shouted as she was swinging wildly through the air. She looked below her and spotted a pile of bushes that looked soft enough to land in about 15 feet from the Whomping Willow. She knew that if she let go at the right time, she would be launched right into it. Praying silently, she let go.
Her body went flying in the air, and had she not been so afraid, the experience of flight would have been quite enjoyable. She looked at the ground and closed her eyes at the last second before impact.
THUD went Arra's body as she landed on her back in the weeds. She groaned up in pain, but wasn't seriously hurt in any way. Somehow, she managed to look up over the bushes at her friends.
"Where's Arra?" She heard Harry ask frantically.
"Over here!" Arra said as she lazily threw her arm up in the air. "I'm OK!" She said as she rolled onto her back, unwilling to move just yet. Harry and Hermione and Ron knew that she was all right, so she wasn't in any hurry to start running again.
"Harry!" Ron screamed suddenly. "It's the Grim!"
This exclamation gave Arra a sudden surge of energy. She whipped her head around (which caused a sudden new wave of pain) and saw a great black dog jump over Harry, and run towards Ron.
Uh-oh. She thought as she tried to get up from the bushes. However, the pain was still subsiding, and it was too excruciating to try and move. She could only watch. The dog dragged Ron into a hole at the base of the Whomping Willow as Hermione and Harry tried to grab him before it was too late--they didn't. Ron's body was swallowed into the hole. Arra groaned as she knew that her father's identity was going to be revealed--not if she could stop it.
"Arra!" Harry's voice said. "We're going after Ron! We'll come back for you after!" He must have known that she was too hurt to go on, but didn't want to abandon Ron.
She tried to yell 'no' to them, but before she could protest, they had jumped into the hole after Ron.
After a few more minutes of rushed recuperation, she was able to stand on her own. She got up just in time to see Professor Lupin entering the hole as well. She took a step and fell down once again. She sat for a few more minutes trying to regain her strength before she saw Snape also go into the hole. What the bloody hell is he doing here? This can't be good. She thought as she forced herself to get up and go after them.
The knot in the tree had already been touched, so she didn't have to fight her way through the branches. It was a long walk through the passage, and she had no idea how long it was, or where she was going even.
Eventually she found herself in a room with wooden walls covered in dust. The floorboards squeaked and she could hear angry voices a few floors above her.
Am I in the Shrieking Shack? She thought as she began to climb a nearby staircase. The voices were still arguing, and she was trying to identify each voice.
"Vengeance is sweet!" Once of the voices said. Snape? Is that Snape? Oh, this can not be good if Snape knows about everything now.
"Oh why don't you run along and play with your chemistry set?!" Sirius retorted back.
"Severus, if you would just listen--" Lupin's calm voice tried to stop the fighting.
"Quiet werewolf!" Snape yelled.
Arra continued up the stairs until she was just outside the door listening. She wasn't quite sure what to do. If she ran inside, Snape and Harry and everyone would know that she was in league with her father, but if she did nothing, then Wormtail would get away--again.
"Two more for Azkaban tonight, I think." Snape sneered as she heard him walk towards the door.
Now or never. She thought to herself. She took a deep breath, whirled around to block the doorway, wand out straight in Snape's face. "Expelliarmus!" She yelled as Snape was blasted off of his feet and thrown into the back wall obviously unconscious.
The five other people in the room all looked at her with surprise.
"You attacked a teacher!" Hermione squeaked with shock.
Arra ignored her and strode over to Sirius and Lupin. "What are you two doing here?!" She scolded them in a voice worthy of Mrs. Weasley. The two men looked around a bit shamefully like children.
"Arra?" Harry asked with worry.
She talked over him. "Killing him was supposed to be MY job!" She said. "But you couldn't even trust me with that!"
"Arra?!" Harry's voice was now in full shock. Unaware to Arra, Harry and the others thought she was talking about killing Harry.
"Its not that we didn't trust you Arra. Its just that this opportunity was too good to pass up." Sirius explained. "He's right there! We could finish it easily."
"Fine. But I'm still mad at you two." She said with a glare.
"I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!" Harry finally yelled.
Arra's eyes widened at him. "What are you talking about? I am your friend."
"Oh, so you didn't just spend the last three years waiting for the perfect moment to pick me off?!"
She realized what he must have been thinking the whole time. "What? No! I've been trying to kill Ron's rat." She said like it would explain everything.
Her three friends stared at her with puzzlement. "Scabbers? What has Scabbers got to do with anything?"
"Well you're rat, he's--Dad, why don't you take this one?" She said turning to Sirius.
He went on to explain how Peter Pettigrew was their friend in school. But later was persuaded to join the dark side by Lord Voldemort and betrayed James and Lily, thereby framing Sirius.
"You three are completely mental." Ron said finally when they were done explaining.
"Am not!" Arra yelled back defensively.
"Enough!" Lupin shouted. "There's only one way that we can prove it." He turned to Ron. "Give me your rat."
"No!" The red head shouted.
"Give it to him." A quiet voice from the corner said. Arra looked. It was Harry. Arra shot him a small smile of gratitude. He, however, was still glaring at her with betrayal.
"This will make sense of everything." Lupin said as a bright blue flash erupted from his wand and hit the rat in the face. After the light subsided, in place of the rat lay a tiny, fat man with a balding head and mouse-like features, shaking uncontrollably with fear.
Everyone stared in silent shock--except Arra. She was laughing.
"What's so funny now, Arra?" Sirius asked impatiently.
After catching her breath she answered, "I'm sorry. I just--this is what I've been searching for for months?! This tiny little thing?! I just figured that for a servant of Lord Voldemort, he would be, well--well just more."
Pettigrew looked at her with sad eyes. He must have been humiliated by being made fun of by a thirteen year old witch.
"Believe us now?" Lupin said to Ron, Harry and Hermione, who were all staring with mouths wide open.
"I let you sleep in my bed!" Ron finally said as he looked at Pettigrew with disgust.
At this point, Pettigrew broke down in tears, going up to each person in the room and pleading with them.
"Arra!" He said when it was her turn. "Your mother! She was so kind! She wouldn't have let this happen to me."
"SHUT UP!!!" Sirius roared as he kicked Pettigrew hard in the side. Arra only stared with wide eyes at the scene before her. "Don't you dare talk about Violet like that!" Peter whimpered in pain.
Arra looked around at the scene before her. Ron was looking at Wormtail with hatred, Hermione was backed up against a wall, muttering something about getting in trouble, and Harry was just staring blankly at Pettigrew. He noticed Arra staring at him and he looked back at her. She gave him a small half-smile, and miraculously, he returned it.
She looked back and Lupin and Sirius. "Just kill him already."
A new wave of tears flowed from Pettigrew's face as Sirius and Lupin prepared themselves for murder. At the last moment, however, Harry jumped in and yelled, "No!"
"Excuse me?" Arra said, staring at Harry's audacious nature.
"It's just that--I don't think my dad would have wanted his two best friends to become killers."
Lupin sighed. "It's your call. But think about what this man has done, Harry. He's the reason for all of our suffering."
"I know. But we'll take him back up to the castle--"
Pettigrew threw himself at Harry's feet, "Bless you! Bless you Harry!"
"Get off of me!" Harry yelled as he kicked Wormtail off. "I said we'd take you back up to the castle. After that, the dementors can have you."
***
They walked back through the passageway, everyone getting along quite nicely now. Except Pettigrew of course. He was sobbing uncontrollably. Arra was walking in the back with Hermione, Ron and Lupin were dragging the protesting Pettigrew, and Harry and Sirius were in the front talking. (They had left Snape in the Shrieking Shack).
"How long did you know?" Hermione asked.
"That my father was innocent? I found out the first night he broke in. Halloween. My memories that the ministry brought back showed me the truth." Arra answered.
"I'm sorry." Hermione said.
Arra laughed, "Why are you sorry? You're not the one who put him in Azkaban."
"I know. But now that I know, I feel horrible for saying all those things about him being a murderer. I mean, we were always sorry when we said it just because he's your dad, but the fact that he was innocent must have made it hard for you to hear those things." Hermione said truthfully.
"It's alright. I kind of got used to it after a while. And I'm just an excellent liar." She said with the trademark Arra smirk.
Hermione smiled as well. "I'm sorry that you had to carry all this around. And I'm sorry I wasn't more help."
"Don't feel bad. You didn't know."
"I also am sorry because you didn't think you could tell me." Hermione said, looking at the ground.
"Hermione, I would have loved to have told you. But how would you have reacted?"
Hermione nodded. "I understand. But you know you can tell me anything, right? We're best friends for a reason."
"I know." Arra said as she gave Hermione a hug. "Next time I know a mass murderer is actually innocent and it's vital that I find the true murderer even if it means putting my own life in danger, you'll be the first person to know." The two girls laughed together as they continued walking.
"Arra." Sirius called from the front of the group, waving her over.
"What's up?" She said as she approached him and Harry.
"Good news!" Sirius said excitedly. "Harry's going to come and live with us once we clear my name!"
Arra's face split into a wide grin as she looked at Harry, who had the same expression. "Roomies!" She shouted as she hugged him tightly. Secretly, this piece of information made her the happiest and most nervous she had been in a long time. If her and Harry lived together, it would be a lot easier for their feelings for one another to be recognized. But she was nervous about being around him 24/7 while trying her best not to suddenly start kissing him. Either way, she figured, it would be fun. *Wink*.
"I'm going to go check on Ron." Harry said as he left father and daughter alone.
"So," Arra asked, "how does it feel?"
"To be free?" Sirius asked, "Amazing."
"I'm glad." She smiled. "I can't wait for us to be a family again. Ever since I left Bellatrix as my guardian, I've never really had a home. I just stayed with friends over the summer and holidays, but it never really felt right. But now, it's going to be different." She said confidently. "It's going to be better."
"It will be." He said. "I promise. I will make the last 12 years up to you. We will be a family."
"Me, you," she looked at a certain black haired boy fondly, "and Harry."
Sirius followed her line of sight and saw her face, filled with love when she looked at her friend. "Am I going to have to put the two of you on different floors entirely when we live together?"
Arra snapped back to his attention. "What? No. What are you even talking about? Why would we have to be on different floors?" She said nervously and way too quickly.
"Come on, Arra. I know that look. You're in love with Harry Potter!" He said, pointing at her and laughing like an immature child.
"I am not!" She lied. He gave her a knowing look. "I swear! I'm not in love with Har--Is it really that obvious?" She asked once realizing that she had lost the argument.
"Yes." Sirius laughed again.
"I don't think it is. No one else has noticed."
"Well, they were too occupied with being afraid of a certain murderer trying to break into Hogwarts all year." He smirked. "But, if I had to pick anyone for you, it would be Harry."
"Maybe." She smiled. "But you don't have to worry about anything between me and Harry yet. I still haven't decided if he's the one that I even want. I mean at this point I've narrowed it down to two--"
"What?!" Sirius cut her off. "Narrowed it down to two? Jeez Arra! Five minutes into resuming my post of father and I've already got to deal with boyfriends." He said the last word with disgust.
She laughed. "At least you weren't around for the first two boyfriends from last year."
Sirius dramatically threw his hands up in the air. "Oh my God! You're unbelievable!" He then pointed his finger at her and said in a stern voice, "Start talking. You've got a lot of explaining to do."
She patted his shoulder affectionately. "Well thankfully, we have a lot of time ahead of us." They smiled together at the thought of a normal life as a regular family. At that moment, neither Arra or Sirius had ever felt happier.
Haha, I just love how Arra and Sirius interact with eachother. It seems like Sirius would still be immature and childish even though he has a kid.
Hope you all enjoyed it!
After reviewing today, you will recieve a cheeseburger (Sweet baby Jesus, that sounds good!)