Magical Encounters

Chapter twelve: Secret Friends

Disclaimer- No ownage for me. Sad

Ariana sat alone in the common room. Again. For once she had no homework and a completely free weekend in front of her and it actually upset her. A free weekend meant no distractions, no books to hide behind, no Quidditch practice to look forward to, nothing. This weekend Ariana was going to have to sit around doing absolutely nothing while everyone was off having fun with their friends. Ariana's only hopes were Albus, Rose, James, and Roxanne, who she would have to basically stalk to get a hold of on Saturday. Everyone else however had their own groups. Scorpius had his posse, Albus and the rest of them were having fun in their own house, Tyler and Brooke were getting to know each other more, and even Drake had lessened the amount of time he spent with Ariana.

Ariana recalled her moment of discovery with the familiar pang in her stomach that she felt every time she thought of Drake and Sophia. Sophia was the seeker in the Slytherin house team and Drake was obviously head over heels for her. They had been talking a little bit more every practice, always allowing Ariana into the conversation. But, on the previous Wednesday at the end of practice neither Drake nor Sophia had waited for Ariana and she had had to walk back to the Great Hall alone.

And here she was again on her favorite chair by the fireplace doing nothing but praying that none of her tormentors were feeling particularly mean today. Ariana pulled her knees up to her chest and listened to the whispers jumping around her. Everyone's main topic of conversation was either about the upcoming Quidditch match or whether or not they were going home for the Holidays. Ariana, for one, was staying at school and as far as she knew she was the only person in the whole Slytherin house that wasn't going off to some part of the world with her obnoxiously rich parents.

Ariana sat snuggled up in the cushions for an hour before the voices around her started to fade and her eyes started to close. The common room was all but silent when Ariana's eyes finally drifted closed and she slipped into a fitful sleep

Ariana sat in an attic of some sort waiting quietly for her brother to come to and get her, when she first heard the voices. She knew two of them must belong to her brothers, Albus and Aberforth, but the third she did not recognize. Aberforth was yelling at this man about her. About her future and what the man and Albus would do for people like her. The other man was yelling at him as well, taunting him even, and Ariana felt a compulsion to go downstairs and attempt to resolve the entire ruckus.

She made her way down quietly and entered the room to find a strange man bearing down on Aberforth, his wand precariously close to his face. Ariana squealed and looked to her eldest brother, who was simply standing aside with a look of horror on his face. The man then turned on Ariana and began saying things to her.

"So you are the one, huh?" he began, sneering at her. "You are the reason all of our plans have gone to hell. If you hadn't gone on and killed your mo-"

"That's enough!" Aberforth yelled, back on his feet by this time. "Don't you dare speak to her Gellert Grindewald."

The man called Grindewald looked away from Ariana to Albus and his whole body was shaking with anger.

Ariana jerked in her sleep catching the attention of the only other person in the room.

"Are you going to let him talk to me that way, Albus?"

Ariana watched as Albus looked away and shrank into himself. He didn't know which side to choose. Ariana became very nervous. She had always known Albus was not the biggest family man, but she had never expected this. Ariana began to shake uncontrollably and her knees buckled beneath her. She looked toward Aberforth, expecting him to calm her down like he always did, but his eyes were on Grindewald and his wand was raised.

Ariana began to shake uncontrollably.

"Leave him out of this!" Aberforth yelled. "This is between us!"

At this point Aberforth swung his wand around and a battle played out in front of Ariana's eyes. Curses were hitting everywhere and even Albus threw himself into the throng attempting to stop the whole thing. His attempts had the opposite reaction because the instant he joined the fight the battle grew in intensity. It was as if the other two each thought he had picked the opposite side and had redoubled their attacks in spite.

Ariana's energy began to pulse out of her and her breathing became very labored. Her body began to jerk uncontrollably, and every time she twitched a burst of magic would be emitted and thrown into the throng. Ariana tried to see beyond the smoke that had erupted in front of her but it was useless and her fear had increased the magic seeping out of her very pores to dangerous amounts.

Scorpius looked at Ariana, puzzled. Her body was shaking and her face was contorted in a mask of fear, even with her eyes closed. Scorpius edged closer to see that there was a sort of pulse being emitted from her. He could feel her magic pushing out at him and trying to fight him away but he fought it and stayed as close to Ariana as he could manage.

Ariana's throat constricted and her breathing became hysterical. He body convulsed as more magic burst out of her in the anxiety of the situation. She heard Gellert scream a curse and then she heard Aberforth cry out in agony and instinct took over. Ariana pushed herself to step forward into the smoke and instantly flashes of colorful light began to fly around her head. The lights ricocheted across the walls of the room and Ariana lost control of her legs and fell to the ground. Ariana raised her head trying to lift herself when her body convulsed again and magic blew out of her. She could feel another burst coming on when she lifted her head up. But before anything could happen, a green light blazed toward Ariana and then the entire room disappeared and Ariana could tell that she wasn't in the same dream anymore.

Scorpius shook Ariana roughly by the shoulders and called out her name until he finally got the response he was looking for.

Ariana's eyes fluttered open and she looked around wildly before her eyes finally set on Scorpius, whose hands were on her shoulders and whose eyes were bearing down on her. Ariana tore her gaze from his and pulled out of his grasp quickly. She brought a hand up to her forehead and wiped at the beads of sweat that had formed during her fitful sleep. She looked up to see that Scorpius was still standing over her worriedly and so she sighed and slumped back into her chair.

"What do you want Scoprius?" Ariana grumbled at him, raising an eyebrow as she looked around her. "By the look of things everyone has turned in already, so why are you down here?"

Scorpius relaxed his face and sat in the arm chair next to Ariana's chair before answering. "Well, I thought maybe we could talk for a bit, but when I saw you were asleep I was going to leave when I saw that you were shaking and jerking around in your sleep. You should be happy I was here. You looked like you were having a fit or something."

"I didn't need your help actually. My dream was short of cut short for some reason." Ariana said seriously, looking into Scorpius' gray eyes.

"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked.

Ariana disputed if she should grace him with the answer for awhile before sighing in defeat and answering him earnestly. "I don't really know. " Ariana turned to face Scorpius and pulled her legs underneath her before continuing. "I was in the dream and I was the girl in it but it seemed like it was the future because I looked older but I had like brothers and they were fighting. Well, after a while the me in the dream got in the middle of things and magic pulsed out of her because she was so scared. She got in between the curses being thrown but right as she was about to be hit, everything went away. I don't know what it was, but it feels like my mind purposefully shut out the end of the dream."

Ariana bit her lip as she waited for Scorpius' reply but none came. His face was a mask of shock and he was looking at Ariana with his eyebrows raised. The moment had stretched into a span of minutes before Scorpius recomposed himself. He opened his mouth and then closed it as if thinking better than to say what he was thinking. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked back and forth between Ariana and the floor.

"What is it?" Ariana snapped at him, her patience having finally slipped.

"Well, Ari, do you remember what happened that day in potions?"

Ariana looked at Scorpius for a minute and shook her head. "No. I remember the dream I had up to where the boys starting hitting the little girl but then I became her and I couldn't think anymore. Before I knew it I felt everything the girl was feeling. Come to think of it, I looked a lot like her, just like this dream."

"Ari listen, you didn't just feel those things, they happened. There was magic seeping out of your body just like there was this time. I think you are connected to this girl in your dreams in some way. Do you remember anything else?"

Ariana started to shake her head before she realized something. "Actually yeah I do. I remember the names of the girl's brothers and the other man in my dream. The man was Gellert Grindewald or something and the brothers were Albus and Aber-"

Ariana gasped and looked at Scorpius in realization. "Aberforth was my dad. Aberforth Dumbledore. And I know enough of my history to know that Albus Dumbledore was my uncle. But who was this other guy?"

"He was an evil wizard." Scorpius began. "He was into dark magic and Albus Dumbledore defeated him in a duel in nineteen forty five."

"If he was so bad then why was he there?" Ariana asked, thinking about how Albus had been so hesitant to choose sides.

"I have heard that he and Albus Dumbledore were friends right around the time that your aunt died but the only book that has any information on that has been proved to contain faulty information. I reckon your best chance to find out is to ask your Potter and Weasley friends."

"Why?" Ariana asked.

"Because their parents were involved with everything that went on during the time that Albus Dumbledore was killed." Scorpius began. "Harry Potter was actually really close to Dumbledore and Dumbledore helped Harry defeat you know who."

Ariana held her tongue and attempted not to ask what was in the front of her mind, but she couldn't hold it in any longer. "I don't know who. I think Professor Longbottom was supposed to tell me, but he never did. Can you tell me?"

"I think this is also something you will have to ask your Gryffindor friends because they will probably know more than me, but I think I can help you a little." Scorpius cleared his throat and scooted closer to Ariana, lowering his voice to a whisper. "He was a wizard who went bad. Really bad. He went here and everyone thought he was charming and brilliant but even though he was all those things he was also evil. He got a band of followers called death eaters and eventually a war had erupted. There were disappearances everywhere and people were dying all over the place. Then he-who-must-not-be-named heard that there was one person who could defeat him and he set out to kill that person. Don't ask me how he knew because I don't know, but apparently there was some mix up with a secret keeper and you know who managed to get to the family of the person who would cause his fall. He killed the parents of the then one year old boy but when he tried to kill the boy he failed and lost all his power."

Scorpius breathed in deep before continuing. "That boy became known as the boy who lived and once he came to Hogwarts things started to happen and eventually you know who came back to power. There was a second war that was fought here and Harry Potter, the boy who lived, killed the darkest wizard who had ever lived."

Ariana nodded. "But what does that have to do with my family?"

"As I turns out, when you know who was at school, your uncle was already working here and he never trusted him. Once you know who became powerful the only wizard he ever truly feared was Dumbledore. Albus Dumbledore gave Harry Potter all the information he needed to defeat the dark lord."

Ariana sat in silence for a long time. "Scorp I think that the girl in my dreams might be my aunt. Her name was Ariana Dumbledore and she died when she was young. My dad was really close to her. I think that maybe these are things that happened to her."

"But why would you be seeing things that happened to her so long ago?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling she and I are connected in some way and I just wish I knew how."

There was silence as they both thought and then Scorpius got up and looked down at Ariana. "I think I should get to bed but can I ask you something?" He didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "Why were you by yourself tonight? Where was Drake?"

Ariana looked away from Scorpius and twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "He has a new friend and I guess he likes her or something because he hasn't spoken to me in a few days. Whatever, it doesn't really matter."

"Are you jealous? Do you like him?" Scorpius asked much too quickly.

"I am not jealous!" Ariana hissed before lowering her voice." I don't like Drake, it just sucks that my only friend in this house is now too preoccupied with his hormones to give a flip about me."

Scorpius seemed to relax a little. "What about James Po-"

"That," Ariana interjected, her voice as icy as her eyes. "Is absolutely none of your business."

Scorpius' face went cold. Every feature turned into stone and all he did was wave as he turned around to head for the dormitory. He had just reached the stairs when Ariana caught up with him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Ariana could tell that Scorpius was trying to keep his expression steely as he turned around to face her. She stepped closer to him and squeezed his shoulder before smiling and whispering something to him.

"I don't know how I feel about James or anyone else"-she looked at Scorpius meaningfully- "to tell you the truth. What I do know, however, is that I don't like anyone who can't make decisions. "

Scorpius looked at Ariana sadly. "Look, Ari, I want to be friends but my dad expects me to be popular and I don't want to let him down."

"Scorp, if your dad loves you he won't care who you hang out with as long as they are good people. I think you are a nice guy Scorpius, but I don't think I can handle being secret friends with you forever."

Arian turned toward the girls dormitory and as she neared the stairs Scorpius called out to her. "So we are secret friends? Well tell me then, are you staying at school for the Holidays?"

"I am," Ariana said, not turning around to look at Scorpius. She walked upstairs and headed to her dormitory and as she laid herself down she realized she was happier than she had been in days. She drifted quickly to sleep and had no dreams that night.

Hey everyone. So I was going to make this chapter bigger but I decided to separate the two parts I was going to put into it. I hope you liked it. Next time is the first Quidditch game and holidays coming up. If you like the story you should click the button down there and review. Actual even if you don't like the story, it's always good to get feedback. Thanks everyone.

Becca