Chapter 16: Expectations and Realities

Disclaimer- I don't own HP =[

It was finally here. The day of the Hufflepuff versus Slytherin game and Ariana woke up to the sound of an owl tapping its beak against the window beside her back. Ariana's eyes fluttered open and she looked toward the window just in time to see Abby fling herself off the bed and run, head first, into the glass while the owl simply looked forward and acted as if nothing had happened. Ariana winced as the sound came to her and she jostled the covers off of herself and made her way toward the window, picking up Abby and petting her head on the way.

Ariana shook the window open and instantly felt the fresh and new February air sweep into the room. This was the first day of the month of love and Ariana couldn't help but scowl as she realized that Valentine's Day was right around the corner. Ariana brushed off the thought and reached toward the owl to take the letter that was attached to its leg. The owl took off quickly and Ariana shut the window instantly to avoid making her roommates stir in their sleep.

Ariana shuffled over to her bed and plopped down silently, placing a still slightly disoriented Abby beside her. She then tore at her envelope and pulled out the letter within. The paper was pink and had a flowered border around the sides. Ariana recognized the design instantly. This letter came from Mary at the orphanage. Now, Ariana hastily opened the paper up and was unbearably disappointed to find that the paper contained a very small amount of Mary's twisting cursive script. Ariana sighed and began to read:

Dear Ari,

I hope everything has been alright with you since you got over that nasty cold, I was recently under the weather myself but I'm all better now. Thank goodness too, because some of the smaller ones were trying to take care of me by making soup out of mud. Anyway, I wanted to wish you luck on your upcoming game. I'm sending this letter in hopes that it reaches you before the game against the creampuffs, but if it doesn't I know it doesn't matter because you will be great anyway. Good luck honey, I miss you very much.

Love, Mary

Ariana set the letter down on her bedside table and giggled silently at Mary's mistaken name for the Hufflepuffs. She then set about getting ready for the game, reasoning that she would be way too rushed if she wrote back now. Ariana wanted to avoid the hustle and bustle which came with changing in the girls' locker room when Tyler is seconds away from giving a pep talk in the boys' locker room, and so she changed directly into her quidditch uniform. Around the time Ariana made it out of the dormitory, her roommates had begun to wake up and get ready to go down to breakfast. She grabbed her broomstick, made her way out of the bedchamber, and then out of the Slytherin common room quickly and walked by herself down to the Great Hall.

Ariana walked into the Hall and was surprised to find that her entire team was already eating at the table. Ariana found a seat beside Drake, picked out a Bagel, and began to spread cream cheese on it. Even with her eyes fixed pointedly at the bagel in her hands, Ariana could feel the tension within the members of the team. Ariana, however, did not feel the least bit nervous and so when she finished fixing up her bagel, she reached for and took hold of Drakes hand.

Drake jump half a foot into the air. It seemed that he had not realized that Ariana had been sitting beside him up until this point. Drake met Ariana's warm smile with a look of anxiety but his face instantly dissolved into one of his award-winning smiles and it was when this exchange occurred that Ariana heard a mumble behind her followed by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

Ariana and Drake both whipped their heads toward the noise; hands still intertwined, and saw their least favorite group of people, including Elaine and Scorpius.

Elaine was the first to speak, clearing her throat once again she said, "I quite agree Scorpius, people should keep their feelings personal and not make a deal of them in public." Elaine sneered at both Drake and Ariana before turning only to the latter. "I don't know what you are so happy about. Do you even get how important this game could be for you?"

Ariana looked blankly at Elaine before noticing the look on Scorpius's face. He was intently glaring at Ariana's hand, the one that held Drake's. Ariana slowly released Drakes hand before fixing her face into a mask of exhaustion and clearing her throat. "Look, Elaine, can you just leave me alone for today? Just today, please?"

Elaine chuckled, causing her posse to follow. All except Scorpius who was now glaring at Drake with such intensity that Drake had taken to looking down at his watch every few seconds. "Me? I'm trying to help you Ariana. Maybe you have ruined your chances to be friends with the right sort of people, "Elaine looked around at her friends and nodded to make her point. "But most Slytherins are indifferent to you. Who knows, maybe you could develop some fans today and turn your pathetic life around. I believe that's quite a lot to ride on a game that you are so ill concerned with. But anyway, don't lose today."

Ariana scoffed as Elaine and her group went away. Scorpius attempted to smile at her and she coldly looked away from him, but despite her calm demeanor and collected exterior, she could not shake the truth in Elaine's words. This game could change everything. The first win could have been seen as simply a test run and now it was time for the real test of her skill. If she succeeded today as a chaser, her peers might finally choose to talk to her, a choice which had not been made due to the fact that none of them believed she was where she belonged.

Ariana was safely mounted on her broomstick and awaiting madam Hootch's whistle when she first felt it. An incredible sense of dread had suddenly filled her stomach and Ariana was unable to shake it no matter how much she tried. She caught a glimpse of Madam Hootch stepping onto the pitch and blinked vehemently to clear her head. To Ariana's relief her stomach finally relaxed and her feeling of foreboding vanished. Madam Hootch was now in the center of the pitch and Ariana knew that she was probably giving some introductions and telling the teams to play fair. Ariana saw Tyler and the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain, Landon Macmillan, shake hands and she bent her knees in anticipation for the whistle she knew was coming, then it did.

Ariana pushed off the ground along with fifteen other broomsticks, including Madam Hootch, and instantly she knew something was wrong. Her vision clouded suddenly and her head began to pound, before she knew what was happening, Ariana had nearly fallen off her broom. She was saved only by Tyler's voice calling out her name and making her shake her head and look toward his voice as he threw the quaffle to her. Ariana caught the quaffle instinctively and ducked low on her broom to race toward the Hufflepuff goal post.

Ariana was half way through the game before she felt the same feeling wash over her once again. She once again had possession of the quaffle after having already scored ninety points for the Slytherin team and assisted the other chasers in earning the team thirty more points and as she raced to up her teams score, she felt her stomach drop. Ariana felt cold suddenly and she knew instantly that something was wrong. She clumsily tossed off the quaffle to Tyler and tried to shake her head to clear the blur that had begun to form at the corners of her eyes.

Suddenly Ariana's vision began to float in and out of focus. One second she was seeing the game and the next she saw something else entirely. Ariana slowed down on her broomstick conscientiously, wanting to pull herself safely to the sidelines, but before she could safely reach the sidelines everything went dark.

Ariana looked at herself in a mirror and felt a shock go through her. She was at least three years older. She tried to move her hands up to touch her aged face, but then she realized her hands were already immersed in her own hair. Ariana then realized this was not her body, she was not in control.

In the stands, the crowd watched curiously as they saw one of the players, Ariana, slump suddenly on her broomstick. The broomstick began to fall, and Ariana fell with it for many feet until Madam Hootch, caught her gently and took her to the ground, where she laid Ariana down carefully. Teachers were now coming onto the pitch and Madam Hootch returned into the throng since no game of Quidditch can end until a seeker catches the snitch.

Ariana could feel everything this stranger was feeling. She could feel the girls hand go through the blond hair Ariana had thought was hers. She could hear the girls thoughts in which she wondered why her hair never fell the way she wanted it to. But above all, Ariana could feel an overwhelming sense of fear within the girl. One that stood above all else.

The girl's hands began to tremble.

The crowd went wild in the stands as Sophia caught the snitch and Slytherin had won their second game. But as cheers and complaints filled the air an even more widespread reaction was confusion, for as the players began to land safely on the ground of the Quidditch Pitch, everyone's attention was suddenly turned onto the commotion happening on the field. Instantly, the students began to pour out onto the field.

The girl's hands were still shaking when Ariana heard a sound come through the girl's ears. The girl's head whipped around suddenly and Ariana came face to face with a woman carrying a tray of food. Te resemblance between the girl and the woman was extraordinary. They had the same hair, the same eyes, and the same weathered and beaten look as if they had lived many lives in this one.

The woman looked as if she was about to speak when the girl, with Ariana in tow, began to speak. "I don't want to eat. I don't feel well."

The woman gave her a sympathetic smile and walked closer to the girl placing the tray of food she had brought with her down on a table in her pathway. "I know you don't Ariana, but you have to. I already let you skip lunch today, so you can't skip dinner. Come on now, sit down."

Ariana felt the girl begin to shake more violently. "Mum, please. I don't want to eat. Please just leave." The girl let her head slump down and clamped her eyes tight.

In that moment of darkness Ariana was vaguely aware of hands clamoring all over her, attempting to shake her awake. She felt spells hit her body in jolts and she tried desperately to open her eyes but it was as if she had no control of her body anymore and she was only slightly aware that her body was violently shaking. Ariana felt herself take a deep breath

Then the girl inhaled suddenly and Ariana could feel the despair welling in the pit of the girl's stomach, her own stomach, they were one now. Ariana looked up at her mother with pleading eyes she knew what was coming, surely her mother had to know as well.

"Mum please I can't eat right now, I-"She broke off as her mother put her arms around her attempting to comfort. "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

A sudden burst of energy exploded out of Ariana's body causing her mother to stagger up and away from her. Ariana saw a brief look of terror cross her mother's face and shame coursed through her body making her quake even harder. Her breathing quickened and tears gathered at the base of her eyes as she stared at her mother pleading for forgiveness. Her mother had no sunk to her knees with her head in her hands and instantly Ariana began to feel all that energy building up within her again, she knew she had to get her mother out of there.

Ariana's body was now shaking so violently all the teachers had begun to force the students to move away from her. All except for the headmistress who was still vehemently casting quick enchantments over Ariana in attempts to stop the energy that was surely building about within Ariana's tiny frame. The headmistress paused to wipe sweat building on her brow and shook her head silently, hopelessness building steadily in the pit of her stomach.

Suddenly there was a pop somewhere to the left of Ariana's body and instantly Scorpius was kneeling beside Ariana, leaving a stupefied Professor Slughorn on the ground behind him. The headmistress looked at him in confusion and was about to say something when suddenly Ariana convulsed sending bits of energy in every direction. Panic overwhelmed the crowd and it dispersed as quickly as it began leaving only the few students who had been hit by Ariana's blows, the teachers, Drake, and Scorpius.

"Professor!" Scorpius yelled over the roar of a thousand voices running desperately toward the castle. "What do we do?"

The headmistress looked at him blankly before straightening resolutely and standing up to look at her fearful staff. "Professors, I want you to report to the houses you represent and establish order. Those of you who don't represent a house will decide both to stay and help me or help get students indoor. Drake I want you inside," Drake opened his mouth to complain. "Now!"

The teachers nodded their understanding and set about their duties while Drake hesitantly followed the house representatives up toward the castle. Scorpius looked expectantly at Headmistress McGonagall awaiting his orders but none came. The headmistress simply nodded at him and set about casting protective enchantments around them. Ariana began to convulse again and Scorpius physically felt her energy hit him violently he braced himself against the blows when suddenly the headmistress was beside him on the ground.

"Scorpius," she said bracing herself against the blows coming up against them. "I need you to do whatever you did before to calm her down."

Ariana's tears came freely now as her mother slowly rose to her feet and smiled down at her daughter. "Its okay honey, I'm alright."

She came closer to Ariana, and with every step her mother took the more difficult it was for Ariana to breathe until ultimately she couldn't at all. She felt her whole body warm as her muscles shut down and she looked up at her mother in fear, she knew this would be like nothing that had happened before.

"Scorpius look!" McGonagall looked hopefully at Ariana's still body.

Scorpius smiled back at her and took Ariana's hand tightly; glad to see that the ordeal was over.

Her mother stepped closer to her and a fire suddenly began within Ariana's gut. It was spreading over her slowly, paralyzing her. Her bones caught fire one by one and she felt her eyes widen. She opened her mouth but no words of warning came out as she had wanted them to. Instead she groaned at the fire spread to her head and began to pulse. She rocked her body with every lick of the flames that overtook her as the temperature rose rapidly.

Suddenly, her mother's arms were around her, like ice on a bed of lava and whispering words in her ear that, try as she might, Ariana was unable to understand. The fire as growing within her pulsing faster every second. She distantly heard a piercing scream of agony she failed to recognize as her own and threw her mother away from her with inhuman strength. She told hold of her head as she began to wither on the ground shaking violently and screaming just hoping for the pain to end. Her body was a lit with flame and all she wanted with the sweet release.

Ariana's mother was frozen in fear as he r daughter fell apart in front of her, her whole body glowing, she wanted to put an end to things, but she couldn't.

Scorpius held tighter to Ariana pleading for her body temperature to go down, he and the headmistress no longer knew anything they could attempt.

Ariana's screamed subsided as the flame was sucked into a vortex at her center and all was calm for a second, her mother crawled to her side.

Scorpius gripped Ariana's shoulders in wonder.

Then it happened. The fire suddenly exploded from within her bursting out of her skin and sending everything around her flying in every direction. Her mother was thrown away from her and Ariana felt all the tendons in her body stretch as if the magical energy was tearing her apart at the seams. Ariana fell heavily to the ground, finally aware that she had been floating merely seconds ago and her eyes looked widely around the room until her saw her mother.

Ariana's eyes fluttered open and she slowly regained her senses. She sat up and was instantly nauseous. She leaned over to her side and heaved her breakfast onto the field, and then she heard it. Screams of agony coming from somewhere beside her and shaking in fear she turned toward there source. There was Scorpius twitching on the ground covered in blood spewing from various deep tears in his skin. The headmistress stood over him muttering healing spells and silencing him as he screamed.

Ariana was barely aware that tears were streaming down her face and simply stood there letting them fall terrified as she watched her best friend bleed because of her. Ariana's eyes began to glaze over and she felt herself begin to fall back into that other mind, the one of the other Ariana. Ariana sobbed and shook her head violently,

She was crawling toward the slumped figure in the corner of the now darkened room,

She was crawling away from Scorpius.

She caught sight of the pool of blood around her mother.

Ariana stood shakily and glanced back at Scorpius, so much blood covered him that she had to look away to avoid getting sick, but she could still hear his screams.

Ariana reached the body and saw her mother's icy blue eyes staring at her, wide with terror and surprise. Her mother was dead. Ariana began to shake.

Ariana felt her body start to shake and knew that she and the girl couldn't hold on much longer before the panic of murder set in. So, fueled by her terror of what was to come and by the screams surrounding her, she ran.

-Yay update! Hope you like it =]