Magical Encounters

Chapter Eighteen: Voices

Disclaimer- I do not own HP =/

Ariana sat down immediately, wanting to show her Headmistress the best possible behavior-anything to help her case at this point- , and waited for their conversation to begin. To Ariana's disappointment, however, Professor McGonagall seemed to be taking every possible measure to delay the start of what was sure to be a very long discussion. McGonagall began by pacing back and forth behind her desk and mumbling under her breath about something Ariana couldn't make out. Occasionally, when the headmistress did steal a glance toward her taciturn student, Ariana offered polite smiles which, to her dismay, were never returned. Finally, with an enormous sigh McGonagall threw herself down onto the throne-like chair across from Ariana and, while slumping uncharacteristically, drew her face into her hands.

After having waited what she thought to be a sufficiently considerate amount of time, Ariana figured that if anyone was going to put an end to the silence, it wasn't going to be the headmistress.

"Um, Professor?" Ariana began feebly before clearing her throat and starting again. "Am I going to be expelled?" No response. "I understand if that is the only thing you can do, but I was wondering if maybe I could apologize to Scorpius before I leave. I feel really bad about what happened."

Minerva McGonagall look flabbergasted. "Expelled? What on Earth gave you that idea?" Ariana took a breath as if to answer. "No. No, absolutely not. The day you get expelled is the day I fail Albus as his successor in running this school. Besides, you can't be expelled. It has become obvious that you need all the magical knowledge you can possibly get lest something like this happens again. No, you will stay. However, we do have to determine what we can do about your…situation."

At last the headmistress looked to Ariana, obviously awaiting some interjection and perhaps an idea or two about what could possible sort this entire mess out. Unfortunately, it was now Ariana's turn to sit bemused and staring blanking, mouth very slightly agape, at her headmistress. This was not at all what she had expected.

The sound of fluttering wings gave both the woman and the girl an outlet for which to distract herself. They both turned, in contagion, toward the nearest window and found what Ariana thought looked like a rather large and oddly colored Flamingo. She looked toward her headmistress hoping to find the same puzzling look detailed upon her ancient face but instead she saw astonishment mixed in with a glimmer of deep, deep sadness.

Slowly Minerva McGonagall walked toward her window and, with trembling hands, pried it open. The bird methodically clamored in and took perch upon a stand that resided near the window itself, almost as if it had always been there waiting for him. It was then that McGonagall turned toward her pupil and smiled, her eyes gleaming slightly.

"Miss Dumbledore," the headmistress began, looking gently between the bird and the girl. "This is Fawkes."

Ariana stood up from her chair and walked toward the animal careful not to make any sudden movements since she didn't know whether this bird was friendly. "But, what is he?"

"Fawkes is a phoenix Ariana. A magical bird. Phoenixes can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have healing powers, and, when they feel their life is at an end, they simply combust into flames and then are reborn from the ashes. This also happens to be the very same phoenix that was loyal to your uncle, Albus Dumbledore."

Ariana chanced a look to her headmistress and saw that all signs of tearful nostalgia had been wiped from her face and now in its stead was a calculating look. Ariana took another step toward the bird and suddenly felt a tremor go through her body. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady herself, and then she began to raise her hand toward the phoenix.

Eyes still closed, Ariana stopped her hand just before she touched the bird- The heat radiating off him let her know she was within inches of its feathers- and held it there. Something inside her told her to wait. It told her that this bird needed to come to her, not the other way around. Ariana stood silently, barely allowing herself to breathe and then she heard her headmistress draw in a quick breath and braced herself, expecting a blow. None came. Instead, she felt the rough surface of the bird's beak rub against her palm and then lower itself so that she could touch the feathers on the top of his head.

Ariana opened her eyes and looked at the creature nuzzling itself in her hand. Fawkes was beautiful. His beak was black as night and looked as if it was carved from the hardest stone and with eyes to match, one would think he looked quite sinister. Only, after the eyes was an outline of golden feathers which instantly softened the look of him and beyond that, every inch of his body, save for the golden end of his tail, was a bright luminous red which seemed to call upon fire's very essence for its color.

"Wow," Ariana began softly. "He is so beautiful Professor. Why is he here?"

The headmistress did not answer right away. She was busy telling herself she had imagined the red glow emanating from the young girl as she touched Fawkes for the first time. Soon enough however she realized a question had been asked of her.

"He is here for you." McGonagall stepped behind Ariana and put a hand on her shoulder. She was astonished to feel heat radiating off her student and was instantly reassured that her words were correct and that her earlier vision was not a figment of her imagination. "It seems that Fawkes has decided to be your companion just as he decided long ago to be your Uncle's. No one has seen this bird since the time of your uncle's death."

Ariana finally drew her hands from the bird and looked at her headmistress. Instantly, Minerva felt the heat diminish against her hand and simply looked down at her pupil, hoping her face did not betray her and show her shock.

"He is my companion? What does that mean?" Ariana asked.

He will be loyal to you and look after you, as well as those you show loyalty to you." McGonagall now walked back toward her desk. "He will come to you in battles and aid when needed and he will always be there for you, to listen and deliver messages. He should become a most treasured companion."

Ariana looked at Fawkes and smiled at him. "Alright then Fawkes, I'm Ariana, nice to meet you."

Half an hour later Ariana was wrapping up her visit with the headmistress when suddenly McGonagall jumped up as if bitten by something. "I almost forgot Miss Dumbledore!"

The headmistress walked briskly to one of the portraits along the wall of her office and gestured to it. "It seems you have impeccable timing seeing as we had arranged to meet in February anyway, but this is what I wanted you to see."

She stepped aside quietly and revealed to Ariana the portrait of Albus Dumbledore. "If anyone should tell you about he who must not be named, it is your uncles own likeness in this portrait. However, I ask that we postpone the official meeting between you two seeing as there is much yet to be done. When the new school year arises we shall attempt this again but at least now you know you are not alone."

Sensing this rain-check was just as good as a direct dismissal; Ariana thanked the headmistress, gathered her belongings, and began to head out of the office and into the school. No, now that she knew she had some form of family here, some form of answers, this was no longer just a school for her, this was her home. So Ariana walked down the spiral staircase and walked straight ahead into her beautiful home.

Ariana now sat unbothered everywhere she went. She no longer heard taunts from anyone, Slytherin or otherwise. Despite this, she knew that people were talking about her. Every time she walked into a room hushed voices would stop their chattering and simply stare at her until she exited. Ariana thought she had preferred it when people were mean directly to her face.

Ariana took to spending most of her days in the dormitory studying for her finals and talking to Fawkes who had, much to the dismay of her four roommates, taken up residence in her room. She spent her nights in the hospital wing watching Scorpius sleep because she wasn't brave enough to face him in the mornings while he was awake. Until finally, one night, she found that he had gotten better and thus left to join his fellow housemates in the common room.

That night Ariana walked like a woman headed for the gallows toward the dungeons where she would surely find Scorpius waiting for her apology. Ariana wanted to give it so badly that it caused her physical pain at night when she dreamt about it, but she was terrified. Terrified that with her apology would come Scorpius' scorn and a hate for the evil she had done to him. She finally reached the common room, and with a deep breath she gave the password and walked in.

Scorpius saw her the second she walked in, her sandy hair pulled up in a messy lopsided ball on the top of her head and bouncing slightly with each step she took. She kept her gaze down hoping to avoid the eyes of anyone in the common room but unfortunately for her they were alone this late into the night and there was no way she was getting away from him.

As he got up from his comfortable arm chair by the fire and walked over to intercept her, Scorpius could see she was trembling. His feet stumbled as he sensed her fear and in order to lessen the shock which would surely come from a surprise encounter, Scorpius cleared his throat obnoxiously and waited for her to become aware of his presence.

Ariana looked up at the sound of someone clearing their throat and blinked rapidly to locate the only person in the room, Scorpius. This was it, the time for the confrontation. Ariana drew her head as high as she could manage and strode the remaining steps toward him. She felt herself grow stronger with each step and for a moment she considered that she might be able to go through this with some sense of pride and dignity. Scorpius met her eyes; grey met icy blue, and smiled shyly at her.

She heard a shatter of glass distantly in her ear before she felt the type of cold that comes from breaking through a tough shell ripple through her body. She knew she was shaking again, her eyes filling up with guilt in the form of water that pushed dangerously upon their brim, and before she could stop herself she threw her arms around Scorpius and began to cry in earnest, belting out apologies with any spare breath she had.

At first the shock of the ambush had seemed to paralyze Scorpius, but before long he regained control of his limbs and wrapped his arms around Ariana and said "its okay" as if it were his new mantra.

They stood there like that for half an hour before Ariana's tears finally dried and the two of them pulled apart. Ariana looked at Scorpius pleading for understanding as well as punishment to end her guilt. Instead she simply got a smile and an offer to walk her to the stairs to the dormitories because they both needed their rest.

As she laid in bed that night listening to Abby's purring, Ariana thought about Scorpius and how, in one night, he had managed to show her the truth behind friendship.

Ariana could not play Quidditch for the rest of term. It was decided by the headmistress that Professor Slughorn would develop a daily anti-anxiety type of potion which would likely reduce her outburst to purely moments of great distress where anxiety was uncontrollable. However, due to the complicated nature of the potion and the fact that they were brewing enough to last Ariana through the summer as well, the potion would not be ready until the end of term and so Ariana could not take part in any event that would provide heightened emotional stress. In fact, it was only after many complaints from both Ariana and the staff, that the headmistress even allowed Ariana to sit her exams, this after coming to the conclusion that testing did not give Ariana any anxiety.

Regardless of the necessity of this potion, a new fervor had awakened in the Slytherin House. For now that their star chaser was out of commission, how would the Slytherin team possibly win the Quidditch cup. The answer was, they wouldn't. In a crushing defeat Slytherin lost by over a hundred points and the team was pushed into third place, beating only Ravenclaw. The end result? There was finally something to rival the fear that all the Slytherins felt toward Ariana, hate.

Through this anger, insults and whispers began to break through the silence once again and into Ariana's ears. Not a minute went by where someone didn't hiss an angry comment behind her back and though Ariana hadn't liked to be feared she wasn't sure she welcomed this type of behavior again. However, it wasn't until the middle of exam week, when tempers were high, that someone actually had the audacity to insult Ariana to her very face. When that moment came, Ariana was not surprised at all to find Elaine looking at her with disgusted contempt.

It was right after her history of magic exam as Ariana sat in an armchair pouring over her Transfiguration textbook, Abby in her lap, that Ariana felt a gust of wind as someone hurried over to her and hovered over her for a slight second before slamming their hand down on her book and knocking it onto the floor. Abby jumped off Ariana's lap with a hiss and looked up at Elaine bravely with her teeth showing. Elaine ignored the cat and glowered at Ariana who, due to test fatigue, had only just begun to understand what was occurring.

"You know," Elaine began while Ariana blinked lazily up at her. "You are honestly worthless. You nearly kill everyone at one Quidditch match and then you can't even set it straight at the next one. Everyone is so scared of you now too, because they think they finally understand why you are in this house. Because you are evil. I don't think so though, I think you are just pathetic."

Ariana avoided Elaine's gaze and looked around frantically for her fallen book. Though it didn't register much in her conscious, Ariana's pulse began to pick up. She had finally picked up her book when Elaine very unceremoniously knocked it down to the floor again. Ariana began to shake.

"Oi!" Elaine was yelling now, drawing the attention of everyone in the common room including a golden haired boy who had been dozing silently across the room. "Did you hear me Dumbledore? You are nothing, you should leave this house, Hell, you should leave Hogwarts. You don't belong here."

Ariana sniffled as tears gathered in her eyes and her breath grew labored as she felt the energy within her begin to pulsate again. Elaine however, was oblivious. In fact, she was about to begin her torment anew when Scorpius very bravely and publically stepped in.

"Lay off Elaine." Ariana blinked through her tears and looked up at him.

Elaine looked shocked. "And why is that? Afraid she will blow up at me because I make her angry? Come off it Scorpius, I can handle her. Don't worry about me."

Elaine said this with a finality that clearly showed she did not intend to be challenged. But then, why should she be? This was he friend Scorpius after all.

"I am not worried about you," Scorpius began, stepping more directly between the two girls and staring at Elaine as if she was no more than a fly in his line of vision. "I am worried about her. She doesn't need this from you or anyone else in this room."

He voice had gotten louder toward the end of his sentence so as to let all others know that Ariana was not to be bothered. Elaine however, wasn't ready to give in.

"Who cares what she needs! She nearly killed you and she lost us the Quidditch cup!"

Scorpius' eyes were a steely grey now. "We haven't won the Quidditch cup in years and the only reason we came so close was because of her, you should thank her. Besides, she didn't kill me did she? I'm fine."

"Why are you defending her?" Elaine asked, her convictions withering under Scopius' cold gaze. "I thought we were friends."

"We could have been," Scorpius said nonchalantly. "But I think I'd rather be friends with her to be honest. She may have some…temper issues, but at least she has a heart."

Elaine frowned, obviously offended and hurt by his words. "What about your father? What will he think? Being friends with a Dumbledore?"

For a slight second Scorpius faltered before regaining his confidence. "I'd like to think he will understand, but if not, then I guess I'll have to find a new role model because that will make it clear he is not someone I should look up to."

Elaine scowled at him now, sensing her only possibility of winning had been lost. "You just made a big mistake Malfoy."

Scorpius watched her as she walked away before picking up the Transfiguration textbook on the ground handing it to his friend and plopping down on the armchair directly beside her. Across the room his eyes met Drake's. Drake smiled at him and nodded slightly, acknowledging the point where they, as well as Ariana, had begun to walk along the same path and Scorpius knew instantly that he had done the right thing.

Next to him Ariana smiled as she thought about their friendship and what it had taken to get to this point. She was proud of him for standing up to his "friends" and even more so, though indirectly, his father. She thought about telling him this right then and there but thought better of it seeing as he looked entirely exhausted. Besides, they would have plenty of time to talk now that they were friends for all to see.

Ariana also thought about the words of the sorting hat and how he had talked about her helping bring honor to a family.

Lucius Malfoy watched as his grandson introduced a small sandy-haired girl to his son, Draco, and his wife. Instantly, Lucius felt recognition course through him and immediately the voices began chattering away. He had taken to listening to the cold, snake-like voice that dominated the others ever since Narcissa had become ill from a cursed object they procured at Borgin and Burkes. Right now, this was the voice whispering to him most urgently, "She is the one, use the boy." Lucius had begun to walk toward the girl, the maniacal gleam from the old days shinning in his eyes, when a trembling hand reached out to him.

Lucius turned to face his fragile wife and instantly all the voices were hushed. Narcissa smiled at him and he felt that more murderous side of him slide back into the dark recesses of his mind. The same place where the hissing voice resided silenced once again by the wife who would soon be out of the picture.

Lucius watched, now amiably, as the girl walked off with a kind looking woman. Soon his grandson will come and greet him and Lucius will watch as his wife smiles brilliantly at her grandson. A smile from her is rare nowadays and he will treasure the moment as much as he can before it is over. The voices within him have stopped for now and he barely recalls what they were saying to him in the first place. In fact, he is blissfully unaware of the processes taking place within him, and the young boy is jogging up to him with all the happiness that came with having a good first year of school.

END OF YEAR ONE.

Hey all! I hope you enjoyed that. I know it was kind of rushed but I had a lot of information to fit into just one chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as well as all the clues about what is to come in the future. Year two is going to start soon =]